//------------------------------//
// Sonic and the Black Knight, Volume Six 
// Story: Adventures on the Friendship Express 
// by GreenS21 
//------------------------------//


BURNING RESOLVE


Soon…

A bright white and magenta flash appeared near the entrance to the tunnel leading to Terios’ tower, the flash depositing Smithy, Spike, and the ponies just a few feet above the ground. After they landed, they all quickly realized where they were. “How did we get back outside the tower?” Cadance asked, looking around as she and the others lay on the ground.

Twilight raised a hoof to her horn, “So that’s what Chaos Control feels like… Wow.”

Shining stood up, some of the others starting to do so as well, and looked at Twilight as he asked, “So that wasn’t your magic back there, Twi- Twilight?” He stammered at the end partly due to getting a good look at her black eye and partly because he caught himself before calling her ‘Twily’.

Twilight was confused at his hesitation, but she replied, “It was a little bit of both. I wasn’t sure I had enough magic available for the teleport, so Sonic said he’d use the Chaos Control to bolster it.”

Her attention was redirected when Rainbow flew around to her, nearly getting her face as she asked, “Why’d you send us out here, Twilight? We’ve gotta go back!”

Applejack nodded, “Sonic’s in there facin’ that creep all by himself!”

Twilight replied as she slid the backpack off, “I’m aware of that, Applejack, but this was Sonic’s plan. And frankly, Smithy and I agreed with him; we’re in no shape to support him like that right now.”

Rarity groaned as she stretched out her legs, “I would have to agree with that as well…”

Twilight set the backpack down and opened it. “What’s in the bag, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“There are still a few things left in here. It should do until we can get back to Camelot Castle,” the unicorn replied. She paused for a moment before reaching her hooves into it and then pulling them out, now holding Applejack’s hat. She held it out to the orange earth pony as she said, “He managed to get this back for you.”

Applejack took the hat and put it on, saying as she was adjusting it, “Ah still don’t like this.”

Pinkie piped up, “Buck up, Applejack! I’m still mad at that meanie Terios too, but I’m not going after him if I’m just going to get in Sonic’s way! We’re not going to have the fighting equivalent of a weekend at Pinkie’s!”

As Fluttershy was looking through the pack with Twilight, they all heard a loud explosion and Fluttershy yelped, hiding her face under her hooves while the others looked around. “Wh-What was that?” Fluttershy asked. It didn’t take long for the others to find out.

Looking back at the tower, they saw two blurs shoot out of the side near the top of it. One blur was blue and stuck close to the castle, and the other was mostly black with a bit of blue mixed in, this one staying above the blue blur wherever it went. It was pretty clear that the blue blur was Sonic and the black blur was Terios, and they began to hear the sound of clanging metal as they slashed at each other. “The fight’s moved outside the tower!” Smithy realized.

Rainbow watched the two blurs moving along the castle for a few seconds before saying, “That’s it! I don’t care where he hit me or how much lightning is up there! I’ve got my wings, so I am not sitting this one out!” She was about to shoot up towards the fight, but she was suddenly surprised when Shining Armor leapt up and tackled her to the ground, his legs wrapping around her wings and pinning them to her sides. After they landed, Rainbow groaned, “Oof! Hey, what’s the big idea?! Are you trying to hurt me now?!”

Shining held onto her tightly despite her struggling as he answered, “Maybe a little if that’s what it’s going to take to keep you on the ground.”

Rainbow kept struggling as she yelled, “He’s going up against that jerk alone! He needs our help!”

Shining replied, “We’re helping him the most by staying out of this, Rainbow.” He looked up at the scuffle, “Don’t worry about him. This is his fight now. It always should have been his fight. Terios is his darkness… and he’s not going to let it win.”

Up near the top of the castle, Sonic ran along the side of it while Terios flew overhead, the black hedgehog constantly moving in for an attack and breaking off when it was deflected. After deflecting one such attack, Sonic noticed he was running out of wall, heading straight for the tower. Pouring on the speed, he went up at an angle, aiming for the top of the tower as he ran off the castle. He whirled around when he heard Terios coming up behind him and held up Caliburn, forcing him into a blade lock. The kept this up as they dropped down.

The lock continued for several moments after they landed, both hedgehogs pushing against each other. Terios then began to push in a different direction, trying to get his blade on top of Caliburn’s, but Sonic wasn’t making it easy for him. Suddenly, he dashed forward, raising one foot and placing it on Sonic’s chest followed by the other. Sonic was stunned by this, but he managed to recover and roll out of the way before Terios could slash him from behind.

Both hedgehogs turned to face each other and Terios moved first again, getting up in Sonic’s face as they began exchanging blows again. As they locked blades again, Terios spoke even though he had no visible mouth, “You’ve been suffering from this taint that’s plagued you your entire life…”

Sonic deflected a horizontal strike as he replied, “Wrong.”

Terios didn’t stop attacking as he continued, “…and you’ve failed as a ruler.”

Sonic held Caliburn up over his head and swung him down as he yelled, “Shut up already!” Terios stopped the strike by holding Deathcalibur out with its side up. He held for a moment before he suddenly kicked Sonic in the chest, knocking him onto his back near the edge of the circular tower. Sonic looked up to see Terios leaping at him with Deathcalibur over his head. Narrowing his eyes, Sonic placed his left hand underneath Caliburn and held him up, stopping Terios’ attack the same way he stopped his. He then pulled his legs up and planted his feet against Terios’ stomach, pushing as hard as he could.

Terios was sent sailing off the tower, but he managed to land, though not neatly, on one of the castle’s lower rooftops. As he stood up, he saw Sonic jumping down to join him, the blue hedgehog taking Caliburn in both hands as he said, “Sounds like you’re running out of things to say, Terry! Not that I’m complaining!”

They continued fighting, slats coming loose and falling off as they ran. Sonic was able to use the sloped roof and uneven footing to his advantage, allowing him to land several blows against Terios, who seemed to be having trouble keeping his footing, eventually hovering to continue fighting rather than trying to continue on foot and slipping all the time. “Your compassion makes you weak!” Terios yelled as he tried to hit Sonic with lightning, the blue hedgehog able to dodge the bolts since he was able to correctly predict how they would bounce.

“At least I’ll have a helping hand in case I become a blind fish like you!” Sonic retorted, leaping over a bolt and then jumping at Terios with a spinning slash, the black hedgehog unable to get his guard up in time.

Terios growled as he recoiled from the hit, though as he looked up from his chest, he noticed the way the roof sloped and got an idea. He held out his left hand and Sonic braced himself for either more lightning or fire, but instead his palm turned blue. “Let me show you just how slippery your ideals are!” Terios said before firing several blue spheres around Sonic, which were revealed to be made of water when they landed.

Although he wasn’t hit by any of the water spheres, the resulting puddles still ran down the slats, getting under Sonic’s shoes, and they had spread out enough to get around his immediate area. Thus when he tried to move, he began to slip and, while he tried to get his footing back, began sliding down. As he went over the edge, he managed to reach his left hand up and grab onto one of the slats, preventing him from falling further. “It will not hold, Sonic!” Caliburn warned, the slat already starting to shake from Sonic’s weight. Thinking quickly, Sonic used the tip of Caliburn to knock a nearby slat off and pushed himself towards where it had been, managing to get his left hand on the newly exposed stone, giving him something firmer to hold onto.

“Not bad, but you’re still in an undesirable position,” Terios mocked. Sonic peered up to see him hovering above the roof with his arms crossed, Deathcalibur still in his right hand. “Now don’t you wish you weren’t so dependent on the land, that you could have my power? If you live to let go, you’ll have a chance to rethink your foolhardy bravado before you land!” he jeered.

Sonic noticed the stone behind the black hedgehog and then looked down at Caliburn and gave him a nod, the sword confused but nodding to show he was ready for whatever the blue hedgehog was thinking. Sonic then looked back up at Terios and narrowed his eyes, holding Caliburn up behind him as he said, “Hey, I might show up at the last minute, but I can make a pretty powerful impression with any chance I get!” With that, he suddenly spun Caliburn around into a reverse grip and threw him like a spear at Terios!

The black hedgehog easily moved slightly to his right to avoid getting hit, Caliburn getting his tip stuck slightly in the stone. As he began to wiggle, Terios mocked, “Aw, too bad, hotshot! Now you really are at my mercy! And I’m not feeling too tender right now, so you got any last words?”

Sonic flashed him a smirk, “Yeah. What goes around comes around!” Terios raised an eye at that. He turned around a moment later when he heard Caliburn pull his tip free, the sword floating above the roof. Before he could react, Caliburn flew towards him and struck him in the chest, causing him to grunt and drop Deathcalibur, the sword sliding off of the roof hilt first. He ended up setting one foot on the slats underneath him and suddenly he too was slipping, being so totally caught off-guard that he couldn’t even try to get a footing like Sonic had.


TAKING THE FALL


Despite his panic, Terios had enough presence of mind to grab Sonic’s torso as he went over, pulling the blue hedgehog down with him, both of them going into free fall. “Sonic!” Caliburn exclaimed, floating over to the edge and allowing gravity to pull him down after his master.

Down on the ground, even though they were a good distance away from where the two hedgehogs had ended up, everyone could see the trouble they both were in. “They fell off the roof!” Pinkie cried.

“They’re too high up! They’re not gonna be able to land okay!” Smithy added.

Rainbow began struggling anew at that, Shining still holding her wings down along with Applejack while Fluttershy tended to her injuries. “Let me go now! I can catch Sonic! He needs help!” she exclaimed.

“No. He’ll be okay,” Cadance assured, remembering Tails’ words.

As they fell, Terios looked up at Sonic and held out his hands, releasing a stream of fire from the palms of both. In response, Sonic straightened out and sped up enough to get ahead of the spot where he was aiming, avoiding the brunt of the flames and introducing Terios’ face to his right fist, cutting off his attack. Caliburn managed to catch up shortly afterwards and he flipped over, allowing Sonic to grab his hilt.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Terios saw he didn’t have far to go and knew he had to act fast. He looked back up at Sonic and held his hands out once again, this time using his magic to pull Sonic towards him. Once he was close enough, Terios moved around him and grabbed his arms, restraining him from behind. “Let’s see how flat I can make you!” Terios yelled as Sonic struggled in his grip.

As he struggled, Sonic knew he only had a few seconds at best to get out of this. Terios easily dodged when he kicked his legs back, but wasn’t prepared when he suddenly curled up into a ball and began spinning. He shouted as he spun along with Sonic, the ground suddenly rushing up much faster now. As they reached it, Sonic put in the extra bit of spin to make sure Terios landed first, spinning against the black hedgehog for a brief moment before he ricocheted at an angle towards the castle wall, breaking out of his spin and jamming Caliburn into the stone before he crashed into it, bringing his legs up and planting his feet against the wall to help stop his momentum.

After a few seconds, Sonic pulled Caliburn out and dropped down, now having much less distance to fall to the ground. He then walked over to Terios to check him. The black hedgehog was lying on his back in the small crater he’d created from his landing. His arms and legs were spread out and he appeared to be unconscious, though it was hard to tell. His eyes were still white and Sonic had not seen him blink once since he revealed his true appearance.

After a few moments, Sonic looked over to his left and saw the others in the distance moving towards him. From what he could tell, it looked like they were all sporting wrappings to some degree. Suddenly, Caliburn exclaimed, “Sonic, look out!” The blue hedgehog turned back to Terios and saw that he was sitting up now. He didn’t get a chance to react as Terios held out his left hand and used his magic to push Sonic back into the wall. He hit with the back of his head first and collapsed onto his back, still clutching Caliburn in his right hand.

After summoning Deathcalibur to him, Terios climbed to his knees and jumped from where he was over to the group, landing on the path in front of them. Most of them began to back away upon seeing him that close, but Rainbow leapt to the front of the group and yelled, “Stay back, pal! I won’t let you hurt my friends any more than you have!”

Terios didn’t give her a verbal response. Instead, he pointed his left index finger at her and unleashed a red bolt of lightning. Rainbow braced herself, ready to take it if it meant protecting her friends, but it stopped short of reaching her and two bolts shot off from it, going around the group before tightening like a lasso. It caught all of them, pinning their upper limbs to their sides and holding them close together as it connected to the initial bolt of lightning. As he began walking forward, Terios spoke, “No more games, fanatics. Your sleight of hand ends now.”

So focused was he on Sonic’s friends that he didn’t hear the hedgehog himself running along the side of the castle wall until it was too late. As he got closer, Sonic threw Caliburn up in the direction of the group before jumping towards the bolt of lightning coming from Terios’ finger. As he was about to touch it, he held his right hand up in front of himself, the gem in the wrist ending up in the middle of the path. It cut off the stream of lightning, though the group was still being held up by the circle of lightning, unable to move much.

Sonic rolled to the side as he landed, Terios looking at him as he wrapped his left hand around his right arm above his metal glove. “Wrong again, inkblot!” he said as he shook his right arm to get the tingling feeling and traces of lightning out.

Caliburn floated over as he got the last sparks off and allowed him to take him up again. As he was held up in front of Sonic, he finished, “It’s your lust for power that’s coming to an end.”


SPEED VS. FLIGHT


Sonic shot forward with Caliburn out in front of him, but Terios dodged the thrust by performing a backflip, leaping back a fair distance. After he landed, he crossed his arms in front of himself as Sonic ran after him. He brought his arms down as Sonic caught up with him, a surge of his aura surrounding him as he floated up into the air. Sonic shielded his face at this and looked up at him when he said, “You might have the fastest feet in the world, but I have that and I can fly! Think you can handle that?!” Sonic’s only answer was to hold up Caliburn, indicating he was ready to answer his question.

Terios began hovering around above Sonic while he adjusted his grip on Caliburn, watching to see what he would do first. Suddenly, Terios vanished in a cloud of black-purple mist similar to King Arthur, only instead of dropping down when he reappeared, he remained in the air and did it several more times, with Sonic trying to keep track of where he was. After the third time, he raised Deathcalibur over his head and began gathering flames into its tip, throwing a large fireball down at Sonic when it was ready. The blue hedgehog managed to avoid being hit by it, but he had to keep going to avoid being caught in the resulting explosion. Sonic then tried to jump up and attack him, but Terios kept moving back, staying out of the way of his slashes. After the fourth time, Terios yelled, "Give it up! You can't hit me!"

As Sonic dropped back onto the ground, Caliburn advised, "Do not rise to his bait! Watch him carefully."

Sonic nodded in response, looking up at Terios afterwards and saying, "You have to come down from there sometime, Terry!"

Terios replied, "Not before I've brought you down!" He held out his left hand and Sonic noticed light beginning to shine up from beneath him. Looking down, he saw that Terios was trying to get him with the pattern he'd used to pin him to the ground before and quickly jumped back in a backflip to get out of it. Terios swung his left hand to the side to dispel the pattern afterwards and looked down at Sonic, "Fine. We'll settle on a compromise." He raised Deathcalibur over his head again, but this time, he shot down at Sonic with his sword out in front of him. Sonic leapt to the side to get out of his way and then watched as the black hedgehog circled him, evidently trying to make a tight enough turn to strike him while he was still close. He went around twice before Sonic raised Caliburn up at his left side, turning to the right and making a horizontal swing a moment later, slashing Terios down his torso. The black hedgehog let out a grunt of pain and moved back, looking at Sonic, “What?!”

Sonic held Caliburn up again as he smirked, “I know how fast I can fly, Terry. Get with the times, man!” Terios growled at this and floated forward, raising Deathcalibur above his head and swinging it down at Sonic, the blue hedgehog blocking the strike and beginning to back down the path, away from the others, as the barrage of strikes continued. As he deflected or blocked each strike, Sonic did as Caliburn advised and watched the other hedgehog’s movements.

After a couple more strikes, he caught an overhead swing and forced Deathcalibur down to the side, quickly pulling Caliburn out of the lock and thrusting him forward into Terios’ chest. The black hedgehog dropped to the ground as he was pushed back. He soon came to a stop and looked down at the hole in his chest before he looked up at Sonic again.

Despite their distance, Smithy, Spike, and the ponies were able to see the two fighting, but most of them were more focused on trying to get free at the moment. Their struggling was brought to a stop when Pinkie, who somehow managed to get her forelegs free, called out like a cheerleader at Sonic’s thrust, “Rick ‘em, rack ‘em, rock ‘em, meep! Stick your sword into that creep!”

Terios glared back at her over his shoulder, “Did I not make myself clear earlier?! Shut up already!”

Pinkie settled down at that, putting on a bored expression and placing her left hoof on her cheek while holding her right hoof up and waving it around like she was holding a flag as she flatly said, “Terry, Terry, he’s our man, if he can’t do it,” she held her legs up and finished in a loud voice that would’ve made Princess Luna proud, “YAY!” Terios growled, but he refrained from teaching the pink pony another painful lesson when he heard Sonic approaching, returning his attention to the blue hedgehog.

As the two resumed their fighting, everyone else began struggling again, still trying to get free. Pinkie pulling her forelegs out had allowed for a little more movement, but the lightning encircling them had tightened in response, Terios’ magic seemingly determined to not let them escape. “We gotta get outta this!” Applejack grunted as she tried to squeeze downwards.

“We know, AJ, but it feels like the harder we struggle, the tighter it gets!” Rainbow groaned as she tried to spread her wings, which were caught between Pinkie on her left and Rarity on her right.

Twilight shook her head, “There has to be something we can do.”

As she looked down at the lightning, Shining looked down at it as well as he wondered aloud, “What did Sonic do earlier?”

Smithy overheard the stallion and looked down as well, thinking back to what little he could see from where they were. “He got in the lightning’s path… and managed to…" he thought, trying to think harder. He got an idea a moment later and looked back over his right shoulder at the Clarent, still sheathed behind him. His arms were still pinned to his sides, though, so how could he reach for it?

He heard Pinkie squeaking and turned his head to look over his left shoulder at her. The pink pony was not directly behind him, but he still had to crane his neck a bit to see her. She appeared to be touching her hooves to the lightning and pulling back at almost the exact instant they came into contact with it. Seeing she probably had the best chance at the moment, Smithy said, “Pinkie Pie!”

The party pony swung her head back so she was looking at the fox. “Hello!” she said.

Smithy fidgeted a little as he spoke, “Can you reach Clarent from where you are? I’ve got an idea!”

Pinkie held her head up and began trying to twist around as she replied, “Okay!” Once she was turned around a little, she began trying to reach for the sword, her right hoof just a little short of reaching it.

Pinkie placed her left hoof on top of Rainbow’s head as she tried to reach further, the cyan pegasus letting out a pained grunt as the hoof pressed down. “Ah! Easy, Pinkie! That spot kinda hurts!” she said.

“Oops! Sorry, Dashie!” Pinkie replied as she moved her left hoof slightly, her head and right hoof close to reaching Clarent.

As Pinkie kept trying to reach for the sword, Sonic landed another strike on Terios, the black hedgehog staggering back a bit and looking down for a moment before looking back up at Sonic. He held Deathcalibur up in front of him and then swung it down at his side, the blade disappearing from view afterwards. Sonic raised an eye at this, prompting Terios to say, “You’re better than I thought, but let’s see you get through this!” As he finished, he began to become transparent, his body fading into the darkness until even his eyes were no longer visible.


ESCALATION


Sonic blinked and looked around, wondering, “Where’d he go?” He got an answer a few seconds later when he was suddenly punched in the chest, the hit sending him flopping backwards onto his stomach. He pushed himself up and shook his head before climbing to his feet, looking around for any sign of Terios, but in the darkness, he was practically invisible, unable to be seen by normal eyes as he continued to attack Sonic, nicking him and knocking him down without revealing himself.

Terios’ change in tactics did not go unnoticed by Smithy and the Equestrians, as even as far away as the two were, they could see Sonic reeling from the attacks and knew what Terios was doing. “I know we agreed to stay out of this fight, but I daresay it may be time for us to intervene!” Rarity said, both Rainbow and Applejack agreeing with her.

“Hurry, Pinkie!” Spike urged, the party pony’s right hoof just short of grabbing Clarent’s hilt. She kept trying to reach for a few moments at Spike’s urging before pulling her hoof back, placing it on top of Rarity’s head and swinging her head forward, aiming for the hilt with her mouth open.

A moment later, she felt something solid between her teeth and moved her head to the right, pulling Clarent up and out of its scabbard. She pulled her head back and managed to twist herself around again to avoid hitting anyone with the sword’s blade, everyone ducking when it came close. “Got it! What now?” Pinkie asked, her voice a bit muffled due to the sword hilt in it.

“Okay, good. Now I would rather do this part myself, but you’re the only one who can really move right now, Pinkie, so what I need you to do is put Clarent in the path of the lightning, preferably with the crossguard first. It may be a bit shocking, but that should be enough to interrupt the current,” Smithy said.

“What?! You came up with the idea of electrocuting Pinkie and you’re not even completely sure it’ll get us out of this?!” Rainbow yelled.

“Sir Sonic cut us loose from Terios earlier by interrupting his lightning, and we don’t have a lot of options right now!” Smithy argued.

Shining glanced up at his horn for a moment before saying, “I think I have enough magic for a small force field.” He closed his eyes and charged his horn again, this time with a new spell and focusing on Clarent. Sure enough, several seconds later, a small, circular force field formed around the sword’s blade, stretching between the crossguard and the tip. Opening his eyes, Shining looked back at Pinkie and said, “Now do it, Pinkie, and make sure the force field is what comes into contact with the lightning!” Pinkie nodded and swung her head to the right while opening her mouth slightly, closing it again a moment later so that Clarent was pointing straight ahead. She then brought it down to her right, aiming for the lightning.

Sonic, meanwhile, was still taking the punches from Terios and it was wearing him down. He staggered forward a few steps before turning around, the last attack coming from behind him. “Where is he?” Sonic grunted, scanning the area for any sign of his black doppelganger. As he turned his head to the right, he was suddenly knocked onto his side by Terios kicking the left side of his face from above, an outline of the black hedgehog visible for a moment before he disappeared again.

As Sonic climbed to his feet, Caliburn spoke, “He may be impossible to see normally, Sonic, but he’s still there, and you know he will come for you! Think! There has to be another way to detect his presence!”

Sonic looked around while panting a bit, trying to find something, anything he could use to locate Terios. “Man, he’s like a ghost right now! I saw him for a second during that last attack, but that was because he was right there. He probably has to be right on top of me before I can see him…" he thought. After a moment, he noticed he could still hear his friends from where he was and got an idea. He placed both hands on top of Caliburn’s crossguard and held him up while placing his tip on the ground, getting down on one knee behind him. “I can’t see him coming… but maybe I can hear him…" he thought as he closed his eyes and placed his head close to Caliburn’s hilt.

The force field around Clarent came into contact with the lightning, the electricity sparking at the sides of it as it tried to remain connected. Pinkie gritted her teeth as she tried to hold it there, a tingly feeling not from the lightning but her Pinkie Sense urging her to release the blade and not get electrocuted again, but she fought to hold the feeling back and keep the sword in place, even as the lightning came dangerously close to the crossguard.

All of a sudden, the connection was severed and the lightning disappeared, everyone dropping down onto the ground below in a heap. As they struggled to untangle themselves, Spike managed to get out from under the ponies and fox and said, “Come on, we gotta help Sonic!” Pinkie managed to get out after that, and soon the others got free as well. The party pony picked Clarent up from the ground and tossed it back to Smithy while Cadance, Shining, Twilight, and Rarity went on ahead, all of them using their magic to create light.

Up ahead, Sonic still had his head close to Caliburn’s hilt, listening. He had heard his friends get free and heard them coming towards him, but he tried to tune them out, tried to focus on detecting Terios. After a few moments, his eyes shot open and he looked straight ahead, though his eyes soon went to the right as he heard the black hedgehog move from in front of him to behind him, perhaps because he sensed that Sonic knew where he was.

In one quick motion, Sonic grabbed Caliburn’s hilt with his right hand and spun around to his right while swinging the sword up diagonally, landing a clean hit across Terios’ chest, the black hedgehog appearing with a surprised shout as the light that Shining, Twilight, Rarity, and Cadance were producing shined on him. Between the hit and the lights, Terios was momentarily stunned and Sonic took the chance, taking Caliburn in both hands and performing a series of slashes with Soul Surge, ending with a thrust that pushed Terios backwards.


TERIOS' RAGE


As he came to a stop, Terios stared down at his chest, the hole there extending nearly to his stomach and littered with various cracks and slashes all across it. He glared up at Sonic a moment later and growled as he held his fists up out at his sides, “YOU WRETCH!” At this, his aura began to change from blue to red and he swung his fists down as his magic surged. Suddenly, the ground in front of him began to crack, the cracking spreading forward and throwing everyone off-balance, especially when rocks began to shoot up out of the ground. Everyone began to scramble to stay upright and avoid getting hit, but many of them were unable to stay up. But Terios wasn’t done yet.

As he stood upon a rock column that had come up from underneath him, Terios held his hands up and created a black vortex much like the one he had come through earlier, only this one was bigger and it was suspended in the air above the black hedgehog. As it finished forming, it became similar to a black hole as it started drawing anything within range towards it. And unfortunately one such thing was Sonic, the blue hedgehog having fallen over due to the rocks coming up from underneath him. He had been trying to climb to his feet as the vortex finished forming, and before he could react, it lifted him off the ground and pulled him and Caliburn in!

“Oh no, Sonic!” Cadance cried as she and the others held onto the rocks Terios had pulled up in an attempt to avoid the same fate.

Upon seeing Sonic disappear into the black vortex, Rainbow stopped holding on and spread her wings, shooting straight for the void in an attempt to catch up to him and pull him out. Terios, however, saw her coming and simply pointed his right index finger at her, a bolt of lightning coming from it and wrapping around the pegasus. As soon as it did, he swiped his finger to his left, crashing her into the castle wall before swinging her down into the ground, getting her caught between some rocks. The cyan pegasus groaned as she tried to get herself free.

“Rainbow!” Twilight cried, the lavender unicorn just a bit in front of where the cyan pegasus was. Being closer to the vortex, the pull from it was stronger and she soon lost her grip on the rock she was holding onto. Fortunately, Smithy had been ahead of her and he managed to grab her hoof with his right hand. This unfortunately left him with less of a secure grip on the rock he was holding onto, but he held onto Twilight regardless.

Before anyone could move to help either the two or Rainbow, Terios looked up at the castle’s roof, and a moment later, Pinkie screamed, “Twitchy taillllll!” A second later, Terios created a large explosion that sent a number of roof slats, some of them on fire, flying.

Shining looked down from the falling slats and realized a number of them looked like they were going to land on Rainbow Dash! Seeing that she was still stuck, he stood up and ran as fast as he could, throwing himself over her as he shouted, “Look out!” As he landed atop her, the slats rained down on and around them, some thrown off by the vortex’s suction while other managed to hit them. Shining grunted at the ones that hit him, but thankfully, he didn’t feel any burning sensation arise.

Satisfied with his work, Terios turned and floated up to the vortex, disappearing into it. Smithy and Twilight looked back at him as he vanished, noticing that the hole was beginning to slowly close. Smithy soon turned his head forward, though, when he felt his grip slipping, his fingers twitching as he tried to hold on. “Help, someone! I’m losing my grip!” he cried.

Applejack, knowing that both Shining and Rainbow were down, reached a hoof up to her hat and took it off, throwing it behind her to Fluttershy as she ran forward. “Hold on! Ah’m a-comin’!” she called, figuring she could grab onto a rock and hold onto them until the vortex closed. Twilight and Smithy began to look relieved as she got closer, but suddenly, the part of the rock Smithy was clinging onto broke away. Applejack’s eyes went wide at this and she increased her pace, reaching her hooves out for the fox’s hand as he tried to reach for her. They both came up short, however, and the orange mare landed on top of the rock Smithy had been trying to hold onto. Applejack could only watch helplessly as the two were pulled into the vortex, which closed soon afterwards.


HOT AND COLD


Inside the vortex, Smithy and Twilight spun end over end for a short while before they landed on something hard. They soon recovered from the landing and pushed themselves up before looking around. The sky above, if it could even be called that, was a dark red, stretching from above them to down past them. They had landed on some sort of black column along the edge of a circular platform, five similar columns also along the perimeter of the platform. Both the platform and the columns were a blackish-gray color with red lines going around the columns and running along the platform, the lines in the center of the platform making a glowing circle.

As the two were looking around, their eyes soon fell on Sonic and Terios, the latter once again using Deathcalibur as the two continued going at it on the platform. Neither one of them seemed to have noticed Twilight and Smithy’s arrival, so, while they did entertain the idea of backing Sonic up, they decided to stay where they were for the time being and observe the fight, leaning over the edge of the column to watch closer.

As the two hedgehogs continued fighting, Sonic managed to stop a high swing from Terios, leaving the black hedgehog open. He managed to push the blade away and brought his left foot up, kicking Terios in the chest. The black hedgehog fell on his back, but he started to get up soon afterwards, though he was clearly struggling to do so. Sonic noticed this and called, “In case you didn’t notice, Terios, you don’t exactly have a spring in your step anymore. I’ve been dueling with you because I don’t want you hurting my friends any more than you already have, but I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. This doesn’t have to end with one of us being struck down!”

Terios, having finally raised himself to a standing position, glared at Sonic and said, “Oh, but it does. The last time you were here, you accepted what your actions meant for this world, but now you seem to be rejecting them now that I’m the one trying to continue what you started. Did you or did you not question the value of a kingdom that would last forever?”

Sonic yelled, “Don’t twist my words out of context! King or not, I wanted to give the people of this world a chance to decide for themselves how they wanted to live! If it meant preventing them from being destroyed along with the kingdom that already existed, I was more than willing to play the bad guy!” He pointed at Terios, “You? You’re a bad guy who, from what I’ve seen and heard, is only driven by controlling as much as you possibly can and punishing anyone as you wish on a whim!”

Caliburn backed him up, “There is no code behind your actions, no higher call, no selflessness; your actions are your own, and they have purely selfish motives behind them!”

Terios grunted, “Hmph. I don’t believe either of you. It seems more like you’re trying to do the same thing I am, but your failing is you don’t want to admit the truth behind your actions like you did before.”

Sonic replied, “Maybe it didn’t come out the way I intended it to, but my goal here has always been the same. I wasn’t going to abandon the kingdom or its people to the whims of those who touched the Scabbard of Excalibur and had their heads messed with, and I won’t run from them, my role here,” he clenched his left hand into a fist, “or from you.”

Terios held up Deathcalibur as he responded, “I think we can both agree on that last one. You’re NOT going to run; you and all those you care about are going to DIE here, more foolish than most!” With that, the two hedgehogs shot towards each other again while Smithy and Twilight continued watching, both of them quietly rooting for Sonic.

After a short while of trading blows, Sonic and Terios ended up near the center of the circular platform. Terios ducked under a horizontal slash from Sonic and jumped up and backwards, flipping over as he reached the height of his jump and then throwing Deathcalibur at Sonic like a spear, which Sonic stepped to the side to avoid. He then dashed towards Terios as he summoned his sword back to him and their blades locked, the two hedgehogs pushing against each other for several moments before Sonic pushed Terios’ blade to the left. The black hedgehog took his sword in both hands, but he froze when Sonic pointed Caliburn at him, the sword’s tip mere inches from his chest. “This is your last chance, Terios! Lay down your sword and surrender peacefully! I’m offering you an alternative!” Sonic said.

Terios held his position for a few moments before he quickly swung Deathcalibur up, knocking Caliburn away and throwing Sonic off-balance. After stumbling a bit, he looked up at Terios, only to be thrown backwards when the black hedgehog held his left hand out and gave him a strong push with his magic. Sonic managed to land on his feet and quickly charged at Terios again, sidestepping around the lightning and flames the black hedgehog threw at him to halt his advance. Before he could reach him, however, Terios held his left hand out and created the glowing pattern from earlier right in front of Sonic, the blue hedgehog stepping into it and immediately stopping as he felt it trying to pull him down.

“The only thing you can offer me is your strength, your power, your LIFE! I’ll take it all from you!” Terios snarled as he kept holding his hand out. Sonic gritted his teeth and struggled to remain upright as he felt his knees buckling. He managed to bring his head up and focused on continuing, soon managing to raise his right foot and take a step forward. Terios’ hand went down a little at this and his empty white eyes widened. “What…? How are you-?! This is impossible…!” he stammered as Sonic continued to slowly move towards him. Their eyes locked and Terios got a good look at Sonic’s green eyes. There was no fear in them, no anger; instead, he saw only Sonic’s stubborn desire to stop him and determination to protect those he cared about. Terios had never seen eyes like that before, and he could feel terror rising up within him at the sight of them.

Trying to maintain his demeanor despite the fear he was experiencing, Terios took a step back and held his hand out again. Chains suddenly shot out of the ground within the pattern as he did, the chains wrapping around Sonic’s arms and legs to stop him. Sonic grunted as he felt them pulling him back, but he kept his gaze on Terios. Realizing he was still not stopping, Terios started casting more spells. The chains began to pull harder, managing to stop Sonic in place while he had his right foot in the air. A claw rose up in front of Sonic and hit him in the chest, causing him to grunt as he took a step back. While he was being held in place by the chains, the claw pried his right hand open and seized Caliburn from him, throwing the sword out of the pattern and getting his blade stuck in the ground at the side of one of the columns around the perimeter.

As Sonic tried to bring his right hand up to reach out for Caliburn, Terios cast another spell. After they managed to bring him down onto his knees, the chains changed into ice that began climbing up Sonic’s body, his limbs being the first to freeze. As his hands and feet were encased in ice and it began to climb up the rest of his body, Terios took a few steps forward and let out a dark but shaky chuckle. “You know, you actually had me going for a minute there. Now look at you; turns out you are just an ordinary hedgehog compared to me. How does it feel to be bested by the superior part of yourself?” Terios gloated, trying to sound like he expected all of this.

Sonic had been looking down at the ice while Terios had been speaking, noticing that it had reached his chest. As it began to climb up his neck, he looked up at Terios and stared hard at him, the ice quickly climbing up over his quills as Terios began to get unnerved by that stare. Sonic didn’t look concerned at all at what was happening to him; he simply kept staring at Terios as he said, “You’d better hope you live to regret the choices you’ve made, Terios.” After he finished speaking, the ice finished covering his head, encasing him completely in ice.

Terios’ left arm dropped to his side as he let out a gasp, his breaths coming in short, heavy gasps. It would almost seem as if his injuries were finally catching up with him, but in actuality, it was Sonic’s words that had gotten to him, the blue hedgehog still giving him that piercing look as he stared straight ahead in his icy prison. As he tried to calm himself, Terios heard the voice of King Arthur in his head, “What is this? Are you actually displaying fear?”

Terios held his left hand to his chest as he thought, “Sh-Shut up! He just managed to surprise me, that’s all! I know his words mean nothing!”

King Arthur responded, “Your actions tell a different tale. You seemed very desperate to stop him just now. His words may be hollow, but he’s making it very clear you’ve never faced an opponent like him before.”

Terios gritted his teeth, “I told you to shut up! He is helpless now; his end is at hand!”

King Arthur replied, his voice starting to distort as he spoke, “Then why do you waste your time debating with me? Are you going to prove that you have earned the right to rule the Underworld or not?”

Terios’ body began to shake a bit, “You dare question my rule?! Ruling over the Underworld is my birthright! I deposed that old ruler to prove that I was ready to rule! The entire Underworld belongs to me now!” He calmed down slightly and turned to look over at Caliburn, the sword still embedded in the ground next to the column, “And now I will strike down this pathetic excuse for a ruler and take the proof that the Grand Kingdom is mine. That sword and all of Camelot belong to me now.” He began to walk towards the column, intent on taking Caliburn and plunging his blade into Sonic.


STEPPING UP


Before he could get far, he heard Smithy yell out, “NO!” Terios paused and briefly looked to his right before looking up at the top of the column upon hearing the sound of Twilight’s teleportation, seeing both the fox and the unicorn emerge from a magenta flash. He simply stared up at them, his expression hinting at nothing as Smithy drew Clarent from its scabbard and spun his tails behind him, dashing off of the column and swinging his sword downward as he fell towards Terios. The black hedgehog simply held Deathcalibur up horizontally and stopped the attack, though he was pushed back a bit by the impact. He then performed a quick horizontal slash, pushing the fox away from him.

Smithy landed on his feet and held Clarent up in both hands as Terios commented, “You two managed to follow me to my private domain, huh? Too impatient to wait for the bonus round, pup?”

Smithy shivered a bit, but he held Terios’ gaze as he replied, “I’m not a pup! The correct term is fox CUB!”

Terios moved his head around to indicate he was rolling his eyes, “Pup, cub, whatever. You and that horse are still obedient to a fault, continuing to follow someone who’s already dead when anyone else would’ve let me have the thrill of the chase.”

Twilight spoke up, “Sonic’s not dead yet!” She leapt down from the column, landing behind and beside Smithy, “And there’s nothing wrong with anything he’s done or what we’re doing!”

Terios replied, “I would be inclined to agree with that if you all weren’t in a whole other class of meatheads. I girded my knuckles on you two, I made you feel a fraction of what your ‘allies’ were doing to your doubles, I used you against that ‘king’, I relished in every second of it, and you STILL choose to defy me! Seems like the only way to break any of you is to break your heads!”

Twilight hesitantly took a step back, but Smithy remained where and as he was, saying, “The Grand Kingdom suffered enough under the old king’s rule. It won’t be subjected to another dark age by an imposter of its true king, and we’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure of that!”

While Twilight turned to look at Caliburn, Terios asked, “And how do you worms intend to stop me? Or did I give you both a concussion so large that you both have not only forgot what I did, but also refuse to admit you’re scared or defeated?”

Twilight walked over to Caliburn and stared at his face while Smithy said, “I haven’t forgotten what you did, the fear and brutality you subjected me and Twilight to. You’re right; I am afraid of you, but I’m more afraid of what will happen to everyone we know and this world if we turn and run!” He pointed Clarent at Terios, “I refuse to run! I will fight you to protect King Sonic’s ideals!”

Terios rolled his eyes again as he grunted, “How sickeningly pathetic. And you, unicorn? Do you wish to die alone as well?” There was no response from Twilight. After a few moments, both Terios and Smithy turned to look at her, seeing her next to Caliburn.

The two had been like this for several moments, Twilight wearing a hesitant expression on her face while Caliburn gave her a stoic one, looking deep into the unicorn’s eyes as if he was searching for something. After a moment, Caliburn gave as much of a nod as he could and Twilight’s expression switched to one of her determination as she nodded back. She stood up on her hind legs and placed her hooves around Caliburn’s hilt, trying to secure as much a grip as she could as she began pulling up. After a bit of resistance, the sword came free and Twilight used her magic to hold Caliburn up as she dropped back on all fours. She then turned to look at Terios and pointed Caliburn at him as she said, “You’re the one who won’t admit defeat, Terios! Compassion isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength, as those who have it will support one another no matter where they are! My friends taught me that, and now you will get to see its magic for yourself!”

Terios’ shock at seeing her wield the sacred sword soon turned to anger and he pointed Deathcalibur at her, saying, “How dare you! That sword belongs to ME!”

Twilight steeled herself as she stepped up beside Smithy and adjusted Caliburn in her grip. “No, he doesn’t, and he doesn’t belong to me either. But since the true ruler of Camelot, his TRUE owner, is unable to wield him right now, he has deemed me worthy enough to take him up in his stead.” She got into a battle stance, as did Smithy, and said, “You’re not Sonic! At best, you’re a small part of him gone rampant! The real deal hasn’t been lost yet, and until he rejoins us, we’ll continue what he’s started!”

With that, the two charged at Terios with a shout, the black hedgehog taking a step back as he held Deathcalibur up to stop their initial attack. He was actually a bit surprised as the two kept pushing him back, not expecting them to actually have it in them to stand up to him. Despite his earlier disarming, Smithy was having a better time using Clarent this time, and, while he wasn’t exactly the same as the book she’d been using, it didn’t take Twilight long to adapt and learn how to swing Caliburn properly.


DIFFERENT LEAGUE


Their initial push was extremely temporary, however, as Terios mainly did not start fighting back right away in order to get a good look at them. They certainly had ambition and drive, but their skill with a sword was far below his. No longer in the mood to toy with them for a second time, he narrowed his eyes as he took Deathcalibur in both hands at his side. He then gave a strong horizontal swing, striking both Clarent and Caliburn and knocking Smithy and Twilight off-balance. Despite this, they regained their footing and stood ready.

Terios stepped forward while holding Deathcalibur over his head, performing a downward slash that forced Twilight and Smithy to take a few steps back. They swung at him as he came at him again, the black hedgehog stopping their strikes and swinging to push their blades away, quickly performing a horizontal slash afterwards. They both ducked under the slash and stood up, slashing at him. He leapt back to avoid being hit and landed with his knees bent. “This is all you two have to offer? What a joke!” he mocked before jumping up, holding Deathcalibur over his head as he dropped down towards the two.

Smithy and Twilight leapt away from each other as Terios landed where they had been. As the black hedgehog stood up, he turned to face Smithy, the fox holding Clarent in both hands in anticipation of his attack while Twilight stood behind him, hesitant. Suddenly, Terios performed an upward diagonal slash, hitting Clarent’s blade before he spun around and made a slash at Caliburn. Twilight managed to avoid being slashed, but the downward swing pushed Caliburn down to the ground. Before she could pull him out from under the longer blade, Terios took his left hand off the hilt and placed it on Twilight’s forehead. Using his magic, he pushed the unicorn off of her hooves. She gasped at this, but she was able to keep her magic wrapped around Caliburn, so he was pulled free as he followed after her. Before she could get far, Terios created a sphere of dark energy behind her, which exploded as soon as she hit it, sending her flying off to the side!

Twilight landed hard on her side, groaning as the pain from the earlier beating began to come back in full force. Still, she was able to push the pain down enough to realize she was no longer holding Caliburn and she opened her eyes. She gasped when she saw Terios coming straight at her with the tip of Deathcalibur scraping along the ground. She raised her head to look around and noticed Caliburn lying on his side near her. She quickly wrapped her magic around his hilt and started to climb to her hooves.

She wasn’t able to stand up in time, but she was able to raise Caliburn in order to block the overhead strike Terios switched to when he saw her getting up. Grunting, she remained on her bent forelegs as she focused on pushing Terios’ blade back. She was able to keep Caliburn held up against the three overhead swings from Terios, but then he caught her off-guard when he made a step forward and swung his right foot up, kicking her under the chin and knocking her onto her back with a yelp, Caliburn being pulled back to her in response.

Before Terios could continue, he heard Smithy shout and turned to see the fox rushing at him with Clarent. Deciding to take a moment to amuse him, Terios held up Deathcalibur and met the Smithy head-on, their blades locking as they began pushing against each other. After a few seconds, Smithy pushed forward and began slashing at Terios, the black hedgehog stepping back to avoid his strikes before using his magic to pick up and suspend the fox in midair. Smithy flailed for a moment before calming down and using his tails to push himself forward slightly, his feet managing to connect with Terios’ chest and push him back, also managing to score a slash across his chest that caused the black hedgehog to fall onto his back.

Jumping to his feet, Terios glared as the fox charged at him again. He leapt to the side and, when Smithy turned to him, locked blades with him again, but only for a moment. While they were close, Terios quickly took his left hand off of Deathcalibur’s hilt and slapped the fox with the back of it, causing him to groan and take a step back. Not wasting another moment, Terios swung his hand around and launched red lightning from it, the full force of the lightning sending Smithy flying across the platform and into one of the columns. The fox slumped at the base of it, letting out a shaky groan as his body shuddered and twitched from the electricity running through him.

Twilight and Caliburn gasped at this, the unicorn quickly climbing to her hooves as Terios turned back to her. She ran towards the black hedgehog and they began slashing at each other. In her rage-filled state, Twilight managed to score a lucky blow on Terios, hitting him diagonally from under the chest up to under his right shoulder. The hit caused him to reel and turn away, his eyes widening for a moment before they narrowed. He turned back to her and attacked with a flurry of slashes, their blades locking at the end of it.

As their blades locked, Terios pointed his left index finger at Twilight and fired a small bolt of electricity at her horn. Twilight let out a shout as she felt the shock from the bolt, the glow around her horn disappearing as well. With one swift movement, Terios swung Deathcalibur to the side, sending Caliburn flying end over end to Twilight’s left, landing with his tip stuck in the ground. Recovering from the surprise attack, Twilight looked up at Terios as he held his hand out towards her, lifting her off the ground with his magic. He then bent his fingers inward, causing the force holding her to painfully close in around her, Twilight’s body being force to curl up slightly. He then slammed her against the ground several times before throwing her up into the column behind her, Twilight sticking there for a moment before she fell to the ground below, landing on her front. Satisfied with her lack of movement, Terios turned and started walking towards Caliburn.


DESPERATE STRUGGLE


Caliburn was struggling to pull his tip out of the ground, doubling his efforts when he saw Terios approaching. Unfortunately, while he wasn’t as embedded in the ground as he was when he was left at the lake, his sturdy blade didn’t allow for much bending or twisting around, especially in his current predicament. He kept trying to pull himself out of the hard ground, but with Terios approaching unopposed, it wasn’t looking good for him.

Suddenly, Caliburn began to feel something pulling at him, but he didn’t feel anything around his hilt and Terios was still a short distance away. He ceased his attempts to escape as he felt himself start to move up while shaking, the shaking stronger than when he tried to do it. Terios stopped when he noticed what was happening to the sword and immediately realized it was being caused by magic. He turned and glared back at Twilight, but he was confused when he saw her still lying on the ground, just now attempting to get up with small sparks still coming off of her horn. This wasn’t her doing, but then whose was it?

He faced forward when he heard a cracking sound and saw Caliburn flying straight at him, hilt first. Before he could react, the hilt collided with his face, knocking the black hedgehog onto his back with a grunt. Immediately afterwards, Caliburn suddenly changed directions and flew towards Sonic, his hilt managing to get through the ice around the blue hedgehog’s right hand, his fingers wrapping securely around the sword’s hilt in response. Caliburn was a bit confused as to what happened, but he soon noticed a light blue light coming from Sonic’s left. He managed to rotate a bit in Sonic’s grip, enough to get a good look at where the light was coming from. He was a bit surprised when he saw its source, but he soon murmured, “Ah… So it was your doing…”

Smithy and Twilight had managed to recover somewhat from Terios’ harsh treatment, both of them looking up when they noticed the light blue shining in the darkness. What they saw was a slightly transparent figure, almost like a ghost, kneeling down in front of Sonic. The figure wore a tiara, a belt, and a long dress that went down to its feet, which were in a pair of armored high-heel boots, and it had short hair save for a long braided ponytail with a ring at the end that ran down over its right shoulder. Everything about the figure, even its clothing, was light blue, but as it raised its right hand and placed it on Sonic’s forehead, Smithy realized who it was. “Merlina!” he exclaimed, Twilight looking over at him in surprise before looking back at Sonic.

Terios also heard the fox and turned his head to look as well. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the sorceress’ transparent figure and flipped himself over onto his hands and knees as he kept staring at her. “You!” he yelled in anger and disbelief.


INTERVENTION


Merlina’s head had been tilted downward slightly in Sonic’s direction, but when she heard Terios’ yell, she raised her head and turned to look at him with her transparent blue eyes. “Surprised, Terios?” she asked, her voice sounding like it always did.

He pointed at her with his right hand, “How are you doing this?! You’re my prisoner!”

The look on Merlina’s face seemed almost bemused as she replied, “Some prisoners try to escape when they’re not being watched, something I’m sure even a certain illusion could’ve told you if you had bothered to listen. I was able to escape him, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I could escape you too.”

Terios stood up and gripped Deathcalibur in his right hand while he clenched his left hand into a fist and hit his chest with it. “You can’t fool me! I still feel you there! You still belong to me!” he shouted.

Merlina responded, “You may still have my body captive, but what you’re seeing is my soul. While I would rather they did not suffer for trying to stop you, all who bravely came to Avalon drew your attention away from me, allowing me enough time to cast the necessary spell. Your fate is sealed now.”

Terios gave a short laugh before saying, “That’s a good one! Let me tell you something: you haven’t changed anything with this move! I’m still in command of you and your magic!”

Merlina smirked, “You can keep telling yourself that, but if you actually knew anything about magic, you would know it stems in large part from the soul. You can try all you like to force my magic out of me like you’ve been doing all this time, but I think you’ll find that it will be a waste of time and energy. Do feel free to try, though; the sooner you’re struck down, the better.”

Terios was beginning to get angry at her words, shouting, “You know, I kept you alive because you were useful to me! If you’re going to abandon your body like this, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t just disappear forever!”

Merlina replied, “If my time in this world has become drastically shortened with this action, then so be it. You would still destroy me once I stopped being useful to you, only I would have to endure never-ending torment before my end. The light of hope will go out on this kingdom someday, and while I’ve vowed to never let that control my actions again, I will do what I must to ensure you will not be the one to bring darkness back to it.”

Terios sneered, “And what are you going to do to stop me?”

Merlina glanced towards Sonic as she answered, “He will be the one who stops you, but as Twilight said, we’ll all be supporting him.”

Terios raised an eye, “What are you talking about?”

Merlina’s right hand began to glow brighter, and suddenly Sonic was able to be heard as he spoke from within the ice, “You really don’t get it, Terry. Yeah, we are fighting here, but we’re not the only ones. The Knights of the Round Table and everyone back at Camelot Castle are fighting back against you, everyone who came out here to Avalon is fighting against you, and there are way more fighters than you know exist.” Merlina spoke with him as he finished, “I’m not alone in this.”

With that, Merlina took her hand off of Sonic’s forehead and she became completely light blue, her form no longer visible. The light traveled through the ice and into Sonic, a light blue glow beginning to appear around him as he closed his eyes. Memories and faces from the past filled his mind, the glow around him becoming brighter as he remembered each one. In the midst of his remembering, he heard Merlina’s voice, “I will aid you and Caliburn in the fight ahead, Sonic. Terios has been weakened, but he will not surrender easily. Do not worry about me; only by fighting with all your might will you prevail.” Sonic mentally nodded in response.


SHIFTING THE TIDE


After several seconds, he focused and opened his eyes, flexing his arms and legs and then extending them, shattering the ice covering him as he swung his arms down and climbed to his feet, the light blue glow around him beginning to expand outwards into an aura. “Hope you’re ready to dance, Terry! I’m so toasty now I could start an inferno!” he said as he stood up straight and stared directly at the black hedgehog.

With that, he dashed straight towards Terios, the dark hedgehog taking Deathcalibur in both hands at his left side and swinging up and downwards as Sonic got closer. Sonic leapt up at the blade and swung Caliburn horizontally, pushing it to the side and throwing Terios off-balance. The black hedgehog grunted as he staggered, but he was soon upright again and ready as Sonic charged at him, delivering a flurry of strikes that ended with a spinning slash. Terios leapt back from the slash and held his left hand out, focusing lightning magic into it the way he usually did it.

When he released the lightning, however, only a couple of weak sparks came from his hand that barely went anywhere. “What?!” Terios exclaimed as he looked down at his hand, looking up a moment later when he heard Sonic coming towards him. The blue hedgehog crashed into him with his left shoulder, pushing him back a short distance before he swung Caliburn up and diagonally to send him flying further back. Terios landed on his back and tried to stand up a moment later, managing to get up on one knee as he raised his left hand up over his head to snap his fingers. He did this several times, but each time, nothing happened. “What’s going on?!” he asked as he lowered his hand and looked at it.

“Sounds like somebody wasn’t paying attention earlier!” Sonic called as he started moving towards Terios again. The black hedgehog narrowed his eyes and jumped over Sonic as he came in for another attack, landing close to the center of the platform. As Sonic turned around, he noticed Terios had stuck Deathcalibur in the ground to the side and seemed to be focusing, his knees slightly bent and his hands clenched into fists in front of him. His red aura seemed to surge around him as he focused and, a few moments later, he looked up at Sonic and held his hands out towards him, unleashing red lightning from the tips. “Whoa!” Sonic exclaimed as he jumped out of the way. The lightning didn’t look as strong as it did before, but he still didn’t want to get hit by it.

“HA! Yes!” Terios grinned as he turned to follow Sonic, still shooting lightning at him as he ran and jumped out of the way. “What was that about not paying attention earlier? Shows how little you know!” he gloated as he unleashed more lightning.

This time, instead of dodging, Sonic listened to the voice of Merlina in his head and came to a stop, looking at Terios and bracing himself as he held Caliburn up in both hands in front of him. A nearly invisible barrier formed around the blade, the lightning still attracted to it. When it hit, the barrier prevented it from traveling along the sword, the electricity jumping around on the barrier instead. Sonic swung Caliburn to the left to send the lightning flying harmlessly off to the side and looked at Terios, saying as he held up Caliburn, “You’ve got promise, Terry, I’ll give you that, but you still have a lot to learn!”

Terios growled, his anger causing his aura to billow more. “Stop calling me that!” he yelled as he unleashed more lightning, the bolts flying from his fingers looking larger. Instead of holding Caliburn up, Sonic looked up as he held his left arm straight up, the palm of his hand pointing up. When the lightning reached him, it was stopped by an invisible barrier similar to the one Merlina had formed to stop Sonic from attacking her when she had the Scabbard. As he brought his left arm down in Terios’ direction, the barrier began to expand that way, pushing the lightning back. It soon pushed the lightning back at Terios, shocking him and sending him flying backwards.

Terios groaned as the lightning ran its course, dark mist coming off of him as it fizzled out. As he raised himself to his knees, he glared at Sonic, “Is that how you want to play? Fine. I prefer to strike my enemies down myself anyway!” He held his hand out towards Deathcalibur, a black vortex forming underneath it that made it disappear and reappear in front of Terios. He grasped its hilt with his right hand as he stood up, a shockwave of red lightning running down it as he held it. He took his hand off of it and a moment later, it split into two half swords of equal size! Taking one sword in each hand, he said, “I’ll slash and dash you until you’re nothing more than a memory!” He then shot straight at Sonic, the blue hedgehog bracing himself as Terios began to thrust and slash at him.

Twilight and Smithy had remained where they had fallen when the two hedgehogs started fighting again. They were still at the base of the columns they had landed against, though Twilight had managed to raise herself up somewhat while Smithy was still slumped against the column he’d been thrown against. The fox had to admit that both he and Twilight were out of their league compared to the two hedgehogs, but when it came to swords, he still had an eye for things, even in the heat of battle. Right now, he could tell that, while Sonic was managing to avoid Terios’ strikes, the black hedgehog’s two swords were keeping him on the defensive and preventing him from fighting back. No doubt he figured that Terios could distract him with one blade and leave him open to an attack from the other. He’d probably need something to help him get back on equal footing.

Smithy looked over at where the Clarent had fallen, a short distance to his right. “It’s not Caliburn, but…” he thought before throwing himself onto his front, using his arms to pull himself over to the blade as his legs still felt a bit shaky. He reached it after a couple of seconds and grasped its hilt with his right hand. He looked over at Sonic; not only were the two hedgehogs too far away, but he couldn’t throw it well from where he was anyway. He then looked over at Twilight and pressed himself up slightly with his left hand as he called, “Twilight!” When the unicorn looked over at him, he threw Clarent to her across the ground, the sword spinning around as it slid towards her.

The sword stopped a bit short of her, but Twilight used her magic to bring it towards her. She looked at it for a moment before looking back at Sonic and Terios, soon realizing what Smithy had in mind. With her magic, she held it behind her and decided there was no time to calculate what it would take to make the perfect throw. “Sonic, catch!” she yelled before she threw it, the sword spinning end over end before it landed on the ground not far from the two hedgehogs.

Sonic noticed Clarent off to the side and, after jumping back from another thrust from Terios, ran towards it. He planted his feet against the ground as he got closer, sliding to a stop behind it. He then grabbed its hilt with his left hand and picked it up, holding both swords up as Terios came at him again. As their blades locked, Terios growled, “Hey, that’s no fair!”

Sonic grunted as he pushed back, “All’s fair in love and war, Terry, and this sure ain’t love!” They continued trying to overpower each other for a moment before Sonic managed to push Terios back and swung both Caliburn and Clarent at him, the black hedgehog stepping back and leaping away to avoid the strikes. The two hedgehogs continued to keep pressure on each other for a short while. Sonic was inexperienced at having a sword in his left hand as well, but while he did have some difficulty adjusting, his dual wielding didn’t have an overall negative impact on the fight as it seemed Terios wasn’t used to it either.

Terios soon leapt back and spun the half sword in his left hand around so he was holding it in a reverse grip. As he began to slowly bring the two half hilts together, he said, “Let’s see how you like this!” As they got closer, darkness began to flow between the two half swords, bringing them together and sealing the connection between them. Terios took his new weapon in both hands and spun it around for a moment before holding it at his side with one blade pointing forward. He then dashed towards Sonic, thrusting the one blade forward. Sonic managed to leap to the side, but Terios was soon on him, swinging and spinning his sword around so quickly that Sonic’s lack of dual wielding experience began to work against him.

Sonic was thrown back by a wave of dark energy when Terios leapt up and slammed his sword into the ground close to him. As he climbed to his knees, he heard Merlina speaking, “Hold your swords straight up and bring them together, Sonic. You will be able to match him, but in a different manner.” Trusting her words, he held both Clarent and Caliburn up and brought them close together. As they got closer, a light blue light began to shine from between them, getting brighter as they came closer together. It slowly faded when the two swords met, revealing a new double-edged sword with two hilts. Sonic held up the new sword in both hands and looked at it. It wasn’t as impressive as Excalibur, but Caliburn and Clarent together created a large blade that, strangely enough, made it seem like both swords were two halves of a whole.

Sonic looked down at Terios and narrowed his eyes, both hedgehogs dashing towards each other again. They continued trying to overpower each other, both of their swords seeming like an extension of themselves. Terios was having little trouble swinging his long sword around, moving it so he continuously struck with both blades. As for Sonic, while he wasn’t swinging his large blade around as easily as he would Caliburn, having just one blade to have both of his hands on seemed to be better for him than having one in each hand and he continued to play defensively, swinging his large sword so both edges pushed back Terios’ blades.

Although the strikes from the heavier blade were throwing him off, Terios felt assured that he could break through Sonic’s defenses. “Heh, that sword seems a little heavy for you. You having any trouble using it?” he asked.

Sonic swung to knock away one blade and leapt to the side to avoid a swing from the other blade before he replied, “Not a chance.” Terios dashed at him and he held up his combined sword, locking it with one of Terios’ raised blades. While holding that position, the heavier sword began to push down Terios’ lighter sword. As he began to push it down more, Sonic started, “United, we stand.” He suddenly forced it downwards and it broke off part of the blade on Terios’ sword! The black hedgehog staggered back, shocked that part of his sword had been broken. “Divided, you fall!” Sonic finished as he held his sword up over his head. He swung it down and cleaved the conjoined sword hilts, breaking the long sword and making it two half swords again. Before Terios could react, Sonic spun in a circle as he raised his sword up again, ending with a thrust that sent Terios flying onto his back, both half swords falling from his hands.

Sonic held up his sword again, this time with his right hand on Caliburn’s hilt and his left hand on Clarent’s hilt. He strained for a moment before the two swords pulled apart, Sonic bringing them both down as he stared at Terios’ fallen form. Seeing that the fight was over, at least for the moment, both Smithy and Twilight managed to stand up and moved closer to Sonic. He turned around to look at them as they got closer. “Sonic… that was incredible,” Twilight breathed.

“Yeah. I knew the Clarent was a well-made sword, but I never would’ve thought it would combine so perfectly with Caliburn!” Smithy added. Sonic smiled at them, relieved that they were okay. Suddenly, the platform began to shake and the three tried to steady themselves. “What was that?” Smithy asked when the shaking settled down somewhat.

Sonic looked past him and Twilight and pointed with Caliburn, “Look!” The two turned and saw the black vortex that had dragged them into the strange arena just above the edge of the platform, only, as Twilight noticed, it seemed to be spinning in the opposite direction.

“That’s what brought us here. Did it open up to let us out?” Twilight wondered.

Sonic glanced back over his shoulder and noticed Terios was starting to stir. He looked back at Twilight and Smithy and said, “Hurry, you two! Get out of here while you have a chance!”

Smithy and Twilight looked at him, the latter asking, “What about you?”

Sonic tilted his head back, “I’ve got an inkblot test to finish.”

Smithy asked, “Can’t we help you?”

Sonic replied, “You already did. The way I see it, you and Twilight have already gone above and beyond, Smithy.”

Twilight started, “But…”

Sonic cut her off, “I’ll catch up to you two. I promise. Just get to safety, make sure everyone else is all right, and wait for me, okay?”

Smithy and Twilight looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Sonic. “…All right. But I’m holding you to that promise mainly because I know Shining, Cadance, Spike, and my friends will be too,” Twilight said. Sonic nodded in response; satisfied, the two turned and ran towards the vortex, leaping towards it when they were close enough. It pulled them in and vanished soon afterwards, leaving Sonic and Caliburn alone with Terios.

Caliburn glanced up, able to just see behind Sonic with how he was being held, and said, “Sonic, look out!” Sonic’s eyes shifted left and he whirled around, holding both swords up. Terios was slowly walking towards him, holding the complete Deathcalibur in his right hand. Sonic was able to see that recombining the two blades hadn’t repaired it, as one edge of the sword looked shorter than the other. That wasn’t going to make it any less dangerous, however.

Suddenly, Terios dashed forward, his sword coming into contact with both of Sonic’s swords, which were crossed in an ‘X’ shape. “Still kicking, huh?” Sonic asked as he pressed back.

“I told you, you can’t escape who you are, and your kingdom can’t escape its fate!” Terios yelled as he pulled his blade back and thrust it forward, striking Sonic’s guard and pushing him back slightly.

Sonic lowered his arms to his sides after he stopped and said, “Buddy, I know myself better than you think I do. And that second bit? I’ve heard it from Merlina; you sound like a broken record.”

Terios stepped forward, holding Deathcalibur over his head and swinging it down at Sonic, who deflected the strike with Caliburn. As they began to slash at each other, Terios yelled, “Give me that sword! You were the one who pulled it, so it belongs to me as well! I will be recognized as the kingdom’s true ruler with it, and I can do whatever I want to it!”

As they locked blades again, Sonic spoke, “You trying to bore me to death, Terios? I’m actually trying to hold back a yawn here, so you might be onto something.”

Terios growled and pulled his blade back, swinging it down and up, catching Sonic’s block and pulling him up off the ground. Sonic quickly uncrossed his swords and twisted to avoid hitting the blade as he stopped being dragged by it. He landed in a crouched position afterwards and Terios turned to look at him. “You WILL give me that sword! After I’ve run it through you and taken whatever power you have that you think eludes me, the Grand Kingdom will be just the beginning! I’ll find whatever kingdom you were in when I first sensed you and wherever you and your sickeningly sweet friends came from and conquer them as well! And anyone who refuses to give me the respect I deserve will learn the real meaning of terror when I start burning everything to the ground!” he snarled.

Sonic had remained crouched while Terios had talked, but after he finished, the blue hedgehog stood up and turned to look at his black doppelganger with a frown. “You know what, Terios? You DO deserve everything that’s coming to you,” he said. He held up both Caliburn and Clarent and then swung them down to his sides, dashing towards Terios and unleashing a flurry of slashes when he reached him. Terios responded in kind, both hedgehogs going full offensive on each other.

Eventually, amidst the clashing blades, Terios managed to Clarent out of Sonic’s grip, the sword flying off to the side and landing on the ground. The disarming did not deter Sonic, however, as he wrapped his left hand around Caliburn’s hilt and swung at Terios, landing a decisive blow across his chest. The black hedgehog grunted as he fell onto his side, but he soon looked up at where Sonic’s sword had fallen. Blinded by his own anger, he scrambled for it, believing it to be Caliburn. He grabbed the sword’s hilt with his left hand and stood up, holding it over his head triumphantly. “At last, it is mine! All that you believe is good belongs to me now, ‘King’ Sonic, and Avalon and this space will now be YOUR tomb!” he cackled. Sonic didn’t respond, but Terios heard what sounded like an ethereal hum and turned to look.


NOT ALONE


Sonic was standing not far from Terios, both hands on Caliburn’s hilt as he held him up over his head. He was following directions that Merlina had given to him while Terios had been distracted, and now the light blue aura around him had expanded, spreading out from him and surging. As Terios stared, seven glowing light blue Celtic Crosses appeared in the air around Sonic, each cross seemingly a gateway or portal as something began to emerge from each one.

Two hedgehogs, an echidna, a cat, a pig, a bunny, and a lion appeared and moved to Sonic’s sides, all of them staring straight at Terios. The figures that looked like Lady Nimue and the three main Knights of the Round Table were easily recognized by Terios, as were the figures that looked like General Tybalt and Sir Frederick, though the figure that looked like Oscar was completely unknown to him. He didn’t dwell on the pig’s identity, though; there were a couple of things that caught his attention that pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

For one thing, they were all like Merlina was earlier, being light blue and slightly transparent, and that was before he noticed something else. Physically, the figures looked the same as the real deals, but there were other differences present. Nimue appeared to be wearing boots and a much shorter dress, and she was holding a large hammer in both hands, the Knights of the Round Table lacked their armor and Lancelot was holding his sword in his left hand, and Sir Frederick, General Tybalt, and Oscar’s clothes were very different, looking much looser and more casual than the black hedgehog was used to seeing, and Frederick appeared to be wielding some sort of staff instead of a spear. To Terios, they simultaneously were and weren’t who he thought they were.

As Sonic lowered Caliburn to his side, Terios decided he had had enough of the light show and charged towards the blue hedgehog, holding his sword out at his side. The figures around Sonic kept their eyes on him, watching as he got closer. The first to move was the one he believed was Nimue, the hedgehog holding her hammer up and behind her as she leapt forward, bringing it down just in front of Terios and forcing him to stop as its impact actually created a crater. He glared at her and made a swipe at her with his sword, which was stopped by the Frederick lookalike when he shot forward and used his staff to intercept it. The two pushed against each other for a moment before the bunny pulled his staff back and swung it over Deathcalibur, hitting Terios several times before Nimue moved forward again and the two delivered one strong blow that sent the black hedgehog flying back to the center of the platform.

Terios climbed to his feet after landing on his rear and growled as he prepared to charge again, but the Tybalt and Oscar figures both suddenly pulled out some sort of miniature weapon and began firing what he assumed were magic beams from one end at him. The shots hit him in the chest, stunning him and preventing him from moving. The two kept firing as the Knights of the Round Table made their own advance, all of them surrounding Terios. Oscar and Tybalt stopped firing at this point and the three began to attack, all of them hacking and slashing in synch with each other, each one moving in after one had attacked. Since they weren’t physical, they weren’t causing physical damage to him, but Terios could feel their slashes taking their toll on him, striking at his most treasured source of power.

After a short while, the trio stopped attacking and faded away into the light blue, all of them flying over to and joining with Sonic. Tybalt and Oscar opened fire again as Nimue moved forward, raising her hammer over her head again and delivering an overhead swing that delivered an ethereal force that left him lying on his back. As he managed to climb to his feet, a sharp tremble shot through him as Frederick threw his staff at him, the projectile passing through him and breaking apart when it hit the ground. As Terios stood stunned for the moment, the four remaining figures faded away and joined with Sonic, who was holding Caliburn up in front of himself with his eyes closed. A few seconds after the figures joined with him and his aura returned, he opened his eyes to look at Terios and said, “It’s been decided!” He swung Caliburn down to his right side, the sword’s tip nearly touching the ground, and ran forward, Terios struggling to move as he shouted, “Now I’ll show you!”

Back in Avalon, Smithy, Spike, and the ponies were waiting for Sonic to return, some more anxious than the others. They all looked up suddenly as the black vortex opened in front of them again, only this time it was facing away from them. As they watched, five figures shot out of it. Two of the figures were Sonic and Terios, the former spinning in midair once before landing in a crouched position, the light blue aura still surrounding him, while the latter spun end over end multiple times before landing on his feet and, amazingly, not falling over as he wobbled. The hole in his chest had grown so big it nearly stretched down his entire front, his red aura barely visible now. The other three figures were their swords, Caliburn hovering at Sonic’s side when he landed while Deathcalibur and Clarent landed between him, Clarent landing further down the path than Deathcalibur. Both swords’ blades were pointing towards the group.

The group began to move closer to Sonic and Caliburn, Sonic looking back at them as he stood up. They stopped and he faced forward when they all heard Terios groan, the black hedgehog clutching his front with both hands and part of his arms now that he’d found his balance. Sonic glanced back at the others and held up his right hand with his index finger pointing out, silently telling them to hold back while he started walking forward with Caliburn at his side.

Terios looked up when he heard Sonic approaching and thrust his right hand out in front of him, sending a bolt of red lightning flying at Sonic. It came fast, but the aura around Sonic surged in front of him when it got close, preventing the lightning from reaching him and causing it to fizzle out after a few moments as Sonic kept coming. Desperate, Terios slammed his left fist against his chest several times before trying again, only to be met with the same result. Terios’ knees buckled afterwards, his left hand still on his chest as he breathed heavily and slumped while trying to stay on his feet. He managed to raise his head to look at Sonic as he stopped in front of him and spoke, “So this is how it ends, huh? Once again, you’ve somehow managed to defy expectations. Once again, you think you’re the superior one. Well, come on, then, show me your worst; I’m ready for it and I’m sure she is too.”

He lowered his head and Sonic stared down at him in silence with a neutral expression for several moments. He then raised his right hand, but instead of grabbing Caliburn’s hilt, he reached forward and cupped Terios’ chin, tilting his head up so they were looking at each other again. “There’s no mystery here, no feelings of superiority at play. The evidence was presented, multiple times I might add, you chose to debate it, and that brings us to now. The trial is over and the verdict is… we’re not guilty of anything,” Sonic said, his tone even. He released Terios’ chin, letting it drop down before he finished, “So here’s your sentence. You’re going to release Merlina, call off your army, go back to the Underworld quietly, and we’ll all be good with each other. And if you know what’s good for you, don’t even THINK about messing with my friends again.” He then turned to Caliburn and took him in his right hand, raising him up and resting him on his shoulder so he was looking behind Sonic as the blue hedgehog started walking away.

Terios stared as Sonic kept moving away from him, stopping only to bend down and grab Clarent with his left hand. He didn’t get far before Terios shouted, “Hey!” Sonic came to a stop at that, though he didn’t turn to face him. “What’s wrong with you? You could end me right now and be done with it! Why aren’t you doing that?!” he screamed. Sonic remained silent and the others could see he still had a neutral look on his face. Terios went on, “It really is a mystery how you were able to reduce me to this if this is what you’ve become! You really expect me to listen to you just because you managed to overpower me?! You’re hardly worthy of being called a knight or a king if you don’t have the conviction to finish what you’ve started!”

Sonic was silent for a moment before he started, “Conviction? What do you know about conviction?” He turned slightly to look back at Terios, “You wonder why I’m so great? Well, I’m wondering the same about you. You claim to rule over the Underworld, to have stood up to so many enemies, but in reality, you’re just a bully and, at the rate you’re going, that’s all you’ll ever be. When you’re not causing death and destruction, you’re taking the easy way out for the same reason: to get the quick reward.” He gestured to the others with his head, “The rest of us, however, do things the right way, helping others to make something bigger and better than just being mean.” He narrowed his eyes, “I told you I was offering you an alternative before, Terios. My offer still stands as long as you do what I asked you to, and I’d take it if I were you. You can say it’s just because you went up against me, but the reality is, with the way you handle yourself, you’d never last in the long run.”

Terios let out a low growl and started to stagger towards Sonic, his left hand still on his chest. “What do you mean, in the long run? Are you saying I never stood a chance from the start? That as long as I continue, I will be driven to my knees again?” he grunted. He came to a stop as he let out a pained groan, looking up at Sonic afterwards and asking, “You think I can’t defeat you? You think… I can’t win?” His knees buckled and he began to lean backward, falling onto his back. Sonic looked down at him for several moments before he turned and continued walking away, knowing Caliburn was keeping an eye on him.

Smithy, Spike, and the ponies watched silently as Sonic approached them, the light blue aura around shining brightly. He looked just about as beat up as the rest of them, but he kept his head held high and refrained from faltering as he walked. As he got closer, he twirled Clarent around so he was holding it in a reverse grip, holding the sword out to Smithy when he came to a stop in front of the group. “Thanks for letting me borrow this, buddy,” he said.

The fox took the sword from him, saying, “Well, you’re welcome, sire, but this sword does belong to you.”

Sonic smiled at him as he lowered Caliburn to his side, his face still pointed in Terios’ direction, “Yeah, well… you’ve used it more than I have.” He winced as a pain shot through him and he took a step back, Caliburn’s tip touching the ground as he knelt down on one knee.

“Sonic?” Fluttershy asked.

The blue hedgehog looked up, “Don’t worry, I’m good.”

Applejack replied, “Looks more like you’re beat ta me! Ya ain’t in much better shape than we are!”

Rainbow added, “I knew we should’ve been backing you up the whole time!”

Sonic cracked a wry smirk, “And let you two hog all the fun?” The two ponies glared at him, so he said, “Seriously, I’ll be fine. Just gotta walk this off.” He stood up straight, “Besides, it’s like I told Smithy and Twilight earlier. You all did everything you could here, and more.”

Spike squeezed his left arm with his right claw as he muttered, “I can believe that…”

Rainbow spoke, “Yeah, Twilight and Smithy told us you said that when they were telling us what happened.  Can’t say I agree, considering the only thing we’ve done here is get beat up after falling into a trap.”

Sonic replied, “Well, yeah, there is that. But that’s just what anyone could see. I know there’s more to it than that. You had my back even if you weren’t right beside me, as did so many others.” He closed his eyes and thought, “Thanks, Unc.”


CHANGE OF HEART?


Before anyone could ask what he meant, they noticed that the aura around him was starting to fade. “Sonic!” Rarity said, causing him to open his eyes and notice it as well. After several seconds, the light blue was gone completely. “What happened to your… glow?” Rarity asked.

“It seemed like it was Merlina joining with you before. What could this mean?” Twilight wondered.

“Merlina… She wasn’t in that weird place. Was she in that room?” Sonic asked aloud.

Shining shook his head, “There didn’t seem to be anyone else on that wall with us.” He turned his head to look at Terios’ tower, “Maybe Terios has been keeping her somewhere else?”

Cadance spoke, “We’d better head back into the tower and see if we can find her. She’s part of the reason we came here.” Everyone nodded and they started moving towards the entrance to the tower.

They had only gone a few steps when they heard Terios call, “Wait!” Sonic was the first to turn around, but he didn’t see what he was expecting to see. Instead of a black hedgehog, he saw a blue hedgehog reaching his ungloved right hand out towards him, the black fading away to blue as if he was powering down. His peach-colored skin and eyelids had returned as well, the latter apparent as he had his eyes closed while he was trying to raise himself up into a sitting position. Everyone watched as he managed to do it after a few moments, but he almost immediately stumbled forward, landing on his front. He pushed himself up with his hands and opened his eyes to look at the group, revealing that they were now green and black.

Rainbow was about ready to step forward, but Sonic moved his left hand in front of himself and held it up to tell her to wait before turning back to Terios. Smithy had put Clarent away in its scabbard, but he held his right hand up in case he needed to grab it quickly, his hand trembling slightly. Spike and the other ponies also took a slight defensive stance, to be ready just in case. There was silence for a moment before Pinkie asked, “What do you want now, you big meanie?”

Applejack added, “Had your nap, so now you’re ready ta go again?”

Terios coughed and held his left hand over the top of his chest, saying, “No… No more. Grant me mercy, I beg of you.”

Sonic eyed the other hedgehog, noticing that, while he couldn’t get a good look at it, his chest didn’t appear to be damaged anymore. He then glanced down at where Deathcalibur had landed before looking back up at Terios and asking, “You want mercy even though you don’t have any?”

Terios replied, “I only know what I was taught. I was raised by the Knights of the Underworld to be their champion, to be better than anyone in both the Underworld and this world. I was taught to be ruthless; I was taught that mercy is for the weak… But now I’m questioning that. By the logic I was raised with, this should not be, yet it is. I learned everything I was taught; perhaps I can learn to be merciful too.”

Cadance carefully asked, “Are you saying you would be willing to turn your back on the Underworld?”

Terios sat back on his knees, his left hand still over his chest, “The Underworld is the only home I know. I’ve nowhere else to go. But if you’ll allow me to learn what you all know so well, perhaps that can change.”

Sonic remained silent as he continued to look at Terios. “Like… as an example, you could establish peaceful relations with the Grand Kingdom?” Smithy asked.

Terios slowly nodded in response, “It could happen, yes.”

Shining glanced to the side, “That would be good for both sides. Still…”

Fluttershy spoke, “I think he’s being honest. We should take him away from here and help him like he’s asking us to.” Spike and some of the ponies looked at her in surprise at that.

After a few seconds, Twilight said, “Well, I guess we could try. Just because we don’t have the Elements of Harmony right now doesn’t mean…”

Pinkie nodded, “Yeah! We don’t need them for a problem like this!”

Caliburn spoke up bluntly, “I do not believe your words.”

Fluttershy looked surprised at that, even more so when Rainbow said, “I’m with Caliburn on this one! You’ve got way too much to answer for, pal! You agree, don’t you, AJ?” The orange earth pony gave a nod in response.

Fluttershy glared, “Caliburn, Rainbow Dash, Applejack! That’s not very nice! He’s showing his feelings to us and you’re all trying to push him away!”

Terios spoke, “Of course you don’t believe me. What reason have I given you to do so? Just because I’ve expressed a desire to change is no reason for any of you to trust me, or anyone for that matter. Presumably, though, having mercy means you’re willing to forgive to a certain extent. What do I have to do to reach that point?”

Fluttershy smiled, “You don’t have to do anything. There’s more than just mercy involved here. There’s also trust, and because of who you are, I trust that you’re sincere when you say you want to change.” She looked at Sonic, “You think so too, right Sonic?”

Sonic didn’t answer her, still looking at Terios with a neutral expression as he contemplated his words. “Sonic? What are you thinking right now?” Rarity probed.

“Weren’t you giving him a second chance a minute ago?” Pinkie asked. Sonic glanced down at that, still thinking.

“Do not listen to him, Sonic!” Caliburn implored.

“Yeah, just because you know what you’re like doesn’t mean you know what he’s like!” Rainbow added.

Terios spoke up, “They expected me to do great things for the Underworld. They gave me the best training, the best weapons, the best everything they could give me! They gave me power; I was almost consumed by it the way King Arthur and Merlina were. Let me walk away from here. Surely you know I almost made the same mistake they did. They became obsessed with Excalibur’s Scabbard, and I almost did too with the power I was given. Surely you can understand that.”

Sonic looked up at him and said, “Yeah, I do.” He started walking forward, everyone watching him as he did. When he reached Deathcalibur, he took Caliburn in both hands and stood next to the black sword’s tip, on the side. He brought Caliburn down, lined his tip up, and gave the black sword a strong push, sending it sliding towards Terios. It came to a stop short of the other hedgehog, who looked down at it for a moment before looking back up at Sonic in confusion. “That sword belongs to you now. As its owner, it’s your decision on what to do with it, not mine. You can take it up again and help it find a new purpose, or you can leave it behind to show you’re willing to change. I’ll leave it up to you,” Sonic explained as he rested Caliburn’s tip against the ground. He then turned the sword slightly towards him as he glanced down and gave him a nearly imperceptible nod, Caliburn doing the same in response.

As Terios looked down at the sword again, Fluttershy trotted forward and stopped at Sonic’s side, the blue hedgehog looking at her when she spoke, “That’s a very nice thing for you to do, Sonic. Giving him the choice shows you’re willing to trust and help him too.” She then continued forward, Sonic, Smithy, Spike, and the other ponies’ eyes on her. She came to a stop in front of Terios, who was still looking at Deathcalibur. “I know what else will help you feel better about doing this, Terios: kindness,” she said before embracing him, wrapping her forelegs around him.

Terios moved back slightly at this, his body seemingly frozen in place at being hugged for the first time ever. Fluttershy assumed the reason he didn’t embrace her back right away was because he’d never been shown this sort of love and nurturing and simply didn’t know how to process it right away. And it was true that Terios was shocked, his mind was going a million miles a minute at the unexpected action… but not for that reason.

Instead of feeling comforted, Terios was infuriated. He could handle the earlier accusations; while he would’ve liked it, he didn’t expect them all to be so stupid as to believe he was being truthful. He could even handle what Sonic did, even if it did require him to adjust what he was planning to take it into account. But right now, on his knees with yellow pony legs wrapped around him like he was some sort of plush toy, he couldn’t keep his anger in check any longer. He felt like the entire world was mocking him and existence. As if to add insult to injury, he heard King Arthur’s still-distorted voice in his head say, “And with this, your fate is sealed. I suggest you abandon this ploy of yours and start believing in the lies you have concocted. It is your only chance of survival now; you have played your best hand and you have lost.”

Terios’ body began to shake. Fluttershy assumed that it was due to him crying since she couldn’t see the panicked look on his face, a look that had everyone else looking on in confusion. He shut his eyes, “No… NO! This is not how it’s going to end for me! I won’t allow it!” He raised his shaking left hand up and lightly placed it on Fluttershy’s back, “This disgusting display… This will not stand!” The fingers on his left hand began to shake more than the rest of his hand, something beginning to bulge out of the tips. “I’ll show you all! I’m better than them all! I’ll have the last laugh!” His eyes shot open, revealing that they were completely black as sharp claws burst out of his fingertips, “I WILL BE VICTORIOUS! NO ONE IS LEAVING HERE ALIVE!”


REFUSAL TO ACCEPT DEFEAT


Everyone’s eyes went wide when they saw these changes and realized what was going through his mind. “FLUTTERSHY!!!” they all screamed, Sonic and Rainbow already moving towards the pegasus. Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked back in confusion, seemingly not noticing the changes that had come over Terios. The dark hedgehog, meanwhile, was using his anger to make up for his current lack of magic, charging his right fist with electricity while he raised his left hand to slash at Fluttershy. Sonic managed to reach the two before he could bring the claws down and swung Caliburn to knock the arm away while he grabbed Fluttershy with his left hand, the yellow pegasus letting out a yelp as he pulled her as hard as he could, managing to pull her out of her hug and towards him.

Terios wasn’t going to let him get away that easily, however, and he raised his right hand, firing bolts of lightning from it. Sonic stumbled as he tried to go back, falling onto his back and losing his grip on Fluttershy, throwing her up as he fell. Luckily, Rainbow was able to get her hooves under her friend’s forelegs, thus making sure Terios couldn’t get her, but the lightning was still coming. As she tried to turn and fly away, one bolt managed to clip her wing, stunning her and causing her to groan in pain. Unable to flap both wings at the moment, her momentum carried her forward for a moment before she began to fall, both her and Fluttershy landing in the nearby pool of water and going under.

Terios let out a growl as he dropped his disguise, his blue fur and black eyes changing to black fur and white eyes, all the damage he’d taken coming into view once more. He grabbed Deathcalibur with his right hand and shot forward as Sonic got to his feet, the two locking blades. Terios glared at Sonic for a moment before glancing up and noticing the others moving forward to help. Narrowing his eyes, he pulled back, avoiding Sonic’s slash, and leapt over the blue hedgehog, kicking him in the back of the head as he came down. He swung his sword down and hit it against the ground, causing rocks to start shooting up from the ground towards them as it began to crack again. Everyone tried their best to stay upright like before, but just when it seemed like the shaking had stopped, Terios swung Deathcalibur up and to the side. In response, the rocks broke down into nothing, a new hole appearing underneath them that they fell into. It wasn’t a deep hole, but it was enough to slow them down.

Sonic recovered from the kick to his head and stood up. He then turned around and ran towards Terios, the black hedgehog whirling around when he heard him approaching. The two exchanged blows for a few moments before Terios suddenly shot forward in a thrust, Sonic managing to step to the side to avoid being skewered and causing the black hedgehog to go past him. He turned around, but saw that Terios had seemingly disappeared. Before he could look around, his feet suddenly flew out from under him. Terios had reappeared behind him and slid into him, causing him to end up on his back.

Terios stood up and turned, reaching Sonic before he could try to stand up. He raised Deathcalibur over his head and swung it down, the swing being stopped by Sonic raising Caliburn up horizontally. As they held there, Sonic started, “Wow, you are a really sore loser! You remind me of a certain sniveling little-”

He was cut off by Terios raising Deathcalibur up again while yelling, “SILENCE!” He then began to repeatedly swing it down, Sonic’s arm beginning to buckle as he went on, “I don’t care what you have to say! I won’t be cheated by you any longer! I conquered the Underworld, and now I’ll conquer this world too! YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!” He raised Deathcalibur over his head again, this time wrapping his left hand around its hilt as well, “This is the end of your meaningless existence!” Sonic couldn’t keep his arm held up as strongly at this point, and this strike would surely break Caliburn’s blade…

A bang suddenly rang out through the air and something struck the side of Terios’ face, the black hedgehog grunting as he was splattered with water, some of it dripping down onto Sonic as well. Terios growled as he looked up and Sonic tilted his head back to look as well, Caliburn also looking due to the tip of his hilt being pressed against the ground. Twilight and the others had seen the source of the noise as they were trying to climb out of the hole, all of them stopping as they stared as well.

Standing at the edge of the hole closest to Sonic and Terios was Letha, the raccoon sailor having finally arrived at the castle after reaching the shore of Avalon. Her right hand was holding what appeared to be a flintlock pistol, no doubt the source of the noise. She glared at Terios, “Guess again, you dirty scalawag! You’re not taking my king down with ye, and I’ll make sure of it!”

Terios’ eyes narrowed, “How dare you! Filthy sea rat! I’m going to enjoy-” He was cut off when Letha reached her left hand into her vest and pulled out another pistol, firing several shots from both at him. The bullets they fired broke apart when they hit him, each one being filled with water. When she was finished, his face looked rather soaked.

“Care to repeat that?!” she screamed as he used his left hand to try to wipe the water off.

He’d managed to get some of it off when Sonic spoke up, “Yeah, sailors hate being called that, you know.” Terios looked down to see the blue hedgehog raise his feet and press them against his chest, pushing him off his feet onto his back. Sonic leapt to his feet and looked back at Letha, “Thanks for the assist!” The raccoon smirked as she saluted, still holding her pistols. Sonic then faced forward as Terios leapt up, both dashing forward and getting locked in another fury of slashes.


THE FINAL CUT


Smithy, Spike, and the ponies climbed out of the hole and watched as the two hedgehogs locked blades, at which point Terios began to rant, “You’re only delaying the inevitable! I WILL overpower you and I WILL kill you! You’re inferior; you’re the one who never stood a chance! The curtain is about to fall on this sad play! You and your beloved kingdom will-!”

He was cut off when Sonic forced his blade to the ground and raised his left leg, kicking him in the chest while saying, “Shut up, Terios.” The black hedgehog was pushed back a fair distance, nearly falling over as he stopped. Sonic then took Caliburn in both hands as he said, “That’s another thing you just wasted.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy finally resurfaced as the two hedgehogs shot towards each other again, both holding their blades up. They and everyone else watched as the two slashed at each other when they came close, both coming to a stop almost immediately afterwards. Terios’ arms dropped to his sides when he stopped while Sonic held his stance for several seconds before relaxing. Deathcalibur fell from Terios’ hand a second later, the blade breaking apart when it hit the ground, and a moment later, the black hedgehog gave a drawn-out groan as he fell forward. Sonic turned around as he hit the ground, his face showing no emotion. As Terios lay there, in the same spot where King Arthur had fallen, he began to vanish, his white eyes still open. Suddenly, a beam of white light shot up out of his body towards the dark clouds above, everyone staring up at it in surprise.

Meanwhile…

Lancelot growled as he pressed his back against Galahad’s, Gawain and Cooper on his left and right sides respectively, all of them glaring at Underworld knights in front of them. They and everyone else on the battlefield had been following Nimue’s orders and fighting with all their might, but the Underworld army’s numbers just wouldn’t dwindle. Was their end coming soon?

Suddenly, the knights stopped advancing and began to shake, causing the group to stare. After a few seconds of this, the knights began to vanish without a trace, leaving the four beside themselves. Galahad looked around and realized that it wasn’t just them; all over the battlefield, the Underworld knights just stopped fighting and disappeared for seemingly no reason! “What’s going on?” he asked.

Nimue came over with Chami, Golo, and Pyre at her sides, causing the four to relax. “The Underworld army is in full retreat! I don’t know what’s happened on Avalon, but I can feel that something’s changed. Sir Sonic and the others must’ve defeated their commander!” she reported.

“We won! It’s over! Yay!” Chami cheered.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Chami? No early celebrating!” Cooper chastised.

“He’s right. We’re not done yet,” Lancelot said. He turned his head to look at their soldiers; many of them had suffered injuries during the long battle, some severe. “We have to get the wounded back to the castle,” Lancelot grunted.

Nimue nodded, “Yes, Lancelot. They’ve fought bravely on this day. Now that they have a chance, we should let them rest.”

Golo spoke, “I will carry them all back myself if the need should arise.”

Gawain smirked, “You took the words right out of my mouth, rocky. Let’s get to work.” With that, they all began to move to help their comrades get back to the castle, all the while wondering what was happening on Avalon.


CHANGES


Meanwhile…

Sonic and the others could only stare at what was happening around them. The beam of white light was still shooting out of Terios’ body, which was quickly becoming a lot less physical and much more ethereal, but motes of white light were coming out of it as well now that the beam had banished the dark clouds over Avalon. As they hovered and flew around, the lights began to restore the area to normal. The castle’s brilliant golden colors returned, the dying flowers suddenly sprung back to life, and any lingering presence of the Underworld was exposed and chased away. They all watched as the final resting place of the false King Arthur was restored to its former glory.

After the beam dissipated, Fluttershy’s eyes fell on Sonic as the others moved around him, all of them still looking around at Avalon in wonder. She noticed Rainbow Dash swim over to dry land and climb over the guardrail along the side of the path. As she slowly followed after her friend, she overheard Twilight say, “You were right about the castle, Sonic. In the light of the setting sun, it almost does look like it’s made out of gold.”

Smithy added, “It looks so much more peaceful now. In the darkness, it looked more like a fortress.”

Pinkie piped up, “Hey, it really does look like the sun is setting! Have we really been here that long?!”

Sonic shrugged, “Probably not. It always seems to look like the sun is setting around here.”

Rainbow said, “I think it’s the perfect look. That’s it for that Terios jerk and the Underworld army! It wasn’t the coolest victory for everyone, but we won!”

Shining spoke, “Hopefully we won, Rainbow. We won’t know if the Underworld army has retreated until we get back to Camelot.”

Cadance looked at Letha, “I’m glad you arrived to help when you did, Letha. That was a very brave and impressive display.”

Letha twirled her pistols around her index fingers once before putting them away, the one in her right hand going in the holster on her back under her vest and the one in her left hand getting tucked inside her vest. “Well, thank you, princess. And of course I showed up; a good sailor recognizes danger and responds to it accordingly!” she said proudly.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, was sitting off to the side, looking at the ground, water still dripping off of her. “Terios… Is he really dead…? Did I really see him…?” she wondered to herself.

Rainbow looked over at the shy pegasus and raised an eye. “Hey Fluttershy, you okay?” she asked, catching the others’ attention.

Fluttershy started to look up, but before she could say anything, Pinkie’s tail started to twitch. “Ooh!” she exclaimed as she glanced around, some of the others looking over at her at that. Suddenly, they all began to feel the ground shake, and as it began to intensify, Pinkie cried, “This is not my fault! That tower was clearly not built to code!”

At her words, everyone looked over at Terios’ tower and saw that it was not only shaking, but also beginning to lean forward in their direction! With as tall as the tower was, it was sure to reach the path they were on when it landed, so they began moving as far away from where it would land as fast as they could, Sonic grabbing Fluttershy with his left hand while Twilight used her magic to put Spike on her back. Most of them were struggling to run at the moment, the brief relaxation period coupled with their injuries leaving them a bit burnt out at the moment. Still, they managed to get some distance away before the top of the tower landed on top of the path they were on, creating a strong tremor and raising a cloud of dust upon impact.


CRUSHED


Everyone was thrown off by the falling tower, all of them trying to cover up when the dust cloud was raised. When it had cleared somewhat, they sat up and looked to see the tower lying on its side, the entire structure damaged by the fall from what they could see. “That was… unexpected,” Smithy said as he was on his hands and knees.

“Yeah. Why’d it just fall over like that?” Spike wondered while sitting up.

Sonic stared at the tower in horror for several moments before uttering, “Oh man…” He stood up and ran towards it with Caliburn in his hand, exclaiming, “MERLINA!” Everyone save for Letha quickly realized what had him in a panic, what they had talked about before, and stood up and ran after him and began helping him dig through what was left of the tower in search of the sorceress, Letha joining in despite her confusion.

“Ya really think that ghoulie had your wizard friend locked up in this tower?” Letha asked after the situation was explained to her.

“Don’t know where else she could be! Twilight and Smithy made it sound like she was still alive earlier, so she’s gotta be somewhere! Hopefully, it ain’t too late fer her!” Applejack replied as she bucked loose stones aside.

Shining grunted as he used his magic to pick up a large stone, setting it off to the side and sighing afterwards. He looked at Sonic, “I don’t know if we’re going to be able to find her in time, Sonic, assuming she’s even in the tower. She could be somewhere else for all we know.” Sonic stopped what he was doing and glared at the stallion for a moment before glancing downwards, letting out a shaky sigh as he knelt down and closed his eyes. He knew Shining was being realistic and was probably right, but…

Rarity trotted over to him and said, “We’ll find her, Sonic, even if we do have to dig through this entire tower to do so. There is some hope she’s fine if she is in the tower. Just look!” She used her magic to pull two things out from behind her and Sonic saw that they were his crown and the part of his cape that Terios had cut off. He looked up at her with half-lidded eyes and Rarity quickly said, “I-I know it’s not much, but it is something! They were in the tower; I found them while I was moving stones and look! No dents, no tears, no damage! That means if Merlina is in there…” She stopped talking as she noticed Sonic’s expression wasn’t changing. It had sounded good in her head, but she had to admit that her words had sounded rather hollow.

Sonic closed his eyes and stood up, opening them a moment later. “Thanks, Rare,” he said as he reached for the crown with his right hand. He did appreciate what she was trying to do.

Before he could grab it, Pinkie suddenly popped up between the two, startling them and making them step back. “And there’s even more goodies around here! Look what I found for Caliburn!” she chirped before she stood up on her hind legs and held an ornate-looking scabbard up over her head. Actually, she didn’t just hold it up; it hovered above her hooves, a bright white light surrounding it that caused everyone to look away as it spun around and an odd *BA-DA-DA-DAAA* tune sounded from somewhere.

After his eyes adjusted somewhat, Sonic looked up at the scabbard and his eyes just about went wide again. He reached his right hand up and grabbed the scabbard, pulling it down. The white glow around it disappeared after he pulled it down and Pinkie looked up in surprise. Sonic stared at the scabbard for a moment before he looked back at her and asked, “Pinkie, where did you find this?” While still standing on her hind legs, the pink pony smiled and pointed to her left, Sonic and the others looking to see where she was pointing. They quickly recognized the spot.

“You found it where Terios was?” Twilight asked, Pinkie nodding as she dropped back onto all fours.

Sonic held the scabbard out horizontally as he looked at it again. “Did he have it in him this entire time?” he wondered aloud.

Everyone else looked at the scabbard as well. “Is that it, Sonic?” Cadance asked.

The blue hedgehog nodded, “Yeah. This is the Scabbard of Excalibur.”

Caliburn mused, “Hm. ‘Twasn’t natural, his endurance.”

Spike added, “So that’s why he shrugged everything off before! But then how come you were able to hurt him, Sonic?”

Before he could respond, Fluttershy suddenly reached forward and placed her hooves on the scabbard. Everyone looked at her, Sonic asking, “Fluttershy? What are you doing?”

Fluttershy didn’t reply right away, instead staring intently at the scabbard. Ever since Pinkie held it up, she felt something calling to her from it, beckoning her. She thought it had sounded like Terios’ voice, and for some reason, that gave her hope that it was still possible to save him. “It was a part of him, wasn’t it…? He’s connected to it, isn’t he…? Perhaps…” she uttered absently.

Rainbow placed a hoof against her friend’s chest, pushing her back and asking, “Fluttershy, what’s gotten into you?” Fluttershy didn’t respond; she simply reached her forelegs out further and got the scabbard in the crook of them, starting to pull it towards her.

Sonic felt the pull and started pulling back as he said, “Hey, knock it off, Fluttershy!” They shy pegasus kept pulling, however, still staring at the scabbard. She backed away from Rainbow’s hoof, pulling hard enough to force Sonic to start turning to keep his gloved hand wrapped around the scabbard. The others began speaking up, trying to stop the odd tug-of-war.

When the scabbard’s opening was pointing towards where Terios had fallen, a bright white light suddenly started shining from it, causing everyone to stop and stare. As they watched, the light began to get brighter, and suddenly, a beam of white light shot diagonally upwards out of the opening, Fluttershy letting go with a yelp. It traveled up for several moments before it came to a stop, turning into a ball of light. Everyone stared as the ball condensed into and took on the shape of a person, the white fading away to reveal who it was.


A FALLEN WIZARD?


“Merlina!” Sonic and Smithy exclaimed when they saw it was the sorceress, everyone else staring up at the elf wizard in surprise. She hung in the air for a moment before she began to fall straight down! Rainbow spread her wings and Sonic leapt off the collapsed tower, throwing the scabbard behind him as both he and Rainbow rushed to catch her.

Rainbow reached her first, getting her forelegs under Merlina’s arms and slowing her drop somewhat, the staff in her right hand falling from her hand and landing on the ground below. Rainbow flapped her wings furiously to slow her down further, allowing Sonic to get underneath her and cradle her while Rainbow set her hind hooves on the ground, both of them looking at her. “Oh, geez…” Rainbow muttered while Sonic remained silent as they looked at her. Caliburn, Spike, Smithy, and the ponies leapt down from the tower and ran over after the two had caught her, all of them gathering around and seeing what had shocked the two.

Merlina was wearing the same blue dress with gold markings that she normally wore, minus the purple hooded cloak, but the dress itself was in a sad state. Various rips, tears, and marks marred it, all likely caused by different forms of attack. Some tears looked like they had been caused by a sharp blade while some of the marks looked like they had been caused by magic, especially the burn marks. She was also missing her tiara, belt, and jewelry, but Merlina herself looked to be in worse shape than her dress. Her hair was not braided and was disheveled like after her Dark Queen form had been beaten, streaks of red ran from her forehead down her face, and many of the spots where her dress was torn had red underneath as well. It was clear she’d been tortured worse than any of them had been. Worse still, she didn’t seem to be moving, her eyes closed and a vacant expression on her face.

“Sweet Celestia…” Rarity breathed, horrified at the state Merlina was in.

“That monster… How could he?” Shining growled.

Smithy noticed Merlina’s lack of movement and asked, “Is she…?” Sonic leaned his head in closer, placing the side of his head close to her chest. He knew what Smithy was wondering, and it was what he was worried about. Everyone waited tensely as he listened.

After several moments, he held his head up and said, “She’s breathing… but it sounds weak.”

Applejack said, “She ain’t gonna last long like this. We gotta get her outta here.”

Sonic nodded, “Right. We gotta get her back to Camelot.”

Twilight said, “I can try to teleport us back to the castle…”

Letha spoke, “Wait! Let’s take her to my ship.” When everyone looked at her, she explained, “I’ve got something on board we could use to help her. She’s not looking so good right now.”

Caliburn replied as he looked at Merlina, “She certainly doesn’t. Even if it takes longer, starting treatment now might be best. We could lose her if we don’t do something.”

Shining looked up at Rainbow Dash and asked, “Rainbow, do you think you can carry her by yourself to Letha’s ship?” At the pegasus’ nod, he said, “Good. You go on ahead and take her there. We’ll be right behind you.” He then looked at Sonic, “And don’t forget that scabbard, Sonic. We probably shouldn’t use it on her, but we can’t leave it here either.” Sonic seemed reluctant to let go of Merlina, but he nodded after a moment and let his arms drop, leaving Merlina to Dash.

As the pegasus lifted Merlina off the ground and Sonic moved to retrieve the scabbard, Pinkie turned towards the screen and grabbed it, saying, “I know it’s been a long road to get here and it’s really getting intense now, but I know you can do it, Greenie! You can muster up the strength to finish this if you try! Now give us a good old-fashioned time skip!”

Some of the others stared at her. “Pinkie, who are you-?”

Skip. Because reasons. And Pinkie Pie. Mostly Pinkie Pie.

Sonic let out a low sigh as he sat back against the chair he was on, leaning forward slightly. He, Smithy, Merlina, Spike, and the ponies were in the infirmary in Camelot Castle, the healers having found time for them now that some of their patients were let go. Letha had stayed behind when they returned to the port town, hoping for Merlina’s recovery as she saw them off. Sonic currently had his feet soaking in a pan of warm water to help chase away the chills from being frozen earlier while a maid got his shoes and socks nice and clean again, the elf insisting on doing so. Beside him, Kaz was applying bandages along his left arm, the armadillo having already wrapped up his legs while he was sitting.

Glide approached from the right and crouched down next to the pan, pouring some more hot water in a bucket he was carrying into the pan. He held the bucket up a second later and looked up at Sonic, asking, “Is that good, Sir Sonic?”

Sonic opened his eyes and looked down at the flying squirrel, “Yeah, that’s good. Thanks, Glide.” The squirrel nodded and set the bucket down next to the chair, next to the scabbard resting against one of the chair’s legs. Caliburn leaned against the wall next to Glide, keeping an eye on the scabbard. After all the trouble it had caused, he felt that someone should be keeping an eye on it at all times.

Glide stared at the scabbard for a moment before looking up at Sonic and asking, “Is that really the scabbard the old King Arthur used?” Sonic nodded in reply.

Kaz leaned to the side to look at the squirrel and asked, “Hey Glide, can you fetch me some more bandages? I’m just about done with this arm.” Glide nodded and stood up, walking over to the table the medical supplies were sitting on top of.

Sonic glanced down at his legs, seeing that the bandages were below his knees and almost went down to his feet. The bandages Kaz had already put on his left arm nearly went up to his elbow. “Feels like I’m being taped up here. Tape, bandages… I guess it’s about the same at this point.” At this thought, he looked around the infirmary to see how the others were doing.

Smithy and Spike were being tended to by a silver-brown meerkat doctor, who was currently saying reassuring things to the two as she treated Smithy. Chami had been helping her earlier, but he’d gotten a bit carried away with the bandages, the fox’s arms and legs being wrapped up similar to how Sonic’s were, but a lot looser and messier compared to Kaz’s work, the bandages even wrapped around his shoes. The meerkat had quickly lost her patience with him and sent him away before continuing with her exam, deciding that she would fix the bandages afterwards. The human doctor and elf nurse that took care of the Grand Kingdom’s horses had been called up to help treat the ponies, both of them trying to remember that they were dealing with horses that could talk as they did their work.

Suterusu was also in the room, currently helping with Twilight. The nurse had already applied some ice to her right eye to get the swelling down and now he was rubbing some sort of orange cream on it. Cadance was sitting on a nearby bed with Shining, who having the inside of his mouth checked by the doctor, and she looked down at the bowl containing the mixture the chameleon was using before looking back up at him and asking, “What is that stuff you’re putting on Twilight’s eye, Suterusu?”

The chameleon remained focused on his work as he replied, “It’s a special cream that I learned how to make when I was still with my clan back home. It aids in the healing process and helps reduce scarring.” Cadance nodded in understanding. Suterusu finished applying the cream soon afterwards and noticed Twilight’s eye fidgeting from the cream. “I know it’s a bit irritating, Lady Sparkle, but I must ask that you don’t try to wipe it off. It will help you,” he said.

Twilight groaned, “I know, it’s just… I really want to open my eye, but I know I can’t.”

Suterusu reached for a bandage patch he had prepared and set down on the bed next to the bowl. As he held it up, he said, “That’s why I got this ready. This should help keep your eye closed and keep you from being able to wipe the cream off.” He began to place it over her eye, making sure the whole eye was covered before stepping back. “I can get you some more ice if you’d like,” he said after a moment.

Twilight replied, “I think it’s starting to feel less swollen now. I think it’s going to be fine.” Suterusu nodded before walking away to check on Merlina. Twilight heaved a sigh as she sat on the edge of the bed, wanting to lie down but refraining from doing so. She looked down at the rest of her bandages with her good eye, knowing full well that everyone else was bandaged up as badly as she was, some worse. She looked off to her left when she heard Rainbow Dash complaining and saw that the elf nurse was trying to put bandages on her wings. “Case in point, I suppose,” she thought sullenly as she watched.

By this time, Kaz had finished bandaging Sonic’s right arm and Suterusu was almost done checking on Merlina. The chameleon then walked over to Kaz and Glide and said, “We’ve done all we can for the time being. Let’s go check on Cooper, Chami, Golo, and Pyre.” The two nodded and started for the door, Suterusu behind them.

As he was about to pass, Sonic stopped him and asked, “Hey, how’s Merlina doing?”

Suterusu looked back at the bed Merlina was on for a moment before looking at Sonic and saying, “I think she’s doing better, but it’s hard to say at this point. Bandaging her and trying to help her drink water has likely helped and kept her from getting worse, but while we don’t know the specifics, after being imprisoned for as long as she was, it’s safe to assume she’s going to have some difficulties when she wakes up.” Sonic nodded and looked down while Suterusu resumed walking, closing the door behind him as he left.


THE SCABBARD RETURNED


When everyone had been treated and cared for as much as they could be, the human doctor and elf nurse left while the meerkat doctor double-checked their work. A silence filled the room, only being broken by the doctor asking questions. Sonic continued to look down, some of the others looking over at him. They knew he was thinking about Merlina, but nobody could really think of anything to say to him. Suddenly, the door opened and Nimue stepped in, pushing the door closed behind her as everyone looked over at her. “I’m sorry I didn’t come see you all as soon as you got back. I’ve been helping the Knights of the Round Table and the soldiers with my magic to make it easier on the doctor,” she said.

Shining spoke, “Don’t worry about it, Lady Nimue. I’m pretty sure today isn’t going the way anyone expected.”

Nimue nodded and looked over at Sonic and Caliburn, her eyes falling on the scabbard against Sonic’s chair. “Is that…?” she started.

Sonic nodded, “Yeah.” He grabbed the scabbard with his right hand and held it out towards her. “After all this time, the Scabbard of Excalibur,” he said simply.

Nimue walked over to him and took the scabbard in both hands. As she stepped back while looking down at it, she gasped softly. “What’s wrong, m’lady?” Caliburn asked.

Nimue curled her fingers around the scabbard, holding it tightly as she said, “This sensation… It feels like the darkness of the Underworld is within the scabbard itself.”

Applejack spoke, “Well, we were thinking that that Terios had it inside o’ him, since Pinkie says she found it where he disappeared. Maybe that has somethin’ to do with it?”

Nimue continued to look down at the scabbard. “This is the first time I’ve seen and held it for myself since King Arthur changed. Is this recent or has it been here for longer? Could it have been more than just the scabbard’s power that corrupted King Arthur and Merlina…?” she wondered. She shook her head, “I can only guess right now, and that will not help us.”

Rainbow spoke up, “Maybe you can help answer a question I had, Lady Nimue.” The pink hedgehog looked up and the pegasus went on, “That Terios jerk… He looked just like Sonic when we first saw him, then he turned all black, then he went back to normal, and finally back to black. I get that he was created by the Underworld army and all that, but why did he look like Sonic?”

Nimue replied, “Only two others have held the scabbard since the old King Arthur was corrupted by it. Merlina was the second to hold it.” She looked at Sonic, “And Sir Sonic was the first.”

Sonic was a bit surprised by how she phrased her response, but he said, “Well, yeah, that’s true. I did have to carry it back to Merlina after I got it, but I never used it.”

Nimue replied, “Perhaps, after Merlina was defeated and the scabbard fell into their clutches again, the Underworld army decided to create a new soldier based on the only other person to ever hold the scabbard. Twice they followed the orders of those who used its power for what they wanted, and both times that leader was defeated by someone who had also held the scabbard but didn’t need its power. They may have become interested in having their own version of such a warrior. Am I correct in assuming that you carried the scabbard in your left hand, Sir Sonic?” At Sonic’s nod, she said, “They may have been able to create Terios from something you left on the scabbard, or maybe just the fact that you touched it was all it took. There’s no way we can know now.”

Spike asked, “While we’re talking about the scabbard, how come Sonic was able to hurt him with Caliburn before anything any of us did hurt him?”

Nimue answered, “In order to blunt the scabbard’s power before, Sir Sonic needed the Sacred Swords that Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, and Sir Percival hold in order to do so. When he faced Merlina while she was using the scabbard’s power on the kingdom, they sent their swords to join with Caliburn, causing him to become Excalibur once more. The swords separated after Merlina’s defeat, but it’s likely that some of their power has remained in him since.”

Sonic held a hand to his chin, “I think I get it. Since their power is still in Caliburn and it disabled the scabbard last time, hitting Terios sent that power into him and cut off his ability to heal himself.”

Twilight added, “But since it wasn’t the full power of each of the swords, you had to keep hitting him to produce the same effect and make him vulnerable to other things.” Nimue nodded before looking down at the scabbard again.

“So… now that we have it, what do we do with it now?” Rainbow asked after a moment.

“Can we bring Terios back? …To make him good so he can help the kingdom?” Fluttershy asked, adding the second part when she saw some of the others turn to look at her.

“Are you loco in the coco, Fluttershy?! After what he tried to do, there’s no way he was talking serious talk! And you saw how Avalon changed after he disappeared, right? That was the right thing to do!” Pinkie exclaimed, suddenly appearing in front of the shy pegasus.

“But… But…” Fluttershy stammered, trying to find the right words and failing under the intense look Pinkie was giving her.

Nimue spoke up, “I don’t think Terios can come back or had any hope of being changed. If he truly felt he had to come out of Sonic’s shadow, he surely clung tightly to everything he had been taught. As for the scabbard, it’s clear to me, now more than ever, that the power it contains is too dangerous. This is a mistake that has to be rectified.” She turned towards the door, “I need some time to prepare, so there’s no need to hurry, but once you’re able to, Sir Sonic, I need you to gather the Knights of the Round Table and meet me in the courtyard by the statue with Caliburn.” With that, she left the infirmary, everyone watching as she walked out. They were so focused on her that nobody noticed Merlina’s eyes beginning to twitch, her right hand slowly reaching for her staff next to her bed.


THE PLAN


It wasn’t that much later that Sonic walked out into the back courtyard with Caliburn and the Knights of the Round Table in tow, his socks and shoes back on his feet and Smithy and the Equestrians following behind them. They found Nimue halfway between the castle and the Excalibur Sonic statue, the Scabbard of Excalibur lying on the grass next to her and a circle that glowed with magic the size of her reflecting pool in front of her. She looked up as they came to a stop on the other side of the circle and said, “You all came quickly.”

Lancelot replied, “When Sir Sonic mentioned the scabbard, we knew the situation had to be dire, Lady Nimue. What can we do to rectify it?”

Nimue placed her hands together in front of her as she began, “As Sir Sonic has surely explained already, the Scabbard of Excalibur has been found and it was in the possession of the one commanding the Underworld army, Terios.” She gestured to her left at the scabbard as she spoke. “Now that I’ve had the chance to hold it again and sense the lingering traces of the Underworld within it, I’m certain that the Knights of the Underworld will attempt to reclaim it again. Therefore, I believe the only way to put a stop to that and put an end to the false King Arthur’s legacy is to destroy it. And that’s where you all come in,” she explained.

“Us, Lady Nimue?” Percival asked.

Gawain spoke, “I can see it. After all, Sir Sonic needed our swords to get the scabbard from our former king.”

Lamorak crossed his arms, “He needed the swords that you, Lancelot, and Percival carry, Gawain. He didn’t need ours!”

Nimue spoke before Gawain could respond, “Yes, but that was when he was trying to recover it, Sir Lamorak. In order to carry out our task this time, it will require all of your swords.”

Galahad asked, “Forgive me for asking, Lady Nimue, but how much good could the swords Lamorak and I have be? They weren’t required to reform Excalibur, so they’re not part of the legendary Sacred Sword.”

Nimue replied, “That is true, Sir Galahad, but part of Excalibur or not, they are still Sacred Swords. They contain great power that only their rightful holders can use. Surely you’ve felt it when you unleash the power of Soul Surge?” Both Galahad and Lamorak thought about that for a moment and then nodded in confirmation. Nimue continued, “I’ve learned of the power they contain since Merlina became the kingdom’s ruler. I do not know if King Arthur was aware of their power, but that might explain why he sent you both so far away from Camelot. Together with their light, we can do more than nullify the scabbard’s power; we can ensure that its power can’t be used for evil again.”

Sonic nodded, “Okay. So how do we do it?”

Nimue held her hands out towards the glowing circle in front of her, “I created this magic circle to harness the power contained in each of the Sacred Swords. Once the swords are connected to it, it will combine their power with that of their holders and focus it on the scabbard. Together, they’ll strip the scabbard of its power and destroy it completely.” Fluttershy’s eyes had been drawn to the scabbard during the entire talk, but at Nimue’s words, she suddenly began to look nervous.

Gawain looked at the magic circle and asked, “Is the circle ready to be used, Lady Nimue, or do you still need time?”

Nimue replied, “It’s almost ready, Sir Gawain. I’m concerned because Merlina has studied more on the High Ancient magic required for this than I have. She would be able to ensure that it would have the power needed for this, but it can’t be helped. She’s unconscious and badly injured, and we have no way of knowing when she’ll wake up or if she’ll even be able to handle that kind of magic right away. As much as I would like to have her here to help us, this can’t wait. We have to…” She stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed a change in the way the wind was blowing, the others looking around as they noticed it too.

Suddenly, Sonic, the knights, Spike, Smithy, and the ponies heard a whooshing noise behind them and turned to look. They saw what appeared to be a whirlwind of dirt spinning around not far from where they were standing, which was quickly dying down. When it stopped completely, they saw Merlina standing in the middle of where it had been, the wizard crouched down on one knee and her staff pressed against the ground in her right hand. She had her head down and they could tell she was breathing hard from exertion.

“Merlina?!” Twilight gasped.

“You woke up?! When?!” Gawain added. Merlina moved her left hand up to her staff and wrapped her fingers around it. She began grunting as she tried to raise herself to a standing position.

Percival and Galahad moved to her sides, helping to support while also starting to push her backwards. “We have to get you back to the infirmary, Merlina. You shouldn’t be up right now,” Percival said.

Merlina grunted and rasped out, “No…!” She forced herself forward and managed to get out of their grip, her staff falling from her right hand as she fell to her knees.

As she panted, Lancelot stepped forward and said, “Merlina, we all know you care deeply for the Grand Kingdom and still want to see it continue on and prosper, but you don’t need to do this to yourself.”


ENDURING RESOLVE


Before he could continue, Merlina murmured, “Yes I do.” She looked up and said, louder, “This is not about prosperity, it’s about hope. I only cared about the kingdom prospering at one time because I lost hope when I saw how it ended. I only cared about seeing that that never happened because I didn’t believe in the future. Ever since Sonic gave me new reason to believe in the future, my goal as ruler has been to ensure that that hope continues to be felt throughout the kingdom for as long as possible. I will not stand by when I can do to something to help, and this time, it’s not just the kingdom’s inhabitants who need me.” She looked straight at Sonic, “My king needs me. My friends need me. As long as I can move and use my magic, that’s all the reason I need to do whatever it takes to help.”

Sonic and Caliburn looked at each other before Sonic turned back to Merlina and said, “Okay, Merlina, if you’re sure about this…” Merlina reached forward and grabbed her staff, holding it up and pressing the bottom of it against the grass, standing up with a new resolve as she looked at him again. Sonic looked back at her for a moment before giving an affirmative nod.

After several minutes, Merlina had finished adding to Nimue’s magic circle, a six-pronged star now surrounding it and the Scabbard of Excalibur sitting in the middle of it. Sonic and each of the knights stood next to one of the prongs, awaiting further direction while Smithy and the Equestrians watched from further back.

Merlina stood up straight and pressed the bottom of her staff against the grass while she wiped her forehead with her left hand, brushing over the bandages there as she did. Nimue walked over to her and asked, “Are you ready to begin, Merlina?”

The sorceress took a deep breath and replied, “I am.”

Nimue nodded, “Then let’s put an end to this.” Merlina nodded and raised her staff over her head, bringing it down against the grass and channeling her magic into the pattern. It immediately began to glow brightly, small circles beginning to light up at the end of each of the prongs.

Nimue held out her hands, sending her magic into it as well to power it up further, making it glow brighter and causing the scabbard to float in the air above the pattern. After a minute, Nimue called, “Now, everyone! Drive your swords into those circles!”

Sonic and the others looked at each other and nodded. They stepped forward and, with the exception of Lancelot, took their swords in a reverse grip, all of them holding their swords up. Then, with a shout, they all brought their swords down at almost the same time. As soon as they were connected with the pattern, a white light began to shine up out of the ground around the blades, traveling up to their holders. Soon, a ball of light rose up from each of them, stopping over their heads. Sonic’s light was blue, Lancelot’s was red, Gawain’s was yellow, Percival’s was lavender, Lamorak’s was green, and Galahad’s was white.

The balls of light floated where they were for a moment before they changed into streaks of light. They shot up and around each other above the scabbard before splitting off and then shooting straight towards it. As the lights wrapped around it, the scabbard began to shake as a white light began to emanate from within it. As Smithy and the Equestrians watched, it began to turn black, beams of the white light starting to come out of the sides as if there were holes in it. Seconds later, the scabbard broke apart into tiny particles, a blue light coming out of it that dissipated as well as a shrieking black streak that the six holders’ lights flew up after and collided with together, destroying it without a trace.

While Fluttershy continued to stare up at where the black streak had been, the others looked down as the pattern’s light faded, Sonic and the knights pulling their swords out afterwards. Nimue’s arms dropped and Merlina stopped pressing her staff down so hard, the former opening her eyes and saying, “It’s finished.”

Merlina looked over at her and nodded, “It’s finished… Ah!” She suddenly lost her balance and fell onto her knees.


OVERCOMING FEAR


Sonic and the others looked over at her in concern, Sonic running over and putting his left hand on her shoulder as he said, “Merlina!”

Merlina looked up at him, “I am all right, Sonic. You don’t have to worry about me now.” She looked down, raising her left hand to her chest, “Terios… When he attacked me, he sealed me inside the scabbard, making sure that I could feel the power it contained as he did. As long as I was within it, he could do whatever he wanted to me. He tortured me, extracted my magic to empower his own… He always had his eyes on me, always causing me pain because he knew the scabbard’s power would keep me alive…”

Everyone else had come over while she had been talking and heard what she said. “That’s horrible. How did you manage to keep it together for over a week, Merlina?” Percival asked.

A soft glow came from Merlina’s left hand and she held it out to reveal a small red flower, a pomegranate. “It was no small feat. More than once, I was tempted to give in to the darkness I was surrounded by, to give him what he surely wanted. But every time I thought about giving up, I found the resolve to resist his trickery longer.” She looked up at Sonic, “You kept me going all this time, Sonic. When I would start to falter, I would think about your words, about making the most of the time we have, and remind myself that giving in would shame you and my grandfather. That would give me the strength to endure longer and wait for my time.” She gripped her staff firmly in her right hand and, with a soft heave, pushed herself up. She looked down at Sonic and said, “You see? I am fine.”

Gawain spoke, “Well, you might be able to carry yourself, Merlina, but you don’t really look fit to rule at the moment.”

Lamorak nodded, “Yeah. I kind of like the new look, but you probably shouldn’t be showing it off to the citizens of Camelot.”

The Knights of the Round Table moved forward and gathered around her, leading her towards the castle while making sure she was in fact okay. “You must still be thirsty, and you’re surely starving as well,” Percival was saying as they continued.

As he, Nimue, Smithy, and the Equestrians watched Merlina and her entourage walk away, Sonic let go of Caliburn and put his hands on his hips, smiling, “She really has changed, hasn’t she? She seems so much stronger now.”

Caliburn replied, “Indeed. The once foolish maiden who only cared about escaping her own sorrow has grown into a wise leader.”

Nimue spoke, “Speaking of growth, Sir Sonic…” Sonic turned his head to his left to look at her. “Merlina’s long struggle against Terios partly sounds like it was a struggle to overcome her fears about her past, to prove that she can be a strong, just ruler. By being forced to lead the kingdom through a difficult time and defeating a truly dark reflection of yourself, would you say you conquered your fears of not living up to your title and being the type of ruler that this world can count on to protect it?” she asked.

Sonic crossed his arms and tilted his head down slightly, his eyes closed as he thought about her question. After several moments, his arms dropped to his sides and he looked up at her, “I don’t know that I’d say THAT… but I would say I at least overcame them.”

Nimue nodded and held her hands out in front of her, her palms facing up. There was a flash of light a second later and Sonic’s crown appeared in her hands. As she raised it up and placed it on Sonic’s forehead, she said, “And that is why you are the true King Arthur.” Sonic glanced up at the crown as she lowered her arms and then looked down at her with a smile.

Shining smiled to himself at this. “It’s just one day, but I think Sonic’s proved that he earned that crown. If the day ever comes where he becomes the ruler of a nation, I’m sure he’ll make a fine ruler,” he thought. He then rolled his eyes, “Now I feel REALLY stupid for thinking he was like Buck when we first met.”


PEACE RESTORED


Soon…

Smithy and the Equestrians stood along the sides of the hall leading out to the castle balcony as Sonic, Caliburn, Merlina, and Nimue stepped inside flanked by the Knights of the Round Table and General Tybalt. Sonic was still wearing his crown and Merlina had changed into a new dress, her hair braided again and wearing her tiara, belt, jewelry, and hooded cloak once again. She also had a new shroud around her shoulders that she’d made with her magic from what was left of Sonic’s ruined cape. Sonic and Merlina smiled at the others and they returned the smile, Fluttershy’s smile looking smaller than the others.

As they came to a stop, Cadance said, “That was a wonderful speech you two gave.”

Rarity added, “And you both looked so wonderful giving it too! The citizens of Camelot probably hardly even noticed your wrappings.”

Merlina placed her left hand on her shroud, “I must thank you again for allowing me to repurpose Sonic’s cape, Lady Rarity.”

Rarity replied, “Oh, no trouble at all, Merlina! It had already been ruined by Terios anyway, so I’m glad you found a way to use it.”

Tybalt spoke, “It was a good speech. But were you serious when you mentioned that monster, Sir Sonic? Not the leaving part, but the fact that there’s a monster threatening the kingdom from far away?”

Sonic looked back at the lion, “Dead serious, Tybalt.” He gestured to Twilight and her friends, “That monster’s the whole reason we met today, and while it’s probably not responsible for Terios, it probably is responsible for us ending up in this world.”

Merlina nodded, “The threat is most certainly real, General. I have sensed that the bonds that hold worlds together are in danger of being destroyed because of the creature’s power. Worse, it may even be powerful enough to erase all that has been. It must be stopped before that happens.”

Gawain said, “I wish we could come with you on your quest, Sir Sonic, but we are needed here.”

Lancelot nodded, “Indeed. The Knights of the Underworld may have been stopped this time, but this will not be the last time they try to take the Grand Kingdom.”

Twilight asked, “But with Terios defeated, they’ll surely be in disarray for a while, won’t they?”

Merlina looked at her, “I’m afraid not, Lady Sparkle. Terios may be dead, but he was not the true ruler of the Underworld. The real ruler is still out there, and I’m sure he’s part of the reason that the Underworld army retreated when it did.”

Sonic asked, “How do you figure that, Merlina?”

The sorceress replied, “Because of the ghost of King Arthur. Because of how close I was to Terios, I know you’ve all seen it. It’s not really his ghost; it’s just an illusion.”

Spike tilted his head to the side, “An illusion of an illusion?”

Merlina nodded and said, “Terios talked about claiming control of the Underworld by deposing of the true ruler, but that’s just what he was led to believe. I’ve felt the power that the ghost contains; it’s far greater than the power Terios had. I believe that the ruler of the Underworld allowed Terios to believe he’d been deposed of in order to see how powerful he could become while watching over him in the guise of King Arthur’s ghost.”

Rainbow raised an eye, “So… even though he was giving out orders, he could’ve actually been following orders without realizing it?”

Merlina nodded, “That is what I believe, Rainbow Dash. And now that Terios’ plans have failed, I am certain the true ruler has returned and assumed control again.”

Percival said, “So it is imperative we be prepared for anything.”

Nimue spoke, “Then let us not waste any more time. We must begin the preparations to send Sir Sonic and our new allies back to where they came from so they can resume their journey.” Nearly everyone in the hall nodded in agreement.

A short while later, everyone was on the castle roof, on the grassy part. As Merlina was finishing the preparations for her spell and Sonic was saying his goodbyes to the Knights of the Round Table, Nimue walked over to Twilight and her friends, her hands together in front of her. Spike and the ponies looked at her as she said, “I must thank you all for aiding us in our time of need. I would wish you all luck, but given what I’ve seen, I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

They soon noticed what she was holding in her hands. “Are those yer cards, Lady Nimue?” Applejack asked.

The pink hedgehog replied, “Oh no, not my special cards anyway. These are regular tarot cards. I thought it might be interesting to do a reading on all of you before you left.”

Cadance smiled, “Really? What did you see for us?”

Nimue glanced down at her cards for a moment before looking up and saying, “Well, I can’t tell you exactly what I’ve seen, but I can tell you this: there will be hardships ahead, both in the near and distant future, but I always see happiness as well. So I wouldn’t worry too much about your futures; I think everything will be fine for you all.”

While they were conversing, Sonic finished saying goodbye to Smithy, allowing the fox to keep Clarent safe for him. They ended with an awkward but solid fist bump and Sonic and Caliburn went over to Spike and the ponies as Merlina approached from the other side. As they joined the gathering, Merlina looked at Sonic and said, “You don’t have to worry about Camelot while you’re gone, Sonic. I promise to continue watching over it in your stead.”

Sonic nodded, “Thanks, Merlina.” He took off his metal glove and handed it to her, “Here, I’ll leave this with you again.”

Merlina took it from him and then looked back at him expectantly. “Don’t forget about…” she teased slightly.

Sonic glanced up at the crown on his head, “Ah, right.” He reached up with his right hand and took it off, handing it to Merlina.

Before she could take it, Rarity suddenly got between them, pressing her hooves against Sonic’s chest as she cried, “Sonic, wait! You can’t leave your crown behind! It belongs to you!”

Sonic replied, “Yeah, well, it also belongs to this kingdom, Rarity. Do you really think anyone’s gonna acknowledge a storybook king in Equestria, or even in my world?”

Rarity argued, “It’s still your crown! It shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks; you should be allowed to have it with you at all times!” She sighed dreamily, “I know I would if I had a crown of my own. I’d wear it all day, every day! I’d never take it off!”

Sonic reached around the unicorn to give Merlina the crown as he said, “Okay Rarity, I’ll tell you what. When you get a crown, you can polish it until the finish comes off if you want, and I won’t say a word.”

Merlina accepted the crown and giggled at what Sonic said while Rarity rolled her eyes in annoyance. Merlina then teleported both the crown and glove to her chamber and then sighed, “As much as I’d like to have you all stay longer, I know you have to leave. It’s time for you all to get on your way.”

Everyone nodded and Spike and the ponies started following her over to the spot she had prepared for them while Sonic turned to Caliburn one last time and said, “Well, guess this is it, you oversized letter opener.”

Caliburn turned away with a huff, “Hmph! Knave.”

Sonic noticed his blade was shaking slightly and grinned, lightly pushing Caliburn from behind as he teased, “Your tone of voice suggests you’re not gonna miss me, but your blade says otherwise~.” Caliburn turned around and glared darkly at him. Instead of teasing him further, Sonic simply nodded and said, “See ya.”

Caliburn’s expression softened as Sonic turned away and walked after his friends. “Fare thee well, Sir Sonic, Knight of the Wind,” he murmured softly as Smithy and the Knights of the Round Table gathered around him.

As Sonic caught up, Spike looked up at him and asked, “So how’d it feel to wear a crown for a day, Sonic?”

The blue hedgehog glanced down at him for a moment before saying, “You know… I think I was actually kinda getting used to it, Spike.”

Pinkie piped up, “So are you saying you would be happy to come back and become a king for real and we can invite Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to Camelot to see the city and the castle and we can have a super big fun party with the entire kingdom?!”

Sonic winced at her words and said, “Let’s not get TOO far ahead of ourselves, Pinkie. Let’s just focus on what we need to do when we get back to Equestria and worry about that later.”

Merlina smiled, “She really is quite the wild one, isn’t she?”

Twilight sighed, “You have no idea.”

Soon, they all stood close together in front of Merlina near the edge of the roof as she began her spell. After chanting for several seconds, she raised her staff up and brought the end of it down against the ground, a whirlwind whipping up around the group in response. It began to get bigger and stronger until it hid them all from view completely, at which point it began to lift off the ground and go up into the sky. There was no trace of Sonic, Spike, or any of the ponies after it had lifted off, all of them being carried by the wind back to Equestria.

There was silence on the roof as Merlina, Nimue, Caliburn, Smithy, and the Knights of the Round Table looked up at the last spot that they had seen the whirlwind before it disappeared from sight completely. Merlina seemed to be more still than anyone else on the roof, but she soon turned around and smiled at everyone, all of them understanding that she was ready to be the kingdom’s appointed ruler again. They all began to leave the roof, knowing there was still much work to be done and citizens and soldiers to help.

As Smithy was following the others back into the castle, a beam of sunlight shined on Clarent’s hilt and crossguard, causing a silver shine to travel across it. While it wasn’t a divine shine, it was a shine that indicated that the Grand Kingdom had once again survived a near disaster and everyone involved had been brought together closer than ever. As brief as it was, Sonic’s return had restored the people’s faith in the kingdom’s future, the shine a sign that it would continue to thrive for a long time to come.