> Mobius and Equestria: Worlds Collide
>  by AngelShy24
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: Breakout
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	When a world is threatened… when evil hides its ugly face until it reveals itself… when everything in a world that is preciously loved and cared for is in danger… only heroes with a strong will and exponential courage can stand up to defend and fight against the mighty evil. But is it possible for different heroic paths to cross each other and intervene what could not be seen at first glance? That’s exactly what happened at one moment in time when a strange rabbit creature accidentally fell into a new world and made new friends. But it was because of this that the creature was able to help discover and bring down an evil tyrant fixed on taking over the world… typical.
But perhaps it wasn’t an accident all along, for if it hadn’t happen, an entire world would fall at the hand… well, hoof of evil. The creature eventually left her new friends behind to return to her old ones and reunite with her Mother. It wonders if she’ll ever see her new friends ever again; but only time could tell if that friendship could be reunited.

-----

One night in the city of Canterlot, all is dark, quiet and calm, and the Canterlot Castle is on heavy guard assisted by Shining Armor while Celestia was away at a royal dinner party. With the castle this heavily secured, no one and nothing could invade it… right?
“Aw man, this is soooo boring,” said one of the few guards in front of the front entrance, “Sometimes I feel like nothing ever happens around here anymore. I want a little danger; I want action!”
A sub-general named Broach just rolled his eyes as he was watching his partner be consumed by boredom, “Get a hold of yourself, we’re just here to guard the front of the castle; like it or leave it.”
“I know that,” he responded, “but I just wish we could fight something every once in a while. Remember that time when we took on that huge army of changelings; now that was an adrenaline rush!” 
Broach shuddered in horror just thinking of that event, “Don’t remind me of that; it was too horrifying. Anyway don’t get a swelled head and be careful of what you wish for; you might actually get it but in the most unexpected way.”
“I don’t care,” the other guard spouted, “I just want something exciting to happen; is that too much to ask?!”
Just then, a quick whoosh sound came from above and caught the attention of the young soldier. He looked up with a curious expression, “Wha… wh-what was that?”
“What was what?” asked Broach.
“I’m n-not sure, but it sounded like some kind of fast whooshing noises… of… some engine or something.”
Knowing how antsy this solider was, Broach turned his head back in his front view sighing, “Maybe you were just hearing things.”
“Trust me; I don’t just imagine whooshing noises.”
“Whatever;” said Broach sarcastically, “just stay focused on our simple task, and don’t get distracted.”
Suddenly out of nowhere, a single shadowed object fell from the sky and slammed into ground facing the palace gates. All of the nearby soldiers were caught off-guard partially as they all jumped in slight fright, but soon stood at the ready preparing to intercept the unexpected invader.
“What the…” 	
“Wh-wh-what is that thing?!” the young solider shouted.
“Perhaps that is your whooshing sound,” said Broach, “and it looks like you got your wish.”
The figure slowly stood onto its two feet and showed off its claws on its sides; and then it suddenly stared back at the guards flashing a glowing red glare. The poor solider who was being assisted by Broach was shaking in his hooves; he may have helped take on the Changeling army, but there was something about this creature that seemed more dangerous, more menacing, more lethal unlike anything he has ever seen.
“Um… h-h-halt where you’re are and… st-state your… business?”
Suddenly faster than any of them could blink… 
“Whoa, what the…”
… the creature dash forward and impacted into them sending them soaring in the air and back onto the palace grounds. It continued forward at a high speed velocity and broke through the front entrance doors shattering them to pieces.
“Attention all units,” one of the guards shouted out loud towards the castle, “there a strong, fast-moving intruder inside of the castle; stop it all cost! This is not a drill!”
The guards outside that were bowled over were getting themselves together to see if they were all alright. Broach went to his partner and asked in concern, “Are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine, sir, but… what was that thing; it moved faster than any of us could react!”
“If you can still fly straight,” commanded Broach, “prove your loyalty and send word out to the Princess, now!”
“Aye aye, sir!”
As the young solider raced up into the skies to fulfill his duty, Broach watched from the ground and then looked back at the castle as he heard many loud sounds coming from it.
“On this night of all nights why is this sort of thing happening?!”

-----

Inside the castle, the fast moving, mysterious creature broke through the inside defenses with ease taking out any one in its way. They were all either injured by its deadly claws or knocked into the air by its speeding body. No one could stop it.
One of the guards noticed that the intruder was going down a certain corridor, “I-i-it seems that whatever that thing is… it’s headed to the l-lower level of the castle, near the… oh no; w-w-we can’t let it get through!”
No one could still stop the creature’s ongoing rampage, but pretty soon it got to a pair of metal doors in which its true target lied behind. However, waiting for it were a small battalion of soldiers along with the Captain of the Royal Guards, Shining Armor. The mysterious creature stopped in its tracks and was leering and studying the young stallion as he was staring back.
“Stop right there; this is as far as you go!”
Shining wasn’t quite sure what the creature could have been, but that was of no importance to him.
“Whoever you are, my name is Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guards! We don’t know why you are causing such a disturbance, but we also don’t really care… you’re not getting past these doors!”
The creature was done studying this group of ponies as it started to make these weird humming sounds that made Shinning feel uneasy. Its eyes glowed brighter and a strange glow was coming from its chest. The louder the humming sound got the brighter glow got as well. 
“Target in range,” the weird creature spoke as it continued to face the group of ponies.
Shinning finally knew what was happening as he told his group, “Get behind me, now!”
Just as they did, the creature fired a huge massive beam from its chest, and Shinning casted a huge defensive spell. The beam connected and Shinning was already struggling against it trying to keep his defenses up.
“Ugh… such power; what in the world is this creature?”
Shinning was holding out okay, but unfortunately the creature’s power was proving to him to be more massively strong and his defense spell was already starting to crack. 
“Sweet mother of…”
Some of the ponies there with him who were also unicorns tried to help strengthen his defenses, but it still wasn’t enough as the spell cracked more and more; and then eventually the beam went right through…
“I’m sorry… Celestia,” is what Shinning thought before the beam nearly missed him and his group but then were knocked out by the huge explosion behind them that shattered the metal doors completely. The strange creature then proceeded onward through the doorway with its eyes fixated on its single goal.

-----

Down in the deepest part in the castle in the dungeons, a single prisoner was kept watch 24/7 serving his many years sentence for his attempt of overthrowing Celestia and taking over Equestria. Just a few moments ago, the guards presently securing the prisoner’s cell had left to deal with the huge threat that was storming the castle and headed in their direction.
“What the heck is going on out there,” the prisoner thought to himself, “Is the castle under attack or something; just my luck.”
Suddenly he noticed some guards fending off something down the cell corridor as he was watching very closely.
“Stop it, don’t let it… augh!”
The guards were suddenly knocked back and unconscious by a huge explosion that literally shook the underground dungeon.
“What in blue blazes…”
If it was at all possible, the prisoner felt a slight ease of fear as the intruder was slowly emerging from the smoke and rubble and was headed right toward him with its sharp claws and glowing red eyes. If it took out all of the guards in the castle, he could only imagine what it could do to him. 	
“What… is that thing?” he wondered to himself.
He backed away a few inches as the creature suddenly stopped in front of his cell and turned its gaze at him and then spoke in an animatronics voice.	
“Are you the organic life form known as Solar Dusk?”
The prisoner was now suddenly being cautious and curious as he stepped closer to the creature that was waiting for a response.
“Y-yes… that is me; who are you?”
“My identity is irrevalent at the moment. I am here with a strong proposition for you.”
To Solar, this creature seemed to be quite menacing and brilliantly impressive overall; and since it wasn’t here to kill him, his mind became even more curious of what this moment had brought him.
“Hmph, I’m listening.”
“I am here from another dimensional world on a special mission… to retrieve you. My creator, the greatest scientific genius in his world, has become quite fond of what you’ve accomplished and is interested in your ability. He wishes for you to join him and help assist him in his goal for world conquest.”
Some other evil genius fond of his work, and a vision for world conquest; Solar Dusk was liking the sound of this opportunity already. However, he wasn’t quick to judge.
“Sound promising,” he said with a slight smile, “but… what’s in it for me?”
“Your freedom for starters,” the creature responded, “plus a chance to gain revenge on those who have wronged you.”
“A third chance for revenge, huh? I like it, a chance to finally show my brilliance to the world, and to knock Celestia off her pedestal.”
While fantasizing to himself, something curiously came to Solar’s thoughts as he asked the creature, “Wait… you said that you were from another world, right?”
“Affirmative,” the creature responded.
“If that’s the case, you wouldn’t happen to know a little rabbit girl in a red dress with some tiny blue creature, would you?”
The strange creature made some weird machinery sounds from within itself, and then a holographic image of the very two creatures Solar suggested appeared from its lit up chest.
“Are these the organic creatures that you have requested,” the creature asked.
Solar’s eyes went wide in shock and couldn’t believe that the creature got it right, “Yes, y-yes, that’s them; they’re the ones!” But then his eyes narrowed down while looking at the holographic image remembering what had happened to him, “Those inferior, ungrateful creatures; they completely humiliated me! Those two along with some others from this world have ruined my plans and obliterated all of my life long work! I can’t wait to deal a huge traumatic toll on all of them… especially that rabbit girl.”
“So…” the creature spoke, “do we have a deal?”
On one hoof, Solar didn’t like the fact that he had to be rescued from the situation he was in since the collar Celestia gave him hindered him from using his magic or even take it off. But on the other hoof, teaming up with another evil genius could be the very big break that he needed to finally achieve his own personal goals.
A menacing grin appeared on Solar’s face as he looked back the strange creature and nodded his head in agreement, “This kind of chance is exactly what I’ve been waiting for; I’m in.”


> Chapter 1: Preparing for Adventure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Inside a cute little cottage near a deep dark forest within the land of Ponyville, a young Pegasus named Fluttershy was fast asleep in her own bed with her rabbit friend, Angel sleeping right beside her. But soon the sun began to rise, and its rays started to shine through the windows and into the eyes of the young mare. Her eyes began to flutter open, and then she stretched her hooves up in the air, followed by a yawn. She smiled as she welcomed the new day.
“Ah, it’s another wonderful day. No wild adventures, no major troubles… and absolutely no worries.”
She looked down and lightly rubbed her hoof against Angel’s cheek to politely wake him up, “Wake up angel; breakfast time.”
As Fluttershy climbed out of her bed, Angel had a good stretch and yawn himself. He watched as Fluttershy began to walk out the room door and headed downstairs; but since she didn’t notice him not following behind her, he had something else that he wanted to do first that morning.
Downstairs, Fluttershy opened the entrance door of her cottage, and many little animals ran in and gathered together to be fed.
“Alright sweeties,” said Fluttershy as the animals rushed in, “no need to rush.”
She went to her kitchen to get food and supplies that she needed to feed her animal friends, “Here we are, time to eat.” It always brings a smile to Fluttershy’s face when she sees them being happy to see her and they are always so eager to spend time with her.
Group by group she began to feed them all, “Some for the birdies, some for the mice and chipmunks, some for the lizards, and I can’t forget the cute little bunnies.”
Fluttershy really loved bunnies because they always reminded her of her bunny friend, Angel whom she cared for very much; but she always tried to not pick favorites, “And speaking of bunnies; Angel, I made your favorite, Carrot Salad Supreme! It’s my only thanks for helping me out so much yesterday!”
She looked all around the room, but for some reason she couldn’t see Angel anywhere. It was quite strange to her; she could’ve sworn that Angel was right behind her when she left the bedroom, and Angel never turns down her special Carrot Salad Supreme.
“Angel, Angel where are you?!” she called worryingly, “Now where did that little troublemaker go to?”
While her animal friends were all chowing down, Fluttershy went back upstairs to see if maybe Angel was still asleep. But she got there, he was definitely wide awake, but he was holding something close to him lightly rubbing it against his cheek. It was a little flower crown that was given to Fluttershy from a certain special friend that Angel liked and missed very much.
“Angel,” Fluttershy shouted, “Angel, be careful with that; it’s very delicate!”
Angel quickly dropped the crown and slowly turned around to the yellow Pegasus and gave a nervous smile. Fluttershy looked at the crown herself and saw that it wasn’t damaged. But she figured that she couldn’t be too careful.
“Oh Angel,” she said, “You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?”
Angel lowered his head in shame and slowly nodded. Fluttershy giggled a bit and raised him up in her hooves to comfort him, “I know that you miss her, I miss her too; but she couldn’t stay here. She had to go back to her friends and family and…” 
Angel suddenly lifted his head and gave Fluttershy a little boredom glare. 
“Oh right, I have said the same thing for the past 3 months, haven’t I? W-w-well, it’s the truth, and this flower crown is all we have to remember her by!”
Angel knew he couldn’t fight Fluttershy about this fact, he knew that she was right. He kept waving his paw at the crown trying to reach it, even thought he knew he couldn’t.
“Come on, cheer up;” said Fluttershy as she set Angel down on the floor, “Come eat and it will make you feel better.”
Angel just slightly turned away and folded his arms in protest; but Fluttershy was used to this.
“Do it for me?”
Angel looked at her again feeling a little sorry and then he just sighed and nodded. He then walked out of the room with Fluttershy leaving the crown behind. Heading towards downstairs, Fluttershy looked at Angel while thinking to herself of how he really felt.
“Poor Angel, he’s become very lovesick for our friend, Cream ever since she left back to her world 3 months ago. However, I really hope that we’ll soon figure out a way to see her again and maybe meet her friends as well.”
Once they got back downstaris where the other animals were still eating, Angel took one look at his dish and his eyes filled with hearts as dashed at it began chowing down upon it. Fluttershy was a bit flustered, but she just smiled knowing that his mind was no longer on Cream anymore at the moment.
“There you go;” she said happily, “See, nothing like eating your favorite dish to wash your troubles away.”
Once all of that was taken care of, Fluttershy headed for the door to care of her animal friends outside, “And now for the others.”
But when she opened the door, she was suddenly startled by an unexpected visitor that was standing right on her doorstep.
"Ahhhh! Oh, Twilight, or should I say Princess Twilight."
Twilight herself seemed pretty relieved to see her too, "Thank goodness you're up already too, Fluttershy... and please, just Twilight is fine."
"Oh, okay; I guess I'm still getting used to you being a princess and all; and after your little trip in that weird world... I'm still wigging out about it."
Twilight knew what she meant, but the only thing was that Fluttershy wasn’t there to experience it with her. However, because of her business being at Fluttershy’s, she was trying to get it out of her head, "Well... forget about that, Celestia needs us!"
"What, j-just you and me?"
"Nope, all of us."
Twilight moved to the side of Fluttershy, and she could see the rest of her main friends outside waiting for her as well; she became quite shocked.
"Morning, Fluttershy!" shouted Pinkie Pie while waving at her.
"Oh my,” said Fluttershy, “this must be serious."
"Oh it's very serious,” said Pinkie excitedly, “or… at least I think it is. If somepony said it, I probably wasn't paying attention."
"It better be something serious,” Rarity scoffed, “Only the survival of Equestria would get me up this early... and maybe an early-bird special at the spa."
This was definitely short-notice for Fluttershy, she didn’t even finished feeding her animal friends. But whatever Celestia wanted to see them for couldn’t wait, it was important; but she knew just who to turn to.
"Um... Angel?”
Angel heard the concerned tone in Fluttershy’s voice and immediately came over to her to see what she needed, “Angel, I'm afraid that I have something really important to do. Do you think that you can finish helping everyone else here while I’m gone for the moment?"
Angel understood her reasons and nodded. He’s helped her out in situations like this before and he knew that he could do it again.
"That's a good Angel,” cooed Fluttershy as she petted Angel on the head, “I knew I could count on you."
"Come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted, “we're burning daylight!"
Applejack leered at her for yelling so loud so early in the morning, "It's morning, Rainbow, don't rush her."
After making sure that everything was in order, Fluttershy rushed over to her friends ready to go wherever they were going… which made her partially nervous.
"I'm ready, so... where is Princess Celestia?"
"She's still in Canterlot,” Twilight responded, “She's waiting for us to meet her. Oh, and Spike is there as well."
"What?!" all of her friends shouted.
"If this is such an emergency,” Rainbow protested, “how does her majesty expect us to get there on such short notice?"
“Not to worry,” said Twilight as held up a small shining crystal, “Celestia gave me this transport crystal. It can only be used once though, but it can transport you anywhere you want; if you have magic that is.”
“Ooh, shiny!” said Pinkie as she admired the crystal.
“Pretty impressive, Twilight,” said Applejack, “You Alicorns get all the good stuff.”
The thought of being transported physically to another town made Fluttershy feel uneasy, so she tried to make an excuse as she slowly headed back to her cottage.
“Um… you know, maybe I should check inside my place right quick to see if everyone is okay.”
Applejack grabbed Fluttershy by the tail with her mouth and dragged her back to the others, “C’mon, Fluttershy.”
“Eeep.”
“Hang on, girls!” shouted Twilight as she held up the crystal above them all with her magic. And then there was a bright that shined over them; and in a nano-second, the six friends disappeared and was en-route to Canterlot.

-----

Just like that in a flash, Twilight and her friends vanished from Fluttershy’s place in Ponyville all the way to stair entrance of Celestia’s palace in Canterlot. They were all a little shaken up, but everyone seemed to be in one piece; and poor Fluttershy felt a little stiff from fright.
“Well… that was a little nerve-wrecking,” said Rarity in a trembling tone.
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie started to scream out loud as wailed out on the ground, “Ahh; my leg, I’m missing a leg! Ahhhhhh!!!”
They all saw what looked like a missing appendage on Pinkie’s front and they all started to scream and freak out themselves. Even Twilight was freaking out a little seeing that it might have been her fault. But then, Pinkie smiled as slowly raised up her missing hoof from her underside and laughed from her wonderful prank.
“Hee hee, gotcha, ponies!”
“Heh, nice one, Pinkie,” said Rainbow Dash, “you almost had all of us fooled… almost.”
Poor Fluttershy was lying on the ground shaking in slight terror from Pinkie’s prank.
“Calm down, Fluttershy,” said Applejack with a nervous smile, “it was just a prank.”
“And a very frightening one at that,” Fluttershy responded.
Just then, their spirits were heighten once again as they all hear someone call out to them, “Twilight, you’re here; you’re all here!”
It was Twilight’s assistant, Spike, running down the palace stairs at a fast pace towards them. He gave Twilight a hug and she returned one back.
“Hey, Spike, where’s Princess Celestia?”
“She’s inside the palace,” he responded, “but… I have to warn you, it’s a bit nasty in there.”
“Nasty how?”
“Follow me and see for yourself.”
As they all walked up the steps toward the entrance doors, they looked all around and noticed that there was no one outside the palace; as far as they could see anyway.
“Everything thing seems okie doki to me,” said Pinkie.
“Yeah, it does,” said Spike, “… until you go in.”
Once they got to the doors, Twilight opened them; and what they saw inside shocked them all. It was a complete wreck; there was a total mess everywhere and cracks and hole appeared all over the walls. Plus, they saw all the wounded guards being treated in the halls and some of them were not even unconscious yet; and that was just what they saw in front of them.
“What in Celestia’s name happened here?!” shouted Applejack
“It’s like a storm blew up in here!” added Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie looked up and noticed all of the glass-stained windows weren’t even damaged, “At least all of the windows are still intact; they’re so pretty!”
Twilight couldn’t believe it; she hadn’t seen the palace in such bad shape since the Changeling invasion… except the shape it was in now is much worse.
“Who or what c-could have done this?!” questioned Twilight in slight terror, “There are so many wounded guards in here, and there’s shattered property everywhere!” 
Spike nodded and looked up at Twilight, “Told ya that it was a bit nasty in here.”
“Twilight?!” yelled out a familiar voice nearby; and Twilight knew it all too well.
“Br… Brother?”
Twilight and her friends quickly turned around only to see Twilight’s brother, Shinning Armor, wearing bandages all around different parts of his body and was carefully being supported by other guards. When he was close enough, he slowly gave his sister a hug of comfort.
“Oh Twily, am I glad to see you. How’s the new princess?”
“Oh my gosh, Shinning,” Twilight yelled in panic, “What happened to you; and why is there wounded guards everywhere in here; and why is the palace in such bad shape?!”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine; and the good thing is that we didn’t lose anypony. But Princess Celestia is down in the lower dungeon area waiting for you, along with Princess Luna. They’ll explain everything that happened here.”
“But what about you?” Twilight asked.
“I’m on my way to the Crystal Kingdom; Cadence can help heal my wounds seeing that my horn is a little damaged as well.”
Twilight could easily see the slight wear on Shinning‘s horn; whatever they were up against must have been truly strong.
“Don’t worry about me, Twily; just be brave. I know that you and your friends can stop this new threat.”
After that, Shinning was carried off as Twilight was watching him go. She had a bit of tears in her eyes, but she did her best to keep them in.
“Are ya gonna be alright, Twilight?” asked Applejack.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine; but I have a bad feeling about this whole ordeal.”
Twilight’s friends weren’t so sure about dealing with whatever caused this devastation, but they knew that the safety of Equestria was riding on them, so they must not be frighten of the road ahead.
“Well,” said Rainbow Dash, “let’s not keep them waiting.”
“Well, so much for that;” thought Fluttershy to herself, “and I was really looking forward for a nice and relaxing day.”

-----

After walking through the path of destruction inside the castle, Twilight and her friends finally reached the broken doorway that led to the dungeon. They proceeded forward down the stairs into the dark depths of the dungeon. The mares held in their courage and went on with caution.
"Creepy dungeon,” said Pinkie shockingly, “I had no idea that Princess Celestia would have something like this down here."
"Really,” said Rainbow Dash, “you're surprised about that?"
The ponies finally got to the bottom and came to a cave corridor filled with multiple cells where they spotted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
"There they are!" shouted Spike.
However, the cell halls down there were in the same shape as the palace itself was. There were more wounded guards there being treated and broken pieces of rock and stone were lying everywhere.
"Twilight Sparkle,” said Celestia as she spotted her company, “you made it, as well as the rest of you."
"We're here and ready to serve, yer highness,” said Applejack as they all bowed to the two alicorns.
"So what's the emergency?” asked Twilight in a rush, “I assume that it has something to do with what happened in the palace... and in here?"
Celestia and Luna looked at each other with troubled expressions on their faces as they gathered up the will to break the truth to them.
"Yes,” Celestia responded to Twilight, “but I'm afraid that the situation is worse than that."
"Wait, did you just say worse?” said Rainbow Dash, “What could be worse than all of this?!"
“Take a look at this,” said Luna pointing their attention to a destroyed cell, “This once housed one of Equestria’s most dangerous criminals. Thou was defeated and captured thanks to Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and a couple of unusual inter-dimensional beings, if thou can remember.”
“Wait,” said Twilight, “you mean in this very cell you held… Solar Dusk?”
“That’s right, and I’m afraid to say that… he has escaped.”
All six mares suddenly gasped in shocked from this news, but no one was freaking out more than Fluttershy. She remembers what she and their inter-dimensional friends, Cream and Cheese had to go through just to take him down; the very thought of him being on the loose again made her heart beat heavily against her chest and she felt like she was hyperventilating inside.
“Solar Dusk has escaped?!” shouted Twilight, “The pony who had the means of taking over all of Equestria through mind-control crystals has escaped!!!?”
“Come on, Twilight,” said Spike, “calm down.”
“I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!!!”
“It is true that Solar Dusk has escaped,” said Celestia, “but he didn’t do it alone; he had help.”
Pinkie suddenly raised her hoof up wildly like she was on a game show, “Um… would this help that Solar had be the one who cause all of this destruction from in here and from above?!”
“That is correct, Pinkie,” Luna responded, “Whatever creature this invader was, it’s mostly unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. As you’ve all realized already walking through this palace, all the soildiers here have been badly injured by this monster; none of them were able to stop it.”
“Well…” said Spike with a sudden chill going down his spine, “that seems comforting.”
Twilight and the others felt frighten too, but nothing like that was going to stop them now.
“Is there any prediction of what the unknown creature looked like?” asked Twilight.
“None of the guards said that they knew what it looked like;” said Celestia, “they all claim that it was too fast. However, Twilight, your brother and his group had the closest view of it and claimed that the creature resembled to look like some sort of hedgehog; a blue one to be exact.”
“Really, a rodent with spines did all this?” said Rarity in baffled tone, “that seems highly unlikely.”
While the others were confused of Celestia’s statement, Fluttershy was pondering on it. Somehow, something about it sounded familiar to her.
“Blue… hedgehog? Now where did I hear that before?”
“If it’s just a super-fast hedgehog,” Rainbow stated, “I could stop it myself, no problem!”
Applejack leered at her while giving her a sarcastic smile, “Yeah, as if you could stop something that took out the entire Royal Guard all by yourself.”
“I don’t know, maybe I could.”
Suddenly, Fluttershy gasped as her thoughts finally came to light; she remembered what she was thinking about, “Blue hedgehog; now I remember!”
Everyone stared at Fluttershy feeling a bit startled from her sudden outburst, it seemed like she knew something.
“Remember what?” asked Spike while scratching his head.
“Is there something that you know about this, Fluttershy?” Celestia questioned. 
Fluttershy shied back a bit from everyone’s eyes staring at her, but she answered anyway, “I… I-I-I remember when my two new friends, Cream and Cheese came from their world to ours. When I first met them and invited them inside my cottage for tea, Cream told me all about her world and the many adventures that she had there with her own friends; and I recall her mentioning one of her friends being a blue hedgehog, named Sonic. He’s like the savior of their world and he always fights for justice.”
“Oh yeah,” said Twilight as she remembered too, “I remember hearing that from her too when you came to my place that certain day. But… why would someone like that do something so… horrible and destructive like this?”
Suddenly, Pinkie smiled as she had a random idea, “Ooh, maybe somehow he turned evil for some unknown reason and now he only lives for destruction! But… that’s just a hunch.”
“Or…” said Rarity awkwardly, “perhaps he has an evil look-alike double in that world that mimics him and makes him look bad; or something like that.”
“Now that makes a lot more sense,” said Applejack.
Pinkie made a pouted face for having her idea ignored, “Hey, my idea made sense!”
“Well that’s weird,” wondered Fluttershy, “Cream didn’t mention anything about an evil double.” 
“Enough trying to figure out who this creature is,” Rainbow protested, “how are we going to find and stop that pony maniac?”
“Rainbow is right,” Twilight agreed, “and besides, how can we be sure that Solar even went to Cream’s world anyway?” Twilight turned to Celestia and stated, “You mentioned that there is possibly countless numbers of different dimensional worlds out there!”
“Yes… she has,” said Luna, “but we have a solution to thy question.”

-----	

With Celestia out on royal business at night and us patrolling the night, we were the ones who was closest when the incident occurred. One of Celestia’s guards came to us and was in quite a frazzled panic as he explained to us of what was going on. We hurried there to the palace as soon as we could, but… we were already too late.
“You mean… you didn’t stop them?!” shouted Spike
We… almost did. When we got there, the cell was already busted through and Solar Dusk stood before us sporting a malicious smile… with his control collar off. We knew that he was no match for our power and we weren’t planning on allowing him escape. Unfortunately, when we fired our power at him, the unknown creature that we finally saw with our own eyes suddenly shielded Solar repelling my attack with a strange blue gem; a gem that seemed very familiar.
“A Chaos Emerald!” shouted Fluttershy.
Yes… that’s what it was, and what a powerful gem it was. After nearly dodging our own magic, the creature used the emerald to suddenly vanish into thin air making its escape with Solar Dusk. The last words we heard that traitor say was…
‘Farewell, Princess of the night! Tell your sister that the next time you all see me, revenge will finally be mine!’

-----

After Luna’s explanation, were finally aware of just what she saw, and they weren’t happy at all. But with Fluttershy, she was just downright frightened to the bone.
“This isn’t good,” said Twilight worryingly while pacing back and forth, “A single one of those Emeralds was able to repel Luna’s magic… at night, when she’s more powerful! I hate to imagine what would happen if Solar manages to get his hooves on all 7 of them!”
“We’d be screwed?” Pinkie responded.
“Completely doomed is more like it,” added Rainbow Dash.
Nothing mattered to Twilight not; well… not nothing, but she knew that what was going on needed immediate action and it had to be done soon, “So we need to figure out how to get to that world, find Solar Dusk, and stop from developing his revenge plan… whatever it is.”
“Sounds about right,” Applejack agreed.
“Uh hello,” Spike suddenly said, “don’t you ponies remember?! Just sending that Cream girl through a portal back to her world took the emerald that she had and the others, plus the power of all the Elements; and even Celestia here had to use some of her magic to help. I didn’t do anything, but I could tell that it must have been very exhausting.”
The other ponies knew that Spike was right; they remembered that it did take a lot out of them to send Cream back and of how woozy they felt afterwards.
“That’s right;” said Twilight, “without a single emerald to bring in the other ones to us, there’s no way we can open a portal to that world; it’s hopeless!”
“Not necessarily,” said Luna with a hidden smirk.
Twilight and the others looked over at Luna suspiciously, even her big sister, Celestia; it seemed that she had a back-up plan.
“Is there something that you did, little sister?”
“When Solar Dusk and the unknown creature disappeared, we notice there was some energy residue in the air left over from the gem. We simply used a containment spell to contain the residue energy in this little vile. With the help of my sister of course, we are certain that we can use this to figure out an effective way to open a portal to that world.”
It seemed that Luna might have finally solved their problem, but the only problem now was if she would be able to make it work.
“That… is… awesome,” said Rainbow excitedly, “You rock, Princess!” 
“Well then, Ah guess we’re all going on a little adventure;” said Applejack with a smirk, “Sounds like a good time.”
Rarity was being a drama queen as usual, “Oh dear, I must get ready… going to another world and all. What will I bring; what will I wear?”
Twilight walked over to Celestia prepared to make an oath of success to her, “Princess, as the newly found Princess of Friendship, I promise that this mission will not fail; Solar will not escape.”
“I have faith in you and your friends, Twilight,” Celestia responded, “I know that will succeed.”
Twilight bowed to her and raised her wings with pride, “We won’t let you down.”
Everyone suddenly turned to Fluttershy who was mostly quiet during the whole conversation. Obviously she had something to say about what was happening.
“What do you have to say about this, Fluttershy?” said Pinkie jumping around her, “Come on, tell us, tell us, tell us tell us tell us, tell us!”
She thought about it, allowing her feelings to sink in and finally answered in the best way that she could, “W-well… to be honest, normally I would be mostly shaking in my hooves right about now and probably making excuses to get myself out of it.”
“Yep, that does sound like you,” said Pinkie happily.
“Pinkie,” said Rarity.
“What, she said it.”
“But… none of you saw the terrified look on Cream’s face when Solar made her lose hope. At one point when we were captured by him, she was so scared that she would never see her home, her friends, or her mother anymore; and that she lost her friend, Cheese forever.” Fluttershy’s eyes were filling up with tears telling them this remembering just how bad that moment was, “I never… ever… want to see that look on her face ever again.” She then suddenly got herself together and wiped away her tears showing a straight, determined face, “So if we’re going to go stop that tyrant, then count me in!”
“Wow, Fluttershy,” said Twilight feeling surprised, “I didn’t know you were going to be so serious about this.”
“Of course I’m serious, that pony is a big meanie and I won’t stand for it. Plus, different world or not Cream and Cheese are still our friends and we should help her world out as much as we can!”
All of Fluttershy’s friends agreed and were all looking forward to embark on a new unknown adventure in a brand new world.
“Yay,” shouted Pinkie, “all aboard to… um, whatever that world is!”
“Well, we have everything handled here,” said Celestia as she saw them all off, “you girls go enjoy the rest of this day and rest up properly; I’m sure you’ll all need it.”

-----

Princess Celestia allowed Twilight and her friends to use another transport crystal to quickly get back home safely. Once there, they were planning to get themselves together and make any preperations necessary to prepare for the upcoming mission.  
“Alright, we’re journeying to another world,” shouted Spike excitedly, “I’m so psyched!”
Twilight looked down at him suspiciously with an arched eyebrow, “And makes you think that you’re going mister?”
“Because I’m your assistant; and as an official Princess, I need to be with you for as long as I can. You need me and you know it.”
“Very well,” Twilight chuckle, “but I was going to let you go anyway.”
Applejack was the first to depart from the group headed towards her home at Sweet Apple Acres, “Well, see ya girls later; need to fill in Big Mac and the others about our situation.”
“Same with me and the Cakes;” said Pinkie as she was hopping towards Sugar Cube Corner, “I know they’re going to miss me.”
“I seriously need to prepare as well,” said Rarity as she pranced away, “you never know what you may need in that unknown world. I’ve got so much to do!”
“Well I need to go and stretch out my wings,” said Rainbow Dash, “I’m going to need them to be good and ready for the adventure ahead!” And like that she zoomed off in the distance.
Twilight looked over at Fluttershy who was already walking off to her cottage without saying a word and called out, “What are you going to do, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, just the usual, nothing much; but hey, I’m really looking forward to	seeing Cream again. It almost seems like forever since she left.”
“About 3 months to be exact,” Twilight corrected 
Fluttershy waved to Twilight and went her way back to her cottage. She then got Spike’s attention to come with her, “Come on, Spike, time to study up on some useful spells.”
Spike smiled but then sighed under his breath, “Well, there goes my day off.”

-----

When Fluttershy got back to her cottage she noticed that everything was still in place and intact. She calmly went forward as many different animals were still eating and some were done and were following her to her cottage. When she opened the door, in the middle of the floor completely exhausted was Angel. He looked over at her and was relieved that she was back; and Fluttershy smiled as she went over to him and scooped him up in her hooves.
“Wow, you’ve worked really hard here, Angel; you handled things here much better than I thought.”
Angel faintly smiled and sighed out of exhaustion; he was partially glad that he was able to make her glad, but the other part never wanted to do that ever again. But… just wait until he finds out what happens next.
“I’ll make sure to reward you later, I promise; but first… guess what, I have exciting news!”

-----

Meanwhile in another world…

The villainous pony, Solar Dusk found himself suddenly in new surroundings. The mysterious creature that helped him escaped had ordered him follow as it trailed along the ground. Being surrounded by new territory annoyed Solar a bit not knowing where he was going, but at the same time he was quite intruiged of how different this world was apart from his own.
Finally at some point, he heard the creature speak…
“We are here.”
Solar Dusk was face to face to a gigantic metallic fortress that looked almost about a mile wide. There were robots everywhere, cannon and rocket pads as far as the eye could see, and the huge metal entrance that sported a very weird structural face ornament.
“This place looks insane; so dangerously crafted with highly secured surroundings; a giant fortress that no one could possibly penetrate through… I’m impressed.”
“This entire fortress was created from the brilliant mind of Dr. Eggman himself.”
That was the first time Solar heard the name of the one he would soon meet, “Ah, so that’s his name; Eggman, huh?”
As the creature led him towards the fortress, it spoke again, “Soon you will come face to face with one with a mind of perfection; he will tell you everything you need to know, and then…”
“Revenge will be mine at last.”
	
> Chapter 2: Enter MOBIUS
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Note): The Elements of Harmony are present in this story, but do note that this story is set before the events of the season 4 premiere.





Late the following night in the Royal Observatory in Canterlot…


"You wished to see me, Luna?" said Celestia with a yawn as she entered inside.
"Yes, big sister; please, thou must look at this."
Celestia walked over to her sister who was overlooking an unknown object on a table that was covered in a small piece of cloth. "We've been analyzing over the energy sample that thy foul creature left behind. With the help of some of our royal specialists, we ran a few test and gained some rather... interesting results."
Celestia looked around and suddenly saw some small wreckage and damage done to the Observatory, "I can see what you mean."
"It is a risky process seeing that we have no familiar knowledge of the power source in which the energy came from. However, one test proved to be useful; and because of it, we were able to come up... with this."
Luna used her magic to lift the cloth off the object, and what Celestia saw underneath shocked her completely. "N... no way, is that..."
"Yes it is, but at the same time it’s not. Although, with the right amount of power, this thing can definitely bring Twilight and the others to that other world. We can transfer enough power in it ourselves in enough time, but we figured that we could use your help to try and perfect it; that is... if thou are up to it."
It was late in the night, but it didn’t matter to Celestia. After another huge yawn, Celestia agreed, "Of course I'll help; Twilight and her friends must get to that world as soon as possible. We cannot afford to waste any more time."
Luna showed a little smirk and nodded her head, "Then let us begin."

-----

After the day’s sunrise, Twilight and Spike received a letter from the two royal sisters saying that their plan was officially successful. With the excited news heard, Twilight informed the rest of her friends to meet her at the library at 10am sharp They knew what was at stake so they all did their best that morning to prepare for the upcoming adventure that they were obviously going to have.
For Fluttershy, she knew that she needed to find someone that she knew very well to fill in her job and look over her animal friends and make sure to take care of them while she was gone; and she knew just the pony to ask.
"Thank you so much for doing this for me, Carrot Top; I figured that if there was any pony that was 2nd to me being good with animals, it would be you."
Carrot Top was a dear friend to Fluttershy and always helped her out in ways that her other friends couldn’t; and after hearing what Fluttershy and her other friends were preparing for, Carrot Top didn’t wish to deny her request.
"No worries, Fluttershy, I'm more than happy to help. I've gained a good enough bond with most of these animals, just not as well as you; but I'll manage."
Carrot Top suddenly saw Angel about to head out the door and quickly grabbed him with her mouth, and Angel angrily wiggling trying to get loose. 
"Sorry, Angel, I’m afraid that you have to stay here with me. But don't worry, she'll be back before you know it."
"It’s okay,” said Fluttershy, “he is coming with me."
Carrot Top looked at her feeling confused after letting go of Angel, "Oh; but how come?"
"Let's just say that there's a certain friend that he really can't wait to see again."
"Oh yeah, that rabbit friend of yours from another world; Cream was it?"
Fluttershy nodded and patted Angel on the head as he hopped on her shoulder, "She really means a lot to him and this is the perfect opportunity for him to pay her a visit."
After grabbing a small hand bag, Fluttershy and Angel walked out of the cottage as Carrot Top waved good-bye to them, "Well, you two have fun and make sure that our world is safe, okay?"
"We sure will,” Fluttershy responded, “and you make sure that you don't work yourself too hard."
Carrot Top gave her little mischievous smirk, "You don't know me too well, do you?"
"Well it was worth a try."

-----

After leaving Carrot Top at her cottage, Fluttershy and Angel made it to the main part of Ponyville and was headed straight towards the library tree where Twilight and her other friends would be waiting for her… if she was last to make it there.
“Isn’t this great, Angel, we finally get to see our friends, Cream and Cheese again; and they’ll be so happy to see us again too.”
Angel smiled and nodded his head; he was definitely happy to be able to see his sweet Cream again. His body was wiggling in happiness just thinking about it.
“Okay okay,” Fluttershy said awkwardly, “contain your excitement; you’ll pull something.”
After arriving to her destination, Fluttershy walked through door, “I’m here, and…” But as she did, she saw herself standing in front of a tall pile of suitcases that were leaning over her and was about to fall. 
“Oh dear.”
Fluttershy and Angel quickly dodged to the side as the giant pile came crashing down.
“Sorry about that, Fluttershy,” said Twilight as she approached the slightly shaking mare and bunny, “but some of us are preparing a bit too much for our trip.”
She was eying Rarity who was behind her with the others that were already here.
“Well excuse me,” said Rarity pompously, “but you can never be too prepared when traveling into an unknown world.”
“Supplies that can topple over on the ground so easily is being too prepared,” said Rainbow Dash.
Angel walked over to one of the package and kicked at it with frustration causing its contents to spill out.
“Ahh; careful with that,” shouted Rarity as she rushed over to gather her stuff, “you’ll get them all dirty.”
After Fluttershy got herself, she suddenly realized that she was the last one to arrive, “So… am I late?”
“Don’t be silly,” said Pinkie as she suddenly jumped up on Fluttershy’s back, “You’re right on time!” She pointed at the clock on the town’s clock tower, “See, it’s 10am on the dot; you’re not too late and you’re not too early, you’re perfectly on time!”
Pinkie looked down on the ground and saw Angel looking at her with a little scowl tapping his foot on the ground.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot that you’re coming with us to. I bet you’re just super, duper, extra excited to go to that other world, aren’t you; to spend time with your wittle girlfriend.”
“Um, Pinkie,” said Fluttershy nervously, “I don’t think he finds it funny.”
But Pinkie didn’t care; she just giggled as she hopped off of Fluttershy and got back in place with the others while still jumping up and down with excitement.
“Okay, now that we’re all here,” said Twilight while gathering some scrolls in a bag, “I’m guessing that there isn’t anything left for any of you to do before we go?”
None of Twilight’s friends answered; shaking their heads notifying that they were all ready. But suddenly, Fluttershy raised her hoof up in the air.
“What is it, Fluttershy?”
“Um… not that I’m protesting or trying to make a demand or anything, but… we’re not transporting back to Canterlot again… are we?”
“Oh no,” Rainbow Dash protested, “No no no no; I’m not going through that again!”
“That was one of the most shockin’ experiences Ah’ve ever had in mah life,” said Applejack.
“As well as mine,” Rarity agreed.
“I thought it was fun!” said Pinkie excitedly.
“Well I was still thinking about it, but then this morning I thought about it again, and… I have a better idea.”
Twilight suddenly led them outside at the back of the tree, and in front of them was golden chariot being pulled by 2 royal Pegasus guards.
“No way,” said Rainbow Dash, “you have your own chariot; awesome!”
“Well… no, this isn’t mine, but hopefully I will get my own one day.”
“Whatever; I know that I can already fly and all, but you are so lucky! Being a princess definitely has its perks.”
“Don’t forget the sucky chores,” groaned Spike, “but no pony said it would be easy.”
“Well, Ah’m definitely up for this chariot thang,” said Applejack, “so let’s get in already.”
Suddenly, Pinkie zipped by everyone and jumped in the front part of the chariot, “I call shotgun!”
Twilight looked behind her and saw Rarity trying to drag all of her luggage with her to the chariot. She went over to her and picked the bags up with her own magic.
“By the way, Rarity, I’ve already analyzed all of your bags;” she then separately pulled out two suitcases from the pile and placed them in front of Rarity, “and as Princess of Ponyville, I order you to take these two bags and nothing more.”
“Very well, Twilight,” Rarity sighed while picking up her two given suitcases, “but only because you’re a princess.”
She then looked back and said, “By the way, are you sure I can’t at least take the one with my special perfumes?”
Twilight just gave her a little glare, and Rarity just chuckled nervously, “Well it was worth a shot.”
“Do you wish to fly on your own, Princess?” asked one of the guards.
“Well flying around in Ponyville is hard enough for me, but flying all the way to Canterlot… I don’t think I’m ready for that challenge yet.”
Rainbow Dash flew up in the air feeling free, “Well I’ll fly there; easy peasy! Wanna join me Fluttershy?”
“N-no thank you,” said Fluttershy as she timidly sat down in the chariot, “I’ll just stay safe snuggled in here.”
“Okay, suit yourself.”
As everyone else got into the chariot, Pinkie was wiggling with excitement as she pointed her hoof forward. “Alllllllllllllllright; onward, ponies! A gigantic, unknown adventure awaits!”

-----

Princess Luna was standing outside the palace gates looking over Canterlot as her sister, Celestia continued to rest inside the palace. Eventually, she noticed the chariot in the distance approaching from Ponyville and gave one of the nearby guards an order.
“It seems that Twilight and the others are here. Please, inform thy sister for us.”
“Yes, your Highness,” the guard said with a bow and then raced off into the palace.
Luna continue to sit there at the front gates as the chariot made its way to its destination. She then greeted them as they touched the ground and the others were glad to see her.
“Welcome back;” said Luna, “we’re hoping that you are all prepared?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Applejack responded as she jumped out of the chariot, “so let git this show on the road!”
As the others came out of the chariot, Twilight looked around and noticed that someone was missing, “Wait… where’s Princess Celestia; is she alright?”
“Do not worry, for our sister will be joining us. It’s just that, she was willing to help us put the finishing touches to our plan to open the portal last night, so… she did not get the required amount of sleep. But she will be fine… we hope.”
There was a little troubling tone in her voice and the others realized it, but this was Celestia they were talking about; they knew that she would be fine.
“Ooh, I’m so excited!” shouted Pinkie as she bounced around her friends, “Just the thought of traveling to a new world and making new friends causes my mane and tail to get all tingly!” Suddenly, her mane and tail were vibrating constantly and caused all eyes to look at her awkwardly. “See?!”
“Meanwhile, outside Pinkie’s world…” said Spike.
Twilight and her friends soon gathered in front of Luna after thanking the guards that flew them there. Their unknown quest was about to go underway soon.
“All of you, please come;” commanded Luna, “your adventure is about to begin.”

-----

Twilight and her friends followed Luna back inside the castle, and they all went back down in the dark dungeon cave where their culprit escaped. There was still no sign of Celestia yet, but they were still counting on her to arrive soon enough.
“Well we’re back where we were yesterday,” said Pinkie; chuckling nervously, “… in the dark, creepy, sp-pooky dungeon. Why are we here again?”
Twilight explained to her, “It’s because Luna thinks that the best place to open the portal is to try and open it in the same place the energy particles were found.”
“Oh, makes sense.”
“Celestia sure is taking her time,” said Rainbow Dash feeling bored, “I know that she didn’t get all of her sleep, but… time is a wasting.”
Angel was standing beside Fluttershy feeling impatient; crossing his arms and tapping his foot repeatedly, he didn’t wish to waste any more time.
“Don’t worry Angel,” said Fluttershy smiling down at him, “she’ll be here soon; it’s only been 10 minutes.”
“Speaking of which,” said Pinkie suddenly, “here she comes now!”
They all turned towards the entrance of the dungeon and saw the shadow of Celestia approaching; and when she turned the corner, the ponies noticed that she didn’t seem fully alert and her mane was a mess. They never saw Celestia in such a pitiful state.
“Whoa, never did I thought that we would see Celestia with a terrible case of bed head-itus,” said Rarity.
“Morning, Princess Celestia,” said Twilight as Celestia approached them with a yawn, “we heard you didn’t get too much sleep last night.”
“Y-you are correct, Twilight,” said Celestia with a light smile while trying to keep herself awake, “but I’ll be fine. What’s more important is that you girls get to your destination.”
She then looked over at Fluttershy and Angel who appeared to be serious and totally focused. “I see you two are geared up and ready… as I expected.”
“Of course we are, Princess,” Fluttershy responded, “we need to get there as soon as we can and find Solar Dusk before he does something very bad; like he almost did 3 months ago.” Then Angel hopped onto Fluttershy’s head and did a little salute to the princess. “Plus, Angel wants to go see you know who.”
“Are we ready to do this, sister?” asked Luna, “And are you sure you can handle it at this moment?
Celestia nodded, “I have to be; go ahead and take it out.”
“Take what out?” questioned Twilight.
All of the ponies, plus Spike and Angel watched as Luna pulled out an object that was covered in a small cloth with her magic. When she lifted the cloth out of the way, what they saw underneath all together left them shocked, surprised, and totally speechless; well… almost.”
“Whoa, no way,” said Fluttershy with bright beady eyes, “that’s…”
“A chaos emerald?!” Pinkie suddenly shouted in shock.
Rarity was being drawn to its bright shine and glimmering appearance, “It looks so beautiful.”
The same could be said about Spike, “… and so delicious.”
However, Twilight held him back so another accident wouldn’t occur.
“It definitely looks like one, doesn’t it?” said Luna feeling impressed, “However, it is not; tis’ a fake.”
“A fake?!” everyone shouted at once.
“Yes, a fake chaos emerald; created through late-night research and our magic along with Celestia’s. While it made not be a real emerald, it has the same powerful wavelength, and its abilities are similar as well. In other words, it should be powerful enough to get you girls into the other world without any problem.”
“That is… really amazing,” said Twilight in awe, “To think that you could actually create something as powerful as that.”
“Well real or not, it definitely looks gorgeous,” said Rarity still gazing longingly at the jewel.
“However,” said Celestia, “I’m afraid to say that this fake emerald can only be used once. That means once you’re in the other world, you must find your own way back. Are you prepared for that?”
“Not a problem,” Twilight responded with confidence, “we can easily take care of that.”
Pinkie was suddenly getting antsy as her friends saw her jumping up and down in place, “Come on come on, open the portal already; I can hardly wait!”
“Well… shall we?” said Celestia to Luna.
Luna nodded and sat the emerald down on the ground. The two sisters then proceeded to stand on opposite ends of the jewel and raised their horns up high and they began to gather up magic.
“I’ll just… stand over here,” said Spike as he hid behind Twilight, “y-you know… just in case.”
The sisters’ eyes were brightening up with brilliant light, and the gem was rising up into the air giving off immense power. Twilight and her friends shielded their eyes as a familiar light from the emerald covered the whole prison corridor; it was almost too much to bear.
Once the light finally died down, Twilight and the others looked up and saw a giant portal that was floating in between the two sisters. There it was right in front them, the portal gateway to the other world.
“They have totally done it,” said Rainbow Dash, “mind blown!”
“Well, Angel, this is it,” said Fluttershy, “Are you ready?”
Angel didn’t have a second thought; he immediately shook his head vigorously.
“Oh, I’m still a little nervous,” said Spike still standing behind Twilight.
“What’s there to be nervous about?” shouted Rainbow Dash flapping her wings wildly, “Let’s ride this sucker like there’s no tomorrow!”
“I agree,” said Applejack tipping her hat, “Let’s do this thang!”
This was going a bit fast for all of them, but they knew that taking things slow wasn’t an option at this moment. But just when they were about to walk forward to the portal fully prepared, Celestia came to them carrying a box.
“Don’t forget about these.”
The box opened and they saw the content inside.
“Of course, the Elements of Harmony!” said Twilight, “Better safe than sorry I guess.”
“All of you, please be careful,” Celestia said worryingly, “Knowing Solar Dusk, there’s a small chance that he might be expecting you.”
“So what if he is?” Rainbow Dash protested, “If he thought that he had enough trouble with what he was up against at first, just wait until he deals with all of us!”
“Over confidence is never a good thing, Rainbow Dash,” said Luna, “but I have no doubt that you will all succeed. And it wouldn’t hurt to gain some allies there in the process; something tells me that you will need it.”
Angel and Fluttershy looked at each other remembering the stories of their rabbit friend, Cream, told them about, and they both showed a little smile.
“I think gaining allies in this world won’t be a problem,” said Fluttershy, “trust me.”
Angel nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Pinkie was finally becoming impatient and couldn’t wait any longer, “Enough of this, I’m going in!”
“Pinkie, wait!” shouted Twilight.
But it was too late, Pinkie immediately dived in head first and disappeared into the portal. Some were shocked, but some thought that it was high time that they go and fulfill their duty.
“Well,” Rainbow Dash said while shrugging her shoulders, “it’s now or never, girls!” And then she went in herself, followed by Applejack who didn’t hesitate to go in as well.
“They’re crazy,” shouted Spike while freaking out, “just jumping the gun like that! What if something terrible happened?!”
Suddenly, he saw Rarity carrying her bags while calmly walking to the portal herself. She looked at the rest of her friends and curiously said, “Well… any of you coming?”
Seeing Rarity being so brave, Spike blushed and quickly came from behind Twilight, “Um… c-c-coming, Rarity!”
Rarity then smiled as she walked into the portal and Spike was bravely following behind with hearts in his eyes.
Twilight just smiled as she rolled her eyes feeling amused. She looked back at the royal sisters and said with a salute, “Wish us luck.” And then she went through the portal.
Finally, Fluttershy and Angel approached the portal gathering their courage and staring on with determination. Focus on their main goal, Fluttershy spoke under her breath, “Look out, Solar Dusk, we’re coming for you.”
After Fluttershy and Angel went through the gate, the emerald powered down, and then the portal closed. Celestia and Luna released their magic from the emerald, and it dropped on the ground as it shattered into pieces, and its remains dissolving into thin air.
“It’s all up to them now,” Luna lamented, “there’s nothing else we can do to help from here.”
Luna suddenly looked over at her sister and saw her still yawning a bit from sleep deprivation. Worried about her, she suggested, “Perhaps, you should rest for a few more hours, sister; we’ll look over the kingdom for you.”
“That’s sounds like a good idea,” Celestia agreed.
Luna watched as her sister slowly walk out of the dungeon corridor and eventually transporting out of sight. Unknown of where Twilight and the others went and not knowing about what was happening in their present location, Luna could only hope that things will go in their favor.
“Good luck, Twilight Sparkle; may you and your friends please... return safely.”

-----

Around the same moment, in a different world…


A world much different than Equestria itself, filled with vibrant wildlife and unusual inhabitants, there was a single inhabitant inside a tropical forest being relaxed by the side of a flowing river. A giant purple cat had a trusty fishing rod in hand and its lure resting in the water. He was enjoying a wonderful day doing what he loves best while hanging out with his froggy friend.
“Today is a perfect day for fishing, wouldn’t you say, Froggy?”
‘Ribbit!’
His mind was always thinking about many things, but presently there was one thing plaguing his cranium. “Hmm… I wonder if anything interesting is going to happen today. After all, seeing that robot baddie of that mean ol’ Doctor Eggman roaming around in this forest last night was definitely something suspicious.”
There was also something else that he remembered from thinking so fluently, “And I wonder who that other guy that was with it was; probably not anyone nice either I bet. I just hope that I helped in some way by telling what I saw to Cream and then passing it on to Sonic and the others. That way I can continue fishing.”
He didn’t wish to get involved with whatever he thought he saw; he’d rather relax than to get into some kind of dangerous situation, “Hmm… but what if something really does happen, and it ruins our time together on this wonderful day? I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Just then, the cat received a huge surprise as a huge bright light was suddenly forming on the other side of the river making a huge high pitch noise that made him and his frog pal begin to panic.
“I think we spoke too soon, Froggy!”
‘Ribbit!’
He held on tight to his frog friend, but not too tight, as he prepared for whatever was about to form in front of them. But as the light died down, the cat heard some yells and screams of those he was not familiar with. He suddenly saw a bunch of figures fall out and pilled on each other before the light disappeared.
The curious cat tilted his head looking upon the strange creatures before him wondering who they could be. “Who do you suppose they are? They look like… ponies.”
It was Twilight and all her friends from the world of Equestria; they finally made it to their destination. However, most of them wished that the trip was a lot less nerve wrecking.
“Man, what a rough landin’,” groaned Applejack who mysteriously was on the bottom of the pile.
“Why can’t teleporting from place to place be a little less painful?” questioned Spike in pain, “My tail feels all cramped up.”
Suddenly, looking all around them, Pinkie shot out of the pile and was smiling brightly not believing what she was seeing, “Look, we did it, girls; we did it! We made it all the way to the other world… I-I think!”
As the others got up off the ground and shook themselves off, they realized that their surroundings didn’t seem familiar.
“It seems that we’re just in the middle of a forest,” said Rarity as she dusted herself off, “so how can we be so sure?”
“Well I don’t recognize our surroundings,” said Twilight, “so I’m guessing…”
Suddenly, the others heard Fluttershy voice tremble a bit as she looked behind them. “Um… g-guys, I think we’re being watched.”
They all turned around like Fluttershy, and on the other side of the river that they were stood the giant cat just standing there staring at them strongly, and it caught them by surprise.
“Whoa,” said Rainbow Dash, “that’s one big cat.”
Just then, the cat spoke to them, “Huh, how did you know my name?”
They all gasped and jumped back upon it speaking out plain words that they could understand.
“Oh my gosh, it can even talk!” Pinkie shouted.
With a slightly discontent expression, Rarity responded, “Well that answers my question.”
None of them weren’t quite sure how approach this strange looking cat; even Angel wasn’t so thrilled of having a cat that size staring straight at him. However, Fluttershy studied him for a few seconds, and then she smiled as she made a decision.
“I’m gonna go talk to him.”
Flutershy started to fly over towards the cat with Angel shaking on her back, but then she was held back by her tail being grabbed on by Rainbow Dash. “Whoa, hold on Fluttershy; are you sure about this?”
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy questioned.
“I-I mean… just look at him. A huge, oversized cat just standing there saying a few words; and the way it’s just staring at us so prolongly with those… weird, focused eyes; it’s just… creepy. I don’t trust him.”
Fluttershy just giggled under her breath, “Oh don’t be silly, Rainbow Dash. I can sense that this cat has a heart of gold and is very sweet; he’s not dangerous at all.”
Rainbow stayed behind with the others while Fluttershy flew to and landed in front of the giant cat showing a friendly expression. 
“Hello there, my name is Fluttershy. You said you’re name is Big, right?”
“Yeah, I’m Big,” the creature responded, “Big the Cat; and this here is my best friend Froggy.”
‘Ribbit’
“Aww, hello, Froggy,” Flutterhsy cooed as she bent down and patted the little frog; and Angel was staring strongly and crossing his arms out of slight jealousy.
“We were just fishing here until you and your friends came out of nowhere; you nearly scared us. But you all do look very pretty, and what a cute little bunny.”
Big reached over to pet Angel, but the small bunny got easily frighten by his big hand and back away from his reach; and seeing that he scared him, Big pulled his hand back.
Seeing how nice Big was, Fluttershy was enjoying having a small conversation with him. “That’s really nice of you to say, mister Big.”
“Ahem!” shouted Rainbow Dash from the other side of the river, “Um, Fluttershy, time is flying by. The info, please!”
“O-o-oh, right,” Fluttershy stuttered, “Um, sorry to cut this conversation short, but the truth is that we all came here from another world.”
“Hmm… another world?”
“Yeah, but the thing is that a very dangerous villain from our world escaped into your world here, and it’s very important that we find him and capture him. If we don’t, our world could be in danger; but now that I think about it, your world could be in danger too!”
“Wow, sounds serious,” said Big hearing the pony’s story. Then at that moment, he remembered again of what he saw before. “Last night I did see a robot baddie wandering around here and that usually doesn’t mean a good thing.”
“A robot… baddie?” wondered Spike.
“But you know… I saw someone else who was with the robot, and it did… kinda resembled you… in a way.”
Fluttershy and her friends suddenly turned their attention to Big; this was exactly what they needed hear.
“That might be who we’re looking for!” shouted Fluttershy, “Do you know where they are?”
“Ummmmm…”
However, what they heard him say next was not what they wanted to hear. “Sorry, I did see them but I didn’t follow them… or know where they might be.”
“Man this cat is slow,” Rainbow Dash groaned.
Angel just rolled his eyes and sighed.
“That’s okay,” said Fluttershy awkwardly with a sincere smile, “you did your best. However, you might be able to help us another way. Do you know a little rabbit girl who hangs out with a little creature called a chao?”
A light bulb went off in the cat’s head as he answered, “Oh, you must be talking about Cream, Miss Vanilla’s daughter.”
With a little smirk, Twilight said to the others, “I’d say he does know her.”
“They live at the Green Hill Zone area right outside this forest… that way,” he said pointing his fishing rod in the direction; and Angel almost fell off of Fluttershy dodging it.
“I see, thank you so much, mister Big.”
“You’re welcome,” said Big with a proud smile, “I was just glad that I was able to help.”
As Fluttershy flew back to the others, Angel climbed back on her and lightly growled at Big while shaking his fist.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Fluttershy as she landed amongst her friends, “Next stop, Green Hill Zone, this way.”
“Not bad, Fluttershy,” said Rarity, “Not bad.”
Twilight suddenly began to get excited knowing that she was in a new world filled with things to discover, “This is so wonderful; I might be able to start some kind of study to work on about this world! Who knows what we could discover next.”
“Is that all you can think about?” questioned Spike.
As they all walked off, Fluttershy looked back at Big and asked, “Hey, are you going to come with us?!”
“That’s okay, I think I’ll stay here and continue to fish with Froggy.”
‘Ribbit’
“Okay then, thanks again for your help.”
“He seems a bit laid back and not all there,” said Apple jack, “but he’s not so bad for a big cat.”
“Hey, wait a minute!” Big the Cat suddenly shouted out to them.
Upon hearing him, they all turned around to see what he wanted. “The purple one with wings; are you a princess or something?!”
All of Twilight’s friends stood in silence as they all looked at her awkwardly.
“H-h-how… did you know? I never said that I was a princess.”
“I just guessed; see ya later, your Highness!”
“Ooo… kay.”
“Weeeeeeeird,” Spike whispered.
“Ooh, maybe he’s psychic too!” said Pinkie as they all continued to walk off away from Big.
They all thought Pinkie had a ridiculous idea again, but Twilight thought different. “So far, I wouldn’t be too surprised if that were true.
Once they were out of sight, Big sat back down next to his frog friend and casted his rod back into the river to continue fishing the day away.
“Weren’t they nice, Froggy,” he said, “especially that Fluttershy one.
‘Ribbit’
“They must be the nice ponies from the other world that Cream talked about. Hmm… I bet she and Cheese will be happy to see them again.”
‘Ribbit’


	
> Chapter 3: Evil meets Evil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Earlier during the night…


Metal Sonic escorted the scientific criminal from Equestria, Solar Dusk, to the lair fortress of its creator, Dr. Eggman. The sight of the fortress astounded Solar alone; admiring the metal structure, the hi-tech security and numerous robot minions. Solar Dusk was really starting to like this genius’ tastes. 
“We are here,” said Metal Sonic as they approached the main entrance.
Solar curiously watched as Metal Sonic placed its robotic claw on a scanning pad and then heard a computer confirmation.
‘Metal Sonic, acknowledged.’
The door opened and Metal Sonic went forward.
“This way.”
Being cautious of his surroundings, Solar Dusk went forward tailing after the robotic hedgehog. But when he stepped through the door way, he set off an alarm that caused him to be surrounded by security weapons preparing to fire.
‘Intruder alert! Unauthorized subject has entered the stronghold! Prepare to neutralize; repeat, prepare to neutralize!’
Solar Dusk was on guard with his horn glowing preparing to defend himself. But suddenly, Metal Sonic stopped and spoke…
“Security override code; eggruler01557.”
After that, all of the security disappeared.
‘Override code accepted, cancelling neutralizing process; have a nice day.’
“Your creator sure doesn’t mess around with his security, does he?” questioned Solar Dusk catching his breath.
“It is the necessary precaution for the one who threatens the master’s plan.”
“Who are you talking about?” asked Solar Dusk.
But Metal Sonic just continued on forward and said, “Come, my creator awaits for you.”
The way the robot was acting was freaking Solar out a bit, but it was a robot after all. And after that last little mishaps, he made sure to watch his footing.
Metal Sonic led him down a series of corridors until they finally got to the main control room. The doors opened, and they walked inside where all of the main central actions took place. There also was a chair that was facing away from them, and one that sat in it spoke in an unusual chipper tone.
“Well, Metal Sonic, you’re finally back! I can guess that you’ve been successful in fetching our new… friend?”
“The subject known as Solar Dusk has been apprehended and brought to you as requested, Dr. Eggman.”
“Splendid, splendid!” The evil scientist then spun around in his chair, “Now then, let’s take a look at…” but then he became awkwardly silent as he saw who was suddenly in front of him; he didn’t seem too impressed at first.
“Whoa, so I guess the rumors are true; you really are a… pony.”
“And what does that supposed to mean?” Solar scoffed.
“Oh nothing, nothing; it’s just that… well, looking like… that just doesn’t make you look so… intimidating.”
Suddenly, Solar Dusk’s eyes glowed with power as it surged through his body. Eggman got startled as he suddenly saw some of his robot henchmen (not counting Metal Sonic) malfunctioning and then becoming defenseless.
“Is this intimidating enough for you?”
As Solar Dusk ceased his power, Eggman sat back up straight in his chair and was applauding the powerful stallion. “Bravo, my friend, bravo; you really are more powerful than you look! Sorry if I ever doubted you.”
“So, you’re Doctor Eggman,” said Solar coyly, “the greatest evil genius mind in this world. You’re definitely not like anything I’ve ever seen before. What are you, some kind of hybrid or something?”
Eggman suddenly felt a little insulted, “No, I’m a human! Are you saying that you’ve never seen a human before?”
“No, can’t say that I have.”
“W-w-w-well… never mind that; forget about me. As much as it pains me to say it, let’s talk about you. I’ve heard that you’re capable of great talent; you’ve created a tool that can control one’s mind just by using your own magic. That’s very impressive. And you also came close to overpowering your world’s supreme ruler; isn’t that right?”
Solar Dusk was very skeptical of how someone that he didn’t eve know somehow knew about him and what he’s done in the past. “How do you know about all of this, Doctor?” 
“Why, a little birdie told me.”
Solar Dusk looked at Eggman and arched his eyebrow.
“No, seriously; one of my robotic egg birds told me; well… technically showed me”
(Imagine Flashback)
"I was just relaxing one day after dealing with some rather… major annoyances and one of my egg birds spies came back and showed me a video feed of something rather interesting. It was someone telling my nemesis and all of his friends of a huge adventure she had in another world when she was sucked in a portal here in our world. She mentioned of a power hungry megalomaniac who tried to use a frightening power to control others’ minds and rule their world, which I’m guessing is you. She said that she teamed up with some… ponies and helped defeated you and put you in slammer. I thought it was a little farfetched, but I’ve seen weirder things.”
(End Flashback)
“This someone,” said Solar Dusk, “it wouldn't happen to be one named Cream, would it?”
“Ah yes, Cream the Rabbit, and her little Chao friend, Cheese. I have to admit, after seeing what you’re capable of now, I’m quite surprised that you were beaten by them and a bunch of pansy ponies.”
Solar gritted his teeth and slightly glared at the doctor for saying that, “I doubt it’s any different for you, Doctor. And besides, the ones that she teamed up with are not your normal everyday pansy ponies. They have strong abilities that you wouldn’t expect.”
“Well, it definitely wouldn’t surprise me,” Eggman responded.
“So cut to the chase,” Solar asked, “what is your reason for sending your freakish robot lackey into my world and bringing me here; and how did you do it?”
“Heh heh, excellent question. You and I both strive for the same thing, world domination. I’m always at work of fulfilling my plans of conquering this world and ruling over all with an iron fist! However, no matter how diabolical my schemes are, they’re always oiled and ruined thanks to a bunch of foolish troublemakers; especially my number one nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog!”
“Your main enemy who ruins your plans… is a hedgehog?” said Solar Dusk unsurely.
“It does sound rather silly at first, does it? But make no mistake, he’s not to be trifled with!” Eggman then brought up a screen showing a picture of who he was talking about. “Despite his size, he’s cunning, cocky, and would do anything to put my plans to a halt. Plus, he runs very fast; so fast in fact that he could possibly run faster than the speed of sound! That my friend is what makes him so formidable; aside from the fact that he never seems to give up.”
“A hedgehog who can run faster than the speed of sound?” Solar Dusk curiously wondered, “And I thought that annoying rabbit girl in a dress was a freak of nature.”
Eggman then continued his explanation, “But once I heard Cream’s story of her time in your world and the huge you almost accomplished, it brought a wonderful idea to my brilliant mind! If I could find and use the power of that portal to somehow gain access into your world and successfully break you out, you could lend your expertise to me to finally defeat Sonic and conquer this world; and in return, I could help you conquer your world and gain revenge on those who locked you away! It’s such an irresistible deal, is it?”
Solar Dusk had already made up his mind. After seeing what Eggman was capable of and what he had to offer, he knew that he would be almost invincible with this scientist.
“Doctor Eggman,” he said with a smirk and holding out his hoof, “you have yourself a deal.”
“Excellent,” said Eggman as he shook Solar’s hoof sealing the deal, “I knew there was a chance that you wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity like this.”
“You have no idea of how right you are.”
“Now then,” Eggman continued, “For your question of how I gained access into your world, it was quite easy.”

-----

Presently…

After appearing in this world and meeting with a… unusual character, Twilight and her friends ventured onward in the huge forest looking for any signs of other life forms. All of them looking around and observing the new world they were in, they were not too surprised of what they could see. In fact, it reminded them a little of their forest back home. Eventually, they found their way out and were welcomed to a very beautiful sight of green hills and wide pastures; it was unlike anything any of them have ever seen.
“Wow, look at this place,” said Fluttershy, “it’s so beautiful! I wonder if this is Green Hill Zone.”
“If it is,” said Twilight, “then our friend, Cream should be around here somewhere. Now it’s just a matter of finding her, or at least someone who can lead us to her.”
“Time to play ‘where’s Cream!’” shouted Pinkie.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash came flying down from the sky and responded, “More like finding Cream in a hay stack! I just flew up hundreds of feet in the air, and this place is huuuuuge! How the hay are we going to find her?!”
Suddenly, Fluttershy felt Angel tugging on her fur trying to get her attention, “What is it, Angel?”
He was pointing at a garage building that was straight ahead of them down a little hill. They all saw it and knew that it was someone’s… especially since there was a double seated plane parked right beside it.
“Ooh, that seems like a good place to start looking for little Creamy,” Pinkie stated.
“What’s a garage doing in the middle of a huge, grassy pasture?” said Spike, “Not saying it’s weird, just… unusual.”
“Let’s check it out,” said Twilight, “maybe someone is there.”
They all made their way to the warehouse in the middle of the grassy plains and cautiously walked to the entrance to look inside. What they saw was a bunch of garage tools and many mechanical parts sat all around; almost like this was some sort of manufacturing plant. But then, they heard someone talking to itself.  Whoever it was sounded like they were working on something.
“Alright, tractor beam, work your magic.”
It was another giant animal just like their friend Cream was; although it didn’t seem to be wearing much clothes.
“That’s a… fox,” said Twilight.
But there was still something else about it that was unusual to them. 
“A fox with… 2 tails?!” shouted Spike.
To them, seeing a normal animal like a fox that has twin tails was something out of the ordinary to them; and they thought Cream looked a little unusual.
“Darn it,” said the creature while wiping some sweat from its forehead, “I guess I still need more time to iron out some bugs; and I don’t know if time is on our side.”
Suddenly, Fluttershy finally recognized who the fox was, “I think that’s… Tails.”
“Yes, it has Tails,” said Rainbow sarcastically, “isn’t it that obvious?”
“No, his name is Tails; a bit ironic, I know, but it is.”
“That fox is a boy?” Pinkie questioned.
Twilight knew they couldn’t continue to ponder on things, so she told the others, “Come on, let’s just talk to him?”
They carefully walked in and Fluttershy quietly said to the fox, “Um, excuse me; can we uh… talk to you for a second?”
But luckily, he heard her and responded, “Sure, just give me a sec…” But when he turned around, “sweet, sparkling gems!” he almost stumbled being caught off guard at what he saw.
“Hi there!” shouted Pinkie.
He just stood there staring at them and studying there appearance trying to figure out who they were. But then, a light bulb went off in his head as said, “Wait a minute… have I… seen you guys somewhere before?”
“That all depends;” said Rarity, “maybe a friend of yours told you about us.”
“Huh, are you guys…” Tails started to wonder.
Fluttershy came a little closer showing a friendly smile and said, “My name’s Fluttershy and these are my friends. We’ve come from another world on an urgent mission.”
The young fox suddenly gasped as his eyes grew wide in astonishment; he couldn’t believe it. “Oh my gosh; you guys are… Cream’s pony friends from that other world that she mysteriously got transported to!”
“He’s finally catching on;” said Rainbow Dash, “smart fox.”
“Th-t-this is such an honor!” he shouted excitedly, “Cream said many awesome things about you guys; especially you, um… Fluttershy! I can’t believe that… you’re all actually here!”
Twilight and her friends were actually amused seeing a creature such as this one being all excited to be in their presence. 
“You’re quite enthusiastic about seeing a bunch of colorful ponies, aren’t you?” asked Twilight.
The fox suddenly calmed down and blushed a bit out of embarrassment; he had to get himself together. “S-sorry, how rude of me; my name is Miles Prower, but all my main friends call me by my nickname, Tails. D-d-did you say that you were here on an important mission?”
“Um… yes, we did,” said Fluttershy, “It’s really important that we speak with your friend Cream. Do you know where she is right now?” 
Tails shook his head, “Not in particular, but… you could try her house where she lives with her mother, Miss Vanilla. Those fields of flowers over there will lead you straight to it; you can’t miss it.”
“Wow, that really helps a lot; thank you,” said Fluttershy.
“No worries; Cream is really special to me and well… her story about being in your world impressed me even more. I… I do anything for her.”
Angel, who was sitting on Fluttershy’s shoulder noticed how Tails was acting thinking about Cream; the one he loved. He was blushing slightly and he sighed a bit; that was proof enough for him to see what was going on.
Tails suddenly saw him climb on top of Fluttershy’s head and was scowling and chattering angrily at him while shaking his curled up paw. Seeing that it was directed at him, Tails became concerned.
“What’s up with the bunny?”
“Oh, d-don’t mind Angel,” Fluttershy said nervously as she pulled Angel off her head and away from Tails, “he was just… um, showing off his tough exterior is all.”
Tails just shrugged his shoulders, “Whatever you say.”
Twilight and her friends were about to leave out, but then Twilight looked back over to the young fox and said, “You know, Tails, maybe you should try and contact some of your other friends to come to us, including yourself. I have a big feeling that this matter might get all of you involved.”
“Say no more,” Tails responded, “I’ll get right on it! And uh… by the way, are you ponies really filled with magical powers?”
“Oh, I say that they are as much as you are a mechanical genius here,” said Spike seeing all of the mechanical equipment around them.
“Huh? O-o-oh, ha ha, I get it; thanks. See you guys later!”
After walking out of the warehouse, they were on the trail again going toward their directed route to find their old friend, Cream.
“Cute kid,” said Applejack, “though it’s hard to believe that he’s as smart as he is at his young age. He’s like, wut, 8?”
“And he really seemed to like Cream a lot,” said Pinkie as she was smiling and bouncing along, “Looks like someone has competition; or is it the other way around?”
Angel growled a bit knowing that what Pinkie said was right. But he wasn’t about to lose this fight.
“Sorry, Angel,” said Fluttershy, “I’m afraid that you’re just going to have to deal with it. Your actions back there were unnecessary.”
Angel crossed arms and made a little ‘hmph’ sound as he was pouting.
“Jealous much?” stated Spike.
“Come on, guys,” said Twilight while leading the way, “we can’t waste any time. Let’s go pay our dear friend a little visit.”
After they left, Tails was all excited about what was suddenly happening and went over to his com link radio and called out to a certain friend of his.
“Sonic, Sonic! Do you read me, Sonic?! Come in, Sonic!”
His friend, Sonic the Hedgehog, had a radio ear piece and could hear anything that he transmitted, “I read ya loud and clear, buddy; what’s going on?”
“Well first of all, have you found Eggman’s base yet?”
“’Fraid not; Eggman sure must be planning something big if he has his base hidden so well that even I can’t spot it.”
“No kidding. But anyway, if you’re not having any luck, you have to come down to Green Hill quick; you won’t believe what just happened!”
“Wanna bet; tell me all the details, Tails.”

-----

Again, earlier in the day…

Eggman told Solar Dusk all about how he was able to free him from the prison of his world and got him here; and then, he brought some normal gems that he had and gave them to Solar to work with and prove his abilities. Once he was done, and Eggman saw the two little trinkets Solar made infused with his magic, Eggman was blown away yet again.
“That is incredible; such impressive skills tinkering with gems and modifying them for your own use! Something like this I could eventually do even with my genius mind, but you… you did it in mere minutes! It’s truly a work of art!
“Of course it is,” Solar scoffed, “it’s my own personal creation. These gems enriched with the essence of my power will be the very key to our success.”
Excited to see the gems potential use, Eggman stated, “Um, not to sound very doubtful of you, but how can you be sure that they’ll work? B-b-but of course they will work, but, um… I wish to see proof.”
Solar Dusk looked over at Eggman with an unsure scowl, but then agreed, “Very well; do you have any robot lackeys that’ll make good test subjects?”
That was a no brainer for Eggman, “Oh ho, I have just the ones.” And then he shouted out, “Orbot, Cubot; report to me at once!”
Solar suddenly witnessed 2 small robots rushing into the room; both very alert and ready to do anything.
The yellow cube one named Cubot was acting very peculiar, “Orbot and Cubot, ready to serve ya, Dr. E!”
And the red orb one named Orbot was trying to be so polite to Eggman and not get on his bad side, “And may I say that you look rather marvelous today. Did you do something to your mustache?”
“Can it with the kiss-up speeches,” Eggman shouted, “We have a visitor.”
Both bots looked nearby and saw a dark-looking pony creature staring at them in a weird way. But they became highly excited seeing who it was.
“Oh my, you must be Solar Dusk,” said Orbot, “it’s such an honor to meet you!”
“A big honor, yo!” said Cubot, “We heard of your great feats, and they are off the hizzle, dawg!”
All Solar could do was stare awkwardly at the strange yellow robot, and then looked over at Eggman to see if he could give a good explanation for it.
“Ugh… please don’t ask,” stated Eggman, “His voice chip is always getting stuck on… certain settings. It’s best to just go along with it.”
Cubot then continued to give his praise to the evil stallion, “Your specialty with gems is quite fascinating; and with our boss impressed by your skills, I find it real tempting to know more. I am willing to do anything to help assist you in any way possible.”
“Is that so?” said Solar wearing a devious little smile. He then used his magic to float his freshly made gem collars over to the two robot minions, “Well, as thanks why don’t you two try on these; they’re quite the fashion statement.”
“Ooh, quite dazzling,” said Orbot feeling rather intrigued.
Both bots reached out and placed each of the collars around their neck joints. Solar couldn’t believe how gullible these two henchman of this scientist was.
“I’m liking the look of this bling!” Cubot exclaimed.
“Hmm, it doesn’t look half bad on me,” said Orbot, “I like it!”
“Yeah, man; and there is absolutely no downside wearing this…”
All of a sudden, both bots became silent and their eyes began glowing with a dark purple shade of color. Eggman looked over at Solar Dusk and noticed that he was emitting magic from his horn and it was activating the mind-control gems round his minion’s neck joints. A tiny smirk appeared on Solar’s face as he suddenly commanded…
“Now, Orbot and Cubot, fight; dismantle each other!”
Orbot and Cubot looked at each other with a little angered glare in their eyes, and then they went at it full-throttle! Eggman watched with delight as he witnessed both of his bots beating at each other with strong precision strikes.
“Marvelous; absolutely marvelous!” he shouted, “This is just perfect! This is the kind of power I need to conquer this world; and it’s quite impressive that you can control more than one with your magic at once!”
“You underestimate me yet again, Doctor Eggman,” said Solar Dusk with a light scowl, “With my magic potential, I could control a whole army of mindless soldiers. And even better, these gems of mine can make others stronger than they were before.”
Eggman could definitely see that point. Orbot and Cubot weren’t exactly built for battle, but yet he was now witnessing them clobbering the bolts out of each other; it was truly a great spectacle for him.
“Now I like the sound of that!”
Eventually, the two bots’ bodies were completely worn out, and their heads were on the ground completely unattached from their own bodies. Afterwards, Solar Dusk floated the collars off of them and their power levels went back to normal.
“Ooooo… what in the world just happened?” wondered Orbot.
“Ah dang,” shouted Cubot, “I can’t feel my body! Oh, wait, there it is; heh heh.”
“Did this have something to do with those trinkets?” said Orbot, “I should have known that we were just being used as guinea pigs. Don’t we mean more to you than that, boss?”
“Quit your whining, Orbot; I’ll get a service bot to come and fix you two up later. But first… Metal Sonic, go fetch some more gems in the Egg-treasure trove for our brilliant friend here! The more, the better!”
“As you command, Master,” it replied as it floated out of the room.
After Metal Sonic left the room, Solar Dusk noticed something from the corner of his eye. He turned around and noticed a familiar looking gem that was shimmering in a highly secure case. He wasn’t quite sure of what it was, but he did remember hearing something about a powerful gem.
“Wait, is that…”
Eggman saw him eyeing the gem and calmly walked over to it, “Ah, I see that you have a keen eye.” He then unlocked the case and then held up the gem firmly in his hand, “This is a Chaos Emerald; one of seven others actually. They are magical gem that exist here in our world and each one are undeniably powerful alone! They say that whoever possess and can control all 7 will become indestructible with powers beyond your comprehension!”
A small grin appeared on Solar’s face as he floated the gem in front of him; analyzing it thoroughly and witnessing its sure brilliance.
“Yes… yes, this could work perfectly. Imagine what I could do with a gem as powerful as this.”
But when he sat it near his two freshly made controlling gems, a huge power surge emitted in front of Solar; the powers of his gems and the Chaos Emerald was canceling against each other.
“Ahhhhhh!!!”
When the surge was over, Solar saw that his two gems that he just created were blown to smithereens all of the table in front of him, “No, my crafted gems; they’re completely destroyed!”
“Oh dear, such a shame,” said Orbot.
“Tough luck, homie,” added Cubot.
Eggman saw everything too and was feeling quite embarrassed, “Well, um… I guess your magic is uh… not exactly compatible with the power of the Chaos Emeralds.”
Solar was huffing and puffing out of frustration; feeling quite upset of the fact that he couldn’t even use one of this world’s most powerful resources. But he then soon calmed down and decided to not let it get to him.
“No matter, even without that, my gems will be too strong for anyone to stop. Just make sure to keep that threat away from my work.”
“Heh heh, fu-fully noted,” said nervously Eggman as he carefully placed the emerald back in his secured case. “So, um… getting off of this awkward moment, why don’t you tell me more about this all powerful ruler in your world that imprisoned you.”
“Princess Celestia,” said Solar with some anger in his tone, “Her powers are unbelievable. She has the power to raise the sun every day; and her sister, Luna raises the moon every night. One might think that their powers match as close to that of a god.”
To Eggman, someone like that remind him too much of overly powerful creatures that he tried to control over in the past, but it had always backfired on him somehow. But with another creature from that other world on his side already confidant of doing it himself, he figured… how could this go wrong?
“Sound like these two princesses of yours will be tough to conquer. With powers like that, I’m guessing that you have a plan?”
“Oh you bet I do,” said Solar; floating a dozen gems in front of him and analyzing them, “I have been planning my revenge ever since that wretched, royal spoiler locked my powers away and sentenced me to chore work for the rest of my life.” Then another smile came on to his face, “But once her and her sister’s power is under my control, that will all change. No one is going to stop me this time; no one.”
“Yo, can someone like scratch my metallic bum;” Cubot suddenly shouted out, “it itches so badly.”
Both Eggman and Solar Dusk groaned while covering their faces with their hand/hoof.
“Ugh, I’ve seen newborn foals smarter than these useless dumb-bots,” Solar thought to himself.
	
> Chapter 4: Heroes Meet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A bat thief named Rouge came flying in from the sky and landed with ease. Holding a neat little instant photo camera in her hand. She entered into some old ruins where she knew she would find a certain someone hanging out alone.
"Ah ha, I thought I would find you here... Shadow."
Shadow the Hedgehog; created life form and major rival o Sonic the Hedgehog was just lounging around in the random ruins tossing a green chaos emerald up and and down. However, he wasn't exactly thrilled to be bothered. 
"What do you want?"
"What's the matter," said Roue in a teasing manner, "Can't a gal visit and hang out wit an old friend every once in a while?"
"Hmph."
"Besides, I found Eggman's base and I figured you'd want to know about some dirt I picked up from him."
Hearing that brought Shadow's attention to her and decided to hear what she had to say, "I'm listening."
"Well... it seems that he's up to his old tricks again, but he has a new alibi from a different dimensional world."
Shadow just smirked as he said, "Heh, well that's going to backfire on him... as usual."
"I was able to take a quick picture; here, take a look."
Rouge held up a small photo tossed it over to Shadow. Shadow caught it and had a look at it; but when he did, he wasn't impressed, "What the heck; a... pony?"
"A unicorn pony to be exact," Rouge responded, "but don't let that fool you. I actually saw a small sample of his power, and it was immense. The Doc definitely chose a good one this time."
Shadow was a bit skeptical of what Rouge was telling him, but he still wasn't completely convinced, "I still bet that it's no big deal; he's probably not all that strong."
"To you maybe," said Rouge as she rolled her eyes, "However, if that's not enough,I caught this just outside of the Green Hill forest."
Rouge tossed another picture at Shadow, and when he caught it, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a picture of 6 other ponies traveling together, along with a bunny and a dragon. He placed the picture down and glared back at Rouge.
"Are you trying to pull some amusing joke on me here?"
"Hey, believe what you want, but it's no joke. I don't think they're with the other one though, but there is definitely something strange going on here... as if that's anything new."
Shadow still thought that it was ridiculous, as he kept looking at the photo of the 6 pony friends, the more he became strangely curious of their appearance; especially the one who was an Alicorn.
"Just who are these strange creatures?"
-------------
At a beautiful little cottage house in Green Hill zone, a middle aged young rabbit lady named Vanilla was enjoying the peaceful day that she was having. She was reclined in her favorite rocking chair lightly humming to herself while sipping some delicious tea that she just finished brewing up. But at some point, she suddenly heard a knock at her door.
"Ah, that must be the girls," she thought to herself as she placed her cup down and got up from her chair, "they've returned. I'm coming!"
She was expecting a couple of certain individuals to come back, but she wasn't prepared for what she saw instead as she opened the door.
"Welcome back, girls; how was your... oh my!"
There standing before her at the door were actually eight individuals in the form of six ponies, a bunny and a little dragon. Vanilla stood still with her eyes shockingly wide and she felt a little light headed; she knew who they were.
The ones at the door were also a little confused but of a different nature. The one named Twilight looked at her carefully and said, "Um... Cream?"
Wearing the same shocking expression, Vanilla slightly shook her head and replied, "N-nope, not C-Cream; d-definitely not Cream."
Fluttershy suddenly flew in front of the others excitedly and shouted, "Oh wow, then you must be... Cream's Mother, Vanilla! It's so obvious because she looks just like you! She's told me... I-I-I mean us good things about you."
Angel could see the resemblance too; he smiled a bit just looking at the grown rabbit imagining it to be Cream herself.
"I simply adore your outfit," said Rarity, "I'm guessing that you made it yourself? Your daughter said that you simply rack at designing outfits."
But Vanilla didn't answer; she was still in a state of shock from seeing who was in front of her. Twilight and the others wondered if she was okay, and Rainbow Dash was waving her hoof in front of her face trying to get her attention.
"Um... hello, earth to mother rabbit; come in!"
Vanilla suddenly got out of her shock and said responded, "H-huh? Oh, I'm sorry if I was acting a bit weird just now."
" A bit?" said Spike.
"I guess you all gave me quite the surprise. I wasn't prepared for guest to arrive here; especially... all of you."
"So I guess that means that you know who we are?" asked Twilight.
Vanilla smiled and nodded, "Yes, you're Cream's friends from that other world. Cream has kept that picture that you gave her in her room ever since she came back to us."
"We're so sorry that we came here so expectantly," said Fluttershy, "but our reason for being here is very dire."
"Oh no," said Vanilla worryingly, "is there something wrong?"
Fluttershy nodded, "Very wrong! I'm afraid that your world is in danger; well, both of our worlds actually."
Vanilla wasn't too surprised; she actually took the news much better than any of them thought  she would have, "Well...I'm sure it's nothing that I haven't seen before."
"So we've heard," said Rainbow Dash, "I'm surprised that we haven't run into any bad guys yet. Maybe they're all hiding in cowardice of our presence."
"Um, I-I don't mean to rush things," said Pinkie as she popped up in the middle of everyone, "but is Cream home; we need to speak with her!"
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that she's not here right now. She's presently out on a little stroll with her friend, Amy."
They all sighed realizing that they struck out again.
"And we're back to square one yet again," Spike groaned.
However, Vanilla still had some good news. "But don't worry, they should be getting back her anytime now; I'm sure of it."
"Well let's hope so," said Applejack, "Time is passing us faster than a tumbleweed during a hurricane, and who knows what all kinda ruckus can happen in that time!" 
All of a sudden, everyone stood back as Pinkie's body suddenly started to get a weird vibe and her tail started to twitch.
"Ahh, twitchy tail!" Spike panicked, "Something is going to fall!"
He then rushed under Vanilla and hid behind the door in the house. But as he looked at Pinkie again, he noticed that the end of her mane was standing on end and was pointing in a certain direction.
"Wait... that's new," Spike said unsure as he came back out from hiding, "What does that mean?"
Vanilla found the whole situation to be a bit peculiar, but definitely out of the norm. "Is your pink friend alright?"
"Oh she's fine," said Twilight, "This happens happens to her to fairly regularly; it helps her to sense certain things coming. What is it now, Pinkie?"
Suddenly Pinkie gasped while smiling very bright, "She's here!"
They all turned around to where Pinkie was now facing, and little ways in the distance they saw two figures standing side by side staring at them. One of them looked like a pink hedgehog, and the other one... needed no introduction.
The pink hedgehog named Amy looked on in astonishment, "Are those guys... who I think they are?"
The other one was the one that they were seeking for all along, Cream the rabbit, and her chao friend, Cheese. Suddenly seeing Fluttershy and all of her friends here in front of her at her home, she was in a state of shock; but then a big, sunny smile appeared on her face as she was suddenly filled with happiness.
"Fluttershy!"
'Chao, chao!'
Both Cream and Cheese took off running towards Fluttershy, and Fluttershy herself trotted towards them and met them halfway. They both gave each other a big hug, and even Cheese and Angel gave each other a fist bump.
"I can't believe it, you're actually here," shouted Cream excitedly, "you all are!"
"We sure are," said Fluttershy with a smile, "we almost can't believe it ourselves."
Without warning, Angel jumped off of Fluttershy and glomped onto Cream giving her a warm, tight  hug. Cream smiled seeing that this bunny was still as happy to see her as ever.
"Hi Angel!" she said petting Angel on his head, "I'm glad to see you again too!"
Amy was approaching them from behind still doing her best to take this all in, "Wow, these must be your friends from that photo you have, aren't they?"
Amy was suddenly startled and stepped back as Pinkie zipped up in front of her looking all ecstatically excited, "Oh my gosh; you're pink just like me! That is so awesome!"
"Um... I sure am," Amy said nervously, "Boy, you definitely have a lot of energy."
"Yeah, she usually is," said Applejack nearby.
"I-I-I-I don't now what to say," said Cream with tears in her eyes, "this is such a huge surprise! I never would've thought that I would see you guys again so soon!"
"We didn't think so either," said Twilight, "but here we are... seeing you again."
Cream and Cheese suddenly noticed the wings on the sides of Twilight's body. She was a Unicorn when they last saw her, but now she had the look of an Alicorn.
"Wait a minute, Miss Twilight, you're... you're an Alicorn?! You look so beautiful!"
'Chao chao!'
"Does that mean that you're a Princess like Celestia and Luna?!"
"That's right, Cream," said Twilight flapping her wings proudly, "and thanks for the compliment by the way."
"Be careful, Cream," whispered Applejack, "you don't want her to get a bigger ego than she already has."
They all had a good laugh at her joke. They knew Twilight wasn't that full of herself... mostly.
Amy went up to Twilight and did a little bow to her, "It's great to be in the presence of a real Princess; it's an honor to meet you, Princess Twilight."
"Um... just Twilight will be fine."
"It's really amazing that since Cheese and I left your world, you became a Princess in just three weeks," said Cream excitedly, "That's so impressive!"
Cheese thought so too.
'Chao chao chao!'
Twilight and the others suddenly all at each other looking confused of what Cream said said to them.
"Three weeks?" questioned Spike, "I think you may have your dates mixed up; it's only been three months since we last saw you two."
Cream and Cheese suddenly became confused themselves too.
'Chao?'
"But that can't be," said Cream, "I know it's been three weeks since we left, I marked my calender."
"That's impossible," Fluttershy responded, "how does that make any sense?"
Angel just looked at Fluttershy from Cream and shrugged his shoulders.
"OMG," said Pinkie,"do you think that it's possible that time goes by faster in our world than it does here?! That would be cool... but very confusing."
Knowing of the stuff that she and her friends go through sometimes, it finally hit Cream that what Pinkie said could possibly true. "Oh, that's right; I never really thought about that! I guess time did go faster in your world. That would make more sense."
'Chao Chao.'
"Sense," Rarity protested while trying to figure things out, "that kind of thing doesn't make any sense; it's illogical!"
"We're talking about realities in different dimensional worlds,"Amy stated, "Things like that usually don't have much logic." She then decided to introduce herself to the equine group, "By the way if any of were wondering, my name is Amy Rose; the prettiest hedgehog you'll ever meet."
"And the pinkest!" shouted Pinkie.
Amy just sighed, "Yeah, and the pinkest."
Cream's mother, Vanilla suddenly noticed the cotton-tailed bunny that was constantly snuggling against and smiling at her daughter. She smiled herself knowing what was going on.
"That rabbit seems to be quite attached to you, Cream. I take it that he's your special friend that you told us about?"
"Yeah," Cream chuckled, "I think we're girlfriend and boyfriend, but I don't know. I think I'm too young for that kind of thing."
"I don't know about that, Cream," said Amy while patting Angel on his head, "I say give him a chance; he might be a keeper."
While Cream was excited that her pony friends from the other world was here with her, she wondered to herself of how long they would stay here and their reason for being here in the first place.
"Come on in, everyone, my Mommy and I can make you tea or something while you rest from your dimensional travel."
"Yes, do come on in," said Vanilla as she bowed to the group.
"Do you have cookies?!" questioned Spike licking his lips.
Vanilla chuckled at the young dragon and politely answered, "Yes, we do have cookies."
"Well then, sign me up with those babies!"
Rarity felt a little helpful at the moment and came up to Vanilla and asked, "Perhaps I could assist you with that task"
"No need," Vanilla responded, "I actually already brewed some tea recently. I don't why I did, but I felt like I needed to anyway."
"Okay."
"That's great, Mom," said Cream, "so what are we all waiting for?!"
They were all about to make their way into the house, but then they went silent when Twilight said, "Wait... what that sound?"
They all listened; in the distance they could the sound of wind whooshing in the air... or was it something more?
"All I hear is... the wind," said Fluttershy,"A wind storm isn't on on it's way, is it?"
"I don't think so," Rainbow Dash answered, "I would've been able to realize that if that's what it was."
Amy and Cream slightly smirked at each other because they knew exactly what it was... or better yet, who it was. 
"Everypony, look!" shouted Pinkie as she pointed in the distance.
They all suddenly saw an incoming blue streak zooming toward them. Some of them were almost afraid that it was the very robotic clone of the hedgehog they've heard about, but luckily for them when the streak halted right in their path, standing in front of them wasn't the evil clone... but the real deal himself; Sonic the Hedgehog!
As the lean hedgehog stood up, he saw Cream's pony friends and greeted them with a little bow and  winked, "What's up, ladies? The mighty blue blur has arrived."
"Whoa, that was some serious speed!" shouted Pinkie.
"I'll say," Rainbow Dash added while looking astonished.
They all looked astonished though; to see a hedgehog traveling as fast he was, it was more than impressive in their eyes.
"Hey, Mister Sonic," Cream called out, "you're just in time!"
'Chao chao chao!'
"Oh I see," said Twilight looking at the blue hedgehog, "so you're Sonic! Nothing says perfect timing than having the savior of this world come to us."
"I wouldn't exactly call myself a savior," Sonic responded, "but it's pretty nice to be appreciated."
Amy folded her hands and sighed while looking all dreamy-eyed at Sonic, "Well... he is my savior at least."
"Um..." said Spike, "is she alright?"
"Eh, she's alright," Sonic responded, "Anyway, I was informed about you guys... um, girls from someone you probably already met."
Suddenly, they all saw the twin-tailed fox, Tails coming up from the same direction Sonic came from; and he was huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath from trying to catch up to Sonic, "I'm... h-h-here. Man, Sonic, you know I can't... r-run that fast!"
Sonic chuckled and scratched his head feeling a bit sorry for his tuckered-out friend, "Heh, sorry about that, buddy."
This was all quite a spectacle to Fluttershy; to see other animals like Cream but of different species was a real treat to her. She imagined of just what other creatures of this land looked like.
"So you're all Cream's friends from that other dimensional world," said Sonic suddenly to the pony group. "I gotta say, at first glance I wouldn't think that you guys save the day on a regular basis."
"Don't worry, we get that a lot," said Twilight.
Feeling real impressed by Sonic's speed, Rainbow Dash flew up to him all excited in her own standard and became very curious. "By the way, that was some sick speed that you did a minute ago! Just how fast can you go?!"
Sonic was quite intrigued by the sudden interest this pegasus was showing; there was something about her that sparked his attention as well, "Well... I've been known to break the sound barrier."
"No way?!"
"That's right; and what about you? You look like someone who loves to race a lot."
"I really don't like to brag about my awesomeness, but..." Suddenly, Rainbow Dash took off in a flash making fast trails as she zoomed around in the sky and then landed back on the ground on a dime and flexed her wings proudly, "I'm pretty fast myself; probably the fastest in my in my town or maybe the whole world!"
"You don't say?" said Sonic with a devious smirk.
"You know it!"
Tails went up to Sonic and chuckled, "Looks like you have new competition, Sonic."
"Great," Rarity pouted, "as if having one super-fast egomaniac wasn't bad enough."
"Oh knock it off, Rarity," said Applejack, "he dosen't seem so bad."
Tails looked all around him and felt like this was now a perfect opportunity to hear the news that Cream's pony friends came to give.
"Looks like most of the usuals are here; so as much as this scene is a little unusual, let's hear the urgent news already."
Everyone else nodded in agreement and went inside where they would all know what was at stake.
------
Meanwhile... back at Eggman's hideout, Solar Dusk was busy at work creating his dark mind-controlling gems. He also didn't mind to do all of the work just as long as Eggman kept up his side of the plan that they discussed earlier. Solar wanted to make sure that every gem that he made was perfect and was 100% certified to work properly. He couldn't wait for the moment of when he finally gains his revenge on those who ruined him.
After a little while, Orbot and Cubot came in sporting some little refreshment that they decided to present to him.
"Care for some tea and biscuits, Mister Solar Dusk?" asked Orbot.
"They're mighty fine like good tasty wine, ya'll; straight up!" added Cubot.
Solar Dusk slightly glared at them, but then took the refreshments from them with his magic and sat it beside him as he continued to work, "Hmph, thank you; at least you two are actually useful for something." 
"I'll... just take that as a compliment," said Orbot nervously, "Any is better than none after all. Wouldn't you say, Cubot?"
"You bet, Orbot! Any praise at all is off the chain, ya'll!"
Suddenly, Eggman bursted in the room in which he found his two henchmen, "What are you two dumb bots doing in here?! Can't you see that Solar Dusk needs some peace and quiet?!"
Both bots jumped in shock and Orbot stated, "J-just giving the nice stallion a little something to munch on while he hard at work. You should never be working on a empty stomach."
"Hmph, very well," said Eggman, "but I will not allow anymore distractions, got it?!"
"Understood!" both bots responded.
"By the way, Doc," said Cubot suddenly, "A little earlier, one of our spankin' spybot cams picked up on something unusal and very suspicious just outside of Green Hill Forest!"
This bit of news suddenly got Eggman's attention again as he asked, "And just how earlier was this moment at; hmm?"
"Uh... about a couple of hours ago; but it's all good, homie!"
"What; a couple of hours ?! And why on earth did you not think to tell me about this sooner, you hip-hop lunatic?!"
Orbot got in front of Cubot to defend him and said, "Please, sir, at the time you seemed very busy discussing over things with Solar Dusk,and we didn't wish to disturb you... not to mention that we had to be reassembled as well... ahem, if you don't remember."
Once again, Eggman realized the situation and decided to dismiss it, "Fine, I'll let it slide... this time. Now roll the video feed!"
Cubot went over to a computer screen and inputted in some commands to bring up what was caught, "Bringin' up the video feed, yo!"
"Idiots," mumbled Solar Dusk under his breath.
When the picture came into view, Eggman watched closely as he suddenly saw a small group of individual walking out of the forest; but he couldn't believe what they looked like.
"Wh-wh... what is this; a group of... ponies!?"	
"Don't forget about the little dragon and bunny," added Orbot.
"Yeah, and all look so pretty," said Cubot being all gushy, "Can I keep one? I'd take good care of it and deck it out in a whole lot of bling!"
"These colorful ponies look awfully familiar somehow," said Eggman as he continued to stare at the screen.
But suddenly, Eggman and the two bots heard Solar Dusk say something from behind them, "So... they've finally arrived, have they?"
All three looked behind them and jumped to the side in shock from suddenly seeing Solar Dusk behind them staring strongly at the screen.
"Wait a minute," said Orbot, "Are they... who I think they are?"
Solar Dusk looked closely as he spotted all Elements of Hamony bearers, including Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy... and that bunny.
"I take it these pansy posers are the ones you totally despise, Solar Dusk," questioned Eggman.
"You bet they are," Solar responded, "That purple one and the yellow one, Twilight and Fluttershy; to think I was outsmarted by a couple of Celestia's lackeys, as well as that rabbit girl. And that small bunny... I just want to stuff him and mount him on my wall for what he did to me."
"Whoa, that's cold," said Cubot.
"Perhaps we should make necessary precautions," said Eggman, "We should make sure that they know nothing of you being here. There shall be no distractions and..."
"No," said Solar suddenly with an evil smirk, "No, we should... let them know of my presence; let them know of what they'll soon be up against; a small preview of their downfall."
Eggman felt a little surprise at Solar Dusk making such a bold move, "I assume that you have a plan for just that?"
"Indeed I do.  Take your weakest division of robots and attack near their location. Once you're successful, then we can carry out... the next part of the plan, if you know what I mean."
"Oh, I see," said Eggman with a sly grin, "You truly are a genius, Solar Dusk; they'll never know what hit em'."
"If all goes well they won't. Just make sure no one messes this up for us; it's time I make my point clear across to these... Elements of Harmony."
"Oh snap, things are about to get real up in here!" shouted Cubot.
Solar angrily groaned, "And please do something about that idiot's voice chip."
	
> Chapter 5: Green Hill Battle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


(This story is back and in full force since it's log hiatus! Enjoy!)




Twilight and all of her friends traveled through a dimensional portal to a world called Mobius to chase down and find the evil convict of Canerlot, Solar Dusk. They had no luck thus far, but they eventually met up with some unusual creatures that helped them find Fluttershy’s old friend, Cream the Rabbit; who also help helped her defeat Solar Dusk the first time. After a little celebration of their reunion, they came face to face with Mobius’ #1 hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. Once everyone came together, they all went inside Vanilla and Cream’s house where Sonic and his friends would be told of what was going on.
“N-n-no way,” Cream exclaimed, “Solar Dusk is here… in our world?!”
‘Chao chao chao?!’
“He is… unfortunately,” said Fluttershy sadly, “It all happened without any of us knowing about it.”
“And now he’s probably hidin’ somewhere planning to do who knows wut!” added Applejack.
Cream’s friends never met Solar Dusk face to face, but based from what she told them from her stories, they knew that that this situation wasn’t good.
“So… I’m guessing that this Dusk guy being here is a bad thing?” questioned Sonic being rhetorical.
“It’s a very bad thing!” Cream exclaimed, “That guy is dangerously strong and a major threat! If Miss Fluttershy and I didn’t stop him from releasing his mind-controlling gems upon their world, he would’ve succeeded! Who knows what he could do from here!”
‘Cho chao chao chao chao chao!’
Hearing about Solar Dusk succeeding and hurting Cream and her friends caused Angel to hop up on his feet and put on a tough face as he was punching and kicking the air.
“Hee hee, it looks like Angel is ready to face him again,” Pinkie giggled.
“But I don’t understand,” said Tails, “how was he able to get to our world in the first place? I’m sure you guys wouldn’t have just given him the means to escape here, right?”
“Good heavens, of course not,” Rarity protested, “That would be treason!”  
“Either way, he did escape,” stated Twilight, “but… he had help.”
“What kind of help?” questioned Amy.
Suddenly, Pinkie was hopping up and down while waving her hoof in the air, “Ooh ooh, I know this one! The guards back at the palace in Canterlot said that whatever it was that took them down and broke Solar Dusk out was super-fast and took out everything and everypony in its path! It had red eyes and sharp claws; and it looked like…” Suddenly, she looked over at Sonic who mostly fit the description of the mysterious intruder. She then gasped and pointed her hoof at him and shouted, “It looked like you!”
Sonic jumped and said nervously, “Wha… like me?!”
“Yeah, a blue hedgehog; that’s what they said it resembled,” said Pinkie as she looked at Sonic suspiciously, “Care to explain yourself, Mister Sonic?” 
“Um… c-c-can’t say that I can,” said Sonic as he was feeling a bit uneasy.
“Hold up just a moment,” said Amy as she got in front of Pinkie’s view of Sonic, “That’s completely impossible! Sonic would never do anything like that! Besides, he’s been here the whole time!”
“Not to mention that he has green eyes, not red,” Cream added, “And also, he doesn’t even have claws.”
All of the ponies had a strong feeling that it wasn’t Sonic who did all of the destruction back at their world, but it still bothered them that they remained at a standstill. Tails was deep in thought himself about this situation; but then, a certain thought came to his mind.
“Hmm… this is all very strange, but Amy and Cream are right. Sonic was here with us all this time, it couldn’t have been him… unless…” Then, the obvious answer finally came to him, “Wait, that’s it! There’s no doubt about it; the one responsible had to have been…” 
“Metal Sonic!” Tails and all of his friends suddenly shouted together.
Spike suddenly spitted out the tea that he was drinking out of being startled. He looked over at the others and said, “Say what now?”
“Metal Sonic; who the hay is that?” asked Applejack.
“More like what the hay is that,” said Sonic, “It’s just some formidable, robotic freak that was created by my #1 nemesis, specifically designed to destroy me. He built it to be exactly like me in almost every way; except that it’s evil and it doesn’t have my charming good looks.”
Angel rolled his eyes not caring much about that fact.
“Well, how about that, Pinkie darling,” said Rarity looking at Pinkie with a smirk, “It looks like my theory was right all along.”
“Darn it,” said Pinkie slightly pouting, “I was confident that it was an evil twin.”
“Metal Sonic is probably one of Eggman’s strongest creations,” said Amy, “It’s caused so much trouble for us every time Eggman brings it out to play.”
Sonic then stated the obvious, “But it’s also one of his inventions that is always defeated… by yours truly. Nowadays, he’s not so tough.”
“Oh yeah,” said Twilight, “try saying that to all of the wounded guards and solders back in our world. I don’t think they expected to deal with anything like this… Metal Sonic.”
Twilight suddenly had a little scowl on her face thinking of what this creature did to her brother, Shining Armor, and she wanted to take it out herself with her magic. But then, Fluttershy suddenly stood up on her hooves and shouted…
“Well I don’t care about that!”
Everyone in the room suddenly looked over at Fluttershy in slight shock of her outburst.
“Huh?” thought Spike.
“What are you talking about?” questioned Sonic.
“I agree that this robotic clone must be very strong and powerful; but with Solar Dusk here, Metal Sonic will be the least of your worries!” 
“Miss Shy is right,” Cream agreed, “Solar Dusk’s power is off the charts. But if he’s working with Eggman now, who knows what he’ll be capable of.”
Sonic was beginning to get more intrigued by this new enemy of theirs. If he was as tough as Cream and her pony friends say, then he knew this was going to be a fresh new ride of excitement for him.
“So in other words… we need to find and stop him before his plan comes to fruition.”
“That’s the plan,” Twilight responded.
Amy suddenly got up and swung her hammer vigorously and smirked, “Well I say bring it on! If this Solar Dusk thinks he can try and control us, he has another thing coming!”
“I like the way you think, sister!” Rainbow Dash agreed.
“So… yer nemesis, Dr. Eggman, where’s his hideout?” said Applejack, “Ah reckon that we don’t have much time.”
Sonic and his friends looked at each other awkwardly not saying much. But then Tails said, “Um… actually… that’s a bit of a problem right now. We don’t… exactly know where his hideout is.”
“What?!” Twilight and her friends shouted.
“Oh dear,” said Cream awkwardly.
“Yeah, Eggman has been extra stealthy lately,” said Sonic with a little chuckle, “I’m actually quite impressed, even for him.”
It seemed to the others that they were once again at a standstill.
“Great,” said Rainbow Dash, “how are we supposed to locate Solar Dusk now?!”
Suddenly, their discussion was interrupted when a giant, red echidna busted the door open and came inside. He shouted…
“Sonic, we have trouble; it’s Eggman! He’s causing some havoc on the east side of Green Hill! We need to…”
He then paused in his sentence as he was looking around the room and saw a bunch of ponies looking at him with shocked and curious expressions.
“Uh… a-a-am I the only one who is seeing a bunch of colorful ponies sitting in this room?”
“No, Knuckles,” Tails responded, “we can all see them.”
“And they are all quite real,” Amy added.
Cream and Cheese had a little chuckle at Knuckles’ awkward reaction. But just then, Vanilla came into the room and saw what caused the loud slam sound.
“Knuckles, dear, do be more careful with opening that door, please; you might shatter it.”
“Oh, um… s-s-sorry, Miss Vanilla,” said Knuckles awkwardly.
“So, Knuckles,” said Sonic, “what do you think? Still think Cream’s story from before is bogus?”
“Well, I… sh-sh-shut up! Don’t patronize me!”
Suddenly, Cream came up to him and asked, “Excuse me, Mister Knuckles, did you just say that Eggman is causing havoc nearby?”
‘Chao chao?’
“Um, yeah; that is what I said.” 
To the ponies in the room, this was actually good news for them to hear.
“So if Eggman is there,” said Fluttershy, “then… we can bet that we’ll find Solar Dusk there too!”
Angel grinned and rubbed his paws together ready to help take Solar down.
“Alright; aren’t we lucky	 all of a sudden,” said Cream excitedly.
‘Chao chao chao!’
Being new on the scene, Knuckles was baffled on their subject, “Who the heck is Solar Dusk?”
“It seems a bit too straight-forward for Eggman to just suddenly show up out of nowhere and start randomly attacking,” said Tails as he was deep in thought, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that he was up to something.”
Knuckles was still trying to get information, “Hey, I asked a question.”
“Who cares about that?!” said Rainbow Dash in response to Tails, “This is our big chance to easily track and find Solar Dusk and bring him back to his prison cell!”
“For once I completely agree with Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity.
“Hey,” shouted Knuckles, “who the heck is Solar Dusk?!!!”
Everyone looked in Knuckles’ direction and saw how frustrated he looked.
“Well geez, you don’t have to shout,” said Pinkie, “We’re all right here you know.”
“Why you…”
“To answer your question,” said Twilight interrupting Knuckles’ next comment, “Solar Dusk is a foe of ours who escaped into this world, and soon… he might become your foe too.”
Knuckles finally got it as he calmed down and said, “Oh, um… o-okay.”
Without hesitation, Amy jumped up and was all ready to go saying, “Well… what are we all waiting for; let’s go stop Eggman and make him talk!”
Everyone agreed as they all got up and was prepared to immediately head out to find Solar Dusk.
“I’m going on ahead,” shouted Rainbow Dash as she exited the door, “See you guys there!”
As she zoomed off, Sonic was not too far behind as he said, “Ditto that!”
“Always rushing ahead,” said Rarity, “those two definitely share some similar qualities.”
“After meeting that hedgehog,” said Twilight, “I had a feeling that he reminded me of somepony.”
“Yeah, they were definitely made for each other!” said Pinkie with a giggle.
Amy suddenly had fire in her eyes as she glared at Pinkie and said, “What?”
“Oh, I-I mean… they should totally be best friends; heh heh.”
As the others were heading out, Vanilla suddenly rushed over to her daughter shouting, “Cream, wait!” And as her daughter turned towards her looking concerned, Vanilla pleaded, “Cream, you’re not going with them… are you?”
“Of course; I have to go, Mom!” Cream responded, “They may need my help, and I already know what Solar Dusk is capable of!”
Everyone watched as Vanilla held Cream in a tight hug and then looked at her wiping away some tears saying, “Just… just be careful, okay? I don’t want to lose you again.”
Cream slightly smiled and said, “Don’t worry about us, we can take care of ourselves. Isn’t that right, Cheese?”
‘Chao!’
Vanilla then watched as her daughter and Cheese left out the house with everyone else. Fluttershy was still there though and she looked at Vanilla and stated, “Don’t worry, Miss Vanilla, your daughter is tougher than she may look; she’ll be fine. And besides, we’ll all be right there to watch over her.” She then headed out the door herself and said, “Come on, Angel, let’s go!”
Angel quickly jumped on Fluttershy’s back as she raced out the door and was catching up to the others. Vanilla stood at the door watching everyone rushing off to face Eggman, and she trusted that Fluttershy gave her word as she thought to herself, “Please… come back, Cream.”

------

On the far east side of Green Hill zone, Eggman was randomly firing lasers from his floating pod that he had cushioned himself in tearing down some trees and frightening some of the animals that inhabited the area.
“Ah, nothing like a good session of wreaking havoc to make you feel invigorated!” he said to himself, “I could do this all day!”	
As Eggman continued his rampaging, he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him, “Eggman!”
It was his #1 nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog who arrived on the scene just in time. As he stopped his rampage, Eggman grined as he said, “Ah, right on cue… as usual.” But as he turned around and saw Sonic standing before him, he saw someone else already there with him as well; a rainbow mane Pegasus, Rainbow Dash. He scratched his head thinking to himself, “Huh, how did this one get here already with Sonic? Not even Knuckles or Amy would be here yet.”
“So that’s Eggman?” questioned Rainbow Dash, “Heh, I can see where he got his name from.”
“So what’s with the random destruction, Eggman?” said Sonic, “Are you up to something or are you just trying to annoy us?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything, you insufferable rodent!” Eggman responded, “But since you asked, I am up to something, and you’ll never see it coming.”
Rainbow Dash started laughing sarcastically, “Yeah right; how many times did you say that and then got a taste of irony?”
Sonic gave the Pegasus a high five laughing right with her, “Ha, good one!”
“We’re here, you guys!” shouted out another voice.
Rainbow and Sonic turned around and saw their other friends finally catching up and arriving on the scene.
“About time you guys got here,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Honestly, someone needs to put a leash on the two of you,” said Rarity.
It was quite a sight for Eggman to see magical ponies teaming up with his enemies; but he still found it a bit hard to believe that only some of them took down his new partner. He was ready to see what they were made of.
“Hail hail, the gang is all here,” he said, “exactly what I was waiting for. Now we can get down to business.”
“Hey everyone, look,” said Pinkie, “it’s a giant egg! Hee hee, sorry I couldn’t help myself!”
“Wow, he is definitely weird-looking for a creature,” said Twilight, “He kinda reminds me a bit of that other world I went to.”
“Yeah,” Spike chuckled, “except this one looks waaaaaay uglier.”
“Enough!” shouted Eggman as he pounded his control panel, “It’s about time that I now carry on with my plan, destroying all of you!”
Everyone started to laugh at the evil scientist thinking he was being full of himself. Then Twilight stepped up and said, “Yeah, good luck with trying to do that. I don’t know you much yet and neither do my friends from our world, but we will do anything to get what we want out of you. Now… where is he?”
Eggman arched his eyebrow and stated, “Come again?” He did knew what she was talking about though, but he just wanted to mess with their minds.
“Don’t play the dumb card with us,” said Applejack, “she’s talking about another pony… like us!”
Eggman was now stroking his beard saying, “Hmm…” pretending to figure out what they meant.
“A unicorn…” said Rainbow Dash, “escaped from our world… to work with you… thanks to one of your creations… Metal Sonic?”
“Ah, Metal Sonic,” Eggman stated, “my greatest creation! So, you have heard of it?”
Suddenly, Fluttershy couldn’t take it anymore as she zoomed up to Eggman’s face and demanded, “Enough games, Mister! Tell us where Solar Dusk is… now!”
Everyone was very shocked by Fluttershy’s sudden action; even Cream and her friends. Eggman activated a mechanical arm that lightly pushed Fluttershy away from him. “Whoa, back up there, missy; I need personal space.”
Just then, Cream stepped up to him herself, “We know you’re working with him, Eggman; so tell us where he is… or we’ll make you”
‘Chao chao chao!’
While brushing off Fluttershy’s and Cream’s threats like they were nothing, Eggman suddenly said, “You know… now that I think about it, perhaps I do know a little something about this Solar Dusk that you speak of. But… something else just occurred to me; I don’t have to tell any of you anything!”
Eggman then pressed a button that caused a beam to shoot out from his machine.
“Watch out,” shouted Twilight.
Everyone quickly dodged to the sides to avoid Eggman’s fired shot. After they got back up, they knew what they had to do.
“I guess he’s not going to tell us,” said Rainbow Dash, “so we’re going to have to beat the location out of him!”
Knuckles smirked while beating his fist, “Heh, my kind of persuasion.”
“Too bad that you forgot to bring your robots to assist you, Eggman,” Sonic teased as the others gathered around to prepare, “There’s 14 of us and only one of you. If you ask me, you’re finished!”
Eggman just smiled as he stroked his moustache, “Oh, did I really forget?”
He lifted up a small control stick and pressed the button on top, and then huge transporter beams came down all around Eggman. And now, a huge army of Egg Pawns were standing before them ready to attack.
“He just had to open his big mouth, didn’t he?” groaned Spike, “Way to go, savior of this world.”
Twilight’s friends were pretty shocked at how many robots were in front of them, especially Rarity who said, “Now that is a lot of robots.
But Sonic and all of his friends seemed to be calm and were not worried at all.
“Don’t worry about these guys,” said Amy, “they’re just Egg Pawns.”
“Egg Pawns?” said Futtershy.
“They’re Eggman’s weakest robot units,” said Tails, “They usually serve only as practice dummies for us and Eggman mainly uses them as a decent distraction.”
All of Sonic’s friends, even Knuckles, stood back as Sonic stepped forward ready to spin, “You guys can all stand back and preserve your energy.” He then dashed towards the Egg Pawns in a high speed spin, “I’ll have these bots trashed in no time at…”
Suddenly, the robot that Sonic aimed at first raised its fist up and punched at him, “OOOF!” The impact sent him flying back in the other direction right against a tree. 
“You were saying?” said Spike.
While the ponies winced from the sight, Sonic’s friends were all standing there in shocked wondering what happened.
“Did… d-d-did Sonic just… get easily knocked back by an Egg Pawn?!” questioned Tails, “How did that happen?!”
“Sonic, you can go easy on them,” said Amy, “but not that easy!”
Sonic stood up and groaned while shaking his head from the robot’s punch and responded, “Trust me, I wasn’t going easy on them in the first place; I’m just as shocked as you guys probably are.”
“Ha, didn’t expect that now did you?” Eggman gloated, “Serves you right for being so cocky!”
“Wait, so are you guys saying that wasn’t supposed to happen?” questioned Twilight.
Sonic’s friends just nodded their heads and said together, “Pretty much.”
Just then as Cream was staring at the Egg Pawns, she felt a strong wave of energy that she recognized really well. Not only that, she noticed something else as she shouted out, “Wait a minute! Guys, look; those Egg Pawns have some kind of weird gems on their chest plates!” They all saw them, but they were wondering what she was trying to say about them, “I think… I think they were created… by Solar Dusk!”
Suddenly, all of their mouths dropped and most of them gasped in shock, “What?!”
‘Chao?!’
Fluttershy came over to Cream and asked, “Are you sure about that, Cream?!”
“I’m sure of it! I could suddenly feel the same dark energy that I felt when he had Cheese under his control!”
Cheese just shuddered at the mere thought of that moment that he went through, ‘Chaaaaoo…’
“If that’s true,” said Tails, “then that would explain why the Egg Pawns seem stronger than usual.” 
“So… you all finally figured it out,” Eggman chuckled, “Good for you.”
Knuckles pounded his fist together and suddenly started running towards the same Egg Pawn that knocked Sonic away shouting, “Well then… let’s just see how well these powered-up bots hold up to my fists!”
And with one swing, Knuckles’ fist collided with the pawn’s metal hand and broke though and shattered it in to scrap metal. Knuckles grinned as he looked back at Sonic and gloated, “Heh, looks like I’ve outdone you this time, Sonic.”
Sonic didn’t really cared though as he just shrugged his shoulders, “Eh, whatever.”
Amy smiled as she held up her hammer in hand and said, “Well then, I guess now we can all fight, and we don’t have to hold anything back!”
With their chance of success for their mission riding on this encounter, Twilight knew they had to help the others stop this mad scientist. She smirked over at her friends and asked them, “Up for a little warm-up, girls?”
“You bet we are!” Applejack replied.
Pinkie was bouncing in excitement and was ready to go, “Party time!”
“No, kickin’ butt time!” said Rainbow Dash.
But Eggman diddn’t seem worried, “Hee hee, do your worst. Egg Pawns, attack!”
The Egg Pawns took their orders and began to charge towards their enemies with their shields and weapons.
“Come on, Cream!” shouted Fluttershy as she ran towards the fight with her friends.
Cream smiled as she followed behind the yellow Pegasus with Cheese, “Yeah, let’s do it!”
‘Chao chao!’ 
Angel hopped on Fluttershy’s back and was all ready to fight as well.
Everyone was rushing into battle against the Egg Pawns using the best in their abilities to take them down. Despite the Egg Pawns’ large numbers, Sonic and his friends were quite used to this sort of thing and started taking them down one by one despite their enhanced strength. As for Twilight and her friends… well, let’s just say that this was nothing compared to the evil encounters they had back in their world.
After taking out a few pawns himself, Sonic looked over at Eggman and said, “Not bad, Egghead; your robots may be tougher, but I can still take them down in no time at all!”
Suddenly, a dark blue blur came zooming out of nowhere and impacted on the ground near Sonic who jumped to the side in slight shock, “Whoa!”
The figure rose and displayed its bright red eyes and sharp, metal claws and it stared Sonic down, “Your opponent will be me.”
“Look guys,” Cream yelled out to everyone, “its Metal Sonic! He must be here to keep Sonic busy!”
When Twilight and her friends looked over and saw the menacing robotic clone, they were at a loss for words. They couldn’t believe that this was the creature that attacked the Canterlot Palace.
“That’s Metal Sonic?” stated Pinkie, “He looks nothing like the real one! Well, okay, he is blue, but other than that, he looks nothing like him!”
Sonic smirked realizing that he had more of a challenge on his hand… just how he likes it. “I suppose that you have one of those powerful crystals in you too, right?”
“You foolish, inferior being,” Metal Sonic protested, “I do not need some power-enhanced crystal to defeat you!”
“Good,” Sonic responded while cracking his fist, “those odds I like; let’s go!”
Then, faster than anyone could blink, Sonic and his robot counterpart dashed at each other and began fighting at blazing speed. The Ponies were a little worried at first, but they soon realized they probably fight all the time… and Sonic is usually victorious since he’s still alive.
“Whoa, they’re both so incredibly fast,” said Spike in amazement as he was standing on the ground watching the fast-moving brawl, “I can barely see them at all at their present speed!”
“Spike, look out!” Twilight suddenly shouted.
She tossed Spike away with her magic just as soon as a Pawn’s spear came slamming down where he stood. She then proceeded to pick up the robot and tossed it into some others nearby.
“Man that was close!” said Spike as he was catching his breath. He then quickly climbed up on Twilight’s back laughing nervously, “Um… m-m-mind if I ride on your back while you fight?”
Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes responding, “I don’t see why not.”
“Yeah, now this is so much better!”
In the midst of the battle, Cream and Cheese were with each other as always; with Cream throwing her chao friend to give him speed and power to knock down the Egg Pawns, “Go, Cheese!”
‘Chao!’
Angel saw how Cream and Cheese cooperated together and became quite curious as he looked up at Fluttershy.
“You… wanna try that too?” she awkwardly asked.
Angel smirked and nodded his head saying yes to the offer. Fluttershy picked him up and was feeling nervous as she held her arm back, “O-okay; um… go, Angel!”
Fluttershy threw Angel with all of her might and Angel got into a cool kicking pose as he approached the targeted pawn. But his body came to a halt as his foot made contact to the pawn’s robotic hide and he cringed a bit in pain as he fell down on the ground.
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy, “I guess regular rabbit kicks aren’t very effective on these guys.”
The Egg Pawn looked down at Angel and started laughing at him in amusement, “Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha.”
Angel got infuriated at the robot and scurried up to its front. The robot watched as Angel suddenly grabbed the gem in its chest hull and ripped it out, causing it to shut down and fall to the ground.
Angel made a little ‘hmph’ sound as he smirked and was tossing the gem up and down in his paw.
“Um... th-thhat’ll work,” said Fluttershy feeling quite impressed.
Knuckles was using his brute strength in his fist to plow his way through a group of robots, as always. To him this was no sweat at all. “Is that all you got, you mangy robots?!”
Suddenly, he heard a voice from behind him, “Heads up!” He turned around and saw the pony named Applejack lassoed an Egg Pawn that snuck up upon him and was swinging around, “Time to go fer a ride!” She then swung the pawn into some others nearby knocking them all out of commission.
Knuckles felt kind of impressed seeing that his butt was saved from an earth pony, “You’re not too shabby… for a pony.”
“Yeah, well mah friends and Ah weren’t chosen as the main protectors of Equestria fer nothin’,” Applejack replied, “We handle ourselves quite well.”
“Even miss drama queen over there?”
“Yup, even her.”
They saw Rarity being approached by a small group of Pawns who were pointing their guns at her. She put on an innocent pouty face and pleaded, “Oh, please don’t shoot me; you’ll ruin my make-up!”” 
The Egg Pawns all stopped and were all looking at each other feeling confused of Rarity’s action. However, that gave her enough time blast them down with her own magic and they became nothing but spare parts. Rarity chuckled in amusement, “Oh, you pawns really are gullible.”
“Heh, not bad,” said Knuckles.
Applejack nodded and smirked, “Told ya.”
Eggman was just sitting in the safety confines of his Egg pod watching the others fight and take down his robots; and he was quite impressed of how these pony creatures were handling themselves. But he wasn’t worried at all, “Look at all of them; they think they are winning and foiling my plan, but unknown to them…” He then held up a tiny microscopic robot bug in his hands and chuckled, “I still have the upper hand.”
Sonic and Metal Sonic were continuing their fight little ways from the others to keep from being interrupted. But in the midst of the fight, Sonic held his ground and said to the robotic clone, “Hey, just what is Eggman up to anyway; he’s obviously not trying to destroy us.”
“Explain.”
“I mean… this fight… it seems a bit farfetched; and you don’t seem to be seriously trying to get rid of me… almost like you’re trying to stall for time.”
“That is completely illogical,” Metal Sonic protested, “I will destroy you here and now!”
The middle of Metal Sonic began to glow and then shot a powerful beam shot forward and barely missed Sonic as he quickly dodged to the side. “Okay, you‘ve convinced me.”
“Oh, I hate fighting like this,” said Cream as she was fighting back to back with Fluttershy against the pawns.
‘Chao.’
“Me too,” Fluttershy responded as she kept dodging strikes from the Egg Pawns, “but if we don’t, we won’t get any closer to finding Solar Dusk. So that makes this worth it, right?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
But suddenly, Cream, Cheese, Fluttershy, an Angel found themselves surrounded by the Egg Pawns. The pawns were closing in with nowhere for them to run.
“Yes yes, get them!” ordered Eggman.
“Uh-oh,” said Tails, “those guys are in trouble; we have to help them!”
“Stand down, fox boy!” shouted Rainbow Dash who knocking out some robots of her own, “I think Fluttershy and your rabbit friend might surprise you.”
Sonic and the others knew that Cream and Cheese could handle themselves in a fight, but they always helped them out in some sort of way. But they saw Cream and Cheese smirk at each other and then at Angel, and then Angel looked at Fluttershy who calmly smiled with confidence and said, “Let’s do it!”
The Egg Pawns suddenly all charged at them from all around, but they both easily dodged them all by flying straight up in the air.
“Obviously, they forgot that we can both fly,” Fluttershy.
Once they were high enough, Cream leapt off of Fluttershy and landed right on one of the robot’s head. “I’m right here,” she teased as she taped her foot, “come and get me.”
All robotic eyes were on her as they raised their weapons; but as they kept swinging they kept missing as Cream was hopping repeatedly across them and were instead getting each other. Fluttershy then swooped down sweep some of the bots of their feet.
“Pardon me.”
Cream jumped back on top of her as she came by and went back up in the sky. Cream then shouted, “Now, Miss Shy; lets dive!” Fluttershy nodded as she dived down at a fast enough speed; then Cream held up Cheese and used their diving speed to throw Cheese at the robots at an even faster velocity.
‘CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAO!’
In a blazing blue ball of glory, Cheese knocked out their share of Egg Pawns in one swoop; and their gems even shattered. Cheese landed on the ground where Angel stood beside him; and they both smirked at each other as they gave each other a fist bump.	   
“Whoa, you would never expect something like that from them,” said Tails in shock.
“Did they just do that?” said Spike, “That was unreal! You go, girls… and, uh… Chao and bunny!”
Cream and Fluttershy were smiling while taking a breather. It seemed to them that they could almost do everything if they fight with each other. Cheese came flying in Cream’s arms and gave her an excited hug to celebrate.
“That was fun,” said Cream, “I guess fighting is good when it’s against evil!”
Fluttershy nodded her head as she held Angle up, “It sure is.”
Eggman saw everything and was quite intrigued of what he witnessed, “Not bad; perhaps I can kinda see how those two might’ve beaten Solar Dusk… and that bunny is definitely smarter than it looks.”
“Well… that was fun!” said Pinkie after taking down the last group of robots with her secret weapon, “Like I always say, I never go anywhere without my party cannon!”
“How in the world did you bring that thing out?!” said Knuckles.
“I don’t question everything about you, do I?”
Applejack was working up quite sweat feeling that she went through a good work-out, “There were a lot of them, but that fight seemed much easier than Ah thought.”
“Of course it was” said Amy with a smirk, “that was nothing but a warm-up. My hammer and I hardly broke a sweat.”
“Usually Eggman has more elaborate plans than just a simple attack like this,” said Tails, “He must have something else up his sleeve.”
Suddenly, there was loud crash behind them on the ground. They turned around and saw that it was Metal Sonic; but despite it being down, it wasn’t badly damaged. Although, it wasn’t too much to the original Sonic either as the blue blur came down from the sky with a proud smirk.
“Sonic-1, metal fake-0. I’m sure that even you saw this coming; maybe you should’ve used one of those crystals to make this an even more fair fight.”
“Oh look, he’s being full of himself again,” said Spike sarcastically.
“Hey,” shouted Rainbow, “you’re definitely tougher than you look!”
“Thanks, and I could say the same thing about you guys.”
Now that all of Eggman’s robots were destroyed and Metal Sonic down for the count at the moment, this was finally their chance to get at Eggman and force him to reveal solar Dusk’s location.
“Fall back, Metal Sonic,” he shouted, “you’ve had your fun… for now.”
Metal Sonic stood back up on it two legs and glared intensely at Sonic; but knowing it had its orders, it responded, “Understood.”
It fell back and reunited to Eggman’s side; but Sonic and the others were slowly approaching him. Sonic stated, “What’s the matter, Eggman? Are we too much for you to handle… as always?”
“Don’t be absurd!” Eggman shouted, “I could squash you all at any time I choose!”
“That kind of funny,” said Twilight with her friends beside her, “They say that you said that all the time, but you’ve yet to do so up to this point. Just admit it, you’re beat; so now you’re going to tell us where Solar Dusk is whether you like it or not!”
That’s right!” shouted Cream and Fluttershy in agreement.
‘Chao chao chao!’
“HA, fat chance; you’re not getting anything out of me!”
“Trying to make a retreat, coward?” questioned Knuckles, “That always seems to be your specialty.”
“Think of it more like a tactical retreat. I have what I came here for, and now will take my leave.”
“Wait, what was he even after?” questioned Rarity.
They suddenly saw Eggman hold up a small vile in his hand while grinning mischievously. That was definitely suspicious to all of them knowing they had no idea of what it contained.
“Wait, what’s in that vile?” said Fluttershy.
“Oh this? You find out soon enough; but until then, I’m out of here!”
Eggman began making his escape with Metal Sonic, but Rainbow Dash went after him before he got too far, “Hey, stop right there! Who said that we were going to let you get away?!”
But right at the last minute, Eggman released a tiny metal ball that dropped out from the back of his pod. Once upon it, it exploded with blinding light that caused everyone to shield their eyes; but for Rainbow, she couldn’t see where she was going and slammed right into a nearby tree. Once the light died down, everyone looked up and Eggman was nowhere to be seen.
“Ugh, you have got to be kidding me,” said Knuckles.
“No way, where did he go?!” said Cream looking around.
‘Chao chao!’
Once Rainbow got herself together and got back up from her crash, she noticed that Eggman was gone, and so was their chance to find Solar Dusk, “You mean… he got away? Darn it; I had him!”
“Welcome to our world,” said Sonic.
“Not to worry, everyone!” said Tails proudly as he held up a small device of his, “While Eggman wasn’t looking, I placed a small tracking bug on his pod; so with this, we’ll be able to see where he goes… and he’ll lead us straight to Solar Dusk!”
As usual, Sonic and his friends were proud of him and not surprised at all; but for Twilight and her friends, it was the complete opposite reaction of how easily he did his feat.
“Alright, Tails!” Cream cheered, “That was such a great idea!”
‘Chao chao!’
Angel just folded his arms and sighed.
“That’s our Tails,” said Sonic, “always one step ahead of us.”
Rainbow Dash flew up to Tails and gave him a light noogie, “Nice move, kid; now let’s see where this Egg idiot goes.”
“Gotcha,” Tails responded, “just let me set in the coordinates, and… we have video feed!”
But as soon as the bug’s video view came up on Tails’ device, the first thing he saw was a familiar foe glaring back with red eyes, “Ahh, Metal Sonic?!”
“What’s going on back there?” said Eggman from the video feed.
“It is nothing… Master,” it replied before it picked up the bug and crushed it in its claws causing the video on Tails device to go out.
“What happened?” asked Twilight.
Tails sighed and lowered his head as he said, “I’m afraid Metal Sonic noticed my tracking bug and crushed it; looks like Eggman has gotten away.” 
They were all so close in finding out where Solar Dusk was hiding, but Tails’ extra plan was ruined thanks to Metal Sonic. Everyone soon became disappointed not because of Tails but because they knew something could’ve prevented this.
While everyone was feeling a bit disappointed however, Pinkie tried to act positive and pulled a small plate of cookies to share. “So… anyone want some cookies? I brought some of Vanilla’s just in case!” But everyone just looked at her either arching their eyebrow wondering where she got them from or giving her a small glare feeling that now wasn’t the time. “Anyone; no? Okay, more for me.”

> Chapter 6: What do We do now?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Master thief and jewel hunter, Rouge the Bat, was hiding nearby from afar watching all of the action that had presently took place. She was quite impress with the way the ponies fought and were handling themselves with Sonic and the others. This definitely gained her attention and she became even more curious about these creatures and their abilities.
“Well well, not bad,” she said to herself, “These pony creatures are definitely tougher than we thought; and that yellow one really surprised me.” She then spread her wings and fled from the scene feeling satisfied from what she surveyed. “This ought to turn into something quite spectacular.”
As for our frustrated heroes; some of them weren’t feeling so satisfied.
“I can’t believe this!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she kicked a scrap of metal across the ground, “Our one chance to finally find and capture Solar Dusk and we blew it! How could this happen?”
“Well, no one said capturing an evil genius was an easy task,” said Applejack, “But now this puts us back to square one.”
“We were so close,” said Cream, “What are we going to do now, Miss Shy?”
‘Chao chao’
“I’m not sure, Cream; but I’m sure we’ll think of something.”
Sonic and his friends were surveying the scene of their battle to see if they could find any possible hints to what Eggman was up too; but they came up with nothing.
“I don’t understand,” said Tails, “We fought Eggman many times, yet now I’m completely clueless as of what he’s up to. Do you guys have any ideas?”
They all shook their heads in disagreement. 
“Whatever it may be,” said Amy, “I’m sure it’s to benefit this Solar Dusk character. But don’t feel too surprised, Tails; it’s not like we haven’t been confused of Eggman’s plots before.”
“I know, but it still bothers me when it happens.” 
“In the meantime,” said Rarity, “who is going to get rid of this mess? It really ruins this perfect green scenery.”
“Not to worry,” said Sonic, “Eggman usually comes with a clean-up crew later to clean it all up; saves us the trouble.”
“Plus, it’s an opportunity to find any spare parts among the debris that could prove useful to my machines,” said Tails, “One genius’ loss is another genius’ gain, I always say.”
“Um… what is she doing?” said Knuckles suddenly.
Everyone looked over at Pinkie who was humming happily while picking up metal heads of the robots that were destroyed and were placing them up in a stack.
“That’s a good question,” said Rainbow Dash, “What are you doing, Pinkie?”
“I’m gathering all of the robots heads that are still intact and putting them in a neat little pile. Might as well have a little fun while we’re here.”
“Yep, that’s Pinkie for ya,” said Applejack, “Even in difficult times she finds ways to have fun and stay positive.” 
“Now then, I just need at least one more,” said Pinkie as continued to look around, “and the pile will be perfect!” Pinkie then spotted one just a few meters away from her as she shouted, “There’s one!”
She hopped over to it and was about to pick it up; but then the helmet booted back up and gave the pink mare a slight shock. The eye of the helmet suddenly glowed and then projected a light in everyone’s view. They all rushed over to see what was going on only to see projected in the light was a hologram of the very one they were hunting down.
“Oh… o-o-oh my gosh, you guys,” Cream shouted, “It’s him; that’s… that’s Solar Dusk!”
‘Chao chao chao!’
“Heh, so that’s Solar Dusk,” said Sonic, “Good thing he decided to show his face.”
“He does look a little intimidating for a pony,” said Knuckles.
Solar Dusk inside the hologram smiled ad chuckled evilly as he surveyed his enemies and the very ones he was thrilled to see in his presence, “Well well, if it isn’t my dear pony friends. I guess I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t expecting you all to try and follow me; I just didn’t that you would actually succeed.”
Amy whipped out her hammer and scowled at Solar Dusk as she held it firmly in her hand, “So you’re Solar Dusk; you’ve made a grave mistake coming here.”
“Tell us where you’re hiding right now!” Twilight demanded.
“Oh you completely, incompetent, clueless fools,” said the evil stallion, “Do you really think that I will straight up give you the location of where I am at?”
“Not really,” said Spike shrugging his shoulders, “but it was worth a shot.”
“Besides, even if you somehow find out where I am without me telling you, you’re too late to stop me anyway. And once my plan is complete, I’ll be unstoppable!” 
“Well… somepony is a bit full of himself,” scoffed Applejack.
Cream courageously walked up to Solar’s hologram with a determined scowl and shouted, “You’re a very bad pony, Solar Dusk!”
‘Chao chao!’
“We’re not going to let you get away with anything like we almost did back in Equestria! You should turn yourself in now and save us the trouble!”
Angel walked up beside her and stood in a tough pose crossing his arms and nodding his head scowling at the evil pony as well. 
“Ah yes, I remember you,” said Solar Dusk, “You’re that little rabbit girl who got lucky with your Pegasus friend and blue creature in taking me down.”
“My name is Cream, and Cheese is a Chao!”
‘Chao!’
“And that bunny; oh how I can’t wait to get my hooves on that fur ball for ruining everything.”
Angel responded by blowing a raspberry, and made Solar Dusk growl a bit under his breath.
“Hey, we all ruined your plan, remember?” said Fluttershy, “And it was your fault for underestimating us in the first place!”
“That’s right!” shouted Cream.
“Enough; if it weren’t for the inconvenient timing of Celestia’s pupil and that annoying rabbit, everything would have gone my way. You stopped me then, but this time… heh, things will be much different.”
“Guess again, blabbermouth!” shouted Rainbow Dash feeling tired of Solar’s running mouth.
She dashed towards him ready to knock Solar’s block, except she forgot one thing as she went right through him and crashed into the ground.
“Um, Miss Rainbow Dash,” said Tails, “he’s a hologram; he’ not really here.”
Rainbow dash groaned and rubbed her head, “Ugh, I really need to stop jumping to conclusion.”
Solar laughed at Rainbow’s expense; enjoying the sight of her slight pain, “Heh, not a very bright flyer you have there, do ya.”
“So just what are you planning to do from here that will help you get your revenge?” questioned Twilight.
Solar was in a rather ranting mood, and he didn’t mind at all giving his explanation, “I’m glad you asked, Princess. It’s pretty simple; ever since that looney scientist broke me out of that wretched prison with that impressive robot of his, I knew that fate had turned in my favor. My plan was ruined not once, but twice. I will not make that mistake again! Together with my magic and skill of modifying gem stones and Eggman’s scientific intelligence and vast robotic armies, I will finally overthrow Celestia and her stupid sister; and my brilliance will finally be showed respect as all of Equestria will bow before me. Oh, and I will hold my end of the bargain I guess and help him conquer this world too. So go ahead and carry out any of your heroic deeds you have planned, because soon… I will be… UNSTOPPABLE!!!”
Everyone was staring at Solar Dusk either feeling troubled or annoyed by his constant rant. But then suddenly Sonic walked up to Solar Dusk slowly clapping his hands sarcastically, Bravo, Mister Solar Dusk; bravo. That was a nice evil ranting speech you had going there; very spot on.”
“What?” said Solar Dusk.
Sonic then was ready to do a little bit of ranting himself, “Well then… now that is out of the way, it’s my turn to tell you something. In case the doc didn’t tell you about me, my name is Sonic; Sonic the Hedgehog. I don’t know you very much, but my friends and I have taken on Eggaman more times than we can count, and we’ve always beaten his schemes every time. We’ve even faced bigger threats than him as well. Sure, it’s never always easy for us, and we have received our share of scrapes and bruises; heck, I even almost died a few times. But I’m always willing to risk my life to protect this world, and so are they.”
Twilight and her friends were quite impressed of how Sonic was keeping his cool interrogating Solar, and Solar himself was getting furious of the hedgehog making him seem unintimidating.
“Going against you won’t be anything different that we haven’t dealt with before; though I’m sure you’ll put up a good fight. So go ahead and proceed with whatever plan you have in store. If you strike first, we’ll be ready for you!”
“Yeah,” Amy cheered, “you’ll tell him, Sonic!”
“Spoken like a real hero with a huge ego,” said Spike.
Solar realized just how Eggman’s #1 nemesis was as troublesome and infuriating as he was mentioned; but he didn’t allow that fact to bother him, “That quack doctor was right; you are an annoying, and insufferable hedgehog.”
“Thanks, I do get that a lot.”
Solar’s chance to scare the ponies and the others failed and he knew that they would still try to pursue him, “You fools really think you’re all that, then fine. You’ll all fall just like these pony weaklings. Next time you see me, you will all surrender to my power.”
Before Solar signed out of his hologram, he looked back Fluttershy wearing a grim smile, “Oh, and by the way, Miss Shy; if I were you, I’d keep a close eye on a certain couple of friends of yours.” He then eyed Cream and Cheese who had an unsure look at him, “It would be a real shame if something… bad happened to them.”
The signal of the hologram disappeared, and Solar Dusk was now nowhere to be seen. Knuckles growled lowly while beating on his fists and said, “I just met that guy, and already I don’t like him.”
“I think that’s the point, Knuckles,” said Amy.
“Calls us weaklings, will he,” said Rainbow Dash as she rose up in the air and punching it with her hooves, “I’ll make him eat his words.”
“Well, until we can locate him,” said Sonic, “I’m afraid that has to wait. He may be full of himself, but I don’t we should take him lightly. We need to figure out what to do next.”
Cream and Cheese looked over at Fluttershy and saw she had a scared expression on her face; but they just thought that he let Solar Dusk scare her.
“Miss Shy, what’s wrong,” Cream said to her, “You’re not letting that Solar Dusk pony scare you, are you?”
‘Chao?’
Fluttershy realized that these two didn’t realize themselves of what Solar Dusk said to her meant, so she just smiled and said, “Oh… m-maybe a little, but I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing,” said Cream smiling back with Cheese, “We will find and defeat Solar Dusk just like we did last time! Together we can do anything!”
‘Chao chao!’
“Y-y-yeah, of course.”
Cream went over to some of her other friends to see if they were okay as well. Twilight came over to Fluttershy who was still feeling troubled and asked her, “Hey, Fluttershy, do you have any idea what Solar Dusk meant by that last comment he made at you?”
Fluttershy looked back over at Cream and Cheese who was still being cheerful as they always try to be, “I’m… n-not exactly sure; but… I think I have a pretty good idea.”

-----

Back at Eggman’s base, Cubot and Orbot were continuing to try and kiss up to Solar Dusk.
“Here’s another cup tea, you most intelligent equine,” said Cubot, “And may I say that was a nice evil rant that you gave to those ruffians; they definitely needed a stern talking to.”
Solar Dusk was still a bit annoyed to the attention the two robots were giving him, but he was tolerating it knowing that it would be worth it in the end, “Thanks… I guess.”
“Yeah, and they definitely looked scared,” said Cubot, “Take that, ya fools!”
Suddenly, Eggman made his return as he busted into the control room, “The Eggman is back! I haven’t had this much fun in a while; I’m so pumped up!”
“Well good for you,” said Solar Dusk rolling his eyes, “So… did you fulfilled your part of the bargain?”
Eggman chuckled as he pulled out the same vile that he reveled to his enemies and presented it to Solar Dusk, “Here you are, as promised.”
Solar Dusk opened up the vile and smiled maliciously as he felt that things were going his way, “Yes, this is perfect. Not bad, scientist; you’re obviously more clever than I anticipated.”
“Hee hee, guilty as charged!”
Solar continued to chuckle as he looked upon his trump card against his enemies; he felt that victory was finally his, “Thanks to this, those ponies won’t know what hit them.”

-----

Back at Cream’s house, Vanilla was just biding her time and keeping herself distracted. Knowing that her daughter was out fighting evil again ever since her disappearance, she was hoping that she would return to her safely. But much to her relief, she looked out the window and saw Sonic and the others coming back; as well as her daughter. She smiled and stopped what she was doing as she came out the door to greet them.
“Welcome back everyone!” she said, “So were you able to complete your mission?”
But when Vanilla took a second glance at the group, he noticed that they all looked a bit disappointed; some more than usual. Cream came over to her with Cheese as she sadly said, “We failed Mother. We stopped Eggman’s attack, but he got away before we could even catch him.”
‘Chao chao.’
“Oh,” said Vanilla, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“But it’s not over yet,” said Tails, “Whatever Eggman has planned has to deal with Solar Dusk; and I’m going to make sure that we do find him. You can bet on that.”
Vanilla just kept a pleasant expression on her face and said, “Well, at least you all made it back in one piece; that’s what’s important.”
Sonic suddenly yawned and stretched out his arms; and then he proceeded to lay down against a tree and stated, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to kick back, relax and try to catch a few ZZZs.”
Rainbow zipped in front of him almost scaring him half to death and shouted, “What; how can you think about sleeping at a time like this?! We need to figure out how to track down Solar Dusk; we don’t have time to rest!”
“Speak for yourself, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity groaned trying to stretch out her worn out hooves, “That battle may have been a cake walk, but I still have blisters in my hooves. I need time to rest.”
“Yeah,” Spike agreed, “Rarity needs her rest… a-a-and so do the rest of us; I’m a little tired myself.”
“As much as I hate to say it,” said Knuckles, “it be foolish to try and go back out now. We do need to rest.”
“Wow, look at you, Knuckles,” said Amy, “deciding to rest instead of letting your temper decide for you.”
“Real funny, Amy. I’m going back to Angel Island; call me when the action starts again.”
Knuckles then left them to continue his duty as the Guardian of the Master Emerald.
“Angel Island?” wondered Pinkie, “Does it have angels in it?!”
Knuckles stopped in his steps and looked back at Pinke showing a slight smirk, “Well… yeah; I guess you could say that.” And then he continued going on his way towards his destination without saying any other words.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash thought thing over in her head and sighed and decided that everyone was right in their situation, “Alright, fine; we can rest for a little bit. But if that quack doctor comes back in full force, don’t blame me.”
There was suddenly a voice that called out from the distance, “Hey, you guys! What’s going on?!”
And another, “What’s going on, peeps?!”
“Well well; look who’s on the scene,” said Sonic.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voices and saw two more anthromorphic animals coming their way; a crocodile and a bee.
“It’s Vector and Charmy!” said Amy, “I wonder what they’re doing here.”
Spike was a little freaked out, though he also found it to be fascinating, “Whoa, that is one giant bee.” He smirked and looked up at Twilight, “Imagine having that stinger stuck inside you.”
Twilight looked at him in a weird way and said, “No thank you.”
Sonic got up from his relaxing pose to greet them wondering what their reason for being here was, “What up, Vector?”
“Nothing much; but from the look of things, you guys have some company. These must be the ponies that giant cat told us about, Charmy.”
The bee named Charmy suddenly lit up more than he already was and was zipping around the area feeling quite giddy, “Oh my gosh, that they are! They’re much cuter than I thought! Excuse my giddiness, but I can’t help myself but totally love you guys to death. So what magical adventure are you guys on?!”
“Is he fer real?” said Applejack.
“He’s kinda cute for a bee,” stated Rarity.
Vector grabbed Charmy and held him in place while scowling at him, “Come on, Charmy; calm down. You might be scaring them.”
Suddenly, Pinkie hopped up to Vector as wildly as the bee was and was admiring a certain aspect of him, “Wow; you look like a giant version of my pet, Gummy at home; except he’s an alligator! Are crocodiles and alligators really different creatures?”
“Great,” Vector thought to himself, “Just what I needed a pony who seems just like Charmy.
“Hey, Mister Vector,” said Cream as she approached him, “it’s nice to see you again… and Charmy too; but where is Espio?”
‘Chao chao.’
“Oh yeah,” Sonic wondered, “Where is that ninja master of a chameleon?”
“A ninja chameleon?” said Twilight sounding intrigued, “Now I’ve heard everything.”
Vector got right down to business, “Oh, right; that’s kind of the reason why we came to you guys. You see, we’ve suddenly accomplished something that you guys haven’t been able to do lately… we…”
Suddenly, Charmy interrupted Vector in the middle of his explanation and shouted, “WE FOUND EGGMAN’S BASE!!!” 
The attention of everyone there was suddenly on Vector and Charmy and they all said, “WHAT!!!”
“Charmy,” said Vector as he grabbed Charmy again, “what did I say about out-bursting in the middle of me talking like that?! That is rude!”
“S-s-s-sorry,” Charmy chuckled, “I couldn’t help myself; heh heh.”
“Hold up a minute,” said Tails freaking out, “did you just say that you found Eggman Base?! That’s impossible! We looked everywhere and none of my computers could locate it at all!”
“Did you really find it?!” asked Cream with a bright smile.
‘Chao chao chao?!’
“We sure did,” said Vector, “and it was quite lucky for us of how of how we found out.”

-----

All three of us were just hanging out together in Green Hill Forest just chilling and doing our own thing. Charmy was in his own world, I was laying back and bopping my head to some sweet music, and Espio was doing his usual ninja meditation. But then at some point, Espio must have broke out of meditation due to sensing something nearby.
“Did you two hear that?”
“I heard nothing!” 
“What’s going on, Espio? You sense something?”
“Hold on…”
I could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew something was nearby, but neither me nor Charmy knew what it could be. But then he got all serious and said…
“Follow me, and stay quiet.”
“Oki dokie!”
“Do you even know how to be quiet, Charmy?”
We quietly followed his lead to find out what was lurking around in that forest. Sure enough, we peaked over a bush only to see an obvious character being sneaky.
“Just as I thought; it’s Eggman, and he has Metal Sonic with him.”
“This is great; now we can follow him and see where his hideout is. We’ll surely be the heroes of this day.”
“Get down.”
Espio had to push both of us down in the bush before Eggman saw us. If he did, we would be in big trouble.
“What do you see, Espio?”
“They just stopped and are looking around for intruders.”
We stayed down while Espio peeked back over the bush we were hiding behind. But we were waiting for him to give us the clear signal, he shouted…
“No way!”
“What what?! What happened?!”
“They just… disappeared.”
We walked over to where Eggman and Metal Sonic were standing and all we saw was more forest. But then Espio took a closer look and put his hand forward only to have his hand suddenly vanish.
“Whoa, you’re hands gone!”
“Or is it?”
Espio then placed half of his body forward and all Charmy and I saw was his behind.
“What’s wrong?”
“Check it out yourself.”
We weren’t sure of what was happening, but Charmy and I eventually did the same thing Espio did; and that’ when we saw it.
“Whoa, it’s… its Eggman’s base!”
“So that’s it; his base was hidden by this invisible barrier. To think that he would be able to hide it in plain sight.”
“So now what?”
As always, Espio was quick to make a decision.
“There’s no time to lose. You must alert this this to Sonic and the others and tell them what we have discovered.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll use my ninja stealth to sneak in and find out what Eggman is planning. Once you tell the others, head back here and wait for my return.”
“Why can’t we just bring everyone here and storm the place; you know, catch Eggman by surprise?”
“Patience, Charmy; doing such a rash action could spell certain doom for everyone.”
“Yeah, what were you thinking?”
“Just make sure you come back, okay?”
“You can count on that.”
“Come on, let’s go!”
“Roger!”

-----

“After that, we left Espio to do his thing. But it was while on the way here that we ran into that giant cat and he told us about your new pony friends. We weren’t sure if what he was telling us was true or not, but I guess now we know it was.”
This was a big breakthrough for everyone, especially for Twilight and her friends. Vector and Charmy were definitely a big help since they discovered Eggman’s hideout.
“So that’s it,” said Tails, “No wonder none of my scans couldn’t pick up his location; his barrier must have cutting of my signals.”
“That’s pretty lucky of you guys; to think that you would discover Eggman’s base before me.”
“Yep, we’re pretty lucky,” said Charmy proudly.
“Do you know what this means, Miss Shy?!” said Cream excitedly.
“Yeah, I do!” FLuttershy responded, “It means we can finally track down and stop Solar Dusk?”
That name was new to Vector and Charmy not knowing what was fully going on.
“Huh; Solar who?” said Vector, “I thought we were stopping Eggman? Who’s this Solar guy you’re talking about?”
“Solar Dusk is an enemy of ours,” said Applejack, “He’s escaped here and has teamed up with yer enemy; Eggman.”
“If we don’t stop either of them, both of our worlds could be doomed,” Twilight added, “But at least now we know where to find them.”
“Wow, I just thought we had to deal with Eggman,” said Charmy miring and rubbing his hands, “Things have definitely gotten interesting.”
Sonic smiled as he laid back down, “Thanks for giving that bit of info to us; we’ll make sure to make use of it a little later after we’ve rested.”
Applejack then glared over at Rainbow Dash who was already feeling psyched, “And don’t say we should do something about it now… now that we know where Solar Dusk is, Rainbow Dash.”
“Hey, I-I-I wasn’t going to say that!” Rainbow Dash scoffed.
Pinkie giggled and whispered to Amy who giggled with her, “Oh, she totally was.”
Vector then took his leave with Charmy as he they were heading back towards the forest, “Well it was nice seeing all of you, but we really need to be going.”
“Yeah, time to wait for Espio at the ranadevouz point!” said Charmy as he winked at the ponies while flying away, “See ya later pretty ponies!”
“Charmy, stop embarrassing us; we’re supposed to be professionals!”
“I am being a professional!”
“No, you’re being a weirdo!”
“Well that happened,” said Amy, “Anyway, we better be ready when the time comes. When it does, we’ll storm the place and find out what Eggman is up to; and we’ll be able to capture… what’s-his-face.”  
“Solar Dusk,” said Cream
“Right, what Cream said.”
“In the meantime, I’m going to use this opportunity to have a look around this place,” said Twilight while taking out a book that she was carrying I’m quite interested to see what else this place holds.”
“Take your time; no need to rush,” said Sonic, “Once we get the info from Espio, we can go on the offensive and take those two nut jobs down.”
And that was that; it was time for or heroes to take a rest before pursuing towards their goal. They all went different way to either rest or prepare for the next upcoming battle. However, Cream wanted to spend more time with Fluttershy as she went over to her with Cheese and asked her…
“Hey, Miss Shy, is it okay if I show you me and Cheese’s favorite flower picking spot?!”
‘Chao chao chao?!’
Fluttershy was just standing there still thinking over what Solar Dusk said to her earlier

‘Oh, and by the way, Miss Shy; if I were you, I’d keep a close eye on a certain couple of friends of yours. It would be a real shame if something… bad happened to them.’

“Miss Shy!”
Fluttershy finally heard Cream and snapped out of it and looked at her, “Huh, o-oh… did you say something, Cream?”
“Yeah, Cheese and I want to show you our favorite spot to pick flowers while we wait to kick Solar Dusk’s butt again!”
Fluttershy felt a little uneasy of imagining the possible outcome of Cream coming with them only to be seriously wounded by Solar Dusk. But despite that, she responded…
“Oh… u-um, okay; sure. I would love to.”
“Great, just let me grab my basket!”
As Cream ran into the house, Sonic happened to notice how Fluttershy was acting. He calmly walked up to her and said, “Say, um… Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy looked beside her and sighed, “Hey, Sonic.”
“I don’t mean to not mind my own business, but… I realized that your resolve has lowered dramatically ever since our holographic encounter with that crazy pony.”
“Well, Solar Dusk is a bit intimidating,” Fluttershy claimed, “but… i-it’s okay; I’m fine.”
“You’re worry about Cream and Cheese, aren’t you?” Sonic stated, “You’re worried that if they come with us, something terrible will happen to them.”
Sonic knew how she was feeling and she couldn’t hide from him; so she confessed, “Well… you heard what Solar Dusk said; he sounded pretty serious. If Cream and Cheese come with us, he might be expecting them and plans to get back at them somehow. I couldn’t handle it if he hurts those two again. Seeing her spirit almost get broken like before was once enough; I refuse to let it happen again.”
“Cream and Cheese have gone up against plenty of danger with us,” said Sonic trying to get Fluttershy to understand, “but… if your gut is telling you something important and you think it would be safer for Cream and Cheese to not fight him, then I won’t top you. If he does have something planned to hurt them when they get to him, then maybe you’re right. But only do it if you think it’s the right thing to do.”
After that, sonic stretched his legs and decided to go on a little sprint. Fluttershy was thinking over what Sonic said to her and felt that what she thought was right; but she was also wondering how Cream would react if she found out that she planned to leave her out of the battle. She might think that she saw her as weak and not strong enough to handle herself; she didn’t want her to think that.
“Oh, Fluttershy; what are you going to do?”
	
> Chapter 7-a: Taking a Breather (Pt.1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	(Spike recaps)

Oh, hey there; this is Spike. Welcome back to the story. I know that some of you out there may not have read this adventure lately; either that or you may have the attention span of a goldfish. But either way, I’m here to recap everything that has happened so far in case you need a quick catch up on the story’s plot. So… here it is.
You remember Solar Dusk, right? The stallion that was planning to take over Equestria with his own mind control gems but was then stopped and put to justice thanks to Twilight, Fluttershy, and our two friends from the other world, Cream and Cheese? Well… long story short, he escaped! However, he had help from a robotic menace named Metal Sonic. It helped Solar Dusk escape to the other world where he teamed up with a quirky scientist named Dr. Eggman; which makes sense since he does look like a giant egg. But anyway, once we found out, Twilight and the others, including me, found a way to transport to the other world ourselves to try and find and re-capture Solar Dusk.
We eventually found Cream and Cheese, and we gathered a bunch of their other friends too and clued them in to the situation. Once they knew, it was clear to them what we had to do. So far, we had an encounter with that devious Dr. Eggman, and stopped an attack of a small army of his robots. But once we took them all out, he just fled and threw us off his trail. Now how were we supposed to find Solar Dusk? Luckily for us, a couple more friends of Cream and Cheese told us that they found where Eggman was hiding; and wherever Eggman was, Solar Dusk should be there too. Now were just hanging out and relaxing to gather up our strength until the right time came to take down Solar Dusk once and for all.
So, did you catch all of that information? Good, cause I am not saying all of that again. If you didn’t, then tough cookies; you’re better off starting at the beginning anyway.
-----
(Princess on Angel Island)

Twilight Sparkle was exploring the surrounding plains of Green Hill with Spike who came along for the ride. While taking a break until Eggman’s plan was found out, Twilight was quite intrigued of checking out what this land had to offer.
“Just look at this place, Spike,” said Twilight feeling amazed, “Isn’t it unlike anything you’ve ever seen?”
But Spike however, didn’t seem too impressed of what he saw, “Well… I wouldn’t exactly say unlike anything I’ve seen before, but… it’s definitely different.”
“Just think about it; this whole land is huge and its only part of this separate world. I don’t mean to sound like an overexcited geek, but just imagine how other areas in this world would look like!”
Suddenly, Spike’s jaw dropped as he looked ahead and pointed a claw near in front of them, “You mean… like that?!”
Twilight looked up in front of them, and up in the sky she saw what reminded her a bit of Cloudsdale back in their world; but instead, she saw what looked like a giant island floating in the sky.
“Is that… a floating island?” said Twilight, “ Heh, well I guess its not the most bizarre thing I’ve seen.”
“Wanna go check it out?” said Spike.
“I don’t see why not.”
Spike hopped upon Twilight as she spread her wings to take to the skies. She made her way above the mysterious floating island taking in the scenery of the huge forest surroundings and barren ruins. They didn’t see anyone, and the place seemed very deserted.
“I wonder if anyone lives on this island?” Spike wondered.
“Doesn't look like it so far,” Twilight responded, “Too bad though; its so vast and full of plant life.”
But being as she is, Twilight had a feeling that there was more to this place than they could see from the air. 
“Come on, let’s go in for a closer look.”
Twilight began to descend to the ground watching out where she landed. Spike was looking around to try and help her in any way he could. But then he was suddenly distracted by something nearby.
“Tw-Tw-Tw-Twilight, look at that!”
Twilight staggered a bit from Spike’s outburst, “Spike, why did you…” but then she suddenly saw what Spike saw… and she was utterly astounded.
They landed on a giant altar where a huge group of stairs led up to a pedestal that housed a gigantic green gem. Spike just stood there in front of it with huge amounts of saliva dripping from his mouth.	

“That… is the biggest… most gigantic… delicious-looking gem… I have ever seen.”
“I feel… a strange source of energy coming from it,” said Twilight as she touched the gem with her hoof, “Is it anything like those Chaos Emeralds?”
Spike suddenly placed his arms on the giant gem hugging it and lowly moaned in delight, “Ooooooh, its so… b-beautiful.” It was then he was about to lick it; but before he did…
“Hey, who's there?!”
Spike and Twilight heard a sudden voice that sounded familiar. A red echidna came walking out from the other side of the giant gem and was lightly glaring at Spike.
“Oh, it’s you two.”
“Knuckles?!” Twilight exclaimed, “Is this giant gem yours?”
“It’s an emerald, and yes… it sure is; and it most definitely isn’t food.”
Spike chuckled nervously as he quickly stepped away from the emerald before Knuckles did something to him, “S-s-so… um, Knuckles, this is where you live?”
“Pretty much. So… what brings you guys up here exactly?”
“Oh you know… just exploring a bit,” Twilight explained, “We have a city back in our world that floats in the sky too, except it’s made of clouds. So we just wanted to see how a giant island like this is able to stay afloat in the sky.”
“Of course you would,” said Knuckles knowing that Twilight was obviously the brainiac of this new group of ponies that came into his world, “This is the Master Emerald; its power alone is what keeps this island afloat. My… father used to be the leader and guardian of this island and it was his duty to guard and keep this Emerald safe. But something happened a long time ago, and now… I’m the last of my kind. It’s unfortunate, but I chose to stay loyal to my sole duty to protect the Master Emerald and keep it from falling in the wrong hands.”
Twilight and Spike were quite shocked of what they heard from this echidna. They figured it was pretty hard for him to bear such a fate all on his own.
“W-wow, that’s deep,” said Spike, “I’d hate it if I was the last dragon in Equestria and have to guard some kind of treasure all by myself! I’d actually be more tempted to eat it!”
“I’m sorry to hear all of that,” said Twilight sadly, “Going through all of this must have been hard on you.”
Knuckles just scoffed trying to not feel sad about it, “Yeah, well… it’s not the best role in life, but someone has to do it.”
“On the other hoof though,” said Twilight with a slight smile, “it must have take someone with a lot of patience, a cool head and a wise spirit to take on this kind of responsibility.”
Knuckles body froze for a second, and then he looked over at Twilight with nervous eyes and then looked away again with a light blush, “”Um… y-y-yeah, sure. I’m… all of those things; absolutely.” Then he decided to change the subject away from that, “S-so, you’re a princess, right? I’m guessing that you rule over the Kingdom where you live.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a Kingdom, but it is where I live with all of my friends, and I am the Princess there, so… I guess it still is a Kingdom.”
Spike suddenly shouted, “Yep, just call her ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle’!” But then Twilight looked down at him with her usual pout face and Spike just lightly chuckled, “Or… j-j-just Twilight is fine… I guess.”
Suddenly, the Master Emerald started emitting a huge amount of energy as Knuckles quickly turned around to it and spoke to it, “What’s going on? What it is it?”
“Is he… talking to that gem?” said Spike feeling weirded out by the situation, “Kinda creepy.”
But as Twilight was watching, she noticed that in a bag that she had with her something was glowing as well. She pulled out her tiara that was her element and saw that it’s glowing was reacting to the gem, “What’s going on? Why is my element reacting to this… Master Emerald?”
“Wait a minute, that’s it!” Knuckles said suddenly as he eyed Twilight element. He then looked back at the emerald and said, “It’s one of those things from the vision that you gave me!”
Spike still found Knuckles talking to an emerald was a bit weird, “Wh-wh-what vision… exactly?”
“A few days ago, the Master Emerald gave me a vision of these powerful trinkets; the Elements of Harmony. One day, they would play a big part in saving our world from an upcoming threat. You and your friends are the bearers of those elements, aren’t you?”
“That we are,” Twilight responded, “and each element has a different meaning in correspondence to the bearers.”
“I know,” said Knuckles, “honesty, loyalty, generosity, laughter, kindness, and… yours is magic, the element that brings the others together. Kinda reminds me of how the Master Emerald is linked to the Chaos Emeralds and brings them together.”
“No way!” shouted Spike.
“Well, it shouldn’t be too surprising to you that I know all of this. After all, I did sorta hear about what Cream told everyone else about the other world she was in; but I suppose that I chose to not fully believe it. Guess that’s what I get for being arrogant.” 
Twilight was very astounded hearing about what Knuckles had experienced, and the fact that his giant emerald shared some slight similarity to the powers of their elements. It was truly something worth finding out for her.
“So I guess that this new threat is our enemy Solar Dusk.”
“I’m very sure of it,” Knuckles responded pounding his fists, “I wasn’t technically face to face with that creep and I already want to knock him into next week. He has no idea who he is threatening.”
Twilight was grateful that Knuckles was fully on board with helping them take down Solar Dusk. She figured that they would need all of the help they could get. “Well don’t worry, Knuckles, and… the emerald, we were brought here for a reason, and that is to take down Solar Dusk. I promise that we will do our part and save our worlds from his power.”
Knuckles just showed a light smile while flexing his fists, “Heh, as will we.”
“Okay, seriously;” said Spike as he was still looking at the emerald feeling confused, “can this emerald talk or what?”

-------

(Ladies hanging out)

At Cream’s house, Rarity happened to come upon Vanilla’s room where she saw some of Vanilla’s clothing creations; and to her it was like walking into a different world of fashion. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. Vanilla was there and saw how much she admired her work and allowed her to have a look around.
“I do say, these look absolutely magnificent,” said Rarity, “They are so simple, so basic, so plain; and yet… they really say something. They say… look at us, we’re not boring, we’re fabulous!”
Vanilla was smiling feeling appreciated of Rarity’s compliments about her work, “I’m glad that you like them so much. I’m not really a sole designer, this is just a little hobby that I do on the side. I’m actually more into cooking and gardening than anything else.”
“What,” Rarity gasped, “are you kidding me?! These must be known by others; others who are looking for a traditional look! You mustn't keep this to yourself!”
Vanilla understood how serious fashion was to Rarity, and seeing all of this really impressed her as well. So she gave her an offer, “Well if you want, I’d be happy to let you use some of my designs for your work. I really don’t mind.”
But Rarity thought it was a bad idea, “No no no no no no, I couldn’t do that! This is your work, and only you can present designs as… lovely as… these.”
Vanilla lightly chuckled to herself. Rarity really didn’t want to take her designs for herself, but at the same time she really wouldn’t mind showing them off as well.
“Knock yourself out,” said Vanilla, “I insist.”
Rarity took one good look at what she could see and finally broke down and said, “Well… if you do insist, I-I-I’ll think about it. But if I do I’m giving most credit to you.”
“How generous of you,” Vanilla chuckled.
“Yes, well… I do get that a lot.”
Rarity and Vanilla then began heading back towards the front room near the house entrance. When they got there, Applejack and Amy Rose were sharing a conversation themselves. Vanilla saw Applejack doing things in her kitchen, and Amy got up from a sofa holding up a small cup of what smelled like cider to them.
“Miss Vanilla,” said Amy, “you have to try this hot cider Applejack made. It’s awesome!”
Applejack smiled nervously as Vanilla suddenly stared at her curious, “Heh, Ah hope ya don’t mind that Ah used yer kitchen… and some of yer utensils… and some apples that ya had in stock. Ah just had to share this recipe from back home to you guys.”
“Honestly, Applejack,” Rarity scoffed, “whatever happened to to asking first and act afterwards?”
Vanilla definitely adored the scent of the cider smell she smelt and she didn’t really mind of what Applejack did even though she didn’t ask her first.
“Would you mind if I tried some of your cider?” she politely asked.
“Ah would be pretty sad if ya didn’t,” Applejack responded.
Applejack poured Vanilla a small cup of the cider that she made and gave it to her. She calmly watched as Vanilla took a small sip of it; it kinda reminded her of the delicate manner of a certain pony friend of hers. Vanilla’s eyes became wide for a few seconds, and stared back down at her cup and said in pure awe, “Oh my, that is good.”
“Told ya it was,” said Amy with a smile.
“Well… Applejack really does have that flair of creating lovely apple delicacies,” said Rarity, “She was raised on an apple farm after all.”
Hearing that, Amy suddenly became curious as she asked, “By the way, do you have any siblings?”
“Oh do ah,” Applejack responded, “Ah have a big brother and a little sister. Ah bet they both miss me right about now.”
“Yes, well I suppose my little  sister misses me as well,” said Rarity.
“Well I’m sure all of you already knew,” said Amy sipping some more cider, “but Cream is an only child. I am too an only child, but Cream kinda looks to me like an older sister; so.. that really makes me feel special.”
Applejack looked at Rarity with a little smirk, “Kinda like Scootaloo is to Rainbow Dash; eh, Rarity?”
“Exactly,” Rarity responded.
As Vanilla was finishing up her cup of cider, her eyes caught the appearance of the trinkets that were hanging around Applejack and Rarity’s necks. She did notice them before, but she never remembered to bring up the explanation of them.
“By the way,” she said while looking at Rarity’s trinket, “I couldn’t help but notice your lovely necklaces that are around you and your friends necks when you first got here. They look just like those symbols in the cave that Cream told us about. She drew a picture of them y’know.”
“Oh yeah,” said Amy being curious, “the Elements of Harmony, right? What’s up with those things anyway?”
“They do look like such lovely accessories, don’t they?” said Rarity as she held up and admired her element, “But the truth is that they are not just a fashion statement, they together are one of the strongest sources of defense in our world. Twilight’s Element, the Element of Magic is what keeps them in synch, but without just one of them would be non-effective.”
“They’ve helped us defeat many baddies,” Applejack added, “and prevented many horrible outcomes to certain situations, and they are exactly  what we need to re-capture  Solar Dusk!”
“But there’s still one fact that we’re wondering,” Amy stated, “why are those symbols carved into a cave wall in our world in the first place?” 
Applejack just shrugged and said, “Beats me, but Ah’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later. Maybe it’s some kind of prophecy thang or some other kind mystical event… or whateva.”
“Well if those elements are our only hope to capture that creep,” said Amy with a smirk, “just know that me and my friends will be supporting you girls every step of the way.” 
Applejack and Rarity were glad to hear her say that; not to say that they didn’t think that Cream’s friends wouldn’t be brave enough to help them, but even after what they witnessed, they had no plans of backing down. 
“Would you ladies care to have some sugar mint cookies?” Vanilla questioned.
“I’d be delighted,” Rarity responded.
Applejack agreed as well, “Sure thang; thanks.”
It was only a matter of time before they would receive information from Charmy, Vector and Espio of what Solar Dusk and Eggman were planning, so they planned to rest up as much as they needed until the time came.
But just then, a thought suddenly occurred to Applejack, “Hey,Rarity, Ah just realized somethang. Ah know you and Ah are here, and Twilight and Spike went explorin’ around, Rainbow is out stretchin’ her wings and Fluttershy is with Cream and Cheese. But… do you have any idea where Pinkie went?”
“Now that I think about it,” Rarity responded, “I don’t know where she might be either. Ugh, that pony can be a real chore to keep up with.”
Amy wasn’t quite sure why they would be so worried about not knowing where their pink pony friend was, but they did know her more than she did. “I think I saw her hopping off somewhere, and she was following someone. Who, I don’t know.”
Applejack and Rarity just sighed and decided to not worry about it and not let it cause them to not relax.
“Not to worry,” said Rarity, “Pinkie Pie is very mature just like the rest of us. I’m sure she can stay out of trouble… I hope.” 
	
> Chapter 7-b: Taking a Breather (Pt. 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	(A Visitor in the Workshop)

Tails the fox was back in his workshop preparing and planning for the battle that was to come, but he was also doing his best to get over Metal Sonic outsmarting him and destroying his tracking bug earlier.
“Darn that Metal Sonic, I can’t believe that he figured out my plan so quickly and ruined my bug. It takes me days to to create those. ‘Sigh’ Oh well, at least now we know where Eggman’s hideout is. We can finally find out what he’s up to.
Just then, Tails realized a slight flaw in his planning.
“Wait a minute; if his base is in that deep forest, I can’t fly in with the Tornado. so we’ll have to go there on foot. Well that’s perfect.”
Suddenly, Tails heard a soft clanging of metal sounds nearby and quickly looked behind him. But he didn’t see anything as he scratched his head, “Huh, that’ weird. I could’ve sworn that I heard something.” 
He then slowly turned back around while shifting eyes around. He went back to what he was doing; tinkering with one of his inventions, until he then heard loud clanging sounds of some of his possessions falling nearby. He jumped in shock and then took out a wrench in his hand ready to defend himself.
“Sh-sh-show yourself.”
No one still appeared to be there, but Tails wasn’t believing that for one second. He kept looking around in the sound’s direction, but from behind, a shadow rose up and then shouted, “HI THERE!”
Tails screamed and it caused him to throw the wrench upwards and got stuck on a pipe. He fell down and was trying to keep his heart calm; and when he looked behind him, he saw one of their other worldly friends grinning at him.
“Surprise! Were you surprised?! Please tell me you were surprised?! I just love surprising other ponies… and foxes… well, everyone actually!” 
“Pinkie Pie?” said Tails, “What are you doing here?”
“Well… I saw that no one was following you after we separated to take a breather and all, and I thought that it was kinda sad that no one went with you to hang out with you, even your own friends, while you relaxed!”
“Right, relax,” said Tails sarcastically, “Didn’t Knuckles go on his own too; and Sonic; and your fast pegasus friend?”
“Well, Rainbow Dash and your hedgehog friend seem like the kind to be on their own to go around with their speed and all, so we should give them their space. And don't worry about Knuckles, Twilight and Spike are with him.”
“How do you even know that?” Tails questioned.
“Hmm… just a hunch I guess. Anyway, after thinking really, really hard, I thought to myself… hey, that cute little two-tailed fox might need someone to keep him company. So… I decided to follow you! Isn’t that great?!”
“Yeah, great.”
Suddenly, the the wrench on the ceiling came loose and bonked Tails on top of head. Pinkie smiled nervously and said, “Oopsie, sorry.”
“By the way,” said Tails while rubbing his head, “that’s not the only main reason that you came here, isn’t it?”  
“Okay, you got me. I also came here because I was fascinated by all the stuff here in your workshop place earlier, and I had to come back for a closer look… like that thing over there!” 
Pinkie suddenly hopped over one of Tails’ devices and was holding it up with hooves admiring it closely.
“H-h-hey, be careful with that!” shouted Tails as he was running over to Pinkie in slight panic.
Pinkie then saw something else that caught her attention, “Ooh, and look at that thing!”
She zipped over to it letting go of what she was holding, and Tails had to quickly catch it. He then looked over and saw Pinkie poking at his computer monitor that he uses for surveillance purposes and tried to stop her again.
“Th-that’s a very technical piece of equipment; stop!”
There were many things in that workshop that attracted Pinkie very easily, and to Tails it was like she was everywhere at once hopping from one area to another.
“Shiny, shiny, shiny! Very shiny things!”
“Come on! Why are you doing this! Stop being so jumpy!”
Suddenly at one point, Tails lost track of her not seeing her anywhere. “Hey, where did she…” 
He suddenly looked up on the ceiling where Pinkie was hanging on a huge laser pistol that was separated from its power supply.
"Hey, what does this do?!" said Pinkie poking at it.
"How in the world did you get up there?!" shouted Tails.
"Duh, silly, I climbed! Isn't it that obvious?"
"Well... do you think you could come down from there? I don't want you to break anything… or anyone… like yourself."
Pinkie just smiled and said, "Okie dokie lokie!"
Tails arched his eyebrow. "Wha?"
Pinkie then jumped and landed safely on her hooves. But the vibration from her landing made a plant sitting on a nearby window swivel  around. Tails suddenly panicked, "Oh no!" He then suddenly rushed past Pinkie as the Plant finally tipped over and fell. But Tails slid down on the ground and caught it just before it hit the pavement. "I caught her. 'whew' That was close."
Pinkie was scratching her head trying to figure out what was going on, "Did you freak out over a potted plant? And did you just call it a her? I mean, I know plants are precious and are a wonderful thing in nature and maintain oxygen in our living breathing spaces of air or something like that; but I don’t think a knocked over plant is anything to worry that much over."
"You don't understand, Pinkie,” said Tails as he was getting up, “Cosmo isn't just a potted plant."
"Looks like one to me,” Pinkie responded, “And you named it Cosmo; how cute!"
"No, I mean... she's an actual being. I know it might be hard to believe, but Cosmo is actually a real living alien."
"Get out of here!” Pinkie gasped, “Really?"
“Yeah, she was the last of her kind, a race called the Seedrians. We were her only chance for survival.”
From the way Tails was going on, Pinkie got excited knowing what was happening, “Oh my gosh; backstory time!”
“About more than a year ago, we were all at war with the very aliens that wiped out Cosmo’s race, the Metarex. Their leader Black Oak was actually another seedrian who went corrupt and mad with power. They planned to wipe out different planets throughout the galaxy by draining their life energy.”
“Ooh, sounds super scary.”
“It was a bit scary and they were very powerful. Even with the Chaos Emeralds we barely held our own. But in the end, Cosmo discovered her inner power and used it to sacrifice herself by transforming into a blooming tree to contain Dark Oak’s power. It was then that we had to… well, you know… take it out… with her still hold it back If it weren’t for her, the entire galaxy would have been doomed.”
“Wow, short story, but my mind is still blown.”
“Afterwards,  her seeds spread throughout the galaxy that hopefully will revive her race.” Tails then placed the plant back on its windowsill where the sun was basking it with its light, “This plant from one of her seeds is all I have left to remember her by. I still miss her, but… I’m getting by.”
Suddenly, Tails turned around and saw a huge flow of tears coming from Pinkie’s eyes, “Are you crying?”
“That was the most beautiful sad story I’ve ever heard!” Pinkie sobbed, “Someone you loved very much sacrificing herself to save everyone and you only have something to remember her by! That so sad!”
“Y-yeah, well… that was a while ago,” said Tails, “I should just be happy that the whole galaxy is not destroyed.”
Pinkie then zipped up beside Tails smiling and patting him on his back, “That’s the spirit, fox boy! Just keep on smiling and don’t let anything get you down!”
“You recovered quick.”
“But hey, if you guys faced an entire evil alien army and survived, then helping us to stop Solar Dusk should be a snap for you guys!”
“You really think so?” said Tails sweating a bit, “He seemed very intimidating.”
Pinkie gave Tails a little light noogie on his head and then blew a little party blower that made Tails jump a little, “Oh don’t let his tough and evil personality scare you. If anything looks scary its the face of that evil scientist that you and the others fight against all of the time.”
Tails started to laugh liking Pinkie’s joke. He knew that he and friends think that all the time, “That’ sure true. Thanks, Pinkie, you really know how to give someone a good laugh when they feel a bit down. You know, maybe it is a good thing you did come over after all.”
“Told ya! And since that Cosmo girl has moved on, maybe you should move on to another girl. Like a certain rabbit girl?”
Tails noticed the slight wiggly-eyed look that she was giving him, and then he suddenly blushed while turning away, “What?! Oh don’t be silly, Pinkie. I-its nothing like that.”
“You can’t fool this pony. I heard how you talked about her when we mentioned her to you earlier. Not to mention that silly Angel bunny being a bit jealous of you.”
“Oh yeah,” said Tails, “Was that what he was growling at me for? Weird.”
Tails then realized the trinket around Pinkie’s neck, "Hey, isn’t that one of the Elements of Harmony that you’re wearing around your neck?"
"Yep, this is the Element of Laughter... my element! Pretty neat, huh?"
Tails had turned around rummaging through his tools as responded, "Yeah, and I'm guessing that your friends have the others. Maybe I could study them to understand them more... w-w-with all of your permission that is."
Just then, the subject changed very quickly as Tails turned back around and saw that Pinkie was gone again. But then he looked outside and saw her sitting in his plane toggling at the controls, “Ooh, awesome plane! Mind If I ride in it for a bit?!”
Tails held his head thinking to himself, “Oh boy.”
---------
(A Shadow among Kindness)

“Whoa.”
Cream and Cheese brought Fluttershy along with Angel to a huge open field in the Grass Hill zone that was covered in many different flower types. Almost any type of flower that came to Fluttershy’s mind it was there, and she was completely at a lost for words. 
“So… what do you think?” asked Cream with a proud smile.
‘Chao chao?’
“I’m… speechless,” Fluttershy responded, “This meadow is unlike any I’ve ever seen.”
Angel suddenly dived into the flowers sniffing as much of them as he could. He never witnessed such a beautiful field of flowers in his life.
“Well, Angel definitely seems to love it too,” Fluttershy chuckled.
“My Mother and I sometimes come to this meadow just to enjoy its scenery and smell the lovely flowers. Oh, and Cheese loves it too of course.”
‘Chao!’
“I can’t blame any of you,” said Fluttershy as she continued to stare at the magnificent sight, “Being in this place really gives you peace of mind, doesn't it?”
Angel was happily munching on a flower and released a little belch in response.
“Mmm-hmm,” said Cream nodding her head, “Its places like this that makes living around here worthwhile. But.. they always at risk of being ruined whenever Eggman is up to no good. That’s one main reason of why I’m so looking forward to helping you guys re-capture Solar Dusk again. Who knows what might happen to this place i he has his way.”
‘Chao chao chao!’
Talking about Solar Dusk again brought the confrontation moment of the evil pony back in Fluttershy’s mind. She was still worried about it and didn’t know whether or not she would want Cream to go along with her and her friends.
“Y-y-yeah, um… Cream? Are you… at all worried of what Solar Dusk might do to you… you know… about what you did to him?”
Cream looked up at Fluttershy with a light scowl as she said, “What do you mean? You mean that threat that he made towards me, Cheese and Angel? Of course not! You’re not worried, are you?”
“N-No! W-well… uh…”
Cream understood that she was worried for her, but she knew that she should also know that she was tough and that she didn’t need protecting. “Come on, Miss Shy, who care what that meanie says, we won’t let him bring us down. Together, we’ll be more than a match against him!”
Cheese was right there agreeing with her. 
‘Chao chao chao chao!’
Fluttershy also saw Angel looking up at her with his arms crossed and tapping his foot probably thinking that Fluttershy should know better than this. Fluttershy then smiled and said, “Y-y-you’re right, what was I thinking worrying about the safety of my friends? We’ll be friends if we stick together, right?”
“That’s right! So lets just relax and unwind and then worry about what happens next later.”
Cream then began running ahead of Fluttershy through the flower field with Cheese right behind her. Fluttershy looked down at Angel who was just waiting to see waht she would do. FLuttershy just chuckled and picked up Angel and placed him on her back. She then ran ahead towards where Cream and Cheese were running. They soon caught up with them and tried to tag Cream, but she tripped and ran into Cream causing them all to fall down on the ground. Cream looked over at Fluttershy and there was a moment of silence. Then suddenly, they both started to laugh together along with Cheese and even Angel. They were surprisingly having a good time. 
“See, isn’t this fun?!” said Cream.
“Yeah, it is!” said Fluttershy, “You must have a lot of fun here.”
“Lots and lots!” said Cream, “I wouldn’t give up this place for almost anything in the world!”
‘Chao!’
Fluttershy was quite pleased to see Cream and Cheese feeling happy despite was ahead for them. But she then began to wonder about a certain fox and the possibility of a crush developing.
“Hey, Cream? What’s the story between you and Tails?”
Angel was suddenly at full attention wondering if Cream indeed had any feelings towards the two tailed fox. And Cream just looked at Fluttershy“What do you mean?”
“I mean… well, maybe I should mind my own business.”
Cream didn’t mind such a question. In fact, she was quite curious. “No, its okay. What are you talking about?”
“Are… you and Tails an item? You know… together?”
Cream suddenly realized what Fluttershy meant and her cheeks blushed a little as she responded, “O-oh, um… w-well, we are friends, but I never thought whether or not we liked each other more than that. Why do you ask?”
“Just curious I guess…” said Fluttershy smiling, “after seeing you and your friends together.”
Just then, Angel got distracted as his ears went up sensing someone nearby. Fluttershy noticed as he hopped off of her and was facing a certain direction.
“What is it, Angel?”
Another creature from this world was slowly approaching them. A black and red hedgehog wearing a determined stare; and all he said was, “So… you’re one of those creatures from another world.”
“Another hedgehog?” said Fluttershy, “Who is he?”
Of course Cream and Cheese knew who he was and told her. “That’s Shadow. He’s a real mixed character. Sometimes he’ll be a friend, and sometimes he’ll be against us. He’s kinda hard to figure out overall.”
‘Chao chao.’
Looking at the dark hedgehog closer, he beared a slight similar resemblance to Sonic, the other male hedgehog that she met earlier. She thought to herself, “Is he and Sonic related? I wonder…”
Of course Angel, rushing to judgement was lightly growling trying to be protective of the young females.
“If you’re looking for Sonic, Mister Shadow,” said Cream, “I’m afraid that he’s not here.”
When Shadow was close enough, he stop and responded, “I didn’t come here for Sonic. I was informed about these other-dimensional creatures that came here and that they possess great power. Obviously seeing who you were, I highly doubted it. But after I heard that you all went against Eggman and won, you’ve suddenly peaked my interest.”
Fluttershy was feeling a bit confused as she asked, “Um… is that a good thing?” 
Angel didn’t like the tone of Shadow’s voice and tried to jump up to kick his face. But as he struck, Shadow suddenly vanished causing him to miss and fell back down onto the ground on his face.
“I think you went a little overboard, Angel,” Cream shouted out.
“Wait, where did that black hedgehog go?” said Fluttershy.
Shadow suddenly re-appeared right behind Cream and Fluttershy not feeling amused of Angel’s actions against him.
“Does your little pet have a problem with me?” he asked.
“S-s-sorry about Angel,” said Fluttershy awkwardly, “He tends to jump the gun on certain situations sometimes.”
Angel came back wobbling from his landing feeling a little dizzy; then he just fell back on the ground beside Fluttershy. 
“I heard that you and your comrades came here because of a new threat,” said Shadow, “Someone named Solar Dusk, right?”
“R-right,” said Fluttershy, “H-how did you know?”
“Rouge informed me that she spied on the Doctor in his base and saw Solar Dusk when he arrived. According to her, they’re up to something big… as if that’s a big surprise.”
“Who’s Rouge?” Fluttershy wondered.
Hearing that Shadow knew about Solar Dusk already, Cream eagerly asked him, “Do you know what they’re planning?”
‘Chao chao chao?’
Shadow lightly shook his head, “It’s hard to say. Rouge was planning to find out more, but then she saw that chameleon guy go in and she didn’t want to ruin her cover. That was almost an hour ago.”
Cream was now feeling a bit worried that Espio was inside Eggman’s base for that long. She looked over at Fluttershy with a worried face, “Do you think Espio is okay?”
“I hope so,” Fluttershy responded.
“Whoever this Solar guy is,” said Shadow, “I have to admit… he seems pretty powerful. He’ planning for some sort of revenge…" He then turn his gaze to Cream, "mainly.... against you. You must've done something pretty foolhardy to make this guy this pissed against you.”
The worried thoughts began to come back to Fluttershy's head. This truly confirmed that what she thought was true and that Solar Dusk was planning something to get back at her. However, Cream had on a serious face and still didn’t look worried at all. “Well I don’t care! So what if he wants revenge on me; I’m not going to run away like a little baby! He’s not going to scare me off!”
And Cheese agreed.
‘Chao chao chao!’
Shadow soon noticed the the trinket around Fluttershy’s neck. He was feeling great power coming from it ever since he got near her. “What’s that around your neck?”
“Oh, this?” said Fluttershy holding the trinket in her hooves, “Its my Element; the Element of Kindness. My friends and I bear the Elements of Harmony which are very powerful and keep our world in balance.They’re also the key to helping us capture Solar Dusk, so… that’s all… I think.”
“Hmph, just be careful... all of you,” said Shadow nonchalantly as he turned away from them, “Villains like these always tend to pull out nasty surprises.” He then began to walk away without looking back, “Well, I’ve seen all that I wanted. I guess I'll be going now.”
“Wait, Mister Shadow!” shouted Cream, “Uh… why don’t you help take down Solar Dusk with us? We could use your help.”
Shadow stopped and turned back around to say, “No thanks. You all seem to have it under control, and its really none of my business anyway. Besides… hanging out with kind souls like you… might be bad for my morale.”
“Was… that suppose to be a compliment?” said Fluttershy as Shadow walked off.
Cream just shrugged, “I think so. See, I told you he a bit hard to figure out sometimes.”
‘Chao chao.’
Fluttershy lightly chuckled, “Yeah, no kidding.”
But unknown to Fluttershy and Cream, Shadow also knew about the carvings inside the where the mysterious portal lied. He questioned about it to himself for a while, but now seeing the the trinket Fluttershy was wearing, it was becoming more clear to him.
"The Elements of Harmony, huh? So they are the ones that represent those carvings that I saw inside that cave. But still... what does it mean?"
-------------
As time was going by, unknown to our heroes. Eggman and Solar Dusk was making much better progressed then they both thought possible. Their plan was advancing faster than either of them would’ve imagined.
“Ho ho ho ho ho, finally… it is done!" shouted Eggman, "Our greatest achievement! None of this would’ve been possible without either of our cooperation!” 
“Well that’s something we can both actually agree on," said Solar Dusk, "I hate to admit it, but I would’ve never gotten this far with my plans without your scientific expertise.”
“Of course you wouldn’t! I’m perfect, you’re perfect; and together we’re twice the perfectionists!”
Solar Dusk just  rolled his eyes and sighed, “Y-y-yeah, whatever. Let’s see them now.”
Eggman couldn’t wait to show off their finished work, “You won’t be disappointed! Orbot, unveil… the masterpieces!”
After Orbot pulled down a lever, some multiple metal compartments came down in front of them. They all opened with steam pouring out; and suddenly… Solar Dusk saw a sight that made his jaw drop.
“No… way.”
He saw a group robotic individuals slowly step out of each compartment with red glowing lights shining from their eyes that were fixated on their creators.
“So… what do you think?” said Eggman proudly, “Quite the achievement, right?”
Solar Dusk was at a loss for words for a second, but suddenly a small, grim smile appeared on his face as he said, “Yes, quite the achievement indeed.”
“I cannot believe that these things could look so terrifying,” shuddered Orbot.
“I’m about to ink up something fierce!” Cubot added.
Solar Dusk approached his creations looking upon their brilliant manufacturing, and he couldn’t help but feel so ecstatic inside himself. “This is... absolutely perfect! How fulfilling it will be when those foolish ponies find out that the key to their success will soon be the key to their destruction.”
Deep in the shadows of a corner at the top of the room, someone was watching and saw everything that had happened there. Espio the Chameleon was in camouflage mode spying on Eggman and Solar Dusk being careful to not get caught. but after seeing what he saw, he began sweating as his heart was beginning to race.
“Oh no, this is worse than I thought. I need to tell the others... fast.”
-------- 
Sonic was out and about running free through the wind like he always has. To most it would feel repetitive, but for him it was all he needed to feel good about his day. 
“Yeah, smell that fresh air!” he said while stopping atop of a slanted hill. “Nothing like a good run to get your blood pumping for a good battle! I wonder if that rainbow mane pegasus really is the fastest in her world? Maybe I could…”
Just then, Sonic had this weird feeling… like something was calling him. He looked around and noticed a familiar cave that was nearby. “Huh, I feel like something calling me from that cave over there. Isn’t that the same cave Cream showed us that had that portal that sent her to that Equestria place?” He was a bit skeptical, but it did leave him curious. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to look inside there again I guess.”
Sonic ran to the cave and went inside only to find exactly what he saw before. “Well, everything looks the same. The shaped carvings of those elements on the cave wall, and the orb in the middle of them that opened when…” But then, Sonic noticed something different about the portal’s orb, “Wait a minute, it looks different. It looks like… me.”
Sonic saw that where the the orb was located in the middle of the elements’ carvings was suddenly a small silhouette carving of himself. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it wasn’t something that he couldn’t ignore.
“I wonder what it means? I need to run this by the others soon.”
Eventually, Sonic went back outside pondering what he saw inside the cave… when suddenly he heard a familiar voice call from above, “Ah ha! I finally found you!”
He looked up and saw Rainbow Dash fly down from the sky to greet him. “Oh, hey, Rainbow Dash. You need me for something?”
“Well… I was up there in the clouds just flying around stretching my without a care in the world.”
“Heh, kinda like me on the ground.”
“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I was doing some tough thinking about something that was on my mind while we were waiting to kick Solar’s butt, and I can’t ignore it anymore!”
Sonic was wondering of what she exactly meant by that statement. “Wh-wh-what are you getting at exactly?”
But what she said came as a slight surprise, but something that he knew eventually couldn’t be avoided.
“Sonic the Hedgehog, I challenge you… to a race!” 
	
> Chapter 8: Sonic -VS- Rainbow Dash
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


(Sorry it took so long to finish this one chapter; I've been having a bit of wirter's block on this lately... not to mention some other things that have kept me busy. But anyway, here it is...ENJOY!)




Twilight and all of her friends… as well as most of the others suddenly found themselves being summoned to Tails’ workshop where they found Sonic and Rainbow Dash standing side by side each other doing different kinds of warm-up exercises and looking at each other intensely while doing it. They soon realized just what was going on.
"What's this Ah hear about a race?" said Applejack as she approached.
"Your friend, Rainbow Dash challenged Sonic to a race to prove who is the fastest," Tails answered.
Applejack arched her eye at Rainbow Dash and said, "Oh did she now? Why am Ah not surprised?"
Rarity, who thought the whole idea was foolish came up to Rainbow Dash from behind wondering what what she got herself into, "Rainbow Dash, we’re preparing for a possible full-out battle. Exactly how did this come to be?"
Rainbow smiled and said proudly, "Well since you asked… I’ll tell ya.”
------------
The thing is, I had this idea in my head ever since we met Sonic. And after seeing him batting that robotic clone of himself, I got to see firsthand of just how fast he really is. After the battle, I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it; but after some careful thought and consideration, I ended up finding Sonic and went down to him to offer him my challenge!
"Sonic the Hedgehog, I challenge you to a race!"
"You... challenge me... to a race? You sure are asking for a lot from me, aren’t  you?"
"Say what you want, but you knew that this was coming from the very moment that we met. You’re  the fastest in your world, and I'm the fastest in my world. So the only way to find out who is the fastest between the two of us is to have a race of wits!”
“I just don’t know. I’d hate to humiliate you in front of all of your friends.”
“Yeah, well I won’t feel sorry for humiliating you in front of yours! What the matter, Sonic? A little nervous that you’ll lose to a pegasus in a test of pure speed?”
“Well… I never said that; and I guess this would be a great chance to stretch out my legs before we take down that pony enemy of yours.”
“Does that mean that you accept?”
“Very well, Rainbow Dash… I accept your challenge!”
“May the best speedster win!”
-----------
“And that brings us to where we are now; the part where I beat his butt and make him eat my dust!”
Rarity just sighed and shook her head feeling slightly annoyed, “Honestly, darling, can’t you go anywhere without trying to challenge someone? We’re in the middle of a semi-crisis here.”
“Not to worry, Miss Rarity,” said Sonic with a smirk, “I’m sure this race won’t take too long; and I think we all know who is going to win anyway.”
Suddenly, Pinkie popped up in front of them and shouted,“Yeah! Rainbow Dash is definitely going to win! She never lets anypony outshine her… or any hedgehog; so… yeah! Rainbow Dash is definitely going to win!”
“You bet your flank, Pinkie Pie!” said Rainbow Dash.
“Wait a minute!” said Amy as she got up in Pinkie’s face, “What makes you think that Sonic won’t win?”
“Well, he is pretty fast, but Rainbow Dash is faster! It just makes more sense.”
“No way, Sonic could run laps around your pegasus friend! He’s called the fastest thing alive for a reason!”
“No way, Rainbow Dash is the fastest!”
“No, Sonic is!”
“Oh boy,” said Cream as she felt awkward of the situation.
‘Chao chao’
Just then, Fluttershy calmly walked up to the quarrelling twosome and said, “Um, I don’t mean to intrude on this argument, but… since they’re both so fast, shouldn’t we just wait to see who wins… and then maybe argue about it afterwards?”
“Yeah, you’re right, Fluttershy!” said Pinkie smiling, “That makes a lot more sense!”
“Okay, sure,” said Amy, “You make a good point.”
Sonic and Rainbow Dash were just standing there feeling a little surprised.
“Wow, I didn’t know we were going to make it that serious,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Its all part of the competition,” said Sonic, “Its nice to have fans who root only for you.”
To help them keep track of this race, Tails had brought and setted up one of his homemade computer devices that would take care of everything. “Well… now that we got all of that out of the way, here is how the race will work! As you see on this monitor here, these little blinking lights that you see are little tracking bots that will sense you two as race. You’ll run all the way to the opposite west end of Green Hill; from there, you’ll burst through part of the huge forest that surrounds this area on a set path; and then you’ll see the tall and majestic Frozen Top Mountain. Go all the way to the peak top and run back down on the opposite side where you’ll run into Dusty Desert!. From there, all you two have to do is keep running on ahead until you reach the twin pyramids of Boom Boo. Oh, and look out for any giant sand dune crabs. They’re pretty territorial about their surroundings. Then just turn right around and go back the way you came and head back here. First one to cross the finish line wins!”
“Wait, did she just say giant crabs?” said Spike to Twilight.
Tails was almost out of breath after describing all of that to the two speed demons, “Whew, any questions?”
“I do!” said Pinkie looking closer at the machine, “How in the world do you get all of these things to work? You must be some kind of genius!”
“Um… that’s because I kinda am. I thought you realized that when you snuck into my workshop and messed with my stuff.”
“But even so, this is pretty impressive,” said Twilight, “It's unlike anything I could come up with.”
“That’s our Tails,” said Sonic proudly, “always impressing us with his scientific talent whether we understand it or not.”
With everything set, the race was about to go underway. But then, it was halted as Amy suddenly shouted, “Wait a minute! I just realized a huge flaw in this race!”
“And what would that be, missy?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Sonic can run fast, but she can fly fast! Wouldn’t it be a bit unfair for her to have the wide open freedom in the air and Sonic having more limited space on the ground?”
Everyone suddenly stood at a stand still realizing that Amy was right..
“Oh my gosh,” said Cream, “Amy does have a point.”
‘Chao chao.’
“Indeed she does,” said Sonic nodding her head, “Looks like we have a problem on our hands.”
Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves and sighed as she said, “You’re telling me. I’m all for winning, but I wish to win fair and square.”
“So what are we going to do,” said Fluttershy.
Angel just shrugged not coming up with any ideas himself.
“I already thought of that situation,” said Tails proudly, “which is why I created these.” Tails went over to Rainbow Dash and Sonic while handing out two pair of tech-like shades, “Put these on please.”
“Sure thing,” said Sonic.
“Um, okay...” Rainbow Dash responded.
When they placed them on, they both gasped in shocked seeing something through the lenses that astonished them.
“Whoa! What the... “ stated Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie was hoping up and down excitedly wondering what the shades did. “What do you see?! What do you see?!”
“Basically this.” Tails brought up some extra details on his monitor that showed a trail of flashing lights that formed a set path for Sonic and Rainbow Dash to run through. “This is basically what Sonic and Rainbow Dash can see; my tiny microbugs all lined up a few meters apart like a road on the ground and the air. Now they can both clearly see and travel on the same path without any risk of going off the path.”
Sonic whistled and gave Tails a thumbs up, “Sweet.”
“Plus, I installed them with a motion- sensor protocol. Go outside the microbugs’ area, and a little ring will sound in your ears to let you know that you’re out of bounds. Am I good or what.”
Everyone was very surprised; especially Rainbow Dash and her friends who couldn’t believe that such a young soul could create something so complicated.
“This is insane!” said Rainbow Dash in shock, “How the heck are you able to create all these things by yourself?!”
“He’s a genius, remember?” said Sonic, “Plus, you’d be surprised how much free time he gets around here.”
“So does this mean that this race is still on?” said Applejack.
“Oh… it is so on,” Rainbow Dash answered as she pressed her face against Sonic’s.
“My thoughts exactly,” Sonic agreed.
As the two racers got back to dashing position, everybody was ready to see them off. Spike was getting a bit hyped up himself thinking of two very fast creatures racing side by side against each other.
“Man, this race is going to be sick.”
“Silly Spike,” said Pinkie, “a race can’t be sick! The racers in a race could be, but not the race itself.”
Spike kinda leered at her and was about to say something; but Twilight stopped him, “Just let it go, Spike.”
“ Alright, racers; ready?” shouted Tails as he held up a mini pistol.
“So how long do you think this race will take us to complete?” said Rainbow Dash to Sonic.
“For an average being, probably a couple of days at least. For us… probably 10 minutes.”
“Or less,” Rainbow Dash chuckled.
“Oh brother,” said Twilight to herself who heard.
Suddenly, Tails’ pistol went off as he shouted, “GO!!!”
Then faster than you could blink, both Sonic and Rainbow Dash took off forward from the starting line so fast that strong winds had picked up in the area, and most of everyone there had to hold on to something to keep themselves from flying away. Pretty soon, the winds ceased and everything was calm again. Everyone, was catching their breath and collecting themselves from the sudden rush.
“Sweet Celestia!” said Rarity, “that was rather… frightening.”
“Oh dear!” said Fluttershy who caught Cream, Cheese and Angel, “Are you guys okay?”
Cream just smiled, and said, “We’re fine. We witness moments like this all the time.”
‘Chao chao chao.’
But poor Angel was frozen and breathing heavily feeling scared out of his wits.
“Whoo-hoo! Now that’s what I call an awesome beginning!” shouted Pinkie, “Just imagine what it will be like when they come back.
Everyone else looked worried thinking that wasn’t something to look forward to.
“No all we have to do is watch their icons on this screen and wait for them to come back,” said Tails, “… which won’t be too long I’m sure.”
----------
After taking off, Sonic and Rainbow Dash zoomed down the set path Tails had created for their rivalry race. However to test Sonic, Rainbow Dash slowed down a bit just to see how fast Sonic went at first. Eventually, she caught back up to him again and asked...
“Hey, Sonic; is that the real limit to your speed?!”
“Heh, hardly!” Sonic responded as he was watching where he was going.
Rainbow Dash chuckled in knowing that she was right and told him, “In that case, try to keep up!”
And like that, Rainbow dashed on ahead of Sonic leaving him feeling astonished. “She’s a bit faster than I thought. Heh, not bad.”
He then used his own speed to catch up to Rainbow and was trying to pass her again. During the whole time racing over the plains of Green Hill, neither of the racers tried to do any tricks againt each other nor were they way warding off the set path. They were keeping it nice and fair respecting each other in the name of sport.
“These things really help!” said Rainbow Dash, “I haven’t gone out of bounds yet! Just need to keep up the pace and win this thing!”
Sonic then smirked at her as he sped up ahead, “You were saying!”
“Heh, guess you weren't lying about what you said. Looks like this race will be over before we know.”
“Well its not over yet; time for a little stroll through Green Hill forest.”
That where they were headed; they were already at the west end of Green Hill, and the set path was leading them to a dirt road that went into the forest that surrounded most of the area.
“More like a mad dash through the forest,” said Rainbow Dash, “Speaking of…”
She then dash on ahead of Sonic again catching him off guard, and he followed close behind her as they went into the forest. Meanwhile inside it, Big the Cat was sitting by a river that was near the dirt path. He was in the middle of fishing with his frog friend when suddenly he got a bite. He quickly stood up and reeled it in revealing it’s big size.
"Look, I got another fish, Froggy! Its a lot bigger than the last one too."
'Ribbit!'
He was so proud and placed it in a bucket with some other fish that he caught; then he sat back down and threw the fishing line in the river again. But just then, he heard a nearby whooshing sound nearby that made him curious.
"Hmm... do you hear something?"
Then out of nowhere, a huge gust of wind blew by him very fast. While he didn’t move and Froggy was holding on to him, the bucket tossed over and the fish inside were released back into the water. He solemnly looked at his empty bucket and said, "Aww, I can't believe it…” and then he smiled and cheered, “I get to catch them all again!”
After zooming through the forest, Rainbow Dash and Sonic came back out into the sun across a small grassy plain; and up ahead they saw the tall  and majestic Frozen Top Mountain. The two runners were neck and neck with each other once again as they headed for the mountain both feeling impressed by each other’s determination. 
“Man, this guy’s good,” Rainbow Dash thought, “He certainly lives up to his reputation.”
“This pegasus girl definitely has some guts,” Sonic thought, “I guess she lives up to her status in her world.” As they began to race up the mountain, it got colder the higher they. They were both used to dealing with cold climates; but even so, they were both still slightly shivering from the temperature.
“Whoa, it really is c-c-c-c-cold up here,” said Rainbow Dash keeping her composure,“You’re n-n-n-not going to g-g-give up now, a-a-a-are you?”
“Please; you’d be surprised how many ice-like places I’ve been in. This is nothing to me!”
“Yeah, w-w-well me n-neither!”
They both got to the top of the mountain and then made their way down to the opposite side. They could suddenly see the huge desert land below, and the temperature started to warm back up.
“Its hard to believe that its really cold up here and then there’s a whole desert down there on the bottom,” stated Rainbow Dash, “That fact still confuses me back home!"
“Mother nature is a awesome thing, isn’t it!?” said Sonic, "You never know what to expect sometimes!"
“Its a bit weird to me actually! But being a pegasus I guess I should’ve known that! We control the climate weather in our world you know!”
“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised; but then again, I’ve seen weirder things!”
Once they were at the bottom, Sonic and Rainbow Dash continued on forward through the Dusty Desert. Still at close distance between each other with Sonic in the slight lead, they were on the look out for the temple landmark. 
“Alright, that temple should be up ahead somewhere!” said Sonic, “And once we reach it, its a mad dash back to the others to see who can get to the finish faster! Better not let your guard down!”
Just then while looking around their surroundings, a curious thought came into Rainbow Dash’s head, “Hey, didn’t that fox friend of yours say something that we had to watch out for; something about crabs?!”
“Yeah, he did,” Sonic responded, “but I’m sure we have nothing to worry about! If we just keep going forward, I doubt we’ll stir up any trouble!”
But suddenly, the ground began to vibrate violently, and then a giant claw shot up in front of both racers from below the sand blocking their path.
“Whoa!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she screeched to a halt.
Both Sonic and Rainbow Dash watched as a group of 5 giant dune crab came up in front of them staring them down and snapping their claws.
“Heh, guess I could be wrong about a lot of things,” said Sonic smirking but also feeling a bit nervous.
“Those are some big dune crabs!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “Why would Tails program his bugs to lead us this way if these guys are here?!”
“He wouldn’t. These guys are suppose to be at the west end of this desert, not the east. I guess some of them relocated.”
“Well, lets just get past them!” Rainbow Dash demanded, “I refuse to let them interfere with our race!”
“I agree; lets go!”
Rainbow Dash was easily maneuvering around the giant crabs and their killer claws to continue on, but when she looked back, she noticed that Sonic wasn’t getting around them so easily. “What the… what’s going on?!”
“I’m fast, but these guys take up a lot of space and are not letting me through.” Sonic kept trying to get around the crabs, but he kept having to backtrack to avoid their claw strikes. They look pretty mad! Hey, is that all you got?!”
The crabs then had Sonic surrounded to where he could escape and were about to take him out.
“Hey crab heads! Watch out, its raining awesomeness!”
But just in time, Rainbow Dash came by and knocked a couple of crabs to the side freeing Sonic from their trap. They could’ve continued their race, but knew that they might be a problem later. So they came up with a plan.
“Temporary truce?” said Rainbow Dash. 
Sonic smiled as he nodded, “Let’s take them out!”
-------------
(Back in Green Hill Zone…)
“Ugh, I still think this whole race thing is silly,” said Rarity feeling a bit stressed out, “Most of the time that I stared at that screen those two have been neck and neck. Couldn’t they just agree that they are both just as equally fast?”
“Oh just let them have their fun, Rarity,” said Twilight, “It a great way to pass the time.”
“Yeah, even though it might be over in a few minutes,” said Spike.
Everyone was hanging around together at Tails machine while Sonic and Rainbow Dash raced. Some were watching the screen and some were having some nice conversations. BUt everyone stopped what they were doing when Tails looked at the screen and said...
“Huh, that’s weird.”
Most of them went over to him to see what was going on.
“What’s weird?!” said Pinkie as she hopped over to them.
“Ah ain’t exactly a whiz with electronic doohickeys,” said Applejack, “but according to this Sonic and Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped in the desert. Check it out.”
‘Chao chao chao chao.’
“I’m sure they’re alright, Cheese,” said Cream, “Don’t worry.”
“But why would they stop there… and in the middle of a race too?” Amy wondered, “Something isn’t right.”
But as they were all observing the screen, something occurred to Fluttershy, “Hey, Tails? Didn’t you say something about dangerous crabs being in that desert?”
“Yeah; but I only said that to make things seem a bit more exciting. They shouldn’t be in the area where I set my microbugs!”
“Well if that is the case, looks like they’re being held up a bit,” said Spike.
“Judging by the movement of their signals,” said Twilight, “looks like they’re working together to escape those creatures. Heh, that’s just like Rainbow Dash; even in the middle of a race she help out anyone in need.”
Angel actually smirked and nodded his head in agreement.
“And Sonic too,” said Cream excitedly, “Guess those two have even more in common than we knew.”
‘Chao chao chao!’
Amy just crossed her arms and sighed, “Yeah, whatever.”
-------------
Back in Dusty Desert, Sonic and Rainbow Dash had no problem knocking out the giant troublemaking crabs together. The path was now cleared and the race could continue.
“Well… those guys weren’t so tough,” said Rainbow Dash sweating a bit, “That wasn’t even a warm-up!”
While stretching his legs, Sonic said, “But we just knocked them out, they’ll wake up again soon.”
“You make a good point. And now that’s all over, you know what that means?”
Sonic and Rainbow Dash both looked at each other with mischievous smirks not having to say anything to do what’s next. At the same time, they both took off in the continuing direction of where they were going. They kept going until they finally spotted the temple checkpoint; and almost at the same time, they both tagged the side of the structure and then reversed around to head back where they came from. While not saying a word they traversed through their traveled path; back across the desert, past the knocked out crabs, back up the chilled Frozen Top Mountain and back down on the other side. And lastly, they zipped back through the Green Hill Forest as fast as they could. By the time the came out, they were once again neck and neck not sure of how this was going to turn out.
“Looks like we’re still neck and neck,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “Hey, are we both just that equally awesome?!”
“It isn’t over until someone crosses that finish line,” said Sonic; and then he suddenly looked up at Rainbow Dash wearing a sly smirk on his face, “and that… will be me!”
And then without warning, Sonic built up more speed than he showed and blew past and ahead of Rainbow Dash. The stunned pegasus was almost at a loss for words seeing Sonic’s extra burst of speed. But she wasn’t about to let Sonic get the best of her as she went off after him with some extra speed of her own.
“Oh no you don’t!”
---------
Everybody back outside of Tails’ place could tell on his monitor that Sonic and Rainbow Dash were on their way, and this race was about to be over.
“Everyone, look! Look!” shouted Pinkie, “Their icons are headed back this way; and they’re coming back fast!” 
To everyone, they were glad that the two racers escaped the giant crabs and were already on their way back to see who would cross the finish line first. But some of them was suddenly getting a very nervous feeling.
“Um, is it just me,” said Spike as he was looking at the icons on screen, “or are they moving a bit more faster than before?”
“Ah’m gettin’ a bad feelin’ about this,” said Applejack, “Remember what happened when they took off from here, right?”
Applejack was right, the closer and Sonic and Rainbow Dash got to them, the faster their speed seemed to get. Tails could see that their speed was accelerating at an enormous rate and was quick to take action.
“Everybody, out of way quick!” he shouted while heading behind his workshop, “Their speed is about to be ridiculous! Spread out!”
Everyone was suddenly startled by Tails’ command but didn’t hesitate to listen as they were all running for cover.
“What about your machine?!” shouted Cream.
‘Chao!’
“Never mind that, just run!”
After everyone cleared out of the pathway, they were all preparing of what was going to happen next. Rainbow Dash had caught up to Sonic, and both were traveling at high speeds. Every second they got close to the end, the faster each of them went going side by side. And when they both reached their limit, there was a loud *BOOOM* sound that shook the grounds as both racers shot forward. A blue streak and a rainbow trail now tore across the ground, and they finally crossed the finish line; but as a result, a huge gust of wind blew through the area, knocking over and blowing away anything that was loose.
Once the wind settled, Sonic and Rainbow Dash were a little ways away from the finish area once they stop. They headed back in fast but steady pace, and Rainbow Dash was all riled up and filled with excitement. 
“That was… AWESOME!!! I never knew you could break the sound barrier like that! It’s official, you're definitely like the me in your world!”
“Sure,” Sonic responded, “but, um… I think we may have a bigger problem.”
When they got back, Sonic pointed out the huge trail they made in the ground, and much debris was scattered everywhere. Even Tails’ machine was toppled over. Rainbow Dash flew over to the area in a frenzied panic over what they did.
“Oh my gosh! What have we done?! We got too into the race and wanted to win so badly; and we were going to fast, and now we blew everyone away!  What kind of monsters are we?!”
“*Ahem!*” she suddenly heard someone say behind her.
“What?!”
Everyone began coming out from their shelter points and was coming back to Sonic and Rainbow feeling a little shaken up, but quite relieved.
“Calm down, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight chuckled, “we’re all okay.”
“S-s-sp-peak for yourself,” said Spike who was literally clinging to Twilight’s back side, “I thought I was going to be gone with the wind!”
“That was amazing!” shouted Amy, “A bit frightening, but amazing! The two of you causing a sonic boom together was indescribably epic!”
“Its a sonic rainboom with me, sister,” aid Rainbow Dash with a smirk, “but you’re right, that was pretty epic.”
“For the love of Celestia, Rainbow darling,” said Rarity sounding exasperated, “could you two be any more reckless?! Just look at my mane; I think its frozen in shock!”
“Um, speaking of frozen in shock…” said Fluttershy.
Everyone looked on Fluttershy's back and saw Angel was out like a light; his eyes wide and blank, and his body was frozen stiff. Sonic chuckled nervously and he went up and tried to say to him, “Wow, look at him; he can hardly move. Sorry to give you a heart attack like that, little guy.”
Angel’s body then tilted and then fell off Fluttershy onto the ground still not moving. He was still alive though.
“Whoa,” said Cream.
Fluttershy chuckled and told everyone, “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine… I-I think.”
After seeing the state of Angel, Rainbow Dash looked around at her friend and said, “So… just to be clear, everybody here is okay and no one got hurt?”
“Aside from bein’ a little shaken,” said Applejack, “Ah think we’re good to go.”
“Well… since that’s the case, allow me to say that… I rocked! I rocked! Uh, uh; oh yeah! Dash is the awesomest!”
“Yeah!” shouted Pinkie
Sonic then walked over to Tails’ machine that was toppled thinking that it was wrecked, “What about your machine, Tails? Think it got damaged in the incident?”
“No way,” said Tails with a smirk, “the exterior steel plating that I gave this machine protected it from the strong shock wave your sonic boom!”
“And sonic rainboom!” said Rainbow Dash.
“Even I’m shocked! Looks like we can declare a winner after all! Miss Twilight, if you please...”
“No problem,” said Twilight understanding what he meant as she used her magic to stand Tails’ machine right side-up.
“No need to that,Tails,” said Sonic, “But I suppose that we have to see the actual video proof that I crossed the finish line first.”
“Oh, you think so; eh, speed hog?!” said Rainbow Dash as she went up to Sonic’s face, “Maybe I’m the one who beat your butt!”
“Well we see soon, won’t we.”
“There they go again,” Cream said nervously, “They’re really prideful about this, aren’t they?”
‘Chao chao.’
But just as things got a bit calm, everyone heard Tails suddenly shout, “N-n-no way, that’s impossible!”
They all suddenly gathered around him wondering what had him so shocked.
“What’s impossible, Tails?” said Sonic, “That I was beat by rainbow mane pegasus?”
“Hey!”
“The machine did do its job and caught all of the action. But according to this, you… both crossed the line at the exact same moment! Its a tie!”
The whole area was silent, and everyone’s mouth was gaping wide open. And then they all shouted, “WHAT?!!!”
“No way!” said Pinkie as she was looking very closely at the digital results on the monitor screen, “Are you sure that your machine isn’t broken?”
Lightly pushing Pinkie away from the screen, Tails responded, “No its not. Trust me if there was an error, I would know. You guys have to trust me on this.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “We ran that entire race to see who would cross this line first, and even had to deal with some annoying crabs; and you mean to tell me that even after that huge finish, we tied?!”
Suddenly, Sonic was chuckling to himself out loud, and Rainbow Dash arched her eye at him, “What’s so funny?”
“Its hard to believe, but I had a weird feeling that this whole thing might end up like this.”
“Say what now?”
“Maybe it doesn't really matter who really is the fastest; maybe this is fate telling us that this race wasn’t to see who was the fastest, but to show and admire each others’ awesome skills… or something like that.”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure of Sonic’s theory. “Or… maybe fate is cruel and made us tie just to have a laugh at our expense.”
Everyone wasn’t quite sure of what Sonic thought was true either, but it definitely was some good advice from him.
“Well one thing is fer sure,” said Applejack, “ya both definitely gave it yer all and some real guts out there.”
“You got that right,” said Rarity as she was still trying to get her mane straighten; but she was still unsuccessful, “Can someone please lend me a brush!?”
“Alright!” shouted Pinkie as she dived on top of Sonic and Rainbow Dash, “I was wrong before; I don’t care who is the fastest anymore, you’re both AWESOME!”
“Heh, yeah… I suppose you’re right,” said Rainbow Dash, “This was all fun anyway.” Then after standing back up, Rainbow Dash faced Sonic and out her hoof to shake with him, “Good race.”
Sonic smirked as he shook her hoof and responded, “Thanks. You too.”
“But just know that if we ever race again, I’m definitely going to win!”
“If you sayso; but I think I will beat you… even without Tails’ machinery.”
“Oh brother,” said Tails.
“Well… now that’s all over,” said Twilight as she stretched her legs, “its back to doing a little exploring research.”
Spike just groaned, “Can’t you rest a little while without doing some sort of research on something?”
But just as things was starting to get calm again… even though Angel was still out, a loud voice shouted out to them from a distance, “Heeeeeeeeeey… guuuuuuuuuuuuys!!!”
They all stopped what they were doing and looked over in the horizon and saw the same two companions that came by before running towards them in panic.
“Hey, Cream,” said Fluttershy, “aren’t those that bee and crocodile friends of yours?”
‘Chao, chao chao, chao!’’
“Yeah, its Charmy and Vector;” said Cream with a light smile, “they’re coming back! But wait… I don’t see Espio. Where is he?”
By the time Vector and Charmy got to them, they were both gasping for breath and were trying to speak. But then Pinkie came up to them and said, "So you two are back! You just missed the most amazing spectacle ever!"
Vector then finally spoke clearly, "Never mind that, we have a big problem on our hands!"
And so did Charmy, "A very, very, very big problem!"
"What's wrong?!” said Sonic, “Did you guys find out about Eggman and his new partner's plan? And... where's Espio?"
“Yeah,” said Amy, “Just give the details to us nice and clearly, and then we can go kick butt!”
All of the others were listening to what the news was about to be. But judging by the panicked looks on Charmy and Vector’s faces, it didn’t seem good news.
"That's just the thing!” shouted Charmy, “Its all so terrible! We’ve been waiting for Espio for like… forever, but he hasn't come back! He's... he's been captured!"
Nope, it wasn’t good news at all.
	
> Chapter 9: Disagreement
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	 Vector the Croc and Charmy the Bee came back to Sonic and friends from their recon mission; but their stealth member, Espio wasn’t with them. According to them, Espio had been captured by the enemy thus causing their whole plan to fail. It was just the other’s luck that this happened. Espio was suppose to find out what Eggman and his new partner, Solar Dusk was planning and then feed them the info so they knew what to expect; but with Espio captured, a chance for them to have the upper hand went down the drain.
Everyone regrouped back to Vanilla’s house to relax a bit and to hear the explanation of what happened back at Eggman’s fortress.
“This is terrible!" said Cream, "This plan of ours was our only chance to get the upper hand on Solar Dusk, but now… its slipped from our fingers.”
‘Chao chao.’
“Forget the plan," Charmy panicked, "one of my best friends has been captured by an evil mastermind and… whoever this Solar Dusk guy is! Don’t you guys care about him too?!”
“Of course we do," said Sonic in a serious manner, "He is our friend too after all. So why don’t you tell us exactly what back there.”
Charmy tried to explain himself, but he was too nervous and worried for Espio that he was stuttering too much. “Well...um… y-yeah… uh… you see… th-th-the thing is… wh-what happened was… oh man…”
Vector just rolled his eyes and pushed Charmy aside as he stated, “I will gladly explain everything. You see… after we left you guys the last time, Charmy and I went back to our rendezvous point where we were suppose to meet Espio; but we ended up waiting for a while.”
--------
(flashback)

Charmy and I both stood there in the same exact spot where we could see Eggman’s base doing whatever we could to pass the time. Man… that was not a pleasant time with Charmy.
Hey!
But after a while passed, we felt that Espio should have been back by now. We knew him, and being out there for that long was never good.
“What’s taking Espio so long?! Its been over an hour since he went in there!”
“Do you think he’s okay, Vector? I-I-I’m kinda worried that he hasn’t come back yet. What if he’s hurt?”
“Relax, Charmy. This is Espio were talking about. I’m sure he’s… just taking the necessary precautions to make sure he comes back safe.”
The truth is that I was just trying to stay calm under pressure for Charmy so he wouldn’t be too worried; but… I was a bit worried as well. We stayed there just waiting for him to come out any minute. But then, we suddenly heard a voice from behind us… and it wasn’t Espio.
“Hello there, enemies of Eggman. May I ask what exactly you two are doing here?”
It was that round henchman of Eggman, Orbot! It was almost like he was trying to make a sneak attack on us!
“Watch out, Charmy! Its one of Eggman’s henchmen!”
“Lets get him!”
“Whoa whoa, hold on there! There’s no need for a fight; I’ve come peace.”
“Then tell us why you snuck here behind us instead of coming upfront?”
“And where’s Espio?!”
“Heh… well, that’s why I’m here. Your chameleon friend did very well to sneak past all security; but in the end, I guess it just wasn’t well enough.”
“Why you… what have you done to him?!”
This little bot was mocking us without even trying, and I was about to slug him a big one. But then he held out something to us.
“A message from Eggman… if you wish to see your friend again, you are to take this hologram message card to Sonic and his friends; and make sure they all see it. Hopefully you’ll all do what the message contains, otherwise… I can’t be certain of what the doctor will do to your friend. Cheerio.”
And just like that, he just rolled off without a care in the world. He’s just lucky Charmy and I didn’t feel like crushing him after his little speech.
“I can’t believe it, they’ve got Espio! What do we do now?!”
“Well… I guess we have no choice. Lets get this to the others ASAP. And don’t worry, Espio will be fine… trust me.”
--------
“After that, we came back here to do what that dumbot said.” Vector then pulled out the message card and placed it on the table in the middle of the room, “This is message card he gave to us, and he wanted to make sure that we showed it everyone here.”
Everyone did their best to gather around the card and watched as Sonic activated it seeing a hologram of Eggman pop up.
“Salutations, Sonic the Hedgehog… and friends. If you’re seeing this message, that means that those pathetic comrades of my newly ninja captive have done well.”
“Pathetic!?” shouted Charmy, “Why I oughta…”
“Quiet, Charmy,” said Vector, “We need to hear this!”
“I’m pretty sure that you were all expecting your little ninja friend to successfully sneak into my hideout and come back out in one piece. Well… you thought wrong! Espio is now my prisoner, and whatever hope you had to ruin my plan is now gone. How’s that for dampening your spirits?”
“I hate that guy so much right now,” Spike growled.
“Even with your plan failed, you can still try to come and stop me, but as of now I'm afraid that you’re all too late! My most ultimate plan yet is almost complete, and my ambitions will finally be realized! Oh yeah, as well my new partner, Solar Dusk; his ambitions will be realized too. What kind of plan do we have in store you ask? Too bad that you have to come all this way just to find out. Be sure to bring your friends along for the ride, Sonic; as well as those pansy ponies. You're going to need all of the help you can get if you ever wish to stop us now. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
After that, they all thought that the message was over... but unfortunately, they were wrong.
"Um... is that it? Have you ended the recording?" 
"I believe so," said Orbot in the hologram.
"Good; I suddenly have an irritating itch that I need to scratch." Then Eggman turned around away from them and began scratching his butt furiously, "Oh yeah, there it is. Ahh; what is it with itch spots appearing randomly when you're standing in place?!"
"I wouldn’t know, sir."
He eventually finished and then sighed with relief, “Ahh, that’s better. Now come on, ya dumbots; we have a plan to finish!”
Suddenly, Cubot appeared in the hologram and said to Cubot in a worried tone, “Umm… does the doc know that the recording feed was still going?”
Orbot saw it himself and panicked, “Oh dear." Then he looked around and said, "Um… the doc needs not to know.”
With that, the messege ended and the hologram disappeared. Everyone there just stood still in silence while wearing an expression of awkwardness or disgust.
“Well… that last moment kinda… ruined the ominous atmosphere… a bit,” said Twilight.
However, Pinkie was giggling about what she saw, "Hee hee hee hee, he was scratching his butt."
But Charmy soon forgot about that as he was flying around the room in a panic. “This is bad, this is bad, this is bad! Who knows what they’re going to do to Espio! Ugh! If they hurt him in any way, I’ll give them a *POW!*, and a *HIYA!*, and a *HOOOOOOOOOWAHH* in their faces! That’s what I’ll do!”
“So what do we do now?" questioned Spike, "I’m pretty sure that now they are expecting us; so we will be walking into an obvious trap.”
“That may be so, little guy," said Sonic, "but I’m afraid that we have no other choice. If we don’t do something now, who knows what might happen.”
“We were counting on your friend, Esipo to feed us information on what Eggman and Solar Dusk were planning;" stated Rainbow Dash, "but that chance is gone now. We have no choice but to head out and try to stop him anyway. We won’t rest until Solar Dusk is back behind the dungeon bars of Canterlot Castle!”
“Whoohoo! Battle party!” shouted Pinkie.
Cream was a bit excited herself; she and Cheese were quite pumped up in having another chance to beat Solar Dusk again, “Alright; this is what I’ve been waiting for, Cheese! Think you’re ready to stop Solar Dusk with us again, Miss Shy?”
'Chao chao chao?!'
“Um… y-yeah; can’t wait… to take him down," Fluttershy responded hesitantly.
“Come on, Miss Shy; be more enthusiastic!”
Angel was looking at Fluttershy tilting his head. It was obvious to him that something was bothering her. But just then, Vanilla overheard them and asked, “Hold on, did I just hear that you’re all about to go out to stop those two mean guys now?”
“That’s right, Mommy; we have no other choice. If we don’t, Solar Dusk will win! We have to go now.”
“Absolutely!!!” said Charmy, “And we have to save Espio too!”
“Well… I guess it can’t be helped,” said Vanilla in a worried tone. "Good luck to all of you."
“This is one Pony who would rather not get her hooves dirty;" stated Rarity,  "but the fate of two worlds is at stake, so I’ll get as dirty as I need to get.”
“Yeah! If Solar Dusk is goin’ to play dirty, then so are we!” Applejack  agreed.
“Then what are we waiting for?!" shouted Rainbow Dash flying in the air, "I say we go over there and teach those two troublemakers a lesson they’ll never forget!”
“Calm down, Rainbow Dash," Twilight chuckled, "We’ll get there soon enough.” 
Suddenly, the front door swung open, but was caught before it slammed. Then Knuckles came in and said, “I got here as fast as I could. My gut told me that something might be up. So what’s the plan?”
“Well, our first plan failed since Espio was captured," said Vector, "He was supposed to feed us useful information after all.”
“So instead," said Sonic with a smirk, "we’re all going to bust into Eggman base and attack him and Solar Dusk head on!”
Knuckles smirked himself while beating his fists, “Heh, now that’s my kind of plan.”
“Why not;" said Amy as she held up her hammer, "we’ve done things that way many times before, so why stop?”
To make sure that he was with the plan, Tails quickly stated, “So the plan is… go into Eggman’s base, sneak past his defenses, find Eggman and figure out where he’s hiding Espio and then take him down. Aside from rescuing Espio, it really is going to be the same as always.”
Spike suddenly came amongst them and stated, “Don’t forget about Solar Dusk. He’ll be waiting too ya know.”
“But with the Elements of Harmony," said Twilight, "he won’t stand much of a chance!"
With the Elements shining around their necks, Twilight's friends smiled and nodded their heads in agreement; except Fluttershy who was still contemplating on things. 
"Me and the girls can focus on him while the rest of you stop Eggman and rescue your chameleon friend.”
“Sounds like a plan to me!" shouted Vector, "Lets do it to it!”
“Isn’t this great, Miss Shy?!” said Cream, “We finally get to show that mean pony a thing or two again!”
“Um… I don’t know about…”
But everyone was already raring to go and were headed out the door; and the two speedsters were actually waiting for everyone else this time.
“Come on everyone, lets go already!” shouted Charmy in a commanding tone.
“No need to tell us twice!” Applejack chuckled.
“Wait; Cream, I…”
“I believe in all of you,” said Vanilla, “Make sure to save the day and get back safely… like always.”
“Will do, Miss Vanilla!” said Pinkie happily
“C-C-Cream, w-wait…”
Cream looked behind her and saw Fluttershy standing still and hesitating. She tried to encourage her, “Come on, Miss Shy, time to go into battle… which is kinda weird for me to say cause I don’t care much for fighting.”
‘Chao chao chao!’
It was then Fluttershy finally shouted out louder, “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!!!”
Everyone suddenly stopped in their tracks to look back at Fluttershy. Cream went back over to her wondering what was up. “What’s wrong, Miss Shy? We need to go!”
Fluttershy decided to speak her mind and tell Cream of what she really thought on the situation. “Cream, I… I-I know we were looking forward to fighting Solar Dusk together again… and I know that you can take care of yourself, but… but… I-I think… its better if you… s-stay… here.”
Cream suddenly felt confused of what Fluttershy was trying to point out, “What? What are you saying, Miss Shy?”
‘Chao chao?’ 
“I can’t stay here, I have to help you take Solar Dusk down just like we did last time.”
“I know, I know; I’m just saying… th-that maybe… you can hang back this time… so you’ll be safe.”
‘Chao?’
“So I’ll be safe?” Cream lightly retorted, “What are you getting at with saying that?! I know that I said that I’m not crazy about fighting, but this is different! I need to teach that Dusk meanie a lesson and show him that he can’t push me around!”
“But that’s exactly what he wants!”
“What?”
“That’s what Solar Dusk is expecting you to do! I know that he’s planning to trap all of us, but he’s going to do something terrible to you; I just know it! You heard what he said to me, right? He was talking about you and Cheese! If you come with us, you might regret it!”
“Um… what’s going on; what’s the hold up?” stated Rainbow Dash.
“I-I-I think those two are discussing something;” said Rarity, “but it sounds like its getting a bit intense.”
Fluttershy was too worried of Solar Dusk’s threat from earlier, but Cream didn’t want it to scare her, “I won’t regret anything! I know he’s plotting against me, but what does it matter?! I thought we already discussed over this! You said that you were okay with it!”
“I did, but… I just thought things over and… I decided that… you should just let us handle this one. That’s all.”
Cream was getting a bit miffed at Fluttershy for suddenly losing confidence in her. She crossed her arms and pouted, “So what? Are you saying that that I can’t take care of myself now; that I’m suddenly too weak to fight this battle? Is that what you’re saying, Miss Shy?!”
Angel who was standing in between them was looking at them feeling troubled, and was slowly backing away from them.
“No no, I’m not saying any of that at all!”
“Hmph, it sure sounds like it to me. After everything we did together, you can’t even trust me to help you guys with this one mission!”
“Look, Cream; its not easy for me to do this,” said Fluttershy as she placed her hoof on Cream’s shoulder and looked at her in the eyes, “But… I have a bad feeling of you coming with us; and… since we fought Solar Dusk before, h-h-he’ll know what to expect from us… from you, so it will make whatever he has planned for you more easy for him. I just… I just don’t want him to hurt you and make you cry again… like he did last time; I won’t stand for that happening again. You understand, right?”
A single tear dripped from one of Cream’s eyes, and she backed away from Fluttershy’s hoof and said, “Yeah… I understand. I understand that even my friends, the friends I had known all my life knows that I can fight back. With Cheese, we can accomplish many things. But you… you’re letting fear control your thoughts! You’re letting what Solar Dusk said to you earlier get to you; making you have second thoughts about everything! You’re supposed to have more faith in me, Miss Shy!”
“I do, Cream; I really do! It just… I don’t know; but… I think you just stay here. Its for the best, trust me.”
“Trust you… okay, I’ll trust you.” Then more tears came flowing from Cream’s eyes as she blurted out at Fluttershy, “Go ahead and baby me; hold my hand keep protecting me because you’re afraid that I’ll get hurt and cry like a little baby!” She ran a few feet away from her and then turned back around and added, “And while you’re at it, when you come back from stopping Solar Dusk without me, why don’t you pamper me and change my diaper too!”
“Cream, wait!” Fluttershy tried shouting.
But Cream wasn’t listening. Cream ran off to her room sobbing constantly; and Cheese was was chasing after her.
‘Chao chao chao chao!’
The whole room was filled with awkward silence. Everyone was standing there and watched the whole conversation that just went by. They didn’t know what to do except not to try and let it affect the thoughts of their mission.
“Um… I’ll just… go and see if she’s okay,” said Vanilla awkwardly as she went towards her daughter’s room.
“Wow, that was… um… something,” said Spike.
“Well… I guess we should get going,” said Sonic, “Dusk’s plan isn’t going to foil itself.”
“Um… y-y-yeah, what he said,” said Rainbow Dash, “Time is a wasting.”
After seeing if Fluttershy was okay everyone began to walk out to head towards their destination. However, Twilight went over to Fluttershy who was still standing where she was and told her, “You coming, Fluttershy? We can’t do this without you.”
“Yeah… I am," she responded hesitantly. But before she started moving she asked Twilight along with Spike, "Twilight, do you guys think I did the right thing?”
“Don’t ask me,” Spike stated, “Moments like this I rather stay out of.”
“I’m afraid that its  not for me to decided,” said Twilight, “only you.”
Fluttershy just sighed and stated, “E-earlier after we fought all those robots, I talked with Sonic and told him how I was feeling about Cream facing Solar Dusk again after that threat that he made to me about her. Sonic told me that I should just do what I thought was the best decision; but now… I sorta wonder if that was the right decision. Oh... i hoe Cream doesn't stay mad at me.”
“Maybe it was the right decision, maybe it wasn't,” said Twilight with a light smile, “but… don’t let it get you down. We have a mission to complete. And don't worry, I'm sure Cream will understand your reasoning eventually.”
Fluttershy soon calmed herself down enough to get herself together and said, “You're right.” She then looked down at her rabbit friend and asked him, “Hey, Angel? Would you mind staying here and give some more company?”
But without hesitation, Angel smiled and shook his head; and then took off towards Cream’s room.
“Well that didn’t take him long to decided,” Twilight chuckled, “Come on, lets catch up to the others.”
“Okay.”
Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy went out of the house and closed the door behind them as they were on their way to join the others. FLuttershy suddenly for a moment though and looked back at the house still feeling a bit of regret; and then she continued on. Meanwhile, Cream was up in her room in her bed with her face buried deep in her pillow with Cheese sitting right beside her. Her Mother, Vanilia had come into her room with Angel close behind and went over to her and rubbed her head trying to comfort her.
“Um… Cream, are you going to be alright?”
Cream just sighed while muffling in her pillow, “I don’t know, Mommy.” She then slowly turned around to lay on her back while looking back at her Mother, “I know Miss Shy was only trying to protect me; but ever since that time that of what we went though when I was in her world and the whole revenge threat… I can’t help but feel like she lost her confidence in me… like she doesn't think I can handle another possible life or death situation.”
“I’m sure she meant well;” Vanila responded, “and who knows, maybe this was a safe decision.”
Cream looked over at Angel who she noticed stayed with her and slightly smiled as she gave him a pat, “Yeah… maybe. But what if it isn’t?”
> Chapter 10: Endgame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Since Charmy and Vector were the ones who already knew the location of Eggman’s base, they were the ones who led the others in a march through the Green Hill Forest and towards the base to save both of their worlds. They didn’t quite know what to expect of this upcoming showdown, but they did know was that they needed to be ready for anything… and they needed to win no matter the obstacle. Once they finally got there, Charmy and Vector took the others through the invisible barrier and revealed what was behind it. 
"Well... there it is;” said Charmy, “Eggman's base... in all of its mechanical glory."
To Sonic and his friends, the sight didn’t shock them at all; they’ve seen and destroyed plenty of Eggman’s bases. But Twilight and the others were quite impressed as they never saw anything like it.
"Good gracious me,” said Rarity in shock, “that place is huge. You could probably fit three malls in there… or four… or five!"
"I wish this was a mall," stated Rainbow dash, "but obviously that's not the case."
Everyone looked at their surroundings and saw that there was no one around and the outside of the base was completely deserted.
"It doesn't look like there are any guards out here,” said Twilight, “I guess Eggman and Solar Dusk are expecting us and aren’t worried about pulling out any early tricks."
But Sonic didn’t want to take any chances. So he stated, "Well... to save everyone the trouble, I'll just take a few laps around this area if that much is true."
"Sonic, wait!" Tails tried to shout.
However, Sonic already took off like a bullet. He zoomed all around the base trying to cover as much area as he could to see if there were any traps. But by the time he reached the main entrance, it was all cleared.
"Nuthin' happened;” said Applejack in a surprising tone, “how about that."
Sonic waved to the others from his location and shouted, "No traps here! Its safe to come over!"
Most of Sonic’s groaned after seeing Sonic rush in without any thought.
"Show off;” Rainbow Dash lightly grumbled as she crossed her hooves, “I could've done that myself."
Still feeling upbeat, Pinkie told everyone, "Come on, everypony; last one over to the base's entrance is a stormy gloom cloud!"
"A... what?" said Vector.
"Forget that, Vector;” shouted Charmy, “lets go go go!"
As everyone started making their way towards the entrance, Pinkie noticed that Fluttershy was moving very slowly with her head down; like she was distracted by something in her mind. So Pinkie hopped back over to her, and said, “Fluttershy, what are you doing? You're going to end up being the stormy gloom cloud!"
Fluttershy looked up at her responded seldomly, “S-sorry, Pinkie; I just have stuff on my mind… you know.”
Pinkie then got in front of Fluttershy and then was massaging her cheeks trying to lift her spirits up, “If its about Cream… CHEER UP!!! She’ll be just fine; and don’t worry, she’s not truly mad at you! She knows that you are just protecting her because you absolutely care about her!”
“She sure didn’t sound like it,” said Fluttershy sadly.
Once Pinkie and Fluttershy got to the entrance, everyone else was trying to figure a way to get in. But Tails pointed out, “Well here’s the entrance, but we have an obvious problem.”
On the side of the huge door was a complicated lock pad with an electronic number code built-in.
“Its locked… of course,” Rainbow Dash sighed,” They toying with us and wants us to work our butt off just to get in!”
“Stand back, guys,” said Amy while holding up her hammer, “time for this girl to shine.”
Everyone stood back as Amy held her hammer back and then swung it forward in an attempt to knock down the giant metal door. But her hammer was stopped cold and instead began to vibrate violently; and the sensation went into Amy’s body. “Whoooooah, h-h-h-h-how do y-y-yooou s-s-stop th-th-this!”
The vibration was carrying her everywhere and she couldn’t stop. But then Pinkie got in her path and held out her hooves, “I gotcha!” Amy then ran right into her and both fell onto the ground. Pinkie just giggled like it was nothing.
“Hee hee hee, that was fun! Can we do that again?!”
“No,” Amy groaned.
“I guess my fist won’t be much help here either,” Knuckles admitted, “Stupid sturdy  doors.”
Tails then whipped out a couple of his trusty tools from a bag that he was carrying and was prepared to do his thing. “This is where my genius comes into action. Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll have this door open in a jiffy… hopefully.”
“Or…” said Twilight with a smile, “I can just do this.”
Twilight then gathered magic in her horn and was using it to work on the lock. And as everyone was watching in awe, the lock's code was soon broken and the lock became unlocked in a matter of seconds.
“W-w-whoa, how did you do that?” Tails questioned in shock.
Unlike everyone else, Spike knew what she did but was still impress of what he saw. “Nice! An unlocking spell; right?”
“Right; an advanced unlocking spell," said Twilight proudly, "It can get past any lock but should only be used responsibly.”
“Could’ve mention that earlier," said Tails while putting up his tools.
“Better late than never, Tails,” Sonic chuckled, “That magic really does comes in handy.”
With the code and lock of the door broken, it began to open up giving them access inside the base where Eggman and Solar Dusk would be lying in wait for them.
“Alright, the door is opened!” Charmy cheered, “From here on, its easy street until the big showdown!”
But once the door was all the way open, they were suddenly face to face with a small army of egg soldier robots who were already waiting for them to come through. They all slightly jumped being caught off guard; but they soon stood their ground.
Charmy slightly chuckled while blushing from embarrassment, “Oops.”
“Charmy; you and your big mouth!” Vector shouted.
“Now this is what I was hoping for!” said Knuckles beating his fists, “Bring it on!”
Everyone got ready; preparing to take out the robots that were before them, but at the same time trying to reserve most of their strength.
“Well this will be over quick,” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk, “Its just those same regular Egg pawns.”
“Try not to get a big head, Rainbow Dash and jinx the situation for us,” said Rarity.
Sonic immediately zoomed forward and took out a few of the bots, and then faced everyone shouting, “Come on, lets not waste time here! Take them out quickly!”
Thankfully for all of them, the robots didn’t put up too much of a fight, and so they them all out with ease. It was obvious to them that it was just a small interruption to stall time, but they didn’t let that bother them as they continued on. 
Sonic mildly dusted off his hands and said, “Now then, what were we doing before we were rudely interrupted?”
“Searching for that evil scientist and the dreaded Solar Dusk I believe,” Spike responded, “But we sure showed those robots whose boss!”
“Spike, you didn’t do anything,” said Rarity.
“I’m here for morle support! You need someone to cheer you guys on after all.”
As they all made their way deeper into Eggman’s base, Tails took out a device that showed a layout of the base to see where everything was. “Eggman and Solar Dusk are most likely to be in the control room right here; its Eggman’s favorite place to plot schemes against us. That’s usually the case so far.”
“So we find him using that doohickey thing in your hands?” said Rainbow Dash as curiously poked the device.
Tails took it away from her hoof and answered, “Umm… yeah, that’s the idea; and please don’t call it a doohickey.”
“Well, won’t be long now,” said Applejack, “Let just make sure that we’re all at our peak performance for this.”
“I know I will,” Amy agreed.
Located near the back of the group, Fluttershy was trailing behind everyone trying to get her mind off of Cream’s anger towards her and getting herself together for whatever comes next. But just then, the group walked past a small corridor that led to a big pair of doors; but Pinkie had suddenly stopped and was staring at it while her tail was suddenly twirling around and pointing straight at the door.
“Hmm? Hey, come check this out, everypony!” she shouted out to everyone.
They all heard Pinkie and were coming back to her wondering what she found.
“What is it, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
“I’m not sure,” said Pinkie, “but I have a strange feeling that the bad guys are through that door!”
“What makes you so sure of that,” said Tails.
“I don’t know. I’m getting this sensation tingle in my tail, and its telling me that we should check behind there! Look at it; its twirling like crazy!”
Sonic and his friends still didn’t fully understand the weird nature behind Pinkie and her antics, but as long as her friends knew how to deal with it, they knew that they could as well. Tails looked at his device noticed something interesting.
“It does seem that behind those doors is one of the biggest rooms in this base. So I guess there is a chance that they could be in there.”
“Well... her pinkie sense hasn’t failed her yet,” said Twilight chuckling, “I say lets trust her tail.”
“If that’s the case,” said Amy lifting up her hammer, “then stand back!”
Amy prepared herself and lunged towards the dual metal doors. And with one swift swing with her hammer, she banged on them causing them to swing open normally; just with more force.
“Nice!” said Spike, “Guess this door wasn’t as secure as the other one was.”
Fluttershy took a deep breath and said to herself, “Just get it together, Fluttershy. Don’t dwell too much on what happened… just… do what has to be done now.”
Everyone soon walked in only to find themselves in a huge colosseum room complete with bleacher seats that surrounded the area. It was a marvelous sight.
“Whoa, look at this place,” said Charmy, “It is huge!”
“Looks like some sort of colosseum,” said Sonic, “Heh, probably a place where Eggman has his robots fight in gladiator-like battles against each other for his own amusement.”
They all looked around the place wondering where the bad guys could be. Then Twilight asked Pinkie, “Alright Pinkie, where are they? They are here, right?”
Although Pinkie was confused herself. “That’s what my tail told me, but I don’t see them anywhere! That’s so weird.”
“And your tail talking to you somehow isn’t?” said Vector.
Tails knew that they were in situations like this before and thought to himself, “I got a bad feeling about this; a really bad feeling.”
“I don’t get it; where are the bad guys?!” said Charmy filled with impatience, “We need some fighting action!”
Then right on cue, the metal doors behind them suddenly closed shut on their own making everyone jump yet again.
“The door… i-it closed!” said Spike in a panic.
“Man, that bee friend of yers really does need to stay silent sometimes,” said Applejack to Vector. 
“Tell me about it.”
As Vector glared at Charmy, he chuckled out of embarrassment again, “Heh heh heh.” 
Suddenly, the lights in room dimmed, and a single spotlight shined up top of a pedestal where the one and only Eggman was slowly floating down from in his egg pod laughing and making his presence known.
“Greetings, my fellow miscreants, and welcome to my Egg Colosseum! Mainly a place where I mostly have my robots fight in gladiator-like battles against each other for my own amusement!”
“Heh; see, I told ya,” Sonic chuckled.
“You have all made it just in time to witness your doomed future. It all ends here!”
“As I’m sure that you seem to say every time Sonic and the others face you,” said Rainbow Dash.
Charmy suddenly aimed an expression of anger at Eggman as he rushed to the front of the crowd and shouted, “Cut the smack talk, Egghead! Where’s Espio!”
After landing on the ground some feet away from the group, Eggman responded, “Quit your blabbering! Have patience and you will get what you wish.”
“I think we’ve all ran out of patience as of now, Mister Eggman," said Twilight as she glared at him, "You made a completely huge mistake by sending one of your baddies into our world and breaking Solar Dusk out.”
“Yeah!” shouted all of her friends.
Suddenly, a secondary voice was heard; one that was more dark and sinister, "On the contrary… I’m afraid I have to disagree with you all on that fact." They all then saw him; Sloar Dusk as he was walking out from behind Eggman sporting an evil smile, "Thanks to that little move of his, I was finally able get another chance to achieve greatness and fulfill my dream… the recognition of my genius that I deserve.”
Most of Sonic’s friends were glaring towards Solar Dusk finally seeing him in person. And despite his size, they knew from experience that he was more powerful than he looked.
“Well well," said Applejack with a smirk, "the big, bad Solar Dusk finally comes out of hidin’ and show his ugly mug.”
“I was never truly hiding to begin with," Solar Dusk replied, "just staying on the sidelines since I wasn’t completely prepared at the moment; but call it what you must.”
Spike slightly shuddered upon finally being in the same room as their enemy while looking up at Twilight. “You know... f-f-for some reason… he seems a b-bit more intimidating in person.”
“So you’re Solar Dusk, huh?" said Vector crossing his arms trying to put on a tough demeanor, "Let’s not waste anymore time here. Show us where Espio is now… or things might get ugly.”
Solar Dusk chuckled and said, “Ah yes, your little ninja chameleon friend. No need to fret, he’s right here… completely unharmed.”
Suddenly, from behind Solar Dusk, Vector and Charmy’s teammate came walking out into their view; and he did looked unharmed to them just like Solar Dusk said. However, Esipo strangely had his eyes closed during that moment.
“Espio, buddy!” Charmy shouted in joy, “Ha ha, thank goodness you’re okay! We’re here to rescue you!”
Espio somehow didn’t seem to respond to Charmy’s voice.
“Hold up, Charmy,” said Vector suddenly as he held his arm out in front of his bee friend, “Something doesn't feel right about this.”
“What are you talking about?” said Charmy as he pushed past Vector, “Its Espio; everything about him is right.”
“Charmy, come back here you little…”
Fluttershy was trying to get a good look at Espio wondering why he was acting so calm and collected while standing next to Solar Dusk and wasn’t making any response to his friends. But then, when Charmy was but a few feet away from Espio, Fluttershy gasped as she suddenly noticed something that the others didn’t at first. 
“Oh no. Don’t! Get away from him; he’s…”
But before he realized, Charmy saw Espio open his eyes that suddenly went aglow with purple light; and then he zipped right in front of the young bee quicker than anyone could see. Espio then lunged out his fist with two fingers pointed out and struck against Charmy. He barely felt it at first, but then at a split second his body was sent flying past Vector and everyone else and into wall before falling on the ground.
“Charmy!” Vector shouted as he ran toward him.
“And he’s out of the park!” said Eggman with delight.
Everyone was in shock seeing what happened; an ally injuring another ally just like that. Thankfully, when Vector reached Charmy, he was a bit woozy but okay overall. 
“Ugh… well that smarted.”
Vector then glared back at Espio who flipped himself back beside Solar Dusk and shouted, “What’s your deal, man?! We risked our lives to come here and save you! Why would you do that to Charmy?!"
"B-because... of that," said Fluttershy as she was frightfully pointing at Espio’s neck.
When the others look themselves, they all gasped as they suddenly saw one of Solar Dusk’s dark gems on a collar that was wrapped around Espio’s neck. It was now clear of what happened.
"He should count himself lucky,” Solar Dusk chuckled, “that wasn’t even half of his new strength."
"Its those gems again;” said Twilight, “they double the strength of anyone who wears it... not mention gets controlled by Solar Dusk."
"Curse those blasted gems!,” said Vector feeling pissed off, “He's not going to get away with this!"
"Don't worry, he won't," said Sonic, “We’ll make sure of that.”
Knuckles himself could sense and feel the energy coming from the gem around Espio; and it alone made him falter a bit. "This... dark power... emanating from that gem... its pure evil! This chump needs to go down!"
Solar Dusk suddenly fixated his eyes on Fluttershy who was looking at him but was slightly shaking from his presence. “Something the matter… Miss Fluttershy? You seem a little shaken up; a bit down in the dumps.” Then he realized that a certain couple of creatures were not present with the yellow mare, “Where’s your little rabbit friend with her blue pest?’ Don’t tell me that they didn’t show up to the party.”
“Hey, stop patronizing her, you creep!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “She daeling with enough stress as it thanks to you!”
“Yeah; her business is not your business!” Pinkie added, “But… then again... your business is our business; so… huh. Now I’m confused.”
Fluttershy suddenly stepped forward in front of everybody taking the matter into her own hooves, “It okay guys; I got it.” She then took a deep breath, and then made a slight glare at Solar Dusk as she said, “No, Cream and Cheese aren’t with me, they’re back at their home safe and sound… away from you! There was no way I was going to fall for your trick and have you purposely hurt Cream again; that threat you made earlier was clear enough to me! S-so… too bad that you’re not going to have your way this time… not that we were planning to let you anyway.”
Solar Dusk was not patronized by Fluttershy’s words at all; lowly chuckling, he was amused of how Fluttershy was acting so confident. “How cute. You think that even without her here, things will go your way. Well… let me tell you… the truth is that it really doen’t matter anyway. You all sealed your fate the moment you walked through those doors. From here on out, victory belongs to me.”
“Don’t you mean… us?” Eggman questioned.
“Oh yeah… right,” said Solar Dusk as he rolled his eyes.
Sonic began chuckling himself as he walked up beside Fluttershy and said to the dark pony, “You know, Solar Dusk… seeing your dark gems controlling a bunch of cold, lifeless metal machines is one thing; but seeing you control the body of a living and breathing soul… that’s just messed up, man. Pardon me and try to understand that we have to stop you at all cost now. Powerful gems or not, you won’t win!”
Everyone was now getting ready to charge at the enemy. This is the moment that they were waiting for; the moment of Solar’s Dusk’s failure.
“You’re going to pay for what you made Espio do to me, ya jerk!” shouted Charmy in anger.
“That’s right, Charmy!” shouted Vector, “Use that anger in your favor!”
“You ready for this, Fluttershy?” said Twilight as she walked up beside the yellow pegasus.
Fluttershy smiled at her feeling more calmer now and responded, “I am now. Lets get this over with; I Think I’ll make Cream some apology cookies with her Mother afterwards.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Well then,” said Eggman to Solar Dusk, “it looks like things are finally going to heat up.”
“You bet it is!” said Applejack, “Its time to take ya both down before ya have a chance to do anythang else!”
A sly smile came from Solar’s face as he said,  “Oh I’m afraid not. Doctor… if you’ll do the honors.”
“Gladly!”
Eggman pushed a button on his pod’s panel, and it caused the many doors on the surround walls to open and huge numbers of Eggman’s robots were suddenly surrounding the heroes. Of course for Sonic and his friends, once again they were not surprised at all.
“Aw man, how many robots does this guy have?!” said Spike freaking out. 
“You didn’t really think that those smaller robots were the only ones Eggman made, did you?” said Tails.
“I was kinda hoping… so much for that. But it doesn't exactly help that they all have one Solar Dusk’s gems too!”
“Um… I don’t mean to be a buzzkill,” said Rarity looking at the many different robots, “but… some of these metal brutes look bigger and stronger than the others that we faced from before.”
“Ah had a feelin’ that we were left off easy those other times,” said Applejack with a small smirk, “Pretty well-played, Ah’ll say.”
Eggaman’s two assistants, Orbot and Cubot were sitting in the bleachers of the colosseum sipping cups of oil while they watching everything unfold.
“Don’t mind us,” said Orbot, “we’re just over here on the sidelines preparing for a big show.”
“This is going to be off the hizzle for shizzle!” shouted Cubot.
Pinkie couldn’t help but laugh at Cubot’s words, “Hee hee hee hee! He said hizzle.”
Then suddenly out of nowhere, Metal Sonic came flying onto the scene landing right beside its creator emanating its glowing red eyes. Sonic had a huge smile on his face feeling that things were getting interesting again.
“Ah, look who came back to play a second round of a beating. Just how many times are we going do this same routine?”
The odds of the upcoming battle drastically changed in mere seconds and it looked like everyone was going to have to work even harder just to capture Solar Dusk.
“Oh man,” Spike shuddered, “This is getting way out of hand! I should’ve just stayed at the house with Angel.”
“What are you going to do now?!” said Eggman with a smug little smile, “Clearly your smartest choice is to just surrender.”
“Fat chance, Eggman!” shouted Knuckles.
“Sending out many of your robots at us doesn't exactly changes things, Doc,” said Sonic, “We’ll take them all down as usual. And with these girls on our side, that just heightens our chances.”
“You better believe it,” shouted Rainbow as she and the others came together not standing down, “Get ready for a total pony beatdown!”
“Uh-oh,” said Charmy mocking towards Solar Dusk, “looks like you’re in trouble now!”
Solar Dusk lowly growled and signaled Espio to go at him again. Espio vanished and appeared in front of Charmy getting ready to take him down, and Charmy freaked out; but Vector suddenly got in front of him just in time to block Espio’s strike and took ahold of his hands.
“Oh no you don’t! You may be a ninja… but to me, your moves are too predictable!”
Vector then used his strength to push Espio back away from them; but the nimble ninja landed back on his feet while flipping himself back beside Solar Dusk.
“Wow, n-n-nice save!” said Charmy while trying to calm down.
“Thanks,” said Vector; but he was slightly groaning while shaking his hands, “Ugh… but Espio definitely seems stronger than usual thanks to that stupid gem. I almost broke a sweat with just that one block.”
“ Hey, Solar Dusk,” said Twilight, “looks like you underestimated us! While they take care of those robots, the girls and I will take care of you!”
“Awesome idea, Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash, “I bet he didn’t think about that.”
“I guess we’ll be able to capture him soon after all,” said Fluttershy.
However, when Twilight and the others looked at Solar Dusk, he was still smiling and chuckling under his breath. It seemed that he was still not worried of what was going on.
“Uh oh, he’s still smiling,” said Pinkie, “That’s not good!”
“You irritating little ponies;” said Solar Dusk, “you really want to end this so quickly? Don’t even count on that. I haven’t even showed you girls… my special surprise.”
Just then, in dark corridor behind Solar Dusk, Twilight and the others saw some slow-moving silhouettes coming out. Their glowing red eyes were hard to miss, and whatever they were… there was 6 of them. Three of them went to one side of Solar Dusk, and the other three were on the other side; and when they were in sight, all 6 of the ponies and Spike loudly gasped seeing an unusual yet frightening sight.
“What the…” said Twilight, “What in the wide world of Equestria… are those?!”
They were robots, but not just any robots; these robots walked on 4 legs, had wavy shaped metallic tails, and… well, in short… they looked exactly like them. To them it was like looking at a mirror, except they weren’t metal. 
“I… cant believe it,” said Rainbow Dash. “We have our very own robot clones! Awesome!” Her friends then slightly glared at her and then she changed her words, “I-I-I mean… not awesome! Heh.”
“Am Ah seein’ thangs?” said Applejack “Are there really robot clones of us in front of us right now?!”
Spike just made a sigh of discontent and said, “Well, didn’t expect that.”
Fluttershy was frozen in place staring at the metallic doubles of her and her friends. She saw how strong Sonic’s metallic double was, so she wondered how this was going to go. “N-n-no way… wh-what is this? This can’t be.”
Sonic and his friends were looking at the sight themselves feeling surprised that Eggman would do this just to try and stop their pony friends, but perhaps it was all Solar Dusk’s idea.
“Shocked? I’m pretty sure you all are,” said Eggman proudly, “Allow me to introduce my newest line robots; my E-Harmony series! Came up with that title myself.”
“Who cares what you named them,” said Rarity not feeling impressed, “So what if they’re a bunch of robots that look like us; so what? I look 10 times more fabulous than that fake me.”
“Oh its not just that,” said Solar Dusk, “Not only do they look like you, they share your same attributes. They think like you, fight like you, and even share your elements’ power. The only difference is that these robots outweigh your strength and will show no mercy. These are quite some real impressive pieces of work, and it all thanks to the Doctor.”
“They even have our cutiemarks,” said Twilight, “Impressive.”
Solar Dusk rolled his eyes and groaned as he said, “No, that did not come with the creations.”
“Adding the tattooed marks were my idea, ya’ll,” shuted Cubot from the bleachers.
“But still, how were you able to do this?” said Tails who was curious, “You would at need DNA samples of these girls to even try and create such a feat!”
“I’ll gladly explain,” said Eggman, “Remember our little battle earlier back the Green Hill plains? As you were all busy taking out my robots, I sent in a little micro bot that maneuvered through the chaos and gathered fur samples; and none of you even noticed. This plan was of course suggested by Solar Dusk, and I thought he was a bit nutty. But now thanks to my scientific genius and after seeing what these beauties could do, I now see his reason.”
“He was able to do all of that without any of us knowing?!” said Fluttershy, “How could we have not noticed that?!”
All six bots were emanating their glowing red eyes fixating them on their organic originals. Twilight and her friends still couldn't believe what Solar Dusk accomplished, but it was even worse that each of them housed one of his gems,
“So what do you think?” Solar Dusk chuckled, “Still think you’ll take me so easily?”
“Wow, so cool!” shouted Pinkie in excitement, “If they’re like us in almost every way, then that’s very impressive!” Without warning, Pinkie suddenly zipped up to her metal counterpart and shouted at it, “Do you like parties?! Do you like to throw parties?! Do you like to make others laugh at parties and have loads of fun?! I love doing all of those things! I even have my own party cannon! Do you have a party cannon too?! Here’s mine; check it out!” she took her cannon out of nowhere and ignited it blowing out streams of confetti.
“What the heck is she doing?” Vector strongly questioned.
“She’s Pinkie Pie;” said Rainbow Dash, “just roll with it.”
“Now show me your party cannon!” said Pinkie.
Pinkie’s metal counterpart was just staring at her not making a sound. But then, a compartment opened up on its back and raised up a huge cannon that doubled in size of hers. She then received a huge shock as it fired its cannon right beside her leaving a huge crater. Pinkie was slightly shaking seeing it and then looked back at the robot chuckling nervously.
“W-w-w-wow… th-that’s a… b-big cannon; heh. Good talking with ya!” Then she ran away.
Twilight knew that things would get hectic for them if Solar Dusk turned his new creations on them, so she immediately chose to take action. “Girls, let not waste any time! Elements, now!”
They all nodded in agreement and took their places together. Sonic and the other stood back as they suddenly saw the Elements around the ponies’ necks begin to glow. Solar Dusk wasn’t worry though as the six robot counterparts got into the same position and the little orbs that were on their necks began to glow as well. While storing up power, Twilight noticed this and felt that something wasn’t right.
“What are they doing?”
But she soon didn’t care as she and her friends unleashed their rainbow beam from their Elements and was aiming it right at Solar Dusk. But at the same time, the robots released the same beam at them, and both collided giving off an explosion of many colors. Sonic and his friends were all amazed in what they were seeing, but Charmy far beyond bedazzled.
“So… awesome.”
“Leave it to you to find exploding rainbows awesome…” said Vector with a smirk, “in which you’re totally right!”
Once the power stood still, Twilight and her friends in shock yet again that they were held back by their own power.
“That’s impossible; they did the exact same thing we did!” said Twilight, “They really are us... i-in a way."
"Not exactly how we pictured things to go,” Rainbow Dash stated, “This could be a problem."
Solar Dusk was quite happy seeing how well his secret weapons were holding their own against his enemies. "Resistance is futile; this is the part where I finally win!" And igniting the magic in his horn, all of the surrounding robots were now on the attack and were going after the Sonic heroes.
"Everyone scatter!” Sonic shouted, “Take out as many bots as you can... and I'll take care of metal faker here!"
Metal Sonic then ricocheted itself at Sonic and was halted as Sonic took ahold of its claws holding him back. It stared deep into Sonic’s face and stated, "You will fall here, Sonic!"
All Sonic did was show a bright grin and responded, "Bring it on!"
"Alright guys,” said Amy to the others as she bashed her hammer into a nearby Egg bot, “lets get to work on these robot bozos; and don’t hold anything back!"
“Don’t need your bossiness for us to do that!” Knuckles chuckled.
As they began busting through the crowd of robots, Charmy and Vector suddenly saw Espio Appear in front of them ready to take them on. Vector and Charmy hated to go against him, but it seemed like the only way to bring him back to his senses… if they could that is.
"Don't worry, Espio,” said Charmy, “we'll save you!"
Meanwhile, as the other were taking care of the main groups of robots, Twilight and her friends were standing face-to-face against their metal clones still feeling baffled of their abilities. But they needed to take them somehow in hopes to take down Solar Dusk.
"Make your move first, ladies,” said Solar Dusk in a malicious tone, “The outcome of this battle won't change either way."
"We can't lose here,” said Fluttershy with a hint of fear in her tone, “We need to stop him!"
"Don't worry, Fluttershy,” said Twilight,  “it doesn't matter what obstacles Solar Dusk throws at us; we will stop him, and we won't lose! We promised the princesses that we wouldn't come back until Solar Dusk was beat and back in our custody!"
“Dang right,” said Applejack throwing her hooves in the air, “We’re not backing out of this without a fight!”
"Alright, girls,” sad Pinkie in a serious tone, “things just got serious! Time to ditch the training wheels and bring out the big guns!”
Spike, who was sitting on Twilight’s back looked at Pinkie weirdly and asked, “Uh… you girls have have guns?”
Pinkie just smiled and giggled, “Nope, it was just a figure of speech. But it sounded cool, right?!”
“Make the first move,” Solar Dusk loudly demanded, “... or I will.”
“You girls all heard what evil, psychotic pony freak said,” shouted Rainbow Dash, “Let’s show him what we’re made of! CHARGE!!!”
All of the Elements; Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all trotted towards their doubles, and the doubles trotted towards them.Aside from Sonic fighting his metal counterpart, and the rest taking on the robot army and the possessed Espio, this was the moment that would decide the fate of both worlds; and Twilight knew that they couldn’t lose if they wanted to save and protect everyone.
‘Everything we’re fighting for… the safety of our worlds and our friends… it all rides on this fight. We can’t allow Solar Dusk to get what he wants! As a solemn promise to the rulers of our land… we will be victorious!’ 
	 
	
> Chapter 11: Evil Prevails
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ever since Sonic and the others had set off to take down and capture Solar Dusk, Cream the Rabbit was lamenting up in her room at her Mother’s house after having a verbal argument with Fluttershy. Cheese the Chao and Angel Bunny were up there with her to help comfort her; and Cream’s Mother, Vanilla did her best to make her feel better. She even tried to make some of Cream’s favorite carrot cream cookies. But Cream wasn’t hungry, not even for those. Cream eventually lamented herself to sleep, and Cheese and Angel fell asleep with her soon afterwards.
A few hours had passed, and Cream was finally waking up from her slumber. As she yawned and was stretching out her arms, she said to herself, “H-how long… did I sleep? What was going on again.” But then she thought about it and remembered, “Oh yeah, the others went off to stop Eggman and… Solar Dusk.” Cream then remembered the verbal argument that she had with Fluttershy and it was beginning to drag her down again; but then she couldn’t help but smile a bit when she looked down beside her and saw Angel and Cheese laying beside each other fast asleep. “Aw, they’re asleep too. They look so cute sleeping together like that.”
Cream then quietly hovered off her bed so she wouldn’t wake up her two friends; and then she walked over to her nearby window and was leaning against it while looking outside of it longley. She was thinking over what she he did and was starting to regret her actions.
“Maybe I did overreact a bit towards Miss Shy,” she said to herself, “I know that he was only worried about me, but… all I thought was that she might’ve thought that I couldn’t protect myself; that I was… too weak. However, I knew what she really meant. ‘sigh’ Maybe I’ll apologize to her when she and the others get back.”
Cream continued to look out the window towards the direction that she knew her friends went thinking of the time that had passed by already.
“Where are they anyway? I figured they’d be back by now. I hope everything is okay.”
--------------
Unaware that her daughter was awake, Vanilla was downstairs just doing her usual chore work while a covered pan of carrot cream cookies was sitting on the counter in the kitchen. She was a bit worried for her daughter, but she knew that she would get over her funk sooner or later. Also, she too realized how much time had passed since Sonic and the others left on their mission.
“Sonic and the others are definitely taking their time,” she said to herself, “It’s times like this that I get awfully worried; but… I shouldn’t be. The other have this, and my daughter is here safe and sound.. I have nothing to worry about.”
Knowing that it has been at least an hour since she last checked on Cream, she was hoping that something had changed with her since then.
“Perhaps… I should check on her again to see if she’s alright.”
But just when she was about to make her way to Cream’s room, Vanilla suddenly heard a little knock on her house door. She became quite shocked that she was just thinking about Cream’s friends. 
“Oh my, that must be them now. I guess I was right to not worry after all.”
Vanilla placed on a smile as she made her way to the door, and then opened it to greet Sonic and his friends back. 
“Hello there; nice to see that you’re all back.” But as she suddenly looked in front of her, what she saw instead was completely unexpected. “Wait a minute, you’re not Sonic… or any of the others. Wh-who are you?”
Suddenly, her eyes went wide with fright as she began to back away slowly from the doorway.
“Oh no, y-you’re not…”
Vanilla then tripped over her own feet and fell on her back. She was then stretching out her arm in a pleadful manner shouting…
“No… n-no, please don’t!”
-------------
Back upstairs, Cream had began reading one of her book in her room to pass the time while she continued to wait for her friends. But pretty soon, Cheese and Angel had woke up and went over to her feeling happy that she was emotionally feeling better.
“Hey, Angel! Hey, Cheese!” said Cream with a smile, “You’re both finally awake, huh?”
‘Chao chao!’
Angel responded by hopping on her shoulder and gave her a hug around her neck.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m feeling better now. Although, I’m afraid Sonic and the others haven’t come back yet; and it’s been awhile since they left. But I wouldn’t worry, they will beat Solar Dusk; they have to. And… when Miss Shy comes back, I’m going to apologize to her and tell her that I’m sorry for blowing up at her. I’m going to give it to her tenfold!”
Both Cheese and Angel were quite glad that she came to that decision and nodded in agreement. Cream then stood up straight and dusted off her dress feeling better in her mood.
“Come on, you two; lets go see if Mommy still has those cookies on hold for me.”
But before she could take a step, Cream suddenly heard her Mother scream from downstairs. It caused her, as well as Angel and Cheese to freeze in shock, and Cream lightly said under her breath, “M-M-Mom…” But after the scream, it was suddenly silent again. Cream suddenly started to panic, “Mommy!” Then she ran out of her room and began to head towards where her Mother was; and Angel and Cheese were following close behind her.
‘What happened? Why did she scream like that?’ Cream thought to herself as she was heading downstairs while sweating constantly.
By the time Cream and her two friend got to the bottom of the stairs, they were looking all around to see where Cream’s Mom was. But when Cream looked in the main room from the kitchen, her eyes went wide seeing a terrifying sight.
“Oh no… MOM!!!”
Her Mother, Vanilla was out cold on her front in front of the entrance door; and after Cream ran frantically to her, she didn’t appear to be moving. Cheese and Angel came to Cream’s aid when they heard her scream; and they were shocked when they saw what Cream saw as well. 
“Mom! Mommy, please say something!” Cream sobbed as she was continuously shaking her Mother, “You have to be okay! Please… wake up!”
But then Cream used all of her strength to roll her Mother over on her back. She still didn’t wake up, but she didn’t appear to look hurt at all. But then she noticed some kind of neck ring wrapped around her Mother’s neck; and it seemed kind of familiar to her when she saw a small gem embedded in it.
“W-w-wait, isn’t that…”
Suddenly, Cream jumped in fright when her Mother reached out and grabbed on of her arms tightly. Then her eyes opened up, but they were glowing with a dark purple color. Cream was suddenly getting nervous.
“M-M-M-Mommy?”
Then in the blink of an eye, Vanilla rose up and then picked up and slammed Cream against the door by her neck. Cheese and Angel gasped upon seeing the sight in front of them and were almost too frightened to move.
“M-M-Mom… M-Mom, what are y-you doing?!” Cream cried as she looked at her Mother, “Why are you acting like this?! Its me, Cream; y-y-your daughter!” Just then, the worst possible outcome just came to her, “No… i-i-it can’t be…”
“Seems like you two are having quite the Mother/ Daughter bonding moment. How touching.”
Cream, Cheese and Angel all gasped from suddenly hearing someone else speak up in the house with them. They looked over at a chair in the main room, and sitting in it was the worst possible being to be there alone with them.
“Hello, Cream,” the intruder said with a malicious smile, “its so nice to see you again.”
As her body was still being pressed again the door by her controlled Mother, Cream was shaking in slight fear seeing who the intruder was, “N-no… its y-you… Solar Dusk.”
“In the flesh.”
Solar Dusk got up from the chair and was slowly walking towards the frighten young rabbit. Surprisingly, he walked by Cheese and Angel who were glaring and lightly growling at him. He ignored them as he got near to Cream; and he was truly enjoying the terrifyingly shocked expression on her face.
“Th-this can’t be possible; I-I-I don’t understand,” Cream sobbed, “Why are you here… right now?!”
“Oh don’t look so shocked, my dear Cream,” Solar Dusk responded, “You do recall you and your little chao friend had humiliated me in the past and kept me from fulfilling my goals, don’t you? I’m just here to return the favor as I promised. I’m about to take everything you care about away from you and then finally gain my revenge.”
Being angered of Solar Dusk being here and what he was doing to Cream, both Cheese and Angel charged at him in an attempt slam him down. But Solar Dusk sensed them coming as he smirked and said, “Speaking of which…”
He quickly turned around and launched two more of his gem collars at Cheese and Angel. It was too late for them to react, and the collars slammed on around their necks as they fell on the ground.
Cream cried out to them seeing what happened. “NO! Not them too!”
After a few seconds, both of them rose up in a trance-like state. Their eyes suddenly glowing a purplish color and they came up beside Solar Dusk.
“That’s right,” he chuckled, “be good little pets and stand down.”
Cream was still trying to get out from her Mother’s grasp on her, but she still couldn’t budge. Glaring at Solar Dusk, she began to wonder of  what had become of her friends as she said, “Wh-where are my friends? What have you done to them?!”
“Well I could tell you, but why don’t you see for yourself.”
The door that Cream was held up against suddenly opened up thanks to Solar Dusk’s magic. Cream’s then took her and threw her outside sending her tumbling across the dirt. Once she got her bearings together and looked up, Cream saw the most uncomfortable sight she’s ever seen.
“Oh no… no no no no no no no no no! This can’t be happening!”
Her front view was filled with a whole army of Eggman’s robots. But what made her shiver the most… was her friends. All of them, even Twilight and her friends. They all stood there amongst the robots staring back at her with glowing purple eyes, and each of them sported one of Solar Dusk’s gem collars around their necks. They were all under his magic now, their eyes sporting the same purple glow, and their right minds completely gone. 
“Salutations, Cream!” said Eggman as he suddenly came up to Cream’s view, “Please, don’t take any of this matter personal, this is just business. Well… okay, maybe it's a bit personal.”
“Why, Eggman?” Cream cried as she glared at him, “Why... why would you do such a thing?! How could you go so low as to letting that monster do all of this?!”
“I have my reasons,” said Eggman, “not that it's any of your business. I’ll do almost anything to get what I want, even if it means helping out a pony dictator to take over his own world! I mean hello, I’m evil… or did you suddenly forget that?”
Cream then suddenly noticed another shocking sight. She saw some other robots show up on the scene. However, these robots looked very familiar; they resembled her pony friends by a lot.
“What the… r-r-robot clones? Is this for real?”
“Yes; they’re marvelous, don’t you think?” said Solar Dusk as he approached from the house, “It’s all thanks to these creations that I finally achieved victory against the Element bearers.” 
“What? What do you mean by that?” Cream questioned.
“While that inferior hedgehog and his crew were taking on Eggman’s robots that were powered by my gems, your pony friends did their best to outshine their look-a-likes. But in the end, it was all futile. And once they were weakened, I took over their minds with my gems and used them to help subdue the rest.”
Cream truly wished that she was still asleep in her house and was just having a nightmare; but that wasn’t the case. The worst possible thing that she thought could happen has happened, and it was too late for her to prevent it.
“Its a real shame that Fluttershy convinced you to not come with them; you missed out on such an amazing spectacle.”
Cream got up on her two feet and faced Solar Dusk while still having tears flowing from her eyes and said, “You… y-y-you’ve gone too far this time, Solar Dusk. You’re not going to get away with this!”
Solar Dusk then used his Magic to pick Cream up and brought her right in front of him. Lightly smirking, he responded, “I believe that I already have, little Cream. This is the exact moment that I have been waiting for; the moment of finally getting my revenge on those who’ve wronged me. That pathetic look on your face is like sweet, tasty pudding to my dark soul. And the ironic thing is that even if you figured out a way to break your friends away from my spell it still wouldn’t change a thing; not that it's going to happen anyway.”
Cream was getting really mad from the way Solar Dusk was taunting her. She wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face
“All of Equestria will finally bow down to my whim; and no pony or anyone will ever be able to stop… UGH!”
Right when she was close enough, Cream caught Solar Dusk off-guard as she struggled against his hold and kicked him right against his chin. He grunted in slight pain and it caused him to drop Cream on the ground as he rubbed his bruised chin with his hoof. He he glared strongly down at Cream lightly growling, and Cream was glaring back at him not feeling sorry for what she did.
“You haven’t won yet, Solar Dusk. You were stopped before and… a-and it will happen again. No matter how strong or powerful you think you are… s-someone… will stop you!”
“You... ungrateful brat!” Solar Dusk shouted as he immediately picked Cream up  with his magic again, “You dare to humiliate me again?!” Then with all his might, he threw her down hard sending her tumbling across the ground leaving a visible trail in the dirt. The only thing that stopped her was her house once she slammed into it.
Cream was slightly whimpering from her pain while trying to get back up; but Solar Dusk got close to her again with his horn glowing and his eyes glaring down at her intensely.
“Since it seems that you haven’t learned anything yet, then how about I give you a painful lesson… in DISCIPLINE!!!”
He fired a powerful beam at Cream, and there was no way that she could get away in time. She knew it was going to hurt badly even though she was shielding herself with her arms. But at the last second when Cream heard the beam make contact, she looked up and saw one of Eggman’s robots in front of her shielding the blast and then fell apart to pieces.
“I think that’s enough, Mister Solar Dusk,” Eggman lighty retorted, “You had your fun, so lets get going already!”
Solar Dusk straightened himself up, and then glared back at Eggman feeling annoyed, “Why… did you do that, Doctor? Have you suddenly gone soft?”
“No! Of course I haven’t gone soft!” Eggman shouted, “I just wish to continue the plan to help you take over your world instead of letting you waste your time here to continuously beat up a 6 year old!”
Cream knew that Eggman was a really bad guy, so it was a bit surprising to her that he shielded Solar Dusk’s blast like that.
“You got your revenge, alright?! Just leave her here to mope in her sorrows. There’s nothing she can do to stop you now anyway.”
Solar Dusk looked back at Cream who was still slightly glaring at him but was still shaking a bit from fright. He sighed realizing that he was wasting time and said, “Fine. Once again, you’ve given a decent, reasonable point. Lets go.”
As he was walking away from Cream, the young rabbit was trying to go after him despite her injuries and spouted, “Hey, wh-wh-wh-where… are y-you going? A-aren’t you g-going to get what you wanted from before a-and put one of your g-gems on me? C-control me l-like one of your p-p-puppets?!”
“Oh, that option is very tempting; believe me,” said Solar Dusk as he stopped and turned back around to face her, “However, I feel that it's more rewarding to me seeing you look so helpless and feeling so weak and pitiful. Having you eat your words against me, seeing that you know that you’re finally beat… that is my revenge against you. Oh, and just to make sure that you won’t try to be stupid to try and stop me now, how about I let them stay here to keep you company.”
With a sinister smile, Solar Dusk commanded Cream’s Mother and Cheese to grab Cream by her arms and held her in place.
“No; please don’t!” Cream cried.
Cream looked at the crowd once again seeing all of her friends just standing under Solar Dusk’s control. But she thought that she could still try and speak out to them. “Guys… guys, snap out of it! You’re all stronger than this! You can’t allow this jerk to control you like this! Please, listen to me!” However, nothing she was saying was getting through to any of them. Solar’s magic had already taken full effect.
“Ugh, enough of your constant whining,” Solar Dusk retorted, “You’ve lost, get over it and accept your defeat.” He then looked at Vanilla and Cheese who had a hold of Cream and commanded them, “You two, take her inside and make her feel at home. Make her some… cookies or something to keep her content.” He then chuckled lowly as he walked by the others shouting in a commanding tone, “Come, my new minions, my true destiny awaits!”
Cream watched as the huge crowd of robots and all of her controlled friends were following right behind the evil pony. And Eggman… he just looked back at Cream who was looking at him with teary eyes. He groaned trying to not be affected by her sad face and just turned away while telling her this.
“So long, Cream! Just remember, once we’re done taking over Equestria, this world will be next. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts.”
And with that, the huge crowd went away from the area and towards the direction of the cave that led to the gateway to Equestria. Cram was at a slump and felt totally depressed as her Mother and Cheese followed orders and was carrying her inside the house where they would keep an eye on her every move. But it didn’t matter to her anymore. She knew that she couldn’t stop Solar Dusk now; it seemed impossible. With no one on her side any more, what else could she do?
‘This can’t be happening. Solar Dusk won? All of my friends are now his puppets? This is all suddenly becoming a huge nightmare. I want to wake up… I-I-I want to wake up now!’
-------------
Back in Equestria… in the city of Canterlot, the palace grounds were presently being scouted and guarded by many of Celestia’s soldiers on her orders. Many of them forming a perimeter around the gates and near the main tower. Princess Luna was making sure that things were on track for her older sister; however, she was a bit unsure if this was realy necessary.At some point, she flew up to the top of the main tower where Celestia was to notify her.
“The perimeter around the palace is secured as you wanted, dear sister; and the soldiers are at full alert awaiting your orders.”
“Excellent,” said Celestia as she looked over the grounds, “Thanks a lot, Luna. Now all we have to do is wait. We must be ready at all cost.”
“We don’t meant to doubt your words, dear sister,” said Luna as she spoke up again, “but.. are thou sure of what you said earlier… that you sense that a powerful force is coming our way? If so, who could it be?”
“I’m not sure, but… while I hate to even think about it, I have a slight suspicion that... it might be… him.”
Luna knew what her sister was talking about, but she didn’t want to think that she was right. “Surely you can’t be serious; are you? We’ve sent Twilight and the others fully prepared to fight with the Elements of Harmony in their possession. How can they possibly lose to that traitorous fiend?”
“I… can’t be certain if the vision I had earlier of Canterlot under siege was a sign or if it was just the cause of the lack of Sleep I had last night; but something is going to happen, Luna, and we need to be ready for anything.”
“We’ve picked the wrong time to not view you dreams, sister,” Luna sighed, “Right now, we feel so confused.”
Just then, one of the guards shouted out to the princess’, “Your majesties, take a look over there!”
Celestia and Luna looked over at what the guard was pointing at. In the distance, they saw another one of the guards that was coming from a trip to Ponyville coming their way. However, Celestia noticed that his flight pattern was a little off.
“What the…”
“Sister, isn’t that the soldier that you sent earlier to fetch important document papers from the Mayor of that town?” Luna questioned.
When the soldier got close enough, they noticed that he was badly bruised and he had an very feared expression. Once he was over the castle grounds, his wounded body suddenly gave out and some of the other guards had to catch him as he quickly descended down. This was a bad sign to Celestia; something bad must have already happened. 
“You there, are you alright?!” Celestia called out, “What happened?!”
The wounded guard looked up and said in a slight trembling tone, “It's… it's terrible. I w-was in the middle  of of receiving the p-papers from the Mayor of Ponyville as you requested; but before I left… the next thing I knew… the t-town was under attack!”
Celestia and Luna hearts both lept in shock suddenly hearing this p-piece of news. Celestia then questioned, “Ponyville… attacked… by who?!”
“Its being overrun by a huge army of giant, mechanized, metal machines! There were so many!”
“Metal machines?” said Luna, “You don’t think these creatures are similar to what attacked here the other night, do you?”
Celestia thought that her sister might be right, but what did it mean?
“But that’s… n-not the worst part. Those machines weren't the only ones overrunning the town. At first... I-I-I thought that they had just arrived in time to stop what was happening, but I was wrong; they were helping them. It was… your student, Twilight Sparkle and her friends!”
“What?!!!” both Celestia and Luna shouted in worry.
“They didn’t seem like they were themselves! It's like… they were under some kind of spell! Wait… w-why does that sound so familiar s-somehow?”
There was no doubt about it to Celestia now. She couldn’t believe what the guard said to them. There was no way that this could be happening. Could it be that her student and friends were outmatched by the enemy?
“No… we’re too late,” said Celestia sadly, “It seems that Solar Dusk truly has gotten stronger in his magic. We’ve underestimated him.”
“What should we do, Princess?!” shouted one of the other guards.
Celestia thought about it and felt that this was her responsibility. “It seems we have no choice. I have to get to Ponyville at once to fix this.” Then in a commanding voice, she suddenly shouted, “All of you stay here while I go and stopped this. We can’t let it get any worse than this!”
But before Celestia could do anything, there was a sudden burst of light in the middle of the castle grounds that startled everyone; even the two sisters. Then as the light died down, a giant floating was what remaining; glowing brightly.
“What the… a portal?” said Celestia in shock, “What is going on here?!”
“I don’t like this, Sister,” said Luna, “Who knows what or who is going to come from that opening.”
“Form a perimeter around that portal,” shouted Celestia to the guards nearest to the portal, “but don’t go anywhere near it! We don’t know what it might do yet!” 
The soldiers did as they were ordered and surrounded the portal completely without getting too close. They were all on guard preparing to face whatever came out. Sure enough, someone did come through; but it was someone that was unfamiliar to them. A strange male being in a egg-shaped metal pod slowly floated onto the scene; and as he stayed there in place, he looked around at his surrounding feeling impressed.
“So… this is the world of Equestria. And what a delightful looking castle; quite an impressive design.” He then suddenly noticed the surrounding stallion guards all at attention and pointing their horns and spears at him. “Ooh, and this must be the welcoming committee! I feel welcomed already.”
“You there, who are you?!” Celestia shouted from the top of the tower, “Explain your reason of being here?!”
The being grinned and chuckled lowly before answering, “Ah, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Eggman, the most brilliant scientific mind of my world! Why am I here, you ask? Well, to put it simply… I’m here to help take over your kingdom!”
That last comment from him was enough for both Princess’ to confirm him as a threat and were planning to take action.
“I’m afraid that will not be happening!” said Celestia, “We don’t know who you may be, but you are way over head here to think you can just waltz in here and do a huge feat like that!”
“Oh I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Princess. After all, from what I heard… my ingenious creation succeeded in making quite a huge mess of your palace here. Isn’t that right, Metal Sonic?”
Suddenly, a second figure came from the portal behind Eggman. All of the guards slightly hesitated seeing what it was. A blue mechanical body, sharp metal claws, and glowing red eyes; it were the same features that they witness on the night of the attack.
“M-Metal Sonic?!” said Luna as she figured it out, “Sister; I think that’s the same creature that attacked the palace last night; I’m sure of it!”
Celestia now had a good look of who had laid waste to her palace and felt very distraught. “So… he’s the creator behind that monstrosity. Who could’ve thought that something so small in size could create such havoc.”
“Today, I have achieved a glorious feat,” Eggman continued, “and it was all thanks to my newest partner in crime! His type of brilliance impressed even me; although, I’m sure he needs no introduction here.”
Then it happened; Solar Dusk himself came out of the portal before it finally closed. To the sisters, he still looked the same, except for a huge purple crystal that he and hanging from his neck and a short black and red cape that he wore just for flare.
“Its him…” said Celestia in a lowly tone, “Solar Dusk. Just as evil and menacing-looking the day he first escape from my hooves.”
“He could’ve done without the cape though,” said Luna, “It seems a bit tacky.”
Solar Dusk smirked as he inhaled deeply into his nose to sniff the air, and then released a satisfying sigh while staring at the Canterlot Palace. “It feels so good to be back home; especially since it will soon be all mine for the taking.”
“Solar Dusk,” Celestia shouted in anger, “you have some nerve bringing yourself back here in our presence! You don’t really think that you have any chance of getting your way here, do you?!”
Solar Dusk lightly glared up at the two royal sister remembering them being as charming as ever. But then, he just chuckled out of amusement knowing what he had planned.
“What is so funny?!” Luna questioned strongly, “Our sister’s comment was not meant to be such a laughing matter! 
“Oh, Celestia… Luna... you elegant, simple-minded fools;” said Solar Dusk, “I don’t think I can have my way here… I know I can. Thanks to your pitiful little soldier over there, I’m pretty sure you already know what has happened in that precious town of Ponyville, have you not?”
All Celestia could do was lightly grunt in an angry manner realizing that her theory was right all along. She was too distraught to say anything. 
“What’s the matter, too baffled to answer a simple question? Perhaps now you understand the consequences of underestimating my power; my brilliance that can could’ve change world! You feared it, called a monstrosity and then destroyed all of my hard work! I would’ve finally taken my revenge three months ago if it weren't for the interference of that stupid rabbit girl and her little flying blue pest. But this time… heh, things will be much different.”
Luna was about to take action and go at him, but Celestia held out her hoof to stop her and shook head. She then looked back at Solar Dusk and said, “I’m sorry you felt that I ruined a special project that you had kept secret from me for who knows how long, really I do; but I’m afraid my opinion on it hasn’t changed. If I had allowed such magic to be made and used, Equestria would  be in complete chaos. You may think I was a fool, but you are the fool if you think that your special gems would change the world.”
“Oh… I’m the fool, am I?” said Solar Dusk in a pissed manner, “Well I’m afraid that it was foolish of you sending your precious followers after me not knowing what may have lied ahead. You thought that with their precious Elements of Harmony they would be able to stop me, but you were too careless. But now, they’re my followers along with their miscreant friends from the other world; and pretty soon… so will you.”
Being angered of having their Princess insulted, one of the unicorn guards lit up his horn and began to charge towards Solar Dusk shouting, “That’s enough out of you, you scum!”
But suddenly, Metal Sonic disappeared from beside Eggman and then appeared right above the charging guard, smashing him down on the ground below and holding him in place.
The other guards held their weapons in place and were about to attack as well, but then Eggman said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” They all suddenly halted. “I’m pretty sure you all know what happened  last time you tried to go against him, right? I created Metal Sonic to have the exact same skills and speed as my #1 nemesis; Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive. Only he can rival my glorious creation!”
As the sole guard was struggling under Metal Sonic’s claws, Solar Dusk calmly walked over to him sporting an amused smirk, “Since you were foolish enough to try and attack me, shall I start things with you?”
Before the guard knew it, Solar Dusk slapped on one of his gem collars around his neck, and his mind suddenly went blank. He then rose to his hooves with his eyes glowing a purplish color and facing the others.
“Now then… attack!!!” Solar Dusk suddenly demanded.
With no control over himself, the sole guard followed orders and began to charge towards the rest of the guards. Normally, they could have stopped him easily with no sweat, but they underestimated the added power and were easily beaten back. The controlled guard’s magic was much stronger than before and began knocking out his teammates with powerful blasts with his horn. Celestia and Luna watched as the horror unfolded right before their eyes. For each guard that was knocked out, Solar Dusk took control of with his gems; and each of them kept doing the same thing.
“Ah, such a wonderful display; wouldn’t you say, Princesses?!” said Eggman, “I’d say you’re in trouble.”
“Luna," Celestia shouted, "now!"
“Right!”
Celestia and Luna wasted no time and were about to stop Solar Dusk before things got worse. They combined their powers as a bright light shone over the entire area. Solar Dusk squinted his eyes and covered them up with his hoof so he wouldn't go blind. Then, the sisters fired a powerful spell that was aimed right at the dark pony and landed spot on. 
“That should do it." said Celestia.
However, both sisters suddenly noticed Eggman slightly chuckling; not feeling threatened by them.
“Why is that Eggman character chuckling under his breath like that?” Luna wondered.
Both sisters were then in for a big, unfortunate surprise, when they saw Solar Dusk still standing with no scratch on him. He aimed a sinister grin at the two sisters and the huge gem around his was pulsating with energy from the effect of being hit.
"No way;” said Celestia in slight horror, “he… h-h-he blocked it... with that gem around his neck! That’s impossible! What kind of gem is that?!”
Eggman was quite impressed himself even though he knew what Solar Dusk did with it. "My my; now that was some serious power!"
“Its useless, Royal Sisters,” said Solar Dusk, “As of now, you will bow down to me.”
Eggman then push a button on his metal pod that caused a whole bunch of mini portals to appear around them; and from them came huge numbers of Eggman’s robots all ranging in different sizes and were quickly covering ground. Celestia and Luna could see that they were all sporting the same powerful crystals proving that things just got worse. They even noticed the metal clones of Twilight and the others appear which made them even more angry.
“What hath that monster done?!” Luna shouted, “He has taken this way out of control!”
“This is my kingdom now,” said Solar Dusk in a cynical matter, “and no pony or any creature for that matter can stop me!”
	
> Chapter 12: A Glimmer of Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	More than 20 years ago, a unicorn stallion by the name of Solar Dusk was a royal crystal/gem manufacturer of Princess Celestia. He had a major talent for creating many different types of crystals with different attributes and magic. However, he eventually got bored of his old work and wanted to do something different. So he started a secret project behind the Celestia’s back creating special types of gems that could be used to control the minds of others. He was quite proud when he finally perfected it that he couldn’t wait to demonstrate it to Celestia when he was ready.
Unfortunately, Celestia was quite appalled once she saw the gem in action when Solar Dusk tested it on a couple of her guards. She couldn’t let something like this exist in her kingdom, so she carried out orders to destroy all of the other mind-controlled gems that were made and everything else that was worked on to create them. Solar Dusk had begged for Celestia to listen to reason and find out how his new invention could benefit them all, but it proved no use. He had worked so hard on it and spent many of his time to perfect them, and it was all gone in an instant; well… almost. From that moment, a huge hatred feeling toward Celestia had began to grow deep inside his dark heart and had began to plot revenge against Celestia for making a mockery of his hard work.
Even though all of his work was gone, the creation procedure was all still in his brain, and he used it to create a crystal that was a bit more stable than his other crystals that he had made and somehow tricked Celestia to try it on. She was suddenly under the influence of his gem and he was soon going to use his obtained power to become the new ruler and have his genius shone throughout Equestria. Unfortunately, the magic of his gem didn’t last long and Celestia was able to break free from Solar’s spell. At that moment, he had no choice but to retreat and hide out until he could figure out a way to bounce back and get back at Celestia.
He finally had another chance for revenge 10 years later when Cream the Rabbit and her Chao friend, Cheese came to his world. He captured Cheese and harnessed his power that had the potential to overcome Celestia. But in the end, his own plan was thwarted thanks to Cream, Cheese and Fluttershy; with the help of Twilight and Angel. He was taken away and imprisoned in the dungeons of Canterlot castle where he would probably spend most of his days. Unfortunately, a fated day came when when a powerful mecha by the name of Metal Sonic arrived from Cream’s world and laid waste to the inside of the Canterlot palace. He broke Solar Dusk out of prison and broke him free of his magic restraint that annoyed him for three months. Now he was brought into Cream’s world where he teamed up with Dr. Eggman and plotted to finally gain the revenge he wanted.
Twilight and the others were soon informed and eventually found a way into Cream’s world where they caught up with her and met her friends to tip them on what was happening. With the Elements of Harmony along with world renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog and his team, it seemed that victory was going to be a snap. But things took a turn for the worse when they faced Solar Dusk at Eggman’s base. They were unprepared as they found out the hard way  that his magic was more powerful than ever and he was able to overcome them; and now they were all captured and placed under his dark magic. Even worse, thanks to Eggman’s robotic technology, Solar had created robotic duplicates of Twilight and her friends and threw them for a loop. Then it all went downhill from there.
Solar Dusk finally had his revenge against Cream and had her held against her will by Cheese and her own Mother. He then returned to Equestria where he overran Ponyville with his newly gained forces; and on top of that, he took Celestia and Luna by surprise by suddenly showing up on palace grounds moments after hearing about Ponyville’s fall. Their magic even failed when Solar Dusk protected himself with a special gem that he seemed to have crafted… but why? Was this it? Was it really all over? Had Solar Dusk finally won? Was there nothing that even Celestia and Luna could do to stop him at all? Was all hope finally lost for Mobius and Equestria?
………….. yeah right.
------------
Back in Mobius, Cream was being held up in her own house. Sitting on a single chair with her Mother standing on one side and Cheese floating on the other side; both still being controlled by Solar Dusk’s magic. Cream was sulking, feeling all lost of hope. She had given up any thought of trying to stop Solar Dusk now. She just sat there feeling helpless and upset of everything that has happened.
‘What am I… suppose to do now?’ Cream thought to herself sadly, ‘How can I ever come back from this? All of my friends… my Ponyville friends… my Mom… ‘sniff’ they’re all under Solar Dusk’s control now. I’m all alone and… by myself… without any way of escaping. But… what’s the point of trying to do something now? Solar Dusk did it; he won. I hate to say it but… what else can I say?’
She then remembered again of the fight she had with Fluttershy and how it was her last conscious memory of her.
‘And… what happened between me and Miss Shy… I never got to tell her that I was sorry; sorry for being such a stubborn little rabbit girl! I want to beat Solar Dusk down on his flank so bad, but… what can I do? I’m just one rabbit… now outnumbered by hundreds.'
Cream finally admitted to herself to defeat. She didn't think that she could turn things around and save her friends. She pretty much thought that it would've been better off if Solar Dusk had taken over her mind as well.
'Solar Dusk is right, it’s too late for me to stop him now; he’s way too powerful for me to handle. It’s best for me to just… sit here… give up… th-there’s no more hope for anyone now. Its over.’
But... as she sat there sulking with her head and ears drooping down, she started to remember of all the fun adventures that she had with Sonic and her other friends. She remembered how she and Cheese faced danger head on with them and helped out in big ways. She knew that no matter how tough or difficult the challage they faced was, they never gave up. That was an important lesson she learned from them firsthand. Then she remembered her adventure in Equestria when she met her pony friend, Fluttershy and faced tough odds just to save her friend, Cheese. She made an incredible friendship bond with Fluttershy and the others, and that was something she never wanted to lose.
Cream suddenly sat back up in her chair and had a determined expression on her face as thought of all of those good times and that all of it was taken away in an instant. Her next decision was a clear one.
‘No… no… no! Its not over! I… I-I-I refuse to let it end like this! I can’t just sit here and let Solar Dusk get away with this! I am not weak… I am not defenseless… I am not a coward! I can take care of this myself! I won’t… let Solar Dusk get the best of me. I’m going to figure out a way to end his spell and get my friends back!’
Cream was now fully determine to not give up on her friends just yet. She still had plenty of fight left in her, and she was going to use it to make the best of the situation.
‘Solar Dusk chose to not control me with one of his gems and leave me here to cry like a little baby. I’ve gotta prove to him that doing that was a big mistake! As long as I’m still myself, I have a fighting chance to change all of this! It may be crazy, but… but… I’m doing it for my friends!’
She suddenly jumped up and stood in her chair with her Mother and Cheese still being controlled looking up at her as she shouted out, “I’M COMING FOR YOU, SOLAR DUSK!!!”
Immediately, Cream jumped out of her chair and started to head towards the door. But because of the gem’s power, her Mother quickly zipped past her and got in front of her to block the path out. Sh couldn’t get past her and pleaded, “Please, Mom, out of my way!”
Cheese then charged at her to apprehend her. However, Cream saw him coming; and in a quick` reaction, she grabbed him mid-charge and threw him away from her crashing into a wall and being knocked out. “Are you okay, Cheese?!” Her Mother tried to grab her, but she quickly dodged and slid under her accidentally causing her to be tripped off her feet and fall down. She didn’t mean it, but it was effective. “Sorry about that, Mommy.”
After apologizing, she ran out the door and was towards the direction of where she knew that cave with the portal was located, “I’ve got to get to that cave and get to Equestria… and see if I can do something!” But she suddenly stopped when she realized something, “Wait… I just realized; how am I supposed to get there without…”
But before she knew it, she was tackled on the ground and held own by her Mother with a strong grip. Cream tried to get loose, the strength from the gem was a bit too much. “Get off of me, Mommy! Get off! I can’t save you if you don’t let me!”
But suddenly, a small hook onto the back of Vanilla’s dress and then hoisted her up in the air and away from Cream. Cream got and saw that her Mother was being held back by fish hook; and guess who was at the retrieving end?
“Are you and your Mom having a fight? I’ve never seen that before.”
“Mister Big!” Cream shouted in relief.
It was technically Big the Cat and his friend Froggy. They had showed up just in time.
“Hiya, Cream,” said Big as he waved with one hand, “What’s going on here? Why did your Mom tackle you on the ground? Did you do something bad?”
“F-far from it, Mister Big,” Cream responded, “I’m afraid the situation is worse than it looks.”
BIg was kind of confused of what Cream meant. He didn’t even know what was going on. But then Cheese came soaring out of the house and took Cream by surprise by knocking her down on the ground. Big Gasped upon seeing that; followed by Cream rolling on her back to catch a dive bombing Cheese and holding him back… barely.
“Oh no, Cheese too?” Big shouted. While he was distracted though, Vanilla grabbed the fishing rod holding her and pulled it out of Big’s grasped. She then faced him and Froggy with a menacing glare as she snapped the rod in two with her bare hands and dropped it on the ground. “My fishing rod! That was one of my favorites too!”
‘Ribbit’
Vanilla then proceeded to dash at Big, and he found himself holding her back with his hands. But he was surprisingly struggling against her. “W-whoa; when did you get so strong, Miss Vanilla?”
“Big, be careful!” said Cream who was still holding back Cheese from her, “Those gems around their necks… they’re filled with Solar Dusk’s dark magic; they aren’t themselves right now!”
With Vanilla right in front of him, BIg could see the gem that was around her neck. But then it hit him, “Solar… Dusk? Is that the baddie from the other world with ponies that I heard about?”
“Yeah, he is,” Cream responded, “He’s using those gems to control them and obey his every command; and not only that, it makes them much more stronger than they usually are!”
“Oh, that makes sense now.”
Big was suddenly being pushed down slowly by Vanilla’s growing strength. He could easily use all of his strength to repel her off of him, but he didn’t have the heart to possibly hurt her. “I don’t want to hurt you, Miss Vanilla! If I do, I’ll be real heartbroken.”
‘Aw man, this is deja’ vu all over again,’ thought Cream to herself thinking back when she struggle against Cheese back in Equestria, ‘O-o-only... this time… Cheese feels more stronger than he did last time. Solar Dusk really has gotten more powerful, hasn’t he?’
While Big continue to struggle against Vanilla’s might, Froggy brought his attention to probably breaking off the gem necklace to solve their problem.
‘Ribbit Ribbit!’
“Hey, you’re right, Froggy,” said Big, “If these necklaces are what are controlling them, then all we have to do is break them off! I could probably do that no problem!”
Cream overheard what Big said and tried to stop him, “Wait… no, Mister Big! Don’t…”
But Big had already gave the necklace a little pull, and then a huge electrical surge went throughout his and Froggy's body.
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
Both yelled out loud and flew back from the shock. Big felt a bit woozy as he held his head and said, “S-something tells me doing that… w-wasn’t a good idea.”
‘R-r-riiii~b-bit...’
Vanilla then lept up and landed on Big holding him down by his neck; and he couldn't move. “Ouch! Hey, not so tight!”
“Mister Big!" Cream knocked Cheese away and was headed to help Big out, "No, Mom… stop!” but she was brought back down by Cheese again holding her down in a position that she couldn’t escape from. “This is bad. How are we suppose to stop them like this?!”
Big then looked up in slight fear as Vanilla held him in place and raised up her fist to throw him painful punch. “Well… this may hurt a bit.”
But then out of the blue, a dark silhouette swooped down and kicked Vanilla off of Big. Then a second one appeared behind her and held up something to the collar around her neck; and there was a huge electrical surge that emanated while Vanilla shouted in pain. Afterwards, she fell unconscious face down.
"Mom!!!" Cream shouted upon seeing what happened to her Mother. But suddenly, the same thing happened to Cheese as he was still holding on to Cream, and he fell down on the ground unconscious as well beside her. "W-w-what's going on?!"
Big suddenly got up and was scratching  his head trying to figure out what happened. "Whoa, what happened? Did someone just save us?"
‘R-ribbit?’
Suddenly, the two silhouettes landed on the ground with such stylish flare. Cream looked their way and couldn’t believe who it was. 
"Shadow! Rouge!"
"What's up,” said Rouge with a wink, “You glad to see us?"
"You guys came in the nick of time,” said Big, “Thanks a lot!"
'Ribbit!' 
"Are the two of you alright?" Shadow questioned.
"Y-yeah, we are... thanks to you two,” said Cream, “I don’t know what would've happened if you didn't come in just now. But. What did you do to Cheese and my Mother? Are they alright?"
"They’re fine,” Shadow lightly scoffed, “See for yourself."
Cream suddenly looked over at her Mother as she was finally getting up. She groaned while holding her head trying to get ahold of her surroundings."Wh-wh-what... happened? Am I... still having a nightmare?"
"Mom!" Cream shouted in happiness as she glomped onto her Mother giving her a huge hug.
Vanilla felt a little confused seeing her daughter in such a cheerful mood apart fro when she saw her last, but she also saw that she was covered in light bruised. "Cream? You look a little roughed up. Are you okay?"
Suddenly, Cream another familiar voice.
'Chao chao chao chao!'
Her chao friend, Cheese was now awake too and gave her a hug from behind. Cream was relieved to see that he was okay too.
"Cheese! Thank goodness you’re both okay!"
Vanilla suddenly looked down beside her and saw some broken gem fragments. She picked up one and looked at it carefully. But then she gasped as she suddenly remembered what took place a little while ago. "That's right! That strange pony came in my house and…” She then looked back at Cream and her light bruises, “Oh my gosh, it was me who hurt you, wasn’t it?" 
"Its okay, Mom,” said Cream with a smile still on her face, “you weren't in control of yourself; and neither was Cheese. But I'm okay now thanks to Mister Big, Mister Shadow and Miss Rouge."
Vanilla looked up and saw the very ones Cream mentioned standing around and looking back at them. She then sighed and said, "Well... whatever I did, I'll still say that I’m sorry." Almost immediately after apologizing to her daughter, she remembered about the others who weren’t back yet. "So what about the others. Are they okay too?" 
Cream’s ears suddenly drooped back down as she sadly responded, "I'm afraid not. Solar Dusk got all of them. He had a trump card in his plan that the others didn’t see coming. They're... under his control now and are helping him to conquer Equestria even as we speak."
"Oh... th-that’s terrible!" said Vanilla with tears suddenly in her eyes.
'Chao chao...'
"However, Shadow and Rouge somehow managed to easily break off the collars on you and Cheese. How did you two do that anyway?"
"Yeah,” Big agreed, “I tried to take it off and all that I got for it was a shocking outcome… literally."
Rouge gave Shadow a little nudge and said, "Well, Shadow, they asked. Care to show them?"
Shadow then responded with an answer. "We were able to easily destroy the gems in those collars... with this." He suddenly held out a bright red gem that was also...
"A chaos emerald?!" Cream shouted.
'Chao chao chao?!'
“A chaos emerald?” Big wondered, “Those things sure tend to turn up a lot.”
"Much earlier before your friends went to take on Solar Dusk,” said Shadow, “Rouge was infiltrating the Doctor's base and spying on him to find out what he was up to."
"What can I say,” said Rogue while smirking and shrugging her shoulders, “infiltrating important places is what I do."
"It was there that she discovered that Solar Dusk’s dark magic had a negative effect against the emerald's power. I guess that why he hasn’t bother using their power for his conquest.”
“You should’ve seen the look on his face the first time he tried it,” Rogue chuckled, “It was hilarious.”
Hearing this brought great relief to Cream and she felt a whole lot better of her situation. “That’s… that’s great! That means that we actually have a way to beat him. He can still be stopped! But... wait a minute; if you guys knew about this, why didn’t you tell us! And where were you when my friends were captured?!”
“Hey, don’t blame that on us, kid,” said Rogue, “We had our own personal things to care about and can’t be at two places at once. Besides, I’m not getting my brain taken over by some pony lunatic.”
Cream crossed her arms while pouting a bit, “That’s not a very good excuse you know.”
And Cheese was with her too.
‘Chao chao’
Vanilla knew what was coming next, and there was no way that she was going to change the outcome. “So what’s going to happen now, Cream? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about going after that villain to that other world?”
“I’m not thinking about it, Mommy,” said Cream with confidence, “I’m done thinking. Now that I know of a way to beat Solar Dusk, I have to go back to Equestria and free my friends from his magic so we can finally beat his butt! All I need now is a chaos emerald of my own; a weapon that will help me get the advantage I need!”
“Then here… take this,” said Shadow as he tossed the chaos emerald in his possession over to cream.
She quickly caught it and looked at him while stating, “Huh, you’re giving me the emerald you have? Aren’t you coming with me and Cheese?”
‘Chao?’
“No, you have to do this on your own. You said that you wanted to prove yourself to Dusk, didn’t you? Do that by saving your friends so that they can help you save that world and ours. Show Solar Dusk that you’re not to be trifled with.”
Cream never thought of Shadow to support her so much, but she figured that there was a first time for everything.
“Look at you being so supportive,” said Rouge with a light chuckle, “I never see this side of you too often.”
“Oh knock it off.”
“So… what are you going to do?” Cream asked.
“With Eggman gone, Rogue and I can infiltrate his base and take it down. This is the perfect chance to do it.”
Cream looked down at the emerald in her hands which emanated with power. Cream knew that this was all she had to save her friends; so she was going to protect it with her life. “Well, Cheese, this is it; this is our last chance to stop Solar Dusk. Otherwise, Equestria will fall to him; and eventually… so will our world. You ready to do this?”
Cheese put on a tough expression on his face and responded.
‘Chao chao chao chao’
Cream just giggled seeing Cheese trying to be tough. “Of course. I don’t know why I even asked you.”
“Hey, Cream,” said Big, “is it okay if I come along with you? I can fight too!”
‘Ribbit’
“No… that’s okay, Mister Big. Cheese and I have to do this ourselves. But, can you stay here and make sure that my Mommy is safe? I would really be thankful if you did.”
Big didn’t mind doing that for Cream. He’d rather be away from the main danger anyway. He went beside Vanilla as he responded to Cream, “Okay... if that makes you happy, I’ll do it.”
But just as Cream and Cheese were about to go off, Vanilla called out, “Cream… j-just promise me something.”
Cream turned around with a light smile and said, “Anything, Mommy.”
“Make sure you and all of your friends win this fight.” She then put on a more serious face and said in a more demanding tone, “And… and if you ever get the chance… give that impolite, bad-mannered, evil jerk a good ol’ punch in the face! Okay?”
It was a bit surprising to Cream to hear that kind of a response from her Mother; but she understood how she felt and nodded with a smirkwhile giving her another hug.
“Come on, Cheese; lets go!”
‘Chao chao!’
With that, Cream ran off with Cheese leaving her Mother in Big’s protective hands. She looked back and shouted, “Thanks again for all of your help again!”
“Bye, Cream; bye, Cheese!” shouted Big as he waved back, “Go on and save the world… or worlds in this case!”
“Well, I guess we should make our way to the base,” said Rogue to Shadow, “Just make sure you don’t get too reckless, mister chaos spear everything in sight.”
“Looks who's talking.”
Before long, Shadow and Rouge had left to take care of their business; and it was just Vanilla, Big and Froggy who were left at the house. Big noticed that Vanilla still had a slightly worried expression on her face as she watched her daughter leave her yet again.
“Don’t worry, Miss Vanilla,” Big said, “Something tells me that your daughter will be okay; you’ll see.”
Vanilla just whipped away a single tear as she suddenly smiled and admitted, “Yes… I know she will.”
-------
Things were coming full-circle for Cream and Cheese as they finally reached the cave that held the same portal access that transported them to the world of Equestria. They went inside feeling a bit scared, but at the same time were being brave and were preparing for what could be waiting for them. However, once they got to the dead end, Cream still saw the circling symbol carvings of the Elements of Harmony; but she called Cheese’s attention as she saw something different and peculiar in the middle.
“Cheese look at this! Is that... Mister Sonic in the middle of the Elements of Harmony symbols now? What do you think that means?”
Cheese saw it and was confused too. The last time they saw it, the middle carving was just an orb; but now it was a silhouette of their friend, Sonic the Hedgehog. But as odd as that was, Cream knew that they couldn’t waste any time.
“Well... that’s not important right now. We can wonder about that later; we have friends to save.” 
She held up the Emerald to the portal, and then a bright light filled the entire cave. The gateway to Equestria was opened once again, and Cream and Cheese were now on their way to save two worlds.
---------
With Eggman gone and most of his robotic forces with him to help Solar Dusk conquer Equestria, Shadow and Rouge were this opportunity to raid his base and take it down without too much hassle. On the way there, Rouge felt a little conflicted as she was thinking about Cream and her chao friend heading straight into danger to prevent double world domination.
"You know, Shadow... I think you may have put too much faith into that little girl with two worlds at stake. Maybe you should have gone with her and give her some support in freeing her friends. Plus, I'm sure I could take down Eggman’s base all by myself while you did so."
Shadow stopped in his walking path and turned to Rouge as he stated, "And what use would babying her do? She'll be fine; she needs to do this on her own so she can prove to herself that she’s strong and not weak. We all have challenges and risky moments in our lives that test us on that theory, and this is hers. Only then will she prove herself to be truly strong; I should know."
Once again to Rouge, Shadow was being all emo and ‘doing what he wanted’ kind of thing. She knew that she couldn't argue with him at this point. "Whatever you say, drama queen. But if two worlds fall under the rule of Eggman and some pony lunatic, don’t come crying to me."
They began to walk towards their destination again… when suddenly and bright light appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. They both stopped and shielded their eyes as they were preparing for the unexpected. Just then, a mysterious figure jumped out from the light and landed right in front of them. Once the light disappeared, Shadow and Rouge uncovered their eyes and saw the mysterious figure stand up while surprisingly holding a chaos emerald in hand. 
"Shadow the Hedgehog,” the figure shouted, “I've finally found you! I need your help!"
Shadow was a bit surprised and a bit cautious of this mysterious being showing up out of nowhere and knowing who he was. "Who are you... and how do you know my name?"
"Really?” said Rouge, “you respond with that classy line of yours?"
Whoever this being was, Shadow and Rouge have never seen before… as far as they knew. However, they were a bit curious of why it was in possession of a chaos emerald; and more importantly… what did it want with Shadow?
"Don't worry,” said the figure, “I will explain everything! You don't know me, but I do know you; as well as another from this dimension. Listen very closely to what I have to say!"
	
> Chapter 13: Ponyville fights Back
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


(Finally done, the longest chapter in the story... hopefully. I hope your're ready for a good read!)
	


Cream the Rabbit was now delving in deep and dangerous waters. After escaping and being rescued from being held captive against her will, she and her chao friend, Cheese set off to the dimensional world of Equestria with the help of a chaos emerald given to them by Shadow the Hedgehog. Once they got through the portal, it strangely brought them in a different place than before. They found themselves atop some grassy hills that stood over Ponyville and were lucky enough to not be spotted by anyone. But when they slowly looked over one of the hills, the sight they saw horrified them.
“Just... look at it, Cheese; i-i-it's… horrible.”
‘Chao chao chao...’
The sky was dark; gloomy clouds looming over the town of Ponyville. Robots were everywhere corralling all of the citizens and holding them against their will. Many of them were already placed under Solar Dusk’s control too. Cream could see their friends and their pony friends down there causing havoc and doing Solar’s will. She just didn’t know what to make of it.
“This place… it used to be so bright, filled with a friendly atmosphere; but now… everything looks so corrupt and ruined, and Solar Dusk is using our friends to do all this.”
Cream pulled out the chaos emerald that Shadow had given her and was looking at it while pondering over what her next move was.
'I know that this is the way to beat Solar’s magic, but… how do we do this without getting caught too soon. If we’re discovered before we save at least one of our friends, then that’s it; it’ll be all over.'
Seeing what she saw down below in the town, Cream was beginning to doubt again, “Maybe… we’re a bit in over our heads here. We should look for more help.”
But Cheese wasn’t going to let her give up that easy.
‘Chao chao! Chao chao chao chao chao!’
Cream looked up at Cheese and then wiped the thought from her head as she said, “Y-y-you’re right, Cheese; you’re right. I don’t what I was thinking. We have to do this now or it may be too late. We just have to come up with a plan to sneak down there and free at least one of our friends that would be more beneficial to us. But who shall we look for?"
'Chao chao.'
Just then as they continued to look down at the town, a couple of figures appeared a little ways behind them. They stated to approach closer and closer; and just when they were right on top of them, Cream felt a weird sensation as she suddenly froze and started to slightly shiver as she looked at Cheese… who felt the same way. 
"Th-th-there's s-someone approaching us from behind... isn’t there?"
'Cha... ch-ch-chao chao...'
They were almost afraid to look, but they knew couldn’t avoid it. They slowly turned around; and when they did, they saw two familiar friends of theirs right in front of them.
"Hey there, Cream."
"Ahh!” Cream screamed, “I-it's Mister Sonic and Mister Knuckles!"
That is exactly who it was. Cream was now very worried thinking that she was already going to be captured before her rescue plan even started.
"What's with her all of a sudden?" questioned Knuckles to Sonic.
"I didn’t expect this, Cheese; look out!” Cream shouted as she and Cheese quickly stepped back and got on the offensive, “If we let them catch us, them this whole rescue attempt will be for nothing!"
"Whoa whoa, calm down, you two!” said Sonic, “No need to worry; its us... well, us us... as in without those blasted gem collars."
Cream and Cheese looked closer and noticed that Sonic was right. They were no longer wearing the collars that she saw them wearing before.
"Th-they're right, Cheese; they don't have on the collars. It's really them!” She fell flat on her bottom and sighed with relief, “What a relief. For a second there I thought we were done for."
'Chao chao chao.'
"Sorry to give you a scare there,” said Sonic, “We know you probably went through a lot."
“Well, at least you’re alright,” said Knuckles, “That’s big plus, right?”
Cream quickly got up and hugged both Sonic and Knuckles feeling happy that they were on her side again. “I’m so glad that you two aren’t under Solar’s spell anymore; but… how is that possible? I saw both of you completely under his control.”
‘Chao chao.’
“Well… I wouldn’t say… completely,” said Sonic.
“Huh? What do you mean.”
“The truth is that even though we were all put under Solar Dusk control, Knuckles and I were somehow able to stay conscious… even though we couldn’t control our actions.”
“It was quite a pain to see everything that was happening,” said Knuckles sounding frustrated, “and we couldn’t do a single thing to stop that menace. From when we left the lair to when Solar Dusk roughed you up and when we left our world. I almost wished that I was unconscious so I couldn’t see all that horror.”
“You and me both, Knuckles,” said Sonic.
Cream was a bit surprised to hear this. She was wondering how they could not be fully conscious but still realize their surroundings. “Wow, I didn’t realize that; but it was kinda hard to notice amongst everything else I saw in front of me at the time. So what happened afterwards? How did you break free from Solar’s magic?”  
“It was moments after we reached here in this other world that something weird happened,” said Sonic, “I suddenly felt some restraint on Solar’s gem around my neck weaken… like I was slowly regaining control of my body. But then eventually, before we reached Ponyville, the gem around my neck suddenly shattered.”
“And apparently the same thing happened to me," Knuckles added, "Pretty soon we were both in control of our actions again.”
“When Solar Dusk noticed and was wondering what was going on," Sonic continued, "he had our own friends try to capture us knowing we wouldn't be hard enough on them… well, me anyway. Overall.we didn't want to fight them and we were outnumbered; so we did something  that was very hard for us to do."
"You retreated?" Cream guessed.
"We retreated,” Knuckles groaned, “It was such a pain to do so, but I guess we would’ve been worse off if we didn't."
Cream smiled a little seeing how Knuckles was acting and stated, "Well... at least you admit it. It must really pain you to do so."
Cheese even chuckled a bit too; and Knuckles just turned his head and lightly scoffed.
"Since then, we had to stay back and come up with a plan to stop Solar Dusk,” said Sonic, “We knew that our raw skills wouldn’t save our friends, so we were pretty stumped.”
“Believe me, I know,” Cream sighed.
“So what about you? We sorta heard that you had a plan to save everyone.  Care to fill us in on it?"
"Oh right,” said Cream. She was too caught up in Sonic and Knuckles’ story and the fact that they were okay again, she wasn’t quick to tell them what happened to her. “We're going to save everybody…” She then reached behind her and pulled out the red chaos emerald that she had, “...thanks to this!"
"A... chaos emerald?!" Knuckles shouted in shock.. 
"Where did you end up finding one of those?!" Sonic questioned
"I didn’t find it exactly;” said Cream sheepishly, “i-it was given to me."
'Chao chao.'
"After I finished sulking over what happened, I tried to escape from being held hostage by my Mommy and Cheese. I didn't get very far, but then Mister Big came and helped me out. But even then we were both taken down. I almost thought Mommy was going to seriously hurt Mister Big. Then all of a sudden, we were both rescued... by Rouge and Shadow. Mister Shadow had a chaos emerald and somehow used it cancel out the effects of Solar Dusk’s gem. Before I knew it, Mommy and Cheese were back to normal, and I was so happy; and so was Mister Big."
To Sonic and Knuckles, they were quite surprised of what Cream went through to get away from her imprisonment in her own home. Even though she had help, she seemed to had held her own enough to stay in the game.
"So Shadow swoops in to save the day, huh?” said Knuckles, “Never would've guessed. Oh yeah, and Rouge to, I guess."
“Interesting,” said Sonic with a usual smirk on his face, “That jerk’s magic is canceled out the chaos emeralds, huh? How unfortunate for him. No wonder we didn’t see him try to use any of them in his plan. I guess that cuts us a lucky break.”
Suddenly, a strong hypothesis came to Cream’s mind thinking between the chaos emeralds and of how Sonic and Knuckles broke free of Solar Dusk’s magic. She finally realized the answer they were missing.
“Hey, I think I just realized something!” Cream shouted, “That must be why you two were able to break away from Solar Dusk’s magic!”
“What do you mean?” Sonic questioned.
“Mister Sonic, you’ve infused with the chaos emeralds a lot, right? And Mister Knuckles, you’re the Guardian of the Master Emerald. Your bodies must posses residue of chaos energies from these gems! So even though you were affected by the dark magic at first, the energies from inside you eventually took effect and finally got rid of the dark magic. It all makes sense!”
Cheese wholeheartedly agreed with her. 
‘Chao chao chao chao chao chao!’
Sonic and Knuckles were both quite shocked. What Cream said made a lot of sense and it was something that they were completely oblivious about… even before they met the ponies. Sonic chuckled and said, “Yo, Knux, mark this day as the day that we learned something absolutely brilliant from a 6-year old.”
“Heh, duly noted,” said Knuckles as he was chuckling as well, “Looks like we’re more of a threat to Solar Dusk than we thought.”
Cream grabbed and hugged Cheese in excitement and said, “Isn’t this great, Cheese?! Solar Dusk is going to be so shocked and upset when he finds out that we know how to beat him!”
‘Chao chao!’
“By the way…” said Knuckles, “... if Rouge and Shadow rescued you, any chance they came here with you?”
“No,” Cream answered, “they stayed behind so they could take down Eggman's base while he was away.”
Knuckles just scoffed and rolled his eyes and he said, “Typical; it's just like those two to do things on their own.”
“Well… since you’re here and you have the means to fight back against Solar’s magic,” said Sonic, “I’d say we get our friends back, free this town, and then find and kick Solar’s sorry flank!”
Knuckles smiled and was getting pumped up while smashing his fist together, “Took the words right out of my mouth.”
‘Chao chao chao!’
Cream, Cheese, Sonic and Knuckles all looked over the hill they were on observing Ponyville below and seeing the continuing activity. With a serious expression, Cream held up the chaos emerald and said, “With you two here, this is certified to work! So… how are we going to do this? We need figure out a way to confuse the enemy first before we take action.”
Sonic then grabbed the emerald from Cream’s hand and chuckled while tossing it up and down, “Not to worry, Cream… heh, just follow my lead.”
----------
Meanwhile down in Ponyville, the entire town was overrun and taken over by large groups of Eggman’s robots, as well as all of Cream’s friends and pony friends whose minds were taken over by Solar Dusk’s gems. The ponies of the town were shocked and horrified of what was happening; and as time was going by, more of them were forced to be placed under Solar Dusk’s spell through his gems. There were still many who were in hiding or held captive outside of the Town Hall, but it was only a matter of time until they met the same fate.
A pony named Carrot Top was sitting beside a friend of hers named Derpy. They were both terrified of everything that was going on.
“This is terrible,” said Carrot Top in lament, “How did such a beautiful and wonderful day turn into… this?”
“I know, right?” said Derpy, “And what’s even worse, Twilight and her friends are back, but they’re helping out these robot weirdos in taking over their own home! Why would they do that?!”
“Um, I think that they’re under some kind of mind control or something. Don’t you see it in their purple glowing eyes?”
“Oh yeah, I guess that would explain things. They do have neat looking gem necklaces around their necks though.”
Little did they know of the real reason behind those necklaces. However, the Mayor who was also being held nearby wasn’t fooled at all.
“Don’t any of you see,” she shouted, “those necklaces are what’s controlling them! They’re not just a fashion statement.”
They all soon realized that she was right; but then again, they probably should have noticed when Solar Dusk came into their town and showed off his power.
“Huh,” said Derpy tilting her head, “So much for that. But you know, those anthropomorphic-looking creatures kinda remind me of someone who came here before.”
“Here I was expecting Fluttershy to come back and thank me once again for watching over cottage;” said Carrot Top, “but instead, she’s helping to enslave me and everypony else here. I did not see that coming.”
“Well… wh-who knows;” said Derpy trying to stay positive, “maybe somepony will save us at the last minute.”
But just then, a small group of robots came over to the Mayor with one of them saying, “Mayor of Ponyville; prepare to surrender to the power of Eggman and Solar Dusk.”
A couple of them then grabbed her and dragged her out from the crowd while another was holding another one of the gem necklaces in an attempt to place it on her. The Mayor struggled; trying to get loose from their hold, “No, no! Let me go! You can’t do this to me!” But it proved useless, and she could do nothing but watch.
“Oh no!” shouted Derpy, “They’re going to put one of those necklace thingies on her! This is so bad; and we’re probably going to be next! Where’s a last minute hero when you need one?!”
Then right on cue, a blue streak came zooming out from nowhere and smashed into the robots holding the Mayor. They shattered in pieces and the necklace was also destroyed. The Mayor was startled as she  fell back down on the ground, but she was now safe from being controlled.
As everyone looked up at the scene, they saw a tall, blue hedgehog standing before them as he grinned and shouted, “Did someone call for a hero?!”
“What the… a blue hedgehog?” said Carrot Top.
“Ooh, he looks cool;” said Derpy with a grin, “way past cool!”
“Greetings, citizens of Ponyville; no need to be alarmed! My name is Sonic the Hedgehog, and I’ll be your hero for this moment!”
Sonic was then surrounded by a lot of robots who called to Sonic’s attention; just like he planned. “Hey they there, bucketheads; missed me?! It’s possible I could take you all on alone.”
“But luckily,” said another voice, “he’s not alone!”
Knuckles then lept from a nearby building and then landed beside Sonic in a ready stance. 
“Cool!” said Derpy, “A red… um… what is he exactly?”
“I’m an Echidna; duh!” Knuckles shouted, “Don’t these ponies know their animals?”
“It's them;” one of the robots shouted, “the ones who escaped Solar’s grasp! Get them!”
The robots began closing in on them slowly. Why they weren't going any faster was anyone’s guess.
“Uh-oh, I think they’re in trouble,” said Carrot Top to Derpy.
Sonic then looked at them with a smirk as he said, “Are we?”
Then right on cue, Cream the Rabbit flew in from the air and stepped on a few robot heads to get to Sonic and Knuckles. Then with all of her might, she launched her friend, Cheese who bashed through most of the surrounding robots. 
Cream just smiled up at Sonic and said, “Was that a good enough entrance, Mister Sonic?” 
‘Chao chao!’
“Couldn’t have done it better myself,” Sonic chuckled while giving her a thumbs up.
Seeing Cream in the fray, it finally hit Derpy, “C-C-Carrot Top, it's her; the one I was talking about! The rabbit girl that was here before… and her little blue friend.”
Carrot Top was surprised to see that she was right. “Huh; who knew.”
More groups of robots were suddenly coming towards Sonic, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese, and all of them ready to put the powerful gems placed within them to good use. But they were ready for them as Sonic said, “Shall we?”
All of the town’s citizens who were nearby watched as the four heroes went forward and easily trashed all robots that came their way, and then shattering the gem within them. Everyone was quite amazed of how strong they were; especially Cream and Cheese.
Once they were all taken care of, Sonic just chuckled while brushing himself off and said, “After getting used to these gems’ power, defeating these guys are a piece of cake.”
Then suddenly, Cream tapped on Sonic’s arm to gain his attention and said in a trembling tone, “But… what about them?”
Sonic and Knuckles turned around and saw what Cream was pointing at. All of their friends, plus their friends from this world and others were all together and were coming towards them still under Solar Dusk’s control. They were being led by Twilight and a giant robot general that was more than 50 ft. tall.
“Yeah… they might be a problem.”
“This really bites,” Knuckles grumbled, “Using our own friends to fight his battles; Solar Dusk is going to pay!”
Sonic looked down at the Emerald in his hand and thought to himself, ‘Okay, emerald, time to work your magic.’ He looked over at Knuckles and Cream and said, “You two remember the plan?”
“Sure thing,” said Knuckles.
“Yes!” Cream shouted
The robot general then ordered it's many mind slaves, “ATTACK!!!”
They all charged at them while the general and Twilight stayed back to observe.
“Lets do it!” Sonic shouted.
As the whole crowd came at them, Knuckles jumped up in the air and smashed his his fist into the ground creating a forward shockwave that knocked all of them off their feet… and hooves. Sonic, Cream and Cheese continued on the offensive afterwards and were driving a good bit of them back.
“That was so awesome, wasn’t it?!” said Derpy in excitement, “That Echidna one seems so strong! Looks like we’re saved after all!”
But luckily, Sonic and the others were soon not to be alone. The Mayor stood up and faced the others shouting, “Everypony, listen to me. We can’t sit back and allowed the evil megalomaniac that did this get the best of us! If you can stand to your hooves, please… join me and fight to free your friends and family! Assist our new friends and lets take our home back!”
“Wow,” said Carrot Top, “that short little speech was very motivational and convincing. I’m so in!”
“So am I,” Derpy shouted, “lets do this thing!”
Thank’s to the Mayor’s encouraging words, many of Ponyville’s citizens gathered the courage to charge towards the others that were being controlled. They were tired of what had happened to them and wanted to end it right. They all began going against the controlled and doing their best to subdue them.
In the midst of battle, Sonic looked around him and chuckled, “Looks like we have a bit of our own reinforcements after all.” But he was almost distracted that he barely dodged a punch from his own best friend, Tails. “Whoa, you almost got me there. Can’t make that mistake.”
Tails looked back at him with the menacing glowing eyes and dashed at him to try and take him down. But despite his heighten power, he was still not fast enough to to catch Sonic. But once Sonic had an opening behind him…
“This may sting a bit, buddy.”
… he then took the emerald and held it against the necklace around Tails’ neck. Tails suddenly yelled in pain as the gem shattered, and he fell down unconscious.
“Well he’s going to feel that when he wakes up.”
He then saw Amy come up from behind him and tried to strike at him with her hammer. Too late to get away, Sonic just swung his hand with the emerald around and countered the strike. Doing so surprisingly caused a shockwave to go through the hammer and Amy’s body; and eventually, the energy reached the gem on her and destroyed it causing her to fall down unconscious as well.
In a state of shock, Sonic gave the emerald a kiss and stated, “Chaos emerald, what would we do without you?”
Meanwhile… while plowing through the crowd, Knuckles ran into the Chaotix; Espio, Vector and Charmy. Unfortunately for him, they fought as well together as they do without being controlled. However, he just smiled as he told them…
“Heh, you guys aren’t bad. You’re as strong as ever. Unfortunately, your tactics won’t work on me.”
Espio suddenly disappeared while the other two stood at a standstill. Knuckles knew this tactic very well and knew how to handle it. He just waited for the right moment, and…
“Gotcha!”
With one swing, he knocked out Espio who was near him with a kunai and he was now visible again.
“Sorry, but thanks to the training that I have learned from my race’s teachings, your ninja tricks are child’s play. Good thing we’re allies.”
He then looked back at the other two and then smirked while cracking his fists.
“Next.”
Many of Ponyville’s citizens were stepping up and going against their own friends and family to help get them back to normal. Even Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom and a few others worked together to try and bring sense back into Applejack who resisted very much; and many Pegasa took care of the ones in the air led by Rainbow Dash. For Cream and Cheese, they were just maneuvering through the crowd acting as a distraction trying to avoid as much conflict as they could. But then, a small, white rabbit came out of nowhere and kicked them out of the air. Luckily, Cream landed on her feet, but she was still wondering what hit her.
“What hit us, Cheese?! Did you see?”
‘Chao chao?’
But then landing right in front of them was the last two beings Cream wanted to go against. She stood there with wide, worried eyes spouting a few tears.
“Angel? F-F-Fluttershy?”
Cheese was just as terrified and didn’t want to fight them; but it seemed that they may had no choice. The two crept toward them with their glowing purple eyes; and Cream was doing her best to not be intimidated by them.
“D-d-don’t worry, Miss Shy. No matter what happens, we… w-we will save you!”
‘Chao chao chao!’
Immediately, Angel jumped at Cream, but Cheese blocked his way and got into a little tussle with him on the ground. Cheese was pretty strong; but thanks to the gem around Angel’s neck, he found himself to be struggling a bit with him.
“Cheese, be careful!” Cream shouted, “You need to subdue him somehow!”
Just then, Cream saw Fluttershy flying towards her aiming her hoof at her face. Cream dodged it, but Fluttershy instantly turned back around and grabbed her; and then slammed her on the ground. Fluttershy raised both of her forehooves over Cream and was about to stomp on her. But Cream held up arms and successfully stopped her; but her strength proved to be a bit too much. But she wasn't giving up on her pony friend and she did her best to try and get through to her.
"P-please, Miss Shy, don’t do this! You don't  want to hurt me! You’re the kindest pony I know and would never want to hurt anyone!”
But it wasn’t working. Fluttershy kept pressing against her harder and Cream was losing her grip. But she couldn’t bring herself to strike a hand against the yellow mare. Sonic was nearby zooming around destroying gems with the chaos emerald. But he happened to notice Cream’s predicament, and he quickly rushed over to them and held up the emerald to the gem around Fluttershy. The gem shattered; and then Cream rolled her off of her when she fll on top of her.
“You alright, Cream?” Sonic questioned.
“I’m all right,” said Cream wiping away a few tears from her eyes, “but… I-I couldn’t bring myself to hurting Miss Shy… even though she was trying to hurt me.”
“It's okay, Cream. Solar Dusk isn’t making this easy for any of us but we need to do what is necessary to save our friends… even it means giving them a few punches to the face.”
Suddenly. Angel came flying in and landed right beside Fluttershy unconscious.
“Check it out” said Sonic, “I’m sure Cheese likes Angel here, but it looks like he had no problem taking him down like that. He knew what to do.”
Sonic then used the emerald to shatter the gem around Angel’s neck too. Cheese came in and plopped on the ground feeling a little exhausted from tussling with Angel.
“God job, Cheese” said Cream she patted him on the head “You really pulled through.”
‘Chao chao...’
Knuckles then joined them feeling a bit agitated, “Geez, defeating all of these ponies without actually defeating them is a bit harder than I thought. I was expecting this kind of outcome with the Chaotix but I’m getting swarmed out there.”
“That’s Solar Dusk’s gems for you” Sonic chuckled.
Suddenly a Pony named Spitfire came swooping down from the battle in the skies and questioned Sonic, “Excuse me… Sonic, is it? You’re using that emerald there to take out all of the dark gems, right!”
“Um, right,” Sonic answered as he held the emerald up, “This is our little life saver.”
“Great,” said Spitfire as she quickly grabbed it away and said, “Be right back!”
She quickly took the emerald up in the air and shouted, “Fellow Pegasi, stand back!” Then she used her expert aerial moves to outmaneuver the controlled pegasi. She was able to connect the emerald with every gem on the controlled Pegasi in a flash and ended it with Rainbow Dash. She then returned to Sonic and handed him back the emerald with a proud smirk. “Thanks. This one powerful gem you have here. Guess we’re pretty lucky to have it here to fix this mess.”
“What the heck is your problem?!” Knuckles shouted, “You can’t just snatch up a powerful item like that and use it so carelessly! What if you seriously got hurt?!”
“Wow, a bit on edge about that thing, isn’t he?” said Spitfire to Sonic.
Sonic then looked around and saw more of the citizens being controlled coming towards them in huge numbers. It was then that he knew that he had to finish it. “Alright, lets get this over with!”
With the emerald tight in his grip, Sonic took off at super speed; quicker than anyone could see. Before anyone knew it, all of the gems on everyone else malfunctioned and shattered all at once; they all fell unconscious on the ground. Sonic halted right back to where he was before and was twirling the emerald on his finger while chuckling.
“You know, I could’ve done that at any time, but where’s the fun in that?”
“That was awesome, Mister Sonic!” said Cream, “But… did we get them all?”
Derpy tapped Cream’s shoulder to get her attention and pointed behind her as she said, “Not quite.”
Everyone looked and saw Twilight and the giant Egg General robot looking down at all of them. Sonic slightly chuckled as he said, “Oh yeah. I almost forgot about those two.”
The Egg General took it's giant staff in it's hand and slammed in the ground as it shouted, “You will all pay for your insolence!”
“Uh-oh, I think he’s mad,” said Derpy as she suddenly hid behind Carrot Top who smirked while rolling her eyes.
Everyone conscious were on edge and were very worried of how much trouble their evil-turned princess and the giant robot were going to be.
“What are they going to do now?” Knuckles chuckled while pointing at the emerald in Sonic’s hand, “We have the key to success right here.”
Suddenly, the Egg General ordered Twilight, “Destroy that emerald!”
Twilight then fired a powerful beam towards emerald in Sonic’s hand. Sonic and everyone around him quickly dodged out of the way to avoid a powerful, fatal blast.
“Well… I guess they’ll try that,” said Sonic.
Since Twilight was now given orders to go after the chaos emerald, Sonic decided to take her on a little chase to keep the others safer.
“Hey, Princess?!” he shouted while waving the emerald around, “You want it, come and get it!”
He then took off, but not too fast; just fast enough for Twilight to go after him without losing her. With her gone, Knuckles had his sight of knocking the Egg General down and finally freeing the town.
“Egg General!” he shouted with all his might, “You’re mine!” 
He charged at the general at a fast speed, and everyone there watched in awe as he lept into the air towards the giant robot. It seemed that he had the power to take him out;but as he threw his punch forward, the general held up its large staff in front of him. Knuckles thought it was no big deal, but his fist immediately halted on contact. He grunted loudly experiencing the pain that he felt as he said to himself, “Well... th-that’s new.”
The robot general then swung back it's staff hurdling Knuckles away from it and sent him crashing into a nearby house. Everyone winced upon seeing that.
“Ooh, that must have hurt,” said Cream.
‘Chao chao.’
The pony named Carrot Top was feeling worried about what was going to happen to their town, but she then looked around and asked a nearby resident, “Hey, have you seen where Derpy is?”
Meanwhile, Sonic was now in another part of the town avoiding Twilight’s magic blasts that was fired at him. His speed was giving him a huge advantage.
“Come on, follow the moving hedgehog!” 
Sonic was going as fast as he could to easily avoid any injuries. But suddenly… Twilight stopped firing and then began using her fight ability to get the drop on him. Sonic had a few close calls with Twilight barely scraping against him; but he was feeling impressed.
“Whoa, she’s pretty fast; but not as fast as Rainbow Dash.”
With that, Sonic upgraded his speed and began to circle around Twilight to confuse her. He was aiming to get the right moment to destroy the gem around her neck; but Twilight was up to his game. She summoned a magic shield around her that suddenly expanded outward tripping Sonic up and slamming him against a nearby tree. Afterwards, Sonic was lifted up by Twilight’s magic. Without his feet touching the ground, he couldn’t get away. 
‘Looks like I’m in trouble,’ Sonic thought, ‘This mare is dangerous.’ 
Now Twilight was planning to take out the emerald and Sonic. However, Sonic knew the catastrophic results that could happen if the gem in his hand was shattered.
“Y-y-you wouldn’t happen t-to mind sparring me if I call you your highness… w-would you?”
Twilight powered up her horn and was about to fire upon the hedgehog, but then another individual appeared suddenly and grabbed upon Twilight shouting, “NO!!!”
Sonic suddenly dropped down and looked up wondering, “What the…”
It was Derpy who had quietly followed them and doing her best to help out. She was holding on to Twilight trying to get her attention off of Sonic. “Don’t do it, Twilight! I don’t… want to… hurt you!”
Twilight was wildly swinging her around trying to get her off. Although after some seconds, Derpy was slinged off of her, but she caught herself because of her wings. RIght afterwards, Twilight was caught off guard when Sonic was suddenly right behind her and said, “You shouldn’t have taken your eyes off of me… Princess.”
With that, Sonic placed the emerald on the gem collar around Twilight’s neck; and it's power surge from it caused it to immediately shatter into pieces. Once Twilight was unconscious, Sonic caught her and brought her down to the ground safely. He then looked up at the pony who saved him and gave her a thumbs up saying, “Thanks a lot, Miss. You sure got me out of a jam there.”
“The name is Derpy…” she said with a gleeful smile, “and you’re welcome!”
Back in the main part of town, a whole lot of space was cleared  as Knuckles kept finding himself mostly running away from the Egg General robot who kept swinging at him with it's staff. He kept trying to find openings to get through it's armor, but the staff just kept getting in his way.
“Watch out, Mister Knuckles!” Cream shouted, “That General’s staff seems to be more dense and durable than it’s entire body!”
“Tell me about it!” Knuckles responded.
“You will be eliminated!” the robot shouted, “Don’t delay the inevitable!”
Knuckles picked up a huge piece of rubble and shouted, “Oh shut your metal mouth why don’t ya!” Then he threw it at the general who easily crushed it. Knuckles threw himself at the robot again and started repeatedly ramming his fists into the staff with all of his might. But once he stopped, not a single dent was made in it.
“Dang it,” said Knuckles to himself, “why can't I damage the thing?!”
But not realizing, the general was reaching for him with it's other hand and said, “I will crush you!”
“Aw man, I won’t get away in time!”
But right on time, Sonic came blazing in and snatched up Knuckles from the general’s crushing path.
“Coming my way?”
“Great,” Knuckles groaned, “I’ve been saved by Sonic; how swell.”
“Mister Sonic!” Cream shouted, “Where’s Miss Twilight?”
‘Chao chao?!’
“Just taking a little rest… thanks to Derpy here.”
Derpy flew in giggling feeling proud of herself, “Hee hee, you’re welcome!”
Sonic then then turned his attention back towards the robot general, “But now, we need to take this thing down; and this emerald is going to help.”
The general raised it staff and slammed it down to stand it ground and boasted, “Do what you wish, but you won’t get past my impenetrable staff created by Lord Solar Dusk.”
“Heh heh, yep” Sonic chuckled, “I thought as much.” Sonic then held out his hand holding the chaos emerald to Knuckles and told him, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Sure am,” said Knuckles with a smirk. He then grabbed onto the emerald and shouted, “Let’s trash this ol’ bucket of bolts!”
The chaos emerald began to shine brightly in between Sonic and Knuckles’ hands; and then in the blink of an eye, they both dashed forward at the general in a spinning ball of light.
“Ha, that will not work,” the general laughed as it held up it's powerful staff in front of them once again.
However, once Sonic and Knuckles made contact against it, the general could feel a much harder restrain against them. Suddenly, the staff began to crack and the robot’s old was getting weak. It soon realized the trouble that it was in. 
“What?! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
With a mighty yell, Sonic and Knuckles spun right through the general’s staff and then right through the general itself. It began to malfunction, and the dark gem had shattered completely.
“Everypony, get back!!” the Mayor shouted.
The area was soon cleared as the the robot general fell and exploded on ground contact. Sonic and Knuckles landed back on the ground near the explosion, and Sonic looked back with his signature smirk saying, “Sayonara, general!”
All of Ponyville began to cheer in unison feeling happy and relieved that their town was saved from the turmoil that it was in.
“You two did it!” shouted Cream as she ran to Sonic and hugged him, “You saved Ponyville!”
‘Chao chao chao!’
“Nothing to it,” Sonic responded, “But you know, you helped to. In fact… everyone here helped. This victory wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
The Mayor of Ponyville then walked up to Sonic, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese and was about to condone them on their help of save their town. “I wish to thank you, kind strangers. I don’t know what that gem in your hand is or what it does, but it definitely helped us in our most dire moment of need. Everypony here that was turned against us will be back to normal and free from Solar Dusk’s control. We can’t thank you enough.”
“Happy to help, Miss Mayor;” Sonic chuckled, “just doing what we do best.”
Knuckles, Cream and Cheese all smiled and nodded their heads and the Mayor acknowledged them in agreement. She then turned to all of the other citizens and commanded, “Alright, everypony, I know you all wish to celebrate, but there’s no time for rest! Let’s take care of this mess that our enemy has created!”
-------
The last known memory that Cream’s friends (with the exception of Sonic and Knuckles) could recall was their battle against Eggman and Solar Dusk. Once their minds were taken over by Solar Dusk’s dark magic, their conciousness went blank. Sine then, they didn’t rememer anything that happened afterwards. But now thanks to Sonic, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese and many others in Ponyville, they were now free of Solar’s dark hold.
Some time had passed and everyone was doing their best to clean up the mess that Solar Dusk and Eggman left behind, as well as looking over everyone that was under the dark magic to make sure that they were okay. Soon, one by one they were all beginning to wake up feeling a bit sore and light headed. The first of the main six, Twilight Sparkle was just waking up feeling a bit numb in her body.
“What the… wh-what… happened?”
She was looking around and noticed that she was in a familiar territory. 
“Where am I? Am I back in… Ponyville?”
“They’re waking up!” a random pony citizen shouted out to everyone, “Everypony is waking up!”
Twilight was a bit confused seeing many ponies coming to from the ground, including her friends. She didn’t understand what was going on.
“What happened here? The last thing I remembered was when Solar Dusk…”
And then, the possible truth finally hit her as she remembered what she saw last and suddenly seeing her home town and the state that it was in.
“No way… did he… make us… that monster.”
Suddenly, her dragon assistant and friend, Spike came up and strongly hugged her from behind shouting, “Twilight! You’re here too!”
“Spike!” said Twilight with relief as she took Spike and hugged him tight, “Thank Celestia you’re okay!”
“Yep, I’m fine, and so is everypony else. Look!”
“I know, I’ve already noticed. Things seem to be alright… I think.” 
“But my question is…” said Spike while scratching his head when did we get back in Ponyville? And why do I feel like… I have a major migraine in my head?”
Twilight had a light scowl on her face as she looked at the devastation around her and responded, “Take a wild guess.”
Somewhere else, Amy Rose and Tails woke up as well. As they sat up, they were still beside each other. They both soon noticed each other as they look at one another.
“Amy?”
“Tails?”
They then both looked around feeling confused of what happened after their last memory of conciousness.
“Where are we?” Tails questioned, “This place doesn't look like Mobius. However, there seems to be a lot of ponies around. Could we be in their world?!”
“I don’t know,” Amy groaned while holding her head, “I have too much of a headache to think straight about anything right now. Do they have any doctors in this town?”
Espio was already up awake. He was deeply troubled of his surroundings, and he could feel the slight pain of the event that took place that he was not aware of.
“What is this weird place?” he said to himself, “My aura is not familiar with my present surroundings. Could this be some kind of mind trick from that pony menace?”
Just then, “Espio!” Charmy, who was back to normal glomped on him from behind knocking him down on the ground. “Espio Espio Espio! You’re back to normal. I’m so happy!”
“Get off of him, Charmy!” said Vector who was also back to normal; and he was pulling Charmy off of Espio, “Give him some room to breathe!”
The last thing Espio remembered was being caught by Eggman and Solar Dusk and was being held against his will. He then remembered seeing Metal Sonic approaching him with a strange gem necklace, and that was all.
“Vector… Charmy… what’s going on here? Last thing I remember was being captured and… the rest is a blur. I don’t remember. And… why are we suddenly surrounded by a lot of ponies.”
“Heh, well… it's a long story!” said Charmy, “Where do I even start?! But right now, I’m just glad you’re not being controlled anymore!”
“We should be happy that we’re not being controlled anymore,” said Vector, “That process wasn’t fun.”
“Wait… we were what?!” Espio questioned, “What in the world happened?!”
One by one, everyone was waking up, and the pony named Carrot Top was slowly approaching her friend, Fluttershy who already came to, but was too dizzy to comprehend what was going on. But then, she heard her said out loud…
“Glad you’re finally awake.”
She looked up and saw Carrot Top standing over her with a smile. Angel was waking up to and was also trying to get his bearing together.
“C-C-Carrot Top… w-what are you… doing here?” Fluttershy questioned weakly.
“You’re back in Ponyville of course. Although, when I saw you and your friends return, I didn’t expect what came next.”
But after hearing those words, Fluttershy realised what might’ve happened; and seeing the sight of her home around her more than confirmed it.
“Oh no. Don’t tell me that we…”
“Yeah, you guys did. But in your defense...you guys weren't yourselves; you were under Solar Dusk’s control.”
Angel came up to Fluttershy and cuddled in her hooves as she held him close and stated, “That still doesn't make me feel any better. This is exactly what we were trying to avoid, but… what happened… we didn’t see it coming.”
“Well luckily, everything here is okay now thanks to a few individuals that came here and saved the day… including a certain friend of yours.”
As Carrot Top stepped to the side, Fluttershy could see her. Cream and her friend, Cheese were standing nearby looking at her with little tear falling out from their eyes. Fluttershy was tearing a bit herself seeing that she was okay. 
“C-C-Cream… Cheese!”
“M-Miss Shy?”
‘Chao chao?’
Cream and Cheese suddenly ran to her and glomped onto her hugging her tightly and sobbing immensely. Even Angel joined in on the hug fest because he was feeling pretty sappy himself.
“Oh, Cream,” Fluttershy sobbed, “I’m so glad that you’re alright! But wait, you look really roughed up! What happened? Did Solar Dsuk do this?! Are you in pain?!”
Cream suddenly stood back up and slightly smiled as she wiped most of her tears away saying, “N-n-never mind that, Miss Shy; I’m fine. But… I… I-I want to apologize to you.”
“Huh? Apologize for what?” Fluttershy questioned.
“For the way I acted towards you earlier. When I got mad at you and… yelled at you… I feel really bad for doing that. I didn’t mean what I said. I know that you only did that because you wanted me to be safe. You were just worried about me. I shouldn’t have yelled at you Miss Shy; I‘m sorry!”
Fluttershy slightly panicked because she didn’t want Cream to feel like she did something wrong and told her, “Oh, Cream, it's okay. You don’t need to feel bad about that. I should be the one apologizing to you. I shouldn’t have doubted about you in handling yourself. I know you and Cheese have handled things on your own and you always have your friends there to help you and support you. I should’ve understood that; but instead, I let Solar Dusk’s threats get to me and it totally messed with my mind.”
Cream looked at her with concern, “Are you… sure, Miss Shy?
“I am very sure. Do you think that you can forgive me?”
Suddenly, Cream smiled a bit more and giggled, “Hee hee; only if you forgive me?”
Then both Cream and Fluttershy hugged each other while saying at the same time, “Apology accepted!” And they began laughing together.
A the same time, Cheese was explaining to Angel of why felt a bit sore and that he had a slight headache. Angel understood and didn’t mind it. he hugged it out with Cheese and all was forgiven between them.
Carrot Top was standing on side watching the whole thing. She smiled seeing them make-up, even if she didn’t fully understand what their past argument was about. Derpy then came down beside her and saw them hugging things out and said…
“Looks like those guys are happy to see each other again.”
“More than you may think, Derpy;” Carrot Top chuckled, “more than you may think.”
-------------------
After everything was settled and things were taken care of, everyone eventually came together to discuss what they were going to do. Sonic, Knuckles and Cream went on to tell everyone what had happened, and they were all in complete shock. They couldn’t imagine doing what they did, but they knew that they couldn’t help it. They all couldn’t wait to make Solar Dusk pay.
“Oh man. I can’t believe that all of this happened,” said Tails, “I feel ashamed that I ever let Solar Dusk control me like that. But what’s even more shocking is you two being able break from his control. That’s amazing!”
Amy went up to Sonic and hugged him tight and kissed him on the cheek saying, “What can we say, everything about Sonic… and maybe Knuckles to… are amazing!”
“Nice to be included in your compliment,” said Knuckles sarcastically.
Tails came up to Cream with a little bashful face and asked her, “A-a-are you okay, Cream? Solar Dusk didn’t rough you up too much, did he?”
“He did… do a little number on me,” said Cream with a smile, “but… don’t worry. I’m okay now.”
She then hugged Tails, and he hugged her back. Angel was just standing nearby slightly glaring at the sight still feeling a little jealous of the somewhat relationship these two had.
“It totally sucks of what that two-timing jerk did to us,” shouted Rainbow Dash in anger, “Taking over our minds and using us to help enslave our own home! If he thinks I was pissed off at him before, it's nothing compared to how I feel now!”
“Yeah; you say it, Dashie!” Pinkie cheered loudly, “Once this all over, I’m going to plan a big, gigantic, enormous apology party for all of Ponyville… as a way of saying… I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to help enslave you all and serve under a ruthless tyrant against your will! My mind was lost and I was acting all mean and evil! Muwahahahahahaha! You know, that kind of thing!”
“Just look at the state that this place is in;” said Rarity as she shuddered at the towns ruined surroundings, “it's like a fashion nightmare… but you know… for a town.”
Applejack just chuckled, “Heh, leave it to you, Rarity to use fashion as an expression fer anythang. But in any case, yer right. It hard to think that we had a hand in this. It's horrible.”
The Mayor of the town suddenly came to them to give them her thoughts. “Listen, girls… no pony here blames you for what you did; and the same goes for your otherworldly friends. You were all being controlled against your will. You had no responsibility over your actions.”
“That may be true,” said Twilight sadly, “but… that reason doesn't exactly make us feel any better. Our duty was to stop Solar Dusk and prevent this kind of scenario from happening. But… we underestimated Solar Dusk and fell prey to his trap. We let the princesses down; we let… everypony down.”
Twilight’s other friends couldn’t help but feel the same way; even Rainbow Dash. They felt that what happened was their fault; intentional or not. They were planning to not be overconfident, but were anyway. But suddenly, Sonic came up closer to them crossing his arms and shaking his head.
“Is this really the brave group of ponies that Cream told us all about?”
They all suddenly looked up at him to see what he had to say.
“So what if Eggman and that Solar jerk got the best of us the first time around; no big deal. My friends and I have gotten out of worse situations than this. Just look at Cream. You heard what happened with her, yet she decided to keep on fighting to save everyone even though it seemed impossible. And now thanks to her, we have a second chance to fix all of this. But are you going to use it to save the day once and for all, or are you going to stay here and mope about how you let everyone down?”
Twilight and and her friends all suddenly thought of what Sonic had just said and realized that they were giving up too easily. They were busy being guilty of what they did that they lost sight of the big picture.
“Girls, Sonic is absolutely right!” said Fluttershy suddenly, “We can’t stay here and feel sorry for ourselves. As long as we’re here and in control of our own actions, I say we find Solar Dusk and teach him a lesson that he will never forget!”
“Aw yeah, now you’re talkin’ my language, Fluttershy!” shouted Rainbow feeling riled up all of a sudden, “I had no idea why I was feeling sorry for myself in the first place!”
"He does make a good point,” said Rarity, “We've saved Equestria a lot already; this won’t be any exception. This mare is ready to get her hooves dirty... again."
"Yeah, why should we be so glum about this?!” shouted Pinkie, “It's time that we go out there and bash some bad guy heads! Team Harmony, assemble!"
"Well Ah'm in too,” said Applejack, “We're the main protectors of Equestria. As long as we stick together, we can do anythang. Right, Twilight?"
Gaining her confidence back, Twilight smirked as she replied, "Right, Applejack. We can turn this around and win this battle. If Solar Dusk wants a fight, then that’s what we're going to give him. Only this time, we have a little surprise of our own."
"Looks like we’re all on the same page now,” said Tails, “That's good. A good ol' pep talk was all they needed."
“Well now that we got that over with,” said Amy gripping her hammer in her hand, “what do you say that we go and get some payback.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Amy.” said Twilight, “We just need the Elements of Harmony, then we need to find out where Solar Dusk and Eggman are. I’m pretty sure they’re aware of what’s going on here by now.”
Unfortunately for them, it wouldn’t be that quick.
“I’m afraid you won’t find them here,” said the Mayor.
“What?” said Twilight and her friends.
“Once after they did business here, Solar Dusk and that nutjob scientist took the majority of their forces and were making their way to Canterlot; and Solar Dusk took the Elements… with him. I’m afraid… they’re in his possession now.” 
“No they’re not!” said a sudden voice.
As everyone looked, they all saw Applejack’s little sister, Apple Bloom come up to them carrying a little box in her mouth and then dropped it in front of them.
“Apple Bloom?” said Applejack, “Wut are ya goin’ on about? And what’s that box ya got?”
Apple Bloom then opened the box; and inside... was the Elements of Harmony. The Mayor looked quite shocked.
“The Elements! But how?! I saw that fiend take them away with him; and he was even going on about how we were never going to get them back.”
“Yeah, that’s not true," Apple Bloom scoffed, "That Solar meanie was just tryin’ to throw ya’ll for a loop. After they had finished takin’ over this place, Ah was able to sneak out of the crowd and follow them. Ah saw him actually bury the Elements deep under the ground in a location nearby the town and then soon left through some kind of portal afterwards. Ah would’ve tried to get them mahself, but Ah was soon caught by one of those stinkin’ robots and brought back here. So once everythang was over, Ah just went back to that spot and dug it up! Well… Ah had help from Big Mac; it was too deep for me. So anyway, here they are safe and sound!”
Applejack suddenly grabbed her sister and gave her a little noogie on her head. “Apple Bloom, ya sneaky little filly. Ah’m proud of ya."
“Thanks! Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo thought it was cool too. Ah felt like Ah was on an espionage mission or somethang! Ah wonder if Ah can get a cutiemark in doing that?!”
Applejack just rolled her eyes and chuckled, “Heh... sure, why not.”
Twilight used her magic to levitate the Elements and placed them onto her friends. They'd prefer to wear these necklaces instead of the dark gem necklaces any day. 
Espio was the only one there from Sonic’s world that was unfamiliar with the Elements of Harmony; and seeing them after hearing get about them got him wondering as he asked Twilight, “If I may… these Elements; are they really our only hope against this threat?”
“They sure are, but only after we use that chaos emerald against Solar Dusk and weaken his defenses. Once he’s weak enough, that’s the moment when we use the Elements to finish him off!”
But there was something that Charmy didn't understand, “Wait wait wait; I don’t get it! If these Elements are so powerful, couldn’t you just straight-up zap him with them and get it over with just like that?!”
“For once I actually agree with Charmy,” said Vector.
But Twilight explained, “I’m afraid that it's not that easy. Solar Dusk was already strong enough when we defeated him the first time; well… Fluttershy, Cream and Cheese, Angel and I anyway. But ever since he was broken out from his restraints and escape to your world, his power has resurfaced and has become stronger than before. We figured that out the hard way. Even as we speak, Solar’s power is growing stronger by the minute; and the worst part is that the more gems he creates and the more hosts he acquires, the more powerful he becomes. We'll need more than brute strength to stop him now."
Spike just sighed, "Heh, isn't that always the case with these final battle type things?" 
"Don't worry, Miss Sparkle," said Cream, "we have the chaos emerald, remember? With it, we have a much better chance against him now! We'll all stop him together! Right, Miss Shy?"
With a confident smile, Fluttershy replied, "You bet we will, Cream."
'Chao chao chao!'
"Well, I wish you all luck;” said the Mayor, “and don’t worry about us, we have everything handled here. Just get to Canterlot and stop Solar Dusk before it's too late. I'm sure the two Princesses there are having a hard enough time holding him off."
However, Twilight wasn’t worried, "Come on, Miss Mayor, this is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna we're talking about. I'm sure they're holding him and his forces back quite easily just waiting for us to come on to the scene."
But just when things were calming down, a huge explosion went off nearby startling everyone and shocking their nerves. 
"What now?!" Vector shouted.
As they all looked in the explosion’s direction, they saw more of Eggman’s robots coming towards them; all sporting more of Solar Dusk’s dark gems.
"Oh no,” shouted Tails, “it's more of Eggman’s robots!"
"No way, I thought we got all of them!" said Amy feeling annoyed.
"Solar Dusk and that egg guy must have programed these robots or something to come later on as reinforcements,” said Rarity. 
“Are you kidding me right now?!” Rainbow Dash retorted, “We don't have time for this right now!"
"What's the plan now, oh fearless leader?" Knuckles whispered to Sonic.
"I'm thinking. I'm thinking."
But they didn't have long think. Pretty soon the second wave of robots would be upon them and they would have to be quick to act. Unfortunately, they knew that they didn't have time to waste.
Espio was analyzing the situation and was thinking deeply of what the next move was. Then... he made his decision.
"Robot scum, behold... my NINJA POWER!"
In a sudden move, he took out a few of his shurikens and threw them with precision. Each one tore through multiple robots at once destroying the gems as well. 
"Princess... everyone," he said while back at the others, "get going! Go on and stop Solar Dusk from possibly sending two worlds into darkness! The Chaotix will stay here and help protect the this town."
The others were a bit shocked from Espio' sudden decision; although, the ponies were more impressed  of the move he made.
"A-a-are you sure?" Twilight questioned, "There's quite a lot of them, and those gems make them stronger; and..."
"It's like you said, Princess... that pony menace is growing stronger by the minute. We can't waste time here! Go find him… and make him pay."
Just then, Espio was joined with Vector who came up beside him cracking his fists, "Yeah, Espio is right! We'll handle things here! Now that we're all pumped up, these bots got nothing on us!"
"Whoohoo!" shouted Charmy as he joined his two friends, "We're Team Chaotix, and we can take on anything. But once you guys finally find that Solar jerk, give him a good pl' one-two for a me as payback for what he did to Espio!"
Twilight was deeply grateful that the Chaotix would help defend their home while they went to stop Solar Dusk. She felt like she was going to owe them big time.
"So... you guys definitely got this?"
"We would be honored to this... as a token of our gratitude," said Espio as he made a bowing gesture to Twilight, "your highness."
"Oh, okay then," said Twilight feeling good flattered, "I leave Ponyville in your hooves... hands... you know what I mean."
Fluttershy suddenly looked over at her bunny friend, Angel who looked pumped up and ready for action. She looked at and said, "You're going to come with us no matter what we say, aren’t ya?"
Angel compiled by jumping up on her back and then sat there crossing his arms refusing to move. Fluttershy giggled and shook her head at the stubborn bunny
"That's  what I thought. You’re such a brave little bunny."
Cream came up to Angel and then scratched him under his chin saying, "He sure is." 
Angel had a light, dopey smile expression on his face as he was beig scratched by Cream. He really liked the attention from her. Cheese then came up from behind and landed on top of him to join in on the love.
'Chao chao!'
Angel just groaned and rolled his eyes feeling disappointed that his his nice moment with Cream was ruined.
"So how exactly are we going to get to this Canterlot place in time?" Amy questioned, "I'm guessing that it's not exactly a short little stroll there from here."
"Heh, it would for me," Sonic chuckled.
"For you, Sonic," said Tails, "it would be more of a short little sprint."
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie came up in front of everyone and stated, "Not to worry, everybody! This is where Twilight’s amazing teleportation spell comes in handy! We'll all be able to get there together in one piece... hopefully."
"Hopefully?!!!" Sonic and all of his friend shouted
“Pinkie, if you jinx us,” said Spike, “I am going to freak out!”
A few bombardment of laser fire soon fired around them suddenly as the crowd of robots were approaching. The Chaotix were holding them off and shielding their path as Espio shouted, "Guys, get going... now!"
They all jumped and immediately huddled around Twilight.
“Y-y-you don’t need to tell me twice!” shouted Spike as he held on to one of Twilight’s legs.
As everyone got into position around Twilight, she she was gathering a lot of magic in her. Once she was ready, she shouted, "Next stop... Canterlot!"
The area around them suddenly showed of a bright flash of light; and in an instant, they were all gone. The Chaotix were astonished once again, but there was no time to rest.
"Well look at that,” Vector chuckled, “they actually did it!"
"That looked so cool!” shouted Charmy with a huge bright glimmer in his eyes, “I want to try that sometime!"
"Alright, they're gone,” said Esipo with a sigh of relief, “now we can get down to business."
As Vector and Charmy were driving back more of the robot forces, Espio stood up on a nearby podium to raise his voice and speak out to the other ponies.
"Citizens of this town, listen to me! We the Chaotix are strong, but we can't do this alone! You must stand up for your freedom! Assist us with your fighting spirit! Are you with me?!"
Feeling inspired, everyone all shouted in agreement and were all ready to lend a helping hoof to save their town. Espio then looked down at the Mayor who smiled and nodded her head and said…
"Lead the way."
Once Espio rejoined his friends, Charmy suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!!!"
On command, everyone followed the Chaotix’s lead as they all charged towards the huge group of robots coming their way. Espio, with his ninja skills; Vector, with his powerful muscles and jaws; and Charmy, with his trusty stinger and explosive attitude. It was up to them now to keep Ponyville safe. The fate of two worlds now rested in the hands… and hooves of the others. Although, the future was still uncertain.

> Chapter 14: The 'New' Ruler of Equestria?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


(Wow.. it has been a while, hasn't it? Sorry, lots of distractions everywhere. The action continues now!)



Wow… we sure have been through a lot; haven’t we, Cheese?
‘Chao chao chao!’
I never would have thought that we would be able to get through all of this and still be alive. What a rush! I just feel like I can…
(Cheese suddenly notices us and points through the 4th wall towards us and gains Cream’s attention)
‘Chao chao!’
Huh… o-o-oh! Hello there, readers! Welcome back to the story! Cheese and I sure hope that you all know what's going on here in our dangerous adventure to save two worlds! But just in case, I’m sure it won’t hurt to go over everything that has happened up to this point… th-th-the very short version of course.
‘Chao!’ 
As you all know, Solar Dusk is a very evil unicorn pony from the world of Equestria. He almost got away with creating the means to control others through his dark magic… but failed thanks to me and Cheese… and Miss Shy… and Angel… and Miss Sparkle. But thanks to Eggman, he eventually broke out of prison and escaped into our world to plan his revenge. Miss Sparkle and all of her friends soon came into our world too to find Solar Dusk and take him down; but not until after they found me and my friends and told us everything that had happened.
From there, we were attacked by Eggman, laid low to relax and planned our next move. Also… I-I-I kinda had a little verbal fight with Miss Shy because I felt like she was babying me and saying that she wanted me to stay put while they took down Solar Dusk. Not my finest moment.
‘Chao chao.’
But it only got worse! Once they found Eggman’s base, they were ambushed and placed under Solar Dusk’s control; and I had to watch Solar Dusk do the same to Cheese and my Mom  when he came to where I was. Solar Dusk finally had his revenge and I was stuck being held captive by Cheese and my Mom while he  and Eggman went to Equestria to carry on with their plan! It was so awful!
But thankfully, I was able escape thanks to Mister Big, Mister Shadow and Miss Rouge; and Cheese and my Mom were freed from Solar Dusk’s control thanks to a Chaos Emerald Mister Shadow had. Oh yeah, that’s right! Turns out that the power of the Chaos Emeralds somehow cancels out Solar’s dark magic. With that fact, we finally had the means to stop him.
While Shadow and Rouge stayed behind, I took the emerald and went to Equestria with Cheese where we eventually ran into Sonic and Knuckles whose minds were actually free of Solar’s dark magic too. Apparently, the chaos energies inside them eventually counteracted his magic hold and they went back to their old selves. Cheese and I were so relieved to have them back on our side. We would hate it if we had to hurt them; well… actually, it's more likely that they would’ve hurt us. Right, Cheese?
‘Chao…’
But anyway, with them back on our side and  the possession our acquired emerald, we worked together to save Ponyville from an army of Robots and our magical possessed friends. Even the other citizens of the town lended a helping… hoof as well. Once everyone was back to normal, we filled them in on everything that happened; and thanks to Twilight’s teleport ability, we all headed for Canterlot to go kick Solar Dusk’s butt once and for all! Unfortunately, when a backup army showed up, the Chaotix chose to stay behind to help defend the town. But we didn’t worry. We knew they were very strong and would serve Ponville well.
Wow, that was a lot for me to say… and I only gave the short version. Do you think I did okay, Cheese?
‘Chao chao chao.’
There’s more to everything I just mentioned, but you got the point right? If you don’t, I would recommend starting the entire story over. We can wait. But if you’re ready, it's time that we head into the final conflict in the story; where we face off against Eggman and Solar Dusk in the final battle that will decide the entire fate of… TWO… WHOLE… WORLDS!
Heh… okay, I’m done. Man I’m parched. Wanna grab some juice with me Cheese?
‘Chao!’ 
------------------
As the Chaotix team carried on their chosen duty to continue protecting Ponyville from Eggman’s forces, Twilight used her magic to transport herself and everyone else with her to Canterlot where their final confrontation with Solar Dusk would take place. The procedure was successful, and everyone appeared in the middle of their destination. Although, Twilight still had to work on her entrance landing. Everyone ended up landing on top of each other in a pile.
“Woohoo! Another successful teleportation!” shouted Pinkie Pie who was on the very top of the pile, “You are on fire, Twilight!”
Everyone else were groaning from the rough landing and the forced weight they had on each other.
“Can anyone explain why I am on the very bottom of this pile?” Knuckles grumbled.
“Aw, don’t feel so down, Knuckles,” Sonic chuckled, “Things happen.”
“Well I wasn’t worried for a second… for the most part,” said Spike as everyone was getting up on their feet, “At least we made it here in one… piece?”
As everyone suddenly looked around in their location, the entire city looked abandoned with no citizen in sight. And to make things seem worse, there was pieces of metal scattered everywhere on the streets and on top of buildings.
“Oh… my… gosh,” Rarity gasped, “What in Celestia’s name happened here?!”
“Is this place the famously known city of Canterlot?” Sonic questioned, “Seems pretty deserted to me.”
“This is Canterlot,” said Twilight in a worried tone, “but… nopony seems to be here.”
“Well seeing all of these robot scraps everywhere,” said Knuckles, “our enemies have definitely been through here.”
With none of the citizens in sight, most of them were assuming that the worst possible outcome had come to pass.
“Wh-where is everypony?” said Fluttershy in a worried tone, “You don’t think they were all… c-captured, do you?
Thinking of everything Solar Dusk had done to her and her family and friends… and then seeing the sight around them, Cream lightly shed a couple of tears; but then lightly scowled and balled up her fists and said, “That mean, ol’... Solar Dsuk. He thinks he can just go through towns and cause destruction wherever and whenever he wants? Who does he think he is?!”
And Cheese was right with her.
‘Chao chao!’
Even Angel was miffed. He just walked over to a scrap piece of metal and lightly growled as he booted it away with his foot.
“Well… it’s nothing much different from what we witness all the time ourselves,” Tails chuckled, “Am I right?”
“Hello?!” Twilight called out loud, “Is anypony there?! Anypony at all?!”
Amy Rose suddenly swung her hammer like a golf club knocking some metal scraps out of the way and stated, “This may not be our world, but trust me when I say that Solar Dusk will pay for all of this. I promise you that.”
Just then amongst the silence, they all heard a single voice call out, “Princess Twilight?!”
“Huh? Wh-who said that?!” said Twilight as she was suddenly looking around.
But then, everyone suddenly looked up behind them in the sky and saw a Pegasus pony coming towards them; and he appeared to be shining in the moonlight from wearing armor that seemed very familiar to the ponies.
“Your majesty,” said the Pegasus as he bowed to Twilight after landing, “thank goodness you’re here; as well as the rest of your friends!” But he suddenly looked closer and saw Sonic and his friends and was caught off guard by them as he thought, ‘Whoa… what strange, peculiar creatures.’
“You’re body is all crystallized,” said Twilight, “and you’re wearing royal armor! So I’m guessing you’re one of Princess Cadence’s royal guards, right? What happened here?”
“Whoa. There’s another princess?” said Cream with glee, “That’s so cool!”
‘Chao chao!’
“Yeah, but technically Twilight is the 4th princess,” said Rainbow Dash, “Cadence was a princess before she was.”
Understanding their reason of being there, the guard told them everything. “The enemy that you seek had already appeared at the Canterlot Palace a while ago. They just came out of nowhere in an attempt to take over. But somehow as they did that, many robot soilders they had suddenly appeared on the city streets and ran rampant terrorizing all of the citizens that were here. But... I’m sure you all could already guess that. But not to worry. Thanks to Princess Cadence and more of my comrades, we were able to defeat the hordes of those mechanical menaces.”
“No kidding,” said Applejack, “you ponies completely demolished them.”
‘That may be true,’ Sonic thought to himself, ‘but judging by these robot parts, they were all Egg Pawns. I just bet Eggman and Solar Dusk are saving the stronger ones for later.’
The guard then continued, “By the order of Princess Celestia, our #1 priority was to evacuate everypony here. So to not waste time, Princess Cadence did something we all didn’t expect; she used her magic and did a teleportation spell on everypony in town! And now, they’re all safe.”
Everyone’s jaw suddenly dropped in shock at the thought of someone having that much power; especially Twilight and her friends.
“Whoa, no way,” said Twilight.
“Looks like somepony has beaten your record, Twilight,” said Spike with a smirk.
“My word!” said Rarity, “Princess Cadence is simply amazing! I guess her love for Canterlot gave her the power to do such a feat!”
“It was quite a feat,” said the guard, “but unfortunately it took almost all of her majesty’s magic to do so; and now… she’s too weak to do anything about this predicament. I’m afraid that it's up to all of you now. But you know… no pressure.”
Possibly having the hope of Cadence brought a smile to Twilight and her friends, but it was quite disappointing to hear that she wasn’t going to be able to join them after all; and Shining Armor was probably right by her side at this moment as well to comfort her as she did for him a couple of days ago when he was badly injured from the Metal Sonic attack.
“No worries,” said Sonic proudly, “that’s exactly what we were expecting anyway. Saving the world; or in this case, worlds… is our specialty. Hopefully, we’ll end all of this at supersonic speed!”
“He is talking about all of us, right?” Spike questioned.
Twilight smiled as she looked back at the soldier and said, “Thank you so much for the good news. You can go tell Cadence that we thank her for what she’s done and that things will be situated around here very soon. Oh... and tell her and Shining hi for me.”
The soldier smiled and proudly bowed as he replied, “Heh, as you wish, Princess. But please… be careful. I sense a strong source of dark magic up ahead from the castle grounds. Best of luck!”
And with that, the soldier took of into the sky and was headed back to the Crystal Kingdom. Twilight then turned into the direction of the palace with pure determination  in her eyes. This was the moment they were all waiting for; but were they truly ready?
“Well… there’s no turning back now. Let’s go settle this once and for all.”
----------
Everyone was  bravely making their way towards the Canterlot Palace wondering what would await them. But there was no time for self doubts; they couldn't back down now, and they wouldn't. Eventually, they made it to the main gate that led into the castle grounds. Sonic and his friends looked up at it's tall height, but they didn’t seem to hear anything on the other side.
“So the castle grounds are right behind these gates, huh?” said Amy, “So how come I don't hear anything?”
“Yeah, it's so quiet…” said Pinkie sounding suspicious, “maybe too quiet.”
“Don’t say something like that, Pinkie,” said Rarity, “You could jinx us.”
“Sorry, hee hee, but I always wanted to say that!”
“Of course you did.”
Twilight knew of the lock on the gate door and got in front of everyone while stating, “Stand back.” She then used her magic to undo the lock causing the gates to open wide. 
Everyone carefully walked in unexpected of what they could see; and what they did see was the wide open castle grounds that seemed to be ruined with potholes and wreckage everywhere. However, there was no one around, and everything seemed to be silent just as they thought it was.
“Pinkie is right;” Spike whispered as he crossed his arms, “it is too quiet.”
“Told ya.”
“I don’t get it,” Twilight stated, “The guard we came across said that this place was a battlefield as we can clearly see. So where is everypony?”
Everyone was feeling a little uneasy seeing no enemy in sight; especially Fluttershy who pulled Cream closer to her and said, “J-just stay close to me, Cream. I don’t know what's about to happen.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Shy,” said Cream with a nervous smile, “I’m not scared.” However after looking around, Cream then latched her arms around Fluttershy stating, “But… I-I-’ll stay close just in case.”
‘Chao…’
Knuckles began to shudder as he was sensing the dark atmosphere around them and lightly grunted as he said, “I’m getting a bad aura from this place. It’s obvious that we’re walking into another trap.”
“What do you make of this, Sonic?” questioned Tails.
And of course, Sonic answered right away. “Well I think we’ve been through enough situations like this to know what happens next. My guess is that the door will close and lock behind us; followed by us suddenly being surrounded by our enemies with no hope of escape.”
Then right at that moment, the gate doors suddenly closed behind them giving them a quick scare. Then in an instant, everyone was suddenly surrounded by by huge groups of Eggman’s robots that suddenly appeared on every side. But not only that, they suddenly saw the entire Royal Guard squadron (minus Shinning who was presently in the Crystal Kingdom) of Princess Celestia accompanying them; and they were all sporting one of Solar Dusk’s gem collars. This was much worse than they imagined.
“Yeah… pretty much like that.”
“Celestia’s entire royal guard is on their side now?!” Applejack exclaimed, “Definitely not good.”
And of course, Twilight and her friends could also see their robotic clones straight ahead of their sight. Everything was happening so fast.
“Look! It's our metal doppelgangers!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “Ooh, how I want to get revenge on those freaky fakes!”
“Don't we all,” said Twilight with a slight scowl, “but be patient.”
Thankfully for them, none of the robots began to attack yet; but their attention soon came to the main top balcony of the castle as some spotlights shined down on it. And then the diabolical scientist, Dr. Eggman stepped out onto the balcony letting out some evil laughter. 
“Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho! Greetings! Greetings, one and all! You’re just in time for the grand finale! Nice for you all to make it, although it's quite surprising to see you all here! I figured that you were all still back in Ponyville assisting my bots to capture and enslave the citizens of that pitiful town.”
“Grr… EGGMAN!!!” shouted Knuckles as he raised his fist.
“You've got a lot of nerve taking things this far!” said Amy, “Don’t think that things will go your way for long!”
“Perhaps I would be,” Eggman responded, “but have you forgotten that there’s a second player in this game? Allow me to present to you the very one who made all of this possible! The very one who will soon rule this land and help make me rise to the top! Please put your hands… and hooves together for the one and only… Kiiiiiiiiiiiing Solar Dusk!”
As everyone paid attention, they saw Eggman step to the side as the one they were all after showed up at the edge of the balcony. Solar Dusk was standing there wearing a black and purple armor plating, and a custom made crown housing one of his own gems. And for extra flair, he was even wearing a crimson red cape that flowed with the wind.
“Seriously? A crown and a crimson red cape?” said Spike, “Heh, ego much?”
No one was really impressed of Solar Dusk’s special attire; it just seemed like the usual kind of outfit that most normal villains would wear. However, it didn’t erase the fact of how serious their situation was.
“Really? No applause at all?” questioned Eggman, “No one?! Oh well, guess you can't please everybody.”
Everyone was on edge as they were glaring up at Solar Dusk who was also glaring down on them. He looked at who was in the group that came to oppose him and became quite irritated.
“Unbelievable,” he said in a solemn tone, “Can’t say that I’m surprised though. I knew for a fact that some of my dark magic had disappeared suddenly. At first I believed that it had something to do with that that inferior hedgehog and echidna. But… now I can see the real reason why.”
“He’s talking about you, isn’t he?” Amy whispered to Cream.
“‘fraid so.”
‘Chao chao’
As Solar Dusk glared directly at Cream, he just chuckled lightly to himself, “Heh heh. I don’t  know how you were able to escape from your little time out in your world, but it seems that once again I have underestimated you.” Then suddenly, he shouted in a rageful manner,  “INSOLENT CHILD!!! You are going wish that you had given up and stayed put!”
“Ooh, somepony’s angry,” said Pinkie in an awkward tone.
Suddenly, Cream came up in the front and stared back at Solar Dusk feeling brave and said, “S-s-stop trying to freak me out, Solar Dusk! I’m getting sick of that and everything else  that you’re doing! I told you that you weren’t going to get away with it, and we’re all going to stop you… with this!”
Cream then grabbed the Chaos Emerald from Sonic and held it up in in Solar Dusk’s view.
“What the… a chaos emerald?” he said in slightly shocked manner.
“That’s right!” said Cream with a proud smirk, “Thanks to another friend of mine’s back in our world, we know all about the negative effect these emeralds have on your dark power; and now we’re going to use it to finally stop you!”
Solar Dark looked a little irritated seeing that they discovered his secret somehow. However, he then showed a solemn expression and said sarcastically, “So you found out about that. Good for you.”
“Hoo hoo! They’ve gotten real lucky, haven’t they?” said Eggman.
“You bet we have!” said Sonic, “Thanks to Cream, we were able to free Ponyville from your dominant rule. And now, we’re going to use the same tactic here as well. Looks like you’re going to lose yet again, egg face!”
“It’s Eggman!” Eggman shouted in frustration, “Not egg face, not eggy… Eggman! You’re starting to get on my last nerve, rodent!”
“Isn’t that what I do best?”
Feeling that they were wasting time, Twilight stepped up and demanded, “Enough with the taunting already! I think you know what we want next, Solar Dusk; what have you done with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?! Did you imprison them in their own dungeon? Did you trap them in some weird magic dimension or something?”
Solar Dusk’s solemn expression suddenly changed into a dark, evil sneer as he began laughing to himself. Everyone wasn’t quite sure why he was suddenly laughing before them; but something told them that something unexpected was about to happen.
“You know, you’re random acts of evil laughter are really annoying and totally unnecessary!” Rainbow Dash shouted. 
“Princess Twilight;” said Solar Dusk with a evil smirk, “now why would I do something like that... when I can do something so much better.”
Solar Dusk’s horn suddenly glowed bright with dark magic, and everyone stood back preparing for whatever he had plan. But then, they suddenly saw two figures appear on both side of Solar Dusk hovering in midair. They were wondering who it was that he summoned; but to Twilight and her friends’ worst fears, it was none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
Along with everyone else, Cream stood there in horror wishing for what she was seeing to be false,”Miss Shy… a-are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
“I-I-I see it,” Fluttershy responded, “but... I don’t believe it.”
They were all in total shock of what they were seeing. Why were those two there? Were they Solar Dusk’s prisoners somehow, or was it something else? But they soon saw a little golden bracelet caressed around both of their necks; and their was a dark gem embedded in them. They were truly under Solar Dusk’s control, and the purple color of their glowing eyes more than confirmed it.
“Well, that’s lovely,” said Spike sarcastically.
“This… th-this is… impossible!” Twilight shouted at Solar Dusk, “I don’t care how powerful you are; your dark magic shouldn’t have surpassed theirs!”
“Looks like it did to me!” said Pinkie.
“That’s not exactly helpin’ things fer us, Pinkie,” Applejack complained.
Besides Cream and Cheese, Sonic and his friends were witnessing the appearance of the Royal Sisters for the first time. But it was unfortunate for them to meet them under these circumstances.
“So that’s Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, huh?” said Tails, “They actually seem kinda cool. Although… they would’ve seem cooler without the possession of dark magic.”
“Not to worry, buddy… and pony gals,” said Sonic as he got the emerald back from Cream, “With this chaos emerald, this will be over in no time! Allow me.”
“Sonic, wait!” shouted Twilight.
But Sonic didn’t hear her. He had already took off before anyone could stop him.
“Once again, he he dashes recklessly right into action,” stated Rarity, “He really is just like you, Rainbow Dash.”
“Yep. Wouldn’t have done it any other way.”
The robots in Sonic’s path weren't planning on letting him go by, so they did everything they could to stop him. However, Sonic didn’t let that bother him and kept dodging them easily; and he even bashed through some of them along the way. Solar Dusk was carefully watching him not feeling worried about him at all. He stayed calm and collected. On the other hand, it couldn’t be the same with Eggman as Sonic got higher and nearer to their position.
“Gah, he’s almost here! We must do something!”
Once Sonic was near enough and was aiming toward Solar Dusk, Celestia and Luna suddenly got in Sonic’s path and fired a beam together. But Sonic smirked as he dodged it to the side at the last moment while advancing forward.
“If I can't take out Solar Dusk first,” Sonic shouted, “then I guess I’ll take out you two instead! Consider yourselves… dis-spelled!”
As the sisters were recovering from their last attack, Sonic aimed the Chao Emerald at Celestia and connected it with the gem. A huge power surge was building up between the two forces, and it seemed that Celestia would soon be free from Solar Dusk’s control.
“Mister Sonic did it… he really did it!” Cream said in awe.
Everyone was suddenly cheering Sonic on for his risky and drastic action. It seemed that they could turn this battle around in an instant.
“Oh yeah, That jerk is in trouble now!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
But as Solar Dusk kept watching, a small smirk was hidden from the others as he lightly chuckled to himself, “You’re such a fool.”
Just then, Sonic could feel the emerald’s force against the gem suddenly start to grow weak. “What?!” Then in an instant, the power from the dark gem overcame the emerald’s and repelled it away from it; sending it hurdling over the grounds… and Sonic along with it.
“Sonic!” Amy shouted in worry.
Knuckles quickly took to action as he shouted, “I gotcha!” And he suddenly leapt up in Sonic’s flying path to catch him before landing back down and laying him on the ground.
“Heh… my hero,” Sonic groaned as he chuckled lightly.
Knuckles just crossed his arms and grumbled, “Oh shut up.”
“What the hay just happened?!” Twilight exclaimed, “It didn’t work?! Why didn’t it work?!”
As the rest of Sonic’s friends came over to him, Cream questioned, “Are you okay, Mister Sonic?!”
“Y-y-yeah, I’m fine,” Sonic groaned, “I don’t know what happened, but…” Suddenly, he looked in his hand and saw that the emerald had gone dull and was completely out of energy. “Oh no, the chaos emerald!”
It was then the emerald glowed and then floated out of Sonic’s hand and then vanished into thin air.
“Um… where did that emerald go?” said Pinkie curiously, “Weren’t we going to use that to… you know… beat that meanie’s butt or something?”
“This is not good,” said Knuckles, “I think those gems on the Princesses somehow overpowered the emerald and sapped it of its energy. And now it's returned back to our world. That’s unfortunate.”
“What?! You mean to tell me that our only means to possibly beating this guy is gone?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
Solar Dusk was enjoying the sight of his enemies in shock and at a state of weakness. He was really looking forward to seeing that ever since they got there. 
“Ooh, too bad for all of you,” he chuckled, “Looks like things aren’t exactly going your way… not that it ever was.”
Cream dropped to her knees feeling upset that her chance to finally give Solar Dusk a lesson was ruined. “This can’t be happening. That should’ve worked! We just used that emerald to destroy many of Solar’s gems to free Ponyville! How could the gems on those two not be affected like the others have?!”
To Twilight, there was only one explanation, “He must’ve done something different with those specific gems; but what?”
“You’re right;” Solar Dusk stated, “good hypothesis. But trust me, what I did wasn’t easy; and it wouldn’t have been possible yet again without the help of the Doctor.”
“Of course,” said Eggman, “This is all because of me… again.”
Solar Dusk just rolled eyes and groaned in annoyance.
“So let me guess,” said Sonic, “you’re going to explain to us of how you did it?”
“Well… go on,” said Eggman, “they can’t beat you now; so go on ahead and gloat of how you’ve seized your victory.”
Solar Dusk felt that Eggman was right about his victory and felt that maybe it would make him feel better to brag about what he did. “Very well. After studying a little over the chaos emerald that the Doctor had after seeing what it did to my gems, it was obvious that it needed no place in my ultimate plan. It was quite a disappointment, especially since it’s immense power was unlike anything I had ever experienced. But the more I tried to ignore it, the more I could not ignore it. I hate to had admit it to myself, but I knew that even with my power, facing the princesses would still be a challenge. I knew that if I wanted any chance of true success, I needed to harness some of the emerald’s power if not all of it.”
“But... that shouldn’t matter!” Cream argued, “No matter what you could do, it shouldn’t have worked. If your magic couldn’t bond with the emerald’s energy one way, then it can’t do it at all!”
“Heh, heh. Now you see… that is where you are wrong, little girl.”
“Wut does he mean by that?” said Applejack. 
“Eggman showed me a little invention of his called the Egg Splitter; a machine that could extract and transfer energy between objects. As ridiculous as it's named, it proved to be very useful. He used it to extract some of the energy from the emerald in his possession. From there, I took a huge risk to used my magic to change the properties of the extracted energy into my own. Heh, I won’t lie, the process hurt like crazy. As a matter of fact, I almost passed out doing it. But I was able to hold my own and stay unconscious; and in the end, I finally succeeded. I successfully extracted energy from the Chaos Emerald and made it my own. And the ironic thing is that it wasn’t even half the power the emerald contained. However, it was more than what I needed, and I was able to use it to finally create two powerful gems that would bring the Royal Sisters to their knees and under my control. Their very reaction when they became powerless in front of me was the most satisfying moment of my life.”
All that was planned to stop Solar Dusk once and for all was now shattered after he explained everything. Solar Dusk had somehow harness some energy of a Chaos Emerald; and together with his growing dark power, he was now more powerful than ever before. And now he had the support of the Celestia and Luna to boot.
“No… I can’t believe it,” said Cream in fright, “How are we supposed to stop him now?”
“This is nuts!” said Tails who was secretly fascinated, “Solar Dusk’s magic had a negative effect on the emerald itself, but he was able to take extracted energy from it and change it for his own use? Even if it was almost impossible for him to do it, that proves that there’s some kind of loop within the rules of the compatibility of his magic and the energy properties of chaos emeralds that he discovered and used that to his advantage. Heh… but I guess we’re at least lucky that he didn’t have the strength to do more than 2 gems with that power, right?”
“But that doesn't really matter, now does it?” said Solar Dusk, “That process may have taken a total strain on my magic, but it was all worth it to get up to this point. Thanks to the power I now draw from these princesses, you all stand no chance!”
“Yes… yes!” shouted Eggman proudly, “Now that’s how you do a proper gloating speech! Couldn’t have done it better myself!”
“Yes… thank you soooo much for that advice,” said Solar Dusk sarcastically.
Twilight’s friend, Rarity suddenly came up to her and softly said, “I sure hope you have a contingency plan, Darling. If not, we're done for.”
“What else are we supposed to do?” said Twilight worryingly, “We're surrounded, our chaos emerald is gone, Solar Dusk has Celestia and Luna on his side and he has obtained more power than he's ever had before! I-I-I suppose we could try the Elements of Harmony, but something tells me that they wouldn't be much help right now.”
Solar Dusk then turned his evil glare back at Cream and smirked he gloated, “I’m afraid your little plan to stop me has failed you, little rabbit girl. Kinda bites, doesn’t it?”
Cream was just standing there with her head down and her fists clenched; and she was lightly crying feeling terrible from Solar Dusk’s words.
“But then again, we both should’ve known that it was inevitable in the end. But “A” for effort of besting me twice now. Well, I think we all know what happens next. You will all stand down, surrender to me, and then maybe I don’t have to draw blood on these grounds. Either way, the outcome will be the same.”
Things were already bad for Cream and all of her friends. But when things seemed to go up for them, things went from bad to worse. All they could do was stand there in defense wondering what to do. But with Celestia and Luna on Solar Dusk’s control now, what chance did they have?
But suddenly after being silent for a while, Fluttershy finally spoke up and shouted...
“No!”
All was silent again as all eyes were on her; and Solar Dusk scowled at saying, “What?”
Fluttershy was still slightly shaking, but she mustered up the courage to look Solar Dusk straight in the eye and said, “D-don’t sell yourself short, mister! W-we’re not surrendering to anyone, because… u-us heroes never give up! Right, Sonic?”
Like everyone else, Sonic looked pretty shocked of Fluttershy’s outburst. But he then he just smirked and responded, “Heh… last time I checked, that was correct.”
“All of us here have had just about enough of this! You give ponies like us a bad name! So what if you’ve taken control of two of our powerful leaders… a-and obtained more power than you have ever acquired; but do you really think… that we’re just going to just kneel and bow down to you like some sort of king?!”
“Isn’t... she suppose to be the shy one of these six ponies?” Tails whispered to Amy.
“Not today she isn’t,” Amy responded with a smirk of her own.
“We’re not going to be bested by you anymore! Celestia and Luna are our rulers… and our friends; and we’re going to get them back one way or another! As it was said to you before… our friendship… makes us more powerful than you could ever dream of being. You’re the one who is going to lose to us; do you hear me?!”
There was something in Fluttershy’s tone during her rant that was making Solar Dusk and Eggman feel a little uneasy; or maybe it was because of her stare as well. Angel was looking up at them wearing a little smirk and chuckling under his breath.
“Wow, Miss Shy…” said Cream with a shocked expression, “that was... so cool! I can't believe of how you just burst out to Solar Dusk like that.”
‘Chao!’
“It was nothing,” Fluttershy chuckled while blushing a bit, “I wanted to get that off of my chest for a while now. I feel much better.”
Twilight and all of her other friends’ mouths were hanging open and were feeling surprised of Fluttershy raising her voice like that in the midst of danger. But then again, they remembered her talking down to a dragon; so they figured that she could express herself louder when she needs to. 
“Well, girls,” said Twilight with smile, “what do you say to that?”
“I think it's pretty obvious,” said Rainbow Dash, “If Fluttershy can get herself to not be terrified before Solar Dusk, then so can we!”
“O-o-oh, you got it wrong,” said Fluttershy while slightly shaking, “I’m s-s-still dreadfully terrified, but… I refuse… to let it get in my way… of protecting my friends. We need to stop him right now… before he hurts anypony else.”
Suddenly, Sonic and his friends came up closer and stood with Fluttershy and her friends. There was no way they were going to let them have all the fun.
“And the same goes for us as well,” said Tails, “Just giving up when hope seems lost just isn’t our our style.”
“Yeah. Emerald or no emerald, I’m still going to bash some bot heads,” said Knuckles strongly.
“We got your backsides, girls,” said Amy while flaunting her hammer around, “We’ll keep on fighting all the way to the end!”
Twilight lightly smile seeing that everyone was still on board to fight on despite their chances. “Then let's do it!”
Up on the top balcony, Eggman was stroking his mustache feeling puzzled of what was going on, “Hmm. It doesn’t seem like any of them are going to surrender. I thought for sure that they would give up at this point; but hey, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. This is so like them, am I right?”
Solar Dusk was becoming more irritated than he already was. None of them were no longer frozen in fear, and they were planning to stop him anyway. “Are you all complete, idiotic fools?! Are you seriously going to continue resisting against me?! I have gained control of your two princesses and their magic and have a huge army with no emerald to assist you! Are you not aware of how hopeless your situation is?! You can’t win!”
“Sorry, Solar Dusk,” said Twilight, “but I’m afraid that there’s nothing you can do to bring us down anymore. Go ahead and try to capture us again if you, want, but don’t expect things to be as easy for you again. The power of friendship will prevail this day!”
It was then that Solar Dusk was finally fed up and shouted in rage, “Fine then! If you all wish to just throw your lives away just like that, then so be it; it won’t matter to me anyway! Whether you surrender or fall by my power, the outcome will be the same either way!”
Now that the enemy forces were about to attack, Twilight said to everyone, “Alright; everyone know what to do here?”
“I do! I do!” shouted Pinkie, “While Sonic and the others take care of the robots and the soldiers, we the six ponies will have a rematch our robot doubles and show them who is really better… US!”
“This isn’t going to be easy though,” said Tails while adjusting a laser pistol of his, “There are hundreds of robots and pony soldiers here, and they’re all possessed by Solar Dusk’s dark magic. Without a chaos emerald, this will make our job that much harder.”
“Man up, Tails!” Sonic chuckled as he patted Tails on his shoulder “We can take care of these guys without a chaos emerald!”
They were all prepared for a huge battle. However, Solar Dusk hadn’t made a move as he was deep in thought of what to do next.
“So… um, what your next plan of attack?” said Eggman hesitantly, “I’m guessing that you’re going to save the trouble of their resistance and send in these two princesses to end this once and for all, right?”
“No,” said Solar Dusk calmly in a dark tone, “doing so would be sympathetic; and I’m done showing any sympathy to these fools. They’ve gotten in my way enough times now and they still choose to resist against me. So I’m going to draw this out as long as I can and make them suffer for their choice.”
“Ooh, I see,” Eggman chuckled with delight, “You’re going to let them tire themselves out on the battlefield. And when the time is right, that is when you will strike. A cheap and very retro tactic, but I like it!”
“As do I.”
Solar Dusk then used his magic to gain his control on the robots and pony guards and commanded, “Attention my slaves, take those fools down! But if they resist too much… destroy them.”
On that cue, all of the robots and the controlled pony guards were on the offensive and were about to attack. But luckily, everyone saw Celestia and Luna pull back beside Solar Dusk and Eggman; and they knew that could only mean one thing.
“Looks like Solar Dusk and that Egg guy are holdin’ off the princesses fer now,” said Applejack, “Lucky us.”
“I guess he wants to tire us out with this army first before he does that,” Rarity stated, “He’s still underestimating us, isn’t he?” 
But suddenly, all of the enemy forces began to charge at them from all sides. Strangely though, the robot clones of Twilight and her friends stayed where they were expecting for their opponents to come to them.
“Here we go!” Twilight shouted, “Cover for us, guys!”
“As you command!” said Sonic
Sonic and his friends did their thing and used their skills to plow through crowd of enemies in front of them; but they were careful to not damage the pony guards too much. Twilight and the others were following right behind them as they cleared path to their robot clones. Once on the other side of the crowd, Knuckles shouted…
“There’s your opening! Go now!”
Twilight and her friends heard and rushed past them to go after their opponents. But suddenly, Cream stepped out and called out to Fluttershy, “Miss Shy, please… be careful!”
Fluttershy stopped and turned to her with a smile and said, “Don’t worry about me, Cream; go help your friends! We’ll be back to assist you guys as soon as we can... I promise!”
Then with that, she took off after friends. Cream  then turned to her chao friend, Cheese showing a strong determined expression and said, “Up to breaking more metal, Cheese?”
Cheese was more than ready.
‘Chao chao chao chao!”
As Sonic and his friends began fight through the crowd, an extra player entered the fray as Metal Sonic came swooping down from above almost catching Sonic off-guard who had quickly dodged at the last minute.
“Wow, seriously? You’re going after me a third time? Trust me, man; up to this point, you’re better off being infused with Solar’s dark magic.”
“Silence!” shouted the robot clone in anger, “I will make these castle grounds your grave!”
“Blah blah blah, yada yada yada and all that. You want to waste my time again, then be my guest!” 
Meanwhile… Twilight and her friends were now at a standing face-off with their robotic clones; the Mecha Six. They remembered everything that happened in their last fight against them and mostly knew what to expect. They weren't planning to be defeated this time.mostly knew what to expect. They weren’t going to allow themselves to be beaten again.
“Well well, look at what we have here, girls,” said Rainbow Dash in a mocking tone, “It’s a small group of scrap metal... or at least they’re going to be!”
“Oooooooooooooooh, burn!” Pinkie added.
“Ah yes, that was a rather clever burn, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity.
“Come on; focus, girls!” Twilight exclaimed, “we don’t want to be caught off guard by them again. We have to overpower Solar Dusk’s dark magic and defeat them somehow. They may look like us, and have the same abilities as us, but that’s it.”
“Don’t forget about the cutiemarks,” Spike added, “They have those too.”
“Trust me, Twilight,” said Applejack as she was stretching out her joints, “These robot fakes got nothin’ on us. Lets show them wut the real bearers of the Elements can do!”
Angel was on top of Fluttershy’s head glaring at the Fluttershy robot clone and was slightly growling while pointing at it in a threatening way. Fluttershy just chuckled and told him, “Careful, Angel. Make sure to not over-exausted yourself.”
After facing-off for a few more seconds, Twilight suddenly commanded, “Let’s do this!”
Twilight and all of her friends took off forward, and their mecha counterparts suddenly did the same. Each of them had separated their opponents from each other and were focus on the task at hand. They each had nothing more but the moral support from each other and the friendship bond they shared; and with that, they knew that they couldn’t lose.

> Chapter 15-a: Mane Six vs Mecha Six (Pt.1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


ART by: kwark85



ROUND 1: Pinkie Pie -vs- Mecha Pie

When it came to Pinkie Pie and taking on enemies, she had a very unique way of doing it. But this time, she chose to not play around once she was going hoof to hoof with her robot counterpart. But that’s not to say that she was not trying to have some fun while trying to beat it. Mecha Pie had a laser gun that had popped out from its shoulder and began shooting at the pink mare. Pinkie just smile as she kept on dodging with a skip and a hop and so on. It was getting tired of her weird movements, so it decided to go at her for some physical combat. It took Pinkie by surprise, but she was holding her own trying to keep her back with her own strength; and she showed it more when she headbutted Mecha Pie causing it pull back a bit. However, Pinkie wasn’t trying to cocky or anything. She knew of it's strength thanks to the dark gem inside it. But she wasn’t going to give up.
“Wow, you really are strong!” she said admittedly, “This isn’t going to be easy. But I’m pretty sure that me and my friends will beat you and yours in the long run. Being controlled by dark magic isn’t fun at all.”
“I’m afraid that your hypothesis is incorrect,” the Mecha Pie suddenly said, “The percentage of you and your friends winning against us is 5%; and even that small percentage won’t save you.”
“Wait a minute,” said Pinkie in shock, “you could talk all this time?!”
“All of us can talk, we just didn’t feel any need to do it at anytime until now.”
Pinkie found it found it interesting that her opponent was talking. It sound mostly like her, except it sounded more mechanized. “That’s kinda weird, but it is awesome that you can talk; and hearing a robotic version of my voice is really cool! Too bad I have to take you down though.”
“And what makes you so sure that you can?” Mecha Pie stated, “You and your friends were all beaten last time.”
“Well yeah, duh! That's only because we had no idea what to expect then. But that’s not going to happen again! We are totally going to win this time!”
“Oh please... don’t make me laugh!”
Mecha Pie stuck with the same tactics it did before thinking that it would prove different, but Pinkie was smarter than she looked. Everything it did, Pinkie kept dodging it in her own weird way. Pinkie felt good about this. “Ha, who's, laughing now? Come on, isn’t there something else you can do? Surprise me!”
Mecha Pie’s red eyes began to glow before two little chutes came out from it sides. And from it, a whole bunch of streamers came shooting out and caught Pinkie by surprise as they suddenly bounded her body and legs together. She tried to break out of it, but to no avail as she fell down on her side feeling impressed. “Whoa! Streamer rope?! Cool! I Never would’ve thought of that! I have to remember this idea!” Then she saw Mecha Pie come up to her again and brought out its party death cannon and began to charge it. “That is… if I even live to do it!”
“This battle was bound to end in my favor one way or another,” Mecha Pie stated, “This is your sudden fate for rebelling against the master.”
However right at that moment, Pinkie’s Element was beginning to glow. Mecha Pie didn’t like it, so it fired the cannon resulting in an explosion before it. Once the dust settled, Mecha Pie looked forward and received a surprise. “What?! Impossible!”
Pinkie Pie was still there, but not only was she free from the streamers, her Element had protected her from the cannon’s blast. “Whoa, I'm still alive! Hee hee… what are the odds?”
And from there, Pinkie suddenly went on the offensive catching Mecha Pie off guard and giving it a face full of hoof. Being in a confused state, Mecha Pie couldn’t follow Pinkie’s moves, allowing her to give it a good ol’ headbutt to the ground. “Yes! I'm on fire! This is going to be a piece of cake! Mmm… cake.”
Mecha Pie got up from  being beaten down and was glaring upon Pinkies cheerfulness. “What is wrong with you? Are you actually joking around when your demise is near?! Stop being so upbeat all the time!”
Pinkie suddenly looked back at Mecha Pie with an unsure expression and said, “You know… if you were anything like me, you would learn to have a laugh every once in awhile if not a lot! Laughter is what always helps me get through my day; and it even helps my friends feel better too! But you know what? You’re nothing like me; not even in the slightest! You may look a lot like me and have my precious little cutie mark, but the similarities end there, sister! There ain't no Pinkie like the original Pinkie!”
“Enough!” Mecha Pie shouted, “It appears that you're resisting too much!” Steam suddenly hissed from it's body as it opened up and many mechanized instruments came popping out and were pointing straight at Pinkie, “So upon my master’s orders, I will destroy you now… with my ‘One Mecha Pony Band Death Orchestra!”
Pinkie was looking at the sight in front of her feeling shocked and a bit afraid. She knew she had to do something or she was toast; but all she could think to do was to suddenly shout, “Wait wait wait!”
“What is it now?” Mecha Pie groaned.
“B-before you completely obliterate me, c-care for me to show you my one of a kind Party Cannon again?!”
Thinking back on when Pinkie used it the first time, Mecha Pie just stated, “Are you serious?”
“It will only be a minute,” Pinkie pleaded.
Mecha Pie wasn't sure if it should waste time taking out her enemy, but it figured that it could get one more amused moment out of her. It suddenly placed away it weapons and idly sat to wait for Pinkie’s performance. 
“Very well. I’ll humor you a bit and allow it. But don't think it will prove anything.”
Pinkie placed on a smile as she wiped out her canon once again from nowhere and pointed it straight at Mecha Pie. 
”We’ve both seen the difference between your cannon and mine; and compared to me, your cannon is completely useless.”
Wearing a light smirk on her face, Pinkie said to her enemy, “Oh… I wouldn’t say that exactly.”
“What?!”
“FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!”
Pinkie then slammed her hoof on the cannon’s fire button to ignite it. But instead of streamers and confetti, the cannon fired a pink, steeled cannonball that headed straight for it's mark. It was much too quick for Mecha Pie to comprehend it and was quickly destroyed by the ball’s impact. It shattered into many metal pieces that fell onto the ground; and the dark gem that was inside it fizzed out and crumbled into dust. The first official victory went to the Mane 6.
“Didn’t expect that, did ya? My tricks aren’t all party favors you know. Hee hee, looks like I have the last laugh after all.”
-------------

ROUND 2: Applejack -vs- Mecha Jack

It was the apple bucking pony vs the apple bucking robot. Applejack was in a rodeo showdown with her robot clone, Mecha Jack; and it was all a test of strength. Applejack was standing her ground no matter what her metal clone threw at her. She was determined to do anything to make sure that her friends and family back home would be safe; and to be sure of that, she knew that she had to win. However, the constant blows were beginning to take a toll on her as she was suddenly looking back at her metal clone huffing and puffing. But all she did was crack a smirk realizing that she was getting quite the workout.
“Well… Ah have to admit, yer a lot stronger than Ah thought ya would be; Ah’ll give ya that much. But that doesn't matter to me, because mah friends and Ah will win against you and yer little entourage no matter wut. Mah home… all of Equestria… they won’t be safe as long as yer around; and Ah made a promise to mah family that Ah would come back safely after we defeated yer master! So Ah’m going to keep that promise, startin’ with yer destruction; then savin’ Equestria will be that much easier!”
Mecha Jack was slightly glaring at Applejack with it's glowing red eyes and stated, “According to mah servos, it seems that you make an awful lot of promises. That’s truly pathetic.”
“And wut’s so wrong about that?” Applejack retorted.
“Wut’s the point of making promises that you know you can’t keep? Do you honestly think that you can actually stop me… stop any of us… and our master?”
Holding on tight to the Element around her neck, Applejack answered, “Oh… Ah know that Ah will. Yer master will get wut’s comin’ to him eventually. But first, mah friends and Ah need to make sure to take the 6 of you robot fakes out of commission.” Applejack then quickly whipped out a rope that she had and wrapped it around Mecha Jack in a tight bind without it putting up much of a fight. “Afterall… if ya’ll think that the same outcome from last time is goin’ to happen again, then ya’ll better think again. Ya’ll be turned into scrap metal piles before this day is done.”
“Why?” Mecha Jack scoffed, “Because that’s the honest truth? You’re completely foolish to think that trying to help others and making promises is any way to make a difference in a situation; it’s illogical!”
Then with all her might, Applejack pulled really hard on her rope to quickly bring their opponent to her; and then send it flying back down on the ground with a double hind-kick. She then used her rope once again whirl Mecha jack in air before slamming it back down on the ground yet again. “Well ya see, that’s yer problem. Even though you were copied from me, you and Ah… we’re nothing alike. So you can’t possibly know the true power of honesty. It’s more powerful than you think.”
It was then that Mecha Jack finally had enough. It caught Applejack off-guard and snapped her rope in half. Then it stared back at her with glowing eyes and shouted, “So… ya want power? Ah’ll show ya power!”
Mecha Jack then raised its fore hooves high in the air and then slammed them down on the ground. The ground around them began shaking violently, and Applejack was getting a bit shaken up herself, “W-w-wut in sweet tarnation is this?!”
But before she knew it, thick tree roots came shooting upwards and were wrapping all around her holding her limbs in place. She was trying to break loose, but the branches proved to be too strong, and she was now at her enemy's mercy.
“It seems that you and yer organic friends still fail to realize… we are yer betters! Our power and strength surpasses yers in every single way! Our master took yer strengths and made them better; overshadowing you in comparison. And without any of yer friends to help you, yer done.”
Mecha Jack raised up it's metal hoof as it glowed with immense power. It was going to strike against Applejack to knock the wind completely out of her.
“Once I completely crush yer spirit, yer mind will belong to our master of certain again.”
But suddenly, the Element around Applejack’s neck began to glow and encased her with bright light. Mecha Jack suddenly stepped back in shock as it saw the roots bounding Applejack to the ground begin to falter and crack.
“Wut?! Is this the power from yer Element?!” 
Before it knew it, the Element’s power overcame the roots and then shattered them into oblivion.  
“No! How is that possible?!”
Applejack was a bit surprised herself to see her Element save her in such a way. However, she just chuckled lightly as she looked back her opponent and said, “Yer master may have made you and the others based on us, but Ah don’t really care if you were given more power and capabilities. You’ll never be able to be stronger than the bond Ah share with my friends.“
Mecha Jack charged at her again with it's glowing hoof and tried to knock her out anyway; but Applejack surprisingly caught it and  then used her strength to twirl Mecha Jack around before slamming it back on the ground. But then, Applejack had an interesting idea as she decided to test her opponent's will of honesty.
“And besides, Mecha me… wut makes ya so sure that yer master will keep you around?”
Mecha Jack slowly got back up while glaring back at the earth mare. The recent sudden impact caused some of it's inner wiring to be jumbled and was slightly malfunctioning. “W-w-ut... does that me-ean?”
“Ah’m just sayin’; if he captures us… the real deal, and has us under his control fer good, wut makes you think that he’ll even keep ya around.”
Being modeled after the Element of Honesty, just the very thought of Applejack being right made it mad. “D-d-d-don’t play mind g-g-games with me. Ah am perfect! Ah am all p-p-powerful!”
“Exactly. He’ll think that you’re gettin’ too  powerful even for him and then decide to scrap you before something bad comes from it.”
“Stop it! Yer wrong! Our master won’t don’t do such a thing-ing-ing to us! We are his most prized posses-s-s-s-sion and would never throw us away for s-s-scrap.”
Applejack noticed that she was finally wearing Mecha Jack down with her words. She then gave it the ultimate predicament. “Then give me an honest answer to this. If yer Master created you to be just like us, and yer supposed to be so perfect and stronger than us, then he could’ve easily had you destroy us and get it over with. But yer all just robots. Why in Equestria would he have you around if he permanently had us, the real deal under his control? If ya ask me, he’s probably just usin’ you to get to us; and then he will just toss you to the side like trash. And if we ever break free from his power again, he can just use our DNA to make you again so he can… ya know, use you.”
“BE QUIET!!!”
Mecha Jack was now on the boiling point; not comprehending what Applejack was stating. It didn't like it and wanted it to stop. “Y-y-y-you are filled with n-n-n-nothing but lies!”
“Am Ah?” said Applejack with a little smirk, “Wut’s the matter; does the truth hurt? Sorry, but maybe if you actually think about things instead followin’ commands all of the time, you would know that. But then again, yer a robot; ya don’t have any brains to think.”
Suddenly, Mecha Jack stomped one of it's hooves on the again causing some more root to rise up and wrap around Applejack’s legs as it stated in anger, “Maybe you’re telling the truth. A-a-a-although, my mas-ter did say to c-a-a-apture unless the enemy struggles too much. So ya want me to be honest?” The roots then threw Applejack high into the air as Mecha Jack pursued after her powering up one of it's legs fully, “Then as of now… YOU’RE DONE!!!”
From Mecha Jack’s perspective, it was the perfect setup. Once it was close enough, it launched it's powered-up hind hoof to permanently knock Applejack out of commission. But once it did, Applejack suddenly dodged out of the way at the last second. She then grabbed one of Mecha Jack’s hooves and grinned as she said, “Sorry…” Then her Element shined once again as it's power surged through; and she swing her opponent around furiously, “but you... ain’t killing... anypony…” 
Then with a mighty throw, Applejack sent Mecha Jack hurdling back down to the ground at a speed so fast the impact caused it’s body to mostly dismantled. It’s body suddenly shut down completely and the gem inside it suddenly fell out and shattered into dust. Applejack landed back down on the ground and bowed her hat as she finished her statement... 
“because you’ve already lost; and that’s the honest truth.”
---------------------
ROUND 3: Rarity -vs- Platinum Rarity

They say that diamonds are a lady’s best friend… or any kind of gem for that matter. However, this is one type of gem that Rarity would rather do without. She was hoping to not get into any fights that would ruffle up her beautiful white coat; but it seemed to her that it could not be avoided as she was going against her robotic double, Platinum Rarity. Rarity really didn’t want to get physical, but she knew that her magic wouldn’t be enough to beat it. But nonetheless, she still went to her magic skills right off. She wasn’t as skilled in magic as Twilight was, but she was pretty resourceful when it came to it. Although, Platinum Rarity was proving to be very formidable. Despite not actually being made of platinum, its metal hide did a number on Rarity’s hooves. She was getting fed up with this and wanted this to all be over, but her opponent wasn’t making it any easier.
“Why… just why?” Rarity stated to her enemy, “Why do you have to look so… so fabulous?! I just can't get over the shimmering white, metal coat, the style of your mane and everything on you… it all just screams me! It's just not right!” But remembering the task at hand… or hoof, Rarity took a deep breath to calm herself, “Okay. Focus, Rarity; focus. You can't afford to let little things like this bother you. The fate of two whole worlds is at stake! I can't let everypony down! Once this insulting sight is out of the way, I don't have to feel bad about myself anymore!”
P. Rarity felt amused seeing the way Rarity was acting and quoted, “Listen to yourself, you sound like you’re in some kind of dilemma. You don't want to fight such a brutal battle, yet you choose to do so anyway; and for what… to help save your friends?”
“Well of course! What other reason would there be?! It may not be something I want to do every day, but it is my duty as one of the Elements of Harmony!”
Rarity then proceeded to cast a spell that she developed on her own; summoning magic-induced gems and were shooting them at her robot clone in rapid succession. When she was done, P. Rarity was still standing with only a few scratches here and there that it easily polished over with a polishing brush that it brought out from it's side.
“What?!” Rarity exclaimed, “But that was spot on; and you just brushed it off like it was nothing! Perhaps I need to use denser gemstones in that spell.”
Continuing to stare her down, P. Rarity  said, “I believe that I have a proposition for you, darling. It might just save your life.”
“Well please.... do tell me what this proposition is exactly,” said Rarity as she rolled her eyes.
“Think about it. I could easily annihilate you right now if I wanted to, and you don't want to die, right? You still have so much you want to do with your life; dreams to be fulfilled. So ditch your generosity and your so-called friends and save yourself. If you do that, I promise that you will have all the gems and riches in the world; and I’ll make sure that everypony obeys any demand or need you wish for. What do you say, darling!”
Rarity was looking at her enemy with a disgusted expression after hearing what it was trying to make her do. Suddenly out of anger, Rarity caught her enemy off-guard as she quickly fired a powerful gemstone that barely connected and almost knock her enemy over. P. Rarity had looked on the side where it was hit and became angered itself seeing a deep scratch in it's body.
“What have you done? You've made a scaring mark on my beautiful finish! You will pay for that.”
“Oh get over it already,” Rarity stated, “It serves you right for saying such a degrading suggestion to me. Do you honestly think that I would stoop so low as to give into any of that rubbage! You must think I was born yesterday to think that I would actually be greedy enough to betray my friends! Well forget that!” 
Rarity charged and rammed herself into her metal cone using magic in her horn for more damage. She then used her magic to raise it up and tossed it against the ground. After getting back up, P. Rarity noticed the Element around Rarity’s neck was glowing. It was beginning to wonder why she was being showed up suddenly.
“You can’t trick me into doing anything!” Rarity shouted, “I’d would rather give up my beauty and good looks before I put myself over my friends!”
“Is that so, darling?” said P. Rarity as it's eyes began glowing brightly, “If that really is your wish… then I would be happy to oblige to your request.”
It then busted out some giant scissor-like weapons from it's body and was aiming them at Rarity… and her mane.
“When I’m done with you, you’ll be so ugly that even a Cockatriece wouldn’t dare to look at you… and then I’ll destroy you.”
Rarity was looking at the giant scissors in horror as she held on to her flowing purple mane. “You… w-w-wouldn’t dare! It was just a figure of speech!”
As P. Rarity launched one of it's scissors, Rarity quick stopped it with a quick block spell. However, it didn't stop her opponent from launching get another, and another, and another. Rarity kept on blocking to protect her her mane, but it began feeling like each strike against her kept getting harder and harder.
“Stop… resisting… so much!” shouted P. Rarity, “No matter how much beauty you think you have over me, it won't change your fate!”
At some point, one of the scissors got past Rarity’s defenses and graced the side of her mane hacking a huge chunk of it off. Rarity freaked out seeing what happened and felt like fainting.
“Oh my gosh… my mane! What have you done to my mane?! You’ve completely… ruined it! How could you!”
But then, Rarity was knocked down by an aura blast from her enemy and was then held down by it's own magic. She suddenly regretted being distracted by her ruined mane.
“I don't get you,” said P. Rarity as it stood over the trapped mare, “I am you, so I know exactly the way you think. You always have thoughts of selfishness and greed! You seem to have ideas that always revolve around you; and yet… you do nothing to act upon it!” But feeling that worrying about it was a waste of time, P. Rarity just stated, “Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. Now that I have you under submission, I feel like showing a little generosity myself.” It then whipped out one of Solar Dusk’s gem collars and held it up over Rarity, “I won't kill you; but instead, I'll bring you back under my master’s control. You won’t feel so generous then, now will you?!”
Not again. There was no way that Rarity was going to go through that again. Just the very thought worried her so much. However as the collar got closer to her, her Element began to shine again as it formed a barrier between her and the collar. Rarity glared at the robot clone as she shouted…
“That… is… ENOUGH!”
The Element’s barrier suddenly launched forward knocking P. Rarity and the collar away. Rarity then shot another gem from her magic that destroyed the collar and dug a huge gash into P. Rarity’s metal hide.
“What the…”
After landing, P. Rarity could feel the damage in her circuitry and her sense of focus dwindling. But much like the original Rarity, it was more upset of it's overall appearance.
“N-n-no… h-how could y-y-you! My beautiful sh-sh-shell has been p-p-penetrated! This shouldn’t even be possible!”
“You are right about one thing, mechanical me;” said Rarity calmly, “I do have selfish thoughts roaming in head all the time. I always do think ideas that revolve around me, and only me; but so does almost everypony else! But unlike some certain ones, I choose to keep those feelings at bay. I don't let them control my actions and how I feel towards my friends. Many favors that I do… I don't do it just to earn other’s friendship and trust, I do it because I want to! The very feeling of generously giving to others is a major reward of itself! If you were really like me, you would know that; but let's face it, darling, you'll never be as generous and fabulous as I am.”
“W-w-why… I never…” said P. Rarity emanating it's eyes again before it suddenly took off towards Rarity who stayed standing there not moving an inch. “I won't allow you to beat me!”
Because of P. Rarity’s uneven coordination, all Rarity had to do was quickly step to the side at the right moment and tripped her enemy causing it to fall down. When it suddenly looked back up, it saw a giant gemstone hovering above it as Rarity said…
“Farewell.”
The gemstone was then released and crashed down shattering Rarity’s enemy and the dark gem inside it. Now that her business was done, Rarity brushed herself off and then used a mild spell to restore the rest of mane before brushing it and her tail to give it the natural smooth look that she liked. Although, she had a feeling that it wasn’t going to last long. 
“Oh dear, saving two worlds sure is exhausting and a completel strain on my mane and shiny coat. Once this is all over, I am so giving everyone a spa treatment.”
	
> Chapter 15-b: Main Six vs Mecha Six (Pt. 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



Round 4: Rainbow Dash vs Metal Dash

Rainbow Dash; the rainbow maned pegasus who claims to be the fastest pony in Ponyville was now going up against her biggest challenge yet… herself! Metal Dash was one of the Mecha Six that was mostly like their organic selves. It was fast, agile, arrogant, and very competitive. But Rainbow Dash didn’t care; this is exactly how she wanted it. She felt that it would have been boring if she didn’t have a challenge. The sky roared as both of them repeatedly clashed against each other leaving a neon rainbow trail wherever they went. None of them seemed to be losing steam, and kept pressing on no matter how long their battle would take. Of course for Rainbow Dash, she knew that she couldn’t draw it out much for too long. She needed to find a way to end her opponent and now.
Rainbow Dash and Metal Dash were now at a standstill in the air glaring back at each other with intense expressions. Huge tension was created around them while each was wondering who was going to make the next move.
“I always wondered what it would be like to go against myself;” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk, “so I guess I should thank Solar Dusk for doing this. Now I can really go all out and show off my skills all while saving the world; sweet!”
“Don’t you get all cocky,” said Metal Dash, “You don’t think that I’m going to go easy on you, do you? I am you… only 20% cooler.”
“Hey! That’s my line, you metal copycat!”
“The name is Metal Dash, and I’m going to kick your sorry flank until you can no longer stand on your own four hooves!”
“Oh yeah? Not if I do it to you first!”
Rainbow Dash and her metal counterpart soon went at it again dashing towards each other and delivering constant blows against each other’s hooves. Punch after punch, kick after kick, dash after dash; these two seemed be evenly matched. But at some point, there was a quick opening for Metal Dash as it swooped in a fast uppercut to Rainbow’s chin. She went flying a bit back, but she caught herself and rubbed the bruise on her chin as she chuckled at her opponent.
“Nice right hook you did there. It really bruised my jaw a bit.”
“How are you not exhausted yet?!” Metal Dash exclaimed, “According to my results from the last time we faced off, you didn’t even last half this long!”
“Hey, you got the drop on us, remember?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed back, “That was totally unfair! Now that we’re on even grounds, it's going to take a lot more than what you’ve done so far to take me down! And besides, you should know, right? You’re me, remember? You said so yourself. The only difference is… that I’m going to be the victor here!”
Metal Dash then used it eyes to scan over Rainbow’s body and stated, “Fat chance! Probability of your victory is 98%.”
“Oh… so I only have a 2% probability to rely on? I’ll take that chance.”
“You’re so annoying!” shouted Metal Dash feeling tired of Rainbow’s constant upbeat attitude.
“Thanks. The feeling is mutual.”
Without warning, Rainbow Dash caught Metal Dash off gurad by zipping right out of it's view and then immediately made a huge impact from above with her hoof sending Mecha Dash plummeting to the ground. 
“Ooh; try to put some ice on that… or not! Ha!”
Having her sight on the enemy, Rainbow Dash almost didn’t notice that someone else was hurdling her way. She saw it at the corner of her eye and almost panicked as it got too close. “What the…”
She reached out and tumbled back in the air as she caught who was her friend, Fluttershy and her rabbit friend. It seemed that they were in a bit of a tizzy.
“Whoa! I got ya, Fluttershy! Oh, and you too, Angel.”
Fluttershy had her eyes closed. But once she opened them, she looked up and saw who caught her. “Rainbow Dash! Thank you so much for catching me and Angel like that.”
Angel was underneath Fluttershy’s arms and nodded at Rainbow Dash feeling relieved.
“No worries!” said Rainbow Dash, “Glad I could help out, Fluttershy. So what happened just now? Are you having a bit of trouble with your robotic double?”
Fluttershy quickly got out of Rainbow’s hold and was trying to play it cool. “Well… m-maybe a little. But don’t worry, I was just caught off guard a little. I have this under control. You just focus on your enemy, okay?”
“Sure thing! Go get ‘em, Fluttershy!”
After Fluttershy went off, Rainbow Dash was watching her carefully. She knew of her pegasus friend and could tell that she was struggling a bit. But she knew better to doubt her.
“I sure hope she’ll be okay with all of this fighting and stuff. It's not really her strong suit.”
Suddenly from right behind her, “Maybe you should stop worrying about your friends… and worry more about yourself!”
Metal Dash didn’t attack; however, Rainbow Dash quickly backed away to see her opponent looking back at her in an irritated manner. “Forget that! I would gladly risk my life to protect my friends!”
“Ooh… what a wonderful and intriguing request,” Metal Dash responded, “I accept!”   
Rainbow Dash suddenly witnessed as Metal Dash’s wings expanded revealing more thrusters to increase its flight speed. It was then gone as if it transported somewhere; although, it didn’t. It came by knocking Rainbow Dash over, but she could barely see it coming. It then came a few more rounds, and Rainbow Dash was getting overwhelmed.
“Ugh! Is it just me… WHOA… or has that double of mine gotten a whole lot faster?”
She was able to dodge a few times, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Eventually, Rainbow Dash took off in a direction as fast as she could to try to throw her enemy off. “Maybe if I go fast enough myself, it won’t get to me as easily!”
Unfortunately, Metal Dash flew up right beside her as it said in a menacing tone, “Guess again.”
It quickly grabbed Rainbow Dash and flew her up higher in the air, “Going up…” Then it turned on a dime and began hurdling towards the ground, “and going down!”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t get herself loose as Metal Dash was spinning her around in it's hold. Then with one swing, it sent Rainbow Dash crashing down onto the ground. As Metal Dash looked down from above, it saw that Rainbow Dash was still struggling to get back up from that blow; but it was going to make sure that she stayed down.
“You were quite a challenge, but it was obvious to whom would stand on top. And you know why? It's because of your stupid loyalty to your friends! I hate to say it, but you are actually pretty hardcore… just like me. However, your so called loyalty has made you weak. You would rather protect your friends more than protecting yourself. So the real question is… who is going to protect you?!”
Metal Dash suddenly made a dive bomb towards Rainbow Dash who was trying to move out of the way, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to in time. But suddenly, something wonderful happened as the Element around her neck glowed brightly and repelled Metal Dash away. Because of it's power, Rainbow Dash found the strength to stand again; and she was impressed of what she had just witnessed.
“AWESOME!!! Looks like my Element saved me just in the nick of time.”
Metal Dash soon got its bearings together after being pushed back so suddenly, but it wasn’t planning on failing. “Don’t think that it will save a second time! If you think I was fast before, you’ve seen nothing.”
“You know what… you talk too much,” said Rainbow Dash as she stretched her wings, “At least what comes out of my mouth isn’t boring to hear!”
“What?!”
“Listen to you talking your trash talk about me being weak because I put my friends’ lives over mine. But that’s where you’re wrong! My loyalty to my friends is what makes me strong; and it makes me way more cooler than you will ever be… faker!”
“Faker?!” Metal Dash shouted in anger, “When I’m done with you, you’ll be the only faker here!”
Metal Dash extended its wings once again and went at Rainbow Dash at full throttle. But when it got to her, Rainbow Dash had suddenly vanished at the last minute. Metal Dash was suddenly looking around wondering where she went. “What the… how did she…” 
But suddenly, Metal Dash looked right beside it to see Rainbow Dash grinning as she said, “Peek-a-boo!”
Metal Dash quickly swung it's hoof, but missed as Rainbow Dash disappeared again. Rainbow Dash then appeared behind it blowing a raspberry; and Metal Dash swung at her again...and missed. This was done a dozen more times, and yet Metal Dash didn’t seem to land a single hit.
“This is impossible. There’s no way she can be faster than me!”
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash appeared below Metal Dash and kicked it upward into the air and then immediately went off after her. “If you think that’s fast… then you’ve seen nothing yet!”
Metal Dash couldn’t comprehend what was going on as Rainbow Dash grabbed ahold of it's body and stated, “Can you do a little something called a sonic rainboom?” But Metal Dash compiled by extending its wings again and zooming around at high speeds trying to knock Rainbow Dash off. However, it proved to be no use as the pegasus kept her tight grip. “Guess you can’t. Maybe you’re not as cool as I thought you were!”
Rainbow Dash’s element began to shine bright again showing off it's power. She took Metal Dash a bit higher and then began descending to the ground all while rapidly building up speed. Metal Dash tried to throw her trajectory off, but the power from Rainbow’s element was too great.
“I will not fail my master!” Metal Dash protested loudly, “I am far more cooler than you!”
“Too bad!” shouted Rainbow Dash as her speed increased, “I agree that you are pretty cool, but there’s only room for one awesome rainbow maned pegasus pony in Equestria; and that pony… is me!”
Now that she was at the peak of her speed, Rainbow Dash went all out and released a powerful rainboom that upon impact completely obliterated her opponent; and it's metal pieces rained down amongst the ground. Rainbow Dash was victorious as she thought she would be; and after crushing the jewel that was extracted, there was only one left for her to say.
“That fight was way past cool! Huh… I kinda like the sound of that. It could really catch on one day!”
------------------------------

Round 5: Fluttershy vs Mecha Shy

The Element of Kindness… the timid pegasus… the kindest pony in Ponyville. All of these terms were used to describe the pink maned, yellow pegasus named Fluttershy. Just like her new friend, Cream from Mobius, she wasn’t one that was always up to fighting. She would avoid it as much as she could. But she would always break down into doing it anyway if it meant helping her friends if they were ever in danger. But today, they were going to need her help more than ever as the fate of two worlds were at stake. She was now in one-on-one combat against her metal counterpart, Mecha Shy… who was anything but kind. Angel was there with her for moral support; but at the same time he was slightly terrified. However, he refused to leave Fluttershy’s side.
Unfortunately, unlike the rest of her friends, Fluttershy spent most of the time avoiding and and dodging her opponent and running away as much as she could. She figured that if she waited out long enough, one of her friends would be done and could help her.. But all that running was starting to wear Fluttershy out; and eventually she caught a painful headbutt on the side of her body. She landed on all four of her hooves, but she could feel the stinging sensation on her side. She kept her eyes on her Robin double as it landed on the ground and was tilting it's head as it questioned…
“What is wrong with you? Why do you not fight back? If you keep going on like this, your organic body is going to give out eventually. Plus, that little love tap you call a kick that you did to me earlier… was that really the best you got? I suddenly feel insulted that I was even created from your DNA. You’re pathetic.”
“Well you don’t have to be mean about it,” said Fluttershy with a slight scowl, “But then again you’re suppose to be evil; so… I guess it's to be expected.”
Angel was chattering at her protesting that the enemy was right; that they needed to do more than being a coward and running away. 
“You’re right, Angel. I can’t keep running away like this and rely on my friends to come and help me.. I have to fight my own battles. I have to take that thing out! She’s the complete opposite of me; and knowing myself, that’s not a good thing.”
“Talking to your little bunny friend, are you?” said Mecha Shy, “I’m afraid that he won’t do you any good. He’s nothing but a little nuisance in the way of our fight.”
Angel suddenly had a ‘oh no you didn’t’ expression on his face as he was glaring at Mecha Shy.
“Hey! Angel is not a nuisance!” Flutters hybrid protested, “He’s my friend, and he’s here to back me up!”
“Back you up? What’s he going to do; boop my nose with his soft little paws and smack me with a carrot?”
Suddenly, Mecha Shy was hit upside its head with a carrot. It didn't do any damage, but it definitely made Mecha Shy irritated. “Hey!”
Angel was grinning and began laughing at Mecha Shy’s reaction.
“Um… where did you have that carrot, Angel?” Fluttershy questioned.
Mecha Shy’s eyes suddenly turned red as it bellowed out, “Now you’ve done it, little bunny. I’m going to turn you into a fur blanket!”
I spread it's wings and made a beeline thrust towards Angel who was on top of Fluttershy’s head. He freaked out a bit as he hid behind the mare’s mane; but Fluttershy stood her ground as she tried to defend him. “Don’t you dare put a hoof on him!”
She threw her hoof forward harder than she had before and ended up hitting her enemy in the face and knocking it back. Fluttershy gasped after feeling the impact on her hoof and saw how Mecha Shy was feeling the small dent on it cheek.
“Wow… I actually felt that one. You should feel so proud of yourself.”
“Um… th-thank you?” said Fluttershy hesitantly.
Mecha Shy then went up and grabbed Fluttershy by the scruff of her neck and said, “However… let’s see how you feel this one!”
Mecha Shy then threw Fluttershy with all it's might sending her flying through the air uncontrollably. Fluttershy yelled as she held on tightly to Angel to protect him. But before long, she was caught by someone that she almost ran into; and that someone said, “Whoa! I got ya, Fluttershy! And you too, Angel.”
Fluttershy recognized the voice that she heard. When she opened her eyes and looked up, she saw her rainbow mane pegasus friend looking down at her to see if she was okay. “Rainbow Dash! Thank you so much for catching me and Angel like that.”
“No worries!” Rainbow Dash responded, “Glad I could help out, Fluttershy. So what happened just now? Are you having a bit of trouble with your robotic double?”
Fluttershy quickly got out of Rainbow’s hold and was trying to play it cool. “Well… m-maybe a little. But don’t worry, I was just caught off guard a little. I have this under control. You just focus on your enemy, okay?”
“Sure thing! Go get ‘em, Fluttershy!”
After Fluttershy flew off, she sighed wondering if she had revealed any signs to Rainbow Dash of how much she really was struggling.
“Oh, Angel, I sure hope Rainbow Dash isn’t worried about me. It could really hinder her in taking her opponent out. I need to do this on my own… I have to.”
“You should’ve asked for your friend’s help,” said Mecha Shy suddenly as it came back into Fluttershy’s view, “You really suck at this fighting thing. But then again if you did, then it would be two-on-two; and it wouldn’t make much of a difference.”
“I… I-I-I don’t need my friends to stop you!” said Fluttershy hesitantly, “I helped beat your master once before, so I could take you on no problem!”
Mecha Shy chuckled and taunted at her as it said, “Well then… why don’t you prove it… or are you just a big fat chicken?”
Angel looked at Fluttershy and told her if she was going to do something. Fluttershy then looked back at her opponent as she beat her hooves together. She then gathered all of her willpower and went forward yelling at the top of her lungs. She then lashed out punching Mecha Shy’s face multiple times; and Mecha Shy was just letting her do it. Plus for great measure, Angel hopped forward and knocked Mecha Shy back with his hind legs. After Angel landed back on Fluttershy’s back, the yellow mare was catching her breath as she said…
“Did… that do it?”
Mecha Shy then turned it's head back towards them with it's eyes glowing red. And just like Meal Dash, it's wings suddenly extended showing off extra boosters. Angel’s ears suddenly lowered, and Fluttershy drew back a bit as her voice trembled, “Uh oh.”
“Not bad,” Mecha Shy stated, “but now it's my turn.”
In an instant before Fluttershy could even blink, Mecha Shy thrust headfirst into Fluttershy’s gut knocking the wind out of her. It then disappeared and then headbutted the injured mare from behind. Fluttershy was hanging in there, but she couldn’t keep up with Mecha Shy’s massive speed. Angel was worried for Fluttershy and wanted to help out somehow. However, he suddenly saw Mecha Shy coming towards them again and tried to warn her. But by the time Fluttershy looked up, Mecha Shy was already too close as it knocked Fluttershy down into the ground and causing Angel to tumble off of her. Both of them laid down on the ground as Mecha Shy descended back down and looked over at Fluttershy who was slightly whimpering while trying to get up.
“Just as I thought. You’re all bark and no bite. I don’t know how you gave my master a hard time before. Is the Element of Kindness really a reliable asset to help defend this world? What a disappointment.” 
Mecha Shy then reached out with a metal claw and got a hold of Angel in its grasp. Fluttershy saw and tried to get back up, but she felt too beaten down do anything. She felt helpless.
“Looks like you’re down for the count,” said Mecha Shy with a slight chuckle. But then it held up Angel in front of it as it said, “But before I take care of you, perhaps I should pay your little rabbit friend here back for that thwack against my head.”
“No… don’t…” said Fluttershy in a weak tone.
Mecha Shy suddenly released the trembling bunny from it's grabber hook. But once he hit the ground and was about to run back towards Fluttershy, Mecha Shy planted its hoof down on his fluffy tail holding him in place. “Let's see… should I break a few bones,” It then placed it's other hoof right on top of Angel’s body pushing him against the ground, “or perhaps I could just flatten you all together.”
Mecha Shy chuckled in amusement as watched the little white rabbit squeal and struggle underneath the pressure of it's hoof. But suddenly, it lifted it's head when it felt a source of power begin to rise. Then unexpectedly, it heard Fluttershy shout out in anger...
“Don’t… you dare… hurt a hair… ON MY FRIEND!!!”
Mecha Shy quickly turned around and saw Fluttershy on all four of her hooves again. However, her element was shining more brightly than ever before as it gave of a strong aura that surrounded her body. Mecha Shy’s body suddenly froze without much explanation as of why; but it couldn’t believe what it was seeing.
“What’s this?”
Then suddenly without warning, Fluttershy spread her wings and dashed at Mecha Shy faster than it could calculate. Fluttershy gave it the same head ramming treatment as she sent it flying and tumbling far away from Angel. Almost immediately after that, the aura around Fluttershy died down; and she immediately went to Angel to check on him.
“Are you okay, Angel? Are you still in one piece?”
Angel looked up and saw that his life saved. He jumped up and tighten his arms around Fluttershy’s neck as he sighed with relief. Fluttershy giggled and was proud to see that her bunny friend was okay. “Good. That's a relief. I hope that meanie didn’t bruise any part on you.”
Once Mecha Shy came back, some parts of it's body was fractured and malfunctioning. Unfortunately, it's wing thrusters were still intact as it tucked them in before it tumbled onto the ground.
“What the heck was that all about?!” Mecha Shy exclaimed, “Where did all of that rage come from?! Your Element… the huge aura from it's glowing is so light… and tender; and it's making me sick.”
Fluttershy glared back at her enemy and responded, , “Serves you right for trying to hurt a poor, defenseless little animal! You give the meaning of my cutiemark a bad name! You're not kind, you don’t care for others, and you’re not very enjoyable to talk to. You’re just...just… downright mean!”
“So what! Did you expect me to be exactly like you?! Don’t be ridiculous! Besides, what are you going to do now? The Element of Kindness is not seriously going to fight me now, are you? You probably don’t have the guts to finish me; which would make sense since you are nothing but a weak, pathetic excuse of a fighter.”
Fluttershy knew that she didn't like to fight, but she knew what was at stake. She was sick and tired of being insulted and being called weak. She grabbed Angel and calmly placed him down as she told him, “Angel… wait here.”
Fluttershy then shot one of her major stare expression at Mecha Shy as she was slowly approaching it. Her Element continued to illuminate with light and was growing stronger with every step she took. 
“Oh, so you are going to fight after all,” said Mecha Shy with a sarcastic smirk, “That’s good. You definitely have the stare down.” Mecha Shy extended its wings once again and was about to go full throttle, “But let's see how well you can back it up with action!”
Mecha Shy dashed at Fluttershy again at full speed, but then vanished when it got close. Fluttershy wasn’t worried at all though. She just waited and waited while trusting her gut to guessing where her enemy would strike from. Then soon enough, Fluttershy suddenly turned around at a certain angle as she held her fore hooves out and caught a hold of Mecha Shy as it velocity force pushed her across the ground. Mecha Shy was in complete shock once they were at a standstill, “What the…”
“Let me go! How are you holding on like that?! You’re nothing but a pathetic weakling!”
“I may be a kind and gentle pony that really hates to fight;” said Fluttershy as she stared into the robot’s eyes, “but when it comes down to it… I am far from weak.”
Fluttershy then kept her hold on Mecha Shy as she soared into the sky and then descended back down at a surprisingly speed. Her Element was keeping Mecha Shy from breaking loose; and it was shouting in distraught as it got closer and closer to the ground.
“No no no no no no no no nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Fluttershy then made contact to the ground having the power behind her speed to crush Mecha Shy into many pieces that flew around her. After that was done, she had won; and she felt that it couldn’t be over sooner. Angel suddenly saw the dark gem that was inside Mecha Shy drop down onto the ground; and he glared at intensely before hopping up and down on it crushing it into dust.
As he stood there proudly, Fluttershy chuckled as she patted him on his head and told him, “Good job, Angel. I guess you’re pretty strong too, aren’t you?”
-------------------------

Final Round: Twilight Sparkle vs Titanium Twilight

Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship always secretly feared that she would face her inner demons one day; but she never saw something like this coming. Going up against a titanium robot double of herself could possibly have been one of the last things that she would end up doing; but here she was facing her robotic clone in a powerful magic battle. Her opponent had the same spells, same tricks and the same strategic mind that she had; and every major blow that they made against each other was almost equal in comparison. Spike was with her for support; but mostly to avoid the chaos that was on the ground. But he knew he could handle it since he’s flown with Twilight most of his life.
Twilight wasn’t getting anywhere in her fight. It was like both her and her opponent knew what the other was going to do. The only difference though was that Twilight Sparkle was flesh and blood and was becoming more tiresome as time went on. She needed to figure out how to end battle and soon.
“This is… impossible. It's one thing fighting somepony who looks like me and fights like me; but this clone of mine… I predict her moves, and it can predict mines. It's crazy!”
“The only thing that would make this perfect is if there was a robotic me supporting your clone!” shouted Spike, “Wouldn’t that be awesome?”
Twilight slightly glared at him as she stated, “Perhaps it would… if they weren’t trying to help Solar Dusk to take over our world!”
“Yeah yeah, of course. I’m just saying that it would be kinda cool to fight my own robotic clone. But maybe it's for the best. The world can handle two of… this.”
Titanium Twilight was getting a bit impatient and refused to wait on it's opponent any longer. “Are the two of you done wasting your time talking to  each other? If so, then I suggest that you both surrender. No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to keep up with me for long.”
“Heh, says you,” said Twilight hesitantly smiling, “I’m hardly breaking a sweat.”
But the enemy wasn’t fooled. “You are quoting a false statement. By the flapping movement of your wings, and the look in your eyes, I can confirm that your stamina is starting to waver.”
“Dang it,” said Twilight, “How could it know that?”
“Well, she is you;” said Spike, “and you are pretty observant.”
“That doesn't really help you know.”
Titanium Twilight then continued it's evil monologue. “Before long, your flesh will be your downfall, and you will be too exhausted to fight anymore. But seeing that I'm not organic like you, I will not be weaken; and I'll eventually overpower you. Probability of said scenario is 100%. No other outcomes  will be possible.”
“That’s trash talk!” Spike protested, “There's no way that probability is true… c-could it?”
“I don't know, Spike,” said Twilight, “However, my clone is right. If we keep going on like this, sooner or later my body is going to tire out; not to mention my brain. That's why I need to figure out how to defeat it now… and soon.”
Spike just groaned, “Well I sure hope that the others are having this much fun with their clones.”
Titanium Twilight was ready to fulfill its Master’s orders or take down Twilight with force; and it was hoping for the alternative. “Time is ticking by. Are you going to surrender yourself to Master Solar Dusk… or are we going to keep doing this same routine until your stamina runs out of steam? The choice is yours; but I would recommend the obvious choice.”
“Maybe it is true that I am an organic being… just like the rest of my friends,” said Twilight staring back at her enemy, “and none of us are perfect. But machines aren’t any different. You may think you’re all that just because you run on electronics and magic, but you’re far from perfect yourself. After all, all machines have some kind flaw; and somehow, I’m going to find yours.”
“Hold the presses!”said Spike with a little smirk, “Did ‘the’ Twilight Sparkle just admit that she’s not perfect? Never thought I see the day.”
“Oh be quiet, Spike.”
With it's eyes glowing with anticipation, Titanium Twilight was quite glad that it got it's true wish. “So you choose to continue this little tussle, do you? Fine with me. Let's see how long you can last.”
Twilight got ready as her enemy spread it's wings and charged at her again. The same similar ‘bout began again. Just as Titanium Twilight predicted, they were predicting each other’s moves once again. Even though Twilight changed her tactics every once in awhile, her moves and spells kept being countered by the enemy.
After a while, Titanium Twilight flew at a standstill while Twilight herself was strongly panting trying to catch her breath. Spike tried to lend his support as he was shouting, “Hang in there, Twilight! You can do it! You’ll find it's weakness; you just have to!”
“If it... does have a weakness, it sure isn’t making it easy for me to find out.”
“This is getting tiresome,” said Titanium Twilight, “I figured that I would get more of a challenge out of you, but I guess I was wrong. You’re just too predictable.”
Spike suddenly stood up on top of Twilight facing the enemy and said, “Oh yeah? Do you find this predictable?!”
He took a deep breath and shot out multiple little fireballs that smacked against Titanium Twilight. However, it hardly reacted as it looked at it's body and then glared back at the dragon feeling slightly annoyed.
“What was that suppose to do exactly?” Twilight whispered.
“Heh, well… I hoping that it would do something at least.” 
“That was pointless, little dragon,” said Titanium Twilight, “Your little fire pebbles hardly dented my finish.”
“Hey! They were way bigger than pebbles!” Spike protested, “If I wanted to, I could completely melt your circuits; ya stupid bucket of bolts!”
Titanium Twilight’s eyes suddenly glowed brighter as it was glaring more at Spike, “What did you call me, you little runt?”
“Uh-oh.”
“Your battle is with me!” said Twilight holding up her hoof, “You’re not going to touch him!”
The enemy then chuckled as it told her, “I don’t have to.”
It was then that Twilight felt a weird sensation on her back. When she looked behind, she was in shock that Spike was suddenly gone. “Huh? Spike? Spike, where did you go?!”
“Um, over here.”
Much to Twilight's dismay, she looked back over in front of her only to see Spike being held up beside the enemy with it's magic.
“H-hey, about that last comment…” said Spike nervously, “I didn’t really mean it. You’re not stupid. In fact, you look really cool.”
“Silence!” Titanium Twilight shouted, “I have no interest in your kiss-up comments.”
“Let him go!” said Twilight, “I’m your opponent! No need to harm him just because he has a big mouth sometimes!”
“What?”
“I’ve grown tired of this little repeating routine of a fight. You want your dragon back? Then back down and swear your allegiance to the new ruler of Equestria. If you don’t, who knows what I will do this runt; but it won’t be pretty.”
“O-o-oh sweet Celestia,” Spike shuddered.
“Seriously?” Twilight questioned, “You’re seriously going to do this? You do know that’s… cheating, right?”
“Affirmative. I am going through with my master’s orders; and I will use any method necessary to make sure that it is completed. So what’s your decision now?”
Twilight would never endanger her friends in anyway she could avoid; and now was no different. So, she knew that there was one thing to do. She lowered her magic and said, “Okay, fine. You win. I surrender. Just don’t hurt Spike.”
“Twilight, stop! You don’t have to do that!” Spike shouted, “I’m the one who put myself in this position! If you surrender, Solar Dusk is going to win!”
“I’m sorry, Spike. But… I need to worry about my friends’ well-being before my own. If I didn’t… what kind of Princess of Friendship would I be?” 
“Heh, Princess of Friendship,” Titanium Twilight chuckled, “What does that even mean? From what I recall your worthless element stands for magic, not friendship. True magic doesn't come from loving others, having parties and making friends. Magic come from power; pure power. Power is everything, and it is our master’s power that going to control you and this entire world.” 
Twilight almost shuddered hearing her opponent say that. To her, it was like seeing herself if she did choose magic over friendship and went dark. But of course she believed that she wasn't like that, and she never would be. 
“You’re wrong,” said Twilight as she glared back at her opponent, “My element’s meaning is magic, but it's the friendship I have with my friends that gives it strength. It's what gives all of our Elements of Harmony strength! Our friendship have carried us through many situations and saved this world countless times! I don't know how, but I am going to beat you, and then… your master is next!”
“Yeah!” Spike shouted, “Go, Twilight! Preach, sister!”
“Wow,” said Titanium Twilight sarcastically, “That was one of the sappiest and most pathetic speeches I have ever heard. But no matter what you say, it changes nothing. Your elements used to protect this world; but soon, they will be used to bring this world to it's knees.”
Twilight then showed a little smirk as she said, “I highly doubt that, but you can always hope for the best.”
“Enough!” Titanium Twilight shouted as it held up one of Solar Dusk’s gem collars, “Are you ready to swear your allegiance to the master and give up your very will once more?”
“Actually, I have a different idea in mind,” said Twilight suddenly as she noticed how close Spike was to the enemy, “Now, Spike!”
Spike suddenly whipped out his claws and then swiped them across one of the enemy’s  eyes. It screamed out in distraught as sparks flew out from the socket and caused it to lose it's hold on the collar and Spike. Twilight quickly grabbed Spike and then blasted the collar before gaining her distance from the enemy again.
“Oh yeah! That felt so good!” shouted Spike in satisfaction, “Heh, I kinda underestimated these bad boys.”
Titanium Twilight suddenly glared back at them with it's eyes still shorting out  and said, “What was that?! How were you able to pull off that lucky shot?!”
“Knowing myself… if I was evil,” said Twilight, “I kinda figured that you would try to capture Spike and use him to make me surrender. So I took into account of that possible situation and knew exactly what to do.”
“How dare you. How was I not able to predict that?!”
“Because you weren't able to. You only seemed to know the usual tactics that I would do. So I had to come up with something totally new; something that no one would expect from me. How's that for predictable?”
Completely enraged by what happened, Titanium Twilight used it's magic to create a gigantic magical pentagram over it. It was it's trump card, and even Twilight was impressed and was staring at it awe.
“Whoa, even I can’t do that; but I don’t know if I want to.”
“I gave you a chance to surrender… but now you drived my patience long enough. I will annihilate you along with your little sidekick! Lets see your so-called friendship save you now when you’re all alone.”
“Oh boy,” said Spike in a nervous tone seeing the enemy pentagram charging up.
However, Twilight didn't back down. She was willing to protect her friends until the end. “Go ahead and do what you want. But as long as my friends believe in me, I am never alone!”
Suddenly right on cue, Twilight’s element began to shine very bright giving off a strong aura of power that surrounded her and Spike.
“Twilight, your element!” Spike stated.
Twilight could feel her strength return, and her magic felt stronger than it did before. “What did I tell ya. Looks like your assumption was wrong.”
Without hesitation, Titanium Twilight released a giant beam from the pentagram that was headed straight for Twilight.
“Look out!” shouted Spike.
But there was need to worry. Twilight’s element brought up a huge barrier that countered the beam and dissipated the enemy’s gigantic spell. Titanium Twilight drew back from being countered and was more irritated than ever.
“Impossible! Where did this sudden burst of power come from?!”
“Dare I need to say it?” said Twilight, “I’m sure you already know what, but you just don’t want to admit it.”
With its trump card failed, Titanium Twilight resorted to it's usual tactics as it charged at Twilight at full speed.
“Hang on to something, Spike!”
“Like I haven’t alread-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!”
Twilight took off too; and before long, both combatants were in the same routine again. However this time around, Twilight’s magic was stronger and proved to be effective against her enemy who was struggling to fight back against her power. It knew that it was losing and didn’t like the thought of it at all.
When they were at a stand still again, Titanium Twilight grumbled at Twilight saying, “Let me guess, you’re going to try and finish me off with some kind of powerful beam or something?”
“Heh, you read my mind,” said Twilight with a smirk.
And that’s exactly what she did. She summoned a powerful spell that fired from her horn. At the last minute, Titanium Twilight brought up it's own shield that was holding off Twilight’s spell and felt that it wasn’t going down too easy.
“Y-you… won’t win! Master Solar Dusk… will reign supreme… and rule over all of Equestria!”
As Twilight continued the spell, Spike looked at the enemy and stated, “Yep; you keep telling yourself that.”
Titanium Twilight suddenly felt it's shield cracking; and then, the beam broke through and then engulf the entire inside of the shield. It resulted in a giant boom that caused the shield to explode as well as the robot enemy. Spike suddenly looked up and saw the dark gem falling towards them and caught it in his claws. He then crushed it and blew it away in the wind.
“Well… that wasn’t too tough, was it?” said Twilight with an exhausted sigh.
“Are you kidding?!” Spike exclaimed, “Did you witness everything that robot did?! It was crazy; especially that gigantic pentagram thing! But as always, the power of magic… and friendship has prevailed once again!”
Twilight then looked down over at the huge battle taking place as well as Solar Dusk and Eggman continuing to observe with Celestia and Luna still by their side. She knew that this was far from over.
“I’m afraid there’s no time to celebrate yet, Spike. We still  have to help the others so we figure out a way to break Celestia and Luna from Solar Dusk’s spell.”
“Ugh, way to ruin the positive vibes of our recent victory,” Spike groaned, “Do you honestly think there’s a way to stop him without a chaos emerald?”
“I don’t know; but there’s only one way to find out.”
	
	
> Chapter 16: Harmonic Transformation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight and her pony friends were victorious! Solar Dusk’s dreaded creations, the E-Harmony clone robots were all completely destroyed; as well as the dark gems that had resided inside them. Each one had a close call compared to their first encounter, but it was the true power of their elements that helped them to become victorious.
Twilight and Spike headed back down to the main battlefield to help continue the fight against the swarm of robots and controlled pony soldiers. But she was soon re-joined by her pony friends who had the same idea to lend their helping hooves in the continuing fight.
“Hey, girls,” said Twilight excitedly, “This is unexpected. Have we all defeated our clones already?”
“Wow! How ironic that we all defeated our opponents around the exact same time!” stated Pinkie, “That’s crazy!”
“That is crazy,” said Spike, “So I guess when the time was right, all of the elements activated together to give you all the strength to win. It's almost like you all defeated each individual clone together at once! Um… does that make any sense?”
“Makes enough sense to me,” said Rarity, “I’m just glad that part of our fight is over. It was quite underwhelming having a cold, metal replica of your face just staring back at me.”
“Miss Shy!” a voice suddenly called out.
‘Chao!’
Coming from from the main battle, they all saw Cream and Cheese running to them. The young duo reached Fluttershy and gave her and Angel a hug.
“Cream; Cheese!” 
“I’m so glad to see that you and Angel are still alright!” said Cream.
“I could say the same thing about you.”
Angel suddenly jumped on Cream and gave her a personal hug. He was quite glad to see that she was okay too.
“So… you girls did it?” Cream questioned, “You all won?!”
“We most certainly did;” said Twilight, “but it wasn’t easy. Those robots were ruthless. Right, girls?”
“Yeah, we’re awesome as always!” said Rainbow Dash boastfully, “The Elements of Harmony are victorious yet again! Accept no substitutes!”
Cream was so happy that her pony friends won their individual battle, but she knew that the battle was far from over as she told them, “Well… come on! The others are doing well too, but they could really use your help! Lets finish this fight and take down Solar Dusk for good!”
They all agreed as they followed Cream and Cheese back into the main fray. Meanwhile from atop the Canterlot Palace, Solar Dusk was groaning and lightly growling as he was holding hoof against his horn. It was the effect of his recent gems being shattered from his robotic creations. Glaring down at the ground below, he knew what had happened.
“Ugh… confound these ignorant fools. How on earth were they able to defeat my E-Harmony robot clones and completely destroy their gems? It's impossible!”
“Welcome to my world,” said Eggman who was observing as well, “The same thing happens to me ever since I created Metal Sonic. Sonic defeats him every single time. I figured that teaming up with you and your power would make some kind of difference in helping me in my conquest for power! Guess I was wrong.”
Solar Dusk then turned his glare over to Eggman after hearing that comment. Eggman sweated a bit as he quickly said. “B-b-but hey, no one is perfect. Am I right?”
“Well… it's no matter anyway,” said Solar Dusk with an aggravated sigh, “They may have destroyed my robot clones, but all that did was help delay the inevitable. Soon they will realize the true potential of my power.”
“Yes! That’s the ticket!” Eggman agreed, “Never let setbacks like this get you down! Those idiots think they can stand up to us?! Well they have another thing coming! None of them can win as long as we continue to work together!”
“Yes… work together,” said Solar Dusk nonchalantly, “Of course.”
In the distance, Eggman could see his metal creation continuing to fight Sonic toe-to-toe; and it just got him excited. “Check it out! Metal Sonic is actually holding his own against that meddlesome hedgehog just like last time. I mean sure, he’s more focused this time; but Metal Sonic will prevail! You’ll see! But aside from that, my robotics with your magic; it's a match made in heaven! I never would’ve thought that the powers of a pony would help me succeed so well! Teaming up with you was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!”
“Something we can definitely agree on,” Solar Dusk scoffed.
“And once we fully take over this world, I truly look forward to finally taking over my own world and remake it into my world empire! Victory will finally be mine!”
Eggman was doing his usual evil laughter as was truly looking forward to finally achieve his dream that he had been after for years. But then while continuing to look down at the present battle, Solar Dusk said something that suddenly confused him. “Yes, well… about that, Doctor; I’m afraid that there’s something that has been crossing my mind as of late.”
“Huh? What are you babbling about?”
“Heh heh. It has been quite enjoyable teaming up with you. Ever since Princess Celestia betrayed me and my genius work, all I ever wanted was to gain revenge and spread my power over all of Equestria to prove her wrong of her judgement; and pretty soon, it will become a reality. But then I began to think… why stop at just ruling over this world when I can take over 2 worlds!”
Eggman couldn’t believe the words that he heard coming from this stallion’s mouth. “Wait… what?! Controlling two completely different dimensional worlds at once?! Have you completely lost your mind?! You can’t possibly think that you can even do such a thing! That’s insane!”
“Maybe it might have been at first; but now that I have obtained this higher power, I am more than capable of doing so.”
“Now hang on just a moment!” Eggman protested as he placed his foot down, “You can’t just pull this stunt out of nowhere! We had a deal, remember?! I helped you to take over your world; and in exchange, you would help me to take over my world! Have you forgotten that?!”
Solar Dusk then turned to Eggman with a sinister smirk as he said, “Oh I am very aware of that deal, but I’m afraid the deal has… changed a bit. You didn’t honestly think that I was going to stay working with you for long, did you? That was kind of dumb on your part.”
“I can’t believe you!” Eggman shouted in anger, “You would dare to just up and betray me just like that… after everything I did for you?! You do realize that if it wasn’t for me, you would still be locked up deep down in this palace’s dingy dungeons; powerless, weak and a complete loser of an otherwise powerful unicorn?! It's all because of me that you’ve gotten this strong in power and getting your revenge!” 
“And I’m very appreciative of that, Doctor. But now that I have what I want, you are no longer of any use to me; and soon both worlds will be controlled by my power!”
Eggman wasn’t going to stand for this. He wasn’t going to let Solar Dusk show him like this and take away his chance to rule over Mobius. “That’s it! No one betrays Doctor Eggman and gets away it! You may have newfound power, but I have a whole legion of robots at my command here and back at my base; and I can use them with their new source of power to put you out of commission!”
“Oh really?” Solar Dusk chuckled.
Suddenly, some of Eggman’s robots came up onto the balcony from behind them and stood behind Eggman. “Ah, right on time! This ungrateful ingrate has betrayed your Master! Use any means necessary to prove a point to him of what happens when one crosses me!”
After giving the order, nothing happened; and Eggman could see Solar Dusk tilting his head away while chuckling under his breath. Eggman turned around and saw his robots just standing still and tried to order them again. “Well… what are you waiting for?! I said get him! Make him regret what he plans to do!”
The robots then followed an order… but not his. They all suddenly grabbed him from all sides and held him in place so that he couldn’t move.
“What are you doing, ya dumbots?!” Eggman suddenly shouted while trying to struggle loose, “Let me go this instant! I said get him, not me!”
Eggman then saw Solar Dusk looking at him with his horn glowing immensely. He then realized what was going on.
“I’m afraid that they no longer take orders from you;” said Solar Dusk in an amused tone, “nor does any of your other creations. With my gems embedded inside them, they will only answer to me. Did you obviously not see this coming? You should’ve took into account of this situation.” Solar Dusk then held another one of his gem collars up to Eggman as she added, “I guess you’re not as smart as I thought. But don’t worry, you can still prove to be some use to me… as my mind slave.”
“No… no!” Eggman screamed in fury, “Don’t you dare do this to me! I freed you from your imprisonment! I’m the one who got you here in the first place. You should be grateful to me! You’ll never get away with this!”
Meanwhile, down on the castle grounds, everyone else were driving back the controlled robots and pony soldiers. But they all soon looked up when they heard a sudden scream followed by a flash of light.
“Whoa, what in the world just happened up there?” said Twilight.
Tails made sure that the coast was clear as he took out a pair of hi-tech binoculars and looked up at the palace balcony. He noticed Solar Dusk standing beside Eggman who was now being controlled against his will.
“Hey, guys, it seems that it finally happened! Just as we predicted, Solar Dusk has betrayed Eggman and placed him under his control with one of his gem collars!”
“Heh heh. Well… it's about time,” said Sonic who was still duking it out with Metal Sonic, “I was beginning to wonder when that would happened. I almost thought that Eggman was going to have a trustworthy ally for a while there.”
Metal Sonic stopped it's onslaught and suddenly noticed what had happened.
“Typical Eggman,” said Knuckles, “As always, he fails to learn from his mistakes.”
Twilight and her friends looked at each other weirdly wonder why Sonic and the others weren't in shock. Even Cream and Cheese didn’t seem worried for Eggman. 
“Um… why are you guys acting like this a normal thing?” said Rainbow Dash. 
“Well, we did mention about how Eggman’s plans always backfires when he tries to rely  on some alternate source of power, remember?” said Amy, “This just adds another one of those moments to his record.”
“Plus… this proves just how cruel Solar Dusk really is,” Cream added, “Eggman made a terrible mistake teaming up with someone like him.”
‘Chao chao chao’
Metal Sonic was analyzing the situation and knew what it thought it had to do. It's eyes fluctuated and were now focusing on a new target. “Origin master has been betrayed and forced against his will. New mission… destroy Solar Dusk!”
“Yo! Metal Sonic, you might wanna...”
Metal Sonic suddenly took off like a rocket and was racing straight for Solar Dusk with it's claws out with only one thing on it's mind, “Die!”
But it didn’t last long. Solar Dusk stopped Metal Sonic in it's tracks with ease holding it in place with his magic. He calmly went over to him with a smug face saying, “Aw, what’s the matter? Has this little robot become upset because I betrayed his daddy? Well… no need to throw a tantrum; why not just join him instead.”
With that, he placed a gem collar on Metal Sonic as well. With two more host in his grasp, Solar Dusk’s power became stronger yet again. Everyone witness what happened and knew that it would be a problem.
“Well that’s it,” said Applejack, “That unicorn has done finally lost it.”
“I think he already lost it a long time ago, darling,” said Rarity.
Suddenly, all of the present robots and the controlled guards began closing in on the others as they were all distracted.
“Stand back, everypony,” said Twilight as she got in front of everyone else, “This needs to end now.”
As the enemy forces closed in, Twilight gathered a huge amount of magic in horn and then released it all forward against them knocking them all down and out of commission. 
“That’ll keep them down for now; it won’t last forever.”
“Go, Princess,” said Sonic, “Your magic is pretty awesome.”
With the main forces down, everyone drew their attention back to Solar Dusk who was suddenly slowly clapping his hooves like most villains would do. “Congratulations. You’ve all managed to survive this long without surrendering. And the way you six ponies took out my robotic creations… such amazing power. Seems I’ve underestimated all of you yet again. Very impressive.”
“Cut the fake flattery talk, Solar Dusk!” shouted Cream, “You’ve gone too far with everything you’ve done! We’re ending this now!”
‘Chao chao!’
Angel was punching his little paws and growling to show his anger.
“Oh, I completely agree. You’ve all done enough damage around here, and I aim to finish it. Perhaps I should just sick your precious princesses on you right now.”
Everyone then stood back as they saw the Royal Sisters stare at them and began gathering magic in their horns. But then they stood back and lowered their offense.
“But no… there’s no need for me to do that, because that would be a complete waste of my power. I will wrap this up in a way that will take little to no effort at all. You’ll have no choice but to give up.”
“Okay, now he’s just mockin’ us,” said Knuckles.
“Little to no effort? I’d like to see that,” said Sonic in an amused tone.
“Um… we really don’t,” said Spike who was sweating.
Metal Sonic suddenly flew in front Solar Dusk as he gave it a command. “Metal Sonic… you know exactly what to do.”
Metal Sonic then took off towards the opposing group as they were ready to defend themselves.
“Everyone, look out!” shouted Twilight.
But once it got near them, Metal Sonic suddenly disappeared. Although, it didn’t really disappear; it was suddenly just traveling so fast that none of them could see it.
“Wait… w-w-where did it go?” said Fluttershy.
“He just went… ‘POOF’ like magiiiiiiic,” said Pinkie as she was wiggling her hooves.
“Don’t let your guard down,” said Sonic as he looked around, “It could appear at any minute.”
Everyone was staying close together and was looking around to see if anything happened; but Solar Dusk was having too much keeping them guessing.
“Geez, I hate it when enemies do things like this,” said Amy, “It really makes you tense and nerve wracking.”
But Solar Dusk had his fun as he ordered Metal Sonic telepathically, “Do it… now.”
“Alright, everyone,” said Twilight, “As soon as you see it, make sure to…”
But before she could finish, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Everyone jumped when they heard someone scream out loud.
“What the…” said Knuckles.
They all suddenly turned around to the direction of the scream and saw Metal Sonic a little ways from them floating in the air with Cream caught in his clutches. Cream was pushing against him and wiggling around shouting, “No! Let me go! Let me go!”
“Oh no, Cream!” shouted Fluttershy.
Angel screeched in horror seeing what had suddenly happened.
“Dang, that was fast!” shouted Applejack, “Ah didn’t even see it!”
Cheese suddenly tried to go after Cream, but Metal Sonic swiped at him and sended him  hurdling down on the ground. Cream cried out to him hoping he was okay, “Cheese, no!” But he was out cold.
Sonic wasn’t having any of this. “Hang on, Cream; I got you!” He suddenly took off to try and save Cream from Metal Sonic. However...
“Hold it right there, hedgehog.”
Before Sonic could reach them, Solar Dusk signaled Metal Sonic to hold Cream close to it while it held one set of it's claws like a blade in front of her neck.
“Whoa!”
Sonic suddenly halted to a stop before he got any closer.
“Make one more step towards Metal Sonic,” said Solar Dusk, “and I’ll have it finish her off… permanently.”
‘Dang it! Now what do I do?’ Sonic thought to himself.
Cream was slightly whimpering seeing sharp claws so close to her; but all she cared about was the safety of her friends.
“This is a new low, even for you!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “Do you actually feel that we’ve backed you up in a corner, so you choose to have her at blade point to try and stop us? Huh? Is that you’re brilliant new plan?!”
“He must still have some major beef with her if he decided to this,” said Amy.
“Oh trust me,” said Solar Dusk, “I now have major beef with all of you. But this little brat… she’s just at the top of that list.”
Angel was about to go and try to save Cream himself, but Fluttershy grabbed before he could do so. “Angel… don’t.”
Solar Dusk looked down at Sonic and said in an amused tone, “So, oh fearless, hedgehog hero… what do you and your friends choose to do? Surrender to my power and end this pointless frivolity… or continue to go against me and have your rabbit friend here die?”
“Guys, please… d-d-don’t surrender!” Cream pleaded loudly, “Do whatever you have to do to stop this jerk! D-d-don’t worry about me.”
“Fat chance, Cream,” said Twilight, “There’s no way any of us are going to do anything that will risk your life! You’re too important!”
“What?”
Sonic looked back at all of his friends who all felt the same way as he did. He nodded his head as he thought to himself, ‘I guess we have no choice then.’ He then turned to Solar Dusk and lifted up his arms and said, “Alright, Solar Dusk, you win. We surrender; just don’t hurt her.”
“You do know that he’s probably not going to keep that kind of promise, right?” Knuckles whispered to Tails.
“Yeah, I’m aware;” Tails agreed, “but what else can we do?”
Solar Dusk let out an evil laugh as he looked at Cream who was in shock of what her friends were doing. “Looks like I guessed right, little Cream. Everyone here believes that your pathetic life is too important than all of them combined. Knowing that will be there downfall must make you feel pretty depressed, doesn't it?” 
“Well enough gloating,” said Solar Dusk as he wasted no time to surrounded the others with more gem induced robots that came through more portals leading, “Let's get this over with, shall we?”
Cream couldn’t believe that her friends would do this; to let Solar Dusk easily capture them just to save her. ‘Miss Shy, Sonic, everyone; my life really isn't worth the downfall of both our worlds, is it?’
“Capture them!” Solar Dusk demanded, “Make sure that no one escapes!”
Suddenly, Pinkie felt a tingling feeling in her mane as she looked up and shouted, “Everypony, look!”
Everyone else suddenly saw a huge stream of crimson spears of light rising into the air and then came down and destroyed all of the robots that surrounded them in a flash.
“What?!” Solar Dusk shouted.
“What just happened?!” said Tails.
Sonic looked over at Solar Dusk and told him, “Don’t look at us. We didn’t do anything.”
Suddenly before any of them noticed, Metal Sonic was struck from behind causing it to drop Cream. A dark blur quickly came by and grabbed her before another figure grabbed a hold of Metal Sonic with some kind of arua and piledrived it straight into the ground releasing a huge surge of white energy. Metal Sonic was now shut down, and the gem that was on it was completely destroyed. 
Cream had covered her eyes when all of this suddenly happened. But when she opened her eyes, she saw that the one who had destroyed the robots and caught her was… “Mister Shadow! You came after all!”
“Well… I didn’t have too much of a choice,” Shadow lightly scoffed, “By the way, looks like your friend has woken up.”
Cream looked behind her and saw Cheese who was a little battered but still in one piece. She hugged him and said with tears in her eyes, “I’m so glad that you’re okay, Cheese! Don’t scare me like that again!”
‘Chao... chao’
Pretty soon, the second figure came up to where Cream was. A silver Hedgehog with illuminated rings on his arms and legs. With a light smile and a glowing, clenched hand, he asked, “Well that was a close one. Are you okay?”
“Um… y-yeah;” said Cream feeling confused, “but who are you?”
“A friend,” he answered, “The name is Silver; Silver the Hedgehog.”
Everyone else were glad and in major relief to see Cream okay; but suddenly seeing two more players on the field made them just as confused as Cream was.
“Two more hedgehogs shows up out of nowhere and saved all of us!” said Pinkie, “Who are they?”
“That black one is Shadow,” said Fluttershy, “the one I mentioned before that spoke to Cream and me back in the other world!”
“So that's the dark and brooding hedgehog,” said Rarity, “He definitely looks the part.”
Sonic and his friends were quite surprised to see Shadow so suddenly, but they were at a lost as to who the other hedgehog was.
“Um… do we know that guy, Sonic?” Amy questioned.
“I’m… not sure.” Sonic responded. He then walked over to Silver and greeted him. “Yo! Um… I appreciate you and Shadow for saving us and Cream; but… have I… seen you somewhere before?”
“Not that I know of;” Silver chuckled, “I am from your world... but from the future. However, it is possible that we've crossed paths in a alternate timeline that no longer exists; but I don't know. Time travel is complicated.”
“Tell me about it,” said Twilight to her friends.
“I'll explain everything to you all later; but… first things first.”
Silver then came up in front of everyone and had his sights on Solar Dusk. Solar Dusk looked down at him with an irritated scowl since his plans were interrupted again. He felt that this was getting old.
“Solar Dusk!” Silver shouted, “You don’t know me, and I don't know you, but there will be some major chaotic events happening in my present that's linked to your actions! Whatever you're planning on doing will disrupt the fabric of space and time; and I won't allow that to happen! So I've come here for one reason...  to help end your demented scheme for good!”
“Wow, he's so noble,” said Fluttershy.
“I'll say,” said Cream in slight shock.
‘Chao’
“Please,” Solar Dusk scoffed feeling unimpressed, “Do you think I'm going to be intimidated by a silver, time-traveling rodent who shows up out of nowhere and shouts at me very loudly at this point?! Your words do not frighten me! If you know what's good for you, you will bow down and respect me like a king.”
“Sorry,” said Silver as he clenched his fist, “I do kinda dig your crown and flashy cape, but I don't bow down to evil scum like you; especially one who threatens the life of a child!” Silver then flew up in the air and used his powers to lift up a huge boulder over his head, “An action like that is unforgivable!”
“Whoa, he can fly… and use magic?!” Spike exclaimed.
“Not magic, Spike…” said Twilight with a smile, “telekinesis.”
Silver then threw the boulder with all his might sending it hurdling towards Solar Dusk. But he just caught it with his magic and threw it over him.
“Was that supposed to faze me?” said Solar Dusk with a slight scowl.
Silver smirked and said, “No… this is!”
Suddenly in the blink of an eye, Silver disappeared and immediately appeared behind Solar Dusk. Silver pushed him back with his power and then clashed an object in his hand against his crown that gave off a bright light. Solar Dusk struggled against it a bit, but then eventually pushed him back and used the Princesses to make Silver retreat back to the others.
“And he can teleport too!” Spike shouted, “Are you sure he’s not using magic?”
“Wait… what did he just use against Solar Dusk just now?” said Tails.
Once Silver got his bearings, he held up another chaos emerald in one of his hands; the white chaos emerald.
“Another chaos emerald?!” said Cream, “Did you give that to him, Shadow?”
“No. Its the same emerald back in our world, but he seemed to have brought that from his time.”
Solar Dusk noticed too. Silver was tossing it up and down realizing that he had Solar’s attention. “That’s right, I know all about your weakness to these things! Maybe you were able to repel me away from you; but once I get close enough and use its power against your royal puppets, you’ll be good as done!”
“Um… I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” said Pinkie.
Silver heard her and turned around; he noticed that no one was speaking against her words.
“What are you talking about? Aren’t these emeralds his weakness?”
“Well… yeah; for the most part,” said Sonic, “But when we used the emerald we had against those gems on the Princesses, it's power was overpowered and got used up... and then it transported back to our world.”
“It's mainly because Solar Dusk found a creating way into extracting some energy from an emerald and converting it into his own… thus creating those gems. That emerald won’t do a thing to them.”
Silver didn’t expect that, and neither did Shadow; but that didn’t stop him. “What?! Well then… I guess I have to take you out first after all!”
Silver flew towards Solar Dusk again with the emerald in hand. However, Celestia and Luna flew in his path. 
“Out of the way!”
He teleported past them and continued on; but at the last moment, Solar Dusk fired a powerful beam that caught Silver off guard. He held up shield to block it, but he was struggling against it more than he thought. But unknown to him, the controlled Princesses were about to attack him from behind. However, Shadow noticed and used chaos control to quickly teleport to Silver to grab him and then teleported back right before the attack came too close.
“Thanks for the save,” said Silver to Shadow, I almost didn’t see that coming.”
“No problem.”
“Continue fighting against us if you want,” said Silver looking back at Solar Dusk, “but your magic is ineffective against four of us!” With that he meant himself, Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles, “With that fact and the strength of everyone else here… one way or another, we will stop you!”
Solar Dusk laughed loudly again feeling amused by Silver's words, “You think so, do you?”
Suddenly, more and more of Eggman’s robots appeared out of nowhere in huge numbers; and all of them were being controlled by Solar’s gems.
“How many of these thangs does he have?!” shouted Applejack, “This is too much!”
“You’d be surprised of how many robots Eggman creates at once and can have stored away for later use,” said Knuckles.
But Solar Dusk wasn't done just yet. “And for good measure…”
He used his magic to reactivate the gems on the knocked out soldiers and woke them all up to continue fighting. Cream noticed and told everyone in a quivering tone, “Um… g-g-guys, the pony soldiers are getting up again!”
“I gave you all a chance to serve me;” said Solar Dusk, “but now… I think I will use all of you as an example to all of Equestria to show what happens when you cross… ME!”
Suddenly, a huge surge of energy burst forth from Solar’s gem crown and swept over his entire army; heightening their power and making them stronger than before. Everyone could sense it. It seemed almost impossible.
“How could Solar Dusk get so Powerful?” said Fluttershy in a frightened tone, “This is worse than anything I could think of.”
Once the surge was over, Solar Dusk gave his army one simple order, “Destroy them!”
The huge army charged forth and had their fatal sights on everyone. Most of them were almost too paralyzed with fear to move; but Sonic wasn’t having any of this. He shouted out to everyone, “Come on, guys! We can’t let his power instill fear in us! AS long as we keep fighting together, we won’t lose. Just remember what we’re fighting for!”
They all knew Sonic was right and agreed. They all stuck by each other’s side and charged at the oncoming threat. Despite the enemy’s increased power, they were all still able to hold their own by heavily cooperating with each other. But even with Silver and Shadow’s help, the brute strength of the enemy was proving to be taking it's toll on them; and aside from the controlled pony soldiers, more robot kept coming and replacing the ones they destroyed. 
“I’m feeling that fighting these guys has suddenly become harder! It's like we just took a really, really, really, really, really hard math test, and we somehow passed it; but then out of nowhere we were given another math test that’s even harder than that one! I feel so exhausted!”
“Wonderful perspective on the situation, Pinkie,” said Twilight.
Silver was using the emerald he had and his own power take on as much of the enemy forces as he could, but even he was getting annoyed by their situation. “I don't believe this. There’s no way I came here for nothing; there’s just no way! Is there no possible alternative way to stop him?! Maybe there's something I don't know about!”
Hearing what Silver said had everyone wondering to. They knew that couldn't let Solar Dusk get the best of them. But then, a light went off in Cream’s head as she suddenly remembered something that might just be the answer that they were looking for. 
“Wait a minute… it couldn’t possibly be…” She gasped after throwing Cheese at some robots as it finally hit her. “That’s it!”
Eventually though they were all still fighting, everyone heard Cream’s sudden outburst curious of what she was talking about.
“What’s it, Cream?” said Fluttershy.
‘Chao chao?’
Wanting to share what she remembered, Cream looked over at Sonic and said, “Mister Sonic! Remember those carved markings in that cave where the portal was?! Do you remember that?!”
“Yeah, I do! An orb surrounded by the Elements of Harmony. Although recently, I saw that the orb suddenly looked like me? I kept thinking of what that meant.”
“What are you all babbling about?” said Solar Dusk, “You should all be cowering in fear, not having a conversation amongst yourselves!”
“Ah don’t get it,” said Applejack, “Wut are we talkin’ about again?”
“Ooh, I think I might have an idea of what they were talking about!” Pinkie claimed.
Soon Knuckles realized of what this was all about and what it could possibly mean. “Of course… I see now. The carvings in the cave, the prophecy that the Master Emerald showed me, and all of this happening… it all makes sense now.”
“The Master- what now?” said Pinkie, “I don't think I was thinking of anything like that.”
Knuckles then said, “So… maybe it has something to do with Sonic somehow absorbing their power… like he does with the Chaos Emerald? Could that be it?”
Sonic and his friends never thought of that before; but wasn't quite sure of that. Twilight stated, “You might be onto something there, Knuckles. But how do we even know if that will work? Sonic isn’t even from our world.”
“Crazier things have happened,” said Spike shrugging his shoulders, “So… is this any different?”
Despite them being partially exhausted, Solar Dusk could see that they were all still holding their own. It was then that he decided to end things. “I’ve suddenly grown tired of this. We finish this now.”
After giving the order, Celestia and Luna were coming down and were about to attack. Silver was in the middle of pushing some the pony guards back with his power when he suddenly noticed and warned everyone, “Um… guys, I don’t think we have much time to think on that. Whatever you have planned, now is the time to do it!”
This was a big decision for Sonic and his friends, but time was running out. However, Sonic felt semi-calm with it and nodded to his friends as he said, “Guess we have nothing to lose.” He then faced to towards Twilight and the others and said, “Miss Twilight, I need you and your friends to use your Elements on me. I don’t know what will happen, but… I’m willing to take that risk to save our worlds. So don’t hesitate; give it to me full force!”
“What do you think, Twilight?” Rarity questioned, “This whole prophecy thing seems a bit farfetched.”
“Maybe… but it's the best option we got. If this dosen’t work, who knows what will at this point.”
“Well then… I say we go for it!”
“Yeah!” the other ponies agreed.
“Okay then,” said Twilight, “Let's do it to it, girls!”
“Good one,” Sonic chuckled.
More of the enemy forces were closing in; but Sonic’s friends got in front of them and were doing their best to drive them back.
“We’ll hold these guys off as long as we need to,” said Tails, “Just do your thing!”
“Yeah, you can count on us!” said Amy with a smirk, “We still have plenty of steam left in us!”
As Twilight and the others were getting into a clear space, Fluttershy noticed Cream observing them with concern.
“Don’t worry, Cream;” she said with a smile, “we know what we’re doing.” She then turned around and showed a worried expression as she thought, ‘I hope.’
Angel suddenly hopped into Cream’s arms and encouraged her to stay calm; and so was Cheese. “Fluttershy is right, you guys. Their plan is going to work, and Solar Dusk is going to be so sorry! Now come on, let's go give them some cover.”
In a clear space, Sonic stood still as Twilight and her friends surrounded him with their elements at the ready. He was a bit nervous, but he shook it off as he showed his signature smirk and said, “Alright, girls, lay it on me!”
The ponies all nodded at each other as they all got. They began tapping into the elements’ power as each one began giving off a bright, colorful glow. Solar dusk was carefully observing everything that was going on below him; and when he saw what Twilight and her friends were doing, he became suspicious.
“What in the world are they doing? Whatever it is… I’ll put a stop to it now.”
Solar Dusk suddenly ordered his two royal slaves to attack Sonic and the ponies surrounding him. In the midst of the fight, Silver noticed the royal sisters about to fire on their target.
“Oh no you don’t!”
He teleported himself in front of the blast and tried to disrupt the direction of it's path. Although, he was struggling too much under the combined strength of the royal sisters.
“Persistent little hedgehog,” said Solar Dusk with an amused expression, “Not a very smart choice of action.”
Silver continued struggling to do his very best to protect the others, “I… I-I-I won’t let you… harm them!”
But with great relief, Shadow showed up suddenly to help him.
“Grab my hand!” Silver shouted desperately.
Once Shadow did, both of their powers combined together and formed a powerful blast that was able to push back the attack.
“CHAOS… PSY-BLAST!”
The blast radius even pushed the princesses back giving the others more time to prepare. After landing back down on the ground, the two hedgehogs were slightly out of breath from their huge release of power.
“Well that was... unusual,” said Shadow to Silver, “How did you know that would happen?”
“I... didn’t.”
“Neat little trick,” said Solar Dusk feeling irritated, “but you won’t be doing that again!”
But before he could attack again, a huge burst of light suddenly shone over the entire grounds that caught everyone’s attention.
“Whoa; check it out,guys!” shouted Cream.
‘Chao’
Light began glow forth from the eyes of Twilight and her friends as they were concentrating all of their power to Sonic.
“Don’t let up, girls!” Twilight shouted, “Give him everything you got!”
Sonic almost couldn’t tell what was happening, but soon he felt a powerful force surge throughout his body. The light soon engulfed him entirely as the Elements’ power began to transform his body. A full platinum armor of silver clashed on with a golden crest appearing on his head, neck, wrist and ankles. Finally, each of the Elements broke from Twilight and her friends and were embedded in each crest. Honesty on the left leg, kindness on the right leg, generosity on the left arm, laughter on the right arm, loyalty on the chest, and magic right upon his head where his spikes turned into a form of blue light.
After Twilight and her friends broke out of their trance, they felt a little light-headed and a little exhausted.
“Did it… work?” said Fluttershy.
They all suddenly looked up and saw Sonic’s powerful new form. They were blown away by the end result.
“I-I-I-I… can’t believe that actually worked!” said Twilight in shock, “Our Elements completely transformed him and granted him new power!”
“Wow, he looks so… beautiful,” said Rarity with dazzling eyes.
“And awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “Check out that platinum armor!”
“He’s so shiny!” shouted Pinkie, “and sparkly, and colorful… ly!”
“Well how about that,” said Applejack, “It looks like everythang turned out just fine.
“Is that really Sonic?!” said Amy with a bright smile, “That armor really suits him.”
Tails took out a monitor scan and noticed that it picked up the 5 symbols located on the armor. “Check it out; Laughter, Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, and Magic. They’ve all combined together and fused with Sonic’s chaos energies… to become something more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen!”
“So this is the prophecy that the Master Emerald told me about; Sonic becoming one with the Elements of Harmony to save both of our worlds,” said Knuckles, “Man I can’t believe Sonic showed me up again!”
“You’re really complaining about that right now,” said Amy with a slight glare.
“I never thought something like this would happen,” said Silver in awe, “But I guess if you and me weren’t here to stop that blast it wouldn’t have worked.”
Shadow wasn’t all thrilled of being showed up by Sonic, but he accepted it as he smirked and said, “Looks like it's all up to Sonic now.”
Sonic looked all around seeing all of his friends looking up at him and his brilliance. He closed his eyes as he could feel the power that his new form gave. “I can... feel it. The empowering and warm feeling these Elements give. The power of friendship, dreams, and hope. This must be what harmony truly feels like.”
As he opened his eyes back up, he saw Solar Dusk continuing to scowl at him. He could feel the radiance of his new form and how it was upsetting the aura of his magic.
“What are you suppose to be now? Don’t get any stupid ideas that this changes anything!”
“You’re wrong, Solar Dusk;” Sonic responded in a demanding tone, “this changes everything. All you’ve done is hurt others, endanger the lives of many and upset the balance of harmony between two worlds. You may have gotten away with a lot already, but now it's all over for you! I’m… Harmonic Sonic; and your reign of tyranny ends now!”

ART & DESIGN by: sweecrue	




> Chapter 17: The FINAL Showdown!!!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	(Twilight Sparkle)

Okay, long story short…
After Cream came back from her world with Cheese to help free Ponyville from Solar Dusk’s magic, she traveled with me, the girls, and all of her friends to Canterlot where Solar Dusk and Eggman were waiting for all of us; all while the Chaotix stayed behind to defend Ponyville from robotic reinforcements. Once at the Canterlot Palace, we had to battle a huge army of robots and pony soldiers from Celestia’s royal guard controlled by his gems. And speaking of Celestia, Solar Dusk was somehow able to find a way to extract energy from a chaos emerald and convert it into his own magic source to create gems strong enough to control both Celestia and Luna.
On top of all of that, the girls and I had to fight our robotic doubles again; but this time we were ready. We were all able to finally take them down together… in a sense. After all of that, Solar Dusk betrayed Eggman, took over the mind of him and Metal Sonic, and used Metal Sonic to hold Cream hostage so we would surrender. Thank Celestia that the two other hedgehogs Shadow and Silver showed up just in time to save her. Although, even with extra help, it proved no use. Solar Dusk’s power just grew even more stronger, and many of us were growing exhausted over time. But then as a last resort, we took a risk to fulfill a possible prophecy and fired the powers of the Elements of Harmony onto Sonic. As a result, he transformed into a powerful new form… Harmonic Sonic.
With two worlds now hanging in the balance… not that it wasn’t already for a while, the battle was now in its final stage. It's now or never!
------------
With the power of Chaos combined with the Elements of Harmony, Sonic transformed into Harmonic Sonic; an extraordinary being with the power to spread harmony and friendship to others… and bring chaos to those who oppose him. However, despite being a bit nervous on the inside, Solar Dusk chose to not be intimidated.
“So… those markings in that cave that I saw weren’t just for show. How annoying. But who cares. If you truly are powerful, then why don’t you prove it!”
Celestia and Luna suddenly got in front of him and fired a dual beam at Sonic. However, he didn’t flinch. Floating motionless in the air, Sonic took his left fist and knocked the beam to the side with ease.
“That was so awesome!” Spike shouted excitedly, “He just knocked that beam aside like beach ball! He may be… TOO STRONG!”
“That may prove to be good for us,” said Twilight, “Everything is riding on this battle. We can’t afford to lose.”
Sonic suddenly looked behind him at the others and lightly chuckled and said, “Hey guys, you all look so exhausted. Perhaps this should help.”
Sonic suddenly waved his hand over the area causing a wave of magic to spread around them. They were all almost pretty worn out, but they suddenly rose fully on their feet and hooves feeling much stronger than they were before.
“What has Mister Sonic done to us?!” Cream strongly exclaimed.
‘Chao!’
Twilight felt her magic regenerate like crazy and stated to everyone, “He’s using energy from his new power to regenerate our strength ten-fold!” 
Knuckles grinned and punched his fists in the air rapidly feeling pumped, “Now this is more like it! I suddenly feel like I can punch down an entire Eggman base with these fists!”
“Whoa! Why do I suddenly have the sudden urge to throw down?” said Rairty kicking her fore hooves, “It feels so exhilarating!”
“Who cares?!” said Rainbow Dash, “I say we use this opportunity to finish this once and for all!”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” said Amy.
“I feel so Alive!” shouted Pinkie, “Bring on the baddies!”
Angel suddenly hopped off of Fluttershy’s back kicking and punching his paws. He felt so energized and felt like he could fight anything. Fluttershy chuckled and said, “I completely agree with you, Angel. Solar Dusk is in for it now.”
Solar Dusk could see what was happening and once again he was getting infuriated. “How is this possible?! It can’t be!”
“Finish this battle, guys!” shouted Sonic, “I got Solar Dusk!”
Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted to the others, “You heard the hedgehog… CHAAAAAAAAARGE!!!”
At the peak of their power, everyone headed out to wipe out Solar Dusk’s enemy forces no matter how many showed. Twilight was about to head out to; but she suddenly looked up towards the balcony with a light scowl on her face. She suddenly set Spike down on the ground with her magic and Spike was wondering what she was up to.
“Twilight, what are you doing?!”
“Go join them, Spike,” Twilight responded, “What I’m going to do now is going to be too dangerous for you.”
Sonic was floating up at the same level as Solar Dusk and was staring right at him and pointing as he said, “Your choice, Solar Dusk! I’ll give you one more chance to surrender! Although, something tells me that you’re not going to, are you?”
“The day I surrender myself to vermin like you is the day I give up my magic!” Solar Dusk strongly protested.
“Really?” Sonic questioned, “Well… maybe that could be arranged.”
Sonic was about to make his way towards Solar Dusk, but Celestia and Luna suddenly got in his way again with magic brightly glowing from their horns.
“Wow. You two really aren’t going to let me get close to him, are you?”
“Sonic!”
Sonic suddenly heard someone call out to him from behind. He looked and saw Twilight suddenly fly up beside him and he questioned, “What are you doing here?”
“Thanks to you, my Alicorn magic is at it's very peak,” said Twilight, “We have to end this now, so you focus on destroying those gems on Celestia and Luna; and I’ll take care of him. He kinda owes me a rematch from during Cream’s last visit here.”
Sonic remembered hearing of Twilight’s solo fight against Solar Dusk from Cream so he automatically understood her reasons. “Very well, your highness. He’s all yours!” Then after Twilight teleported behind Celestia and Luna, they both noticed and were about to go after her when Sonic suddenly zipped in front of them and said, “Hey, Princesses, follow the shiny hedgehog!”
Sonic then pushed past them in a forceful manner and caused them to go after him instead. Now Twilight could land on the balcony where she was face to face with Solar Dusk. But all he could do was chuckle under his breath to his situation.
“Is this truly wise… Princess of Friendship? Do you remember what happened the last time you went against me one on one? You ended up being saved by a couple of your kind-hearted friends… not that I’m very proud of that moment myself.”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Twilight stated, “I’ve gotten much stronger since then… and so did you apparently. But trust me, the outcome will be different this time. I can promise you that.”
“Then why don’t you show me. Give me your best shot, princess!”
The battle soon raged on. Sonic against the controlled princesses, Twilight against Solar Dusk, and everyone else fighting against the enemy forces down below. Things were definitely getting more chaotic than before.
Applejack felt like she was an entire herd of cows on a stampeding path. She kept bucking robots left and right and knocking down guards everywhere she went. She felt like there was nothing that could stop her.
“Yeee-haw! Ah feel like Ah could buck down hundreds of apple trees; but Ah guess Ah’ll settle fer these mechanical menaces instead!”
More of the robots came towards her with their power pulsing, but Applejack didn’t falter. She kept on taking them down and crushing their dark gems. But just then, she notices another turmoil going on near beside her. Knuckles the Echidna going to town on the robots as well; and even he knew how to take it easy on the pony soldiers.
“Come on, robots, show me what ya got!”
Applejack and Knuckles soon found themselves standing back to back. Applejack smirked as she said, “You seem pretty pumped up.”
“So do you,” Knuckles responded, “Didn’t think you could fight the way you do.”
“When our world is hangin’ in the balance…. let alone two, you’d be surprised to know what Ah can do.”
Applejack’s element began glowing following her raising her fore hooves in the air and slamming them into the ground causing a huge shockwave to surge through the ground below the large group of robots in front of her. The magic surging through their circuits completely shut them down and destroyed their gems. Knuckles jaw dropped from the sight: and even Applejack was impressed of what she did.
“Wow… heh, wut did Ah tell ya?” 
“Dang," Knuckles exclaimed, “Remind me to not get on your bad side." 
Somewhere else, Rarity found herself being surrounded by robots and pony guards from all sides. However, she wasn’t afraid. She was putting on such a lady act to heighten their confidence. “Oh no, surrounded by robots and such strong stallion guards. Whatever shall I do?!” But her act then ended as magic glowed from her horn and she said, “Oh, I suppose I could do this!”
She then blasted one group down with one strike.
“And this!”
And then she took out another group. No matter how many charged her, they were no match to her heightened magic. 
“And… huh?”
But in the middle of her blast spree, robots behind her were raised up from the ground and ripped apart and all gems destroyed. Sliver the hedgehog suddenly flew in and landed beside her and questioned, “Mind if I come through, young mare?”
“Do I have much of a choice?” Rarity said with a smirk.
Suddenly, shots were being fired from behind them; Silver suddenly surrounded themselves with a psychic barrier that reflected the shots. He then shouted out loud as he launched the barrier outward knocking out all guards and short-circuited any robot around them. 
“Keep doing that and we’ll wipe out all of these robots in no time,” said Rarity feeling impressed. 
“To be honest…” said Silver wiping his forehead, “if I kept using that much power too much, I’d wipe myself out. But in any case, this power boost is awesome. My psychonesis never felt so strong!”
“Speak for yourself, darling. I feel like I could pierce through a thousand diamonds.”
Both Silver and Rarity suddenly used their magic and psychonesies to send more robots flying; but few of them almost flew into Rainbow Dash who was flying by. 
“Hey, watch where you and that silver hedgehog are blowing away those robots!” she said after quickly dodging, "I’m busy being awesome here!”
“Sorry about that, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity shouted, “Although, it’s kind of hard to do that. There’s too many of them here.” Rarity then saw some robots that Silver didn’t notice about to attack him, “Watch out!” Her element then glowed as she formed diamonds out of her magic and took them down in a fell swoop.
“Nice one!” said Silver, “Now let’s take these punks out!”
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was doing her thing. She was using her speed and newly gained power to take down aerial enemies and dive-bombing others on the ground. But at some point, she couldn’t help but notice Pinkie Pie cheerfully hopping away from some robots that were chasing her and kept confusing them in a way that caused them to crash down.
“Pinkie, what are you doing?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“What?” said Pinkie as took out a few gems, “No pony said that you can’t have a little fun when you’re saving the world.” She then jumped up just in time to avoid a bunch of guards that crashed into each other and got knocked out. “Except in this case… two worlds; two entirely separate worlds!”
“Well, that's your thing I guess,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “But for me… I rather show off and make sure that no pony gets up after my beat down!”
Her element then started to glow as she dashed down at a few Egg Hammer robots and hind kicked them in the air; and then flew back up to kick them back down on the ground with no sweat.
“Whoo-hoo!” shouted Pinkie, “Whatever that Sonic guy did to us is incredible! I feel so empowered, ecstatic, full of life, and so enthusiastically giddy!”
“You mean like you already are all the time?” said Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah, except 20% more!”
After Rainbow Dash went off, Pinkie suddenly saw Amy Rose go by bashing down any robots in her path with hammer shouting, “You bots are messing with the wrong girl! Feel the power of my hammer!”
“All right! Nice shot, pink sistah!” Pinkie shouted.
Amy suddenly paused and looked over at her and pleaded, “Please… don’t call me that.”
Amy wound up again and sent more robots flying high in the air. She was flawless in her swings not slowing down at all. To Pinkie, it was almost like watching a gymnast performance.
“You really know how to swing that hammer! It's a simple tool yet so effective!”
“Well, I am used to all of this,” said Amy while proudly twirling her hammer in hand, “But thanks to Sonic, I feel even stronger than ever before!”
Suddenly, some heavyweight robots came into Pinkie’s view; and a light lightbulb went off in her head as she told Amy, “Ooh, ooh! I just had an awesome idea!”
Pinkie whispered in Amy’s ear and Amy arched her eye and said, “It's a bit silly, but what the heck!”
The robots suddenly halted as they saw the sight Amy hopping on Pinkie’s back. Pinkie’s element then began to glow and also resonated with Amy’s hammer as she held it up.
“Behold the strength of our... PINK POWER!” they both shouted.
Like a knight riding a steed, Pinkie charged forward; and her element’s power was surging through Amy’s hammer. The robots leapt forward and attack; but Pinkie was too fast for them. They ended up missing them, and Amy used that opportunity to swing out her hammer and bashed through the heavyweight robots at once. It felt so satisfying to them, and Amy was impressed by Pinkie’s efforts.
“That was pretty fun;” said Amy, “and we knocked down some massive robots in the process. You can definitely get serious in your own way.”
“It's like I always say…” said Pinkie, “in situations like this, be serious, but not too serious; because it doesn’t hurt to have fun when you’re fighting for your life!”
“Wha?” said Amy in a confusing manner.
Just then, more robots were coming their way, and Pinkie grinned at Amy as she questioned, “Wanna try that again?”
Amy smiled and agreed, “You know it!”
Shadow the Hedgehog wasn’t really cooperating with anyone. He was just knocking out any solider or crushing any robot that came his way. But his actions soon brought attention to him as he was suddenly surrounded all around. But as always, he was not bothered.
“Not that I needed this extra boost in the first place,” Shadow said to himself, “but since I do, I better put it to good use.” He clenched his fists as they glowed brightly red; and then he released a wave of energy, “CHAOS CONTROL!”
Time had stopped all around him and he used it to take out the huge group of enemies before him without much effort. Once it ended, they all fell down to the ground at once.
“Hmph, way too easy.”
But suddenly, something bumped against his leg from behind and caught him off guard as he turned around and was about to attack. But he soon noticed that it was just Spike who stepped back and waved his arms shouting, “Ahh, wait… i-i-it's just me!”
“You should watch where you’re going,” Shadow scoffed.
“Heh, s-s-sorry about that. By the way, that was an awesome move you did there. I hardly saw you do anything; but then the next thing I knew, all of those soldiers and robots were taken out just like that! I sure would hate to be your enemy, that’s for sure!”
Suddenly, a robot pawn behind Spike was about to attack; but then Spike turned around and punched it so hard that it went flying back into other robots behind it. 
“Man that was awesome! I just punched those robots out of the way like it was nothing! Thank you, super powered hedgehog!”
Spike then looked over at Shadow and said, “Say, you want to work together with me and fight side by side?” But Shadow just lightly glared at him and then teleported away. “Um… o-okay! Nice chatting with you! Geez, he really is a broody one.”
Cream and Cheese were not backing down. With two worlds on the line, they were going all out… as much as they could anyway. Punching and kicking their way through the hordes of robots and pony soldiers, they just wanted to end this battle as soon as possible. But they also couldn’t deny that they were having a bit of fun to.
“This new power boost is really working wonders! Isn’t it, Cheese?!” Cream exclaimed.
‘Chao chao!’
“Even Angel is able to take down some robots five times his size! He’s so awesome.”
That he was. Angel was now strong enough that he was able to knock down enemy forces with ease with his powerful feet. But deep inside, he was doing it to impress Cream.
Cream had taken out some pony soldiers herself but then felt a little guilty afterwards, “Um… s-sorry about that! Once Solar Dusk is beaten, we’ll get you and the other guards some ice packs! They work really well for headaches!”
But just then, Cheese suddenly noticed an Egg Hammer right behind Cream and was about to attack her. Cheese freaked out and rushed towards her, ‘Ch-ch-chao chao chao chao chao!’ The robot raised its hammer and was about to swing down. He then got behind Cream just in time to catch the hammer.
Cream was caught off guard as she gasped when she saw what happened. But even though Cheese caught the hammer, he wasn’t prepared for it and was forcefully pushed back so hard that he rammed into Cream and both went flying in the air. Luckily, Tails noticed and quickly caught them in his arms.
“I got you!” Tails stated, “Um… y-y-you okay, Cream? Seemed like you were caught off guard for a moment.”
“Y-yeah, I was,” said Cream hesitantly with a smile, “But I’m good now… thanks to you.”
When the area was clear, Angel looked over at them and lightly groaned and crossed his arms. Fluttershy came up behind him and patted him on the head and said, “It's okay, Angel. Things don’t always work out the way you want it to. Sometimes you just have to accept it and move on. You know what I mean?”
Angel just looked up and scowled at her; and then he just hopped off towards Cream’s direction. Fluttershy just smiled as she thought to herself, ‘He’ll get over it.’
After Tails placed her down, Cream ran over to Fluttershy with Cheese shouting, “Miss Shy! Are you feeling as pumped up as I am?!”
“I’m most definitely am!” Fluttershy agreed, “What do you say that we show these robots what we’re made of?!”
“Yeah!”
‘Chao!’
“I’ll join you girls as well!” said Tails as he approached, “Don’t want to miss out on the fun!” He then felt a light tap on his leg and looked down to see Angel glaring at him and then held out paw, “Um… a paw shake; for what?”
Tails didn’t seem to get Angel’s gesture at first; but he soon noticed as he smirked and thought to himself, ‘Oh, I see what’s going on here. It's still kinda cute that I’m being challenged by a little bunny rabbit; but I’ll go along with it.’
Tails then bent down and shook Angel’s paw as he responded, “Okay, Angel, let’s do this!”
Angel smirked and then both him and Tails went running off together to show off just how tough they were. Cream tilted and scratched her head as she asked Fluttershy, “What was that all about?”
“Who knows,” said Fluttershy with a light chuckle, “Must be a male thing.”
Up in the skies around the rooftops of the Canterlot Castle, Sonic was going head to head against Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Being controlled by the combined strength of Solar Dusk’s magic and energy from a chaos emerald, they were proving to be very strong. Sonic was using his new power to hold them off at bay until the right moment would come to finish things once and for all.
After dodging a barrage of beams, Sonic held them back with a beam of his own as he said, “Man, you two are very tough. I’d hate to think of what would’ve happen to me if I tried to fight you in my regular form; you two would totally trash me!”
Once he pushed them back, he then stated, “But fortunately for me that is not going to happen. I’m going to use everything in my power to shatter those gems and set you two Princesses free!” Celestia and Luna then dashed at him with him being caught off guard and being tossed around a little, “That is… if you will give me an opportunity to do so.”
Sonic then shielded himself followed by him shooting element shaped bombs at them for fun, “A little bit of honesty, a little bit of laughter, kindness, generosity, loyalty and magic!” It drove them back and gave Sonic a quick break to re-strategize his plan. “Man, this too weird, but it seems to be working. I just hope Twilight knows what she is doing.”
Back when Twilight went against Solar Dusk for the first time, she held her own for a little bit; but she was eventually overpowered. But now, she was doing more than holding her own. Twilight was actually giving Solar Dusk a run for his money. Exchanging magical blows that shook the balcony that they were on, their battle was going on longer than last time; but eventually, Solar Dusk was being held off by Twilight this time around.
Solar Dusk suddenly felt troubled and couldn’t believe how he was struggling, “This… can’t be possible. How is it that you’re suddenly on par with me and my magic?! It doesn’t make any sense!”
“It's like I said,” said Twilight "I’m an Alicorn now. I’ve gotten closer to being in touch with my full potential to magic. That’s just common sense.”
Feeling like he was being insulted, Solar Dusk charged up the gem in his crown to fire a powerful beam at Twilight. But even though she struggled at first, she quickly reflected it to the side. Twilight suddenly chuckled as she said, “But you know what I finally realized? Despite everything that you’ve accomplished up to this point, you’re not as powerful as you make yourself out to be.”
“What?” Solar Dusk lowly retorted.
“Now don’t get me wrong; I’m pretty sure there was a reason that you were one of Celestia’s crystal manufacturers back in the day. It takes a unicorn pony of great skill and dedication to magic to gain such a feat. Sure… how Celestia reacted to your invention was a bit... overkill; but what you’ve done that led up to all of this just proves her point of why she did it. Oh, speaking of which…  you on the other could’ve handle your situation much better. You could’ve done something to find an alternative use for your discovery. But instead, you chose to have revenge. You threw a tantrum because you didn’t have your way and you wanted to get back at those you thought had wrong you so much. But even after all of those years of preparing, I’m pretty sure you were struggling to find a way to succeed. But then you met Cream and Cheese and decided foil with their lives to help further along your scheme. However, who knew that the very moment you kidnapped Cheese… you already lost.”
“Enough… shut up.”
“Thanks to your actions, you’ve been found out. Cream and Cheese coming to our world helped us uncover your scheme; and everything you’ve done doesn’t change a thing.  So face it, Solar Dusk. Your magic… can no longer beat us.”
“Shut up! Shut up!” Solar Dusk suddenly shouted back in anger, “I will not allow a pony of your stature to constantly insult me! Everything I've done and everything I've accomplished; it's all because… I AM THE STRONGEST!" 
Solar Dusk suddenly charged up the magic in his horn as much as he could and then charged at Twilight. She met him half way as they locked horns creating a powerful shock wave. Unfortunately, Twilight felt herself struggling against the strength of his full power. Solar Dusk was going all out and wasn’t planning to be defeated. 
“Still think that I’m not as strong as I look?! Do you still think my motive was a mistake?! No matter how much you resist…. no matter how many times you come at me, your friendship will never be a match for my power!
Just then, Twilight’s element began to glow brightly between them and caught Solar Dusk off guard. She just looked up at him and smirked as she replied, “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.” 
Before Solar Dusk knew what happened, Twilight’s magic began overcome his in a big way. A huge magic burst suddenly caused Solar Dusk’s magic to disperse and sent him flying back; and in the process, the powerful gem in his crown had suddenly cracked.
Down on the battlefield, Cheese seemed to be the only one who noticed what happened as he suddenly looked up at the balcony of the palace feeling Solar’s power weaken. He suddenly flew over to Cream and told her the news.
‘Chao chao chao!’
“What is it, Cheese?” Cream questioned. 
‘Chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao!’
“No way… really?!” 
‘Chap chao!’ 
Hearing the sudden news, suddenly called out to Fluttershy to tell her, “Miss Shy, Miss Shy! It's Solar Dusk; he's finally weakened!” 
“Wh-wh-what?!” Fluttershy exclaimed, “That's… th-that’s great! Now Twilight can finally turn this around!” 
Seeing that the battle was possibly on the verge of being won, Cream had a sly look on her face as she said, “Well… I have an idea of something we can do! "
Cream went over to Fluttershy and whispered her plan in her ear. Fluttershy looked at her with slight concern and commented, “Really? A-are you sure about that?”
Cream smiled and confidentially nodded. Cheese agreed and Angel was up to their plan to even though he didn’t know what it was at the moment.
“O-okay then… I say let’s do it!” 
All four of them suddenly ran off while taking out any enemy in their path. No one noticed, but Tails did and said to himself, “I wonder where they're going so suddenly?
“I don't know;” said Spike who was nearby, “but something tells me that this battle is about to be over.” 
Back in the air, Sonic was continuing to occupy his time against the controlled Princesses. But suddenly while he was in the middle of dodging their attacks, Celestia and Luna froze; and it seemed that the magic in their eyes was fading in and out. This was the moment that he was waiting for.
“Heh, it's about time. Now is my chance!” 
Sonic’s armor glowed brightly as he gathered magic in both of his hands. By the time the Princesses gained their composure, Sonic was all ready for them as he shouted, “Hey, Princesses! Consider yourselves... spell broken!" 
Sonic suddenly released the full magical power from his hand to fire a dual beam that impacted both of their gems. Their power was holding out at first; but then with a mighty shout, sonic was able to finally shatter the two gems. Once it was done, the gem in Solar Dusk’s crown lost its power and then crumbled into dust.
“No, my gem!” shouted Solar Dusk in distraught, “Why you… 
Sonic came floating back down near the balcony while carrying the knocked out Princesses. He pointed towards the enemy and shouted, “Your next, Solar Dusk!” 
“Give it up, Solar Dusk;” said Twilight as she approached closer, “it's all over. Don't do anything that's more stupid than what you've already done. 
‘Even after everything I've accomplished,’ Solar Dusk thought to himself, ‘I've lost. These ingrates still managed to best me. This can't be happening!’ 
Solar Dusk hated to admit when he’s beaten, but there was nothing that he could do. He just lightly chuckled and stated, “Well… I suppose that I still have my dignity.” 
“Nah, I think you've been lost that already,” Sonic responded. 
“So now, I guess it's time for me to resort to my next move!” 
In a quick move, Solar Dusk casted a smoke screen spell causing a huge blanket of smoke to build up between him and Twilight and Sonic.
“Whoa!" they both exclaimed. 
While they were distracted, Solar Dusk took off and was headed inside the palace where he was planning to lose them.
“It's seems like he's trying to get away from us,” said Sonic, “How cute.” 
Twilight was then using her magic to try and clear away the smoke, “Not to worry; he won't get far. 
Solar Dusk was making his getaway and planning in his head of what to do next now that his major plan had failed, “It's a pain that they've stopped me again; but it will be all for naught once I'm out of their reach…” But he didn’t get far as he suddenly came to a screeching halt from almost running into someone, “What the…” 
Standing there waiting for him was Cream, Cheese, Fluttershy and Angel all of them wearing sly looks. Angel and Cheese were pounding their little front appendages like fists feeling eager of their finest moment.
“Hey, Mister Solar Dusk,” said Cream. 
“Remember us?” added Fluttershy.
‘Chap chao’ 
Then at once, they all raised their fist, hoof or paw and charged at Solar Dusk who had nowhere to go.
Out on the balcony, Twilight cleared up the smoke screen and was about to head in the palace, “Alright, time to take out Solar Dusk once and for…” 
But before she went in, she heard a very loud scream; and then Solar Dusk came flying out from the within the palace past Twilight and went over the edge of the balcony as he fell towards the ground.
“Well… that works,” Sonic stated.
Sonic then summoned all of his power to create a magical pentagram powered by the Elements of Harmony with the Element of Magic right in the middle. 
“Harmony beam… GO!” 
A giant rainbow beam suddenly shot out of the casted spell and engulfed Solar Dusk’s body. He let out a painful scream as he had the feeling of magic being stripped away from him, “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!” 
Afterwards, he was out cold and Sonic gently laid him down on the ground below. Twilight suddenly turned around and saw Fluttershy and the others come out onto the balcony with her She smirked at them and questioned, “Were all of you waiting for the right moment to do that?”
They all giggled and Cream answered, “You have no idea.” 
Right at that moment, the battle was officially over. Once Solar Dusk was knocked out, his magic had worn off. All of the gems inside the present robots shattered and caused them to shut down; and all of the controlled guards had awoken and were free from the dark spell. Everyone cheered for their victory and Sonic floated down and changed back to normal as the Elements’ powers dispersed from his body. 
“The balance of harmony… is now restored!”
	
> Chapter 18: After the War
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Back in Ponyville, the Chaotix; Espio, Charmy and Vector were still hard at work of assisting the citizens of that town to fend off robotic reinforcement and keep them from taking control again. It was going on for a while and they were giving it their all; but overtime, their strength was depleting while more of the robots kept on coming.
“Geez, there’s no end of these things!” Charmy shouted exasperatedly, “I know Eggman had a lot of robots, but this is too much!”
“Don’t let down your guard, Charmy!” said Vector was fighting beside him, “The Chaotix aren’t going down that easily!”
The Mayor of Ponyville was fighting hard like every other pony there to protect their home; but she was getting exhausted. After recently taking down a small group of robots, she kneeled on the ground trying to catch her breath. Unfortunately, that left her wide for some other robots to come at her from behind. Thankfully, Espio noticed and took them down before they laid a hand on her.
“Are you alright, Miss Mayor,” he said as he was shielding her.
“I-I’m fine;” said the Mayor as she was staggering back onto her hooves, “but… I’m getting too old for this sort of thing. How do they keep coming?! At this rate, we’re all going to be too exhausted to fight back. This… might be the end.”
Espio took down more robots that came their way. Despite being exhausted himself, he refused to back down, “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
But suddenly, Derpy Hooves came out of nowhere and crash-landed on top of Espio. Espio groaned; and Derpy gasped as she got up and looked down at him, “Oops, sorry about that. I was kinda thrown down if you know what I mean.”
The Mayor began looking around and noticed that the enemy forces began getting the upper hand again as some of the ponies were being overwhelmed and captured again. Vector and Charmy ran over to Espio and helped him up only to see themselves surrounded.
“This isn’t good, Espio,” said Vector, “What are we going to do?! We need a miracle to help us out now!”
But as if right on cue before they were captured again, all the robots suddenly froze and began to malfunction. Everyone watched as the robots shut down and all toppled to the ground. On top of that, the gems inside them fell out and completely shattered.
“What… in Equestria… just happened?” said Derpy feeling confused.
“All of the robots just… shut down and toppled over,” said Vector, “Plus, the gems on them… they’re destroyed!”
“And there’s seems to be no more of them coming out of nowhere to overwhelm us,” said Charmy, “Does this mean what I think it means?!”
“It means Twilight Sparkle and others have done it,” said the Mayor, “They’ve finally defeated Solar Dusk; and his magic no longer controls those robots.”
Derpy then had a huge smile on her face as she flew up in the air and shouted to everyone, “We’ve done it, everypony! We’ve… WON!!!”
The whole town went into a full out shouting of joy and praise being glad of the turmoil being over. The Mayor chuckled as she fell on her front side and sighed as she said, “Thank Celestia that its finally over. If this went on any further, my body wouldn’t have been able to take it.”
“Whew! What a relief!” said Vector as he wiped his forehead, “For a second there I thought that we were done for.”
“I thought you said that the Chaotix doesn’t go down that easily?” Charmy chuckled.
“I was in the moment, alright?! Don’t judge me, Charmy!”
Espio went over to the Mayor and sat down beside her as he stated, “So… the final victory is ours. I guess we have fulfilled our promise to you.”
“Indeed, you have,” said the Mayor, “If you three haven’t stayed with us, who knows how this might’ve turned up. We all grant you our thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. We were just doing our job, Mam.”
The Mayor looked out at everyone there and seeing all of their delightful faces from being free of tyranny. She smiled as she thought, ‘Well, everypony… it seems that things will finally get back to normal; and hopefully we won’t have to deal with that dreaded power ever again.’
-----------------------------
It was finally over. Solar Dusk had gone so far to achieve his revenge against Cream, her friends and all of Equestria. But in the end, he was defeated. Twilight had taken him down after Sonic defeated Celestia and Luna as Harmonic Sonic. Afterwards, Solar tried to escape, but was caught off guard by Cream, Cheese, Fluttershy and Angel who caught him and punched his lights out. Sonic then made a final strike against him to finally diminish his destructive power for good.
Once everything was finished, Twilight and Fluttershy flew down with Cream, Cheese and Angel where the others were. After they all heard what had happened, they were stoked.
“No way!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “You mean Solar Dusk was sent flying off that balcony… by you guys?! That must’ve bruised his ego deeply!”
“I had a thought in my head that Solar Dusk might’ve tried to escape once he knew that he was beat,” said Cream proudly, “so I told Fluttershy my plan to cut him off before he did so and allowed him to have it. Plus, I kinda promised my mommy to punch him in face for her. She really wanted it me to do it.”
“Ahh… so that’s what you went off to do,” said Tails, “That was pretty clever.”
Cream smiled and blushed as she said, “Thanks, Tails.”
Angel just folded his arms and rolled his eyes.
Amy suddenly gave Cream a huge hug as she said, “Wow, Cream, that was awesome! Looks like you humiliated Solar Dusk once again! You must feel really good right now.”
“We all feel good about it,” said Cream as she hugged the ones who helped her, “Trust me.”
“It did felt rather… satisfying,” said Fluttershy, “Normally I would’ve felt a little sorry for doing it; but… I’m not feeling anything this time.”
Suddenly, Pinkie pooped up and shouted, “All right! Once again, the day is saved… thanks to the Equestria–Mobius squad! We totally rocked!”
“Whew. Ah tell ya;” said Applejack as she wiped her sweating forehead, “this whole fight has done worn me out more than all of my chores on the farm for a whole month combined.”
“Well I was worn out the moment we started fighting!” Rarity lightly whined, “It was only my will to protect my friends and family that kept me going.”
Cream lightly giggled and then sighed with relief as she fell down on her butt and said, “I’m just glad that it’s all over. I felt like this whole thing was going on forever. I seriously need a nap.”
Just then, everyone heard Silver as he called out to them nearby, “Hey, everyone, I believe that all of the pony solders are waking up now!”
And he was right. Everyone looked around and saw all of the knocked out soldiers beginning to rise up from the ground groaning and trying to get themselves together. It was a relief for everyone that they had woke up so soon.
“Yo, Shadow,” said Silver, “care to help me to see if they’re okay?”
Shadow just shrugged his shoulders as he went to join him, “Very well.”
“Allow me to assist you guys!” shouted Spike as he went after them voluntarily.
Soon enough just like the solders, Celestia and Luna began to wake up as well. Twilight rushed over to them and said, “Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Thank goodness you are alright!”
Once they got themselves together and noticed their surroundings, Celestia and Luna saw Twilight and everyone else staring at them. Celestia rubbed her head as she stated, “T-T-Twilight? What’s going on? The last thing I remember was…”
Then they both suddenly remembered as they both shouted, “Solar Dusk!”
They both rose to their hooves; and Celestia shouted, “Where is that ungrateful traitor?!”
“Not to worry, Princesses,” said Sonic as he zipped in front of them, “he’s kinda out of commission for now.”
Celestia and Luna looked over to the side saw Solar Dusk knocked out on the ground. But they soon found themselves looking back at Sonic. Luna recalled the hedgehog robot that resembled him and said to Celestia, “Sister, isn’t he…”
“Metal Sonic?” said Sonic, “Not at all. The one and only Sonic the Hedgehog? You bet I am!”
“So, you’re the hedgehog that our rabbit friend mentioned to us about,” said Celestia with slight smile, “It nice to meet you.”
“As it is for me to meet you, your highness.”
Cream walked up to the two princesses with Cheese feeling relieved to see them free from corruption, “I’m so glad that you two are back to normal! You were kinda scary while being controlled by dark magic.”
‘Chao chao!’
Both Princesses saw the destruction that was around them as well as all of the destroyed robots lying about and the soildiers who were waking up.
“What in Equestria happened here?” said Celestia.
“It seems that an all-out war had taken place here;” said Luna, “and apparently, we were forced to be a part of it.” She then looked down at Cream and questioned, “How exactly were you able to stop him this time?”
“You should’ve seen it all!” Cream shouted in an excited manner, “All my friends and I were fighting his forces left and right and never giving up against them! Twilight and her friends went against their robot doubles and ended up defeating them all! Then more things happened, and… a-and then Sonic freed the two of you from Solar Dusk’s power by fusing his chaos energy with the Elements of Harmony and became Harmonic Sonic! Twilight defeated Solar Dusk and he tried to escape; but Miss Shy, Angel, Cheese and I caught him and punched him in the face and sent him flying off the edge of that balcony! Then Sonic shot him down with a harmony beam, and…”
Cream suddenly stopped as she noticed long she was talking and the way everyone looking at her in shock. She blushed from embarrassment and lightly chuckled.
“Well… I think she pretty much summed it up,” said Rainbow Dash.
“S-s-sorry… I kinda got a little ecstatic there,” said Cream smiling nervously, “Normally, I wouldn’t be so hyped up about this, but… I’ve been wanting to do that to him so much! And so did Cheese.”
‘Chao chao chao!’
Angel then stood up in a proud stance making sure that they were looking.
“Oh yeah, and Angel too.”
Then Celestia looked at everyone as she stated, “Well, I can tell that you all fought hard and bravely and were able to prevent this calamity when my Sister and I weren’t able to. We can’t thank you all enough.”
“We may have done all of this together, your highness,” said Sonic, “but we only had this chance because of her.” He was pointing at Cream, “Its only because she chose to not give up that we even had a chance. Isn’t that right, Cream?”
Cream blushed again as she said, “I… I-I-I don’t know about that. I mean… I was the only one Solar Dusk decided to spare because he wanted me to be tortured; but… even though I chose to try and continue to fight, it was my friends who helped me to succeed all together.”
“Well no one could stop something like this all alone; it takes a team effort,” said Luna, “You’re lucky to have such good friends by your side; and you are one brave little bunny. I’m sure your Mother will be proud.”
Just then in the middle of all of this, they heard a familiar voice shout out, “Hey! What’s going on here?! Gah! What happened to my robot army?!”
Everyone looked up on the top balcony of the palace and saw Eggman who was now also free of Solar Dusk’s magic was overlooking the castle grounds littered with broken scraps of his robots.
“Oh yeah,” said Sonic, “With all of this going on, I almost forgot about him.”
Suddenly, Eggman looked down and saw everyone looking up at him; and he panicked as he said, “Uh oh.”
As Eggman began to run off, Twilight smiled as magic was glowing in her horn, “Don’t worry, I got him.” She then used a spell that suddenly transported her right in front of Eggman’s path and startled him, “Hello.”
She then used it again to teleport her and Eggman back down onto the ground where everyone else was. Eggman got up and saw himself suddenly surrounded by Sonic and company; as well as the royal sisters and Twilight and her friends who were all just staring at him.
“Um… h-h-hello, everyone!” said Eggman nervously while sweating, “I’m pretty sure that I know how you all feel right now; but do know that I was a victim here as well!”
“Nobody is buying your lies, Eggman,” said Knuckles, “Just admit defeat and save your dignity.”
Eggman suddenly just shouted out in frustration, “Ugh! I can’t believe I fell for his trickery so easily.”
“I could,” Sonic chuckled.
“Tell me about it,” said Rainbow Dash
“Just wait. When I get back to my base in my world, I’ll come back here and get revenge on that tyrant! And then, I’ll go back to trying to take over my world… which will become my world!”
Nearby, Shadow had received a message on a communication watch that he was wearing. He then stated, “Actually, you might want to rethink that, Doctor. I just received word from Rouge, and she successfully lowered and destroyed your entire forest base and everything in it; but she did choose to spare your two lackies. Tough luck for you.”
Eggman was shocked and furious at the same time; and he was about to burst out in a complaint rant. But then he just groaned and plopped on the ground and said, “Oh, I give up.”
“Hey, everyone,” said Spike suddenly, “look who’s finally waking up.”
Solar Dusk was slowing regaining consciousness from being knocked out by Sonic. He rose to his hooves placing one of them against his head feeling a mild headache, “Wh-what the… my head. What happened to…” Suddenly, he saw everyone there including the Celestia and Luna who he saw were now free from his magic, “Oh yeah… now I remember.”
“Hello again, Solar Dusk,” said Celestia, “I admit that it’s a bit pitiful to see you like this; but I guess you did this to yourself.”
All Solar Dusk could do was lowly growl under his breath as he scowled at the two royal sisters. But then he saw Cream walk up to him with a sly smile and said. “Hey, Solar Dusk. I guess what you said to me didn’t come true. You honestly thought that you had us beat, but you were wrong.”
‘Chao chao.’
To everyone, it was a bit weird to see Cream acting the way she was; but they decided to let her have this moment.
“I bet you feel real angry right about now. I tried to warn you, but now you've tasted the sweet, delicious taste of justice.”
“You… ungrateful… brat,” said Solar Dusk with an angered glare, “That cheap move you did… you… you just couldn’t lie down in your shame and let me have my way, could you?”
“Of course, not! I wasn’t going to just sit on my butt and let you win when there was still a slight possible chance to stop you! I guess you couldn’t swallow your own pride and stay down after being whooped once; and now you just had seconds.”
‘Chao chao.’
“Ooooooooooooooooooh snap!” said Rainbow Dash, “This little girl just burned you bad!”
Solar Dusk suddenly slammed his hoof down on the ground as magic began glow on his horn and was trying to get at Cream, “Now you’ve done it. You may have destroyed all of my gems, but I still have powerful magic!”
Cream was a bit surprised but chose to not move. However, Twilight got in front of her with her friends as they prepared to defend her, “Girls, protect her!”
Everyone else was preparing to defend as well; but Sonic did not move as he just stood by wearing a small smirk on his face.
“That changes nothing!” Solar Dusk protested as he was about to strike, “Do you hear me?! You will all pay!”
But just as he was about to fire his magic in a desperate attempt to take them down, Solar Dusk suddenly felt the magic in his horn completely fizz out.
“What!”
He tried again only to not feel any magic come out from within him. Everyone was wondering what had happened. They were all ready to defend Cream; but no one expected this.
“What… happened to me? Why… can’t I use… my magic?!”
“I think I can answer that,” said Sonic suddenly as he walked forward in front of everyone, “You see… after seeing what you were capable of and what you did to all of us and this world, I couldn’t just stand thinking that you could try to do that again. So, when you were sent flying over that balcony, I didn’t just shoot you with the Elements’ power; I used their power to completely sap you of your magic.”
“You did… what?!”
“Oh, was that too complicated for you to understand? Here’s the simple version. Your unicorn magic is gone… forever. No longer will you be able to use it to oppress or bully anyone or any world anymore.” 
Sonic then turned around to everyone else as he smiled and winked as he said, “You’re welcome.”
“Did either of you two know that the Elements could do that?” said Twilight to Celestia and Luna.
Both sisters responded saying, “We… did not.”
Solar Dusk kept on repeatedly trying to release magic from his horn while shouting, “No… no no no no no! This can’t be happening! I can’t lose my magic! Magic is the very essence of my being!”
“Serves you right, you ungrateful, traitorous equine!” shouted Eggman as he walked up, “I wasted my own time to get you out of that dingy dungeon… if it was dingy… and bring you to my world to help you get revenge; but then you had to go and neglect all of that and made me into one of your mind-slave puppets! And ruling over two dimensional worlds?! Seriously?! You have a lot of nerve suggesting such a ludicrous idea after what I did for you!”
“Give it a rest, Eggman,” said Knuckles, “Your personal plan had failed the very moment you broke him out of prison and revealed your technology to him.”
Celestia came up to Solar Dusk and magically made a metal shackle appear in which she placed around Solar Dusk’s neck. With that, he wasn’t able to escape from their sight.
“Oh, how the great and talented Solar Dusk has fallen,” said Celestia, “You had a wonderful gift, but you allowed it to delve yourself into darkness and endangered many lives… including my Sister and I. However, I suppose now there’s no need to suspended your magic with our own.” 
Soon, some of the pony solders came up to them while one questioned, “Your majesties, are you both alright?”
“Thanks to all of them we are,” said Luna with a light smile, “Solar Dusk made quite a mess of things around here; but we are now free from his dark magic.”
Feeling nervous about Solar Dusk magic, the single pony solider said, “Um… should we be… cautious of his…”
“Not to worry,” said Celestia, “His magic has been taken away from him forever. He’s no longer a threat to anypony… such is his fate. Take him away.”
Some of the solders then surrounded Solar Dusk as they secured him and began guiding him away from the others. As they did, Solar Dusk looked over at Cream who was lightly smiling and wiggling her fingers saying, “See ya.”
‘Chao chao’
Solar Dusk began to growl but was then interrupted as the solders guided him away. “Alright, pal; let’s go. No more take overs with dark magic and bullying anthropomorphic animals for you.”
‘This… is officially… the lowest point of my life.’ Solar Dusk thought to himself, “How I despise this.”
“So, what exactly is going to happen to him now that he’s caught again and completely void of magic?” said Fluttershy, “I bet its nothing good… right?”
“We’ll figure something out… in due time,” said Celestia, “However, Solar Dusk will definitely pay for his crimes.”
Pinkie suddenly gasped, “You don’t mean…”
“No, we’re not executing him if that’s what you’re thinking,” said Luna, “That would probably be too good for him anyway.”
“Weak,” said Shadow.
“You can say that again,” said Knuckles.
Celestia then turned her attention back to Sonic after remembering about his transformation that Cream mentioned and smirked as she questioned, “So… Harmonic Sonic, huh? You could bond yourself with the Elements of Harmony? How did that happen?”
“I’m still not entirely sure,” Sonic responded, “I think it had something to do with some kind of prophecy thing that I didn’t know about; but… that kind of thing happens with me a lot.”
“And what about him?” said Luna pointing to Eggman, “Isn’t he worthy of worrying about as well?”
“Normally; but not to worry. Without his robots and his gadgetry, he’s completely harmless to you ponies. That I can assure you.”
“What?!” Eggman protested, “Are you kidding me?! If I wanted to, I could conquer this world just by using my intelligent and magnificent brain!”
All the ponies there suddenly laid their eyes on Eggman; and some were wearing light glares to make themselves look more intimidating.
“Uh… b-but… I don’t want to. Who would want to rule over a world filled with prissy ponies anyway?”
“Whatever you say, Eggman,” said Cream with a light chuckle.
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Finally, Solar Dusk was defeated. His dark magic gems were destroyed and his magic was gone forever. Once he was back in custody, he was returned to his now fixed old cell where he would await trial. 
Word was soon put out to Cadence in the Crystal Empire that Solar Dusk was defeated and that it was safe for the citizens of Canterlot to return. Once everything was dealt with and everyone was well rested, it was about time to return to Ponyville. Celestia gladly lended her magic to transport everyone back to their previous destination; but not after Cream gave her and Luna a hug to show her appreciation for them.
Everyone back in Ponyville were happy and relieved when they saw their heroes show up safe and sound and gave them a very friendly warm welcome. All their loved ones filled them in on what happened and how they handled themselves and vice versa. Charmy found himself telling the others of what happened as they surrounded him and the Chaotix.
“And then there we were… completely surrounded from all sides by hordes of robots! But I did not back down! I gathered all my courage and led the charge to demolish each of them one by one! You wouldn’t believe how many times I had to save Vector though; those robots were overwhelming him!”
“You’re full of it, Charmy!” Vector protested, “I’m the one who save him multiple times! There’s only so much that he could do with that little stinger of his!”
“Don’t forget my feet and fist as well! You know… the things that saved you!”
Just then, Apple Bloom came by and said, “Actually… Vector saved Charmy a couple of times and vice-versa; and they did protect all of us at times. Although, it was Espio who ended up protectin’ them more than anypony else.”
Everyone smirked as they all looked back at Vector and Charmy who were shocked that a little pony ratted them out.
“Sorry, just bein’ honest.”
And Espio was nearby relaxing as he smiled and lightly chuckled to himself.
Nearby beside the bridge at the park, Eggman showed no restraint as he just sat there brooding to himself as he was looking at all of the pony residents, “To be beaten by Sonic and his pals… as well as those pony freaks… is just downright irritating.”
Suddenly, he jumped as the pony named Derpy flew up beside him and shouted, “Hiya, tubby egg shaped creature!”
Eggman lightly groaned as he turned away from her.
“You’re Eggman, right;” said Derpy, “the one who help Solar Dusk take over our town?”
“Yeah, what’s it to you?”
Derpy flew over to the side where Eggman’s face was and stated, “My name is Derpy, and I just wanted to say that I heard about everything that you went through; especially when Solar Dusk betrayed you and broke his promise to you! Sure… it was a promise of evil, but it was a promise nonetheless; and you should never break a promise!”
“Gee, thank you for bringing that up again,” Eggman brooded, “That makes me feel soooooooooo much better.”
Derpy then brought out a basket that she had that was filled with Muffins that she had made before her town’s enslavement, “I didn’t mean anything like that; but… I wanted to say that… all is forgiven… at least with me.” She then took out one muffin and held it out, “Want a muffin?!”
Eggamn grumbled and turned away again, “No thank you. Now go away!”
“Aw, come on!” Derpy pleaded, “I’m trying to be nice here; and I know that you have no means to hurt us right now! So… why not be nice for once.”
Eggman was still ignoring her, but she wasn’t giving up.
“Just try one? Its banana nut.”
Hearing the name of the flavor, Eggman slightly turned back to Derpy who was still smiling while holding a muffin out to him. He then scoffed and snatched it away from Derpy’s hooves.”
“Fine! But don’t think this makes us…” 
Eggman then took a bite and his eyes went wide as he stared at the partially eaten muffin. “Whoa! That is delicious!” He finished that one and then grabbed a couple more to munch on. But then Eggman noticed Derpy who was still smiling at him. He scoffed as he slightly turned away from him. “But that still means nothing!”
Sonic was standing nearby and saw everything. He chuckled as he said to himself, “Well, that’s an amusing sight. Looks like Eggman has made a friend.”
“Don’t expect it to last for too long,” said Tails who was beside him, "for Eggman at least."
Silver was putting on a little show for some foals that were astounded by his psychokinesis power. Eventually, he finished; but the foals wanted to continue.
“Do it again! Do it again!”
“I’m glad that I could entertain you all,” said Silver with a light chuckle, “but I’m afraid I can’t stay.”
“Awwwwww!” 
“But it was nice meeting you all. And… uh, stay in school.”
“Bye, Silver!”
After the foals told Silver goodbye, he ended walking into Sonic who had a smirk on his face, “Stay in school? So cliché.”
Silver chuckled nervously and said, “Yeah… it just came out like that.” 
“Sooooooo… you're not leaving so soon, are ya? Why not stay and hang out with us a bit longer? We owe you a lot after what you did for us.”
“I’d love to stay longer, Sonic. After all, I have all the time in the world. But I think I stayed here long enough. I need to get back to my own time to continue my duties there. Everything should be back to the way it was before… hopefully.”
Cream had overheard nearby with Cheese and ran over to Silver and pleaded, “You’re leaving now, Mister Silver?”
‘Chao chao?’
“I’m afraid so,” said Silver as he patted her head, “My mission was to assist at this point of my past to prevent the disaster in my present; and I’ve done just that. However, I was glad to help and meet all of you; especially you. You’re going to grow up to be a brave and strong young rabbit.”
Cream smiled and stated, “My Mommy says the same thing.”
At that moment, Sonic’s other friends came over and began saying their farewells to Silver and giving him thanks for his support. Soon, Silver took out the chaos emerald that he still had and used it to open another time portal that led back to his time. He then tossed it over to Sonic who caught it in his hands and said, “Here, take this. I’m sure it will help you guys get back home much easier. Silver out!”
Silver first looked around at everybody and waved and then stepped through the portal that immediately closed afterwards.
“You know…” said Sonic as he scratched his head, “I still can’t help but have this strange feeling that I’ve met him before. Why is that?”
After that, Sonic and the other went back to mingling with the Ponyville residents and getting to know them and sharing their own exploits from their world. Before they knew it a few more hours had passed; and Sonic and his friends felt very welcomed in this world. 
At some point, they were given a message from Celestia and Luna to meet them back at the palace in Canterlot. So when Sonic and his friends were ready and said goodbye to the Ponyville residents, Twilight transported them, herself and her friends back to Canterlot. Surprisingly, she was able to do it a bit easier this time around. By the time they got back to the Canterlot castle grounds, most of of the parts of the wrecked robots were gone; but the place was still a mess.
“Wow. You guys have had one serious throw down here,” said Charmy, “This place is a wreck!”
“That’s nothing,” said Spike, “You should’ve been here yourself. It was crazy! But then again… I’m sure you already guessed that.”
“Sure did,” said Vector, “Kinda makes me glad that I did stay to defend Ponyville.”
“Miss Shy,” said Cream suddenly as they were making their way to the castle, “do you have an idea of why the princesses called us back here?”
“No idea,” Fluttershy responded, “But, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Eggman was with everyone else and was following along so he wouldn’t be alone with the residents of Ponyville. But nearby, he noticed some of the pony guards carrying away some of the scraps from his destroyed robots. He marched up to them and shouted, “Hey, are you four-legged lame-os doing to the scraps of my robots?!”
The guards smiled as one of them said, “Oh, nothing much. This place was just littered with this stuff; so we’re just taking them to be melded down and use it to make new armor and other things. Thanks for that by the way.”
The guards then chuckled as they walked off; and Eggman’s face was steaming red as he was about to let himself loose, “Why you…”
“Come along, Eggman,” said Twilight as she dragged him away with her magic.
Everyone got up to the front doors where Celestia and Luna were waiting for them. The Chaotix hadn’t met them yet; but when they finally saw them, they were blown away by their appearance.
“Whoa,” said Charmy with his eyes shimmering, “They’re more radiant and magnificent in person.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” said Vector, “I feel like my eyes are blinded by major brilliance!”
“Thank you all for coming back,” said Celestia. Then she and Luna looked over at the Chaotix as she said, “And thank you for helping to defend Ponyville.”
“The pleasure was ours, Princesses,” said Espio with a light bow.
“So, what’s going on?” said Twilight, “What was so important that you call us all back here?”
Celestia smiled and turned around as she looked back and said, “Follow us.”
Everyone began to follow the two Princesses into the palace and were taking a secret starwell downward to a certain room all while Luna was discussing some info with the others.
“With Solar Dusk locked away again and his magic gone forever, things has calmed down a bit around here. We were able to get things back to normal around here and cleaned up most of that robot scrap that served no purpose from before.”
Eggman lowly growled to himself from hearing that.
“However,before you all came back to this world under… unfortunate circumstances, Celestia and I were studying the properties of the chaos energy to see if there was any way we could still bring you back; even though we already said we probably couldn’t. But surprisingly, we were able to make a breakthrough that shocked even us. And after the battle against Solar Dusk, we were able to finish it.”
“Wait… are you saying that you created another fake of one of those chaos emeralds?!” stated Rainbow Dash.
“Not… exactly.”
At the end of the path, they all walked through the throne room doors. Inside there were a few pony soldier guarding a certain item that was in there. But there was something very familiar about it.
“Wow, its… a mirror,” said Knuckles unenthusiastically.
Sonic looked around it and then stated, “I don’t think it’s just a mirror
The mirror had a strong gold plating; and the glass shimmered with magical energy. Although, when Sonic tried to poke it with his finger, it didn’t go through.
“Using the same properties of the chaos energy from before,” said Luna, “we were able to concentrate it with our magic to not just create another gem, but also… well…”
They all saw the gem that was ledged at the top of the mirror. 
“It looks like a portal;” said Amy, “but to where?”
With a little smile, Celestia looked at Twilight and said, “Its everything that we need; but now it just needs the final touch.”
Twilight suddenly looked down and saw her element shimmer a bit. She looked back up and said, “Say no more,” said Twilight with a confident smile, “I see where you’re going with this. Come on girls, you know what to do.
Sonic and all of his friends stepped back as they watched Twilight and the other surround the mirror. Their Elements began to glow bright and then fired beams of light at gem in the mirror.
“Wow, they're really dependent on those Element trinkets; aren't they?” said Eggman.
“Yep, they sure are,” Sonic responded, “Those things are awesome; and I should know.”
Once the Elements did their work, the gem on the mirror was shining bright; and the appearance of the mirror's glass was revealing a familiar place. 
Looking upon it, Cream gasped and said, “Look! It’s… it’s our home!”
‘Chao chao chao chao!’
“No way,” said Tails, “How is that possible? They’ve created a portal between two worlds!”
“We actually did that?!” said Twilight feeling giddy, “Oh my gosh. This is such a momentous occasion for me… for all of us! We created a dimensional portal!”
All of Cream friends couldn’t believe it. A newly made portal that led straight to their world. Even for them it was unusual. However, they realized that nothing in this world should surprise them anymore; not everything they've witnessed.
“Well then,” said Sonic as he held up the emerald that Silver gave him, “I guess we won't be needing this.”
For Eggman, it was a huge relief as he rushed towards it and said, “Great! That’s all I needed to see! Good bye and good riddance!” And as he reached the portal, he looked back at the others and shouted, “Oh, and fortunately for you ponies, I have had enough of this place! You won’t be seeing me again!”
And with that, he went through and didn’t look back.
“Not that he would have had a choice,” said Celestia, “but at least he’s smart enough to make the right decision.”
Cream took a closer look at the portal and stuck her head through and could see that it was real, “This is great! Now I can go back and show my Mommy that I’m okay! And, we can see each other whenever we want! This is truly wonderful!”
“Um… actually,” said Celestia, “I hate to rain down on that thought; but… right now this is a one-way portal. It can only go to your world.”
“And on top of that,” said Luna, “We can’t use it indefinitely. Sometimes it may work and sometimes it may not. Even with our magic potential, its uncertain to this point.”
Cream’s ears suddenly drooped down as she sadly stated, “You mean… there’s a chance that… I won’t see any of you for a long time?” 
“Well, have fun with that,” said Shadow as he made his way to the portal, “This is where I take my leave. See you around.” And Then he left.
Cream turned around to Flutterhsy and the others and then showed a slight smile and said, “It’s been great that I was able to see you all again; and you were able to meet my friends. But… once we go through this portal and back to our world, how do we know that we would be able to see each other again… while not trying to save two worlds from powerful tyranny?”
Angel tried to keep his feelings in, but he couldn’t help as he hopped his way to Cream and held onto her while crying.
“Oh, Angel,” Fluttershy chuckled.
Cream then smiled as she hugged Angel back.
“Well… we can't say how often that you can come back here right now,” said Celestia, “but we got something that might be able to help.”
Celestia then brought out a small turquoise gem on a necklace and placed it around Cream’s neck.
“What’s this?” Cream questioned as she observed it.
“A special gem our team crafted just for you,” said Luna. “You can use this to go through that portal in your world and visit Fluttershy and her friends whenever you want.”
Cream couldn’t believe it. A small bonus in which she could use visit her pony friends at any time. “No… w-way. Really?! Did you hear that, Cheese?!”
‘Chao chao chao chao!’ 
Cream went over and hugged both Alicorn Princesses and told them, “Thank you, Princesses! Thank you!”
“But a word of advice,” said Celestia with a smirk, “try not to use it too frequently. You don't want to be away from home for too long. Plus, you know how tricky inter-dimensional traveling can be.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
After that, it was time for Sonic and all of his comrades to return back to their world. They all took a few minutes to say good-bye to their pony for now; but they all had a feeling that they would meet again one day.
“Well, it’s been nice and all being here and discovering the value of friendship and all,” said Vector as he waved to the others, “but we really need to be going back. A detective agency’s work is never done!”
Charmy then zoomed up to Celestia and Luna in a frantic manner, and said, “It’s been a real honor meeting and serving you! I think you Princesses are really, really cool! If I was a pony with magical abilities, I would totally want to be an Alicorn just like… HEY!”
Vector then quickly grabbed Charmy and carried him into the portal before he did something that he felt would embarrass him. Espio then bowed and stated, “Until we meet again.”
“Hey, look forward to seein’ ya again one day,” said Applejack to Knuckles as she gave him a fist/hoof bump, “Yer one powerful fighter.”
“Thanks,” said Knuckles with a light chuckle, “Same to you.”
“Until next time, Pinkie,” said Amy with a wink, “Looking forward to hanging out with you again in the future.”
“Same here!” Pinkie shouted, “And if you ever want to have a serious and hardcore party planner for a party, you know where to find me.”
“Sure thing. Talk to ya later!”
“It was great working with ya!” said Rainbow Dash to Sonic, “Just remember that the next time we meet, you owe me a racing rematch!”
“Looking forward to that,” Sonic responded.
Most of Sonic’s friends said their farewells and went through the portal to return to their world. Soon, all that was left was Tails, Sonic, Cream and Cheese.
“Well, time to head back,” said Tails, “No doubt Eggman is already planning for a comeback.”
“Yeah,” Sonic agreed, “Although with his base in ruins, it might take him a while.” After Tails went through the portal, Sonic turned to Cream and said, “You coming, Cream?”
“Y-yeah. Just give me a minute.”
Cream then went over to Fluttershy and gave her a big hug. Fluttershy teared up a bit but then smiled as she hugged her back. “Don’t worry, Cream. Next time you see us, we can hang out more without much danger lingering around us. Just Promise that you’ll visit us again soon; and you can even bring your Mother. Okay?”
“I sure will.” 
“And I can’t forget about Cheese. Am I right?”
‘Chao chao chao chao!’
Cream suddenly looked down and saw Angel up on his hind legs and looking up at her with tears in his eyes.
“Yeah, I’ll miss you too, Angel,” said Cream as she picked him up, “I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you. But don’t worry, I’ll come and visit you again soon; and I can at least leave you… with this.”
Cream then placed a small kiss on his cheek. Angel’s fur stood up and his eyes went wide and then lowered as he showed a goofy smile and had hearts floating above his head. He then fell from Cream’s hands and onto the floor in a love-struck state.
“I think he accepts it,” said Fluttershy with a giggle.
Cream then proceeded to hug each of the other ponies and Spike before she then made her way to the portal with Sonic. She then waved as she said, “Until we meet again.”
‘Chao chao!’
“Peace out, ponies!” said Sonic
After walking through, the portal closed as the magic dissipated.
“Well… that’s that,” said Spike, “But to be honest… I’m going to miss those guys.”
“So… how much sooner do you think we’ll see her again?” said Rarity. 
“I don’t know!” Pinkie shouted, “I already want them to come back! Those guys were wonderful!”
“I’m sure we’re probably see them sooner than we may think,” said Twilight, “But… then again, there’s that whole space-time… inter-dimensional thing where time here goes longer than their world.”
“Oh yeah. I guess I forgot to mention this to our friends,” said Celestia suddenly, “but… because of the whole combination of Equestrian magic and chaos energy, there is a chance that may change.”
Everyone suddenly gasped as Pinkie said, “You mean… as in… our timeline is on same path now?! Really?!”
“How can that be possible?” Twilight strongly questioned.
The thought of being on the same timeline of their new friends brought a smile to everyone’s faces. It would definitely be best for them.
Fluttershy picked Angel up as she smiled thinking about when she would see her rabbit friend again and said, “Well… whatever happens, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Angel then broke out of his love-stricken state and looked around with Cream nowhere to be seen. He then saw the closed portal and began to tear up again and cry out.
Spike just groaned and said, “Oh get over it already.”
	
> Epilogue: Be Kind and Forgive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they always say… everything must come to an end; and that very saying could be said about a major battle between 2 worlds. A major criminal convict, Solar Dusk came very close of succeeding in taking over Equestria and another world named Mobius thanks to the new power he acquired. But thanks to Twilight Sparkle, the rest of the mane six, and their friends from Mobius, Solar Dusk was finally defeated; and peace and order was restored. But on top of that, Solar Dusk was completely and permanently striped of his unicorn magic thanks to Sonic and his harmonic transformation.

After everything, Sonic and his friends found a way to return to their world thanks to Celestia and Luna. Everyone took their turn to say good bye; but the one who had the hardest time saying good bye was Cream. She had no idea how long she would be able to see her pony friends again. But she knew that time would eventually come if she waited patiently.

Once in Mobius, Eggman made a beeline towards the location of his robotic base. But when he got there, Shadow’s claim was fully realized when he saw that his entire base was destroyed. Nothing was left but fire and scraped metal. Eggman was freaking out and then began to furiously shout at Orbot and Cubot who were nearby.

“You dumbfounded imbeciles! How could you possibly allow that bat thief to take down this entire base?!”

“Y-you must understand, sir,” Orbot pleaded, “We threw everything that we possibly could at her; but she somehow managed to get the best of us.”

         Eggman then crossed his arms as he continued to growl and scowl at Orbot who was lightly shaking under pressure. But then he sighed as he said…

        “Okay… perhaps we were kind of bored without you here and kind of went into sleep mode… and we were kind of caught… off guard. B-b-but once we noticed, we did everything in our resources to stop her; but she was too quick and too clever!”

       “She was there and there and there! She was everywhere!” shouted Cubot suddenly, “That bat lady was just too smart for us; and she was quite agile too! It’s no wonder that she’s a master thief! But on the bright side, she only took some gems from the treasure trove… th-that’s… now buried… in rubble.”

       All Eggman could do was sigh as he said, “Well… at least that stupid voice chip of yours is working properly now.”

      After meeting up Shadow, Rouge told him about how her task went and even bragged a bit about some rare materials that she found in the process. Shadow also filled Rouge in on everything that happened in the other world. Afterwards, they both soon went their separate ways to deal with individual agendas.

As for Silver the hedgehog, he traveled back to his present timeline in the far future. He remembered visioning what fate would befall his home if he didn't do something; but once he got there, he saw that everything was still the way it was before he left. He took a deep breath and admired what might have been ruined.

“Ah… present sweet present. It’s good to be back.”

Back in the world of Equestria, Twilight and her friends went back to their daily lives as they were helping their friends and family of Ponyville recuperate after Solar Dusk’s tyrannical takeover. And speaking of Solar Dusk, he was right back in the same position as he was before he broke out and escaped. Just like before, he was watched over and accompanied 24/7. Without his natural unicorn magic however, he wasn’t much of a threat anymore; but knowing of his intelligence, Celestia didn’t want to be too careful. Solar Dusk himself still couldn’t believe that he was in the situation that he was in now. Just days ago, he was an all-powerful being that had control of two powerful Alicorns and had the potential power to rule over two worlds. But now he was a prisoner of the Royal Sisters once again with his unicorn magic being gone forever. It did a huge number on his pride both as a unicorn and a crystal manufacturer genius.

However though, even though deep down he was angered, frustrated and completely furious, he eventually felt like there was no reason to continue perusing revenge and finally accepted his fate. That very moment when he was punched in the face by Fluttershy, Angel, Cheese and Cream had been stuck in his head ever since it happened; and he could never stop thinking about it. Every time he did, he wanted to break and shatter something. He even had moments when he hoped that his magic would come back somehow; but he knew that it was never going to happen. He knew that there was no longer any hope for his future.

But then less than a month later, something happened that no one would see coming; especially Solar Dusk. One day, he was laying in his cell as calmly and peacefully as he could be awaiting the moment that he would be summoned by Celestia again to do another punishing chore. But as Solar Dusk sensed one of the guards approaching his cell, he would find out that the reason would not be what he expected.

“Up and at ‘em, Solar Dusk,” the guard demanded, “You’re coming with me.”

Solar Dusk rolled his eyes and groaned as he said, “How wonderful. I wonder what her majesty has planned for me today? Does she want me to scrub the throne floors, clean out the castle drapes, or maybe have me prance around the town like a happy little school mare in a dress?”

“Um… I-I-I don’t know… why she would make you do… that last thing;” said the guard awkwardly, “but no, it’s not her. You… have a visitor.”

Solar Dusk’s eyes went semi-wide as he looked over at the guard and stated, “A what? Are you purposely messing with me? Who in their dumb, moronic mind would want to visit me?”

“Oh, trust me. You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

Solar Dusk calmly got up and sighed feeling like he had nothing better to do, “Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”

Solar Dusk was released from his cell with multiple guards surrounding him as they walked up to the castle floor and to mini room that was sometimes used for interrogation situations. But the moment Solar Dusk stepped inside, he couldn't believe it.

“What… the…”

He was in major shock and annoyance when he saw the last being he expected to be here nervously wave at him. Cream the rabbit, along with her friend, Cheese.

“My visitor… is her?!”

“Yep,” said the main guard, “I told you that you wouldn't believe me.” The guard then stepped out and gave warning before closing the door behind him, “Well… you have 15 minutes. And don't try any funny business. We're keeping an eye on you.”

Solar Dusk slowly walked over to the chair that was opposite from the tableside Cream and Cheese was sitting. He sat down while constantly staring at the duo while not saying a thing. Cream was feeling a little nervous, but she didn’t let it bother her too much as she remembered the reason for being here.

“H-h-hey there, Mister Dusk. Um… nice to see that you're… doing well.”

“What… are you doing here?” Solar Dusk suddenly said in a low tone, “I thought it was just plain stupid to hear that someone came in here just to see me. But now seeing that it was you… I-I can't even comprehend it.”

“Um…”

“Seriously, you have a lot of nerve showing your face to me again… after what you did to mine.”

Cream realized what she meant as she nervously chuckled.

Solar Dusk’s then got louder, “And let me guess… you have some of your friends nearby to make sure you're safe… protecting you like the arrogant child you are?!”

“N-n-no… actually,” said Cream hesitantly, “Nobody else is here. It’s just me… a-and Cheese here.”

‘Chaos Chao’

“Then tell me…” said Solar Dusk as he sat back in his chair, “what exactly is your reason for being here? Do you wish to gloat some more in my face? Have you somehow not had enough of ridiculing me and making me look like a poor, pathetic weakling?!” He then went forward and slammed his forehooves on the table startling Cream and Cheese, “HAVE YOU?!!!”

After checking her heart, Cream sighed and said, “No, I’m not here to do any of that. But… I’m actually just here to… apologize.”

Solar Dusk’s eyes suddenly went wide while continuing to stare at the young rabbit feeling confused of her words.

“N-nobody talked me into it or anything; the decision was all mine. I don’t know if you’ll agree to accept it, but… I really did come here to just apologize; a-and to tell you that… I forgive you… f-for everything you’ve done. Nothing more.”

Solar Dusk was silent for a few second; but soon, he began chuckling under his breath and then eventually into full-blown laughter. The guards who were nearby were watching making sure that this didn’t lead to anything. But Solar Dusk went silent again as he looked at Cream with a sarcastic smile.

“And here I thought that you couldn’t get any more dumb and clueless than you already were.”

Cream looked at Cheese who shrugged his shoulders and then she said, “I… I-I-I don’t understand.”

“You don’t under… are you kidding me?! I kidnapped your little blue creature friend there and had him turned against you! I planned to have everyone you knew and loved to forget that you exist! I took over the minds of all your friends and family and threatened your home! I literally pummeled you into the ground and even tried to kill you! But I still ended up losing and you got exactly what you wanted in the end… and you made sure I knew of that.”

Cream couldn’t disagree to that. Everything that Solar Dusk was mentioning was true and she couldn’t deny it.

“So, you mean to tell me that after all of that… after all the torture I put you and your friends through, your only reason to come all this way here to see me was so that you could APOLOGIZE?!!!”

All Cream could do was sit there in her chair with her body trembling a bit from the pressure Solar was putting on her. She was trying to think of something to say, but she couldn’t find the words right away.

“You really are pathetic,” said Solar Dusk as he sat back in his chair with his forehooves crossed, “Do me a favor; leave now and stop wasting my time. Letting me keep what little dignity I have left is the least you can do.”

But suddenly, Cream finally spoke again as she found the courage to say, “Mister Solar Dusk? You’re right. Even right now I have no reason to do this to you. All that time that you were hiding in our world and mocking us and doing what you did just to have revenge… I couldn’t wait to help take you down. That very moment when it finally happened, I was so happy that you were eating your words and could nothing about it.”

Solar Dusk was suddenly getting irritated hearing Cream recap on his humiliation. He got up and began walking towards the door, “Okay, I think we’re done here.”

But then Cream added, “But… a few days after, I began re-thinking my actions. There was something my mommy told me once. She said… that no matter how evil or tyrannical someone is, they always have a reason to do what they do. It may not be a good reason, but… its usually a reason that’s… understandable.”

Solar Dusk didn’t understand why, but hearing what Cream said suddenly peaked his curiosity and caused him to stop in his tracks as he looked back at her. He then sighed as he turned around and sat back into his chair and said in a sarcastic tone, “Alright then… enlighten me. Do tell me exactly how you understand of what I’ve gone through. I’m just dying to hear it.”

“I remembered back then when you told me and Fluttershy about who you were before you went all… revenge-like. It seemed like you really enjoyed your job, but it eventually drove you to where your works got dangerous. You didn't see it that way because you felt like you were creating something amazing. Something that would benefit your kind.”

“Hmph… more or less I guess,” Solar Dusk scoffed.

“So, I thought to myself that maybe… just maybe it was your very own magic that did this to you. Exposing yourself to what you created is what made you go all evil and stuff. Don’t you think that now you can focus on new pursuits now that you can’t create those silly gems anymore?”

Solar Dusk suddenly gave Cream a little scowl as he explained, “I'm afraid that you’ve still failed to fully understand the situation. I am a Unicorn. Using magic was my passion, it was my way of life, it was the essence of my very being. My magic… was who I was; my special talent! It had nothing to do with my intensions of revenge! Taking that away from me was the most insulting thing anyone could ever do to me! So… do you still think that you know what I am going through?”

Cream suddenly had a change of thought as she realized what Solar Dusk said, “Wow… I-I-I never really thought about it that way. It just occurred to me that the use of your magic was part of the meaning of your… cutiemark.”

Cheese just folded his arms and nodded in agreement.

“Seriously?” Solar Dusk scoffed, “That’s a lousy excuse.”

“B-b-but still… I won’t lie! You had an amazing talent! I mean… developing your own crystals with power and properties that made them your own; that’s astounding! But… the way you decided to use them; it’s no wonder Celestia was frightened by it. She knew that it was bad news! She knew that if you kept creating those things that it would cause nothing but chaos!”

“All you’re doing is reciting the same drabble Princess Celestia said to me,” Solar Dusk exclaimed, “She just didn’t understand the great potential my work held! Nopony did; and you are just the same.”

“But you could’ve done so much better!” Cream pleaded, “You could’ve… start from scratch or something! You didn’t have to choose revenge!”

“What I did and my reason for doing it was personal to me. It didn’t matter if somepony else didn’t understand.”

“I normally don’t like to fight. I hate fighting! The only reason I went after you with Fluttershy all those months… or… weeks ago was because I was just trying to get my friend back from you when you kidnapped him! I didn’t want any trouble from you! Although, I guess if you didn’t, then you might’ve still eventually find a way to get your revenge anyway. Heh heh. A-a-am I right?”

Cream looked over at Solar Dusk and saw that he wasn’t smiling. But then again, why would he?

“M-my point is that it could’ve gone so much different. You could’ve always turned yourself in so your punishment wouldn’t be so… severe. And then you could've start off fresh somehow.”

Solar Dusk found it to be partially impressive but also partially annoying on how far Cream was going to prove what she had believed could happened.

“But you know what, I don’t care anymore! As stupid as it may sound to you and many other ponies hear, I believe that there is a bit of good in you waiting to come out! There has to be!”

“Heh, you’re right. That is stupid,” Solar Dusk chuckled in a sarcastic manner, “So glad you understand that. So… is that all you want to say to me or is there still another pointless topic you wish to ask me?”

“Actually… there is,” Cream responded, “After seeing all of that anger and hatred that you had inside you towards everyone, how do you feel now? Do you… feel any weight lifted from you or… do you still want revenge?”

Solar Dusk really didn’t wish to talk about that. But he knew that Cream wasn’t going to leave until he answered.

“Come on. Just… be honest.”

He sighed and groaned a bit; and then he lightly glared back at her as he said, “To be… honest, ever since that initial moment when my magic was taken away from me, my hatred only grew bigger. All those years of planning, scheming, and gaining power to finally get what I wanted. But all of that was just poured down the drain and wasted thanks to you and your friends. I didn’t show it, but every time I think of that moment of my defeat, all I wanted to do was punch through something, break something… destroy something.”

Suddenly, Solar Dusk jumped on top of the table and slowly walked up to Cream. Cream was sweating and stayed in her chair trying to stay calm as Solar Dusk placed his angry face up close to hers. “Just seeing your face right here in front of mines makes me want to give you the same treatment you gave me and send you crashing right through that door.”

Solar Dusk suddenly gained the attention of the pony guards that were observing from nearby. They were on the offensive getting ready to do whatever was necessary to contain him; and so was Cheese.

“Step away, Solar Dusk! Don’t make this hard on yourself!”

Solar Dusk noticed and then sighed as he sat back into his chair and stated, “But after awhile, I soon realized… what’s the point. My plan is ruined. I failed, and my magic is gone forever. So, what’s the point of trying anything else. Its hopeless. There’s nothing left for me now.”

Cream had suddenly noticed the grievance expression on Solar Disks face and realized just how deep in depression he was in. Even for someone like him, Cream couldn't stand to watch it anymore. She stood up and placed her hands on the table as she said with much sincerity…

“Well… it doesn’t have to be.”

‘Chao?’ Cheese responded in confusion.

Solar Dusk glared back at her and said, “What are you going on about now?”

“Can’t you see; what you said proves my point! The old you wouldn’t care and would try to hurt me regardless; but you chose to not do it! You have control of your anger! Guess I was right all along.”

“That's ludicrous!” Solar Dusk exclaimed feeling annoyed, “Stop trying to make this look like I’m trying to change my ways; because I’m not!”

“Look… I’m sorry that you lost your magic forever; but maybe… this is a sign. The mistakes we make, no matter how big or small, are lessons that we can use for the future.”

Cream then reached behind her and pulled out a flower crown that she had recently made for this occasion. Solar Dusk scowled a bit upon seeing and said, “What the heck… is that?”

“You mean you don’t know a flower crown when you see one?” said Cream as she laid the crown down on the table in between them, “Normally, I would give one of these to someone I really like; but in this case, I wish to give this to you to show that I’m sincere. It won’t give you any royal status, but I hope you still like it.”

Solar Dusk carefully picked up the flower crown with his hoof and was carefully studying it to make sure that there wasn’t anything more to it than what it looked like, “Why on earth would you give me one of these? Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Back when you kidnapped Cheese and threatened to take me away from my friends,” Cream stated, “I thought you were just a vile, cruel being that would never change… right up to the last time we met. But now, I’ve decided to put all of that behind me. I wanted to give you another chance to instead let me see the best in you. I know that we’re enemies; but if you put your mind to it, you can learn to do good again. You can find a way to turn your life around for the better! All you have to do is try.”

From everything Cream was saying and doing in front of him, Solar Dusk was confused beyond reason. He just couldn’t comprehend the fact Cream was being this nice to him after everything he said and did to her. He stared at the flower crown and then back at Cream who was just sitting there smiling. But when he looked back at the crown, his hoof that was holding it was slightly shaking; and he was holding his head with the other one.

Then in one quick burst, he shouted out loud from much straining; and with one flick of his hoof, threw the flower crown into a nearby trash can. Cream and Cheese suddenly gasped upon seeing what Solar Dusk did; but Solar Dusk still didn’t seem to care as he took a deep breath and released a calming sigh.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Did you honestly think that you would come in here and trick me into becoming your new friend?”

“Trick you?!”

‘Chao chao?!’

“Just forget it. No matter how you feel about it, you and your friends ruined my life. Just the thought of you wanting me to suddenly change my life around and make the best of my situation irritates me. And you trying to become my friend is just plain dumb! I don’t need any friends! I don’t need anyone; especially someone like you.”

Cream just sat there with a little frown on her face and tears in her eyes. She really wanted to change Solar Dusk’s heart, but he kept refusing to believe anything that she had said to him. And seeing him toss her gift into the trash right in front of her really crushed her. But at that moment, one of the guards came forth and spoke.

“Alright, time is up. Time to get going.”

“Well what do you know,” said Solar Dusk with a sarcastic smirk, “it appears that we’re out of time. I hope you struggle to sleep knowing that your plan failed and that this was all a complete waste of your time.”

Cream sadly got up from her chair and began walking toward the door with Cheese following behind her. But she suddenly stopped in her tracks; and she said without turning around, “You know what, Solar Dusk? After everything you’ve done, none of my friends wanted to see you ever again; none of them. Not even Fluttershy wanted to see you; but… that’s probably because she was more nervous than anything else. I’m probably the one you abused the most, and yet I am the only one who made the decision to come here to just talk to you; and Cheese to.”

‘Chao chao’.

“My friends thought I had lost it when I told them what I wanted to do, but I didn’t care. Even if it seemed bleak, I just wanted to try and make you remember how you were before you went rouge and at least make a little difference in your life. So at least someone tried to care about you.”

Cream then slowly turned head around and wiped a few tears away as she concluded, “Think about that.”

After Cream and Cheese walked out from the room, Solar Dusk just sat in his chair contemplating on what Cream said. He looked back at the trash where he threw Cream’s flower crown and then looked away as he scowled and lightly grumbled to himself, “Insolent child.”

--------

Cream may have been by herself inside the palace with Cheese, but she didn’t come to Canterlot by herself. Hanging out right outside the palace gates, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Angel, and Cream’s Mother, Vanilla were all waiting for them to return. Sure enough, they all saw Cream and Cheese emerge out from the palace doors and was headed back to them.

Once she was close enough, her Mother ran up to her and placed her arms around her as she picked her up in a tight hug, “Cream! Thank goodness you’re okay.”

“Yeah, Mom,” said Cream in a sadden tone after being put down, “I’m okay. I told you that there was nothing to worry about.

“So… how did it go in there?” said Fluttershy, “Did Solar Dusk somehow listen to your words and miraculously decided to… change his attitude about things… like you hoped?”

Cream sighed as she turned around and looked back at the castle, “I don’t know. I tried my very best, but… he didn’t seem to care. Even when I tried giving him my gift of apology, he just threw it away in the trash… right in front of me! He was still pretty angry about what we did to him, but he still hates me most of all.”

Twilight came over to Cream and placed her hoof on her shoulder as she said to her, “Don’t beat yourself over it, Cream. What happened to Solar Dusk, he brought it onto himself. You know that. He had a chance to turn things around, but he chose revenge instead. Whatever you tried to do in there, I’m sure you did your best.”

“Believe it or not, Cream,” said Fluttershy, “after hearing what you wanted to do, I almost thought that there was a small chance that you could convince him. But… maybe… he’s just too far gone. I think that taking away his magic just push him over the edge.”

“But even still,” Cream responded, “that can’t be the end of his story! Like my Mom said, everyone has good in them somewhere; even someone like Solar Dusk! Isn’t that right, Mommy?!”

Vanilla sheepishly grinned as she began to sweat a bit as she tried to tell her daughter, “Well, um… the thing is that… what I said is true. Everyone has the potential inside them to be good. But… after everything Solar Dusk has done to me… to you… and everyone else, even I question if that’s even possible for him.”

Cream couldn’t believe that her Mother said that. It was a bit different than what she told her before. But seeing that no one was arguing against her say, Cream decided to give in and admit, “Maybe, you’re all right. I mean… we are talking about someone who tried taking over two worlds and almost succeeded. Not to mention went mad with power and tried to kill me… and all of us. I guess this whole visit was just a complete waste of time.”

But then, Twilight showed a little smirk as she said, “Actually Cream… never say never. Sometimes even the tiniest act of kindness can change someone’s heart. A certain pony friend of mine fully knows that.”

Fluttershy suddenly blushed as she smiled and shied away.

“But as hopeless as it may seem, there is still a chance that your little visit here may have done something. Maybe not on a grand scale, but something nonetheless.”

Hearing Twilight say that made Cream feel a whole lot better. Even if it didn’t happen today, she knew that maybe her time here made a difference after all, “Yeah, maybe it has. But even so, I don’t see us becoming friends anytime soon.”

Cheese agreed, ‘Chao chao chao’

“Well I think we’ve done enough here,” said Twilight, “Now how about we give you and your Mother that tour Canterlot that we promised.”

“Yeah,” Cream agreed, “it will be lovely to walk around there in a nice atmosphere this time.”

“What does that mean, dear?” said Vanilla with a light chuckle.

“Let’s just say that… when Solar Dusk was in power, this place looked like a desolate ghost town.”

Angel then jumped down from Fluttershy and hopped up onto Cream to give her head a hug. Cream giggled and petted him as she said, “Okay, Angel, you can walk with me, you silly bunny.”

“He’s still at it, isn’t he?” said Vanilla.

“Yeah, but we came to an understanding.”

The group soon began to exit the palace grounds and were making their way towards the town. While Cream was walking up ahead with Cheese, Angel and her Mother, Fluttershy was hanging back with Twilight and said quietly to her, “So do you really believe what you told her, or was it just to make her feel a little better?”

“A little of both actually” Twilight responded, “Solar Dusk may have been the evil, sadistic, tyrannical dictator that he was, but… friendship has a weird way of working out sometimes.”

“That’s sure true,” said Fluttershy with a light giggle.

With that, they continued to venture into Canterlot. Cream did her best to do what she came there to do, but all she could do now was leave things be and let nature take its course. It was a beautiful day and Cream couldn’t wait to spend it with Mother and pony friends.

----------

Some moments ago, back inside the Canterlot Palace, Solar Dusk was back inside his prison cell dozing off to sleep like he was before he was called out earlier. However, he wasn’t completely asleep; far from it. It’s like he was waiting for something that he was expecting to come his way. Soon enough, a unicorn guard came down into the dungeon and came up to Solar Dusk’s cell holding up a certain item with his magic.

“I believe this is what you requested, Solar Dusk.”

The item was none other than the flower crown that Cream tried to give to him but ended up throwing it in the trash. It was now covered in light stains that stuck to it and was making it smell a little funky. However, Solar Dusk woke up and walked up to the guard and took the flower crown by his hoof as he said, “Indeed it is.” Then with slight disgust, he added, “I… apprec…iate… it… very much.”

The guard felt confused as he watched Solar Dusk take the flower crown and hung it up on a rusty nail that was embedded in the stone wall. “I really don’t understand you. I saw you throw that thing in the trash when that rabbit girl tried giving it to you; which by the way I found to be kinda rude. It was a nice gesture. So… why did you suddenly want it back now? There was some nasty stuff in the trash you threw it in, so it kinda smells now anyway.”

Solar Dusk suddenly tilted his head towards the guard showing a dark scowl and approached him as he said, “Do I question you on what you do and why you do it?! Its none of your business! Now leave me to be in peace before you regret it.”

All the guard did was chuckle a bit as he stepped back from the cell and stated, “Heh. You know, you can threaten anypony here and be all dark and edgy all you; but a threat is useless when it’s an empty one.”

As the guard walked off, Solar Dusk continued to glare in his direction. But he eventually took a deep breath and calmed down as he went back to his resting spot in his cell. As he laid there, he looked back up to the flower crown and was suddenly reminded of the things Cream said to him; especially…

‘I wanted to give you another chance to instead let me see the best in you. I know that we’re enemies; but if you put your mind to it, you can learn to do good again. You can find a way to turn your life around for the better! All you have to do is try.’

‘Even after everything I did to her,’ Solar Dusk thought to himself, ‘after everything she's witnessed from me, she could've just ignored me and stayed home in her wretched world. But instead, she… came all this way… to see me… and talk to me… when no one else would. Why… why would she do that?’ how to

Solar Dusk still did know how to feel about Cream’s visit, but he did feel like something happened because of it. But of course, he would rather be humiliated all over again than to admit that to anyone. But regardless he laid his head back down feeling somewhat content and continued his rest.

‘Kindness… hmph. Perhaps it really is more powerful than I thought.’