//------------------------------// // Harmonious Chaos // Story: Through The Crack // by grimchi3f //------------------------------// Part 3: Last Story - Chapter 5: Harmonious Chaos Super Sonic zoomed to the center of town and looked down at the area in front of him. Directly in front of Sugarcube Corner was Princess Celestia who was currently chained to a throne that Super Sonic assumed to be Discord's. Strangely, the throne was empty. "Sonic!" Celestia shouted, her eyes wide. "Look out behind you!" Super Sonic immediately turned around. Floating directly in front of him was Discord, both hands behind his back and a smug look on his face. "Hello Sonic, I've been expecting you," said the draconequis. Faster than lightning, Discord brought his right hand out from behind his back and poked the golden hedgehog on his forehead. All was still for a moment before the hedgehog suddenly hurtled backwards,slamming through the roof of Sugarcube Corner into the front room of the bakery. Super Sonic quickly got back up and brushed off all the frosting and cake he'd gotten covered in. Before he could zoom back outside though, some invisible force pulled Super Sonic through the wall in front of him and up into the air in front of Discord. That same force seemed to be restricting the hedgehog's movement making it impossible for him to fight back against the serpent. "H-how are y-you doing this?" Super Sonic asked, struggling against the invisible force restraining him. "How did I do all of this?" Discord shot back, gesturing all around. "I'm more powerful than you can imagine. I am a god after all." Super Sonic glared at the serpent. "I've faced gods before and I've beaten them." "Yes, yes, but they were all just dumb brutes, especially when compared to me," replied Discord, tapping his head. "I actually use my brain." "Sonic!" shouted a voice Super Sonic recognized as Tails'. Looking behind the draconequis, Super Sonic could see his friends gathering on the ground below, beside the throne and Celestia. "Oh no," the Doctor whispered, putting a hoof to his mouth. "Sonic!" Tails shouted again, this time his voice was thick with worry. "Don't worry Tails, I'll help him," said Rainbow Dash, beginning to fly up to where Discord and Super Sonic were. "No Dashie!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, jumping into the air and biting down on Dash's tail, dragging the pegasus back down to the ground. "It's too dangerous!" "Let go Pinkie!" growled Dash, struggling to get out of the pink pony's grasp. "She's right Dash!" Super Sonic shouted down at them. Glancing at Discord, he added, "You wouldn't stand a chance!" "Hoho, now you're getting it," Discord said, patting the golden hedgehog on the head. The serpent looked down at the others. "Hello everypony, it's nice to see you again. If you all were expecting a huge, climactic battle between myself and Super Sonic here, then I'm not sorry to say that you're all going to be disappointed. You see, I'm much more powerful than Super Sonic so a huge, climactic battle would probably take less than 10 seconds. In fact, I could probably just make him disappear right now but, come on, where's the fun in that?" "Come on, Sonic, break out of his grip!" Tails shouted, pumping his fist into the air. "You can do it!" "Yeah Sonic," said Ivo who was carrying a burlap sack over his shoulder, "you've beaten me and all the beasts I've thrown at you multiple times, what's to stop you from doing the same to him?" "You know, funnily enough, I was just talking to Sonic about that," Discord replied. "All the stuff you've 'thrown' at Sonic was not nearly as powerful as me, and even if they were, they probably only had a brain about the size of a pea. Oh, and I wouldn't try to unchain Celestia if I were you as the chain is unbreakable," he explained to Twilight and Rarity who had been trying to do just that. Looking at everything around him and thinking about how hopeless the situation seemed made Super Sonic worried, not only for himself but for his friends as well. If he failed, this entire universe would be plunged into eternal chaos and it would be all his fault. But how could he succeed when not even his super form could scratch this Discord guy. Was it possible that, after all the things he'd faced and all the things he'd done, this was the end? Was it possible that he'd finally be defeated? Discord put a hand to his mouth as he let out an extremely obnoxious yawn. "Okay, this is starting to get boring. Here, let's liven it up a little and demonstrate to you how hopeless your situation is." The draconequis pointed his right index finger at Super Sonic. As he did so, Super Sonic felt as if an invisible rope bound both himself and the finger together. Then Discord moved his finger up slowly until it was pointing up into the sky. As the finger moved, so did Super Sonic, both at the same speed. Then, faster than a speeding bullet, Discord pointed his finger at the ground, causing the hedgehog to slam into the dirt at a tremendous velocity. The impact caused Super Sonic's vision to flicker. The seemingly unstoppable serpent cackled. "Oh that was fun! Let's do that again!" With that, Discord repeated the process, continuously slamming the golden hedgehog into the ground. With each successive impact, Super Sonic's condition got progressively worse. Not in terms of physical damage, as every time he got cut or broke a bone the wound healed itself, but in terms of energy and stamina. After he'd been slammed twenty five times, he was just about ready to pass out. "Enough of this Discord!" Princess Celestia shouted before Discord could do it a twenty sixth time, finally overcoming the shock and horror she'd just been feeling, something that the others hadn't accomplished as of yet. "This is just wrong!" Discord frowned at the alicorn. "Oh, be quiet Celestia. I'm tired of hearing your dribble." He snapped the fingers on his left hand and Celestia's mouth zipped itself shut. Unable to speak, the Princess glared daggers at the powerful serpent. Plastering a smile to his face, he gazed at Super Sonic and added, "Now for some variety." He pointed his finger at the nearest house and watched as the golden hedgehog crashed into it. Like before, Discord continued to do this, watching sadistically as Super Sonic slammed into every house in sight. ------- Ivo tore his gaze from the horror above and cast it at his companion's faces. The six ponies and Tails all wore expressions of shock and horror, although Tails expression had more worry in it than the others, understandable since the hedgehog was his best friend (and, very nearly, his brother). The Doctor, on the other hand, looked positively angry. That was odd but, then again, he was the Doctor so odd was relatively normal. Ivo looked back up at Discord who was now slamming Super Sonic into nearby buildings with nothing but a finger. The scientist sighed quietly and shook his head. What cruel irony. Of course, now that Ivo was a good guy and didn't want Sonic to die, it looked like the hedgehog was going to die. Of course. But... it couldn't end like this, it just couldn't. After all the things Sonic had beaten, he wasn't going to lose to a crazy serpent obsessed with chaos. There had to be something that they could do. The draconequis stopped brutally beating Super Sonic and, with a flick of his finger, sent the golden hedgehog flying into the dirt directly in front of everyone. "Alright, I've had my fun with you. Run back to the library and try and scheme up another fruitless plan to defeat me. I'll be sitting here, enjoying all this exquisite chaos," said DIscord, descending until he was floating a few yards away. While he'd been saying this, the others ran to Super Sonic who had been trying to get up. The aura of power he'd exuded earlier was almost nonexistent. In fact, the hedgehog seemed just about ready to de-transform and pass out. "Are you all right, darling?" Rarity asked, eyeing the hedgehog worriedly. "Yeah, Sonic, you took a pretty nasty beating there," Tails said, putting a hand out to help his buddy up. Super Sonic took Tails' hand and used it to pull himself up. "I'm fine. No need to worry." Ivo continued to stare at Discord, trying to think of some way to defeat him. The serpent was watching the others help Super Sonic up with a smirk on his face. Ivo knew that look; he'd worn it himself many times before. Discord thought himself invincible. Well, Ivo wasn't going to buy that. There had to be a way to defeat him. It was at that moment that Ivo remembered what was in the bag he'd brought. An idea formed in his head and the scientist looked from his bag to the six ponies standing around Super Sonic to Super Sonic himself. Ivo smiled. If Harmony wasn't working and Chaos wasn't working, then what would happen if they were combined? With this idea in mind, Ivo quickly took the Elements of Harmony out of the bag and began putting them on the corresponding ponies. "What are you doing!?" exclaimed Twilight Sparkle after Ivo had put the tiara-crown thing on her head. "Uh, dude, we tried this before, remember?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking down and finding the red-jeweled lightning bolt necklace around her neck. Seeing Ivo putting the Elements on the ponies made Discord chuckle. "Do you think the Elements are going to work? I already told you, I'm immune. What, do you think Super Sonic weakened me to a point where I'm no longer immune? In case you haven't noticed, Super Sonic's the one who's weakened, not me." The Doctor, who was standing directly beside Discord's throne, gazed at the Elements with a puzzled expression. However, after a few moments of observation, his puzzled expression was replaced with one of wonder and excitement. "Oh, brilliant. That's brilliant. Eggman, you're a genius!" the Doctor exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you Doctor," Ivo said, finishing putting the final Element on Fluttershy. After he was done, he stepped back. "Alright ladies, use the Elements on Sonic." Everyone, except the Doctor, stared at Ivo. Even Discord stopped laughing for a moment although, once he processed what the scientist had said, he began laughing even harder. "What are you going to do?" the draconequis laughed. "Turn him to stone?" "You haven't changed at all, have you?" Tails accused, glaring at Ivo. "You just wanted to turn Sonic to stone this entire time!" "Of course not!" Ivo replied, glancing around and seeing all the suspicious stares. "If Harmony and Chaos aren't working alone, what would happen if they were combined? Think about --" "Do it." Now it was time for everyone to stare at Super Sonic incredulously. He gazed back at each of his friends faces. "It makes sense," the golden hedgehog stated. "I'll take the risks. We don't have much choice anyway." The ponies nodded. They knew they had no other choice and they'd take even a slim chance at victory. "You're really going to use the Elements on Sonic?" questioned Discord, scratching his head. "Okay, but let me get some popcorn; this outta be good. Especially when whatever you think is going to happen doesn't happen." He snapped his fingers and a bag of popcorn appeared in front of him. He grabbed the bag and began munching on the snack inside. The six ponies took their places and closed their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, they emitted a white light. Beams of multi-colored light shot out of the Elements glowing gems. Rising up high into the air the beams coalesced into a blindingly bright rainbow which shot downwards at Super Sonic at an incredible speed. The golden hedgehog braced himself as the rainbow struck, swirling around and enveloping him in multi-colored light. The swirling rainbow spun faster and faster around Super Sonic, turning so fast that all the colors blurred together into a single shad of white. Then, with a flash of bright white light that caused everyone in the vicinity to cover their eyes, it was over. Uncovering his eyes, Ivo looked around to see what exactly had happened. Regular, cobalt blue Sonic stood a few feet way, in between Discord and everyone else, facing Ivo and the others. Scattered around his feet were the Chaos Emeralds, drained of all their color. The same seemed to have happened to the Elements of Harmony which, while still being worn by the ponies that represented them, were also drained of their color. The thing that caught Ivo's eye, however, was what was at the end of Sonic's right index finger. Sonic held up his index finger and examined what was at the end of it. There was a small, white orb, about the size of a golf ball, at the end of his finger. The light of the orb reflected brightly in Sonic's pupils. "So you didn't turn to stone? Well, isn't that a shame," said Discord as Sonic turned around. "Of course, it obviously didn't wo--" He cut himself off upon seeing what was at the end of the hedgehog finger. The popcorn the serpent had been holding fell from his hand, disappearing before it had even hit the ground. "What... what is that?" The hedgehog looked up at the draconequis and smiled. "Your downfall." Ivo and the others watched in silence as Discord stared at the orb of pure Harmony and Chaos. The disorderly creature touched it with his consciousness and recoiled, feeling as if he'd been zapped by lightning. The draconequis backed away slowly. "No. No. NO! I know what that is but... it's-it's impossible!" "No, it's not," the Doctor began, looking at the orb with satisfaction. "It's your worst nightmare: Harmony and Chaos in complete, well, harmony." "You know Discord, there's a move I use quite a bit but it's name has always been a sort of oxymoron," said Sonic, pointing his finger at the serpent. "Now though, it makes complete sense." Discord's eyes widened. "No! It can't end like this!" As a last ditch attempt to win, the draconequis threw every last bit of his power at Sonic, trying to incapacitate him. It was all for naught, however, as the orb of harmonic chaos protected the hedgehog from everything thrown his way. "Chaos Control!" A beam of white energy blasted out from the end of Sonic's finger, striking Discord in the chest. Where the beam had struck, a small crack appeared, emitting a bright white light. Sonic closed his hand into a fist, cutting the flow of power and extinguishing the orb of harmonic chaos. Discord looked down at himself and at the glowing white crack that was growing and snaking its way up and down and all around his body. The draconequis groaned and stomped his foot. "Oh come on! I was so close this time! Ugh, fine, I guess you win," Discord conceded, folding his arms and glaring at everyone. As the cracks began snaking their way up his neck towards his head, he added, "But you should know this: things are going to get much worse and very strange. What's to come will make the stuff I've done look like child's play and me like an adorable kitten. You've been warned." The cracks finally reached his head. The serpent sighed. "Well, so long everypony. Arrivederci!" With the sound of shattering glass, Discord exploded, sending out a shockwave of white energy. Expanding exponentially, the shockwave enveloped Equestria within a matter of seconds, undoing all the things that Discord had done. Houses turned rightside up, the sky became blue again, the dancing buffalo disappeared, and the pink clouds faded out of existence. The red wall of energy that had been isolating Equestria from the rest of the universe dissipated and Discord's throne sank into the ground, freeing Celestia. Everything was right with the world; even Celestia's mouth got unzipped. Upon seeing that Discord was gone and that the world had returned to normal, the ponies, Ivo, Sonic, Tails, the Doctor, and Princess Celestia all cheered. Not only was their nearly hopeless situation over, but Discord could never bother them again for he was actually gone, not just turned to stone. In the midst of the cheering, Pinkie Pie lost control, hugging Rainbow Dash close and shouting, "I love you Rainbow Dash!" Dash's eyes widened. "What!?" Realizing what she had just said, Pinkie blushed and backtracked quickly. "Uh, I mean as a friend, you know, like everyone does!" Dash rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Pinkie Pie. You can be so random sometimes." With that, the pegasus flew over to join the others who were still high-fiving and congratulating Sonic and Ivo for defeating the dreaded draconequis. Pinkie Pie watched Dash go, sighed, and smiled a sad smile. "Someday," the pink pony whispered, beginning to follow the rainbow-maned mare. Everyone gathered around the now unchained Celestia. The Princess stood up and stretched her legs. Finishing with that, the alicorn looked Sonic in the eye and held his gaze. "Sonic the Hedgehog," Celestia began, "on behalf of Equestria, I thank you for vanquishing Discord and setting the world right again. We are in your debt." Sonic waved it off. "It's no problem. I do it all the time, after all." The Princess turned to Ivo and, like she had with Sonic, looked him in the eye... or glasses, to be more accurate. "I would also like to thank you, Eggman, for coming up with a solution when all hope was lost. However," she said, her voice turning cold, "That does not excuse the reckless disregard for safety of the residents of Ponyvill nor does it excuse the fact that you murdered the Earth pony Bon-Bon in cold blood." The six ponies gasped and Sonic and Tails just shook their heads. "He did what!?" asked Rainbow Dash incredulously. "He k-k-k-killed Bon-Bon?" stammered Fluttershy, her pupils shrinking in fright. Ivo nodded and looked down in shame. "Yes, I did. And before you ask, no, it wasn't an accident. I killed her because she got between me and Sonic and... I'm sorry. I truly am. I wish I could offer more than an apology but, at the moment, that's all I can give." Celestia gazed at the apologizing man in front of her. The Eggman she knew, the one she'd seen do a number of terrible things, would never have apologized like that, with that much meaning. He would've said it in a sarcastic manner. Hearing this apology, Celestia truly believed that the scientis was sorry for what he'd done. The Princess nodded. "Apology accepted." Suddenly, there was a flash of indigo light a couple of feet away. Standing where the flash of light had come from stood a dark-coated alicorn with a mane as blue and sparkly as the night sky. "Sister!" the alicorn shouted, running over and hugging Celestia tightly. "I've been on the moon but I couldn't get back because of that red barrier. I was worried sick!" "I'm alright Luna, no need to worry," Celestia assured, nuzzling her sister. "I'm all right." Breaking the hug, Luna glanced between Celestia and the Elements of Harmony. "What happened here?" Upon catching sight of Sonic, Tails, and Ivo, the princess of the night raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who are they? They looke quite... interesting." "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" said Sonic, striking a pose. Pointing at Tails, he added, "And this is my best bud Tails." With a bow, Ivo introduced himself. "I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik. It's nice to meet you, Princess Luna." Luna nodded slowly. "Alright but... you don't look like a hedgehog." Before anyone else could respond, Twilight stepped forward to explain. " Princess, they're from another universe--" "As am I, Luna," the Doctor interrupted, smiling at the dark-coated alicorn. "Doctor! What a pleasant surprise!" exclaimed Luna, returning the smile. "Sister," Celestia started, gazing curiously at Luna, "how do you know him?" The Doctor shook his head. "It's a long story which, right now, we don't have the time to tell. The cracks that brought Sonic, Tails, and Ivo here were caused by them being outside their home universe. Being outside of a home universe isn't good. Me? I'm okay. Them? Not at all. We need to get them home as soon as possible and I'm not entirely sure how to do that." "Can't you just use your TARDIS?" Tails asked. "Not after that last trip,"the Doctor replied, shaking his head again. "The TARDIS almost blew up traveling to your universe and back. Journeying into a new universe puts a lot of stress on it, same with traveling out of one. It usually takes a few trips to do it without much problem. In any case, until the TARDIS repairs itself back to full capacity, I can't take you home." "Well, how long is that going to take?" Sonic questioned. "Anywhere from one minute to a hundred years," answered the Doctor. "It fluctuates," he added with a shrug. "I have a solution," Celestia interjected, gazing at Sonic, Tails, and Ivo. Turning to look at the Princess, Sonic said, "And what would that be Princess?" Celestia sighed. She knew what she was about to say might be a big mistake but these three needed to get home, before more cracks appeared. "There is a place I discovered nearly one thousand years ago, shortly after I banished Luna to the moon. Deep beneath Canterlot are where the Gates lay. These Gates lead to other universes." "Well isn't that fascinating!" the Doctor exclaimed. "But sister," Luna began," why didn't you tell me about this? Or, anyone for that matter?" "Because I thought that only I could bear the atrocities that the other worlds had committed," Celestia explained. She looked at the Elements of Harmony. "I know now that I thought wrong." Sonic rolled his eyes. "Okay, there have been a lot of bad things in our universe but they weren't exactly atrocities." "I wasn't necessarily talking about yours," Celestia replied, eyeing the Doctor. The spiky-haired stallion let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, atrocities. I'm afraid my universe is chocked full of them." "So, uh, Princess," piped up Applejack, "are we gonna go to these 'Gates' er not?" "Yes, Applejack, we are," Celestia answered. "Come close everypony so I may teleport us there." Everyone obliged and gathered around the alabaster alicorn. Seeing that Luna had lagged behind she smiled and said, "You too, Lulu." Hearing this, Luna's face lit up and she joined the others. Once everyone was close enough, Celestia began the spell. Then, with a flash of white light, they were gone. ------- A moment later, they all reappeared in a large, circular stone cavern, lit with torches scattered around on the walls, with a domed ceiling. Behind where they had reappeared was a large, arched gateway leading into darkness. Above this large arch, carved into a stone plaque, was the number '2010'. On the wall in front of them, spaced evenly, were three smaller arches. The one furthest to the left had a plaque above it that read '1991' and, inside the gateway, was what seemed to be a picture of Green Hill Zone. The one furthest to the right held a picture of a blue police box sitting in an alleyway and the plaque above this one read '1963'. The one in the middle, however, was blocked off by fallen rocks and the plaque read simply '?'. "Wow," whispered Sonic, taking in his surroundings. "This place is tight." "No kidding," Tails agreed. There was silence as everyone soaked it all in. The room held an aura of mystery and of major importance. It seemed as if this was the focal point of everything that was and that ever had been in the entire pony universe. "That gateway over there," Celestia said, breaking the silence and pointing to the arch with the picture of Green Hill Zone in it, "leads to your universe, Sonic. That one," she pointed to the one furthest to the right, "leads to yours, Doctor." "Where does that one lead to Princess?" asked Twilight Sparkle, pointing her hoof at the middle one. Celestia shook her head. "I don't know. It's always been blocked off like that." The Doctor turned and looked at the arch that had been behind them when they had appeared in this place. "That one, I'm guessing, leads up to your universe?" "Well, technically, we're still in Equestria. That pathway leads up to my throne room," Celestia explained. "But why... why does it have a number above it?" squeaked Fluttershy. "I'm guessing that's a date. Well, to be more specific, a year," the Doctor said. He pointed to the plaque above the gateway to Sonic's universe. "I think that because the year 1991 is the year when the first Sonic the Hedgehog video game was released." He walked over to his world's gateway and looked up at the plaque thoughtfully. "But I don't understand what significance the year 1963 has for my universe. As far as I know, that's a pretty uneventful year... well, except for President Kennedy's assassination." "Wait... did you just say video game?" asked Sonic, scratching his head. "What's a video game?" Rainbow Dash interjected. Ignoring Dash's question, the Doctor turned to Sonic. "Yes, in my universe you are a video game character. Isn't that right, Eggman?" Ivo nodded. "Yeah, he told me the same thing." "Sister," said Luna, still taking in the surroundings and the whole 'other universes' business, "why'd you keep this secret from me?" Celestia leaned over and nuzzled her sister. "I'm sorry, I should've told you," the alabaster alicorn apologized. "I promise to never keep secrets from you again." Once again, there was silence. This time it was Tails who decided to break it. "I think it's time we leave, don't you think?" "Yes," said Celestia, nodding. "It's time to say goodbye." Suddenly, Pinkie Pie rushed forward and hugged Sonic and Tails tightly. "Oh, I'm gonna miss you guys!" "Can't... breathe!" gasped Sonic. "Oops, sorry," the pink pony giggled, breaking the hug. At that moment, the other five ponies walked up to say goodbye as well. "We're going to miss you too," said Twilight. "Right guys?" "Oh yeah!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, brohoofing Sonic. "So long, fastest thing alive." "So long, fastest flyer in all of Equestria," the blue hedgehog replied. As the others said their goodbyes, Rarity dropped the burlap sack from earlier at Sonic's feet. "What's this?" asked Sonic, picking it up. "The Chaos Emeralds," she answered. "I picked them up just before we left. Their colors are back now." The white unicorn sniffed. "I hope you know how hard it was for me to give these gorgeous gems back." Sonic smiled. "Thank you." With that, Sonic and Tails walked up to the portal leading to their universe. Reaching out, Sonic touched the surface of the portal. The surface rippled outward from the point of contact as if it were water. Then, the picture changed. It went from Green Hill Zone to the park they'd been in when they'd seen the crack. "You know, despite all the perilous stuff at the end there, our time here has been awesome," Sonic said, turning around one last time to face everyone. "Goodbye; it's been a blast!" His goodbye said, the hedgehog turned and jumped through the portal. Standing alone in front of the gateway, Tails waved at everyone. "It was nice meeting all of you." Without further ado, he followed his friend through the portal. The last person from his universe left, Ivo walked up to the portal. Like Sonic had before, Ivo touched the surface of the portal. Rippling, the picture changed once again, this time into his base located deep within the heart of the Mystic Ruins. Before he walked into the portal, Ivo felt he had one last thing to say. The scientist turned around and faced everyone. "Once again, I'd like to say I"m sorry for everything I've done. It was wrong and evil and I apologize profusely. When I get back home, I promise to make my world a better place. I will be good from now--" "No you won't." Everyone stared at Celestia, confused as to why she'd say such a thing. She had a pained expression on her face so she hadn't meant it in a mean way. "W-what do you mean?" Celestia fixed Ivo with a sad gaze. "You won't be good from now on because you'll forget everything that's happened since the Doctor found you." This statement chilled Ivo to the core. "So... all of my changes undone? I'll be... evil again?" The Princess nodded. "Wait," Twilight started, "does that mean Sonic and Tails don't remember meeting us either?" "Yes," Celestia confirmed, "they no longer remember any of this." Ivo's mustache drooped. After all those wonderful things, after finally turning his back on evil, he had to go back to the way he had been. Evil, manipulative, calculating,mad; the traits that had once defined his essence, but that he now scorned, would return. How cruel could fate be? "Doctor!" Ivo exclaimed, going up to the spiky-haired stallion and kneeling down to his level. "Let me stay with you. We could travel the stars and see new worlds, just like you promised! That way I'd stay good and I'd still be with the first and only friend I've ever had!" Ivo looked into the Doctor's eyes and found the saddest eyes he'd ever seen. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," the Doctor said, shaking his head slowly. "You can't. If you stayed, the whole of reality would rip apart at the seams and all the universes would burn. You have to go back." The Doctor placed a hoof on Ivo's shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry." Closing his eyes, Ivo stood up. A single tear fell out from under his glasses, straight to the ground, before disappearing. "So be it." Turning around, Ivo opened his eyes and walked forward, disappearing into the portal without another word. Saddened by what had just happened, no one could speak a word. Celestia tried to think of a way to cheer everyone up. "C'mon, let's head back up to the castle," said the Princess. "We can throw a party." If anything, this cheered up Pinkie considerably. "A party!?" "Yes, Pinkie, a party," Celestia replied, smiling. "WOOHOO!" the pink pony shouted, bounding through the gateway into the now dimly lit passage that lead back up to the throne room. Everyone laughed and followed behind, all except the Doctor who had a strange look on his face. Upon entering the passageway up to the castle, the Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of thin air and put it in his mouth. Turning back towards the room of the World Gates, the Doctor pointed the screwdriver up at the ceiling of the gateway. He pressed the activation button with his teeth which caused the sonic screwdriver's blue tip to light up and emit a high-pitched whine. The noise caused the roof of the gateway to collapse and seal the room of the World Gates with fallen rock. At the sound of the entrance to the Gates collapsing, everyone but Pinkie ran back to see what had happened. "Doctor, what happened?" asked Luna, walking up to the Doctor and eyeing the fallen rocks. "Did a rock fall on you?" snickered Rainbow Dash's distant voice. The next person to reach the Doctor was Celestia. Seeing the rocks blocking the World Gate room, she gasped. "Doctor, what did you do?" Once the others had arrived, the spiky-haired stallion put away his sonic screwdriver and spoke, "I sealed it off. If the wrong people knew about this, things could get messy. Now, people won't ever know about the Gates and, even if they do, they won't be able to get to them. On the bright side Princess, you no longer need to worry yourself with the affairs of the other worlds. Anyway, now we can head back up to the castle. I hear there's going to be a party." However, unknown to the Doctor or anyone else, the collapse of the entrance of the World Gate room had an unintended side effect. The vibrations of the collapsing rock caused the rock blocking the middle gate to fall away, unsealing it. With the rock now gone, the light from the middle gate flooded the chamber and a new portal opened up. END OF PART 3