Discord joins forces with Eggman to wreak havoc upon both Equestria and Mobius, and the heroes from both worlds have to work together to stop them.
After his so-called reformation, Discord longs for revenge on the Spirits of Harmony. So when he is visited by Dr. Eggman, offering revenge on his enemies in exchange for partnership, he jumps at the chance. Now the heroes from both worlds work together to bring both villains down as they try to collect all the chaos emeralds... and destroy the Elements of Harmony once and for all.
But maybe fate brought these two worlds together for a greater reason. Each Spirit of Harmony has a bond with one of the Sonic Heroes, the greatest of all between Sonic and Rainbow Dash. With both Chaos Control and Friendship, both worlds combined would be unstoppable. Unfortunately, the same may be said for the enemy.
This is the constant struggle between Chaos and Harmony opened up to a whole new level.
Discord stirred his eggnog with a tiny little silver spoon. He stopped stirring, ate the spoon and threw his teacup straight up, where it smashed against the ceiling and stayed. Not a drop of eggnog or china fell on him as he rose from his throne of velvet and ebony and paced around the room in Canterlot palace.
In his first few days of reformed chaos, he had cursed himself to pieces, sometimes literally. He fell for that kind, sweet, pathetic little drip named Fluttershy, and he’d regretted it ever since.
Then his regret turned to glee. Fluttershy trusted him with her life, and her friends were on the way to follow her. If he could bring them all to trust him, then when he chose to return to evil it would take them completely by surprise. He couldn’t wait to see the expressions on Celestia, Twilight and Fluttershy’s faces.
But it took time. Discord was tired of waiting. He wanted action. He wanted chaos.
Suddenly there was light, like fire, and Discord bellowed in fright and surprise.
And then he was a plump, bald man stepping out of the light. A portal. Discord quickly stopped yelling and instead narrowed his eyes at the portly figure.
The man straightened, and Discord saw shimmering blue spectacles and a dastardly sneer. He didn’t know who this mystery human was or where he came from, but he was already taking a like to him.
Brushing imaginary specks away from his red-and-white uniform, the man cleared his throat.
“A pleasure to meet you at last, Discord.”
“How do you know my name?” asked Discord.
“I have been watching you from a distance. Admiring you.”
Discord stopped pondering whether to blast this guy to smithereens. He leaned forward. “Yes, go on?”
“I am Doctor Eggman.” Eggman held out a white-gloved hand. Discord cautiously shook it. “I saw you trick those infernal horses like nothing. I saw your talent glow strong and bright.”
Discord felt a stab of pride, but hid it and snapped, “How did you see me? I’ve never even seen a human here before, let alone you.”
Eggman just chuckled. “I can see many things. You see, I am fond of a power you possess. A power that may allow me to be invincible.” Eggman paused for effect.
“Chaos.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “You have my attention. What do you want?”
Eggman laughed, a strange hooting sound that resonated through the room. “You are amusing in real life. Clever too. Alright, I came to ask you a favor.”
“A favor?”
“Yes, a favor. You and I are more alike than we seem.”
Discord clocked Eggman’s immense waist and silently told himself that he would cut down on the cloudcake and paper salads.
“We both are subdued by hated enemies. We both want control and power. So your help on an issue of mine would be most appreciated.”
Eggman pulled a remote from a silky pocket. He pressed it, and a hologram flickered to life. It showed a smirking blue hedgehog wearing white gloves on hands that were planted on hips, and red trainers with golden buckles. Discord had never seen anything like it.
“This is my enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog. Although he may be unknown to you, he is a terrible pest to me.” Eggman looked at Discord’s skeptical expression and added, “He can also run at the speed of sound, absorb energy from seven powerful chaos emeralds and become a flying golden beam of energy that rips through all my plans.” A succession of pictures appeared on the screen, flicking through scenes of mass destruction seemingly caused by the hedgehog, but Discord’s mind was somewhere else.
“Wait, back up.” Discord spread his mismatched hands. “What are chaos emeralds? They sound promising.”
Eggman smirked. “If you help me, I can promise a share of the emerald’s power. The holder of all seven can perform amazing deeds. Unlimited chaos. Immense power.” Eggman looked Discord in the eye. “Do we have a deal?”
Discord hesitated. He didn’t know this person. He could be walking into a trap. But then he remembered the power he possessed. Anyway, he was chaos. He did chaotic things that led to havoc and destruction. He smiled crookedly at Eggman.
“Deal.”
And the lord of chaos stepped through the crackling light portal, a move that put the future of both Earth and Equestria in terrible jeopardy.
On Mobius...
In the middle of a bright sunny afternoon, a battle was raging.
Laughing, Sonic smashed through the chest of the huge metal dinosaur, leaving a smoking crater. This was Eggman’s idea of a challenge? This was too easy!
The robot roared, then shut up as Sonic kicked down hard on its head, cracking it in two. Wire fizzed with electricity, and Sonic landed to watch the thing crumble. He mentally congratulated himself on a fine day’s work.
He cried out, as something slammed hard into his back, slamming him face down into the earth. His vision went blurry.
Sonic struggled to get up, shaking his head. He looked up, and saw the first glimpse of his long-lasting nightmare.
Eggman was seated next to this…this thing… inside a huge spacecraft. But it ran not only on fuel, but purplish power that floated around the engines. Chaos.
Sonic yelled up at them. He cried, “Who’s your new best friend, Eggman? Your brother? You both horrendous as one another!”
Discord turned, looking horrified, to Eggman, who only grimaced. “You’re kidding me right?”
“You don’t know the worst of it.” Said Eggman darkly.
Discord sighed. He clapped his hands. Suddenly he was standing next to the hedgehog. “Manners, please, young man.”
Sonic turned with lightning speed and punched Discord in the jaw. Discord spat blood and glared at the impudent creature. “That was rude! You should know better!”
Sonic tried to attack again, but Discord snapped his fingers and suddenly Sonic was gasping for breath, treading water and trying not to panic.
Discord smiled at the floundering figure in the newly made swimming pool. “This is too easy. My pal Dr. Eggman told me your weakness, Sonic. You’ll see soon enough that you have much to fear. I am Discord, lord of Chaos.”
Sonic tried to reply, but all he could manage was “Discord-“ before spluttering and sinking.
Smirking, Discord snapped his fingers and let Sonic crumple to his knees on dry ground, sopping wet and coughing.
He held out his lion paw. “Chaos Emeralds, if you please. Unless you want to take another bath… for much, much longer.”
Sonic looked up. His eyes were defiant.
He stood, raised his hands and yelled, “CHAOS CONTROL!!!”
The air shimmered. Discord stepped backwards. Seven glowing gems appeared, swirling around Sonic like a tornado. Discord tried to steal them, but snapping his fingers repeatedly proved nothing of use. He made a desperate swipe for the emeralds but missed.
Then every jewel burst away in a different direction in bright beams of multi-colored light. Discord’s pupils narrowed. “NO!!” He cried.
Then the lights vanished. Sonic fell to one knee, but he was grinning. “You’ll have to better than that, Discord.”
“What did you do?!” Roared Discord.
“I sent them away.” Sonic closed his eyes. “Whatever you do to me, my friends will know. You didn’t get the emeralds. We will find them before you do.”
Discord quivered with rage. He raised a claw to strike him down, but Eggman called out to him. “No, leave the pathetic blue bozo. You’ll get him and the Chaos emeralds soon enough.”
Discord looked down into the now open, jade green eyes. “We will meet again, Sonic the Hedgehog,” Snarled Discord. “You won’t be so lucky next time.”
Discord vanished, reappearing in the cockpit of the silver and purple aircraft. Eggman pressed some buttons. The aircraft spewed a portal, and then drove through it. Soon, no sign of the vehicle was left behind.
Discord couldn’t help but be reminded of someone… or somepony. Sonic was so much like…
As the terrible pair sped through space and time, Discord thought vaguely of a certain blue pegasus with fiery magenta eyes.
Applejack swept a muddy hoof across her forehead, wiping away her sweat.
“Hoo-ey, that was a mighty hard job jus’ now,” She said to herself, looking over the newly dug field, ready for seeds to be sowed. “A’m tuckered out!”
As the sun was just touching the horizon, she decided to go back to the barn for a cool glass of homemade apple cider. She sauntered over to the pigsty. “APPLEBLOOOOM!!”
Applebloom came galloping out, mud all over her grinning face. “Yeah sis?”
Applejack smiled at the sweet little filly. “Let’s you ‘n me go get some apple cider, alright?”
Applebloom tried to say something, but Applejack cut in with a stern “And apple juice for ya, little missy!”
“Awww!” protested Applebloom.
The pair trotted back to the farmhouse, talking and laughing. They almost didn’t notice the streaks of light until Applebloom said, “Hey! What’s that shiny thingamajig?” and pointed a hoof towards the sky.
Applejack looked, and saw a bright beam of red light shooting across the sky. “Tha’ couldn’t be Rainbow Dash, could it now?” she muttered to herself. “Too small for a pegasus…”
“There's another!” cried Applebloom, spotting a streak of white light arching towards ponyville, in the direction of the majestic building of carousel boutique.
“And another!” hollered Applejack. This time a green jet of color soared at Cloudsdale. “Gee, is it some sorta firework display gone wrong?”
Big Mac came outside from the farmhouse, hauling a sack of chicken seed. He looked up and called, “If y’all are looking fo’ them bright lights, there’s another over yonder.” He pointed a shaggy red hoof at a bright burst of blue streaking towards the Everfree forest.
As the last trails faded away, Applejack took off her hat and scratched her mane. “Now wha’ in the hay could those have been?”
***
Rarity hummed a sweet little tune to herself as she lifted and folded outfits and materials with her magic. Sweetie belle was upstairs, hopefully not making mischief, and Rarity had had a fine day of dressmaking. She proudly floated a lovely lavender dress with lots of ruffles onto a mannequin and admired her handiwork. “Gorgeous, darling!” she squealed to herself.
There was a crash and a tinkle of glass on the wooden floor. Rarity spun around.
“SWEETIE BELLE!!!” screamed Rarity. “What did you do?!”
She rushed upstairs. To her surprise, Sweetie Belle had not caused the breaking of the window. What the unicorn did find however, was broken windowpane all over the wooden floor, but that was not what caught her attention. What did was an absolutely beautiful gemstone, lying amidst the glass. It glittered like a diamond, but it didn’t seem like one. It was different from any jewel Rarity had ever seen before.
Sweetie Belle’s voice pierced Rarity’s thoughts. “Rarity, I didn’t do anything, I swear! I’m just painting a picture!”
Rarity called back. “It’s all right Sweetie! I’ve got control of it!” She didn’t even grimace at the prospect of the mess in Sweetie Belle’s room she would have to clean up.
She picked up the gem carefully with her magic and carried it down the stairs, fixing the broken glass into place on the window as she went. The jewel wouldn’t go on a dress; it was too pretty for that. Instead she locked it in a golden chest, putting the key in a vase.
“There you are, my little darling” cooed Rarity. “Safe with mama.”
***
The female Timberwolves dragged in a carcass of some poor animal into the lair. The male Timberwolves snarled and growled in excitement, and they all dug into the meal.
The lair was hidden deep in the Everfree forest, hidden by bushes. Nopony knew where it was, so the Timberwolves were safe. Or so they thought.
A blue crystal crashed through the trees and landed in the shrubbery, bouncing couple of times before falling into the hole. It tumbled down into the Timberwolves lair.
The wooden monsters pricked their leafy ears. They eyed the faintly glowing object that clattered into the small underground area. One of them sniffed it cautiously, but retreated in fear, ears flat against its head.
For the jewel had begun to shimmer with strange power, illuminating the cavern. The Timberwolves tried to scatter, but found they could not move. They lost control of themselves, being drawn towards the chaos emerald.
Suddenly this gem was their master, their queen bee. They knew they had to protect it with their lives.
The Timberwolves left the fresh meat forgotten, and they prowled out the entrance to defy any wretched intruder that happened to stumble into the Everfree forest.
***
Diamond Tiara pulled the golden brush through her hair. She admired her reflection in the mirror, turning her head from side to side. When she was satisfied, she smirked, put down the brush and picked up her tiara.
Through the open window flew a shimmering red gemstone. It missed the plush carpet and rattled across the floor. Diamond turned, putting down her tiara. She saw the jewel and gasped. She dashed across the floor, kneeling on all four legs on her rug. She carefully picked it up, her eyes glimmering red.
“Where did this come from?” She asked herself. She turned back the mirror and spotted her momentarily forgotten tiara. She had an idea.
As she held it to the tiara, comparing their colors, the gem began to shrink. Diamond gasped and dropped it onto her dressing table. It immediately grew back to normal size.
As soon as the filly got over her shock, her eyes lit up with delight. She picked up the gem and held it back to the tiara. It shrank until it was the size of a seashell. Hardly daring to breath, Diamond quickly fixed it to the tiara. It clicked into place.
Diamond put it on her head. The tiny red stone glittered against the silver. It was beautiful.
And then it started to glow.
Suddenly, Diamond Tiara’s forehead erupted in agony. She clasped her hooves to her head. She didn’t even hear herself squeal in pain. It hurt too much.
Suddenly it stopped. Diamond opened her eyes. She cautiously got off the floor, rubbing her forehead.
Thunk. Her hoof hit something. Then Diamond saw her reflection, and almost screamed.
She had a horn! A short, pink horn stuck out from her white and violet locks. Diamond touched it, and it fizzed. She felt a reservoir of magic flooding through her.
It felt wonderful. A smile broke out on her face. Then it turned to a sneer. She turned to a picture of the Cutie Mark Crusaders on the wall. It had little holes and hoofmarks from the times she threw darts and punched it.
She aimed her new horn at the picture and concentrated. Almost instantly, red magic beamed from her horn in a powerful torrent that she almost couldn’t control.
The picture crumbled to ashes.
Diamond chuckled. To her it sounded normal, but in reality it was filled with a more ancient power. She turned and admired her new look in the mirror.
This would come in very useful.
***
Rainbow Dash barely dodged the green stone, crying out as it flew past. One moment she was flying free, and then she was facing a miniature comet…
She hesitated, and then raced after it. It was going insanely fast, burning up, and soon Rainbow Dash couldn’t see it anymore. She flew over Cloudsdale, scanning it for signs of the mysterious light, but it was gone.
She hovered in the air for another few seconds, and then gave up. She flew towards Ponyville to report it to Twilight, just in case it was dangerous.
She didn’t know that it landed on the roof of the rainbow factory, ploughing through the cloud and landing in the engine.
There were no rainbows scheduled for a while, so there was nopony there. If there had been, they would have seen the engines glow with a strange green light, and then they might have known the cause of the rainbow disaster to follow.
When Sonic returned, he’d barged into Tails’ workshop and explained to Tails and Knuckles about the strange appearance of Discord. He told them that he’d known about the chaos emeralds and was out to get them. Lastly he’d explained what he’d done with the precious stones.
Knuckles was now attempting to punch Sonic, but he was holding him back with both hands. “Knuckles! KNUCKLES!! Stop th- STOP TRYING TO PUNCH ME! I had to do it! KNUCKLES ECHINDA!!!
Tails eventually calmed him down, and Sonic let out a sigh of relief. Knuckles simply glowered at the hedgehog.
“If I hadn’t done it, Discord would have them by now. He’d probably have tortured them out of me. All we can do now is go and find them. Tails?”
“Yeah?” answered the fox vaguely. He was already looking over the scanners for traces of the emeralds.
“That’s strange…”
“What’s strange?” asked Sonic. He peered over his best friend’s shoulder.
“I can pick up long-distance chaos traces, but they won’t tell me exactly where they are. The range stretches all the way across the earth, courtesy of you, Sonic. But I can only find three…”
Knuckles snapped, “It’s all Sonic’s fault. He made the same mistake he made on Mobius, separating the Chaos Emeralds across the universe. It’ll take forever to find them all!”
Both Sonic and Tails ignored the echidna’s grumbling. Tails was adjusting the scanners repeatedly, but there was still no sign except the three it had picked up before. Tails stopped searching and began to think aloud.
“If the state-of-the-art technology can’t find them, then it must mean they aren’t on the planet. Sonic, describe that Discord guy to me. Again.”
Sonic sighed, but assisted. “He had one deer antler, one goat horn, a horse’s head, one lion arm, one-“
“I got it!” yelled Tails, cutting Sonic short. “There’s no mention of this guy here on Earth, so he must be from another planet! Dimension, even, because we have so many alien contacts!”
“So, because of Discord’s interference, the emeralds might have gone to his original dimension!” said Sonic slowly. “Tails, you’re a genius!”
Tails blushed. Knuckles however, marched over and spun Sonic around, planting a gloved finger on his chest.
“So, you caused the precious chaos emeralds to teleport to another dimension, leaving none in our possession, and at this very moment Eggman could have his grubby little hands all over them??”
“Uhhh…” said Sonic.
Knuckles shoved him backwards, but Sonic kept his footing.
He said, “We have to go to the place the other four emeralds went! It doesn’t matter that they are gone anymore, all that matters is us getting to them first!” He turned to Tails. “You can get us there, right?”
Tails nodded. “I’ve studied a lot since the last time I made a portal. I’ll have one ready in half an hour’s time!”
Sonic nodded. Knuckles frowned. It wasn’t like Sonic to wait, at least without putting up a fight.
He looked at Tails, who was already grabbing remotes and devices and tapping in commands.
He hoped that Sonic hadn’t doomed them all.
Twilight stared around at her friends. A few minutes ago, Applejack had flung the door of the Golden Oaks Library open, charging in with Rarity in hot pursuit. Fluttershy, who was trembling, and Pinkie Pie, who was giggling, followed them. They all said they had seen bright lights cross the sky, in the colors of red, blue, green and white.
Rainbow Dash had flown in through the balcony window last. The spirit of Loyalty seemed to have gained even more speed in the recent months, after Discord’s reformation. Twilight was amazed at the speed she could gather so instantly, causing a sonic rainboom in seconds. Dash had reported seeing all the mysterious lights, following the green one till she lost sight of it.
Anything that could move faster than Rainbow Dash wasn’t alive. These lights may be very important.
“A’m telling ya sugarcube, you should send a letter ta the Princess now! There’s no tellin’ wha’ those lights coulda been, and if they’re dangerous…” Applejack gulped.
Twilight nodded. “You’re absolutely right, Applejack. Spike, take a letter.” Spike hurried out from the kitchen, wearing his frilly pink apron and carrying a plate of daisy cookies. He shared them around to everypony, (bowing majestically before Rarity, who blushed) and ran to Twilight’s side, trading the empty platter for a scroll and quill. But before he could begin writing, a bright light shone from the balcony.
Everypony bowed as Princess Celestia entered the library. Twilight gasped “Princess!” and ran to her, receiving a warm nuzzle from her tutor.
“Twilight Sparkle, my star student. I assume you saw the glimmering lights crossing the sky?”
“Yes, my friends and I saw them,” said Twilight. “I was about to send a message to you…”
Celestia smiled. “In case you were wondering, those lights were neither good nor evil. Those were vessels of power from another world.”
The ponies looked at one another. The lights were extra-terrestrial?
Twilight gazed up at the princess. “What were they?”
“Their names are unknown, but I do know that they are precious gems. I also sense that the keepers are coming to retrieve them. I am unsure, however, if they will be aggressive.”
“We will be ready,” said Twilight. “But what if they are not aggressive?”
“Then welcome them to Equestria, and look after them. Show them we are not to be feared. I will come when you call me.”
The Princess looked out at the sun, almost gone from the sky. Night was approaching, the moon already casting silver light onto the world.
“I have to go, Twilight. I’m sorry I could not stay longer. I need to return to Canterlot.” She smiled at the six mares. “I am proud of how far you have all come. You are almost ready.”
Then the Princess of Day turned and flew from the window, glowing brighter and brighter until she vanished into thin air.
Twilight turned back to her friends. “Everypony go and get some rest. Come to the library only when I call you, all right? And keep an eye out for those visitors.”
The friends said their goodnights and departed in different directions. Twilight shut the door, put Spike to bed, welcomed Owlicious, and trotted down the stairs.
Before she went to sleep every night, Twilight would check the Elements of Harmony were safe in their glass casket. The Princess had entrusted the power to her, and she was determined to keep it safe.
Twilight put her horn into the keyhole. Purple magic illuminated the protection charms on the casket, and the lid clicked open. Twilight looked down at the elements. She gasped. One was glowing.
The ruby-red lightning bolt of the Element of Loyalty was pulsing with light. Twilight stared down at it, and then lifted it from its bed.
Rainbow explosions, blue beams of light, cackling laughter, lightning, Rainbow Dash, Discord, A blue hedgehog, multicolored glowing energy, screaming, yelling, a falling figure, a stone statue, a sky of nothing but red.
Twilight dropped the Element of Loyalty, gasping. Sweat beaded on her forehead.
Visions had passed before her eyes rapidly. What exactly she had seen was blurred, but there was so much pain, so much horror. She did not know what to expect.
What would happen to Rainbow Dash?
Twilight closed her eyes and willed the visions away. She put the Element of Loyalty back into the casket. She locked the casket securely.
She clopped unsteadily up the stairs. She crept across the room, trying not to wake Spike. She quieted Owlicious. Finally she slipped into bed.
But Twilight Sparkle lay there, wide-awake, for the rest of Luna’s peaceful night.
“I can, and I will. It’s my fault that we have to do this. I’ll take the risk.”
A flame-colored portal was open and ready in Tails’ metal room, which he only ever used for portals and special projects. The only question was who would go, and with whom.
“Let me go with you!”
“Tails-“
“Please! I can help you! What if the portal closes and you can’t get out? I can fix that! I need to be with you!”
Sonic gave up. “Alright, you can come.”
Tails beamed. Sonic turned to Knuckles. “Will you be alright here?”
Knuckles grunted. “I’ll be fine. I have to protect the Master Emerald anyway. I couldn’t go if I wanted to.”
So Sonic and Tails bade Knuckles goodbye, and stepped through the portal.
They reappeared five meters off the ground.
“WHOAAAH!!!”
Thump!
Sonic got off the grassy floor, brushing himself off. “Tails, explain why the portal is up there?” He said, looking up at the orange wormhole.
Tails chuckled nervously, floating down with his tails whirling. “I guess I overshot a bit…”
Sonic looked around. They were standing in a forest glade. Morning light shone through the trees, casting shadows on the ground. He sniffed the air, and then walked to the edge of the clearing.
“Okay Tails, where’s the nearest signal?”
Tails checked his scanner. “That way,” he said, pointing off into the trees. Before he could protest, Sonic grabbed his hand and rocketed through the forest in the direction of the signal. They stopped when the light shone more clearly through the trees, and they could just see rooftops and chimney smoke floating off lazily into the sky.
“Alright,” whispered Sonic, as they trekked over the hill. “Discord is a hideous fella, so be very careful. This planet’s inhabitants could be dangerous, ugly and cruel. We might be facing a bunch of…”
Sonic trailed off as they reached the top. There was a small town stretched before them, grassy fields and pretty houses adorning the area. Trotting through the streets, meeting, talking and laughing were…
“…Ponies?”
The duo were dumbfounded, but not for long. It was unusual, but they looked harmless, and anyway the people in their world were all some sort of animal hybrid.
Sonic and Tails walked down the hill towards the village. As they approached, ponies looked up at them. Some whispered among themselves. Some skittered away. Some smiled at them.
An amazing thing was the ponies were all multicolored. Like, red and yellow and pink and blue and green. Some had horns, some had wings.
“What the heck?” Breathed Tails.
Sonic was worried. Should they be walking straight into this town? Maybe if they backtracked now…
Suddenly, Tails tugged on Sonic’s arm. A pink pony with a cheerful expression was trotting towards them. It had puffy pink hair that stuck out in curls, and bright blue eyes that twinkled with mischief. On its flank was a picture of three party balloons.
Tails and Sonic looked at each other. They silently agreed. Sonic walked cautiously up to the pony. He cleared his throat. “Uh, hello? Could you maybe-“
The pink pony cut in with a long, exaggerated gasp, staring at Sonic like he had grown an extra head. Then it shot off down the street in the opposite direction.
“What… the… heck…?” asked Tails.
“Follow her!” shouted Sonic.
Easy for him to say. Tails tried to keep up as Sonic blasted down the street, past a big building like a gingerbread house, several stable-like houses and a dentist’s.
The pink horse was fast, but Sonic was faster. He caught it by the tail, and it shrieked, “Please don’t eat me mister hedgehog alien guy!!”
Sonic skidded to a halt. “What did you say?”
The pony looked back at him. “I said ‘Please don’t eat me mister hedgehog alien guy’. Why, do you need hearing aids or something?”
“What is going on here?”
A white pony with a curled purple mane and a lavender pony with an indigo mane streaked with pink were galloping towards them. The white one had a picture of three diamonds on its flank and the purple one had a starburst.
Sonic and Tails got ready to fight. The lavender pony stopped abruptly, halting the white one too. The pink pony squirmed in Sonic’s grasp.
“It has Pinkie Pie. What do we do?” Said the white one quietly, not shifting her gaze from Sonic or Tails.
“You distract them, I’ll get behind them and stun them.” Replied the purple one, doing the same as the white one.
Sonic realized that they thought he was some evil alien. He tried to hide his surprise that these colorful mutant horses could talk.
The purple one began to inch to the right. Sonic smiled. “I can understand everything you say.”
The pony froze.
“It’s okay! I won’t hurt you, or your friend!” He let go of the pink pony’s tail. It trotted towards its companions.
“Who are you?” asked the white pony. She (Sonic decided they were all ‘she’s’) had a distinguished accent, like a countess.
Sonic shot a fleeting look at Tails. The fox nodded.
“I am Sonic the Hedgehog. This is my friend Miles Prowler, but we call him Tails. I’m trusting that you won’t use those names against us.”
All three mares relaxed visibly. The purple one smiled. “I am Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends Rarity (the white one curtsied) and Pinkie Pie (the pink one giggled)”
“We were expecting you.”
“You were?” Sonic tensed.
“We were told to welcome you to our home. Yes Pinkie, you can go get it now.” Said Twilight. The one named Pinkie Pie had been jumping up and down and waving her hooves, and now dashed away, reappearing with a baby-blue cannon.
Sonic stepped back.
BOOOOM!!!
Instead of a cannonball, confetti rained down on Sonic and Tails. A small table with a cake appeared in front of Sonic, whose jaw dropped open.
“WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA!!!!” Yelled Pinkie Pie, prancing around with a party hat stuffed over her crazy mane. Twilight laughed at the expressions on Sonic and Tails’ faces.
Other ponies looked over and smiled. Two other horses came trotting over. One was pale yellow with a light pink mane with butterflies on her flank, the other was orange, freckles adorning her face and a western-style hat perched on top of a tied back yellow mane, with apples on her flank. Sonic realized the symbol on their flanks was probably a thing in this world.
“Well hiya you two! A’m Applejack, an’ this is Fluttershy.” The orange pony that’d introduced herself as Applejack had a thick western accent. The yellow pony stayed silent, looking like she wanted to run and hide. She shrank back, letting her pink mane flop over her face.
Applejack chortled. “Well, y’all can see why this ‘uns called Fluttershy. C’mon Flutters! Say hello.”
The yellow pony whispered shyly. “Hello…”
Twilight smiled. Her horn glowed and everything vanished. She told Pinkie, “Don’t worry, I sent it to the library. Come on Sonic, Tails, come to my place.”
As everyone began to trot towards the huge oak tree, a sudden multicolored light lit up the sky. Sonic stared in amazement.
Something was rapidly approaching. The colors burst across the sky as the outline of a pony became clear. Stretched out either side of it were powerful wings. A pegasus.
The light became too bright to look at.
Sonic looked away until the light faded. Then he unshielded his eyes and looked at the pony before him.
It was one of the most amazing things he'd ever seen.
Before him was a blue Pegasus. Her wings were closed. Her mane was a rainbow of color. Her eyes were magenta, filled with defiance and harmony and trust.
Fluttershy was trembling, tears running down her faces. “Discord is good now! He would never… he would never…”
She collapsed onto the table, sobbing uncontrollably.
Rarity patted her gently. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart…”
Celestia looked at Fluttershy pitifully. She said quietly, “Maybe you could take her away until she calms down?”
Rarity nodded. She tucked a leg under Fluttershy’s chest and helped her upstairs. Muffled sobbing could be heard, along with quiet consolations.
When the small party arrived at the library, Celestia had been waiting. She was holding a slice of cake with her magic. As Twilight said, the entire instant party had appeared in the library, and the ponies instantly attacked the cake.
They were now discussing the issue at hand at a table in the library. Everything had been fine up until then.
Celestia turned back to Sonic, weariness etched onto her face.
“Please continue.”
Sonic resumed telling the ponies about Discord and Eggman, the chaos emeralds, the portal, and the general background story of Earth.
He had come to trust these horse beings in the past few minutes he had spent with them. They were all different, but each was connected by their friendship. Sonic could see that.
Rainbow Dash. She still seemed to be shimmering with her rainbow trail. She had an attitude. She was cocky and jaunty, but she listened intently. Her magenta eyes never left Sonic’s face.
When Sonic was finished, Twilight cleared her throat. “You need to know what Discord can do if you want to stop him.”
She told him about Discord in their world, the things he had done.
“If Discord has joined forces with this Eggman guy, then it sounds like you need help.” Said Rainbow Dash.
“Which is why I’ve decided to let you go to Sonic’s world,” said Celestia.
“WHAT?” everyone cried in unison.
“Discord may be defeated by the elements of harmony, but with the gems you speak of on his side… No. Both our worlds must work together if we want to defeat him and Dr. Eggman.”
“Princess Celestia is right.” Said Tails. “There's no way anything will defeat him if he’s teamed up with Eggman.”
“We need power from this world if we want to get the emerald before him.” Said Sonic.
“Then an exchange is in order.” said Celestia. “Four of the seven chaos emeralds have come to Equestria. Luckily, they are all in the area of Ponyville. The other three are in your world.”
“A hero from Sonic’s world will come to Equestria to track down the four emeralds in Ponyville. We need mostly ponies for this quest because they are used to the dangers of Equestria.”
“I’ll stay,” said Twilight. “I think everypony should wear their Element of Harmony, just to be safe.”
“Elements of Harmony?” asked Sonic.
“I’ll explain later,” said Twilight.
“Who’s comin’ to Equestria then?” asked Applejack.
Tails hesitated. Then he said, “I’ll stay here. I can track the Chaos Emeralds with my scanner.”
“Are you sure, Tails?” said Sonic.
“Time goes faster on our planet, remember?” said Tails. “So you’ll be able to find the other three emeralds and then join us back here in Equestria to help with the other four.”
“Then who’s going to Earth?” asked Pinkie Pie.
Silence. Then…
“I will.”
Rainbow Dash was looking at Sonic, a crooked smile on her face.
“Rainbow Dash, are- are you sure?” stammered Twilight.
Rainbow turned to face Twilight. She looked her in the eye.
“I can’t stay in Ponyville, kicking clouds and being underestimated. Don’t try to correct me,” she said, as Twilight opened her mouth to protest. “I haven't forgotten the Mare-do-Well episode.”
Twilight winced.
“I need to get out there, face more adventure and danger. I want to fight evil more often. And now I have that chance.” Twilight fixed her gaze on Celestia. “I’m going with Sonic.”
“Then good luck, Rainbow Dash. I believe you would be best to go.” Said Celestia.
“Are you sure you can face the dangers of Earth?” asked Sonic.
Rainbow gave him a daring smile. “You haven’t seen what I can do.”
“Then it’s settled.” Said Celestia. “Tails will stay here and Rainbow Dash will go to Earth. Wear the Elements of Harmony at all times.”
She hesitated.
“Good luck, my little ponies.”
***
Rainbow Dash looked up at the swirling portal. Then she looked at her friends. “I’ll miss you guys,” she said. She gave everypony a hug. When she came to Twilight, she held her hoof and said, “Stay undiscordified.”
Then she adjusted her saddlebags. She put the Element of Loyalty around her neck for reassurance. Then she turned to Sonic. He had finished saying goodbye to Tails. Now he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked at Dash.
“Let’s go.”
Sonic launched himself off a tree and leapt through the portal. Tails sobbed.
Rainbow shot a last glance at her friends. They smiled bravely at her, even Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded at her.
Then Rainbow Dash spread her wings and soared up through the portal, into the world beyond.
She found herself in an enormous metal room. And Sonic was talking to a large red echidna.
She was still getting over the fact that she was now sort of friends with a large blue hedgehog wearing white gloves and oversized red trainers, but now she felt like screaming and diving back into the portal.
Too late. The echidna was looking at her with a hard glint in his eye.
He grunted, “So this is Rainbow Dash. The priss pony that’s supposed to be a fighter or something.”
The next moment the echidna found himself flat on the ground, two hooves planted on his chest and a wing tucked under his chin like a knife.
“Say that again, you plot,” snarled Rainbow Dash quietly, “So I can get an appropriate excuse to rip your throat out.”
Sonic yelled at Rainbow to get off him. She stood silently; expecting to be pummeled into the ground… but the echidna only got up, brushed himself off and looked at Rainbow with grudging admiration.
“Wow… not many people can do that to me.” He rubbed his chest, where hoofmarks had slightly dented a white crescent, like a birthmark. Then he held out his gloved hand. “Knuckles.”
Rainbow shook it, clocking the spikes sticking up from the back of his gloves.
Sonic chuckled and said, “You just earned his permanent respect.”
“Sooooooniiiiiic!!!”
Sonic paled at the singsong voice.
A pink female hedgehog pranced into the room, wearing a red dress and sporting short combed… spines? Hair? Rainbow couldn’t tell.
Sonic groaned quietly. “Hey, Amy.”
Amy gave him a big hug, and then noticed Rainbow Dash. Her eyes, a different shade to Sonic’s jade, narrowed with caution… and something else.
She detached herself from Sonic and sauntered over to her. She peered into her eyes, and then walked around her, touching her hair and pulling at her wings. Rainbow tried to protest, but Amy ignored her. Then she stepped back and swept her gaze over her like a painting.
Then she said, “I don’t know what you're doing here, sitting on your horse butt in the middle of Tails’ workshop, but if you’re looking at Sonic then forget it. He’s mine.”
Rainbow didn’t know whose face was redder, hers or Sonic’s. “Oh… um…”
Amy sniffed. She turned on her heel, shot a glance at Sonic, and left the room.
Sonic rolled his eyes. “That was Amy Rose. She thinks she’s my girlfriend.”
Rainbow had a strange thought. “Why is she wearing a dress, and you’re not… wearing anything?”
Sonic looked down at himself as if the thought had never occurred to him. “I dunno. I guess I don’t need to.”
Knuckles cleared his throat. “Maybe we could show you around.”
“…And that’s Sweet Apple Acres,” said Twilight. “Applejack’s farm.”
Tails stared in awe. “Wow… so many apple trees!”
“Ee-yup.” Said Big Macintosh, who had come from the farm to say hello.
Tails looked at him. “You don’t talk much, do you?”
“Nope,” Said Big Mac.
“I think that’s about it.” Said Rarity. “We should get started on the, um, Chaos Emerald hunt.”
Tails beamed. Clearly he liked messing around with technology. He held up a little scanner and peered at the screen.
“One signal is coming from the heart of Ponyville. Over there.” He pointed vaguely at the cluster of buildings around the center of the town.
“Hang on… that’s the Carousel Boutique!” cried Twilight. “That’s Rarity’s dressmaking store! She must have seen where one of the Chaos Emeralds landed!”
“Oh, yes…” Rarity smiled but there was a strange tone in her voice. “Of course I did.”
“That’s great!” said Tails, “But let’s check out the other locations as well.”
He looked at the scanner again. “There’s one up in, whatsitcalled, Cloudsdale. A signal is coming from up there. And there’s one on the big patch of ground with the mansion. Someone who lives there must have seen it. And - oh.” Tails looked up at Twilight with worry in his eyes. “One is in the Everfree forest.”
Fluttershy gulped. “Oh no…”
Tails shut off his scanner. “It’s alright, I’ve seen worse. I think we can handle it.”
Twilight changed the subject. “So… I see you like your gadgets.”
Tails’ eyes lit up. “Yes, I do!”
“Do you have any magic?”
Tails frowned. “What?”
“Let me show you.” Twilight lowered her head and aimed her horn at a nearby tree. At its base were fallen twigs and leaves. She let an aura of violet energy surround the sticks and leaves and brought them over to Tails, whose eyes were bugging out.
She put them on the floor. She looked at Tails and smiled. “How was that for magic?”
“Wow…” breathed Tails, lost for words.
Applejack laughed. “Not everypony has fancy schmancy magic talents like Twiligh’. Since A’m an earth pony, ma hooves an’ strength is ma magic.” She demonstrated by kicking a tree with her back legs, sending a cascade of apples down to the grassy ground.
Tails grinned. “Then my magic is like a cross between both of those.” He waved his scanner. “Science and technology is my magic.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped open. “Science? I love science!”
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Uh oh, egghead in stereo alert!”
Before Twilight and Tails could start talking chemistry and thermodynamics, Rarity coughed. “Shouldn’t we get started on the… emerald hunt now?”
“Oh… right. Twilight looked at Tails. “We’ll talk science later. Right now we have Chaos Emeralds to find. Everypony wearing their Element of Harmony?”
“Yep!” Everyone cried back.
Twilight could only hope that in the other world, Rainbow Dash was doing the same.
Sonic's hands were clenched on the wheel of the Tornado. Beneath the white fabric of his gloves, his knuckles were white.
He knew how to drive it of course, but he usually left it to Tails. Instead he would stand on the back of the plane, letting the wind whip his face. Sonic was beginning to regret letting Tails stay in Equestria, because he was realizing how much he missed his best buddy.
The Tornado was headed for Angel Island, where one of the Emeralds was located. The gems seemed to end up there a lot when they were scattered, because they were drawn by the master emerald. Knuckles was in the back seat, looking bored. He probably wanted to get to the floating island faster. Sonic wondered if the emerald had someone protecting it at that moment.
Sonic could see Rainbow Dash was soaring alongside the plane, looping and diving. He had to admit, she was fast. At one point she copied his favorite trick, crossing her hooves behind her head and flying backwards through the sky. Her mane was leaving a rainbow trail behind, a glistening band of color that would leave many inhabitants on the land below wondering why there was a straight rainbow stretching across the sky.
Angel Island came into full view, and Sonic was pretty sure he saw Rainbow's eyes widening. It did take his breath away, what with its tumbling waterfalls and lush green woods. Even from this distance, you could see a glimmering green light; the Master Emerald.
Knuckles sat forward. "Land over there." he said, pointing at a stretch of flattened grass.
"I knew that." Sonic pulled on the joystick and steered the plane jerkily downward. Rainbow Dash had to swerve out of the way to avoid getting hit by the Tornado.
"Hey, slow down!" She yelled.
After a slightly bumpy landing, Sonic and Knuckles leapt out of the plane. They both immediately began running in the direction of the Master Emerald. An occasional glimpse of a blue wing or a multicoloured tail above the treetops told them that Dash wasn't far behind.
The huge green jewel shimmered in the afternoon light, casting an emerald glow over everything. Sonic thought he heard Knuckles let out a sigh of satisfaction.
"Safe and sound" said the echidna, a smile of relief on his face. He walked up the stone steps and ran a hand over the surface of the gem. He frowned.
"Too safe and sound. I left traps and asked the Chaotix to protect the emerald, but it hasn't been touched since I left." He looked down at Sonic, who had been joined by Rainbow. "That's very odd. Discord said he wanted the emeralds, but if he neglected the Master Emerald then there seems like there's something wrong."
"Maybe Eggman didn't tell him about it." said Sonic, but he also had a sense of unease.
Rainbow Dash laughed. "You can tell if someone has touched it in the last few days? Will it tell you where those Chaos Emeralds thingys are?"
"Actually, yes." said Knuckles. He closed his eyes and listened intently.
Then they snapped open. Knuckles staggered backwards.
"TRAP!!!!!"
The ground erupted around Knuckles' feet, and he suddenly found himself wrapped in chains of ice. He roared, struggling with all his enhanced might, but he couldn't break the freezing bonds.
"Knuckles!" Sonic tried to dash forward, but within two steps he was glued to the spot. The grass had turned to a brown sticky substance, burying his shoes and sneaking up his legs... treacle?
"What the? - "
Rainbow Dash was trying to get off the ground, but she gasped with pain as her wings had turned to metal. She attempted to gallop towards her new friends, but she was imprisoned by the weight of her own feathers.
The air began to glow with a harsh light, and a perfect circle around the trio rose and covered them like a dome. A figure materialized next to the Master Emerald.
He was tall and thin, a living jumble of many different animals. Mismatched wings were spread out on either side of his body, and a smirk was plastered on his long horsey snout.
"Discord." snarled Dash, straining to move forward.
Discord threw back his horse head and guffawed. "This was far too easy! You should look at yourselves, all of you! So helpless..."
"Let us go so I can pound your face in, coward!" yelled Sonic.
Discord pouted. "Still haven't learnt any manners, eh?" He scooped up the Master Emerald with a lion paw, causing Knuckles to growl.
"Where is the chaos emerald?" he said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, there is no chaos emerald here. It was too easy to make a decoy radiating chaos waves with my magic." Discord looked down at the dome smugly, and snapped his fingers. A glowing ball of energy appeared, making Sonic's scanner go insane.
"You fowl little... when I get my hooves on you!" threatened Dash.
"Oh, you're just as bad as Sonic here. Just for that..." Discord snapped his rooster claw.
The air around Knuckles became colder. To Sonic's horror, Knuckles slumped to his knees, head bowed. His lips were blue. White marks were appearing on his body where the ice was digging into his flesh.
"LET HIM GO!!!" he roared at Discord, trying to wrench off the treacle entwined around his legs.
Discord tilted his head, as if pondering the statement. "Mmmm... I don't think so. You see, when I take this lovely emerald off the island, it will plummet into the ocean, if what my friend Eggman says is true. So if I am correct, Angel Island will be destroyed... with you on it. Ta ta, heroes!"
The bonds holding Sonic, Knuckles and Dash disappeared. Immediately, Sonic ran to Knuckles while Dash threw herself at the dome surrounding them. She cried out and fell, crackling with electricity.
With a final snap of his fingers, the villain disappeared with the Master Emerald.
The feeling in the air changed. As he helped Knuckles up, Sonic could feel the disappearance of the Master Emerald ripple out across all of the Island. Any blowing wind halted. Any animal noises stopped.
Angel Island began to fall.
In desperation, Sonic launched himself at the speed of sound at the top of the dome. Volts of electricity danced over his skin, and he fell back with a growl of frustration.
"What the hay do we do?!" screamed Rainbow Dash, ignoring any pain as she slammed her hooves into the translucent walls.
Even Knuckles started to help, pounding his fists against the dome, but nothing happened. Bits of earth and stone began to rise as momentum gathered and the Island sailed towards the ocean below.
Over the town of Ponyville, a single violet hot air balloon rose into the sky, contrasted against the blue sky.
"Prodigious structure, but by adjusting this double cordage and rigidifying that canvas surface you could enhance the departure acceleration by tenfold!" remarked Tails.
"Oh ma Celestia, make him stop!" groaned Applejack.
"WOOOOO!" cried Pinkie Pie as they rose higher above Ponyville. "This is fun!!"
"Alright," said Twilight, "The cloud-walking spell I cast on all of you will work for two days, but it won't save you if you walk off the edge of a cloud. So be careful!"
The balloon's basket bumped against cloud, and the expedition rose into Cloudsdale.
It was usually a grand sight. Pegasi would flutter around, talking and laughing. The sun would sparkle, no matter what the weather was. Rainbows would tumble in waterfalls down off the edges of clouds.
Usually.
Spilling across cloudy roads and streets were dozens of uncontrolled glowing rainbows, anything they touched fizzling out or changing form. Everywhere was roped off. Few pegasi were in sight.
Tails gasped. "I'm certain this accident is all because of a chaos emerald!"
Twilight looked at him, eyes bugging out of her head. "THE CHAOS EMERALDS CAN DO THIS?????"
"Well if Discord gets them... then we're screwed!" said Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, what do we do?" moaned Twilight.
"We have to get to the Rainbow Factory! Maybe we'll find something there!" said Rarity.
"How?" asked Applejack. Everyone looked silently at the deadly rainbows swamping everything.
"Can we just take the ballon there?" said Rarity.
"Probably, just as long as we stay well away." said Twilight. She pulled on a rope with her magic, steering them towards the factory.
As soon as they saw the building they knew there was no hope.
Busting out of the roof, walls, windows and door were flowing rainbows, all glowing with a toxic green light. It was a miracle the building was still standing, as most of it was crumbling from effects of the chaos.
"Oh no..." said Tails.
Twilight concentrated. Her horn glowed, then fizzled out. She sighed. "I can't teleport it out..."
"Well then, wha' do we do now?" asked Applejack.
"Panic and run." said a sneering voice.
Everyone whirled around. Behind them was a small aircraft. Seated in it was a plump bald man, wearing a red and white tailcoat over black trousers and boots. Strapped to the dome of his head were goggles, and stained-blue glasses shimmered on a large red nose.
"What the - Eggman!" stuttered Tails.
"Yes, I am Doctor Eggman." he bowed with mock politeness to the ponies. "And I'm here for that Emerald."
"Well you're not getting it!" said Twilight bravely, lowering her glowing horn.
"Charming." Eggman chuckled. He raised a small dart gun, and before Twilight could react he shot at the canvas balloon.
The dart tore through the surface of the canvas. The basket lurched sickeningly, and the balloon began to sink. Rarity shrieked.
"Hold on!" Twilight focused her magic on the balolon, encasing it in purple light. It was just enough to hold it aloft, but she could do nothing as Eggman soared past in his aircraft, cackling madly, towards the Rainbow Factory.
Tails leapt out of the basket, setting his tails whirring. He shot after Eggman.
"Follow him!" yelled Applejack.
"I...can't..." groaned Twilight. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as she struggled to keep the balloon aloft.
"Then Fluttersha, after him!" cried Applejack.
"Oh dear..." Fluttershy gulped, and taking a deep breath, followed Tails toward the factory.
Eggman leaned back and almost leisurely shot another gun over his shoulder. Tails, from years of fighting this particular villain, dodged easily. The bronze bullet sailed safely past him.
But Fluttershy wasn't so lucky.
The poor pegasus screamed as the bullet split, rapidly becoming a bronze net. It wrapped itself around Fluttershy, entangling her wings.
Unable to fly, she began to fall towards the poison-swamped street.
"HELP!!!!" screamed Fluttershy.
Tails turned in mid air. Making a split second decision, he flew away from Eggman and darted towards the falling figure. Fluttershy landed in his arms, less than a meter away from a pool of toxic color.
She opened a watery aquamarine eye. "Thank you..."
Tails put Fluttershy back into the hot air balloon's basket, where Applejack and Pinkie Pie instantly began tearing through the bonds.
He turned and flew back towards Eggman, trying to make up for lost time. But the man was already inside the factory. Gritting his teeth, Tails flew until he was hovering next to the wall.
Stray rainbows flowed everywhere. Tails marvelled that they actually were real rainbows that would have arched across the sky, created by pegasi, if not for the chaos emerald.
He looked around. Actually, most of the factory was outdoors, and where the normal rainbows flowed were the chaos-induced ones. The machine was indoors, but the poisonous rainbows blocked almost everything off.
Through the waterfall of glowing colors, a hooting laugh could be heard. Tails looked for an opening in the tidal wave of rainbows.
"Why did it have to land here?" he grumbled to himself.
Finding an opening, he squeezed through and looked around. He winced as a few tiny flecks of color landed on him. He brushed them off hurriedly, finding a dot of bald pink skin in each area, like an injection.
In the corner stood the vast rainbow machine, probably once glimmering iron. Now it was sagging and groaning, spitting out rainbows that flowed across the ground.
Eggman was detaching a little robot with extendable claws from his aircraft. When it stupidly tried to reach inside the machine, a rainbow washed over its claws. The robot fizzed, then began playing some oldies tune over its speakers and began performing backflips. Eggman cursed.
Tails flew at the back of Eggman's machine, landing a kick on the metal. Eggman cried out as his machine wobbled, then turned and looked at Tails. His brows furrowed.
"Oh, it's you. No problem." He pressed a button on his dashboard, and suddenly Tails was hurtling backwards. He slammed into the wall, groaning and clutching his chest. A punching glove had flown out with lightning speed, hitting Tails in the gut. He almost fell into the pool of rainbows below him, but his twin tails kicked in on instinct.
When his eyesight cleared, he could see Eggman using sheets of metal to stop the flow of rainbows. They bent and groaned, but miraculously held. Eggman ejected a metal claw inside.
"No," gasped Tails, still short for breath.
The claw retreated with a gorgeous glowing green gem, and Eggman cackled with triumph.
One of the Chaos Emeralds had been found.
Tails fumbled around, inwardly shouting with delight when he found his laser gun. He snapped it onto his wrist and aimed at the aircraft. He fired. The laser sawed through an engine, and the machine groaned and swung forward.
"What?" spluttered Eggman. "No!"
Tails saw his chance. He lunged forward, tails whirring furiously, and just managed to grasp the emerald. He pulled with all his might, and suddenly he was clasping the gem to his chest.
"Come back here with my emerald!" roared Eggman. He tried to start his vehicle, but it sputtered in protest.
Tails couldn't help but turn back and laugh at the man. He stopped laughing when he had to dodge a few missiles. He decided it was time to go.
Tails burst out of the factory wall, still clasping the emerald to his chest. He gasped when he saw the balloon. Fluttershy was free, but the balloon was sinking, ever so slowly, as Twilight's magic crept towards its limit.
Tails threw a glance over his shoulder, expecting to see Eggman coming at him. But there was no-one there. 'Eggman must have teleported away, he's smart enough to know not to fight when his machine is in that condition...' he thought.
"...Tails..." Twilight moaned. ".. Push.. the balloon... away from... clouds..."
Tails understood. Stopping only to toss the gem into the basket, where Rarity scooped it up, he pressed both hands to the balloon and shoved. The huge thing moved with surprising ease, and soon they were dangling over the ground below.
"Let go." said Tails.
"...But..." protested Twilight weakly.
"Let GO!"
Twilight let go of her hold on the balloon. She collapsed to the bottom of the basket in relief, but the hot air balloon began to sink rapidly. Rarity began shrieking again.
"Tails!! Do something!"
Tails flew to the top of the balloon and grabbed hold of the canvas, and began pulling upwards with all his might. Rarity raised her horn and put another spell on the balloon, not as strong as Twilight's but nearly as effective.
Slowly, slowly, the decent of the balloon slowed down. When it reached the ground, it landed with a thump, and all the ponies tumbled out of it.
Pinkie began kissing the ground. "Oh, I'm so happy to be back here on the earth! Hello grass! Hello trees!"
Applejack rolled her eyes. She trotted over to Tails and looked at him expectantly. "Well, did'ja get it?"
Tails unclasped his hands and showed the orange earth pony the sparkling green emerald. Applejack's face split into a grin, and she punched the air. "Yee-hah! Take THAT Discord!"
One down, six more to go.
Angel Island crashed into the ocean, staying on the surface for a moment, like an island that had forever been there and always would be. Then it sank below the waves, disappearing into the depths of the sea.
And far, far above, in the blue and yellow Tornado, staring down at their vanishing former prison, were Rainbow Dash, Sonic and Knuckles.
"I've...I've failed..." muttered Knuckles at last. "I couldn't protect the home of my ancestors, my home..."
Sonic tried to cheer him up. "No, Knuckles, Angel Island is enchanted. There's no way it's gone forever."
Dash still said nothing. She was feeling so much for something she'd just seen, belonging to someone she barely knew.
Knuckles looked down at the sprinkle of bubbles left on the surface, all that was left of the island. When he spoke, his friends were unsure whether he was talking to them or speaking to himself.
"We will bring it back. We have to."
Moments before...
Sonic closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to block out the feeling of falling and blind panic. 'Think think think think think....'
Rainbow Dash and Knuckles were still fruitlessly banging on the dome, ignoring the electric currents flitting through their arms.
"What do we do??" repeated Rainbow Dash.
And suddenly, miraculously, Sonic had a brainwave.
"Knuckles! DIG FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!"
Knuckles looked at him. "WHAT??"
"You heard me! Dig out of the dome! We'll just follow you out through the tunnel!"
Realization dawned on his face, quickly replaced with worry. "But the island! I can't leave the island!"
Sonic hated to say it, but he yelled, "You must!"
Knuckles' purple eyes were like those of a wild animal, filled with fear and desperation. For a moment, his eyes met Sonic's green ones. Then he threw himself at the ground and started to dig.
In a matter of seconds, he burst out of the ground outside the dome. He gestured at them, and Sonic leapt into the tunnel. It was dark and earthy, and he could feel the power of the island fading.
Then he was out of the ground, quickly followed by Rainbow Dash. He ran towards the edge of the island and peered over the edge. The ocean was looming up fast.
"To the Tornado!" Sonic turned and ran, grabbing a stunned Knuckles by the scruff of the neck as he went.
The Tornado was being buffeted by updrafts and small twigs and leaves. Without pausing, Sonic leapt off the ground and into the cockpit, dropping Knuckles in the backseat. Rainbow Dash flew past them, into the sky. Sonic started the engine and barreled into take-off.
They soared towards the heavens, away from Angel Island as it sank below the waves.
Discord gazed into the shimmering green surface of the Master Emerald, a lazy grin on his snout.
It all went according to plan. He got the emerald, trapped his foes on the doomed Angel Island and made it sink into the ocean. Yes, everything went like clockwork.
Including his enemies' escape.
Discord leaned back on his self-made chair in Eggman's temporary fortress. He closed his eyes and smiled.
Discord knew that a single magic bubble would not be enough to actually KEEP the friends trapped and killed. But it was enough to damage their egos, or two egos in particular.
How was it described again? Oh yes, a 'spark'. Well, he could see that a spark of friendship had instantly ignited between Rainbow Dash and Sonic the Hedgehog. With the Elements of Harmony and the Chaos Emeralds on their side, they would be a tough pair to beat.
But if they discovered the true limitlessness of their combined power....
Discord physically shook his head to clear that thought. No, that couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it. He and Eggman would get those promising Chaos Emeralds first, thus hiding any of this knowledge from them. And then... it would mean the end of the Elements of Harmony.
Speaking of Dr. Eggman....
The air glowed with a multicolored light, and a small aircraft puttered out. It was damaged, with a critical hit to the engine, and its driver had a grim expression.
"Did you get it?"
Eggman hesitated. "Get what?"
"You know what I mean!"
"Oh. Um... no."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NO??!!"
"The twin-tailed twit smashed my engine and nabbed the emerald!"
"WHY DID YOU SPARE HIM THEN??"
"I would have shot him down in the first place... except...."
"Except what?!?!"
"He was carrying that Fluttershy."
Discord stopped yelling at Dr. Eggman, who was secretly ashamed that he was intimidated of someone when he was so used to being in charge. Discord turned away, so Eggman couldn't see his face.
"Alright, I'll give you that. I told you to spare her." Discord stroked his beard.
"Why do you want to spare her? I could have gotten us the emerald if you said otherwise!"
There was a pause. Discord stopped stroking his beard.
"When I was biding my time, waiting to get revenge, I got to know Fluttershy. I instantly knew that she was weak-spirited and far too trusting, but when I learnt more about her, I found something else. Deep inside that soft mare's heart, there is a core of iron."
Discord turned back to Eggman, who was looking confused.
"That pegasus is more than what she seems. And by being that, she is the ideal tool for me."
Those dirty red eyes clouded with menace and cruelty.
"Just you wait. Soon enough, she will be my pawn. A pawn in a game that only I could possibly win."
And Discord let out such a deep, cruel laugh that it made the very foundations of the castle tremble.
A similar emerald, only much smaller, was glittering on a cushion in the Golden Oaks Library. It was inside a glass case, magically created by Twilight, sitting on a pedestal next to the Elements of Harmony.
Twilight was alone downstairs, sitting on the bare wooden floor. She had asked everyone else to go upstairs, which they were more than happy to oblige, as they all wanted to get some rest.
She rubbed her horn and winced. Holding up a hot-air balloon filled with ponies to keep it from falling into a pool of toxic rainbows was no easy task. Although, the multiple spell against that ursa minor was much more difficult... her horn didn't hurt this much... maybe something to do with getting older?
Twilight shook her head, making her horn ache all over again. No, focus on the task at hand.
The purple unicorn got up off the floor and trotted over to the Elements of Harmony. They sat, like normal, on the pink cushion inside their case.
The Element of Loyalty was glimmering red, as if it was taunting her, calling her. Twilight took a deep breath.
She wanted to know more. She had to see more of the visions, even if they were terrible. They might... they might affect the future.
Gently, she let her magic wrap itself around the necklace and lifted it into the air.
Nothing happened.
Twilight looked at the Element. "Um... I ask to see the fate of the bearer of this Element of Harmony!"
Still nothing happened.
Twilight became frustrated. "C'mon!" She started shaking it with her magic. "Show me some magical visions!" She prodded it, pressed the red lightning bolt, filled it with more magic, and turned it upside down. Still nothing happened.
Twilight stopped. After a moment's thought, she slipped the Element of Loyalty around her own neck.
Everything was red, red sky, red flames, red eyes.
'No, I've got to control this.'
Without breaking the contact, Twilight concentrated. The scene froze. Gradually, gradually, Twilight worked her magic into the vision. She could feel the chaotic energy weakening, and then crumbling. She exhaled. She was in control.
Slowly, she let the vision continue, but she didn't break her magic hold on the scene.
Red eyes. Laughter. An outstretched claw.
The blue hedgehog (Twilight now knew it was Sonic) was lying on a pile of crumbled and broken stone and wood. He was covered in bruises and cuts, his gloves ripped and tattered. He was clutching the area around his left shoulder. Blood was seeping through his fingers. His eyes were tightly shut, a grimace on his face. Rainbow Dash was no-where in sight.
More rumbling laughter, shuddering the ground and sending Sonic tumbling, crying out with pain as his shoulder hit the reddish dirt.
"You were a fool to believe you two could defeat me." A booming voice, a vaguely familiar voice. No.... a voice, superimposed under something more evil and ancient.
"We... we still can... you haven't won yet!" Sonic opened his eyes and yelled into the endless sky.
Another wave of laughter, a noise that sent icy chills up one's spine. "Look at yourself, Sonic the Hedgehog. How could you possibly win?"
Twilight dwelled too long on the statement. Just for a moment, she let her concentration slack.
Flashes of light, blue, red, yellow, a scream, a single scream, calling a name...
It was night. The coal-black sky was sprinkled with stars and galaxies. The moon glowed, an arc of pure silver against the sky and stars.
Sonic lay on the roof of Tails' workshop. He was gazing into the night sky, wondering how they would retrieve the Master Emerald and get Angel Island back into the air.
He was so deep in thought he didn't notice the silent figure swooping out of the shadows and landing gently on the rooftop.
"Hi Sonic."
Sonic looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was clopping over to flop down next to him.
"Why aren't you asleep?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Mmh."
They fell silent, gazing at the stars. Rainbow wondered whether she was seeing the same moon that Princess Luna had brought up in replacement of the sun.
"What's the symbol on your flank for, anyway?"
Rainbow faltered slightly at the unexpected question. "Why do you wanna know?"
"Cause it's a tattoo that everyone had specially on their butts."
Rainbow laughed. "It's not a tattoo! It's called a Cutie Mark. You see, we're born blank-flanked, but when we find our special talent, when we're fillies, a symbol representing it appears on our flank."
"What's yours then?"
"It stands for my speed. When I was a filly, I had a race against some colts. They were harassing Flutters, and I couldn't have that! So, I was winning, then one of them tried to cheat by ramming into me. And then I got angry, shot past him, and then BOOOM!!!" Rainbow flared her hooves.
"I broke the sound barrier and created my first ever SONIC RAINBOOM!!!" She paused, lowering her forelegs and slumping back onto the roof.
"Five other fillies got their cutie marks that day. My rainboom influenced something inside them, and they found who they were meant to be. Those five fillies... are my friends."
"Cool."
"Yep. Very cool."
But with her happiness came the inevitable memory that she refused to share with anyone. Her happiness faded and her grin vanished.
But fate told here right then that she could tell Sonic, even though she had only known him for a short time.
"I envy you, Sonic."
Sonic looked at Rainbow, surprised. "Why?"
"You spend your days fighting crime, risking your life, smashing through Eggman's machines and wrecking his plans. You run where you please, feeling the wind in your face and fresh, cool freedom. You are a true, true hero. And I -"
Rainbow broke off, looking down at her hooves. "I can't leave Ponyville, confined to kick clouds around and save the occasional runaway foal. Even though they'd never say it aloud, those five mares don't see me as a hero. They see me as a mere friend. I've been thinking about it ever since... can I tell you a short story?"
"Go ahead." said Sonic.
"They impersonated a hero named Mare-do-well. Rarity made costumes that hid their true identity, while Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy wore them and performed different feats at different times, according to who would manage the best in the situation at hand."
"They tried to teach me a lesson about boasting, as I was saving a lot of ponies, but they didn't realize how much I enjoyed being recognized as a hero. Just when I reached the top, they dragged me down, tricked me, lied to me, shamed me." Rainbow's tone was getting angrier and angrier.
"They showed me up, doing better things than me, and made everypony forget that I had done anything amazing! And - HEY! I just realized that while they were trying to teach me not to boast, they were boasting THEMSELVES! In Sugarcube Corner, when they were marveling at Mare-do-well's amazing deeds! When - when they... they LAUGHED at me for being hurt and embarrassed!!!"
Rainbow Dash angrily brushed away a tear. It was silent again.
Sonic thought hard. Then he spoke.
"You know what I think? I think, deep inside, they were jealous."
"Y-you do?" stammered Rainbow.
"Yeah. And something else. It took FIVE ponies to get the better of you. When I look at you, Rainbow Dash, I don't see just a mere friend. I see a great, great pegasus... and a hero. And do you know what?"
"What?"
"I envy something that you have."
"You do?!"
"No matter how much I run, no matter how fast I dash, I can't fly, at least not by my natural talents. I can jump extremely high, I can run like the wind, but I can't soar through the air. I have to take the Tornado. That's why I didn't want to drive. I wanted to be standing on the back, spreading my arms and laughing as the clouds fly past. But it's still not enough."
"But... you told me you can fly at light speed when you're Super Sonic!" said Rainbow. "That's way better!"
"I need seven pieces of magic rock to do that. I can't just take off whenever I want to and fly."
Another silence. A light wind blew over the trees nearby. Somewhere in the woods, an owl called.
Rainbow suddenly stood on the roof.
"Sonic, can you get on my back?"
"Why?"
Rainbow smiled at him. "I want to show you the night sky, up close and personal."
Sonic felt a smile of his own creep across his face. He carefully got up and lowered himself gently onto Rainbow's back. He held onto her neck, and he could feel surges of adrenalin pounding through her bloodstream.
"Hold on!"
Rainbow took off, leaving a glowing, glittering rainbow behind.
They climbed up, up through the clouds, feeling wet coolness on their faces. The ground below grew smaller and smaller and they went higher and higher. Sonic heard himself whoop with delight.
Rainbow was beating her wings hard and fast, straining to go faster. She was already going faster than the wind, faster than the Tornado. Sonic kept his hands tightly clenched on Rainbow's neck, and began to feel the true exhilaration of flight.
But something... something was still not quite there.
Then, when Sonic thought that they would touch the moon, Rainbow slowed down. Her wings stopped flapping and she began to glide to a stop on a cool, crisp updraft. She peaked, right under the blanket of night. The sky seemed so close, like they could just reach up and run a hand (or hoof) over the stars.
For a moment, they hovered there. Time stood still. They were two beings, two fantastic friends that were alone in a world of night and clouds and stars. No words had to be spoken. They knew they were feeling the same emotions. They were alone, alone, with no-one else but each other.
Then the moment became packed with electricity. Rainbow Dash dipped over, and she began to dive towards the ground.
The wind whistled in their ears, rushing past them like a freight train. The air was cold and sharp, nipping them like needles before shooting past into the sky.
Faster and faster, like the climb upwards was nothing, the wind thundering, two pulses racing. The night was flashing by, clouds whisked away. The thrill, the speed, the beauty of adventure.
The air around Rainbow's outstretched hooves began to thicken. It became a white layer, stretching like elastic, threatening to snap them back with the fast-passing clouds and wind and stars. Sonic was forced to almost close his eyes against the racing wind. Rainbow was doing the same.
Then the whiteness began to flicker with colors, stretching further and further. Rainbow knew the feeling, but something was different. She felt stronger and faster, the pressure different. Then the colors became clear, and there were two layers of color on top of one another. They were stretching out, pushing harder and harder... almost as one.... and then....
The sky exploded with colors of the rainbow. The barrier was gone, and Sonic and Rainbow Dash were going faster, faster than the speed of sound, shooting, riding, incredible feelings exploding like the colors behind them.
Rainbow had one final move. She pulled out of the dive and, catching the wind, shot back upwards. As they climed up again, a true, solid rainbow that did not fade arced as she carved it into the canvas of the night sky.
They both looked back, and a jolt of surprise went through them. TWO bright rings of color were splashed across the features of the night, TWO magical broken sound barriers were decorating the star sprinkled sky. Rainbow Dash had performed a beautiful double sonic rainboom, breaking the sound barrier twice in a row.
The tiniest realization of the power they held together flickered into their consciousness.
Sonic leaned forward and murmured something into Rainbow's ear.
Not too far away, Cream's house stood silently in the night, everyone inside asleep.
Everyone except...
Amy sniffed, and opened her eyes. She yawned and looked out the window. Still night. She rolled over in her warm, comfy bed and shut her eyes, but could not get back to sleep.
She decided that there would be no harm in getting up for a while and stretching or something, so she rose from her bed and slipped her feet into pink fuzzy slippers.
She walked to the window and gazed out at the night sky. It really was a beautiful sight. She only wished that one day she could lie out in the meadow and share it with Sonic... the thought made her blush an even deeper pink than usual.
She turned and walked over to the dressing table, painted lilac. Almost everything in the room was a shade of pink or purple. She picked up the water jug and cup she stored there for times like these. She poured herself a cup of cool water and drank.
BOOOOOM!!!!
BOOOOOM!!!!
Amy almost dropped her cup in suprise. A millisecond later, a wave of air washed over her.
She ran back to the window. What she saw shocked her so muc she actually did drop her empty cup on the plush rose carpet.
The sky was ablaze with colors. Twin rings of multicolor were pooling out like ripples, and a rainbow was stretching across the sky. In the light of the explosions, Amy could see something etching the colorful trail.
It was Rainbow Dash... and Sonic.
Suprise quickly turned to rage. What on earth was Sonic doing, sitting on Rainbow Dash's back and flying with her? His arms were fastened on her neck, and now he was leaning forward....
Amy fumed. Inside her head she was shrieking with anger. How DARE Sonic cheat her like this?!
She stalked sharply to her bed, unable to see any more. She plunked down so hard that a spring erupted out under the matress.
She and Sonic were going to have words.
And then the room went dark. She suddenly felt icy cold. There was something behind her, a chilling presence that told her she was no alone.
She slowly turned, scared out of her wits.
"Hello there, Amy Rose."
And then everything went black.
Hours later...
In the calm misty morning, as Celestia raised the sun once again to shine upon the beautiful land of Equestria, the rolling emerald meadows and endless world of apple trees marked Sweet Apple Acres, glistening like magic in the early sunlight.
The pigs were alsleep in their hutches. Not a sound came from the farmhouse. All was still, all was quiet.
And then...
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CHARIOT DRIVERS, YAY!!!!!"
A large wagon barreled out from the western orchards, careering drunkenly and shedding hay. In the front of the wagon, hanging on for dear life, were three little fillies.
"TURN RIGH' !!!" screamed Applebloom, holding the front of the wagon with one hoof to keep from falling while grasping her large pink bow with the other hoof to keep it from blowing away.
Scootaloo veered left. They crashed into a grove of apple trees and sent a group of nesting birds into the air. They bumped off and continued racing forwards, completely out of control.
"AH SAID RIGH'!!!!" squealed Applebloom.
"I THOUGHT THAT WAS RIGHT!!!!!" shrieked Scootaloo.
"Ooh... I feel sick..." moaned Sweetie Belle, her face turning a delicate shade of green.
Applebloom and Scootaloo kept arguing as the 'chariot' swerved crazily and bumped over little dunes before finally dumping the Cutie Mark Crusaders in a hay-covered heap outside the farm house, right in front of a startled Applejack. The wagon wobbled on a little further before falling on its side, wheels still turning.
"WHA' IN THE H - oh, it's you three." Applejack brushed strands of hay from her hat and mane and looked down at the fillies dissaprovingly. "Somethin' tells me tha' chariot drivin' isn't your special talents.
The fillies looked down at the grass, faces falling. Applejack suddenly felt bad for them, and suggested something that might cheer them up.
"Hey, don't look so down ya'll. Here's an idea! A'm goin' to the library for some important buisness with Twiligh', an' A'm sure she'd love your help on clearin' up the library fo' her!"
Immediatley, all three faces brightened. They scrambled to their hooves and followed Applejack in the direction of Golden Oaks, chattering excitedly.
Sweetie Belle sneezed as a cloud of dust flew off a musty old book right into her face. "Ahh...ah-CHOO!!! Scootaloo!!!"
"Sorry..." grunted Scootaloo. She was carrying a huge pile of books on her back, but was struggling to maintain balance. She tripped over Applebloom, and they both went down under an avalanche of Equestrian history.
Applebloom popped up, her bow slightly askew. After groaning and rubbing her head, she helped Scootaloo out of the pile of books. "Ah don't think this is our special talent... "
They were upstairs, moving books in Twilight's bedroom, but all they had done was make things worse. They sat glumly on the wooden floor in silence.
Voices drifted up from downstairs. Twilight was asking a question.
"I think we should look around the area in the middle of town, where the Carosel Boutique is. Rarity, did you see anything?"
"Oh... well, I... um, I thought I saw something whizz past when I, um went up to check on Sweetie Belle...." Distinctly Rarity's voice, but it seemed to have a hint of unease.
"Are you alrigh', Sugarcube?" Obviously Applejack.
"I'm fine, Applejack, I just..."
The voice of the twin tailed fox, Tails, echoed up the stairs. "Well, I think we want to tackle the Everfree forest last. The timberwolves sound like nasty peice of work. The only other place is the mansion. Does anypony know who lives there?"
"Oh, that's the Rich mansion. Oh, that's funny! The RICH manshion!" Pinkie Pie was giggling at her own joke.
"You mean Diamond Tiara's father? Filthy Rich?" asked Fluttershy.
"The stallion who buys the famous Sweet Apple Acres Zap Apple jam?" said Twilight.
"That's the one!" said Pinkie Pie.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged looks. They had all heard about the big mission that the older mares were doing, and that it was connected to the strange lights from the day before, but they didn't know any details. Diamond Tiara's house was a target? What was going on?
"Well, we could go an' ask Mr. Filthy if he's seen anythin'. But Rarity, A'm sure that you must have seen -"
"I SAW NOTHING!!" Rarity's voice was high and strained and angry. Everypony else's voices stopped abruptly, and there was a stunned silence.
"Rarity - " Twilight ventured.
A chair scraped the floor, and there was the sound of hurried hoofsteps. The door slammed.
"What's wrong with her?" said Tails.
"I'm... I'm not sure..." Twilight sounded uncertain. "I've never seen her like this..."
"Well, something sounds suspicious about what Rarity said... I think we should go and check out the middle of town." Tails spoke confidently, and everypony agreed with him.
As the meeting downstairs adjorned, Applebloom looked at her friends. "Are y'all thinkin' wha' A'm thinkin'?"
"An important mission..." Sweetie Belle pondered.
"Diamond Tiara's big fancy house..." Scootaloo continued.
"If that meanie saw whatever it is, she'd definitely keep it. Ma big sis' made it sound very valuable, and y'all know how much she likes stuff like that." Applebloom pursed her lips and adopted a Sherlock Hooves expression. "And do y'all think that she'd let it up?"
Scootaloo snorted. "That's about as likely as Fluttershy agreeing to throw Angel off a cliff."
"So, we don't know what this mysterious thing is, but we know it's pretty valuble and Diamond Tiara may have it. There's no way she'd give it up. And we don't have any idea what to do next for our Cutie Marks Crusade."
"This is our chance to get back at her!" said Scootaloo.
"Are y'all in?" grinned Applebloom.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSDADERS PRICELESS BUT (uh) UNKNOWN THINGY RETRIVERS, YAY!!!!!"
"Knuckles, you can't! You IDIOT, you can't!!!"
Back at Tails' workshop, which had become a sort of headquarters, Knuckles wanted to find the Master Emerald all by himself, like a true guardian should, blah blah blah. It was ridiculous, suicidal and out of the question, and Sonic was arguing with him. Rainbow Dash stood quietly off to the side, not sure whose side to take.
"Since when have YOU told everyone what to do??" Knuckles tried to push past Sonic, but Sonic grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Knuckles, Discord will over power you and destroy you, and I'm not letting that happen. We will get the Master Emerald back, and we'll somehow put Angel Island back in the sky. But you can't do it now, we have to work together if we want to win."
Knuckles raised a fist to puch Sonic. Then he let it drop with a sigh. "I hate you."
"Likewise, I'm sure." Sonic looked at Rainbow. "How do we know what's a Chaos Emerald and what's not?"
Rainbow frowned. "I'm not sure. I guess we just follow the signals, and if it's fake we beat stuff up, and if it's not we get an Emerald. It's our best hope."
Another signal had appeared in place of the fake one, and the sensors determined that it had been concealed before, which meant it had orgininally been there. It could be more chaos magic, but Sonic or Rainbow Dash couldn't tell.
Sonic groaned and looked at his scanner with distaste. "Tails would be able to fix this thing so that we could track the real emeralds and not fake ones planted by Discord. I miss him and his brainy ways..."
"When do we go?" asked Rainbow. "I'm gonna find Discord, and then punch him in the face."
"As soon as possible. We'll go here," Sonic jabbed a point on the scanner, "The one closest to the workshop, and then work our way outwards. If we get one, we get the advantage of Chaos Control."
"What the hay is Chaos Control?" asked Rainbow.
"Ummm.." Sonic quickly explained the concept of Chaos Control to the pegasus. "So we'll be able to teleport from one place to another in a heartbeat."
"That's so awesome!"
"Not always."
Knuckles sighed. "I guess I'm coming with you then."
"Of course you are! We need you, Knuckles. Who else is gonna puch Discord's lights out?" said Sonic.
"I thought I already said that would be me!!" cried Rainbow hotly.
"But we still only have three people." said Knuckles. "I know Sonic usually doesn't work with more than two or three people, but this is different. We need as much power as we can muster."
"Sounds like you'll need us, then." said a voice from the door.
How they got through the defences was unknown, but they were still a welcome sight. One black, standing, expressionless, his arms folded and his chin raised defiantly, but a warm fire seemed to glow in his red eyes. The other was white, smiling, his hands on his hips like a crack team leader with his yellow eyes full of life.
"Glad to see us?" asked Shadow.
"I thought so!" said Sliver.
"Pull harder!!" whispered Applebloom, who was hovering in mid-air, suspended by a rope.
Scootaloo's wings fluttered with effort. "You're... so... heavy!"
Sweetie Belle strained until her horn sparked. "Hurry... up!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were all wearing skin-tight ninja outfits for the operation on The Rich Mansion. Applebloom lowered herself until she was level with Diamond Tiara's window. She flattened her body against the wall and cautiously peered inside the bedroom.
What she saw almost made her scream.
Diamond Tiara was surrounded in a cyclone of jewelery. Rubies, Golden rings, Necklaces, all kinds of gems were swirling around her like a tornado, driven by red magic. In the center stood Diamond, who had... who had...
'Oh Celestia, she has a horn!!'
The bully's normally icy blue eyes were a horrid shade of blood red. She was smiling, a sickening smirk of a villain.
"Pull me up, pull me UP!!" hissed Applebloom desperately. The other two fillies pulled with all their strength. Applebloom collasped on the roof of the mansion.
"Ah... she.... had a horn.... she was..." stammered the little filly.
"She what? She WHAT??" demanded Scootaloo.
"She had a horn! A real unicorn horn with a great honking storm of magic swirlin' around her! And her eyes were all red, like... like blood!"
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle met gazes and silently agreed.
"We can't handle this on our own." said Scootaloo.
"That's the last thing Ah ever expected ya to say." said Applebloom.
The fillies slid bumpily off the mansion using rope and the pipes, which was quite a feat. They raced away, off to tell their sisters the horror that Applebloom had seen.
Sonic, Silver, Knuckles and Shadow were all standing in the middle of a swamp, knee deep in swamp water, with no idea where on earth they were.
They were all annoyed that even with their individual jaw-dropping powers they STILL had to take the simple bi-plane, the Tornado. Shadow had to stand on the back of the plane, which ticked Sonic off because he wanted to do exactly that. Silver and Rainbow Dash flew alongside, and they had a mini-contest as to who could do the fanciest tricks.
They had stopped at the area where the possible Chaos Emerald was, but all of them had never been there before. Now they were being attacked by mosquitos and wading through thick swampy muck.
"Okay, the signal is coming from an area right in front of us, so we're going in the right direction." Knuckles jabbed at Tails scanner, which Sonic had given him to carry.
"This is stupid." Silver mercilessly fried several mosquitos that were trying to eat his head.
"I... HATE... the water." said Sonic. He looked enviously up at Rainbow Dash, who was flying. Silver was grounded for the moment because the long flight there had dried his power, but Rainbow Dash didn't seem to be effected.
She looked back at Sonic, and they silently agreed. This wasn't the place to do it. Sonic lowered his gaze, mournfully staring down at the stagant mud.
"If I had a Chaos Emerald, we'd be done with everything by now." grumbled Shadow.
Rainbow sighed. "Probably not, Shadow. Discord is after them too, and he likes to make things difficult for us. Belive me, I know."
Shadow began grumbling under his breath so no-one else could hear.
Knuckles stopped abruptly, causing Sonic to bump into him.
"It's here."
The scenery was the same. Bent and twisted mangroves stretched over the swamp like claws. Long grass hid unknown creatures. The air was muggy and humid.
But the swamp had hardened into a sort of circular arena, so they didn't sink to their knees. And in the center of the circle was a crater in the ground.
Sonic and Rainbow Dash were looking down the crater before anyone else. Luck was on their side.
A purple gem was lying, pulsing gently with light, at the bottom of the small crater. It was the Chaos Emerald.
"Yes!" Rainbow Dash pumped the air with triumph as Sonic scooped up the gem and cradled it.
Shadow sighed with either happiness or annoyance, or possibly both. "Okay, now where's the trap?"
"Shhh!" Knuckles said suddenly.
"What?" asked Rainbow Dash, whipping around, already on edge.
"Can you hear that?"
Everyone strained to hear something. At first there was just animal noises and the whistling wind. And then they could hear a low rumbling noise, like thousands of wings beating.
Rainbow's pupils shrank, and she gasped. "I've heard this noise before. It's... It couldn't be..."
The sound grew louder, and now they could hear a chittering noise, like bugs. And booming over it all was a heartless cackle, a sound that chilled to the bone.
The cackle was female.
The sky darkened with thousands apon thousands of creatures, swarming in one huge black cloud. Leading it was one large, grotesquely slender figure, the source of the terrible laughter.
"The changeling army!" cried Rainbow.
The changelings arrived with suprising quickness, and began to land around the clearing. Thousands and thousands landed in the woods, straining to get close to them. Thousands kept descending. They hustled forwards to overcome their opponents, chittering with excitement.
"Stay BACK!!" roared Sonic. He flashed off in a blaze of blue, racing in a blur around his friends. He formed a bluish barrier, causing unfortunant changelings to be thrown back into the crowd.
Some backed off, but some spread their wings and took to the air, trying to get over the top of Sonic's defence. Rainbow Dash yelled as one tried to bite her, so she snapped out her own wings and formed a barrier of her own in the air, in the colors of a rainbow.
A sort of dome formed out of blue and rainbow, holding back the changelings. Silver stepped back in suprise. Knuckles sheilded his face from flying dust and mud. Even Shadow looked slightly impressed.
"A nice trick indeed, little critters."
The changelings suddenly stopped trying to attack and parted their ranks to form a path. Walking down the middle was the tall, slender figure who had spoken. Her mane was a rag-tag of green gossamer, her horn, wings and legs peppered with holes, and a fanged smile stretched across her face.
"Chrysalis, long time no see." Rainbow Dash stopped flying and glowered at the Changeling queen.
"Ah, Rainbow Dash. One of the puny little ponies that tried to stop me at the Canterlot wedding." Her voice resonated, hissing and cruel.
"Wait, what's this about a wedding?" Sonic had stopped running when he saw the Queen, and he looked at Rainbow Dash with a mixture of confusion and disgust.
"Don't even ask." Rainbow gritted her teeth and glared back into Chrysalis' greenish-yellow eyes.
"After my traitorous Shining Armor and that wretched Cadance banished me into the distant corners of Equestria, I fell to the ground to lie wounded and seething for revenge. I was there for months, slowly gathering enough power to rise. But I never could have returned... if it wasn't for Discord."
A ripple of chittering went through the changeling army, and it sounded very much like laughter.
"He came to me, telling me to join a battle against his enemies. My enemies. He healed me with a touch and and offered me revenge, asking me to come to his side and fight against the ones I hate. And of course, I agreed." She swept a glance over the five heroes, a look of menace glowing in her eyes.
"CHANGELINGS, ATTACK!!!"
The army of creatures rushed forwards in a great wave, taking to the sky and racing over the ground. They were ready to fight those who opposed their queen.
"Time to kick butt?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Time to kick butt." agreed Sonic.
Applejack pressed the doorbell to Filthy Rich's mansion. The sound of chiming bells rang grandly though the home.
Applebloom pressed her hooves to her forehead and whimpered. "A'm tellin' ya big sis, Ah don't think this is somethin' natural. Ah don't think - "
She was cut off when the door opened. A plump, smiling housekeeper pony with a grey coat stepped out to greet them. She was wearing a navy blue maid's uniform with white trim with a matching blue shoes.
"Welcome, Ms. Applejack, please do come in! My name is Ms. Dusty Brush. Oh, the Master has spoken very favorably of you indeed, saying you and any of your friends were always welcome under his roof!"
Applebloom relaxed a little bit, and she smiled at the housekeeper as she walked through the door.
The ponies had planned a direct, casual entry to see what they could find after Applebloom's description of Diamond Tiara's apperance. Applebloom, backed up by her friends, had protested strongly against this desicion, but all three crusaders still came along with the group to the mansion.
They walked down the entrance hall, guided by Ms. Brush. The hall was matted with a soft, delicate rose-red carpet so nice that even Applejack wiped her hooves on the doormat. Three doors led off to different places, the kitchen, the servant palour and a bathroom. The air was cool and there was a faint smell of flowers, like jasmine or rose.
The grey pony opened the fourth door at the end of the hall, leading to the living room. After everypony had entered, the crusaders hesitantly followed. They stopped short on the plush carpet and gasped in awe.
The polished white marble floor shone pristinely. Plush red velvet curtains hung from the windows, tied open with golden cords that showed the wonderous garden beyond. Matching red carpets adorned the center of the room. On top of the carpet were two large brown and black sofas, covered with multiple black and red cushions. The walls were painted a tasteful pale brown, with little shining golden patterns like vines, adorned with pictures of Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, and a mysterious mare with a purple and white mane and a pale pink coat, smiling as if she owned the world. The scent of rose and jasmine was slightly stronger. A wooden staircase led off upstairs.
"Please sit down, all of you, and make yourselves at home. I will go and call Master Rich." Ms. Brush trotted away up the staircase, leaving the ponies to look at each other in suprise and sit down on the sofas.
The texture was so incredibly soft, it was impossible to describe it. Applebloom nervously hugged a cushion, then quickly dropped it. Diamond would not want her touching anything in her house.
She looked at her friends. They looked just as nervous as she felt, but they were trying to hide it as best as they could. They flashed her frightened smiles.
"Why, hello Ms. Applejack! So lovely to see you!"
Fithy Rich was trotting down the steps, smiling broadly. He didn't share the bratty personality of his daughter. If anything, he was the opposite of Diamond Tiara. Only the tired rings under his eyes and the slight, slight droop of his head gave away anything other than a very kindly and rich stallion.
He politely greeted everyone, even Tails. He smiled and patted the three little fillies on the head, probably unaware that these three little fillies were the sworn enemies of his daughter.
"So, how can I help you?" Mr. Rich sat on the sofa and looked intently at Applejack.
The country pony cleared her throat. "We came ta ask a question. Several important objects were scattered throughou' ponyville, and we've been entrusted ta find them. One went righ' in the direction of your home, Mr. Rich. Could you have maybe seen a colorful light of some kind two days ago, in the evening time?"
Filthy Rich scratched his chin. "I'm sorry Ms. Applejack, I can't say that I have. Perhaps I was taking a bath at the time. You could ask Dusty, or any of the staff, or even my little Diamond. In fact..." He leaned towards the staircase and called out. "Diamond, honey! Could you come downstairs for a moment?"
Applebloom shot a glance of absolute horror at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. He hadn't noticed the horn on Diamond's head, or her glowing red eyes? And now that same filly, the one who hated their guts, was coming downstairs to meet them?
"Coming, Daddy!"
Diamond Tiara herself pranced down the stairs. She held herself regally, she tossed her mane haughtily, and she wore a cruel little smirk.
But there was no horn. There were no glowing red eyes. Just icy blue ones.
Applebloom's mind reeled with confusion. Was it possible that she was hallucinating when she saw her through the window?
Then Diamond Tiara saw her guests. She saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her smirk fell to a snarl, and her eyes flashed momentarily red.
Applebloom froze. Everyone in the room was in danger.
Diamond composed herself. She looked at her father. "Um, daddy, why did you call me here?"
"I need to know if you saw anything strange two evenings ago. It's very -" Mr. Rich broke off and frowned. "What's that on your tiara, my sweet?"
Applebloom noticed for the first time a red gem was glittering on the tiara, perched on top of Diamond's gorgeous purple and white mane. She didn't know why, but it sent a chill through her body.
Diamond smiled sweetly. "Oh Daddy, it's nothing."
Her words swept over the room. Filthy Rich stiffened, as if he was a puppet being pulled by a string.
He said dreamily, "Yes dear... it's nothing."
Applebloom's heart froze over. She looked up at her sister to see if she had noticed. She stifled a cry of suprise.
Applejack, along with everyone other adult, was stitting bolt upright, staring off into space.
Only the fillies seemed to be free of the spell. Applebloom looked at Diamond Tiara in fright. The spoilt filly was glaring at her. She opened her mouth to speak.
"Daddy, can I take these girls upstairs for a moment?"
Filthy nodded vaguely. "Of course you can, sweetie."
No-one reacted as Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood, quivering with fright. They nervously followed her up the steps, literally unable to do anything else.
They shuffled into Diamond Tiara's room, but they didn't have time to gaze at the white, purple and pink setting. They trembled as Diamond Tiara closed and locked the door.
She didn't use her hooves.
She turned to face the fillies, and Sweetie Belle screamed.
A horn had appeared on her forehead, hidden from them before by magic. Her eyes were blood red, glowing with absolute hate. The jewel in her tiara shimmered coldly.
Diamond's lips twisted into a terrible smile.
"It's time for you to die."
Silver shot upwards, into the gleaming sunlight. He encased changelings in turquoise energy and threw them back with a yell. Knuckles pounded his way through the ranks of the beasts, roaring like an animal. Shadow appeared and disappeared, the purple glint of the Chaos Emerald in his hand, smashing changelings left and right.
"BE CAREFUL!!" yelled Rainbow Dash, flashing through the air in a tornado of color. "CHANGELINGS CAN CHANGE FORM, THEY CAN LOOK LIKE YOUR FRIENDS!! AND THEY FEED OFF LOVE!!"
She stopped yelling to kick through a swarm of flying changelings, sending them scattering.
Sonic was a hurricane of destruction, bringing down changelings in great numbers at high speed, but more just kept on coming.
His mind was working as fast as his legs. 'They can change into someone else? And they feed off love?'
He almost tripped over when he came face to face with... Amy.
"Wha-"
And he was flying backwards, his chin throbbing. He snapped back into gear and landed on his hands, flipping over onto his feet. He was surrounded by an army of people he knew... Amys, Silvers, Shadows, Creams, Knuckles, Rouges, Blazes, Rainbow Dashes and himself.
He groaned. This was gonna get tough.
He launched himself into the ranks, wisely attacking changelings that looked like people that weren't there at the time, but it was still hard to hurt something with the face of a friend.
The changelings were learning fast; they began turning into only replicas of Silver, Shadow, Knuckles and Dash. It became harder and harder to see who was a changeling and who wasn't.
Four Silvers ran towards him, arms outstretched and crackling with magic, and Sonic dashed forward to meet them. But he stopped in confusion as one turned on its fellows and, encasing them in energy, chucked them into each other. He looked up at Sonic. "I'm real me!" he cried as Sonic tensed and eyed him suspiciously. Silver turned and flew back into the sky.
Shadow appeared alongside Knuckles and blocked several attacks from multiple Rouges. He turned and found himself face to face with a hissing changeling, Knuckles nowhere in sight. He groaned with frustration and started attacking the five Knuckles that had joined its side.
Rainbow Dash flew through the air, bucking and kicking the stupid changelings in the form of people who couldn't fly. A Twilight spun into the crowd. An Amy catapulted into an Applejack. A Rarity cannoned into a group of Trixies. She saw a vast herd of Pinkie pies, and shook away bad memories of the mirror pool disaster. She ploughed through a group of Fluttershies too fierce to be the real one.
Sonic slowed for a moment, ramming into a Shadow and sending it down a Cream and a Blaze. He was doing well, until...
He saw a figure out of the corner of his eye, but even he was too slow to turn around and face it. He was slammed on his back in the mud, pinned down by long, holey dark-green legs, glaring up into a fanged grinning face. Chrysalis snarled at him as he struggled, trying to break free. Nearby changelings backed away to see their mighty queen defeat this little rodent.
And then she was surrounded by frothy green light, her laugh changing from harsh and raspy to clearand cocky.
The light faded. Sonic stared up into the face of Rainbow Dash.
She fluttered her eyelashes, and grinned coyly. She said in Rainbow Dash's voice, all warm and buttery, "Come on Sonic. Let's fly away from here, you and I. Come with me."
Sonic realised what was happening. He was so shocked he stopped struggling.
And then her horn was glowing with pale green light, and Sonic felt a strange tugging sensation in his face, chest and gut.
But then the light faded abruptly. The feeling disappeared. The creature's eyes narrowed in confusion, and her face flickered between Chrysalis's and Rainbow's as her concentration broke.
"Why isn't it working?" she hissed in Chrysalis's voice. "What -"
WHAM.
The Changeling queen staggered backwards, now fully Chrysalis again. She glared at Sonic through a black eye. He had gotten off the floor, and was now grinning at her.
He said, "I think what you tried to steal from me was the wrong kind of magic."
And he threw himself at her. Chrysalis wailed in outrage and a wave of changelings swarmed forward to attack Sonic.
He fought hard. He knocked down waves of the creatures, but more just kept on coming. He himself was only tiring slightly, but he could see Silver's magic wavering and Knuckles staggering. His friends couldn't last much longer.
Suddenly, Chrysalis tilted her head to one side, as if listening to some unknown sound. She nodded reluctantly. Then she bellowed, "CHANGELINGS! WE ARE ORDERED TO RETREAT!!"
Then the changelings were backing off as quickly as they came, and Sonic watched them as they took to the sky once more. Chrysalis turned to throw one more look of hate at Sonic, and snarled, "Soon, hedgehog. Soon."
Then she turned and opened her insect's wings, and she flew after her army, laughing like a banshee.
Applebloom leaped out of the way with a cry, as Diamond's blast of red magic shattered an antique vase. She scrambled into a corner, trembling in fright.
Diamond turned to Scootaloo, who yelped and stumbled backwards. "What's wrong with you??"
"YOU'RE WRONG WITH ME!!!" Diamond screeched. She fired at the little pegasus, and Scootaloo only just jumped clear of the blast. It hit the floor and incinerated part of the rug.
"Stop, Diamond!! You'll destroy everything!!" Sweetie Belle implored as the rushed across the room, dodging rays of red magic. "DIAMOND, PLEASE!"
Applebloom ducked behind a table as the corner she was hiding in was blasted. She was panicking, vaguely thinking that even Diamond wouldn't try to actually kill some pony. Through her terror, she saw Diamond's terrible red eyes. She saw the coldly glinting red jewel embedded in her tiara.
And she knew what to do.
"GIRLS, IT'S THE JEWEL IN THE TIARA!!! SOMEHOW IT'S CONTROLLING HER!!! GET THE TIARA OFF HER HEAD!!!" Applebloom leaped out from behind the desk, galloping straight toward Diamond Tiara.
She even managed to bravely shout, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS EVIL TIARA STOPPERS!!"
She stopped being brave when she was forced to hit the slightly burnt rug as a beam of red magic shot over her head, singeing her bow.
"YOU ARE NOT TOUCHING MY TIARA!!" Diamond erupted in a swirl of red magic, sending crackling electric arcs all across the room. Sweetie Belle screamed as one struck her right in her bare flank.
"SWEETIE BEEELLE!!!!" Scootaloo turned to run to her fallen friend.
"No Scootaloo... get the tiara!" Sweetie Belle struggled to her hooves, shaking with effort. Her horn sparked.
Scootaloo hestitated, then turned back and ran towards Diamond and Applebloom, who were playing a dangerous game of hopscotch.
Applebloom leapt forwards, and then jumped back with a cry as a blast of magic almost hit her hooves.
Scootaloo realized that Diamond could effortlessly hold them back with her magic. She had to catch her by suprise. She smiled as she picked up a golden plated hairbrush, knowing that the lessons with Rainbow Dash were paying off.
She threw the brush at the sparkling tiara. It was probably one of the most successful throws she had made in her life.
Unfortunantly, Diamond chose that exact moment to erupt in red magic, throwing Applebloom onto her back with a yell. The hairbrush bounced off the red barrier, smoking. Diamond turned with deadly speed and knocked Scootaloo off her hooves with a sparking red whip. The little pegasus missed the carpet and landed hard on the wooden floor.
Diamond wrapped both fillies in red magic almost effortlessly, throwing them both harshly against the wall. They groaned and slumped to the ground. Scootaloo tried to get up, but was pinned back by an aura of red magic. She struggled weakly, grunting with pain as the magic somehow dug into her skin. Diamond advanced slowly, chuckling cruelly.
"Diamond... stop... this isn't you..." groaned Applebloom. She struggled, but yelped as a snap of electricity struck her.
"Oh, I want this moment to last. You're wrong Applebloom... this is the real me!" She began to laugh, and she lifted her head, drawing red energy in great storm clouds around her horn.
Applebloom closed her eyes.
ZZZZZZZNNNZZZZZAAAAAAPPPP!!!
Applebloom realized that was not the sound of two fillies being vaporized, as she was still there to think that thought. She opened her eyes.
Diamond was stock still, her hair standing on end. Her red pupils had shrunk to little spots. As they watched, the filly tumbled to the ground. The tiara went skittering across the wooden floor, tinkling as it went. The red stone stopped glowing.
Sweetie Belle stood behind the spot were Diamond had been. She was panting, her horn glowing richly with pale green magic, but she was grinning triumphantly. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and she collapsed much like her older sister onto the plush rug.
"Sweetie Belle!" The other two fillies felt the enchantment lift, and they ran to the young unicorn.
"She fainted from exhaustion." stated Applebloom.
"How do you know that?" asked Scootaloo.
"Belive me, when ya work on the farm in the sun fo' a little too long... ya get ta know how it's like."
Sweetie's eyelids fluttered open. The grin returned to her face.
"Are you alright?" Scootaloo asked anxiously.
Sweetie Belle sighed with happiness. "I can do magic..."
They all turned to look at the other fallen filly. Diamond Tiara was sprawled on the floor, her eyes closed. The tiara lay gleaming in a patch of sunlight.
"Wha' did ja do to her?" Applebloom trotted over cautiously and tapped the filly lightly on the head.
"I... think I just stunned her. I'm not sure what I did, I just felt weird spark of magic when I got hit by that electric shock. I just harnessed it, and... bam, Diamond's out for the count!"
Applebloom stopped prodding Diamond and went to the tiara. She stared at the little red stone. Then she dug her hoof into the sides of the jewel and tugged. She succeeded in denting the tiara a little, but the gem would not come loose.
"Allow me." Sweetie Belle concentrated, narrowing her eyes and focusing on the tiara. Her horn started to glow. Her tounge stuck out of her mouth.
With a little pop, the jewel came away from the tiara. It landed in Applebloom's hoof.
Instantly, Diamond gasped in her unconciousness. Her horn shimmered as it shrank down beneath the purple and white mane from which it had come. She opened her eyes, and they were blue as a wintery sky.
The filly shivered with uncharacteristic fear. "Horrible... being controlled..."
She stared straight through Applebloom's eyes as if they weren't there. It took a moment for her to focus on the young earth pony.
"Take the jewel, I don't want it. I never want... I NEVER want to see it AGAIN!!"
With that, the poor filly turned and ran from the room, sobbing.
All three crusaders stared after her. Then Applebloom looked at her friends.
"Ah think that Twiligh' migh' like to see this gem."
The Tornado cut through the sky like a knife, thanks to the excess power of the Chaos Emerald. But if it wasn't for Silver and Sonic's weak idea of technology, the plane would have crashed multiple times from the unharnessed energy.
They were flying onwards, to the next source of chaos energy. Equestria was incredibly lucky to have all the Chaos Emeralds fall around ponyville, as Earth's Chaos Emeralds had been scattered all across the globe. Silver reckoned that it was because the jewels had traveled through a dimension and were already slowing down, so they landed close to the place they had broken through.
Sonic sat boredly at the controls. He had been for so long his butt had frozen to the seat. Knuckles was asleep and Shadow was lying on the back of the plane. Silver had fallen out of the sky twice from exhaustion and pain from the fight and was now sitting huffily in front of Shadow, glaring at the swooping form of Rainbow Dash, who was still flying despite the enlessly long journey.
It was already becoming night. The Tornado kept flying for as long as it could until the sun disappeared and the stars came out and Rainbow Dash finally fell onto the wing of the Tornado, passed out with weariness. Shadow had to grab hold of her and drag her to safety to keep her from falling off the plane altogether.
The bi-plane sank through the clouds. There was a valley below them, with stretching trees and little streams that glistened in the light of the moon. It was far too perfect for the seasoned fighters.
Sonic steered the plane to the ground, landing it in a wide open clearing. Once he was on the gound, he whooped with deilight and rushed off in a blur into the woods, leaving a trail of grass and leaves swirling in the air.
Shadow sighed and set Rainbow Dash down at the roots of a tree. She woke, yawning loudly and blinking her magenta eyes. She shot to her hooves and snapped out her wings, shooting off into the sky until she was only a sillouette in the moonlight. Shadow turned and helped Knuckles and Silver unpack some food supplies, muttering about irresponsible carefree blue creatures.
Within moments there was a small fire burning in a ring of stones. Sonic finally came back from his run through the trees, fresh and grinning. He took the chiili dog that Knuckles offered him and chewed vigorously.
It seemed strange that although Discord, Eggman and a bloodthirsty (love-thirsty?) army of changelings were after them and the remaining two jewels that could destroy them all, they were sitting in a beautiful forest glade at night enjoying a picnic for dinner. Sonic personally decided that this passed for chaos, and continued eating his chilli dog.
In a flash of multicolors Rainbow Dash returned, clopping over to the fire and sitting down. She turned to Sonic to say something, but froze in suprise.
"Whu?" Sonic asked through a mouthful of sausage and chilli sauce.
"What... are you eating?"
"Oh." Sonic swallowed and looked down at the rest of his chilli dog.
"Is that.. meat?" Dash wrinkled her nose.
Sonic realised that ponies were vegetarians. He felt himself flush with embarrassment as he nodded his head in response.
"So there IS something that you two don't have in common!" Knuckles exclaimed.
After that, Sonic fell silent. As the others chatted, he quietly told himself that he would not tell Dash that Chrysalis had taken her form in an attempt to defeat him during the changeling attack. He finished his chilli dog, just thinking.
Dash ate a salad sandwich, absently staring at the moon. Perhaps she was thinking too.
When they had all finished, Silver declared his sleeping quarters. "I get the Tornado's cockpit!" He dodged a spiked fist from Knuckles. They began to argue over the seat while Shadow merely huffed and pulled the chaos emerald from the plane's controls. He lay next to the fire with his fingers curled over the gem and closed his eyes.
Sonic yawned, and stood up. He turned and ran back into the woods. The clearing disappeared behind him, and he was soon alone. He didn't know how far he ran from the camp, but he didn't care. He ran straight up the tallest tree he could find, breaking through the canopy and into another world, one of stars and and moonlight. He stopped and gazed at the moon, before dropping down slightly and stretching out on a branch. Not so comfortable, but he had slept in worse places. He closed his eyes.
A swooshing of wingbeats made him open an eye. Rainbow Dash flew over the trees, landing smoothly next to Sonic on a second branch. He laughed. "You must do this a lot."
Dash sighed, folding her wings and slumping down. "Back in Cloudsdale. I fly out every night just to gaze at the moon. I've never told anyone this before, not even Scootaloo. Could you keep that a secret?"
"Why?"
"Just do, Sonic."
It was quiet after that. Soon Sonic could hear unfeminine snores coming from the blue pegasus. He chuckled.
He closed his eyes, recalling the first time he saw her three days before. She was so dramatic, announcing her name just to enhance the effect. Yes, Dash and Sonic were extremely alike.
He drifted asleep. Then it happened.
His eyes snapped open when he heard Dash's battle cry of "YYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!" He almost jumped straight off the branch. He looked up and saw Dash flying right at a tall, lean flying figure, her wings outstretched and her face in a scowl. The figure just flew out of the way and grabbed her tail, making her yelp and kick backwards. Her back leg made contact with the figure's chest, and it gave a short cry of pain. Dash twisted around and punched it repeatedly.
Sonic launched off the branch and onto the attacker, adrenalin pumping through his bloodstream. He yelled as he smashed both fists into the thing's stomach. It grunted and doubled over, and Sonic saw his face.
It was Discord.
He spun in the air, trying to kick his chin, but Discord dodged and grabbed his leg, swinging him like a bat into Rainbow Dash, and they both went tumbling through the trees and landed hard on the leafy ground.
Discord laughed as he came to land. He folded his wings. "Much better, I prefer to be on land."
Discord smirked. "Ah, your sleeping forms. Did you intend to drop your head on Sonic's shoulder?"
"Wha-" Dash gaped for a moment, but quickly shook her head. "SHUT UP!" She flew at him, but he snapped his fingers and she fell to the ground. Her wings were gone.
She gasped. "No... not again..."
Discord laughed. "This is what would have happened in the other world if I had taken charge. Eggman performed terribly, letting Tails get away with the emerald..."
Sonic felt a surge of triumph. Their friends in Equestria had at least one emerald!
For a heartbeat, Discord met his gaze, and Sonic felt as if Discord could see straight through him into his mind. The draconequus's eyes narrowed.
"And now, to make up for the loss!" He snapped his fingers. His image began to spiral into the air, like water into an invisible plughole. In a second, he was gone.
"Make up for..." Sonic pondered for a second, before the relisation hit him. "The Emerald we got today!" C'mon Dash!"
"My wings..." for a moment Dash just stood staring at her wingless back.
"No time to let you run normal speed... I guess it's my turn to carry you. Grab my neck."
Dash drew herself together and clasped her hooves around Sonic's neck, and he shot like a bullet back to the campsite.
'He was right,' she thought as the wind whistled in her ears. 'The exhilaration is great, but just not the same as flying.'
When they returned, Discord was strangling Shadow.
It was unlike Discord to use actual physical contact... but there you go, he was chaos. And the mismatched hands that were clamped around Shadow's neck like a vice was very physical indeed.
Silver and Knuckles were still sleeping, for some strange reason. Perhaps Discord was forcing them to stay asleep against their wills. Either way, they were not helping.
Shadow was still holding the precious purple chaos emerald. He was struggling, attempting to chaos control out of Discord's grasp, but somehow it wouldn't work. The ultimate life-form was kicking at Discord and pushing against the arms with all his might, but even he could not escape the hold of Chaos. Discord chuckled and tightened his grip, and Shadow's efforts began to weaken.
Sonic crossed the clearing in one bound and launched a furious kick at Discord's side. For just one moment, Discord was caught off guard. Sonic took the chance and leapt off his place on the ground and before Discord knew what was happening he prised Shadow from his grip, took hold of the limp hedgehog and jumped away.
Shadow had already recovered by the time Sonic landed neatly on the grass, and he stood up and glared at Discord. "You.. will... PAY... for that."
Discord merely laughed, and he thrust his lion paw at Shadow. He leapt back on instinct, but instead of the expected strike came something much worse.
Shadow began to rush forwards, but he suddenly found it hard to move and was soon frozen to the spot. He looked down in disbelief as his legs hardened and froze, his torso immobilizing, the white fur on his chest becoming firm gray, and before he had the sense to adopt a relatively good pose his vision turned black and he was trapped.
Sonic simply gaped in equal horror and amazement at the stone statue that had been Shadow a heartbeat before. His granite face portraited a look of mixed confusion and panic, his arms were frozen in their lifted position, and his legs were still stuck as if he was still in the first steps of a run. The chaos emerald was the only unfrozen thing, and as he watched it fell from the stone fingers and landed noiselessly on the ground.
And before Sonic could return to his senses Discord was snapping his fingers and the jewel was in his hands.
"Oh no you DON'T!" Dash was only a regular earth pony at the moment, but she was still pretty darn fast. She barreled into Discord's legs and knocked him over, grabbing the emerald as she did.
Discord flipped his tail around and whipped the emerald out of her hooves, and it went flying. Pony and draconequus and hedgehog raced after it, and when Discord reached it first the other two leapt on him and began the strangest wrestling match in history.
Discord ached his back and clung onto the emerald and Sonic had himself wrapped around his neck, and Dash was tugging vainly at his arms. Discord them struggle for a little bit longer, then merely teleported away. He stretched himself to full height and admired his prize in the rising sun's light. Then he snapped his fingers.
"NO!" Dash launched herself onto his back just in time to disappear with him.
"DASH!!" Sonic ran uselessly to the spot where they had vanished and cursed himself for yet again being too slow.
But to his suprise, Dash reappeared in the air a moment later, and crash-landed on the grass. As he helped her up, he was even more suprised that her wings had reappeared. He stared at them in amazement. Discord let her have her wings back?
Meanwhile, Shadow was still a statue.
Sonic ran back over and tried to shake his cold, hard arm. "Shadow... Shadow?"
Dash flicked her tail and tentatively flew over to Sonic and Shadow, as if checking that her wings were really there. She landed next to Shadow, and quietly shook her head.
"The only way we could keep Discord under control was by turning him to stone. This.. this must be his revenge. When we set him free to be... reformed..." she winced slightly. ".. he mentioned that being a statue didn't mean that he couldn't hear every word we said. Shadow is alive in there, Sonic, but unless we get the Elements of Harmony all together we can't bring him back."
She rubbed her own Element of Loyalty, which she had not taken off ever since she left Equestria. It shone slightly, and a wisp of red magic flew from it and circled Shadow. The statue glowed for a moment, but as the magic sunk into the stone the glow stopped.
"Then we need all the Elements!" cried Sonic. "We need to go back to Equestria!"
"Sonic - "
"We can't just leave him like this!"
Rainbow Dash hesitated. This was definitely part of Discord's plan. He was forcing them to return to Equestria while he took the opportunity to steal the last two emeralds. And he would do it in style.
Move on and beat Discord at his game? Return home and free Shadow? Her love for adventure battled her steadfast loyalty. And finally, Loyalty overcame the urge to continue.
"You're right, we can't leave him." Dash looked at Sonic and smiled. "I was feeling kind of homesick anyway. Equestria it is then!" She flew off to wake Knuckles and Silver, who were already stirring when Discord's spell was lifted.
Sonic looked back at Shadow, filled with new hope. As the clearing was flooded with watery daylight, he put a hand softly on the stone shoulder.
Twilight had just placed the second chaos emerald in the glass case, and she took a deep breath.
She almost vaporized the glass case out of shock when the door and window burst open at the same time, letting in a blur of blue and a flash of rainbow that blew around for a moment, sending papers and quills scattering.
Then both streaks stopped in front of Twilight, revealing Sonic the Hedgehog and Rainbow Dash. After she got over the shock she sighed with exasperation. She smiled though, saying "It's bad enough when Rainbow does that, but both of you?"
She suddenly stopped short when she saw Sonic's expression. His usual cheery grin and sparkling eyes had dimmed as if somepony had turned off his light. His jaw was fixed bravely, but the look in his eyes gave him away. Twilight looked at Rainbow, who refused to meet her eyes.
Something was wrong.
"What happened?" Twilight turned worried as she looked from pegasus to hedgehog.
Sonic hesitated. Then he spoke. "Silver and Shadow, two other friends of mine, joined us in the search for the emeralds. Then Discord, he showed up and took the one emerald we had.. and then he... he turned one of them, Shadow, to stone."
His voice choked on the last word. Twilight caught her breath as she let that sink in. "... Where is he now?"
"We wrestled him through the portal. He's standing in the forest, the same clearing from when I first came."
He had barely finished when the door opened and Tails flew in. He took one look at Sonic, cried out and threw himself at him, giving him a huge hug. "Sonic! I missed you!"
"Yeah, buddy. I missed you too."
Tails peeled himself away from him. "Is something wrong?"
"Shadow got turned to stone."
"Oh."
Twilight cleared her throat. "We need the others if we want to free this... Shadow. Let's go round them up. Rainbow Dash?"
"Already there." She looked at Sonic. "You coming?"
***
Faint sunlight glinted through the closely set trees, lighting the clearing with an emerald glow. It was raining, just lightly, and colorful droplets of dew clung onto leaves and lay amongst the grass. Twittering birds were heard all around, the sweet songs like a symphony.
It was almost cruel, the breathtaking beauty glittering around the stone form of Shadow.
Knuckles and Silver stood as the party approached. They nodded politely and introduced themselves. Applejack took one look at Knuckles' spiked gloves and began bombarding him with questions. Silver took a glance at them all, as if taking in that he was looking at multicolored ponies with the ability to fly and use magic.
Twilight looked Shadow up and down. "He's a hedgehog too?"
"Yeah. Now hurry up and get him out of there." said Sonic
Twilight took a deep breath. "Okay girls, come on!"
The other five ponies assembled around Shadow's statue. Twilight closed her eyes and set her horn alight with magic. The others straightened up and began to smile as the first flickers of power began to trickle between them.
"You might wanna step back," Rainbow told Sonic.
All three guys stepped back.
Magic began to flash in the air around them, glowing brighter every second. The Elements around each of their necks were growing stronger.
Each pony began to float off the grass. A multicolored tint appeared around them, lighting up the already bright glow. Sonic narrowed his eyes to see, chuckling softly in amazement.
Rainbow Dash, who had been scowling with concentration, suddenly allowed her face to relax into a triumphant grin, eyes still shut. Two rainbows, beautiful things of harmony, burst from the Element of Loyalty. They reached out to the ponies in the air beside her, gradually uniting all five necklaces. Then they finally reached Twilight.
They swirled twice around her, finally ending in the Star of her crown. It suddenly flared, and Twilight's eyes snapped open, completely filled with light. Everypony suddenly erupted in the full glory of the rainbow, causing the other three guys to throw their arms up in front of their faces.
Sonic could still see, just barely, through the blinding light. The colors were thundering over Shadow's form, sending cracks through the stone. Sonic cried out in alarm, and jumped towards him on instinct.
It almost went wrong. If it had been even slightly different, Sonic might have been turned to stone rather than Shadow being freed. But he hit an invisible barrier, which appeared for a millisecond as he slammed into it, like a transparent rainbow. He was thrown back, crackling with multicolor electricity.
The colors continued to flare, making the cracks in the statue larger. They began to glow with white light, as if an answering power was breaking through the stone. The white light suddenly flared out of Shadow's unseeing eyes, out of his open mouth. Then, with a final rumble and crack -
Shadow threw any remnants of stone from his now very active body, which was sort of unnecessary as the stone almost immediately evaporated. The rainbow bounced off from him, flashing outwards in multicolored light, much like a sonic rainboom, lighting up the forest.
The six ponies opened their eyes. They landed on all fours on the forest floor, opening their eyes and smiling at their success. Shadow looked back at them, as if annoyed. "More ponies? I really didn't need more than one..."
Rarity sniffed. "We just saved you! I would expect at least a 'Thank You'."
Shadow sighed and rolled his eyes. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me -"
He was cut off by a yell of "SONIC!!"
Rainbow was at Sonic's side, helping him sit up. He rubbed his head and groaned slightly. "That was a very solid rainbow."
"Wait, what happened?" Twilight cantered over.
"I panicked when Shadow started cracking everywhere, so I ran forward to help and got knocked back by this rainbowy barrier.." He shook his head. "Gosh, I'm seeing rainbow stars! Is there anything else rainbow colored that I should know about?"
"Well, there's rainbow-icing cupcakes at Sugar Cube Corner, and there's zap apples at Sweet Apple Acres that are rainbow colored..."
"There's rainbow APPLES??" Knuckles rolled his eyes.
Shadow sighed through his nose. "Can we go home now?"
Pinkie was looking at him strangely, her lips puckered as she looked him up and down. Shadow caught her staring and gave her a death glare. At this her face broke into a wide grin, much to his confusion.
"Hey! Turn that frowny UPSIDEDOWNY!!"
"What...?" spluttered Shadow.
Sonic caught Rainbow's eye. They both burst out laughing. Oh, these two were going to get on sooo well.
***
An echidna, three hedgehogs and six ponies were seated at Sugar Cube Corner about half an hour later.
Shadow was certainly ruffled. This was the complete opposite of where he would most want to be. He was stuck for the time being in a magical world of multi-colored cute little ponies. And he was trying to adjust to Pinkie Pie, who, for some reason, could not leave him alone for two seconds.
"Come on, frowny-face! Let's see a smile!"
"No."
"Are you good at making funny faces?"
"No."
"What do you like to do most?"
"No - I mean, I like to be alone."
"You can't just mope around all on your own all the time!!"
"Yes I can."
"Hey WAIT!!!" Pinkie slammed her cup of lemonade down on the table. "Since you just came YOU COUNT AS NEW!!! IF YOU'RE NEW YOU DON'T KNOW ANYPONY YET AND YOU'LL BE ALL LONELY, AND I HAVE TO THROW A PARTY FOR YOU!! WE'LL HAVE A PARTY IN THE TOWN HALL, FOR ALL OF YOU!!!!! I'LL INVITE EVERYPONY TO SAY HELLO TO YOU GUYS, AND THERE'S GONNA BE CAKE AND THERE'S GONNA BE WICKED DANCING..."
Pinkie went on and on, and the look on Shadow's face was enough to make Sonic fall off his chair, shaking with laughter. Rainbow soon followed, sliding down the window and gasping for breath. Tails rolled his eyes, speaking loudly over the noise to Twilight.
"SO, ARE SONIC AND THE OTHERS STAYING FOR A WHILE?"
"I'M NOT SURE YET. PINKIE WON'T LET THEM GO UNTIL THEY PARTY, BUT WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE MISSION AT HOOF..." replied Twilight.
Applejack and Knuckles started a hoof/hand wrestling contest. They were going nowhere, even though they were both straining with effort. They were clearly just as strong as one another.
Silver sighed, covering his ears. Rarity looked at him sympathetically. "They're usually noisy, but in stereo, it's absolutely unbearable."
Silver raised his head and groaned. "Oh, I know."
Rarity frowned at him for a moment. She looked him up and down, then stared carefully at Shadow, Knuckles, Tails and Sonic. "Why on earth are none of you wearing clothes?"
"It's sort of pointless... we don't need to... you know, because..." He blushed.
"You all have the physique and shape to be wearing clothes, and it must be much easier to get dressed with arms." Rarity eyed Lyra Heartstrings, sitting quietly on the other side of the store.
Suddenly she gasped. "II-DEAAA!! If we ARE going to the party which Pinkie Pie is babbling about, then you absolutely have to have some outfits!!"
Silver recoiled at first, but then merely shrugged. "It's not a bad thought, actually."
Sonic had finally picked himself off the floor, catching the last sentence. "Wait, WHAT?"
Rainbow Dash followed. "And I suppose we get dresses too?"
"I've been working on some, just for fun, and with a few adjustments I could make them perfect for you!"
"I was being sarcastic!"
Pinkie Pie turned her attention from chattering Shadow's ears off to the new conversation. She burst into a beam of delight "So we ARE going to have a party?"
Twilight looked at her. "Pinkie, be serious! The fate of Equestria - AND Earth - is in our hooves, and we have to find the miracle gems before Discord does! It's only because of his chaotic nature that he hasn't snapped his fingers and gotten them all already. We have to find them all before he does! We don't have time to party!"
"Twilight is right," said Tails, "We're on a mission and we can't afford to be sidetracked!"
Pinkie pouted. "But it would only be for a few hours, and if we all work hard we could get it done tonight! Then we could all go back to the mission tomorrow! We deserve a rest anyway!"
"Pinkie, we've barely finished half of the quest. We just can't stop for a party."
"Well... well... RARITY agrees there should be a party! Shouldn't there, Rarity?"
Everyone stiffened, casting glances at one another. They were going to have to choose sides.
Rarity coughed daintily. "Um, well, I suppose... I suppose it wouldn't hurt..."
"I think it would be alright." Silver intervened strongly. "Doing something like a party in the middle of all this would pass for chaos, so maybe Discord would leave us alone."
"Let's hear what Applejack has to say." said Knuckles. "Apparently she's honesty."
Everyone looked at Applejack expectantly. Applejack cleared her throat, uncomfortable with all the attention. "Oh, why... I... what Silver says is true but..."
"..But we need to keep order." finished Fluttershy. She shrunk back when everyone turned their attention to her. "If.. If we want to... to..." She whimpered. "Oh, I can't stand thinking about Discord being evil again!" A tear ran down her cheek as she buried her face in her hooves.
Well, that settled it.
"Alright then." Twilight sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this but we do actually need a rest, so I suppose just one little party couldn't hurt..."
Pinkie Pie's expression had been brightening at every word Twilight said, and now she shot up into the air with excitement. "OH, THANK YOU TWILIGHT!!!!!!"" She shrieked so loudly that Lyra Heartstrings looked up, startled. She saw Sonic and the others and let her mouth drop open.
"Lyra, you can come too if you want!" called Rarity.
"So we are going to have a party?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Yes, and you're still getting outfits for it." said Rarity with a smug smile.
Sonic sighed. "Oh no."
***
Sonic looked around at the Boutique, taking it in. "Nice place, but too girly for my type."
"Yes, it is nice." said Rarity, only half listening. She lifted vast sheets of silk and fabric and brought tape measures from chests with her magic.
Sonic frowned. "I swear I can sense some sort of chaos magic... probably just me."
Rarity stiffened slightly. "Yes, probably just you."
She turned to him and sent a tape measure floating under his arm. Sonic shifted away from it cautiously. "What're you doing?"
Rarity huffed slightly. "I'm getting your measurements, of course! Now, be a dear and stay still for me." She slipped the measure under his arm again, and this time Sonic didn't move as it curled around first his arm, then his shoulder. "Hey, that tickles!"
Rarity brought it back and noted the numbers down. Then the measure wrapped around his mid-section. Sonic jumped, but the measure slipped off as fast as it came. Rarity looked at it, noting it down. She remarked casually, "You are quite slender, you know."
"I used to look extremely different. I used to be so chubby, and my spikes were in a different style. I looked like a punk!"
"You'll get an extremely nice outfit now, then. I'll make it special just for you!"
"Uh, thanks. I think. Just don't make it too serious."
"I can guarantee it."
***
Unicorn magic worked wonders. When the sun touched the horizon, lashing red and orange across Equestria's sky, five outfits were ready and waiting for Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver and Sonic. They were in separate changing stalls, all dressing into their new clothes.
"Alright boys! Ready?" Rarity stood back and smiled as the five boys emerged from their stalls.
"Cool!" said Tails, first noticing Sliver's suit. It consisted of a crisp black tux top with coattails and cream-colored trousers. His regular boots were replaced with smart silver and black shoes.
Tails' own shirt was a cream-white tux top. The collar and cuffs had golden design, with a single gold button in the center of his chest. His gloves were silky silver, like his trousers, which were rolled up to the top of his gold and white boots.
Shadow and Knuckles sniffed at each other's suits. Knuckles wore a black jacket with short sleeves to his elbows. There was a white shirt underneath, and he wore crisp jeans to finish the effect. He looked like a gangster in his black and white trainers with spikes around the ankles. He fingered a pair of black sunglasses.
Shadow wore a snazzy red silk shirt with black collars and cuffs designed to look like flames. He had a pair of long black trousers with red flame designs, vice-versa to his top. He had a black and red beret on one ear, but he kept taking it off and looking at it. His shoes were like his regular ones, but the white was lined with black patterns.
"Come on, Sonic! Don't keep us waiting!" trilled Rarity.
Knuckles laughed. "Sonic? Slower than us?"
Sonic's voice came from behind the door. He said, "Firstly, I can't work out this scarf and secondly, I wanna make a dramatic appearance!" The door swung open and Sonic stepped out.
His outfit had an aviator theme, with a thin light blue woollen scarf tied around his neck and a pale brown jacket with cuffs. His gloves' fingers were cut off stylishly, with short cobalt blue trousers. For a change, he wore knee-high brown and white boots. Everything was made of thin material, so he wouldn't look like it was the middle of winter, and the final effect was impressive.
"Looking good, Sonic!" said Tails.
Sonic sighed and pulled at his scarf. "I'd really rather go find more emeralds. But this could still be awesome."
***
Town hall pulsed with multicolored lights, muffled music heard all over town. Pinkie had gone around sending messages to everypony, and had decorated the hall with her party cannon in an instant. Of course, some things were hoof made, but were perfect to the extreme. Ponies trotted through the door as the moon began to rise.
Silver stepped inside and whistled appreciatively at the scene. "This could be a legitimate party."
The refreshment table was loaded with delicious treats, and ponies were checking them out. Others were on the dance floor, grooving to the beat of dubstep sounding from a DJ's panel. A white unicorn with a blue mane was nodding her head to the beat, lights reflecting off her pink-tinted shades.
Sonic looked around. Twilight was flailing about oddly in her own kind of dance, but nopony seemed to mind. Silver was dancing too, challenging other ponies to dance fights. Applejack was having an eating contest with Knuckles at the snack table. Tails was talking to Fluttershy about something. Shadow was standing in the corner with a glass of punch, trying to be incognito. Pinkie Pie was sneaking up on him.
She was wearing a flouncy minty-green petticoat over a cream dress, sequined with chocolate brown beads. Her collar was a fountain of white ruffles and her mane was piled up in a big netted bun, allowing pink ringlets to hang out. She actually looked like mint ice-cream.
Rarity was indeed a very good dressmaker. Her own dress was a contrast of indigo and purple, delicately embroidred with blue. There were white ruffles on all her hems, and sparkling sequins flashed from their places. She wore diamond earrings to match her eyes, and her face was heavily laden with make-up.
Applejack's red and white dress was like old-fashioned western style, the puffs around her shoulders attached to the white bodice disappearing beneath a saddle and poofing back out up into a flouncy hoop skirt. She even had a red bonnet with white lace, her mane in a plait.
Twilight bucked the air, almost hitting Tails as he flew to join her. She had a dress like the colors of a twilight sky, all beautiful with azures and violets and purples. Her mane was a glossy indigo wave, curling behind her ear beneath a purple hairband.
Fluttershy wore a dress of pale blue, like summer skies. It trailed long and graceful, with see-through gossamer hanging from her sapphire sash. Her sleeves reached to her elbows, the same pretty blue silk as her petticoat. Her collar matched her sash and curved up to the middle of her neck. Her mane was adorned with a ring of blue flowers. It was a beautiful dress, but the sad look on her face ruined it all.
But Sonic scanned the crowd for someone else. Where was she?
And then he felt a playful tap on the shoulder. He turned to find two daring magenta eyes staring back at him.
Rainbow Dash was wearing a dress. He found it unsettling, as Rainbow was so much of a tomboy that he thought she would never be caught dead in frou-frou puffy skirts. But the gorgeous rich scarlet and the tiny white cloud-like ruffles lining her neck and hem suited her greatly. Her sash was glittering gold, and the skirt behind toned from bright magenta to blood red. It was embroidered with real rubies. A golden lighting bolt earring was the only jewelry she wore, and her mane was glossy and tied with gold and red ribbon in a ponytail down her shoulder. She wore no make-up whatsoever.
She looked absolutely stunning.
And she clearly thought the same of him. She looked at his outfit, eyes wide. "Wow. Rarity really decked you out."
"Pfft." he replied. "You should see Shadow."
She smiled. "It suits you."
Then somepony else tapped Sonic on the shoulder. He turned and found himself face to face with Lyra Heartstrings, along with a few of her friends.
"I hope I'm not interrupting, but we just wanted a little of your time. Could you PLEEEASE tell us about yourself? It's not every day we find a hedgehog standing uprights with hands." Lyra looked enviously at Sonic's gloved fingers.
He laughed. "Sure, why not?" He turned around and looked at Rainbow Dash. "Catch you later?"
"Fine with me."
So Sonic vanished into the crowd, mobbed by excited ponies.
***
He was eating a rainbow cupcake at the refreshment stand, thoughtfully looking at the multicolored icing, when a voice rang out over the crowd.
"FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS!! (And of course, our non-pony guests of honor.) IT'S TIME TO SHIFT YOUR FLANKS TO THE DANCE FLOOR, AND GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!"
It was the white unicorn speaking, with a huge beam on her face. Ponies began heading to the multicolored floor as the music pumped up. Rock music began to pound, although how such music was created by ponies was unknown. Sonic began to dance unshamefully in the crowd, and not badly too.
He flipped himself onto a single hand, spinning a couple of times. Then he spun of his finger. He got back to his feet and found he wasn't alone. Rainbow Dash was now dancing beside him, grinning all over her face. She was rearing up on her front legs, bucking her legs one at a time, doing the best dancing a type of horse could possibly do. She looked at him, challenging him. He accepted.
There was an epic dance battle between the two. They laughed at each other, trying to outdo one another. Bright colors flared as they swept the floor, fooling around with wacky swings and moves. Rock kept pounding out the amplifiers, and the DJ unicorn kept spinning her vinyl discs. The air was filled with good heart and high spirits.
Then the song ended. The lights faded to pink and red, orange and yellow. A new song began, a sweet song, but not too slow. The dancing became more swaying, ponies floating gracefully about the floor, eyes half closed and smiling. The atmosphere became sugary, but not too sappy.
Sonic looked at Rainbow Dash. She looked back.
He made a split second decision. He made a mocking deep sweeping bow.
"Care to dance with me?"
For a second, she froze. His heart skipped a beat when he thought she would refuse.
Then she replied. "Sure."
She stepped forward and smoothly put her hooves on his shoulders. She raised herself onto her back legs. He put his hand on her waist. They began to sway together.
Sonic's mind blanked after that. The only thing that he was really aware of was the little pang in his chest, as if he was freefalling.
The song continued to play. Pink light glowed. Then red. Then orange.
Dash lifted her gaze and looked him in the eyes. Something blossomed inside him, something not foreign, but not familiar. He knew it was there to stay.
Then there was a great crash and the doors came down. Wind whipped around the room, causing ponies to cry out in fear as their manes flew and paper plates to fly around. Sonic and Dash stumbled, breaking apart.
Each member of the mane six and each of Sonic's friends were instantly in focus, running to one spot in the middle of the room and getting ready to face whatever threatened them.
Then everything froze. Literally. Time stopped as it was, food and plates dangling in midair, ponies with terrified expressions stuck in mid run. Everything but the group of heroes froze in place. The chaos paused itself.
Lightning flashed in the cloudless night, illuminating the sillhouettes in the doorway. One tall and thin, mismatched and hideous. One short and stout but dark and dangerous.
"Oh sugar." swore Applejack.
Discord and Eggman.
"So sorry to interrupt your little party, my little ponies." Discord's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Sonic whistled. "A+ with the chaos this time, Discord."
"Now whaddaya want?" growled Knuckles.
"Patience, Knucklehead." said Eggman. "Sonic and his pathetic friends have already been robbed of their single emerald. We're bored of Discord's game of waiting for you to get more emeralds and then stealing them from you. We want yours NOW."
"Go find the rest yourselves, you lazy sobs." said Silver.
"If you want our Emeralds, you're gonna have to get through us." Twilight raised her chin defiantly.
"Cute. But you'll soon find that you're wrong." Discord smiled cruelly, a tone in his voice that chilled to the bone.
"What do you mean?" asked Sonic.
Discord snapped his fingers. The air shimmered as three capsules appeared in between the group of heroes and the villains. Each held an unconscious creature.
Sonic's clenched fist fell to his sides. All positive attitudes dropped from him. "No..." He breathed.
The first held a sweet little girl in an orange dress, a bunny rabbit. The second held a young lady, a white bat in skin tight black and pink clothing. The third held another young woman wearing a short red dress, a pink hedgehog.
Cream. Rouge. Amy.
"LET THEM GO, YOU MONSTERS!!! THEY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!!" Sonic tried to fly at them in rage, but Shadow and Silver restrained him.
"Give us the Emeralds, or they get hurt." Eggman pulled out a console, another thing of loathing.
He pressed the button before Sonic could argue. Electricity crackled around the capsules. All three girls' eyes flew open at the same time, mouths flying open in soundless screams.
"NO!!" Sonic struggled, but they held him back. Discord tutted at him.
"More of that and it'll just get worse. Now hand over the Emeralds."
"Fat chance of that happening." said Sonic. "If we give up our only Emeralds then you'll still just kill Amy, Rouge and Cream anyway."
"So what choice do you have?" Discord looked smug. Sonic longed to knock it right off his snout.
"We can fight."
Before the words could even process in Discord's head, Sonic was already driving his fist into his cheekbone. Discord fell silently. Even the embodiment of Chaos could be punched unconscious when caught off guard. There wasn't much he could do then.
Sonic lashed out at Eggman, but mechanical shields were faster. Eggman was instantly encased in his own protective bulletproof bubble, and Sonic's kick only bounced off, knocking himself to the ground. The others ran forwards, ready to help in any way they could.
Rainbow Dash gave an almighty roar and shot up to the high ceiling, dress and all, flying back with enough momentum to dent Eggman's shields. The plump villain was looking stressed, and he jumped in alarm as Rainbow began pounding his barrier with everything she had, along with Knuckles and Applejack. He pressed another button and the shield turned electric, making the attackers fall back.
Discord was already waking, and Twilight was trying to use her magic on him. His chaos magic repelled the spells before he was even conscious. He was stronger than before.
Twilight changed tactics. Instead of trying to harm him, she cast a different spell. Purple light enveloped him as he opened his eyes. They grew wide. Before he could even speak, the light flashed white and blinding, and everyone had to shield their eyes.
Discord was gone when it faded. Tails stared at Twilight. "Did you just teleport the Lord of Chaos?"
"Yes, and let's hope he stays teleported for the time being. Now get to those poor girls in those capsules!"
"Oh no you don't!" Eggman let his finger hover over the electrocution button. "One more step and they get it!"
Then Rainbow Dash swooped into the shield from behind, finally breaking through it and slamming Eggman in the back of the head. He crumpled like paper.
"Discord clearly underestimated what we can do." Rainbow flashed a grin.
"Nice one, RD!" Sonic got up and sauntered over the capsules. Cream sat in quietly in hers, shivering in fear. Amy and Rouge were pounding on the walls of theirs, Rouge out of desperation and Amy out of getting to Sonic.
Sonic carefully tapped the metal on Amy's prison. He wasn't electrocuted. He punched the metal as hard as he could. It dented deeply, making Amy scramble backwards. He punched it again and broke through. Knuckles, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stepped forwards to help, Dash helping Sonic and Knuckles and Applejack working on the other two.
The door of the capsule finally fell away, and a blur of pink leapt out. The next thing anyone knew was that Sonic was pinned to the ground, being hugged to death by Amy Rose.
"Oh Soooniiic!!" she crooned. "I knew you'd come to save me!! Oh, you're my hero!!"
Sonic sighed and peeled the enthusiastic pink hedgehog off him. "Yeah, sure, Amy."
Applejack had turned around and bucked Cream's capsule open. She carefully lifted the quivering little girl out. "It's alrigh' now, Sugarcube. You're in safe hooves."
"Thank you..." whispered Cream.
Rouge's door fell away, and Rouge stepped out as if she was getting out of a limousine, not her previous prison. She stretched out her wings and moaned softly. "Oh, it's soo good to be out of there." she said.
She glanced over at the ponies. "Who and what the heck are you?" She looked around the room at the frozen scene. "Damn."
Twilight realized that everything was still frozen in time. She stared around in panic, but Discord still hadn't reappeared. She carefully let her magic into the air, to see what it would do. At once, the scene unfroze, ponies stumbling and blinking as they looked around and found that the danger was gone, but there were more weird animal creatures standing among them.
"Don't panic, everypony!" shouted Twilight. "Please stay calm! These are new visitors!"
"We are?" asked a baffled Rouge.
As everypony began to calm down, Sonic quietly thought that these creatures were similar to real horses in one way. They were easy to control, which could be a problem later on.
"Let's go outside for a moment." He suggested.
As the doors swung shut behind them, the air turned cooler in the presence of night. The moon glowed gently. The town was silent.
The new three girls were looking warily at the ponies, and all around at the town, how the animation looked slightly different. Sonic caught Twilight's eye, and cleared his throat.
"Guys, you are now standing in Ponyville, Equestria. This is the place that Discord, the ugly guy, came from. These are my friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. They are the heroes here, and they're helping us to find the chaos emeralds."
Rouge looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "You scattered them again? Do you actually like going treasure hunting for them all the time? And another thing, you're acting weird. Usually you wouldn't speak so formally to us like you just did. Is something up?"
"No, nothing's up." Sonic simply looked at his old friends and new ones, and an idea came to him. "Hey, you guys are new to this place! And Pinkie's welcome party's not over...."
Discord rubbed his cheek. "That Sonic is really very rude. That was a horrible thing to do."
He was reclining on his fancy chair, in the corner of Eggman's control room. He was nursing his bruise while Eggman argued with him over the recent events.
Eggman grunted. "I still don't think it was a good idea. If what you say is true, and that we've completed the meeting, if things go wrong the opposition will be extremely hard to beat."
"Things won't go wrong, my dear sir. You forget that I am practically Chaos itself."
"But can we cope with it until the time is right?"
"Of course we will. And the time to bring my pawn into action is drawing near. Just wait a little longer, Eggman."
He closed his eyes and smiled.
"She took me into her world of goodness and harmony. Now I will bring her into mine of chaos and disorder."
"The feat will be easy. I can sway the strongest of pony wills. And Fluttershy always was a doormat."
Sonic slowly opened his eyes, blinking uncharacteristically lazily. He realized that there was still a faint smile on his lips.
The cool, misty air and the cry of the birds told him it was early morning. Above him was a canopy of bright green leaves. At first he didn't know where he was.
He sat up, and a blue quilt fell from his torso. He saw the town through the dense green foliage, like he was sitting in the middle of a giant map, the sun on the way over the mountains to the west. He suddenly remembered where he was.
Sonic was in the branches of the roof of The Golden Oaks Library. He and the rest of his friends had come to the library for the night after the party, which had lasted till midnight. Since all the spare beds and makeshift mattresses were taken, Sonic offered to sleep on the roof. Twilight was appalled, but the tree was in a dense green dome and acted like a room, and Sonic was eager to spend the night there.
But where had this blue quilt come from?
He bundled it up and tucked it under his arm, and maneuvered his way down until he could jump to the ground. He stretched gracefully and sighed, and went into the library to give the quilt back.
A warm, slightly musty smell met his nose as he slid the door shut. He placed the rolled up quilt on the pedestal in the middle of the room, next to the statue of the horse head. Everyone was still asleep, lying scattered all over the room. There was one mattress, where the covers were ruffled up and its owner was missing. After doing a quick tally around the room Sonic was not surprised to find the missing person was Rainbow Dash.
He stepped back outside. He looked at the mountains, where slivers of light were already appearing. The sun was on its way. But he had some time to explore before the proper sunrise came.
He stretched briefly. He took a deep breath. And he broke into a lightning run.
The town flashed by. Anypony who happened to be watching would have only seen a blue trail of light. Sonic dived through the streets effortlessly, dodging obstacles with ease. He laughed as he reveled in the familiar freedom of speed.
Soon he was racing through Sweet Apple Acres. Without slowing down, he reached up and plucked a low hanging apple from a tree. He regarded it uncertainly. "Is this stealing?" He shrugged, and merely left it on the doorstep of the barn as he shot past, which would leave Big Mac scratching his head later on.
Soon Ponyville lay behind him. He didn't stop running until he had reached the top of the highest mountain. Then he finally skidded to a halt and looked across the beautiful landscape stretching out before him. The sun was rising, slowly but surely. It was amazing to know that in the kingdom in the opposite mountains was Celestia, raising the sun he watched now. It was rising quickly, fast enough so Sonic could see it moving.
The shining sphere lifted, lifted until it left line on the horizon and began its ascent into the sky. Sonic turned back to run into the town. He could see ponies trotting out of their homes, reveling in the dawn light. He could see the river winding around the town glittering. He could see the grand library standing like a beacon, where all his friends would be waking.
All this beauty, in danger. He just couldn't let such a place fall into chaos. He had to keep on searching for the Emeralds, and this time he wanted to be with all of his friends, new and old.
He was about to run down again, when rainbow streaked across the sky. He stepped back and watched it with interest. The heavens were packed with clouds, patches of blue peering through. The rainbow went straight into them.
Thomph, thomph, thomph, thomph. The clouds began disappearing at high speeds, poofing into nothingness. The rainbow shot straight through them, and destroyed every single one. Soon there were none left.
Then the rainbow spiralled through the air, towards where Sonic was standing. As it swept down to him, the silhouette leading it became the outline of a pegasus. She flew a couple of times around him before landing.
"Did I forget to mention I'm a weather manager?"
"You just cleared the sky in - like..."
"Ten seconds flat?"
Sonic laughed. "Yeah!"
Rainbow Dash flicked her tail. "Race you back to the library!"
"Oh, you're on!"
They raced off, laughing.
***
Flames lit the landscape. Smoke rose from the ground.
Two bursts of light, high up in the air. Red bursts, woven with colors, smashed against a bright pink light. Two forces were fighting each other, scarring the red sky with light.
Going closer. The fiery red light was actually Rainbow Dash. There were a thousand emotions swirling in her eyes: desperation, determination, fury, pain. Tears streaked down her scuffed cheeks. The red light emitted from the Element locked around her neck, the Element of Loyalty. She was inside a huge blazing lightning bolt of scarlet.
The other light was a blazing pink, but it seemed wrong. The light that shone from it was corrupted with chaos. Beneath the pink layer was a sphere of bubbling darkness. Within that sphere was...
No. It couldn't be her.
The thing had a twisted smile on its face, cold and empty blue eyes showing only one thought: destruction. Rainbow Dash struck repeatedly, but the power she was using, Loyalty, was the same power holding her back. She was going to lose.
The creature reared back, gathering energy. Then it shot forward, towards the red power, towards Rainbow Dash, hooves outstretched for the final blow.
"Twilight, what the hay are you doing?
Twilight gasped and dropped the Element of Loyalty back into the case. She whipped around to find Rainbow Dash at the door, hovering above Sonic.
"Uh, nothing. Nothing at all."
Dash narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. "Was that - "
"What are we gonna do now?" broke in Sonic. "I mean, do we have to bring people from my world back home? Do we split up again?"
"You're right, Sonic." Twilight latched onto the new subject. "We need another meeting. Let's hold one later as soon as everyone gets up."
"Do we need the princesses?" inquired Dash.
Twilight considered. "I'm pretty sure we can do this on our own..."
"The others have to meet Celestia and Luna." Sonic reminded.
"Fine then." Twilight went to wake Spike and get him to send a letter.
Sonic spread his arms. "Breaktime's over, folks." he told the sleeping room.
***
"Go home? GO HOME??? You're suggesting I go HOME???" Amy slammed her hands down on the table. "I wanna be part of this mission! I wanna be with Sonic!!"
Sonic hid his face in his hands. Celestia sighed. "Alright then, Amy Rose. You may stay in Equestria for the time being."
"What about me?" Cream stared up at the alicorn. "Do I go home?"
Celestia smiled down at the sweet little girl. She had the same quiet, kind personality as Fluttershy. "I'm unsure, child. If I return you home, you may still be in danger."
"That's true." said Silver. "Eggman and Discord could just as easily capture them again, and this time they could kill them."
Twilight sighed, rubbing her temples. "As much as I hate to say it, these three girls have to stay in Equestria. It would actually be safer than sending them home. We have the Elements and these seasoned fighters to protect them."
"Well thought, Twilight." Celestia lifted her head high. "Then these three girls will stay with the quest, and help in any way possible."
"Yes!!" Amy threw her arms around Sonic. Dash snorted.
"Then, we all stayin' together?" asked Applejack. "Ah mean, do we have to split up?
"I actually don't think our first choice was so smart anymore." said Twilight. "We were taking a risk, being apart. Discord loves to divide and conquer. No, I think this time we all have to be together. There's safety in numbers."
"That's true." said Dash. "When we were falling out of the sky on Angel Island, I wished that Twilight was here. She could teleport us out of there one at a time. We almost didn't make it... and the Island didn't make it at all." She looked pitifully over at Knuckles, who was stock still, head down.
"What?" Tails gaped at her. "Angel Island? Gone? Then we have to get the Master Emerald back!"
"Nothing will be saved if we don't find the Emeralds first." said Sonic. "Angel Island has almost fallen before. We can save it somehow. We have to find the Emeralds, before none of us can do anything since we'll all be dead."
He looked around the table at his friends. He noticed Rouge looking at him strangely, like she'd never seen him before.
"If that's settled, then we still have to figure out where to go next. Everfree Forest or that other mysterious Emerald that seems to have turned invisible?" said Silver.
Rarity flinched.
"Is there something wrong, Rarity?" asked Twilight.
"No." Rarity's tone was sharp.
"Every time somepony mentions that other Emerald you seem to tense up. Do you know something that we don't?"
"No, no I don't!" snapped Rarity. Her face contorted in anger. "I'm not hiding anything! Stop accusing me!"
Perhaps it was Sonic's imagination, but her eyes seemed to flash as white and as cold as diamonds.
But Twilight noticed too. She gasped. "Rarity, are you alright?"
"I AM FINE!!!"
She tried to storm off, but a golden aura pulled her back. Celestia's eyes were worried.
"What is it, sister?" Luna spoke for the first time since the start of the meeting. She was suddenly sharp and alert.
Celestia narrowed her eyes. "There's something corrupting this pony."
The room seemed to grow colder.
The golden aura around Rarity grew stronger. She shrieked.
"Don't hurt her!" shouted Twilight, alarmed.
"Do not worry, Twilight, I'm not harming her. I am merely trying to remove whatever is poisoning her."
Rarity continued to scream and thrash, but then suddenly grew still. Celestia gently lowered her back onto the floor, where everyone gathered around. "Rarity?" Twilight's voice was tight.
"Oh my..." Rarity shook her head. "I've - I've never felt so selfish..." Her eyes were blue and frightened, nothing like the cruel selfish orbs they had been seconds before.
Twilight stiffened as she connected the dots. She glanced at Tails, and silently they exchanged looks.
"Rarity... is there a Chaos Emerald in the Carousel Boutique?"
The others stifled gasps, but Rarity slowly nodded her head. "Ever since I've had it... I - I don't feel completely in control of myself."
"That's the same thing that happened to Diamond Tiara when she got that red Emerald. Rarity... you're Generosity, right? That must be why you feel selfish." Tails straightened up, ready for business. "We've got to visit the Boutique."
But Knuckles wasn't through with her yet. "You mean to say we've had an Emerald right under our noses the entire time?!" He bellowed at Rarity, who recoiled.
"Hey, lay off her, Applejack." said Rainbow. Then she hurriedly corrected herself. "I - I mean, Knuckles."
Twilight looked between them thoughtfully.
"Righ' then." Applejack tipped her hat. "We better hurry."
"Get going, heroes." said Celestia. "We don't have any time to waste."
The meeting adjourned.
***
The bell tinkled as Twilight opened the door.
The Carousel Boutique glittered in colorful splendor like it always did. Beautiful dresses stood around on display. Chests filled with jewels stood against mirrors and privacy screens. But there was a humming, sinister magic in the air, one that Twilight hadn't noticed before.
"What in the heavens..." Rouge was lost for words as she looked around the room, taking in everything. "How... how... all these jewels..."
Rarity glanced over at her. "Why so shocked? My magic specializes in gems, so there's always plenty in my shop."
"It's like Fort Knox in here! I've never seen so many jewels in my life!" Rouge barely listened to her as she dreamily stroked the sapphires of a gorgeous cream dress. She turned to Rarity. "You mean to say with just a flick of your pretty little horn, you can get a heap of gems?"
"Well, yes!" Rarity went over to a blue chest, opened it, and rummaged inside. She came out levitating a beautiful piece of polished jade, encrusted with gold. She carried it back across the room and put it in a gobsmacked Rouge's hands. "You can keep this one, dear. Just as a present."
Sonic looked around. "I knew there was some sort of chaos aura in here. It's nice to know I'm not completely paranoid!"
Rarity hesitated. Then she disappeared momentarily behind the counter. She came back up with a small, golden chest which she put on the desk. "The Emerald is in h - "
She stiffened, eyes glazing over.
"Rarity?" Twilight's voice was urgent and panicked. "No, not again..."
"Aaagh!" Rarity suddenly clutched her head, shrieking in agony.
"Get the Emerald away from her!" Knuckles rushed forwards to snatch the chest, but a wave of blue magic fended him off. He landed on his butt. "What the - ?!"
Rarity lowered her hooves. She opened her eyes. They were glazed and her irises were narrow and white, as translucent as a diamond's, feverishly darting around the room. Her features were contorted with hate and greed, much stronger and angrier than they were in the library.
"That Emerald... IS MINE!!"
She lunged at Knuckles, who was still on the floor, but was tackled by Silver. He held her down, yelling, "Get the Emerald!"
Rainbow Dash swooped in and grabbed the chest, but Rarity shot a bolt of magic at her. It missed, but it made Dash drop the chest. It landed in Tails' hands, but as Rarity's magic enveloped it he struggled to hold on to it.
"Can't... hold... on..." Just as he let go, a purple aura joined the blue one and Twilight grappled for the chest. She strained, as Rarity's magic was stronger due to the corrupting Chaos magic.
"YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!!" Screeched Rarity. "IT'S MINE!! LET GO!!"
She managed to throw Silver off her and darted for the chest, but Sonic was faster. He snatched it and opened it, grabbing the Emerald and throwing the empty chest at Rarity, making her stumble to a halt.
"Chaos Control!!" he disappeared in a flash of light.
Twilight stared. "What the - "
"He went to the library to put it with the others." Shadow ducked as Rarity threw the chest at his head and shrieked in rage. "Now we just have to get Rarity back to normal."
Twilight thought for a moment, then lowered her horn. "The memory spell I used when they were discordified should work on her." As her horn began to glow, she yelled, "Everyone out of the way!" and with a flying leap pushed Rarity down to the floor.
"Wait!" snarled Shadow.
Magic surged through Twilight, and she let the spell burst out of her horn and into Rarity. A purple aura surrounded the white unicorn, shimmering with the magic of harmony.
And then it died.
"What?! But - " Twilight was cut off as Rarity roughly shoved her backwards. She crashed into a rack of dresses with a scream, and the display toppled over onto her.
"Twilight!!" Rainbow Dash flew down to help.
"Why didn't it work?" growled Knuckles, as everyone still standing backed away from Rarity. "That spell thingy should have worked!"
"The power of the chaos emeralds can't be removed by a simple spell." Shadow gritted his teeth. "Perhaps magic cast by Discord can be manipulated, but the chaos emeralds are powerful enough to bring back someone from the dead. A simple magic spell can't kill its power."
Rarity's eyes darted around, looking for her jewel. She was acting like a wild beast, not the elegant unicorn she was. She narrowed her eyes at Shadow. "What have you done with my emerald?" she hissed.
Then she spotted Rouge, who was flapping in the air and looking stressed. Her eyes locked on the jewel in her hand.
"MINE!!"
She lunged at Rouge and tackled her out of the air. Rouge cried out as she slammed against the marble floor. Rarity grappled for the piece of jade, but Rouge held on.
"Rarity!" she yelled. "It's me, Rouge! You gave this jewel to me! You're Generosity!"
"No!" Rarity struggled against the white bat, but Rouge gripped her shoulders and locked eyes with her.
"Rarity. This isn't you. Stop."
Rarity stopped struggling and stared at her in disbelief.
Then she abruptly clutched her head and writhed in agony, screaming again.
"Rarity!" Twilight was helped out of the wreckage just in time to see her topple. She ran towards her and caught her before she fell backwards.
Then the white unicorn stopped. Slowly she opened her eyes.
They were sapphire blue.
"Twilight? Whatever happened?" She said shakily.
Twilight stared at Rouge in fascination. "Did you..."
Rogue looked back in equal bafflement. "I don't know what happened!"
Silver looked in astonishment. "I think she just fixed her by just telling her! How the - "
The door swung open and Sonic walked in. "Hey guys."
It was dark. It was cold. It was quiet. It was motionless.
And Shadow the Hedgehog was scared.
It was an emotion he hadn't felt for a long time. Fear was virtually non-existent to him. He was the ultimate life-form, incapable of feeling the emotions of the weak. But, trapped there in the utter darkness, unbreathing and unmoving, it had come to him.
First, black tendrils of fright and worry had snaked through his systems, anywhere they touched going cold and numb. They crept through him, building up panic in his heart. Sheer stubborness, confidence, and even happiness tried to block its path, but one by one they fell. Stubborness turned to doubt, confidence turned to disbelief, and happiness crumbled quickly into nothingness as his own emotions were swallowed by terror. All that was left were the unyeilding vines of pure fear, which crept slowly but surely into his heart.
Then Shadow was paralyzed. There was nothing he could do, even to show panic. He couldn't even hear a pounding heartbeat in his ears. His body was gone, and only his trapped soul remained. And fear was tearing it apart.
He felt like he was going insane, alone and scared and frozen in nothingness.
He was about to give in.
Then suddenly, there was a spot of light in the darkness. He began to feel warm. The warmth grew to proper heat, seeping into him and banishing the fear. He found that he could fight the dissapating darkness. His old personality rose up in a great wave, answering the warmth and fighting out all traces of worry. All the while, the distant light grew brighter and brighter, until finally it engulfed his vision. The light blinded him, but it was lifting him out of darkness. He let himself be taken by it, taken away from that dark place.
Was he free?
Then he sensed a presence behind him. He turned and found himself looking at yet another pony, lit by the white nothingness all around them.
'This... this isn't right. I'm supposed to be free... but how do I know that? What's going on?'
The pony before him smiled. Shadow realised she could hear every word he thought.
'Who are you? Why am I here? Where the flipping heck am I?'
"Calm thyself, hero." The pony's voice was deep and melodious, slightly young yet a thousand years old. Timeless was the only word to truely describe it. "You are merely dreaming, seeing a memory."
She was right. The moment those words hit Shadow's ears he realised this was how he had felt when he was breaking free of the stone statue Discord had trapped him in.
Then confusion flooded Shadow's mind. "How do you know I'm dreaming? Am I dreaming you too?"
"No, hero. I have stepped into your dreams, pausing them. You were about to awaken when I appeared."
"How did you - "
"I am the mistress of the night, thus I can enter dreams at will. My name is Princess Luna."
Again, as those words entered his mind, he suddenly realised he had seen her before. She was at the library when they were discussing the future. How could he have not recognized the pale blue alicorn, that flowing mane like the night sky and those piercing turquoise eyes?
"Then why are you here?"
"I am here to tell you of the future. I sense great disturbances on your path, pain and loss that worry me. But for reasons beyond me, I can see your fate the most."
Shadow was suddenly cautious. "Then... what will happen to me?"
"I know that you will feel unimportant and lost in the shadows of the others - " She paused. "Your name is Shadow, is it not?"
"Yes. Why?"
She stared at him, and then lowered her gaze.
Shadow returned the stare. Then he snapped out of it, and said, "Continue."
"But I know that eventually, you shall play a great role."
Shadow faltered in surprise. A great role? "Why are you telling me this?" he inquired. "Why do I need to know my destiny?"
"Because..." Luna sighed. She suddenly seemed sad.
"Because I don't want you to make the mistakes I made. When I felt unimportant and lost, I grew resentful and angry, and finally rose against my sister. That foolish move cost me my freedom for a thousand years."
She met Shadow's gaze. She reached out a tentative hoof. Shadow felt the cool glass of Luna's horseshoe touch his cheek.
"We are not too different, you and I. Both of us know the feeling of being out of commision for thousands of years. Both of us know how it feels to be evil. Both of us are so much more special than anyone knows."
She smiled a little. "I favor you, hero, above any of the others. I promise to guide you down your path."
The light seemed to glow brighter. Luna glanced upwards.
"My hold on your dream won't last much longer. Soon you will awaken."
"Wait!" barked Shadow. "Tell me more! What role will I play? How do know everything about my past?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but she faltered as she was blown backwards, away from Shadow, by gusts of magical winds.
"Don't go! I have so much to ask you!" Shadow tried to run towards her, but he couldn't move again. He was being carried upwards, back into the light.
"Remember what I said, hero!" came Luna's voice, fading rapidly. "Don't forget your role! Don't make the mistakes I made!"
"Wait!" Shadow tried to call to her, but she was already rippling away, consumed by light, and all he could do was stare upwards, into the light and out of his dreams.
===
Shadow sat up, gasping.
A cool breeze swept over his skin. Blades of grass tickled his legs. The mountains stood all around him, and the night sky was filled with stars.
And as Shadow gazed into the night, he thought he saw the sillhouette of a tall, winged pony fly in front of the moon, ethereal mane and tail flowing.
***
Rainbow Dash rubbed her hoof against the gleaming scarlet bolt on her neck.
Twilight wanted to find the last Emerald swiftly, so to travel to Sonic's world and find the rest. So they were already going to their final location: The Everfree Forest.
Dash looked up at the twisted vines and curvy branches at the entrance to the forest. Never before had she felt so ready to enter such a place of nightmare.
It was because she had even more friends to stand together with.
Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Cream, Rouge, Amy, Silver and Shadow. They were a huge group of fighters, ready to meet any challenge. Sonic met her gaze, and grinned. He flashed her a thumbs up. She winked in return.
If only she knew what they were about to go through. If only she knew what would come out of this final quest.
For their paths were about to change.
Twilight adjusted her crown. "Alright, everyone! Let's go!"
The band of heroes went into the forest.
Instantly, the sun disappeared behing the thick foilage. For some reason, it was even gloomier, darker, and harder to see than ever.
Twilight had to light her horn, and everything was bathed in soft violet light. It was slightly creepy, trudging through the dark in silence with only an eerie glow to light their way.
Maybe it was because everyone was already too spooked out to notice anything else. But noone, not one of the seasoned fighters, heard the sinister deep rumbling slowly growing until it was too late.
Only then did Tails tense and shout, "MOVE!!"
Everyone rolled in their own direction as fourteen great walls of thick bush erupted out of the muddy soil. The purple light of Twilight's magic was shut off. There were some feminine screams from somewhere, Rarity, Amy, Fluttershy, noone could tell.
"What the - ?" Rainbow pounded on the thick, unyeilding wall. "No!"
Mere seconds into the forest, and they were already seperated. She heard Discord's laughter inside her head, but she blotted it out, gritting her teeth.
'Discord! You dirty, rotten... '
Ignoring her pounding heartbeat, she yelled, "Twilight! Sonic! Anyone or pony! Can you hear me?"
Sonic's voice came, but it was slightly muffled by the thick wall of foilage. "Dash! I can hear you!"
Twilight joined in. "I can too! Argh, I can't belive I fell for that trap. This is the same thing that happened in the maze!"
"What do we do now?" Silver's voice came from behind one of the walls.
Rainbow pondered. What could they do? What happened last time, when they went to meet up in the middle of the maze, ended in disaster.
Before she could reply, however, Twilight called out. "Go on! Find the Chaos Emerald! Try to find each other if you can."
"No! Remember what happened last time? We can't!" Rainbow yelled at the walls.
"Can you think of a better way?" Twilight shouted back.
"We'll never make it without each other!" Rainbow yelled. "Twilight!"
But Twilight didn't answer.
"Sonic! Applejack! Shadow! ANYONE!"
Noone replied.
She pounded on the walls again. Then a thought occured to her. The walls were Discord's doing... was it possible they were altering what each other said?
She broke away from the thick bush, and stumbled backwards. Then, with a grunt of frustration, she turned from the wall and looked into the thick forest before her.
Discord's move was smart. Now each of them were on their own, and didn't have each other to back themselves up. That way, whatever they faced, they would face it alone.
Dash swallowed hard, and then trotted into the forest.
===
Twilight thought hard, wondering what they should do.
'Come on, Twilight Sparkle! You're the one with the brains!'
"Try to find each other!" she yelled into the wall. "Remember, this is all one of Discord's tricks! You're never all alone!"
But noone answered.
"Anyone? Please, answer me!"
When still no answer came, she tried to run around the wall. But, impossibly, the more she ran, the longer it became.
Finally, she gave up. She sat heavily on the dusty floor, out of breath and panting. She cursed herself for not thinking ahead for ONCE in her life.
She looked at the unwelcoming dark forest before her. Somewhere in there was the Chaos Emerald. So, with no other choice, she wandered into the darkness.
She relit her horn, realising everyone else but Rarity and possibly Silver would be in pitch darkness. The thought made her long for her friends, furiously cursing Discord.
Discord. She once thought he was trustable, maybe even her friend. Now he was back to being a monster, and Twilight hated him. HATED him.
The thought had only just crossed her mind when her magic went dark.
She frowned; that had never happened before. She tried to relight it, but for some reason she couldn't. Panicking slightly, she lifted a hoof to her mane.
There was nothing there. Her horn was gone.
"NO!" she yelled aloud.
This was all exactly what had happened in the maze. Now all of it was playing out again, like some horrible cycle in history.
She stared around her. She could see nothing, nothing at all.
And then her heart froze over.
In the darkness before her, two unnaturally blue glowing eyes appeared. They were not happy.
A deep, ominous growling sound filled the air. Suddenly, the blue eyes were everywhere. There was a snapping of twigs as the unknown creatures closed in on Twilight.
Panic took over. She spooked and bolted, dropping all thoughts and following her natural pony instinct. Her nostrils flared and her pupils grew small with terror. Her ears went flat back on her head, her hooves thundering against the ground. But the creatures behind her slowly gained on her, until she let out a scream of pure terror as she felt the snap of jaws just miss her, and almost took a chunk out of her tail.
She was alone, in pitch darkness. She was running for her life. One little mistake, one little slip, and she would surely die.
She hated Discord.
===
Tails could see nothing but darkness. He fumbled through utter blackness, with no idea what had happened. He couldn't find any trees in the forest, or bushes. All he felt was the ground under his feet. He had heard the rumbling, he had yelled the warning, and then...
...blackness.
Part of him knew this was Discord's work. Discord had turned with world to utter darkness, and he couldn't see anything. But Tails didn't know why he had done it.
For some reason, he began to feel the tough earth beneath his trainers turning soft and dry. He could no longer find anything but trees, and even they were getting lesser and lesser. When he did find one, it was slender, and less rough.
"Where am I?"
Then suddenly, the darkness lifted off him, evaporating like fog. He could see, and he gasped at what he saw.
The tall, smooth trees. The empty, dry fields. The smoggy air. The far-off fortress. The lone tree stump.
He was home. He was at Knothole.
But why? Why had Discord taken him here? How did he know about his past?
There was a blast from somewhere down the hill, and a cry of pain. Then a crash, a metallic fizz, and the roar of a robot. Someone, most likely Knothole Freedom Fighters, were fighting a killing machine, most likely one of Robotnik's.
When Tails ran towards the battle, he noticed something peculiar. His sight was lower than usual, and he quickly tired out. He looked down at himself, and was stunned at how short he was. He let out a gasp, slowing down, and clamped a hand over his mouth in surprise. His voice was high and young.
He must be re-living the past.
"AAAAAGH!!" There was a roar of pain from up ahead, a very familiar voice. A girl's voice.
Tails sprinted over the hill and stopped in his tracks, frozen in terror.
There was an enormous robot. It had glowing red eyes and huge, metallic teeth. Great steel claws swept through the air, ripping down trees and tearing up bushes, flinging them aroud like they weighed nothing.
Worse, there was a familiar figure passed out on the ground.
"SALLY!"
The squirrel's jacket was in tatters. Her hair was a mess. She was lying on her side, and Tails could see there was a claw wound on her side, blood glistening grotesquely.
Tails ran foolishly to her side. Sally needed help, Tails couldn't see her chest moving...
"TAILS! LOOK OUT!!"
A huge metal hand slammed into his back, and suddenly Tails was sailing, blinded, through the air. He hit something, hard. When he could see again, he couldn't feel his legs or tails.
Worst of all, he could see what the robot was fighting. A blue blur raced through the air, barely perceptible. The robot claws raked the air in a futile attempt to catch it.
On one attmept, it got lucky.
"NO!" Tails screamed. He tried to rise, and yelled in pain.
Sonic stuggled as he was lifted up above the robot's head. To prove Tails right that he was in the past, this Sonic was shorter, slightly tubbier, and had a different style of spikes. But his desperate green eyes were the same, and they locked onto Tails' blue ones as the robot began to squeeze the life out of him.
"Tails..." He choked. "...Help me..."
But this time there was nothing Tails could do. His flight was useless, and he couldn't even stand. He was only a child, scared and unarmed.
Part of him, an uneffected part of him deep inside, told him this was all an illusion, set by Discord. This had never happened in his past. But the chaos magic was too strong for him to recognize that reassuring thought.
All he knew was that he could do nothing as his best friend was slowly being killed before his eyes.
===
Sonic was blown away from the wall when it came up out of the ground. He didn't know how far he shot, but he knew that he slammed hard into a tree, fell to the floor dazed and senseless, and when he came to a few seconds later he didn't know where the others were.
He got up. Twilight's magical light was gone, so everything was dark. He felt out behind himself, and he felt the rough bark of the tree he had hit.
'What do I do?'
Should he risk running through the darkness? There were trees everywhere, and slamming into anything at the speed of sound was not pleasant, and he knew firsthand how it felt.
That ruled out running. He would have to feel his way about. He had to find either the others, the Emerald, or a way out of this crazy forest.
But when he tried to move, he suddenly felt exhausted. Taking a step was like dragging a bag of bricks across a field of sandpaper. He staggered and fell to his knees.
'What the - what's going on?' he thought. His mind was awake and alert, but his legs were clumsy and slow. It had to be Discord's work.
Sonic tried to stand, but couldn't. Now he was getting really tired. He stifled an enourmous yawn and resisted the urge to curl up and go to sleep.
Now he got it. Discord was making him the opposite of what he should be. While he was normally full of boundless energy, he was now slow and weak and tired.
He slid into a sitting postion at the base of a tree, all his energy gone. He focused all his power... on keeping his eyes open. But... it was so hard...
There was rustling from somewhere to his left. Growling noises came from the same direction. Fear turned Sonic's bloodstream to ice, and his mind started overloading, screaming at himself to get up and run, but he could do nothing... as his eyes slid shut...
