Part 3: Last Story - Chapter 4: Super Sonic!
Discord blinked a couple times before bursting into laughter. He was laughing so hard that he fell off his throne and began rolling on the ground, kicking his legs into the air feebly. The Princess looked on worriedly, hoping that the serpent didn't zoom off to Twilight and tell her all about this.
"It's so painfully obvious!" exclaimed Discord, still rolling on the ground and laughing. "How did I not think of this before?"
"You mustn't tell anypony," Celestia whispered, glancing around to see if any of her subjects were close enough to eavesdrop. There were some within hearing distance, but they were all too preoccupied with the horse-legged woodland creatures who were chasing them. "This must be kept a secret."
Recovering from his laughter, Discord wiped the tears from his eyes and got back on his throne. "Don't worry, when it comes to secrets of the heart, my lips are sealed," the draconequis assured her, gazing down at the alabaster alicorn. "But why, exactly, do you want this kept a secret?"
"If my subjects found out, they'd want me off the throne, thinking me compromised by my love," said Celestia. "Everypony would think me crazy for liking her when, in their eyes, there are much more worthy candidates for my affection."
Discord looked Celestia right in the eyes, deep into what some people called "the windows of the soul". In them, the draconequis saw the real reason behind the secrecy. "You're afraid of rejection!" he shouted, smacking his forehead. "That's the real reason you want it kept secret!"
Celestia's eyes widened. "What!? No, of course it isn't! Why would you think that?"
"Oh, don't lie to me Celestia, I know that feeling when I see it," retorted Discord, rolling his eyes. "You're afraid that Twilight will say no. Ha, isn't that rich? The Princess of Equestria, afraid that an insignificant unicorn will turn her down. Oh, the irony."
The alicorn glared up at the serpent. "She is not insignificant! She's the most beautiful and smart unicorn in all of Equestria!" After a few moments, she looked at the ground. "But I can't tell her... I just can't," she muttered.
"Well, whatever. I've got more important things to worry about," said Discord, putting a hand to his ear as he heard a faint grinding noise in the direction of the library. "Like that."
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Twilight watched as a blue box with a light on top and windows on the sides materialized in the center of the main room of her library. The increasingly visible blue box seemed to be emitting a strange grinding noise that was slowly getting louder. All of Twilight's friends, including Sonic, Tails, and Ivo, were gathered around and watching the box materialize.
"Now what in the hay is that?" asked Appleack, staring curiously at the box.
"Are your eyes not working or something? That's a blue box," replied Rainbow Dash, looking at Applejack as if she were some sort of idiot.
The orange pony rolled her eyes. "Ah know that, but it's got tuh be more than just a plain old blue box. Blue boxes don't usually appear out of thin air or make strange noises."
"It's the Doctor," said Ivo, beaming at the strange box.
"That's not the Doctor, silly!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "That's a blue box!"
"Yes, I know. The box itself isn't the Doctor; the Doctor's inside the box," Ivo explained. "The box is the Doctor's TARDIS."
"Hold on," said Tails, looking up at Ivo and pointing it at the box, "the Doctor's time and space machine is a police box?"
"Well, yeah, but..." Ivo replied, trailing off.
Sonic looked from Ivo to the TARDIS and burst out laughing. "You've got to be kidding me!" the hedgehog exclaimed, clutching his stomach. "That's the TARDIS!? I expected something closer to the stuff you build or at least something bigger. I mean, how'd he fit both himself and you in there? You'd probably take up all the space by yourself!"
Ivo's glasses flashed. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Ivo said through gritted teeth, "and explain to you exactly why we couldn't both fit in there. You see, it's--"
"Bigger on the inside than on the outside," finished the brown spiky-haired stallion stepping out of the TARDIS with a burlap sack in his mouth, the sack muffling his words. "Hey, Twilight, do you think you could magic the door closed for me?"
"Of course," the purple unicorn obliged, magicking the door closed before anyone could catch a glimpse of what was inside. "There you go Doctor."
"Thank you," the Doctor replied, dropping the sack.
"I'm sorry, unless I'm very much mistaken, did you and Ivo just say that that, uh, police box is bigger on the inside?" asked Rarity, looking extremely puzzled. "How is that possible?"
"Time Lord techn-- wait," said the Doctor, pausing for a moment, "did you just call Eggman Ivo?"
"Ugh, we've already went through this," Rainbow Dash retorted. "Eggman's real name is--"
"Ivo Robotnik, yeah," the Doctor interrupted, finishing the pegasus' sentence. "But... why are you all calling him that and why are you all acting as if he's your friend?"
There was a collective groan from the six ponies, Sonic, and Tails.
"Do we really have to explain this again?" Sonic asked, rubbing his head.
"Yeah, we've got more important things to worry about!" Rainbow Dash insisted.
"Suffice it to say, Doctor," said Ivo, glancing at the others' impatient faces, "that I'm not the same man you found in the void or trapped you in a cage. I've changed; I'm no longer evil."
The Doctor stared at Ivo for what seemed like forever wearing an unreadable expression on his face. Then, with a shrug, he said, "Okay, whatever. If they think you've changed, then I guess it has to be true."
Ivo blinked a couple times, registering the Doctor's words. "Oh, um, I didn't think you'd take that so easily."
"Yes, well, I'm full of mysteries like that," replied the Doctor, putting a hoof on the sack he'd brought with him out of the TARDIS. "Anyway, you're all probably wondering what's in the sack."
Everyone nodded.
"Well, it should be obvious as it's the reason I left in the first place. In this bag are the Chaos Emeralds," the Doctor explained, opening the bag and tipping it over, letting the seven mystical gems spill out. As each one spilled out, they glinted in the red light of the sky.
"My word! Those are gorgeous!" Rarity exclaimed in awe. "These are the most beautiful gems I've ever seen!"
"And the most dangerous," said Tails.
"D-d-d-dangerous?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes widening in horror.
"If they're in the wrong hands," Sonic replied. Glancing at The Doctor, he added, "Speaking of which, how did you find these?"
The Doctor smiled. "Oh, it was actually quite easy. As soon as I stepped out of the TARDIS, there they were in this bag lying next to your friend Knuckles' unconscious body."
"Why was he unconscious?" questioned Sonic, raising an eyebrow.
"A tree fell on him," the Doctor answered.
Sonic blinked. "I don't even want to know."
"Who's this Knuckles guy ya'll are talkin' 'bout?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, he sounds like they type of guy I'd want to know," said Pinkie Pie enthusiastically.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever Pinkie, you haven't even heard anything about him."
"So?"
"Well," Dash began, "you can't know what type of guy he is if you haven't heard anything about him."
"To answer your question Applejack, Knuckles is one of my friends," Sonic said, ignoring Pinkie and Dash's conversation. "He's an echidna and he's got spikes on his fists."
"What in tarnation is an 'e-kid-nuh'?" asked Applejack, a confused look on her face.
"Well, an echidna is..."
As these conversations continued, Twilight exchanged glances with Ivo and Tails who, she guessed, were thinking along the same lines as her. This had gone on long enough; they needed to get going and stop Discord... now.
"Guys!" Twilight shouted, stomping a hoof. Everyone immediately stopped talking and looked at her. Once everyone's attention was focused on her, Twilight continued, "We've got to get going and stop Discord, talking will get us nowhere!"
"She's right," the Doctor agreed, looking around at everyone and stopping once his gazed landed on Sonic. "Sonic, use the Chaos Emeralds, like you always have, and stop Discord. No more questions, no more conversations-- this has to end now."
Sonic nodded. "Okay, let's do this."
The hedgehog closed his eyes in concentration. Suddenly, the Chaos Emeralds floated upward and began spinning around Sonic in a circle. Each emerald glowed its respective color: green, red, yellow, pink, white, blue, and cyan. As Sonic brought his tightly closed fists closer to his body, the emeralds spun faster and faster, spinning closer and closer with each passing second. Then, with a flash of golden light, the emeralds disappeared and Sonic transformed.
Instead of being blue, Sonic was now golden. The quills on the back of his head were upturned. This super powered hedgehog seemed to give off an aura of confidence, power, and danger, and his entire body seemed to emit a soft golden light that penetrated all darkness. To top it all off, he was floating a couple of inches off the ground.
Super Sonic opened his eyes, the pupils of which had turned from green to red, and said, "It's time to end this." With that, he turned and zoomed out of the library's destroyed entrance without even touching the ground.
After a few moments of silence, Rainbow Dash spoke up. "That was so awesome!" The rainbow maned mare looked around at the others. "Come on, let's go!" she exclaimed, flying off in pursuit of Super Sonic.
Everyone rushed out of the library, following the two speedsters. However, just before leaving, Ivo looked back at the apparently useless Elements of Harmony discarded on the floor. He picked up the burlap sack that the Doctor had used to carry the Chaos Emeralds.
"Just in case," Ivo whispered, stuffing the Elements into the bag before rushing off after the others.