//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22: Uncertainty 
// Story: The Phantom Filly 
// by Lucar 
//------------------------------//

"And remember. Lock him in your best cell," said Older Sonic.

"Of course," answered the officer of the G.U.N. while soldiers escorted Eggman inside the prison.

"This is not over, Sonic!" yelled Eggman. "I will be back! Nothing can lock me for long! I'll be out before you know it!"

"Silence!" shouted one of the soldiers as he violently tugged on Eggman's chains to force him to advance.

At this, the two Sonics, Tails, and Knuckles walked away to join the others who had remained in the jungle outside the prison. After all, who knew how the G.U.N. would react to aliens from another dimension using magic, without forgetting Shadow, who was still supposed to be locked by the G.U.N. in Prison Island in this universe, the very island where they were now. It was weird for Older Sonic to see this island in its normal state again after Eggman destroyed it in his universe, and to be able to explore it without having to fight the robots of the G.U.N.

When the four joined the ponies (who were still in their Rainbow Form), Phantom, and Shadow in the jungle outside the prison, the black hedgehog was the first to talk. "I maintain that we should have killed him. You know as well as me that he will escape, eventually."

Older Sonic shrugged. "Maybe, but then, we wouldn't be better than him."

"Like I care," said Shadow.

Phantom shook her head. "I'm with Shadow," she said, making the ponies gasp. At this, she shrugged while looking at them. "Remember. I may be part of Scootaloo, but I'm also part Infinite." She looked back at Older Sonic. "It's good to have morals, but when you know all the wrongs Eggman can do, wouldn't it be best to put a definitive stop by killing him? Do you really want to let this universe go through everything he caused in our universe? Chaos' rampage? Blowing up half of the Moon? Almost causing the ARK to destroy the world? The enslaving of the wisps? Or everyone almost being killed because of his Life Energy Extractor? Do you know how many people died directly or indirectly because of our Eggman? At least, by killing this Eggman, we would assure that all those deaths would never happen."

"Excepted that this universe differs from ours," said Older Sonic. "Events are already happening differently after the Time Eater and the Phantom Ruby. Heck, you just spoiled our friends from this universe with some of what Eggman will do in the future. With this knowledge, you can be sure that history will not be the same." He pointed at Shadow. "Also, Eggman needs to be alive to bust Shadow out of the prison where he's kept. That is, if Eggman decides to bust him out, who knows how things will go after the recent events. Maybe he will have different plans in mind."

"Plans that will probably cause people to die. No matter how different his plans may be from the ones of our Eggman, those will still be plans to conquer the world and cause untold suffering to the people of this world and maybe of others like he did on Equus."

"And I... Well, the other me will be there to stop them, like always."

Phantom rolled her eyes. "And what about the people that will be killed before he's able to stop Eggman's plans?"

"What about Shadow then? He killed people too, but now, look where he's."

"Shadow had the occasion to redeem himself, and he took it without returning to the path of evil when he could have. Eggman had many occasions to redeem himself. He helped to stop Chaos' rampage and the ARK's crash, both events that he caused, and yet, he didn't stop his schemes. This guy is irredeemable, and the world would fare better with him gone forever."

"Phantom!" shouted Twilight. "No matter the reason, as much as someone deserves it, killing is bad."

"Tell that to the staff of the G.U.N. on this island. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that they could all die because you refused to do the right thing. It's bad killing someone, yes, but isn't it even worse to let someone live when we know that as long as they live, they will cause death and destruction?"

"That's not fair Sc-Phantom!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "You know that there is no right answer to this!"

Phantom shrugged again. "In my opinion, there's a right answer. There's the good thing: not killing Eggman, and there's the better thing: kill Eggman and save the lives of all the people that will die because of him, morality can go to Tartarus."

Tails placed himself between Phantom and Older Sonic. "Hey. Hey. Everyone here has good points, but I think that my Sonic and Knuckles will agree with what I will say. This is the Eggman of our world, so we decide of what we will do to him. And we decide to not kill him. We know that we will probably regret this later, but we refuse to become like him."

Phantom sighed. "Alright. But don't come crying when someone eventually dies because of him. But at least let me tell this. If becoming a hero forces you to have this stupid moral that stops you from doing what is right, then I refuse to become a hero. I would rather be, well, like Shadow actually. Someone who knows that, in this world, to do what is right, you must sometimes dirty your hands. Someone that I would call a REAL hero."

Older Sonic gave a small wince. "Ouch. Harsh."

Shadow laughed at this. "I think this is the first time that I hear someone saying that I'm a better hero."

"Yeah, rub salt in the wound..." grumbled Older Sonic.

"So you're saying that it's better to be a killer?" asked Rainbow Dash as she stared at Phantom in the eyes.

Phantom hesitated for a few seconds, then answered, "Yes. If it's to save lives."

"You... You really aren't Scootaloo. She would have never said that," the cyan pegasus said, tears appearing in her eyes.

"No, she wouldn't," confirmed Phantom with a nod. "Scootaloo was a naive child who knew nothing of the world. Like most ponies, she thought that everything was black and white, and heroes were the best things ever. I'm Phantom. I'm the result of the merging of the mind of said child with the mind of a full-grown adult who had to live by himself since his childhood, who learned that the world wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, that heroes were jokes, and who thought that since the world was cruel, then you had to be cruel to live. You can guess what won out between the naivety of a child who lived in peace and the reality of a grown adult who lived in difficulty."

"So, what does this make you?" asked Rainbow Dash as she wiped her tears.

Phantom thought a moment before answering. "I'm barely one hour old. I have yet to fully discover who I am. But I already know this: I'm someone who's ready to give her life to save who she loves and who will do everything to protect the innocents even if it means that she has to break some necks. I'm also someone very prideful, something that Scootaloo and Infinite had in common, but I will not hesitate to put my pride aside when needed, like when I have to ask for help to defeat someone more powerful. I'm also someone lost because, like I said, I'm barely one hour old, so I have no idea of where my life will go from there. I know that I want to remain in Equestria with the people that I love, but I know that those people were the people that Scootaloo loved, not me, and those people loved Scootaloo, not me, so this may not be possible. At least I haven't that problem with my Infinite side. The only people Infinite cared about a little were killed by Shadow."

Nobody was sure what to say to this, but Fluttershy was the one to eventually tell something. "We... We would like then... to know more about you and be your friends."

Phantom sighed. "Thank you... Let's... just forget this whole discussion and return to Equus to give their magic back to everyone."

"Before that, bring me back to my world," ordered Shadow. "I have done my part."

"WHAT?!" yelled Pinkie Pie. "No, you haven't yet! You still have to come to my victory party! Everyone here is invited!"

Shadow gave her his best "I don't care," look and said, "You will have to do it without me."

"But-"

"Don't mind him," said Older Sonic. "This guy is allergic to fun, and nothing you say will change his mind."

"BOOOOOHHH!!!"

"Hey. To make up for it, how about I invite my friends from my worlds? I can't go to a party without them." He turned to Phantom. "Of course, I will have to return to my world first too."

"And we will do the same!" said Tails.

"Yay!" shouted Pinkie. "This means more friends for us to encounter!"

"Uh... Wait," said Applejack. "If Ah follow it correctly, it means there'll be two of each. Like, two Sonic, two Tails, two Knuckles."

Older Sonic became pale. "Two Amy..."

Younger Sonic became pale too at this.

"This will be an interesting party..." said Rarity.

"Wait wait wait," said Knuckles. "Sorry, but I must refuse. I can't leave the Master Emerald."

"Aww please," pleaded Pinkie, only for Knuckles to shake his head.

"Don't insist, Pinkie, it's his choice," said Twilight.

Pinkie pouted. "Fine."

"So, how about we do like that," said Phantom. "First, I bring Sonic and Shadow back to their world, then I bring the ponies back to Equus, so they can give the magic back to everyone. Meanwhile, in your respective worlds, you warn your friends about the party. Then, once we have destroyed Eggman's remaining robots in Equus, I come pick you up for the party. Is that okay?"

Both Sonics answered her by doing a thumb up.

"But where will we do the party? Ponyville is still in ruins," wondered Rainbow Dash.

"Come on, isn't it obvious?" asked Pinkie. "It will be a party to celebrate our victory in the war against Eggman! So there will be things like a military parade and all that stuff! So it will take place in Canterlot! As in, in the entire city, not just in some building! But I'm sure that a big part of it will take place in the castle! And then, it will spread to the whole Equestria and even to other kingdoms because everyone will want to celebrate our victory! The griffons, the yaks, the zebras..."

"So, in one word, 'everywhere'," said Twilight.

"Exactly!"

Phantom gave a small smile, then looked at Older Sonic and Shadow. "Let's go."



The last robot fell under Celestia's sword, freeing a small rabbit that was trapped in it. Without their magic, and with all the Phantom Rubies destroyed, they had to fight with weapons and the technology they developed in this war. It was trying; it was long, many sadly died, but finally, victory was theirs. All factories were captured or destroyed. They destroyed all robots. Eggman's ultimate fortress had fallen. She didn't know what was the situation with the other armies, or with the element bearers and Scootaloo, but there, they won.

When she was joined by Shining Armor, she asked him "How bad is it?"

Shining Armor sighed. "If it wasn't for our robots, many pegasi would have fallen to their death. But that's probably the only good thing that happened. Not used to fight on the ground, many pegasi were rapidly killed. Same for the unicorns, who were too used of magic. The ones who fared better were the earth ponies, the yaks, and the griffons. Over half of the changelings were slaughtered. Chrysalis herself was badly hurt."

Celestia shook her head. "It's in situation like these that we see how much we became too dependent of magic..."

Shining nodded. "If it wasn't for the new weapons we developed thanks to Eggman's technology, the majority of the unicorns, pegasi, and changelings would have probably been exterminated."

"One thing we can thank Eggman about... What is that?" suddenly asked Celestia when she spotted a purple hole appearing in the sky, above the crater left behind the Death Egg.

Then, out of the hole came the element bearers who looked more colored as well as who she assumed was Scootaloo in a different form than her usual ponyself or her Zero persona. As Celestia and many others watched, Scootaloo then moved away of the element bearers as Twilight let a staff levitate in the air. The bearers then gathered close to the staff and used the power of Harmony to fire a magical beam at it. The staff was destroyed, and the magic it absorbed was released in a huge rainbow explosion that spread everywhere with the bearers. As the explosion reached them, everyone could feel their magic returning, proved by the Cutie Marks reappearing on the ponies' flanks.

Celestia smiled. "They did it!"

Luna teleported to her side. "Do you think it means it is over?"

"I hope so," answered Celestia. "But what happened to Eggman and Tirek? And Discord?"

"I have no idea where Discord is right now," answered someone. When Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor followed the voice, they saw that it was Scootaloo who had joined them. "But you will be happy to hear that Fluttershy and Twilight were able to convince him to return to our side for good, and I was told that he even helped Twilight and the others unlock this power they just used. As for Eggman and Tirek, Eggman is now in jail in his home dimension and Tirek is dead, killed by Eggman."

At hearing of Tirek's fate, Celestia gave a small sad frown, but quickly stopped thinking about it and gave a smile. "So the war is over."

"Almost. There are some robots of Eggman remaining, but now that the bigger threats are gone, it should take me only a few hours to deal with them. By the way, my name is Phantom."

"Phantom?" asked Luna in confusion. "Are you not Scootaloo? You clearly have her powers, and a very close appearance."

"To fight Tirek, Scootaloo and Infinite had to merge to use the Phantom Ruby at its full power."

Again, Celestia gave a sad look. "I see. I'm sorry it came to this."

Phantom gave a shrug. "What is done is done. Now, excuse me, but the sooner those robots are destroyed, the better. I'm sure Twilight won't mind telling you what happened in my place. They should finish soon." she said before disappearing.



As Phantom said, Twilight and her friends rapidly finished with the task of giving the magic back to everyone. Almost immediately after they finished, the Tree of Harmony used the Chest to literally make a crystal-tree-palace grow out of the ground beside the ruins of Ponyville. Celestia and Luna found Twilight and her friends at its base, looking at it in awe. And so, it was in one of the new palace's rooms, one with a big enough table for all of them, that Twilight told the princesses how the final battle went on. Discord, Spike, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle quickly joined them (the three last ones after wandering the halls of the palace for a dozen of minutes).

Once she finished, Sweetie Belle immediately asked "So, does this mean that Scootaloo is gone?" on the verge of crying.

After exchanging looks with her friends, Rarity answered "It's complicated... But yes, the Scootaloo you knew is gone. The new one is more... adult, and ruthless..."

"Yeah, she thought that it was better to kill Eggman than to let him live," said Rainbow Dash. "And she made it clear that she didn't like heroes like us because of our moral stopping of doing 'what is right'. Scootaloo loved Batmare, but Phantom wouldn't hesitate to insult her."

"Oh yeah, I totally see how she would go," said Pinkie Pie before she imitated Phantom. "Batmare is an idiot. She should just kill Joker so people would stop suffering from his 'jokes'. The second Robin wouldn't have become who he's now, the commissioner's wife would still be alive, and batfilly wouldn't be in a wheelchair. Talk about a hero."

Spike winced at hearing one of his favorite heroes being so harshly criticized, even if it was just an imitation. "She would really say that? Batmare was her favorite hero."

"I would have exactly said that, yes," answered who the mares recognized was Phantom before she entered the room. "Sorry Spike. I'm now more 'Punisher' than 'Batmare'."

"Oh, well, that's okay, if you now prefer antiheroes," replied Spike awkwardly.

Phantom then looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "Nice castle. I won't ask how it appeared and will just go with 'shut up, it's magic'." She then looked at Celestia. "Anyway. All of Eggman's robots are now destroyed. The war is definitively over. Losing magic didn't really cause problems to the other species excepted the hippogriffs, so they could continue destroying the robots without too much difficulty despite the lost of the Phantom Rubies."

"Sorry about that," said Discord.

Phantom stared at him. "You have a lot to be sorry for, but it won't bring back everyone who died because of your betrayal. At least, you helped stop the war at the end. Just make sure it never happens again." At this, she teleported away.

Discord gulped. "If looks could kill..."

Apple Bloom looked down, depressed. "She didn't even look at us..."

"I'm sorry, Apple Bloom," said Fluttershy. "I think she's scared of what you think of her now that she's... not Scootaloo. There's still some Scootaloo in her, so she still sees you as a friend, but she doesn't know if you still see her as a friend. Maybe if you and Sweetie go talk to her..."

"Uh... Alright," said Apple Bloom. "But where? She just teleported, and she'd be anywhere."

"Easy," said Pinkie. "At the victory party in Canterlot. She will be there."



It took a few days for the party to be ready. The news of the end of the war had to spread, the troops had to return from the desert, the injured had to be treated, the dead buried, they had to deal with the small famine caused by Eggman with the help of kingdoms that weren't touched, and they had to do all the preparations. They also had to deal with the Storm King who had been saved from Eggman's prison in Kludgetown, and he was sent to Tartarus, much to Phantom's exasperation. They used that time to begin the post-war reparations, including the rebuilding of Ponyville. Phantom's powers helped a lot.

But eventually, the party began with a huge military parade in Canterlot assembling members of all the species that took part in the war, but having mainly ponies because the other species were busy doing their own parades (or equivalent) in their kingdoms. Even the changelings took part. As they thought, a powerful bond of friendship appeared between the ponies and the changelings during the war, and so, many of them refused to return to fighting ponies. Besides, Chrysalis was still injured, and the queen decided to stop messing with the ponies, not wanting to take any risk with Phantom around. She understood that her chances against her were close to null, and the bipedal filly (?) wouldn't hesitate to end her life, contrary to the ponies. She wasn't stupid; she knew a lost cause when she saw one, and she didn't want to die.

The parade was a suitable occasion to show to the population how much the military had advanced in this war, the weapons, the vehicles, the robots. Bad guys will have to think again before trying to conquer Equestria. And already, seeing the new technologies, many were thinking of how they could use it to advance Equestria and improve everyday life.

As Pinkie said, the celebration quickly spread to the rest of Equestria, and everywhere, equestrian airships could be seen in the sky with banners and dropping confetti while thousands and thousands of ponies were out in the streets screaming their joy. The festivities then turned into a more normal looking party, with games, food, and all.

As they promised, the two Sonics came with most of their friends. Of course, Phantom had to pick them up, being the only one with Discord who could go to other dimensions at will. Younger Sonic didn't bring many people, only Tails, a pink hedgehog girl named Amy Rose, a red armadillo named Mighty, and a yellow flying squirrel named Ray. Older Sonic, however, came with quite a cohort. His world's Tails and Amy Rose, but also an adorable young bunny girl named Cream with a strange blue and yellow flying creature named Cheese, a big purple cat named Big who came with a frog (a normal frog, not a bipedal one) named Froggy, a crocodile named Vector, a chameleon named Espio, a bee named Charmy, and a red cat named Leo. This last one, the ponies quickly recognized thanks to Phantom telling them Infinite's story before the party, including how Leo helped Sonic defeat the jackal.

When Older Sonic saw Mighty and Ray, he got a guilty look. He had totally forgotten about them. He hadn't seen them in years.

Understandably, some of Older Sonic's friends from his world had doubtful expression when they looked at Phantom. Older Sonic obviously told them about who she is, and the only reason why they hadn't jumped at her was probably because he also told them about how she helped fight Eggman. But Vector really seemed ready to punch her if she did anything wrong, and she didn't doubt that Espio would spy on her to ensure that she was clean.

Not like it would matter if she wasn't 'clean'. If she ever found herself fighting Sonic again, she wouldn't let herself be blinded by her pride and her ego like Infinite. She wouldn't underestimate him anymore. So they could consider themselves happy that she wasn't planning to burn the world anymore. She would have been their worst nightmare otherwise.

Anyway, while the ponies got to know them and made friends, Phantom decided to stay away. She still wasn't sure what to do. It was so weird... Were they her friends or not? Things became awkward after that whole 'We should kill Eggman' discussion, and it seemed like even the ponies weren't sure what to think of her. Since the end of the war, she didn't talk to them much, mainly to coordinate the reconstruction of Ponyville. She hadn't even seen her... Scootaloo's family yet. Her parents and her aunts. As the hours passed, the party continued, and the day turned to night, Phantom remained by herself, not even really participating, barely eating or drinking anything as she sat on a bench.

She was really starting to feel lonely. Maybe, once this party was over, she should just move to another dimension and have a new start.

"There she's!" she suddenly heard. When she looked at the origin of the voice, she saw Apple Bloom pointing at her, followed by Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash.

Older Sonic was also with them, eating a chili dog. "Finally! Well, what are you waiting for? Go talk to her before she decides to teleport! I will remain there for now."

Following his words, the fillies ran toward her. Rainbow Dash followed them at a slower pace while Sonic went to a nearby stand. Sonic, however, darted around the bench, looking like a blue blur, before returning to his previous position, now seemingly holding something invisible under his right arm. The invisible thing then became visible, revealing himself to be Espio who was struggling to escape as Sonic went to the stand. When the fillies reached the bench, they both jumped on it, Apple Bloom at Phantom's left and Sweetie Belle at her right. Phantom didn't object. She knew why they were there, and it was really time to have this talk. Enough putting it off.

"Hey... um... girls..." she greeted.

"Hey..." they both replied at the same time.

An awkward silence followed, with Rainbow watching beside the bench. She wasn't sure what to say too.

Apple Bloom then looked at Phantom's thigh and said, "Hey, ya got yer Cutie Mark! That's great!"

Phantom chuckled. "Yeah. That's great. I just had... Scootaloo just had... Ugh!" She rubbed a hand on her face. "Scootaloo just had to merge with someone and become me to get it, losing herself in the process..."

...

"I hope we won't need to merge with somepony too to get our Cutie Mark. I don't want to lose myself..." said Sweetie Belle.

"I don't think you have to worry about that. Unless another Phantom Ruby pops up and you eat it, I don't think it will happen."

"But it'd happen with magic, right?" said Apple Bloom. "Like, a magical accident, and bam! Fusion!"

Phantom smirked. "Then avoid being near Twilight and you should be okay."

This almost got a laugh from Rainbow while the fillies giggled.

Another awkward silence followed this.

"So... You aren't Scootaloo anymore?" eventually asked Sweetie Belle.

Phantom took a few seconds to answer. "She's a part of me, but yeah. I have all her memories, and when her minds merged with Infinite's to form mine, I kept some of her traits, but I'm my own person... Sorry..."

"Oh..." they both said before Sweetie continued. "But you said you're part Scootaloo so, what does this mean about..." She pointed at herself and Apple Bloom. "Us?"

"That is the one million bits question," answered Phantom. "I have been wondering this ever since Eggman's defeat..." She got up from the bench, then materialized a second bench that she sat on to look at both fillies at the same time. "Listen... There's a reason why I kept an appearance close to Scootaloo's when I could turn into anything I want. Scootaloo's life was shorter than Infinite's, but..." Tears began streaming from her eyes. "Infinite... He was just loneliness, anger, hate, suffering... And Scootaloo... Her life was everything that Infinite unconsciously wanted. I... Every part of me wants to be Scootaloo, but I know that I can't be Scootaloo. As Rainbow Dash said, Scootaloo would never support the idea of killing Eggman. I want to be your friend, I want to be Rainbow Dash's little sister, I want to be Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood's daughter, and Holiday and Lofty's niece... But I don't know if I have the right just because I'm part her... I don't want to feel like I'm stealing her life... And I'm not even sure if you will accept the new me... That darker me..."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged a look, but Rainbow Dash was the first to say something as she went to sit on the first bench, between the fillies, facing Phantom. "You know what? You are wrong. I was wrong. You ARE Scootaloo. You are different. You are more mature. You are more serious. More thoughtful. And you are now ruthless. But you are still her. Being part Infinite won't change that. You still love your friends and your family. You said it, you are ready to do anything for them. And you clearly fear losing them. That's called loyalty, and I don't know a filly more loyal than Scootaloo. Than you." She pointed a hoof at Phantom. "So call yourself whatever you want, but for me, you will always be Scootaloo, my little sister. I'm still not okay with what you said about killing Eggman even if you gave some good points, but I can accept it because I know that you only have the best interest of everypony in mind. Just avoid killing him, please. And try to avoid killing villains if you can."

Phantom stared at her in shock. Rainbow Dash still thought of her as Scootaloo, even if she was different? Even if she had a different mind? Even if she was now part Infinite?

Then… Rainbow Dash hugged her, and the dam broke before Phantom hugged her back. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged another look before they nodded, smiling, and jumped to the second bench, at both sides of Phantom, before they also hugged her.

"And you will always be our friend!" they both said, making her cry even more.

Some distance away, Sonic looked at the scene with a small smile before he said to Espio who was still with him "There. See? You can go tell Vector and the others that they've nothing to fear from her. Monsters don't cry."

Espio gave a smile and nodded before walking away.

In the sky, the fireworks started.