//------------------------------//
// The Resistance 
// Story: Sonic Forces: Into the Mania 
// by GreenS21 
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SETTING HOOF IN ANOTHER WORLD


Tempest had had no idea what to expect when she jumped into the Warp Ring's portal, but she certainly wasn't prepared for the sudden landing on her front on what felt like hard stone with a grunt. It only knocked the wind out of her briefly and she raised her head and looked to her left when she heard Spike let out a yelp. The baby dragon wasn't ready for the drop and he flailed his arms and legs as he fell, managing to land on his feet with a stumble. 

Tempest stood up and she and Spike quickly moved to get out of the way as Grubber and Applejack and the rest of the girls came through the opening behind them. Grubber landed hard on his rear while the girls were able to land on their hooves with varying degrees of finesse. The portal remained open after they were all through, hovering in the air in front of a rock wall.

Grubber groaned as he rubbed his butt for a few moments, checking to make sure nothing was broken. While he was doing this, Applejack took charge and asked, "Is everyone here? Everyone okay?" After receiving mostly nods, she realized who was missing and turned to Tempest, "Where's Rainbow Dash?" 

The unicorn replied, "I don't know. She wasn't here when we landed." 

As he finished nursing his butt, Grubber looked around and asked, "Hey, speaking of here… uh, where is here?” At his words, everyone took a look at their surroundings and realized they were standing in what appeared to be an alley, a moderately large house on each side of the short path they were standing on. Looking further down the path, they saw it seemed to open onto a street that, from the look of it, sloped downwards, making them acutely aware that the path they were on was also a bit slanted.

“Twilight…!” Spike remembered, the baby dragon suddenly breaking out into a run towards the alley entryway.

“Spike!” Rarity called, but he didn’t stop. She and Tempest hurried after him, followed by Grubber and the other girls. As they all reached the other end of the alley, the Warp Ring’s portal shimmered and Infinite leapt out of it, the ring shrinking and vanishing as the jackal landed on his feet without any difficulty. He caught sight of the ponies’ backsides as they exited the alley and headed to the right.

The alleyway hadn’t offered anyone much information on where they were, but none of them were expecting the destruction they saw when they got a good look down the road. The road seemed to have been built on a cliffside due to how it went down and around. There were more houses in addition to the two they’d just been between to the right and they all showed signs of damage. Cracks marring the outside walls, broken windows… Some even had walls that were destroyed, revealing the inside of the house if the roof hadn’t also fallen in. To their left they could see a city below at the base of the cliff face in a similar state of destruction. Everyone moved closer to what was left of the railing at the edge as they surveyed the urban landscape, seeing a large red bridge that was broken in places and fires still burning in parts of the city in addition to more structural damage similar to what they’d seen with the houses.

“Whoa. What happened to this place?” Grubber asked.

“Nothing good, clearly,” Tempest remarked, remembering the state of Hippogriffia after the Storm King’s invasion. She looked over at Spike and Twilight’s friends and asked, “Do any of you know where we are?”

Fluttershy was the one who answered, “Um, yes… and no.” Grubber looked over at her while Tempest raised an eyebrow.

Applejack clarified, “Unless the Warp Ring got seriously messed up, we know which world this is, just not where we are exactly.”

Tempest asked, “‘World’?”

Before anyone could respond, Rarity’s hooves shot up to the sides of her face as she exclaimed, “The Warp Ring! We left the Warp Ring behind!” She turned and doubled back up the path.

Grubber watched her for a few moments before looking at the others and asking, “Uh, what’s the big deal about a ring?”

Pinkie piped up, “Oh, that’s easy, Grubby! It’s from this world, and when it’s full of power, it lets anyone travel far away in a second! Twilight was given it to try to restore its power so we could come back here one day!”

Tempest looked back towards the city as she remarked, “There must be something really good if you wanted to come back here…”

Grubber looked back at the city as well and his eyes soon caught sight of something. “Hey, look! There’s a rainbow shooting through the city! So cool!” he exclaimed. Everyone looked and saw a familiar rainbow trail going down one street after another.

“That’s Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said. They all watched the pegasus continue flying through the city until she approached a spot amongst the buildings that was slightly more open due to some of them being collapsed. The pegasus came to a stop at one end of the road, and moments later they could make out small blasts being shot at her from the other end of the road. “Uh-oh! That doesn’t look good!” Applejack exclaimed.

“What do you think is going on down there?” Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie piped up, “Ooh! Maybe she found Twilight!”

Spike’s eyes widened at that, “Twilight?!” Without warning he went under the railing and leapt off of the ledge, spreading his wings wide. He heard Grubber, Tempest, and the other girls calling out to him, but he kept going, flapping his wings as he flew straight towards the scene.

Shortly afterwards, while everyone was still looking in the direction Spike had gone, Rarity came back, exclaiming, “I can’t find the Warp Ring! It’s not there! We could be trapped here…!”

Applejack turned to her and said, “This ain’t the time fer that, Rarity!” When the fashionista looked like she was going to argue with her, Applejack came over and grabbed the sides of her face with her hooves, turning her so she could see what was happening below. “Rainbow’s caught up in that, and Spike just flew on ahead to try ta help her!” Rarity’s eyes widened at that. Applejack released her and they looked at each other as she finished, “So let’s get down there, help ‘em out, make sure Twilight’s okay, and then we’ll worry about findin’ that ring!” Rarity nodded and the group began running down the path to get to their friends.


EGG PAWN ATTACK


As Spike got closer, he was able to make out more of what was going on. First, he could see Rainbow Dash taking cover from the shots behind a sizable piece of rubble, the pegasus peering out from behind the stone every few moments, looking for an opening. The shots were coming from a group of robots that looked like Egg Pawns, but their appearance was a little different. Instead of the mostly orange bodies, big smiles, and blue eyes that Egg Pawns had had last time any of them had seen them, these had gray and tan bodies and big red eyes, their overall appearance looking less goofy. And in between the two sides, lying in the middle of the road, was Twilight, still unconscious.

While he was very tempted to immediately fly to Twilight’s side, Spike turned and flew to the left, landing next to Rainbow when there was a break in the shots. “What’s going on, Rainbow?!” he asked, raising his voice due to the shots starting again.

“It was a trap! I saw Twilight over there and thought one of those guys dropped her, but once I got close, these guys came out of nowhere and started shooting at me! I can’t get to her like this!” Rainbow explained. They both looked in the Egg Pawns’ direction, the shots from the robots coming to a stop a few seconds later. Realizing this, Rainbow scooted closer to Spike and whispered, “If we work together on this, we’ll be able to get Twilight out of there. And I know how to do it.” Spike stood up attentively at that.

When there was a slowdown in the Egg Pawns’ shots, Spike flew straight up out of cover and flapped his wings to hover in the air over the rubble, almost at the level of the rooftops of the standing buildings. The Egg Pawns immediately turned to look up at him and, after identifying him, began shooting at him. Spike began flying around, turning and weaving around to avoid their shots while occasionally spitting out flames to keep their attention on him. Seeing this, Rainbow made her move.

The pegasus darted out from cover, ducking behind a smaller piece of rubble nearby and peering out to make sure they hadn’t noticed her. They were still focused on Spike, so she quickly shot back out towards Twilight, reaching her in less than second. She checked her when she got to her side, finding her still unresponsive but with telltale signs that she was alive. It didn’t take long to shift the alicorn onto her back, but she must’ve taken too long since, immediately afterwards, she looked up and saw one of the Egg Pawns turn its attention to her, its weapon already glowing. Rainbow yelped and leapt to the side to avoid the shot, the others quickly turning their attention to her as well. She jumped, moved, and made use of her wings as much as she was able to without knocking Twilight off to avoid the shots while moving back towards cover, but just as she was almost to cover, a shot hit her left wing, causing her to cry out as she fell the short distance to the ground and landed hard on her front, Twilight rolling off of her back in front of her as she stopped.

“Rainbow!” Spike cried, flying down to her and Twilight. The pegasus was starting to shake off the disorientation from the crash landing by the time he reached them, so he moved towards Twilight and started trying to pull her behind cover instead. Rainbow recovered soon after and leapt to her hooves, helping him get her behind the rubble before the barrage of shots started again.

While the two stayed behind cover with Twilight and tried to figure out what to do, Tempest and the others finally caught up with them, all of them having to take cover when the Egg Pawns identified them as priority targets. Tempest and Applejack managed to reach Rainbow and Spike and take cover with them while Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and Grubber hid behind another smaller piece of rubble a short distance behind them.

Once everyone was caught up, they all began to think of a way to either deal with or get away from the Egg Pawns and find a place where they could get Twilight some help. Before they could do anything, they suddenly heard more shots being fired, but they sounded different as well as further away. What’s more, the Egg Pawns stopped firing on their cover seconds later. After a moment, it sounded like they were firing at the source of the new shots. Taking a chance, everyone peeked around the side of their cover to look.


IT'S THE RESISTANCE


They saw an Egg Pawn explode and briefly saw a lithe bipedal figure with long ears atop its head wearing a white mask over its eyes and a black coat and holding some kind of gun in its right hand before it turned and ran to take cover in the remains of one of the nearby buildings. While the Egg Pawns turned to shoot at the building, a bird person wearing some sort of flight suit with down and feathers that were almost Sonic blue and wings on his back swooped down and landed in the middle of the Egg Pawns, sliding across the ground for a moment. When they turned and pointed their weapons at him, he called, “Bear-doze ‘em!” before giving a mighty flap of his wings and flying away as the robots began firing up after him.

While they were distracted by the bird, a large, burly creature covered almost entirely in brown fur jumped out of hiding at the other end of the street and charged on two legs straight towards the Egg Pawns, the robots noticing too late to stop it from crashing into and landing on top of half of them. While it pinned and began to beat them down, Tempest and the others could see three more creatures that had been holding onto the larger one’s black hoodie, all of them still holding on with one hand while using the other to draw a small weapon and opening fire on the remaining Egg Pawns. The robots stood up to the shots at first, but after several seconds, they began to crack from the shots and were destroyed soon afterwards along with the ones that were being held down.

The air was silent for a couple of seconds as the tension in the air dissipated, being broken by the comparatively quiet taps as the three creatures let go of the larger one and dropped down onto their feet. It was then further broken by one of them saying loudly, “Whoo-hoo! That was great! We took those robots out nice and easy!” The voice sounded like a male’s and it had a bit of a Southern accent to it.

One of the others, this one sounding female, said, “That’s partly because they were distracted when we saw them. It didn’t take much to get the drop on them. Wonder what caught their attention?”

Tempest saw the larger creature stand up straight and quickly pushed Rainbow, Applejack, and Spike back behind what was left of the rubble, hoping it didn’t see them while signaling with a hoof for Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Grubber to do the same. The movements didn’t go completely unnoticed by the larger creature, but she already suspected what it was that had caught the Egg Pawns’ attention. “I think I know,” she remarked in a surprisingly sweet voice.

Tempest’s heart began to pound as she heard footsteps coming towards their hiding place. She glanced over at Rainbow and Applejack and noticed the former looked like she was ready to spread her wings. She quickly reached over with her right hoof and placed it on the side of her head, shaking her head when the pegasus looked over at her. “Just because they stopped those things does not mean they’re on our side,” she reasoned to herself while trying to keep the fear growing inside of her to herself.


MEETING THE RESISTANCE


Suddenly, the piece of rubble began to shift behind them and, after several moments, it slid to the side, revealing the ponies and dragon. While they all turned in surprise to look up at the creature, Tempest’s breath caught in her throat as she realized she’d been right; it was indeed a bear. Tempest continued to stare up at her with wide eyes as she finished pushing the rubble and dusted off her white gloves with little flowers on the borders before turning to look down at them. “Well, looks like my little hunch was right, dearies,” she remarked after a moment. She reached up to the white communicator on the left side of her head and, after a moment, said, “Terv, I’ve found some survivors. I need you to come back right away.”

While she was speaking, Rarity, Pinkie, and Grubber peered out curiously at the bear, seeing the other three making their way over. Fluttershy peered out as well, though her curiosity soon gave way to excitement. She’d only learned a little bit about what the animals in Sonic’s world were like last time they’d seen him, and Twilight and Starlight’s talks about the other Sonic’s world had only made her more interested. Now that things had settled down for the moment, she had a chance to get acquainted with what was, to her, a new type of animal and she wasn’t going to waste it.

As two of the others, one of whom was a red cat with black markings around his face and the other a pale purple wolf girl, both of which were wearing the same tan uniform and helmet, came over, Fluttershy suddenly shot out from her hiding place and wrapped her forelegs around the bear’s midsection, surprising the ursine enough to get her to take a few steps back and turn to the side. “Oh my! You’re a friendly one, aren’t you, dear?” she asked as she looked down at the pony who, for the moment, seemed to have great interest in her fur.

The cat adjusted his helmet, noticing Grubber and the other girls starting to come out as he said, “That’s for sure. You got yourself a real hugger there, Matka.”

A third voice, this one sounding male and like it was coming through a speaker, spoke up, “Oh yeah, great. Just what we need: more dead weight. Can we make it our new mascot while we’re at it?” Everyone looked past the three and saw the fourth guy standing behind them, this one taller and slenderer than the cat or the wolf and clad in a black suit with a gray box on the back that covered him up completely save for part of the front of his head, which was visible through the visor in the helmet he wore. The shape of his eyes was similar to Sonic’s, but the eyes themselves were an icy blue, he appeared to have gray fur, and they could see several patches on his head that did not match the rest of his fur.

“Oh, don’t start this now, Gen,” the wolf girl said, glancing back over her shoulder at him.

“Yeah, I tell you what, they look like they’ve had enough to deal with today. They don’t need your anger fits as well, especially when one of them is hurt,” the cat added.

The gray hedgehog stepped forward, walking past the two as he dryly remarked, “Oh, well that’s just super. You two are absolutely right; we have to take them in now. After all, this is nothing but a charity group, isn’t it? Especially when it comes to taking care of a bunch of unknowns.” He came to a stop in the middle of the gathering, turning around to look at the wolf and the cat as he finished.

Rainbow felt indignant at Gen’s attitude and words. “Hey, we are not unknown! We helped Sonic save your world once! He would’ve had a tough time defeating the Time Eater if he didn’t have us and the rest of his friends!” she argued. At her words, the cat discreetly pulled out a small, yellow rectangular device and pointed it at the Equestrians while looking at the screen.

Gen turned to look at the pegasus, “Oh really? And who might you be?”

Rainbow stood proud as she answered, “I’m Rainbow Dash, full-time Wonderbolt member and coolest pony in Equestria!”

Gen turned back around and called, “Hey, you hear that, everyone? Rainbow Dash! We’ve got Rainbow Dash here!” A second of silence passed before he turned back to the cyan pony, getting up in her face to say, “You hear that? Nobody cares.” Rainbow glared at him as he turned away, his eyes falling on Applejack and the angry look she was giving him. “Nice hat. It’s almost as silly as Felix’s here,” he remarked to the earth pony, reaching over and knocking it off her head.

“My name is Salten, Gen. You know that,” the red cat grumbled as he lowered his left arm to his side.

“Yeah, ooh, nice name, cat. What, was ‘Scorch’ too cliché for you? Needed something that sounded fancier when you joined up?” the hedgehog questioned. “You know, I think I’m going to take back what I said. Now that we’ve got an actual rainbow here, it’s not silly; I think it would be more accurate to say fr…”

He was cut off by a new female voice saying, “That’s enough, Gen!” The long-eared figure from earlier, which they could now clearly see was a rabbit with gold-colored fur and a blue ribbon next to her left ear, suddenly leapt up on top of the piece of rubble, looking down at the hedgehog while the blue bird from earlier flew down and landed next to the wolf and Salten. “I believe you’ve said far more than is necessary,” the rabbit stated, her voice calm.

The bird, on the other hand, was clearly not calm as he said, “Yeah! So, if you’re not going to contribute anything worthwhile, you might as well head back to base!”

Gen threw his hands up in exaggeration as he replied, “Sure, whatever. I’ll be sure to leave your suit with the cleaner.” He then started walking away from the group, everyone watching him until he turned the corner at the end of the road and left their sight.

Applejack looked over when she heard footsteps approaching to see the wolf coming towards her. She knelt down and picked up the earth pony’s Stetson, dusting it off before standing back up and offering it to her as she said, “Sorry about that, everyone. As you can tell, Gen… isn’t exactly a people person these days. I assure you we’re not all like him.”

Applejack gratefully took her hat back and put it back on her head as she spoke, “Thanks. There’s more o’ y’all?”

The wolf nodded and put her hand on her chest, “I’m Aventura. You’ve already met Salten and Matka.” She gestured to the cat and bear as she spoke, Tempest nervously glancing back at the bear as she and Fluttershy moved to check on Twilight. Aventura gestured to the rabbit, who tipped two fingers to the group in response, and said, “This is Sona, and this is Terv, one of our medics.”

The blue hawk waved, “Nice to meet you all.”  Now that he was on the ground in front of them, the Equestrians could see that he had longer feathers on his arms that allowed them to act as his wings and the gray uniform he had on wasn’t exactly a flight suit. It was similar to one, but the sleeves and legs were short and he wore a silver-colored vest on top of it. He also had a pair of orange goggles on his forehead and a red backpack slung across his back. He adjusted the bag as he looked at Aventura, “If it’s all right with you, Aventura…” The wolf nodded and stepped back as he stepped forward, asking, “Now, do we have anything to deal with right away?” His eyes fell on the burnt spot on Rainbow’s left wing and he pointed at it, “That looks new. What happened?”

Rainbow was a bit surprised by how forward he was being, but she replied, “Oh, it was one of those robots… Egg Pawns or whatever? Managed to hit me before you guys showed up. I’ll be fine, though. This isn’t too bad.”

Matka spoke up, “I think this is probably your main patient over here, Terv.” The hawk looked over and saw the bear was kneeling down and cupping the back of Twilight’s head in her hand, lifting it up off the ground slightly while Fluttershy and Spike stood next to her, looking at Twilight with worried expressions. She looked up, “Not sure what happened, but she definitely went through the worst of it.”

Terv replied, “Sure looks that way, Matka. Okay, let me take a closer look.” He walked over and knelt down on the other side of Twilight, Matka gently resting the alicorn’s head back on the ground as he began to palpate and look her over closely. “Hm… Quite a bit of blunt trauma here. I see signs of burns, but they don’t look too bad. Doesn’t seem like anything’s broken,” he said to himself a minute later as he checked her vitals and glanced at the watch on his left wrist.

Spike asked, “Can you help her, doctor?”

Terv looked up at him, staring for a moment before replying, “Oh no, I’m not a doctor; not quite, anyway. And no, not here. I don’t have a lot of medical supplies on hand right now; there’s only so much I can take with me when we go out. Right now, this is just a cursory examination. I’m checking to make sure it’s safe.” He then returned his attention to his watch.

Rarity asked, “Safe for what?”

Sona leapt down next to the unicorn and said, “If it’s safe to move her, of course. Wouldn’t want to give her a full medical exam out here if we can avoid it, especially nowadays.” She had a feeling she was being watched a moment later and turned her head to see Pinkie standing behind her, looking at her intently with wide eyes. “Yes?” she asked.

Pinkie spoke, “You look like a real mysterious bunny! All that black you’re wearing even though you’re fluffy and yellow… Are you a vampire? Or a time traveler? Ooh! Maybe you’re some kind of new joker I’ve never heard about! Is that why you wear a mask?”

Sona gave a light chuckle and replied, “You’re a really curious one. Well, I don’t want to spoil any of this little mystery for you so soon, so you’ll just have to wait to get the answers.”

Terv spoke up a moment later, “Okay, our friend here seems to be stable. It should be okay to move her.”

Salten said, “Good. I just got an answer from Techni. She was able to find some information on most of these ladies and their dragon friend in our database from the picture I sent her. She told the Commander and he wants us to bring them back to base right away.” Everyone looked over at him while he was talking and saw him looking down at his device, which he slipped back into his pocket when he was done talking.

Terv replied, “Well, that’s an order if I ever heard one.” He looked back at Matka and started, “Matka, do you think you could…?” The bear nodded and gently maneuvered her hands underneath Twilight, lifting her up bridal-style.

Tempest glanced back down at Terv, asking as he took off his backpack and began to dig through it, “There’s a base around here?”

Aventura answered, “You bet. It’s not that far from here, and you all just might run into some familiar faces there.”

Terv stood up and turned around, revealing he was holding a tube of ointment and some bandages in his hands, “But before we go, let me quickly take care of that burn, Miss.”

Rainbow blinked and turned slightly, backing away as he began to walk towards her. “Uh, no. Seriously, it’s not that bad. I’ll be fine, really! You don’t…” She came to a stop in both her words and her steps when she felt someone at her sides and looked to see Aventura on her right and Sona on her left, both girls putting their hands on her when she saw them.

“Come on, hold your wing open for him. He’ll only be a second,” Sona urged.

Aventura noticed that Rainbow still looked hesitant so she leaned over and whispered, “Just let him do it. Terv is really dedicated to helping people get better. Once he knows he can do something to help someone feel better, he’s not easy to convince otherwise. Make it easy on yourself and don’t get off to a bad start with him, okay?” Rainbow thought about what she said for a moment before relenting, holding her left wing straight out so Terv could apply the ointment and bandage it.

After he was done and had gathered up his supplies, the animals began leading the way down the street and Grubber, Spike, and the ponies followed close behind. As they were leaving, they were unaware of Infinite standing on a nearby rooftop, watching them with his mask in his left hand. He knew he could destroy them all right then and there or stick to the order he was given, but since he’d played along this far, he decided to make a change and let them go in the hopes that they might prove to be amusing. If it were up to him, he would’ve dealt with them back in Equestria and not even bothered dragging them here, but Eggman had told him specifically what to do, so Infinite went to the trouble of dragging them all from their world plus a few extras for the sake of Eggman’s desire for revenge. He was the reason Infinite had the power he had, so he had to be good for now and not stray too far from what he was told. He would get his opportunity; he just had to be patient.

He took his mask in both hands and looked down at it, looking at the damage Tempest had done. The gem on his chest began to glow and a moment later, small red cubes appeared from it and hovered over to the mask, spreading across it until it was completely covered. They faded away a few seconds later, the mask no longer appearing damaged. As he slipped it back on, a thought entered his mind: was it really no longer damaged or did he fool himself into thinking it wasn’t? “Of course not,” he thought, “That Tempest horse is the deluded one. I am the master of this power; I can create whatever I wish and torture all who oppose me before I end them, if I decide to end them. Soon, they’ll all know what fear really is.” With that, he hovered just above the roof, turned, and shot off through the air, heading for Eggman’s base to deliver his report.

________________________________________


RESISTANCE BASE


Matka, Aventura, Salten, Terv, and Sona led the Equestrians to a large building that stood by itself near the edge of the city, its outer structure damaged and, in some places, collapsed. Inside, they found the main room was a wide-open space that reminded Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Pinkie of the chamber where they’d faced Nightmare Moon, just with more stairs, entryways, and levels above them. Structural debris littered the area, some of the entryways being blocked off by it.

“Whoa! What is this place?” Rainbow asked as they walked down the stairs in front of the entrance.

“Used to be a train station; at least, it was going to be. It was abandoned long before the Resistance moved in,” Sona explained.

“The Resistance?” Tempest asked.

“The Resistance to Retake the Planet. Have you never heard of us?” Terv asked.

Salten answered for the Equestrians, “Terv, they haven’t been to our world in quite some time, according to what Techni sent me. They don’t know what’s been going on, but we’ll tell ‘em what’s been going on soon enough.”

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Applejack asked, “Why can’t y’all tell us now?”

Sona smirked as she looked back, “Hope this doesn’t offend you, but I think it’ll be better if you hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.” The ponies all gave her an odd look at that.

Aventura walked ahead of the group over to an obelisk that was still standing slightly off to the side, stopping in front of it and pulling out her own handheld device. While she was tapping the screen with her index finger, Matka, Terv, Sona, and Salten walked over, stopping a couple of feet away. As the Equestrians came over, Tempest noticed something: there was a small circle around the obelisk that the pillar was almost in the center of and it was surrounded by a much larger circle that the animals were standing outside of. “Is there an opening here?” she wondered as they all stood near the group. It didn’t take long for her to get an answer.

After about half a minute, a noticeable whirring sound filled the air and Aventura looked down to her side. The sound was coming from a circular door opening, the door’s points pulling into the larger circle as everyone watched. Once the door was open all the way, Matka leapt down into the opening, followed by Salten, Sona, and Terv. Tempest, Spike, and Rainbow didn’t hesitate to leap down after them, but the others were a bit hesitant. Seeing this, Aventura said, “Don’t worry, it’s not that far down. As long as you’re not scared of slides, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Pinkie happily leapt down into the hole at that, followed by Applejack, Rarity, and Grubber. Fluttershy took a little longer before she jumped, but after she did, Aventura did the same and the door began to close shortly afterwards, hiding the entrance once more.

It turned out it really wasn’t too far a drop. After a few seconds of falling, Spike, Grubber, and the ponies came into contact with something solid beneath them, which was quickly followed by the realization that it was cold and metallic. Because they didn’t know what to expect, the ponies, save for Pinkie, ended up going down the slide awkwardly, and a bit painfully, on their fronts. Luckily, it wasn’t a long slide and there were no twists or turns; it was just a straight shot to the bottom. They came out into the room it led to and found Terv, Salten, Matka, and Sona waiting for them. They all stood up and moved out of the way of the tube when they arrived, and Aventura joined them soon after Fluttershy came down.

Looking around, the Equestrians saw there wasn’t anything special about the room they were in. It was smaller than the station entrance and there were only a couple of scattered crates lying around and a few moderately bright lights on the ceiling. Tempest heard footsteps a few moments later and turned to see Sona, Terv, and Matka walking over to the wall to the right of their entrance and walked over to see what they were doing, Grubber quickly noticing and hurrying to walk alongside her. Sona reached the wall first and held up her right hand, the red fingers of her black gloves coming to rest underneath a barely noticeable rusty-looking panel on the wall and lifting it up to reveal a much newer-looking keypad underneath. Her fingers practically skipped across the buttons, but Tempest could make out the numbers on the display. “#-7-3-7-4-7-8-2-6-2-3-#,” she read to herself before the display changed to green, a soft beeping sound coming from the keypad as Sona put the panel back down.

Everyone looked over when they heard the sound of something heavy sliding and saw a hidden door opening in the wall. After it was opened fully, Sona looked at Matka and Terv and said, “After you two.” They nodded and went into the lit passage beyond, Sona watching them for a moment before she turned to Tempest and the others, saying, “Well, come on in, everybody. Welcome to Resistance HQ.” She headed down the passage as well and, after a moment, the Equestrians followed her, Aventura and Salten bringing up the rear and stopping for a moment to make sure the door slid shut behind them.

After a minute of walking, the passage ended at a door that slid open when they approached it. The room beyond looked similar to the one they were just in with better lighting, but Spike and the girls finally saw a familiar face as well. Three familiar faces, actually: Amy, Cream, and Cheese, all three of them currently turned away as they talked to Terv and Matka. Both Cream and Cheese looked how they remembered them, but Amy’s wardrobe had changed a bit. She still had her red hairband and boots, but she had traded her dress for a pair of blue jeans and a light gray bomber jacket that was zipped up.

After Matka and Terv turned and went through the nearby door into the base, Amy, Cream, and Cheese turned around and immediately spotted the Equestrians. They all gasped and Cream ran over to hug Fluttershy, Cheese flying over to do the same while Amy walked over. Rarity looked between the reassured look on Amy’s face and Cream for a moment before remarking, “Goodness. And I thought we were going to be happy to see our old friends again. You girls must’ve missed us quite terribly…”

Cream murmured, “I’m just so glad to see you all again. And relieved that you’re all okay…”

Amy wrapped her arms around Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy as she said, “We’re all relieved. When we heard about Twilight, we were all worried she wasn’t the only one who’d been badly hurt. It’s so good to see you all again, and in such good health too.” While she was talking, Aventura and Salten excused themselves, heading into the base. Amy let go of the ponies after a few moments and bent down to scoop up Spike. While she was hugging him, she noticed something different about him and held him out to take a better look at him. “Wings? I don’t remember you having wings before, Spike.” She became thoughtful, “Come to think of it, Twilight looked like she had wings too…”

Spike thought for a moment what to say. His interactions with the other Amy had calmed some of his fears of the pink hedgehog and made him more relaxed, but he didn’t want to incur her wrath, even if it did seem like she’d matured somewhat since the last time they’d seen each other. “Uh, yeah, Amy. There’s… been a lot of changes back in Equestria since the last time we saw each other,” he settled on.

Tempest spoke bluntly, “Yes, a lot has happened. While we’re on the subject of Twilight, where did they take her?”

Amy, Cream, and Cheese looked up at the scarred unicorn, noticing her for the first time as well as Grubber. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to overlook you and your friend, miss!” Cream said.

“What are your names?” Amy asked.

Grubber piped up, “Hey! The name’s Grubber, and I’m the assistant to this fine pony!”

Pinkie started, “And her name is Fi…”

Tempest interjected, “Tempest Shadow. I prefer to go by Tempest Shadow.” She shot an apologetic look over at Pinkie before looking back at Amy and asking, “Now, can you please tell us where Twilight is?” Everyone else looked at Amy expectantly at her question, especially Spike.

“Matka was taking her to the infirmary so Terv can take a better look at her. It should be okay if you go to see her, as long as you don’t get in anyone’s way. We set up signs on the wall that’ll point you in the right direction.” That was all Tempest and Spike needed to hear, both of them turning and heading into the base, with Spike taking a moment to tell the hedgehog, rabbit, and Chao he was glad to see them again before flying after Tempest. The other ponies and Grubber did the same, adding that they’d catch up later before they followed the two.

Resistance HQ wasn’t huge from what the Equestrians could tell; at the very least, it didn’t seem like it spread far out from the abandoned station it was hidden under, but it was clear the Resistance was making the most of the somewhat drab and dilapidated-looking structure they had made into a base. The signs, while a bit rundown, clearly pointed them where they needed to go, the little bit of tech they were able to see while they made their way to the infirmary looked pretty advanced, and they passed a number of other Resistance members as they walked: a light teal bird in an orange and blue flight suit, a blue dog wearing green shades that hid his eyes, a pink cat wearing a black vest, a skirt, and combat boots, a cyan bird wearing a black shirt, camo pants, green goggles, and black sneakers… They also passed a red wolf who seemed underdressed compared to everyone else they’d seen. He nervously looked away when they noticed him and turned to look after they passed by him.

It didn’t take them long to locate the infirmary. When the door slid open, they could see multiple beds lined up in a row on both sides of the room beyond, taking up a little more than half the space available. The rest of the room was taken up by some pieces of furniture, medical equipment, and a few bathroom fixtures. More beds were occupied than any of the Equestrians expected to see, but off to the right, about a third of the way down the row, they could see Matka standing on the other side of one of the beds laying Twilight down on it while Terv and a familiar red echidna stood on the other side. The echidna was a welcome sight to Spike and his friends, but they still couldn’t see the blue hedgehog they were hoping to see.


THE INFIRMARY


Matka soon looked up and saw everyone standing in the doorway, Knuckles soon noticing and following her gaze to see them as well. He smiled and waved at them before waving them over, Spike immediately rushing over and jumping up onto the bed, resting on his hands and knees as he looked at Twilight. After a few seconds, he looked up at Terv, who had returned his attention to a clipboard he was writing on, and asked, “How is she?”

Terv, without looking up, answered in a bit of an annoyed tone, “I haven’t had a chance to continue my examination yet. I’m kinda busy using the information Techni sent Salten to make a chart for our unicorn friend here.”

As everyone else approached, Rainbow spoke up, “Uh, Twilight’s got wings now. That means she’s an alicorn now.”

Terv glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow for a moment before turning his attention back to his clipboard, scratching something out as he remarked, “Well, that needs to be updated, then.”

Knuckles shook his head in amusement before stepping around Terv, walking over to Applejack. “Hey there, Knuckles,” the earth pony said, raising her right hoof. Knuckles replied by bringing up his right fist and bumping it against her hoof.

“It’s good to see you guys again. Looking pretty good, all things considered,” he stated.

Applejack replied, “Ah’d ask why everyone keeps sayin’ that, but, uh…” She trailed off as she raised an eyebrow, her eyes glancing around the room.

“Yeah, it’s kinda bad in here today,” they heard Salten say. They looked towards the back of the room and saw the red cat coming towards them. He was still wearing his gloves and boots, but he’d changed out of his uniform and was now wearing a white vest with a black sash near the bottom and a hat similar to Applejack’s. His ears flicked a moment later and he said, “Uh, you might want to move out of the way. I think I hear Mr. Chip on His Shoulder coming.”

They realized who he was talking about a few seconds later when the infirmary door slid open and Gen stormed in, followed closely by Espio and Silver. “I just can’t believe you walked off and abandoned everybody, Gen!” Silver was saying.

The ponies moved between the beds on both sides and Grubber stayed close to Tempest, clearing the way as Gen looked back over his shoulder and replied, “Bird nurse told me to leave if I was done being helpful, so I did. What’s the problem?”

Espio said, “I believe he was trying to point out that you were taking things too far, that you needed to rein in your attitude and not let it get out of control.”

Gen came to a stop not far from the group and turned to face the two as he yelled, “Well, you wouldn’t have to worry about that if you’d just let do what has to be done! Let me loose and send me after that guy! I’ll take care of him and end all this right now!”

Matka walked up behind him while he was talking and placed her right hand on his back when he was done, her thumb and fingers going over his shoulders as she grabbed and lifted him up, the hedgehog giving a surprised yelp in response. “Okay hon, we’ve all heard this before. Let’s have Tina get you out of that suit and into your bath now,” she cheekily said. Gen didn’t fight back against her, though he did cross his arms and look angry as she turned and headed to the back of the infirmary with him. After she passed the group, she moved to the side for a moment while saying, “Oops, excuse us, Windra.” As she continued moving, the Equestrians saw that Windra was a cream-colored poodle wearing a green pinafore with yellow edges with black leggings, a black watch-like device on her left wrist, what looked like safety glasses, and a strange red hat that had purple eyes on the front and was floppy on top.

Windra turned around after nodding to Matka, allowing everyone to see she was carrying medical supplies in her arms. She came over to Twilight’s bed and stopped where Matka had been before saying, “I got those supplies you asked for, Terv.”

The hawk looked up at her and said, “Ah, thank you, Windra.” He pulled out one of the papers on his clipboard and placed it on her side, “Here’s my preliminary examination notes. Do what you can; I’ll be with you in a minute or two.” Windra nodded and began to look over the notes while Terv returned to his clipboard.

While the other girls reconnected with Espio and Silver, Tempest’s eyes wandered to the back of the infirmary. She saw a dark yellow hedgehog, whom she presumed was Tina, messing with the box on the back of Gen’s suit as Matka stood in front of him. After a couple of seconds, she removed it and moved to set it down on one of the nearby tables while Gen shuddered and leaned forward a bit before he began to take the suit off. As he took the helmet off and removed the suit, Tempest started to get concerned. Without the helmet’s visor acting as a filter, the discolored spots on his head looked like they were burns, and there were more on the rest of his body as the suit dropped away from him. He was having trouble reaching anything below his waist, so Matka carefully picked him up with her left hand and used her right hand to pull the rest of the suit off, leaving him in just a pair of black socks. She then turned around and set him in a prefilled bathtub, the gray hedgehog leaning back and looking relaxed for a change after being set down.

She turned her attention away when she heard Terv speaking, “Now, Ms. Sparkle was already in this state when we came across your group. Can anyone fill me in on what exactly happened to her?”

Fluttershy spoke up, “Um, well, we were trying to catch up with Tempest at the time because she and Grubber suddenly showed up in Ponyville and, well, she looked and sounded like she was in a hurry when they saw us and said to hurry. So, we did and, um… we found Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow, and someone else in the library, Twilight was unconscious, and the Warp Ring was activated.”

Terv was quickly writing while she was speaking, asking when she paused, “And these individuals you identified, they’re…?”

Pinkie piped up with her forelegs held up, “Bad guys! Like, real bad guys! You guys already knew about Chrysalis, but not Tirek or Cozy Glow! And that fourth guy mentioned Eggy was expecting us!”

Terv kept writing as he moved away from Pinkie a little and said, “Hm. So there’s no doubt in your minds that they’re responsible for her injuries?”

Spike spoke up, “Yeah! I saw them! She was still up when I saw her, then they ganged up on her and knocked her into a bookshelf! That last guy was the one who did it!”

Terv asked, “And you don’t know who he is?”

Rarity admitted, “He never mentioned his name to us, just that he was associated with Dr. Eggman.”

Grubber spoke, “He never told us his name either, when he came after Tempest.”

Rainbow said, “So that’s how you knew.”

Tempest nodded, “Yes. From his words, it was clear where he was going after he destroyed the tavern outside of Klugetown and he wasn’t joking. And the way he looked, with that white hair, black fur, the gem in his chest, and that mask with one red eye…” Terv’s clipboard and pen hit the infirmary floor at her description along with multiple other objects around the room, which caught the Equestrians’ attention.


BAD MEMORIES


They looked around the room and saw everyone, even Gen, frozen stiff and looking in Tempest’s direction with wide eyes. “Whoa. Talk about tension,” Rainbow remarked.

Tempest turned to look at Espio when the chameleon asked, “That monster made it to Equestria? And you fought him?”

Tempest blinked, “Yes…”

Terv bent down to get his pen and clipboard as he asked, “Did he do anything to you?”

Tempest answered, “Well, he mainly attacked me at close quarters, both unarmed and armed. Until the end where he did… something and made me experience a vision or hallucination or something.”

Grubber added, “Yeah, she was just lying on the floor staring straight ahead after he did whatever, and it took a while to respond to me.” Murmurs started up around the room at their words.

Terv stood up and tucked his clipboard under his left arm before saying, “Well, you are very lucky, then. And so is Ms. Sparkle.”

Tempest’s eyes narrowed, “This is your idea of lucky?!”

Spike said, “Twilight’s badly hurt! And unconscious!”

Terv pointed his pen at the baby dragon, “Considering months ago, that guy would simply kill on sight? Yes, I would consider her lucky to be alive.” He looked back at Tempest, “And you’re lucky because you managed to break free of his power. Not many can claim to have done that.”

Applejack asked, “So y’all have been dealin’ with this guy fer a while?”

Knuckles replied, “Unfortunately.”

Espio explained, “We’re not exactly sure where his power comes from, but like Terv said, he started out simply destroying anyone who crossed his path. Lately, though, he seems to prefer dealing with his enemies through more… indirect means.”

Rarity asked, “Such as?”

Espio said, “We’ve noticed he prefers to do one of two things. One method is he allows his enemy to live and they return acting normal… for the most part. Usually they have no recollection of their encounter with him, and perhaps certain other memories don’t line up with what’s actually happened, but otherwise they’re fine. Then suddenly, out of nowhere…” He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, “Turns out he turned them into a sleeper agent.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “A what?”

Tempest answered, “It’s a type of saboteur. Someone who claims to be serving one faction when in reality they’re serving another. And they can remain inactive for long periods of time.”

Knuckles said, “We’ve had cases of Resistance members suddenly turning and trying to eliminate everyone around them, but he mainly likes to do that to the military. G.U.N. has had to go underground to avoid being completely wiped out.”

Grubber asked, “What’s a ‘G.U.N.’?”

Windra answered while still working, “The Guardian Unit of Nations. It’s a worldwide military and law enforcement agency that serves under the United Federation.”

Knuckles continued, “We were able to contact them freely when this war started. Now that they’ve gone into hiding, it’s not so easy to get in touch with them. Unless we go through one of their contacts, we’re on our own.”

Silver spoke, “And the other thing he’s been doing is exactly what Tempest described:  cause someone to experience some sort of hallucination that they become trapped in unless they can manage to break out of it.”

Terv pointed his pen down at Grubber, “And you said she was lying on the floor the whole time, unresponsive?” At the hedgehog’s nod, he said, “Again, I say you’re very lucky. Not everyone does that when they’re trapped in one of his hallucinations.”

Grubber asked, “What else do they do?”

Terv answered, “Well, they can be a lot more active. They can be flailing their limbs, jerking their head around, saying things that might make no sense. Basically, they’re giving anyone who comes across them an outside look at what they’re experiencing.”

Windra stopped working and looked up, “From a medical standpoint, that’s a lot worse. If they’re lying on the ground, the body is getting some rest in a way and we can use intravenous methods so they can receive nutrients and remain hydrated. That’s not easy to do when they’re flailing around. At least if they remain still, we can help them as best we can until they get free. If they’re thrashing around, we can’t do much except hope that they can get free before they die from not keeping up with their body’s needs.” The Equestrians gave her horrified looks at that.

Terv spoke as he went back to writing, “And in most cases, getting free is not the end of their problems. I swear, if I live to see this war end, I might have to seriously consider classifying a new sub-type of PTSD.”

Tempest asked, “PTSD?”

Salten nodded, “Yep. They might get free of whatever horrors he subjects ‘em to, but the memories don’t go away so easily.”

A dog soldier in uniform who had been in one of the beds came over and said, “I can definitely say they don’t. I had one such encounter with that guy; he made me think I was in a giant grassy field full of cows and cakes.”

Pinkie asked, “Aw, what’s wrong with that? That sounds like an awesome vision to have!”

The soldier replied, “It’s not so great if you’re lactose-intolerant. I thought I could handle it at first since nothing bad seemed to be happening, but then it got so much worse. The cows became devilish, and the cakes sprouted mouths and started shooting flames out of their toppings, and they all came after me…” He shuddered, “It’s hard to look at a glass of milk without being reminded of it…” He put his helmet on as he walked away, leaving the infirmary.

Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore. She’d done her best to keep the inevitable question in check this long, but after hearing the soldier’s account, combined with everything she’d seen and heard, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She turned to Knuckles and asked, “Where are Sonic and Tails? I want to have a talk with them.”

Espio crossed his arms and evenly replied to the pegasus, “You can’t.”

Rainbow whirled around to glare at him, “Excuse me?! This guy works for Eggman! Sonic said dealing with Eggman was his and Tails’ job! They’re not doing their job like they’re supposed to!”

Knuckles put a hand on her shoulder and said softly but firmly, “There’s a reason you can’t talk to them, Rainbow. Tails has been missing for weeks, and Eggman’s probably the only one who knows where Sonic is.”

Applejack asked, “What? What do ya mean?”

Knuckles lowered his hand and sighed as he closed his eyes and shook his head, “It’s still not easy to talk about, even after six months. But I knew the question was going to come up sooner or later. I actually expected it to come up sooner.” He opened his eyes and looked at the ponies, “Let’s go find Techni. It’ll be easier for her to show you what happened.”

Salten asked, “Uh, you mind if I come with, Commander? I kinda want to thank Techni for pulling up and sending me that information again.” Rarity noticed that he seemed to be a bit excited about going to see this Techni again. Knuckles shrugged and said it was okay and both he and Silver led the way out of the infirmary with Salten following close behind.

As Grubber and the ponies began to follow them, Rarity looked back at Twilight’s bed and saw that Spike was watching them, but he wasn’t moving to follow them. “Spike, aren’t you coming?” she asked.

The baby dragon blinked and quickly moved up against Twilight’s side, placing his hands on her as he murmured, “I don’t want to leave Twilight, Rarity…”

Tempest could clearly see that he wasn’t going to budge on this matter. The memory of Twilight being beaten was no doubt still fresh in his mind. She looked at Rarity and said, “Let him stay. We can fill him in on the details later.” Rarity looked reluctant to leave Spike behind, but she gave in and turned to follow the scarred unicorn out of the infirmary.

As the two walked away, they heard Terv say, “I’ll be taking a look at you next once we’re done patching her up.” He then called, “I’m going to need to take a look at all of you eventually if you plan on staying here!” before turning back to help Windra with Twilight. As they left the infirmary and followed Pinkie to catch up with the others, they didn’t notice the red wolf from before watching them from around the corner for a moment before he turned and headed for one of the base’s R&D rooms.

________________________________________


GETTING CAUGHT UP


As they expected, Knuckles and Silver found Techni in the main meeting room along with Aventura, who had switched out of her uniform and was wearing a black T-shirt, dark green pants, a bandanna that was the same blue color as her gloves, and sneakers that were white, pink-purple, and light blue. They were talking near the table when they heard the doors slide open. Stepping into the room, the Equestrians saw that Techni was a dark teal cat wearing a black vest and dark gray short-sleeved shirt over a black jumpsuit that had an aqua stripe on both sides, black and yellow fingerless gloves, blue-gray and black boots, and a communication device and scanning device on the left side of her head.

Silver spoke first, “Sorry to interrupt you two, but, ah…”

Knuckles took over, “We need a quick favor.” He looked at Techni, who was leaning against the table with her hands in her vest’s pockets, “Techni, these are our friends from Equestria. They’re not quite up to date yet on what’s happened since the last time we saw them, especially regarding Sonic, so…”

Techni picked up on what he was getting at and nodded, “Ah, I hear you, Commander. You want me to pull up THAT video for them. Will do.” She stood up straight, walked over to the computer console, and began typing on the keyboard. While she was searching for the video in question, Knuckles and Silver walked over to stand at the far end of the table and Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy moved to stand around the front of it. Aventura and Salten stood up against the wall near the doors, the latter looking dreamily at Techni while Grubber hesitated for a moment before going over to stand near Fluttershy.

Tempest stood where she was for a minute longer, watching what was displayed on the large monitor change as Techni pulled up and went through several different windows. She then walked over to the cat and asked, “Is it hard to find?”

Techni replied while keeping her eyes on the screen, “Oh no, not at all. Eggman sends this video out every day, along with his ‘advertisement’ about how much better our lives would be if we were all part of the Eggman Empire.”

Rainbow groaned, “Ugh. I don’t know even know what it talks about and it already sounds awful.”

Techni glanced back at the pegasus, “It is. First of all, ‘Robotomy’? Not even a real word. And second, I don’t know about you, but I like being able to eat, sleep, and think.”

Applejack asked, “Even if ya don’t watch it, how do ya put up with him botherin’ you with that every day?”

Techni replied, “It’s not so bad. When the war started, he was doing it incessantly. Multiple times an hour at the worst, multiple times a day at best. Once a day is… manageable.” She returned her attention to the computer and resumed computing for a couple of seconds. She then said, “Ah, here it is.” Tempest walked over to stand near Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie on the left side of the table as Techni turned to look at everyone, “Brace yourselves. This is going to be a terrible video to watch, because it captured an ugly moment… and because Eggman will give you a headache.” She turned back and made the video go full screen before hitting ‘PLAY’.

For the first few seconds, the video showed what appeared to be the sky, initially making it seem like it was going to have a nice, calming mood. That was quickly broken when a voice that most of the ponies recognized asked, “Is this thing on?” The camera suddenly tilted down and Eggman’s face filled the screen. “Ah, hello, future citizens of the Eggman Empire! I’m so glad to be speaking to you today of all days, for today is a monumental occasion for my empire, where the possibilities are… infinite!” he smugly said. Already the Equestrians knew that Techni hadn’t been kidding.

Eggman turned the camera away from him, revealing he was in what looked to be the same city they were underneath. It was clearly under attack, Egg Pawns similar to the ones they’d seen earlier, blue Aero-Chasers, and Buzz Bombers all shooting at the buildings. The city’s inhabitants were trying to help each other escape the attack force with the help of Tails, the two-tailed fox suddenly appearing in the video to surprise attack the Buzz Bombers by curling up and spinning into several of them before uncurling and using his namesakes to hold himself up. He said something to Eggman, but they couldn’t make it out since Eggman turned the camera back to him and said, “Oh look, the fox boy has come to stop me. No matter. He’s just a small fish; the real catch of the day should be along soon enough!”

As the video continued, Tails was able to make short work of the Buzz Bombers and Aero-Chasers, Pinkie loudly cheering for the fox while Fluttershy quietly cheered and the rest stayed quiet. Once they were dealt with, though, the Egg Pawns became more aggressive, firing up at him and making it difficult for him to approach. When they reach an open area that looked like a small square, one of them managed to land a lucky shot and knock the fox out of the air, causing him to land hard on his front. Fluttershy gasped louder than usual at this, “Oh no! TAILS!” The fox was beginning to recover as the Egg Pawns marched closer, the citizens seeming to hesitate on trying to escape down a nearby alleyway at this.

Suddenly, one of the Egg Pawns exploded when a blue blur ricocheted off of it, the blur slowing down as it bounced back and up and uncurling from a ball to reveal it was Sonic. He used his Homing Attack to take out several more before landing to the side of squad of Egg Pawns, quickly turning around and Boosting to send the rest of them flying before they could shoot at him. This time, Rainbow couldn’t contain herself, “Yeah, that was awesome! Go, Sonic!”

As the hedgehog moved to help Tails up, Eggman turned the camera back to himself and grinned, “Ha! Speak of the daredevil! I believe it’s time for the dramatic encounter!”

He turned the camera away, allowing them to see Sonic, Tails, and the citizens again. The citizens resumed trying to escape as Sonic turned to face Eggman and said, “Okay, it’s over, Eggman! Let’s finish this!”

Eggman replied, “It will be your finish, Sonic. Behold the power of my ultimate masterpiece!” While he was talking, Sonic shrugged before running towards him, jumping up and curling into a ball as he prepared to strike the Eggmobile.

Before his attack could connect, a red-purple blur struck him from the side, knocking him back. He grunted and flipped over due to the surprise attack, but he managed to land on his feet in a crouched position. He looked up to see Shadow land in front of him, some sort of strange static and flickering surrounding him for a moment before he stood up and crossed his arms as Sonic spoke, “Shadow! What are you…?”

Eggman turned the camera away slightly and leaned over to get in the shot as he uttered, “And now for the dramatic reveal!” He then sat back and turned the camera back to reveal that Zavok, Metal Sonic, and Chaos Zero had joined the black hedgehog.

Infinite floated down and landed in front of the group a few seconds later, causing Tempest to gasp. “That’s him!” she uttered, everyone looking over at her for a moment before looking back at the screen.

Despite being outnumbered and outmatched, Sonic refused to give in or let them intimidate him. Even after Infinite managed to dodge one of his Spin Attacks and kick him into a wall, he was soon back on his feet, stepping out of the way of several lasers Infinite fired at him and managing to block a punch from Zavok before kicking him in the chest, the Zeti falling onto his back afterwards. For a moment, despite Infinite seeming untouchable, it seemed like Sonic had a chance since he was able to dodge a charge from Metal Sonic and stop Chaos from grabbing him, but then Infinite came up behind him and kicked him down onto the ground below. “Nice!” they heard Eggman say before the fight quickly became one-sided.

Although Sonic was able to recover, Infinite soon managed to kick him into another wall. Sonic didn’t even get a chance to drop down before he was kicked up into the air, the others leaping up after him and kicking and punching him around like a sandbag for several seconds before Infinite kicked him one last time, straight down onto the ground. For a second, it seemed like Sonic was going to get back up, but then his arms and legs gave out and his body flopped back onto the ground. “SONIC!!!” Tails screamed in a bloodcurdling cry.

Even Tempest was feeling a bit horrified at the savage beating she’d just seen him go through. Eggman turned the camera back to him a couple seconds later, after Infinite and the others made Tails escape down the alleyway, and spoke, “Did you all see that?! Sonic has fallen! He’ll stand in my way no more, and this is just the beginning! It won’t be long before the entire planet is under my control! Surrender to the Eggman Empire and you will be shown mercy! Resist and… well, I don’t think I need to explain what will happen to you, now do I? I’m saying this for your sake; my ultimate masterpiece is certainly hoping there will be plenty more foolish fighters to put down in the future! GAH HAH HA H-” His laughter was cut off when Techni paused and closed the video.

“I think that’s just about enough of that,” she said through clenched teeth.

Silence ruled the room for a short while afterwards, being broken somewhat by Pinkie uttering, “Sonic…? Tails…?”

Rainbow shook her head and exclaimed, “I can’t believe it! Shadow helped Eggman take Sonic down? I thought he was on our side! Him and Chaos!”

Applejack looked at Knuckles and asked, “Are they still…?”

The echidna replied, “Yeah. For the last six months, they’ve still been with Eggman. And from the sound of things, it looks like that guy’s managed to drag some of your villains over, which is going to make things a lot more complicated for us.”

Rarity suddenly gasped, “Oh my goodness! Eggman’s probably held Sonic captive for the last six months! So, does that mean…” She looked at the others with a grave expression, “If he’s still alive… do you think he’s been torturing him?” Grubber and the other ponies looked at her with shocked expressions, all of them realizing how realistic that sounded.

“Sweet Celestia, he totally would, wouldn’t he?” Rainbow uttered.

“Him and Tails both!” Pinkie cried out.

Silver spoke up, “Uh, maybe not Tails. Like Knuckles said, he was with us until a couple weeks ago.”

Grubber asked, “What happened?”

Knuckles answered, “We’re not sure. He went missing and we haven’t been able to contact him since. We’re pretty sure he ran into trouble, though.”

Techni clarified, “A search team was sent to his last location. All they found was this.” She reached her left hand into her vest and pulled out a small square-shaped yellow device that had a black handle attached to it, holding it up.

“What is it?” Rarity asked.

“It’s a newer, smaller version of his Miles Electric handheld that we developed. We were working together to make a version that we could give to everyone in the Resistance. He allowed me access to all the data and files he had; that’s how I was able to pull up everything he had on Equestria when Salten contacted me earlier,” she explained. She then pulled out her own small handheld device and held it up before continuing, “We got as far as making the blueprints for the current model that the Resistance is using, but Tails went missing before we could start making them. I was able to take the blueprints, build this, and make more for the Resistance, but I’m sure it would’ve been even better if he’d been here…”

As she walked over to the table and set the older handheld on the table, Applejack realized something. “Speakin’ of bein’ here…” She turned to Silver and asked, “Silver, how come you’re here? Were ya able to get back to yer own time after we stopped the Time Eater?”

The silver-white hedgehog replied, “I was, but I came back to this time because I learned of something happening that brings the world to ruin. The records I found were sparse or made no sense, but I was able to figure out when it started and traveled back to that point to try to prevent it from happening. That was almost six months ago.”

Rainbow started, “So you came back when…”

Silver interrupted, “No, I arrived before Eggman pronounced Sonic defeated, but I went straight to Knuckles to alert him to the calamity. Something weird happened while we were talking; an ancient village appeared in front of us and Chaos appeared briefly and attacked us before they both vanished like they were never there. Afterwards, Knuckles listened to me and agreed to come help me. We had no idea what we would be up against, though, so we weren’t ready when Eggman unleashed that guy on the world.”

Knuckles spoke, “Not just us. No matter what we did, we didn’t know what he was really capable of, so we weren’t able to properly prepare anyone for him. It didn’t take long for Eggman’s conquest to begin. We’ve been doing our best to fight back the last six months, but things have been rough for us all around.” He was silent for several moments before saying, “You know, this isn’t really how I imagined we’d meet up again, but from the sound of things, this might actually be a lucky break, especially for you.”

Tempest asked, “How so?”

Knuckles replied, “From the sound of things, that guy has the power to travel to Equestria and was planning to drag Twilight and her friends back here. If he hadn’t come after you and Grubber, no one might’ve been aware of what he was doing until it was too late. Eggman could’ve just shown up in your world at a later point and taken it with absolutely no resistance.” Tempest had to admit she hadn’t thought about that. Knuckles addressed all the Equestrians, “I hate to ask this of you all now, but you’re here now and Eggman’s probably planning to attack your world soon as well. So, do you think…?”

Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all looked at each other for a moment before they turned back to him, Rainbow answering for them, “You even have to ask? Of course, we’ll help you put fat old Egghead in his place again!”

Pinkie added, “Ooh! I was feeling super scared before, but now I’m getting nervicited!”

Tempest spoke, “Clearly there’s a lot I need to be brought up to speed on, but regardless, you can count me in as well. I may have been able to turn the other cheek if he just came after me, but he and this Eggman made it personal by going after my friends. I will see this Eggman Empire fall.”

Grubber said, “Well, I intend to stick with Tempest no matter what, so I’ll be sure help out any way I can as well!”

Knuckles nodded, “Then it’s settled. Welcome to the Resistance, everyone.”

________________________________________


MEANWHILE...


“…And you saw them walking away with members of the Resistance. And you allowed that. Would you care to explain why?” Eggman was addressing Infinite in what appeared to be a control room, Eggman standing in front of a computer console with his back to it and Infinite standing a short distance in front of him. Orbot and Cubot hovered close together near the door, both of them nervously looking at Infinite.

“I don’t really see what the issue is with letting them go off on their own. I fully support your desire for revenge, Doctor, but I don’t see why they need to be captured. They seem harmless enough,” Infinite replied. While he was talking, he tapped into the power of his gem, causing flickers of static to appear around Eggman for a moment before a black coat began to appear over his red shirt, soon becoming solid.

Eggman glanced down at it with a raised eyebrow for a second before glaring back at Infinite, “Stop that! Do I look like Eggman Nega to you?!” At this, the coat flickered for a moment before vanishing completely.

“Doctor, I fail to see how their addition to the Resistance will change anything, especially after I beat one of them into submission. Even the one that actually seems like it can fight can’t possibly change the situation. Let them think they have hope before we crush them and it completely. That’s always been part of this plan you’ve had for the Resistance, hasn’t it?” Infinite questioned.

Eggman replied, “We will discuss the finer details of my plan at a later time. Right now, I have a new assignment for you.” He turned around to face the computer console and began typing on it for several seconds, a map of the world that included what looked like a travel route appearing on the floating screen when he was done. “The Resistance managed to learn one of my transportation routes and shot down a transport that was heading for the Mystic Jungle earlier today. This transport was carrying, among other things, a case containing all the Phantom Ruby prototypes.”

Infinite ran his fingers along the gem on his chest as he said, “Yes, I’ve heard about the prototypes.”

Eggman continued, “They were being taken back to the lab to be destroyed, and now they’ve been scattered. This won’t stand!”

Infinite said, “So you want me to deal with the Resistance fools who attacked the transport.”

Eggman whirled around to look and point at him as he yelled, “Wrong! Your assignment is to track down all those prototypes and destroy them before the Resistance gets a hold of any of them!”

Infinite asked, “What would it matter if they got a hold of one of the prototypes? Shouldn’t their power be exhausted now?”

Eggman answered, “It doesn’t matter if they’re worthless or not! I’m not going to have the Resistance getting a hold of my work and potentially finding a way to use it against me! Your focus is finding and destroying the Phantom Ruby prototypes; that is first above all else! Now get out there and do your job!”

Infinite bowed his head, “As you command, Doctor.” He then raised his head and turned, making his way out of the room. As the doors slid shut, Orbot and Cubot continued to stare nervously at them for a moment before looking back at Eggman. He had already turned back to the computer screen and was looking up at it with his hands behind his back, but what they couldn’t see was that one of his eyebrows was raised, as if he was looking at something out of the ordinary.

________________________________________

Sonic stirred and slowly woke up on his prison bed. He blinked a few times before pressing his cuffed hands against the bed to raise himself to a sitting position. It hadn’t been a bad day and he had been looking forward to getting a good night’s (or whatever it was; the only way he could tell time in this prison was when he was taken out of his cell and put back in it) sleep, but something had managed to rouse him. As the last bits of sleep left him, he remembered what it was: it sounded like a familiar voice had called his name.

He slid to the edge of the bed and set his feet down on the floor. His shoes and socks had been taken away months ago and he was forced to make do with what he was given. His latest footwear was no better than any of the previous offerings that sat in a pile in the corner of his cell, with the beaten-up gray shoes looking ready to fall apart and several holes in his socks. He couldn’t do much about the socks, but he figured it was time to swipe some more duct tape the next opportunity he got. That would help keep the shoes together and offer a little protection from the cold metallic floors.

He had to do a bit of an awkward shuffle to move since his legs were shackled together like his hands. He didn’t enjoy it one bit, but he’d gotten to a point where he could move as normally as he could. He made his way over to the bars of his cell and peered out. The prison block was quiet at this time; everyone else must’ve still been asleep. Sonic rested his hands on one of the bars and tilted his head upwards in thought. Nobody out there was calling him, but he was sure he’d heard the voice and that it wasn’t a dream. And it sounded so familiar too. “Is something going to happen soon?” he wondered to himself.