"Keep fighting!" Celestia roared.
She went back to back with her sister and unleashed all of their magical power upon the behemoth, only to snarl when the barrier managed to withstand their attack.
"What is this thing made of?" Sally asked from Celestia's back.
"It cannot keep this up for long. Whatever our allies on the inside have done to it has crippled it's movements," Luna pointed out. Celestia knew that this was true. The Magnum Atlas was down a leg and down and arm, yet despite these massive setbacks, it was still somehow managing to hold them off. Mostly due to the barrier around it that continued to repel all of their attacks. "Still holding up, Tails?"
"I'm fine," Tails said, also sitting on Celestia's back. "Good thing I've got this suit or your sister's power could have ended me."
"Do not worry Tails, I have full control of my power. It will not harm you."
"I will say this for them. Sombra and Eggman sure know how to build something that can get it's butt kicked," Rainbow Dash said.
"Even the Elements power is having trouble piercing that barrier," Twilight added. "I didn't think that was possible, but here we are."
"Shadow, do you and Rarity think you can get inside that monster and kill the barrier's power source?" Tails asked.
"No good. Rarity and I have been repelled from the machine's body. This Metal Silver is stronger than we gave it credit for," Shadow replied, in-between grunts.
"Sorry Darlings, but the barrier is now repelling us as well as our attacks. We cannot get close enough to the Atlas to do anything about our current predicament," Rarity added.
"That's no good. How about you, Sonic? Think you and Fluttershy can get to the power source of the Atlas?"
"Maybe, but it's going to take some time," Sonic replied. "Eggman's throwing everything he's got at us and right now we're trapped down in the things right leg. Fluttershy, look out!"
Sonic ended the conversations there, leaving the groups to share a look of concern with one another. "Welp, chalk that up to another plan of ours that goes off the rails the moment the fighting starts," Rainbow Dash chuckled.
"We spent so much time figuring out the best way to group our friends up and it ends up being irrelevant because of a single barrier," Twilight sighed. "Anypony got any ideas on how to punch through that thing?"
"Punching ain't working, princess!" Applejack's voice said over the comms. "Knuckles, Bunnie and I have been pounding away on the front of this thing and not so much as a crack!"
"Sorry hon, but brute force ain't going to get us past this," Bunnie said.
"Well, at least we've got the machine down for the moment," Twilight said. The Atlas then opened up its maw and fired a beam of pure dark magic that annihilated where the bruisers had been working. The group gasped for a moment, only for the smoke to clear to show that a combination of AJ's Element, Shining and Cadence's magic, as well as Blaze's fire had managed to save them. But Twilight didn't need to examine the sight to know that they couldn't take many more hits like that.
"Alright, that barrier just became priority number one! Teams, focus all of your power, speed and ideas on tearing that thing down!" Twilight ordered. "Cadence, group up. Celestia and Luna, we're going to see what four Alicorns fueled by the Elements can do to that barrier!"
"Alright, that's what I like to hear!" Luna laughed. Cadence joined the princess while Celestia passed off Sally and Tails to Rainbow Dash. The Alicorns took their positions, Cadence, Celestia and Luna in a triangle around Twilight, allowing the Element to boost their power even further. The three princesses each fired a beam of magic that all met in the middle in front of Twilight, who then poured all of her magic into that focal point.
"Let's see if you can take this."
With a roar that could be heard throughout the land, Twilight unleashed the full, combined might off all four alicorns. The beam of energy spiraled towards the Atlas in a swirl of purple, white, pink and dark blue light, before being consumed by the Element's golden power. The beam of magic struck the barrier, took a moment to press against it, before piercing not only through the barrier, but also punching a hold clean through the abdomen of the Atlas. The machine bellowed fire and smoke as it fell to it's knees, sparks and explosions erupting all along it.
"So did you guys know that we weren't in the middle of it or did you just guess?" Sonic asked.
"We figured you'd be fast enough to get out of the way," Tails replied.
"Good shot. The barrier has been taken down completely," Shadow added. "Now there should be nothing left to prot-UGH!"
"Rarity here, Shadow just got kicked in the back of the head by Metal Silver."
"I have a new favorite machine."
"Silver, not now. What I think Shadow was trying to say is that there is now nothing stopping us from getting to Sombra and Eggman," Rarity finished.
"Sounds like a plan. You hear that, bruisers?"
"We heard you. Alright, split in two, take a knee and then punch like it owes you money!" Knuckles roared. The princesses watched from above as the bruisers each annihilated each of the Atlas's knees, causing the entire, mechanical being to tip over and fall face first into the land below.
"Did everypony get out of the way in time?" Celestia asked.
"We're all good. We're moving to the arm next to make sure that this bad body can't do anything else," Knuckles said.
"Good. Once you've knocked out the arm, meet us at the head. I hope that Eggman and Sombra will surrender now that they're final weapon is down for the count, but knowing them they probably have something else up their sleeves," Twilight said. "Alright, let's get down there. I want this to end and I want it to end today."
The princesses flew down towards the head of the Atlas, each of them wondering what the villains would do next. But they had hope that this would be the end. They had survived everything else that the villains had thrown at them. They would conquer this and then the world would be saved. It would finally be over.
||==O O==||
"Having trouble keeping up, Fluttershy?" Sonic asked.
"Why would you ask a question that you know the answer to?" Fluttershy replied.
Sonic slowed down for a moment and allowed Fluttershy to catch up with him. Even with her Element fueling her power, she still couldn't catch up with Sonic. She didn't mind. He was polite enough to run alongside her, though when he got excited he had the habit of racing ahead, only to stop or come back when he realized what he had done. The two were moving side by side now, though what had Fluttershy's attention was the look on Sonic's face.
"It's rare to see you frowning. Are you worried?" she asked.
"Worried? Nah, why would I be? It's just Eggman. I've been here dozens of times before and I'll probably be here dozens of times after this," Sonic said with a shurg.
"It's okay to be scared. We all feel scared at times. I feel scared all the time," Fluttershy said.
"What, a tough beast like you? Feeling scared? After what you did to Eggman, we should all be scared of you," Sonic joked. Fluttershy gave him a dead stare. "Okay, I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous. It's been too easy."
"Too easy? A machine the size of a mountain that can blast away homes in a shot is too easy?"
"Would you be shocked if I said yes?" Sonic asked. "I mean...yeah, this machine is big and powerful, but this...Eggman is smarter than this and from what little I know of him, Sombra seems smarter too. Leaving the emeralds, not constantly attacking us, leaving to fight another day...no, that's pretty in character. All I'm saying is either they've gotten sloppy or their playing another game here. And I have no idea what it could be."
"So then what should we do? Should we ask them what their plan is?" Fluttershy suggested.
"Y'know, that will probably work. Those two love to hear themselves talk so much that I bet that they'd tell us exactly what their plan is," Sonic chuckled. "But even if they don't tell us, I bet we're about to find out. Because we're here."
Sonic and Fluttershy came to a halt in front of a pair of large doors that had Eggman's face on it with a shadowy mane and smile encircling Eggman. "Well isn't that cute, they made a little image like the ones we have on our doors. It might almost make you think that they're friends."
Sonic walked up to the door and knocked twice on it, raising an eyebrow when the doors slid back and allowed them to enter. He motioned for Fluttershy to stay behind him as he entered, eyes on the lookout for any kind of trap or trick. But to his surprise, he found none of those. That worried him. Then he laid eyes on the two villains, who were looking at him with bored expressions on their faces. That irritated him.
"Well look who finally decided to show up. Sonic. You know, for someone who brags about his speed, you got here a full twenty seconds later than we predicted," Robotnik said. "Must have gotten slower. No surprise with the diet you have."
"Go easy on him, Robotnik. Even the fastest of runners would be bogged down having to drag that pink maned ball and chain around," Sombra cackled. "Hey there, Fluttershy. I'm amazed that you managed to come out from under your bed, let alone come to face us."
"Look guys, I'd love to match wits with you guys, but I prefer a challenge, so if you can call out whatever secret weapon that you've been hiding, that would be great," Sonic said. Robotnik and Sombra raised their eyebrows and Sonic and he gave them a look. "Don't play that game. I know that you've got at least one more surprise for us. You always do. So if you can just get it out here so I can break it like I do all your toys, we might be able to get out of here at a decent time."
"How is it that no matter how many times I see it, your ego continues to astound me?" Robotnik asked. "Fine, you want so badly to see what we've got, then how about-"
"Wait." Robotnik stopped and turned his head to Fluttershy, who had walked forward. "Please, we don't have to do this. There's already been so much destruction and pain. Please, just stop it here. What can you gain from so much pain? Please, just stop this. Give up and let us help you. Whatever pain or hurt in your past that caused you to be like this, we'll help you to overcome it. Just please, stop this before you get hurt."
"...you're serious? You're actually trying to help us?" Sombra asked. "Wow, you might just be the dumbest pony that I've ever met. And that's saying a lot. Robotnik, anything you want to add?
"Yes. I am looking forward to watching that kindness die when I kill your friends, break your Element and then make you suffer as you made me suffer a hundred fold," Robotnik seethed. Then he pressed the big, red button on his consol. And then the whole Atlas began to shake.
"If it means anything Fluttershy, I think it was incredibly brave and kind to try to help them," Sonic said.
"Thanks."
Eggman and Sombra stepped back...before the entire Magnum Atlas began to warp and contort, shifting and changing around the four as hundreds of thousands of metal began to fold up all around Eggman and Sombra. At first, Sonic had no idea what he was looking at...before it started to take a shape that made his eyes shrink. The machine looked like...a combination of an elephant and satyr. A giant fusion that was dozens of times larger than him. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was the giant, Master Emerald within the chest of the creature surrounded by a crystal tree that glowed with white light. The being towered over Sonic and Fluttershy, while Sombra and Eggman laughed from within.
"Well Sonic, anything witty to say now?" Sombra asked.
"What...have you two done?" Sonic whispered.
"Come now, this shouldn't be a surprise. We roboticized and controlled everyone else, after all," Robotnik added. "But turns out that building such an impossible army requires quite the power source. Good thing that we had a certain beast of burden in mind."
"As well as a king that failed even worse than I did," Sombra added. "Now, while both of them might be failures in their own right, after being roboticized, mind controlled and fueled with two of the greatest sources of power in both our worlds, well, maybe even they might be worth something."
"So bow, worms, bow before..."
"The Master King!"