//------------------------------// // Ace in the Hole // Story: Way Past Equestria // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Super Sonic blitzed The Master King, bombarding it from every direction with chaotic energy. Yet somehow, the barrier around the king held. Twilight and her friends rained harmony down upon the Master, yet its spells kept the tidal wave of harmony at bay. The Master King clapped his hands and sent out a blast of magic that knocked all seven of the heroes back, before snapping its fingers at Sonic. The force of an exploding sun caught Sonic in the chest and he was rocketed off world, leaving the Elements to fight the king. Twilight and Rarity conjured chains of harmony that wrapped around the king, while AJ and Rainbow Dash crashed into the top of the master to force it to its knees. Fluttershy and Pinkie finished up by using their magic to try to separate the two beings that had been fused into one. Getting the villains inside to laugh. "They never learn, do they?" Robotnik asked. "It's one of their best features," Sombra replied. The Master King ripped through the chains holding it, shook off AJ and Rainbow Dash before firing two beams of magic at Pinkie and Fluttershy. Twilight intercepted with a barrier, only to watch as it shattered under the kings power. The Master King snapped its fingers to slow time to a crawl, but this time Twilight was ready. Her horn flashed and a counter spell cancelled out the spell...or at least she thought it had, until she watched the Master King dash towards her faster than Sonic. So it was a good thing for them the real Sonic showed up to help them. In a flash of gold Sonic slammed into the Master King, ripped it from the ground and proceeded to kick it around like a soccer ball. Since they had a moment to collect themselves, Twilight and her friend regrouped and channeled their magic, raining a blast of pure harmony down towards Sonic and the Master King. Sonic gave a quick salute to the king as he retreated, allowing the king to take the full brunt of the Element's wrath. "Think that did it?" Twilight asked Sonic. "Are you kidding me? It's never that easy," Sonic replied. "Watch. They'll be fine." Just as Sonic predicted, out of the smoke walked the Master King, who dusted off his armored form as he approached the heroes. "Well that was quite the display of fireworks," Sombra taunted. "If I had known that we were celebrating the end of the princess rule then I would have brought snacks. I make a mean deviled egg." "I'm partial to pigs in a blanket myself," Robotnik added. "That...that was the full might of the Elements," Twilight snarled. "Oh, we felt it. For a moment I considered throwing my recycling in the proper bin," Sombra replied. Twilight growled, able to feel Sombra's smile through the visor on the Master King. "After that little stunt Fluttershy pulled at the pier, I designed the Master King to be able to withstand any and all of your Elements power," Robotnik said. "It wasn't easy, mind you, but I've got a pretty good history of blocking off emotions. Just ask all of Sonic's loved ones that I've roboticized." "You pulling that card? Alright, time to make this hurt," Sonic replied. The ponies blinked and Sonic was gone. The villains had just enough time to register Sonic's disappearance before their alarms started screaming at them, informing them that they were being attacked from all sides at the same time. The Master King clapped his hands and sent out a shockwave of dark magic, but a flash of gold punched through the wave and clocked the king in the jaw to stagger it. "What's the matter, can't keep up?" Sonic asked. "Super Sonic. What an annoyance that I've had to deal with all these years," Robotnik sighed. He kept an eye on the tracker, waiting for just the right moment. "But now, I'm finally ready to be rid of you once and for all." That moment came and Eggman slammed his fist onto a button. The Master King shot crimson magic from its eyes and struck Sonic right in the face. He cried out in pain before crashing into the ground, clutching at his eyes. He couldn't see anything as the Master King took aim at the golden hedgehog. "So do your old friend one last favor...and finally die!" The Master King unleashed the full power of a dark star at Sonic, who never saw the attack coming. A rainbow blur moved Sonic out of the way and a flash of violet teleported the attack into the far reaches of space. All eyes looked skyward as the explosion could be seen from the planets surface, getting a sigh out of Eggman. "I had him. I had him and you stole the kill from me," Robotnik said. "Biggest wet blankets on Equestria. Don't you six know not to get between a villain and his nemesis?" Sombra asked. "Sonic, you alright?" Rainbow asked. "He...hurt me. That's not possible," Sonic said softly. "I'm invulnerable as Super Sonic. There's no way that..." "You truly believed that invulnerable nonsense? Sonic, I broke the chaos force. Your little super form is nothing compared to that," Robotnik cackled. "So what will you do now, rodent, now that you know that your precious super form won't protect you from the Master King? Will you rush in as cocky and headstrong as usual? Or will you finally do the smart thing and just lay down and die?" "He's not alone. We've got his back," Fluttershy said. She and the other Element's stood between the Master King and Sonic, who got back up to his feet. "Okay, so you got one over me, Egghead. I'll give you that," Sonic admitted. Then he smiled. "But as always, you've made a fatal mistake. You told me how you did it. How you hurt me. So what if your magic can hurt me. All that means is I just can't get hit. And that's easy." "Arrogant to the end. I can respect that," Robotnik replied. "Let's finally end this." Beams of darkness flew from the hands of the Master King, forcing the heroes to separate to avoid being hit. Sonic and Rainbow blitzed the King, slamming into his barriers from all sides. While the King was distracted, Applejack and Pinkie charged straight up the middle and both threw a punch hard enough to cause cracks to form in the barrier. Twilight and Rarity pulled meteors from the heavens and rained them down upon the Master King, who threw up his hands to erase them from the sky. And Fluttershy took this moment to check on their friends, flying over and landing next to where they were hiding. "How are all of you doing?" she asked them. "I think we're alright," Sally said. "Bunnie's out of the fight, most of our strongest friends are crystals and we're over here watching a battle of gods. I'd say we're alright, all things considered." "Well stay here and stay safe. Let us handle this," Fluttershy told them. She then placed a hoof on Bunnie's shoulder, soothing the pain she felt. Antoine flashed the mare a thankful look and Fluttershy smiled back, before an explosion told her she was needed with her friends. She returned to the fight in time to see Sonic and Rainbow Dash get blasted across the landscape, while the rest of her friends struggled to use their Elements to subdue the Master King. It wasn't working. The Master King thrusted both hands up and created a pillar of dark magic that consumed all of the Elements nearby, before clapping its hands to send them crashing into the ground. Fluttershy landed next to Applejack and started to heal her wounds, trying not to panic as the Master King approached her. "Fluttershy. We need to talk," Robotnik said. Fluttershy cast him a glance, but didn't budge, electing to continue to heal AJ. "You hurt me Fluttershy, in a way that I didn't think I could be hurt. You made me feel sympathy for Sonic. And that is a crime that I will not forgive." "And you've worn out your chances," Fluttershy replied. "I've been nice. I've tried to help you both. And each time, you brushed me off. Well, go away. I'm busy." For a moment, neither Eggman or Sombra could believe what they had heard. Then the Master King raised a foot over Fluttershy and prepared to squash her. Two streaks of speed slammed into the Master King to make sure that didn't happen. One was golden, the other was rainbow. And both of them hit with enough force to send the King skidding backwards. "Haven't you two figured it out yet? You can't win," Sombra growled. "Really? Because every time you say that, we seem to win," Rainbow snapped back. "For such geniuses, you guys really don't learn, do you?" Sonic asked. "Come on Rainbow, let's see if this jogs their memories." Sonic and Rainbow blitzed the Master King, ripping apart space as their combined speed tore chunks out of the Master King's barrier. Their suits fed off of the others speed and, if it was possible, Rainbow and Sonic started to go even faster. If things continued, the Master King would be ripped apart in seconds. But a second was all it needed. The Master King snapped its fingers to bring time to a crawl...and it had no effect on the speedsters. "Slowing time? Come on, at least try stopping time. Give us a challenge!" Sonic demanded. Sonic and Rainbow Dash dive kicked the Master King in the chest, finally shattering its barrier and striking right in the heart of the being, sending it skidding backwards as the villains fought to remain standing. "Finally dealt with that barrier. Guess is wasn't as tough as the two of you thought. Ready to give up?" Sonic asked. "Never." "Then this is over." Robotnik and Sombra snarled as the rest of the Elements joined Rainbow and Sonic. "Sombra. Eggman. For your crimes against the beings of two worlds and for endangering the lives of countless others, you will be stopped here and now. For Sombra, oblivion awaits. For Eggman...I wonder what a thousand years in the sun will do to you. That fine with you, Sonic?" "What the heck? Eggman could use a vacation," Sonic smirked. "Let's end this." "Indeed. Let's," Sombra agreed. The Master King teleported away from the heroes, appearing a distance away. It crushed its hands together near its chest and began to charge energy within its grip, an energy that made the ponies and Sonic gasp. The magic that it was channeling felt like a combination of the chaos source...and the elements. The combination of power was so great that the entire planet shook to its core and the stars above began to grow dimmer. "This is it, heroes! This is how we shall kill you once and for all, with your own powers! With the same power that you have used to save your lives again and again!" Sombra and Eggman roared in unison. "So come, try one last time to face us! Show us one last feeble attempt at resistance!" "T-that's a lot of power," Rainbow Dash snarled. "Ah can feel our energy but also Sonic's in there. How did they do this?!" AJ asked. "How?! How did they manage to tap into the Elemental power?!" Twilight asked. "It doesn't matter. They're just a cheap knock off compared to us," Sonic replied. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the group. "They think they can beat us by combining our powers? Well let's show them what that power really looks like! Come on, together!" "TOGETHER!" The ponies smiled back before taking to the skies along with Sonic. The six ponies formed a hexagon in the sky, while Sonic took up the space in the middle. Elemental and Chaotic power tore apart the very planet as the two forces charged their ultimate attacks. The full power of Chaos with the majestic might of Harmony. Together, the two lights could be seen from anywhere across the stars. The heroes took aim at Sombra and Eggman, whose own power was nothing compared to the true power of chaos and harmony. "I know that you've heard this so many times before, but I never get tired of saying it. Eggman...you LOSE!" Sonic roared. The power of the Elements wrapped around Sonic, combining the full might of harmony and chaos. For a moment, the entire universe shook from the overwhelming power...before their light vanished completely and the seven heroes plummeted to the ground. The group groaned and looked around...only for their eyes to widen with horror at what they saw. The six Elements of harmony were gray and cracked, while the chaos emeralds were completely black and shattered...and no power could be felt from either. Before the group could say anything, a breeze blew by and both sets of artifacts turned to dust. The group watched the dust vanish on the breeze, none of them able to process what had just happened. "W-what happened?" Twilight asked. "The Elements...and the Chaos Emeralds..." "You want to know what happened? Are you really that stupid that you don't realize what you tried to just do?!" The heroes looked up to see the Master King approaching, with the visor brought back so they could all see the wicked smiles that Sombra and Eggman now wore. "You tried to combine the full power of chaos and harmony! Two powers on the opposite end of the spectrum! It's basic science. Those two don't strengthen each other or compliment each other! No, do you fools want to know what they do?" "They cancel each other out!"