Zipp, Sunny and Pipp were still searching for the Crystal Thief in the sky, but Pipp was beginning to grow tired.
"I spy, with my pony eye… Another leafy tree!" Zipp said, trying to distract her mind by playing 'I Spy'.
Sunny picked up a leaf and inspected. "Ooh, they’re already beginning to shed. That’s going to increase the effectiveness of pollination and help them flower" she explained.
"If I fall right now, it’s not because of my magic glitched out. It’s because you’re putting me to sleep" Pipp complained, as she yawned and looked at the ground, looking for someone.
"The trees are way too thick for the Crystal Thief to have gotten this far away" Zipp pointed out.
"We should regroup with the others. See if they found anything" Sunny suggested, as the three ponies flew back to the spot where they spread out. After a wile, they saw Hitch, Sonic and Cloudpuff in front of a cave.
"Down here!" Hitch called out to them from the ground, as Sonic waved at them with a smirk.
"Hitch!" Sunny called out as she, Zipp and Pipp flew down and landed on the ground. "Where’s Izzy, Tails and Knuckles?" she asked, seeing that none of those three were around.
"I hoped Tails would be with you..." Sonic confessed, as he frowned in worry. "I've been trying to call those two. Heck, I even ran around the forest again to check on them, but they don't seem to be here. And their watches haven't given any signs of them, either..." he explained with concern.
"As for Izzy, I’ve been calling out to her. Those three should be here soon" Hitch added, while he turned to see the cave.
Zipp then noticed that Cloudpuff was shacking and pointing with his nose to the cave. "What’s got into you, bud?" she asked, wondering why the the dog was shacking like that.
"As soon as you left, Cloudpuff raced off. I thought he was running towards something..." Hitch started to explain, as he putted a hoof on a vine.
"But turns out he was actually running away…" Sonic kept going, as he placed hid hand on the vines next to the ones Hitch was holding.
They both looked at each other and nodded, putting the vines away at the same time. "From this!" they finished together, as they showed the mares what was inside the cave.
There was an old and rusty door that had some symbols, and Sunny immediately gasped, while Pipp felt disgusted from the mug on the cave and Zipp looked at the door.
"The door’s open. Bet we’ll find the Crystal Thief through here!" Hitch stated with confidence.
"How’s that for detective work?" Sonic said with a smirk and his arms crossed.
Sunny looked at the gates in awe as she covered her mouth with her hooves and got sparkles in her eyes. "The sacred Gates of The Ancients!" she squealed in excitement, while she grabbed Hitch and shook him like crazy. "My Dad used to read me stories, back when Canterlot became home to the Royal Princesses. This gate was built to welcome travelers!" she added and stopped shaking Hitch, who was dizzy from all the shaking. Sunny looked at the gate with a proud and exciting smile, as a tear dropped from her sparkling eyes. "I made it Dad" she finished, happy that she finally founded Canterlot, just like her father told her.
"Well, someone's excited" Sonic said with a smile, as he opened the door more. "Now let's catch that thief before he gets a chance to escape!" he stated with confidence.
All that confidence faded away once he entered the place, being followed by the others and Cloudpuff. Sunny looked at Canterlot with excitement, as the other three ponies looked around while Cloudpuff sniffed the ground for any clues.
"And all of a sudden Sky Sanctuary doesn't seem like a pigsty anymore compared to this place" Sonic said sarcastically.
Pipp cringed in disgust as she picked up what's left from the Canterlot banner. "Yikes. You dreamed of coming here? No offense, but if the thief needed enough money to move out of this ghost town, maybe we should let him keep the Crystal" she said with disgust.
"Yeah, I say we should call it a day and go home" Sonic added with a bored expression.
Sunny turned to Pipp and Sonic with a smile. "Nopony’s lived in Canterlot for a while. But I promise you’ll be able to feel the magic once we start exploring!" she assured with confidence, as Sonic rolled his eyes and stayed close to Pipp. The four ponies and the hedgehog looked around the ruins of Canterlot, as Zipp looked through a window and Sunny looked at the buildings while waved her hoof in excitement. "Every one of these shops is a relic from the past, the Canterlot Culture lived here!" she pointed out with a smile.
"Uh… Shouldn’t we wait for Izzy, Tails and Knuckles?" Hitch asked, as he looked around for those two. Suddenly, they heard loud noises from inside of one of the building, called Joe’s Donut Shop. The group got startled, as Hitch got in front of Sunny and shielded her with his hooves, while Sonic stood in front of Pipp and she hided behind his back. "The Crystal Thief!" Hitch called out.
Sonic curled into a ball and stood next to one of the windows, as he indicated to rest to stuck behind him with a hand. "The trick here is to always take the thief by surprise. So stay quiet and follow me" he whispered to them, as he curled into a ball again and rolled until he got at the side of the door, while the rest ducked behind the walls and under the windows so the thief won’t see them coming. Once they all stood at Sonic's side, he gently opened the door, and Sunny summoned only her horn, while they all bursted the door open.
"You’ve been caught red-hoofed, Crystal Thief! Give us back the Pegasus Crystal!" Hitch shouted, as Sunny levitated the 'thief', and Sonic made a finger gun charged with some electricity. But it was all a false alarm, since there was no thief in there, but some familiar and friendly faces.
"You made it!" Izzy cheered, as she and Tails were being levitated from Sunny’s magic, with donuts floating around them and Izzy holding a tray of them.
"Took you guys long enough" Tails said with a little smirk, still floating because of Sunny's magic.
"Izzy? Tails?" Sunny said in surprise, also feeling embarrassed that she trapped two of her friends with her magic. She released them, as Tails and Izzy landed on the ground and the donuts fell into the floor. "How long have you been here? Why didn’t you call us?" she wondered.
"And where's Knuckles?" Sonic asked, now with all of his new powers shut down.
"Right here!" Knuckles replied, as he poked his head behind the counter with some donuts on his head and quills. "Hi there, what took you so long?" he asked with a little smile.
"Well, we tried to call you, but you flew too far away. So we came here to look for the thief ourselves" Izzy answered Sunny's question from before. "We’ve gotta try these donuts! They’ve been aged, like, a hundred years, which means they’re really fancy!" she said, as she grabbed a donut and pointed at one stuck on her horn to Pipp.
The pegasus cringed in disgust, while the donut spins some gunk off from Izzy’s horn. "It’s not like cheese, Izzy. If you eat that, you’ll be sick for days" Pipp pointe out.
"I've been telling her for 20 minutes now, but she insists that we have to try them out" Tails complained with a bored expression.
"Well, we’re not going to find our Crystal Thief here. Looks like we’ll have to do some exploring after all" Zipp suggested, as she walked towards the door.
"Yes!" Sunny cheered to herself, excited to explore the former capital of Ancient Equestria.
"Exploring?!" Knuckles exclaimed, as he shook his head and took of the donuts. "Count me in!" he exclaimed with a smile, as he glided towards the exit.
Pipp saw what they were doing, and she still felt tired from all the searching. She grabbed the donut on Izzy’s horn and putted a nervous smile. "I actually will have this donut" she said nervously to Izzy, thinking that if she eats this donut and gets sick, she doesn’t have to search with them.
However, Sonic saw what she was trying to do and immediately took the donut away from her. "Not so fast, young lady!" he warned her, as he threw the donut away.
"Hey!" Pipp complained with a frown.
"Honestly, I want to get out of here too, Pipp, but this is a matter for you whether you like it or not." Sonic scolded her. "Besides, I don't want to see you sick in bed for days again. I don't think I can handle a second relapse, okay?" he confessed with a little blush, which caused Pipp to blush as well, while Izzy giggled a little and jumped towards the door.
Several minutes later, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic were looking around the ruins of Canterlot, searching for the Crystal Thief. Zipp and Tails where flying around the place, Knuckles was looking inside some buildings, Cloudpuff kept sniffing on the ground, Sonic decided to carry Pipp with her hoof crossed to his arm since she was too tired to fly around, and Sunny and Izzy were leading the group.
Sunny looked at the ruins of Canterlot with excitement, but a little down as well. "I can’t believe I’m here…" she confessed out loud, still in shock at the fact that she was standing in the city of Canterlot.
Izzy looked at Sunny with a smirk. "I think you can believe it, and that’s sorta the problem" she told her.
"I always saw Canterlot as the perfect beacon of friendship. A place where unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi lived in harmony and no pony ever felt left behind" Sunny started to explain.
"That’s what you wanted to create in Maretime Bay" Izzy pointed out.
"Yeah" Sunny admitted with a little smile, that faded away soon after. "But seeing Canterlot like this… Makes me question how hard it would be to keep it that way" she finished with a little worry.
"Hey everyone!" Zipp called to the rest from a distance. They all ran to her as Zipp pointed to the Canterlot Castle. "Listen up, according to new evidence that’s just come to light, if we want to find the Crystal Thief, I believe we need to head to the Royal Castle" she explained, as she pointed to the Castle, who looked in very good conditions, unlike the rest of the place.
Sunny started to fanmare so much that she got hearts in her eyes and she squealed in excitement. "The Royal Castle!" she squealed as she came to Zipp’s face and squished her cheeks. "You’re a genius, Zipp! You know the thief must be somepony with a power complex who would be drawn to the castle. They would also have the best view from up there to spot incoming threats!" she pointed out, still fanmaring.
Sunny let go Zipp, as the pegasus rubbed her cheeks from the squishing and gave an embarrassing smile. "Yeah…Of course I realized all that…" she said, then pointed to the entrance of the castle. "...And also, I might have seen the door being opened" she confessed a little embarrassed.
"Get into formation, everyone. We’ve got a thief to catch!" Sonic stated with a smile, as he cracked his knuckles and looked at the castle with confidence.
A few minutes later, the group was walking towards the Canterlot Castle, as Sunny looked all over the place with sparkles in her eyes. Sonic wanted to ran around the whole place and check everything super quick, but he had two problems: the first one, Pipp wasn't letting him go, although that didn't bothered him at all. What bothered him was the second thing: Sunny was fanmaring all over the place, so even if he wanted to just use his super speed and finish the job, he was willing to stay slow and let his friend enjoy the place.
They arrived to the front door of the Throne Room, but it was closed "I’ve got the door!" Izzy cheered as she jumped in front of the door and concentrated her magic. "Come on, little horn-horn. You can do it!" Izzy strained and tried to use her magic to open the door, but her horn stopped glowing. "Magic’s gone again" she said with disappointment since her magic was glitching again.
The whole group then decided to open the door together, and the door started to move slowly as they pushed. "It is moving!" Sunny exclaimed, as they all kept pushing until the doors finally opened completely. They all stepped in and looked around in awe, except for Hitch who looked at the place with suspicion. "Princess Celestia, Luna and Twilight Sparkle all stepped hooves exactly where I’m stepping! EEE!" Sunny squealed, as she walked around the place with sparkles in her eyes, as Pipp took some pictures since her phone was charged again, all thanks to Sonic. "History has been made in this Throne Room a thousand times over… And it’s still standing!" she excitedly said as she pointed at the room. "Even after all the attacks from Queen Chrysalis, the Storm King and King Sombra. Can you believe it!?" she asked to Hitch, who was close to her.
However, Hitch was more concerned about finding the thief. "Sunny! Now is not the time for fanponying" he pointed out, since their priority had to be finding the Crystal and stop the thief. "The Crystal Thief was clearly calling us here, so we can assume this is a trap. We need to stay vigilant" he pointed out, since it was weird that they entered just like that. Sunny then went to the tapestry of Twilight that Izzy was looking at in awe, Zipp was petting Cloudpuff, Sonic just looked around with curiosity, standing next to Pipp who was looking at her phone, and Tails and Knuckles were looking at another tapestry at the other side of the room. "Look for any signs of movement. In front of you, behind you" Hitch instructed as he looked around. However, he didn't noticed that all the rest fell into trap doors on the floor where they were standing. "We need to be completely aware of our surroundings. Because if we’re not paying attention…" he kept going as he turned around to face the others. "... We could be in big…" he stopped when he saw with panic that his friends were gone and the trap doors below were open. "...Trouble" he finished, right before he fell into a trap door as well, screaming in panic.
Hitch fell through the trap as he screamed a bit, before he fell right on a chair that cushions his landing, leaving him dizzy from the fall.
It then reveals that the Mane 5 and Team Sonic, who are a little frazzled and shocked except for Izzy who is smiling, are sitting on what looks like a dinner table with snacks on it.
"How cute is this?!" Izzy cheered in excitement, as she grabbed some of the snacks on the table. "Somepony invited us to a Tea Party! And these donuts look delicious! Maybe not as fine a vintage as the ones earlier, but C’est La Vie" she added.
"I think this is more of a filly-napping than a party invitation, Izzy" Zipp pointed out while sweating nervously, wondering who kidnapped them.
"Man, I like surprise parties, but this totally sucks!" Knuckles yelled with a frown, as he looked around with his guard up.
Izzy then picked up a card with her name on it. "Would a Filly-Napper have made us homemade place cards?" she questioned Zipp.
"You don't want to know the answer, Izz" Sonic said with a deep serious voice and a frown, as he looked around with his guard up like Knuckles.
"Reginald Fursome is the one who made those place cards" a voice said suddenly to the group.
They all felt surprised when they heard that voice, as they turned to see an Opossum on the floor with a card around his neck. "Meep" it said to the group, before gesturing behind him on who really spoke to them.
And they saw from a cave entrance how a hoof came out as Reginald ran to its owner. "He’s an annoyingly needy kind of creature…" he said, as he revealed himself completely. He was a very weird creature: he had a lion arm, an eagle arm, a dragon leg and tail, a horse leg, a serpent body and a pony head. "... And will ‘Meep’ at the top of his lungs when he eats berries on the carpet, even though I tell him that juice is hard to scrub out" he continued, as Fursome smiled with pride. "But unfortunately, he also has a very creative eye. My old friend Fluttershy used to say all opossums do. And what I’ve learned is that if you’re not paying attention to Fluttershy, you’re not paying attention to what really matters" he finished.
"What the actual heck is that thing?!" Knuckles yelled, as he got up and stood in fighting position.
Sunny gasped in shock at who she was seeing, as she pointed a hoof at him. "You're DISCORD!” she cried out in awe. “The Discord! The lord of chaos, who was friends with Fluttershy, who helped Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Thorax to save everypony from the Changelings!” she squealed excited, since she read about him on her father’s notes.
"Excuse me, did she just said 'lord of chaos'?" Tails questioned with fear and confusion.
Discord came closer to Sunny, as she was covering her mouth with her hooves and had stars in her eyes, while the others looked suspicious about him, except for Izzy who was eating a donut. "And you are Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, Izzy, Zipp..." he stopped on midsentence as he looked at Team Sonic. "...Sonic, Tails and Knuckles" he finished as he looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Never thought we would have connection with your dimension, Sonic" he spoke, as Sonic stared at him with a frown.
"You know about us, huh?" Sonic mocked up. "Pretty wise for an old man that seems to be living isolated from the world for the past few centuries, if you ask me" he stated with a smirk.
"I'm the lord of chaos, young man. I know about every single reality, yours included" Discord replied, rolling his eyes. "And your presence in Equestria cannot be ignored since you should not be here, neither your friends and your enemies" he added.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Knuckles intervened.
"I could explain, but I don't think a knucklehead like you would understand" Discord replied with a smirk.
"Repeat that, you son of a––" Knuckles was about to sweared, as he raised a punch to the creature.
However, Sonic stepped in and putted a hand over Knuckles chest to stop him. "Easy, Knuckles!" he told to the Echidna, as Knuckles started to calm down. "It's not worth it..." he said, then looked at Discord with a deathly stare. "... Yet" he added, as Knuckles huffed and sat down.
"There’s nopony who comes to Canterlot without me knowing about it, and… usually there’s nopony who comes…" Discord kept going. Then he stood up straight with a cheerly smile. "... But today’s an exception. I’m so delighted you could all make it to my little soiree!" he cheered happily, glad that he finally saw ponies after all these years.
"Woof!" Cloudpuff barked at Discord, while the others were still unsure about this, except for Izzy.
Izzy leaned her head closer to Zipp while still ate the donut. "You see. It was an invitation" she said to Zipp, but she still not buy what Discord said.
Discord grabbed a teacup and took a bite out of it. While he chewed the piece of it, Sunny barely keep her excitement in check. "Mr. Discord, I have so many questions to ask you---Like, so many" she said to him, wanting to ask so many things. "But first, we really need your help. One of the Unity Crystals was stolen. And we followed the thief here to Canterlot. You wouldn’t happen to have seen the thief around here, would you?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
Zipp and Pipp placed their hooves on their heads, thinking Sunny should not have asked about that to him. "Smooth" Pipp said, as she twirled her phone around.
Discord placed the broken teacup down and looked at Sunny with a smile. "The thief is exactly why we’re having this soiree! There is so much to tell, and it all begins with a dramatic story" he said to Sunny, as he placed his eagle arm up and snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. "There goes my magic glitching out again. Standby!" he said to the others. He then cracked his hands in a stretch, as Fursome came over him with a rope. Discord pulled the rope down, and suddenly a stage appeared when the tarps cleared out and Discord somehow moved to stage and stroke a pose.
The Mane 5 and Team Sonic stared in confusion, except for Sunny - since she knew about Discord’s magic from her dad's notes -, Izzy and Sonic, since he has saw many crazy stuff and didn't find those things weird at all.
Hitch held up a pamphlet about Discord that suddenly appeared on his hooves. "Has that stage been there the whole time?" he asked a little shocked.
"How does this freak does that?" Knuckles questioned with confusion.
"Man, my head's spinning with so many things going on..." Tails complained, as he held his head with his hands.
"That lightning is completely over saturating him. It’s very unflattering" Pipp pointed out the details about the stage.
Izzy then grabbed some popcorn out of nowhere and munched some. "Anypony want popcorn?" she asked her friends, as Sonic took some and ate, still staring at Discord with a frown.
Fursome started play some music, and a scroll appeared in front of Discord as he read it out loud. "While age has been exceedingly kind to this handsome Lord of Chaos, many moons ago, when I was but a spry draconequus, I was part of a high-flying group" he said as he started to remember.
Discord had a vision of the Mane 6, the Elements of Harmony back in the day in the 30 years after the final battle with the Legion of Doom.
"It was Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and me fighting the good fight" Discord told them. "Our fans called us the Mane-Ificent 7" he said, even though it’s not true, but he wanted to be in the picture as well.
Sunny whispered to Hitch and Sonic next to her with a smug look.
"The history books might have a few corrections on that one" Sunny whispered to them.
Fursome then came to Sunny with a sign that said 'Save your comments until the end, Sunny' on it. Sunny looked at the sign with confusion.
"Did you just have that sign ready to go?" Sunny questioned Fursome, who then turned the sign around that now read 'Yes, we did, Sunny' on it, as Sunny gave a pout.
"This is some kind of chaos I'm not used to..." Sonic confessed, as Fursome came to him and showed a sign that said 'You stay quiet too, Sonic' on it, as Sonic rolled his eyes and centered his attention back to Discord.
Discord continued his story about the ancient times of Equestria. "We were quite the heroic little team, but truth is, when Twilight first took over as Ruler of Equestria, there wasn’t much for us to do" he pointed out, since peace and harmony was all over the place. "Twilight made sure everypony in Equestria felt respected and cared for, and we all lived in---what’s the opposite of chaos? Ah. Yes--" Discord then gave his hands the 'And I quote' gesture. "--Harmony" he finished with a little annoyance.
"During those quiet years, Fluttershy and I created an animal sanctuary and took a few proteges under our wings" Discord said. "We taught them to care for all the creatures of the Everfree Forest. It was pure and utter bliss" he added with a nostalgic tone. However, something he remembered somepony that made his voice go serious. "Until a wicked pony came along…" he added with a frown. "... One who caused pandemonium with her false ideas of a Perfect Equestria" he explained. Discord decided to show a vision of the pony skipping in front of Fluttershy and the pony next to her when they were about to buy some flowers. "Those who listened to her started believing some races of pony were better than others simply because of the magical abilities they possessed" he said as Fluttershy and the pony gave the line cutter a glare.
"So sorry, but you need to wait your turn like everypony else" Fluttershy retorted softly to the unicorn.
However, that unicorn stared back at Fluttershy. "Unicorns have better things to do than wait in line" she retorted back at her, and then she shoved Fluttershy to the ground and walked away. That shocked the ponies around her, as Discord showed up to comfort her.
"It’s okay" Discord said, comforting Fluttershy who was about to cry.
"But it was far from okay" Discord kept telling, now showing them the ponies around Ponyville arguing and complaining about each tribe. "One instance led to another, and soon ponykind found themselves divided" he told them. And then came a scene at the sanctuary where Discord and Fluttershy found out they’ve lost their proteges. "Our filly proteges stopped attending our sessions…" Discord said in a sad tone. "It was all very upsetting, but I knew I had it together for Fluttershy" Discord boast, but he made that up since he was the one wailing his tears out and Fluttershy tried to comfort him.
And then it showed Discord and Fluttershy, along with a couple of ponies, trying to out run and fly away from a dark thundering cloud that was attacking Equestria. "Then truly terrible things happened. Much which is far too frightful to describe. Things in Equestria became even more divided" he pointed out, as the scene turned to Twilight and her friends. Twilight was casting a magic spell from a book that she used to create the three Unity Crystals. "To make sure magic never again pitted unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies against one another, Twilight gathered all the world’s magic and placed it in three crystals.” Discord revealed. "As long as these three crystals were protected, and all Ponykind lived in harmony, magic would be kept alive and well in Equestria" he finished his story.
Once Discord finished the story, he sat on the stage and started to tear up from telling them about his past, missing his friends and missing Fluttershy as well. Fursome held up a sign that said 'Applause', as Pipp and Zipp applauded. Zipp and Hitch looked at each other strangely, Sonic kept staring at him but with a soft look now, while the others just looked at Discord.
Sunny came up in front of Discord. "So it was Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy who created the crystals…" Sunny stated, now knowing where the crystals come from and who made them from what Discord told them. "Discord, you need to help us get that missing crystal back so we can keep magic alive and protect their legacy" she pled, convinced that taking the crystal back would protect Twilight's legacy.
Discord then gave her a look. "My dear Sunny, that’s not what I wanted you to take from my story" he confessed, seeing that Sunny didn't took the message clear. "I told it to you so you might question if society without magic might actually be a more peaceful one" he revealed the actual reason for the story.
Sonic felt time stopping around him, as he started to put two and two together. All that compassion and sympathy he felt for Discord a few moments ago vanished as he realized what actually happened. "That big piece of––" he tried to say, but a voice cut him off.
"Watch your mouth, young man" Discord said to him, as Sonic blinked twice, not getting how Discord was moving as fast as him.
"H-How?" Sonic simply asked.
"Are you deaf or something?" Discord asked while rolled his eyes. "I'm the lord of chaos, I can control time and space as well, Sonic. You're not as special as you think" he pointed out.
"What's gotten into you, freak?" Sonic asked to the creature. "What do you win out of all of this?" he questioned, not getting what Discord could get by stealing the pegasus crystal.
"That's none of your business. In fact, you should be more worried about getting home, not complain about other ponies problems" Discord stated at him.
"These ponies are my friends, and what concerns them concern me, no matter if they're from other dimension or not" Sonic assured with a frown. "And why do you care about me and my friends being here, anyway?" he asked. However, something made 'clic' on his mind as he stared with anger at Discord. "You... are the Lord of Chaos... What did you do to the Chaos Emeralds?!" he shouted.
"Nothing" Discord replied with calm. "In fact, I wonder what happens to them as well. But I do can tell you one thing, Sonic: the remaining Emerald it's here in Equestria... but not at the same time" Discord said on a dramatic tone.
Sonic stared at him for a few seconds before he spoke again. "What the actual f*** does that means..." Sonic asked with confusion.
"You'll have to find out with time, Hedgehog" he replied with a smirk, as he snapped his fingers and time ran back to normal. Sonic now was really confused, and he glared at him once again.
Sunny gasped after hearing Discord's actual purpose with the story. "Wait" Sunny said, now realizing what Discord means. "You stole the Pegasus Crystal!" she called out and pointed at him.
"When you reunited the Crystals and magic was restored, I panicked. I didn’t want ponykind to turn against one another again, so I just… took it" Discord confessed, since fear took control over him when he stoled the Crystal.
"Stole it" Hitch corrected with anger.
"Don’t anger him" Pipp advised, as he stopped Hitch with a hoof.
"And what exactly are you planning on doing with the crystal now?" Zipp questioned, since she didn't had a clear idea of what Discord wanted.
"I’m not sure… That’s why you’re all here!" Discord cried out to them. "It’s too big a decision for one Lord of Chaos to make his own" he confessed.
"The answer is easy. Accepting what makes ponies unique and sparkle is what creates unity. We need to embrace each pony’s magic, not strip it away from them" Sunny stated to Discord with confidence.
"Agreed" Hitch said.
"Same here" Pipp agreed as well.
"You got it, Sunny!" Zipp cheered to her friend, agreeing as well.
"The way I see it, ponies are the problem, not magic itself" Tails decided to step in, a little nervous, but with enough confidence to try and change Discord' mind. "From everything you told, what I got was that chaos and disharmony made them split up and hate each other, not the magic itself" he finished, as Discord looked at him not very convinced.
"And the ponies are getting along now pretty good" Knuckles decided to add as well. "Sure, there was trouble on the way, but these guys are more united than ever, The only thing that's messing magic around it's you, sir" he finished with a frown and his arms crossed.
The rest sins Sonic and Izzy cheered at both of them, while Discord came down to the stage and looked at Izzy and Sonic. "And what about you two? You’ve been quiet, and I would very much like to hear what you think of all this" Discord said, while he looked at them.
Sonic wanted to say a lot of things, but none of them were rated E for Everyone, so he just held back and said something more softer. "I think magic's something beautiful that can't be and should not be taken from everypony" Sonic stated, glaring at him in a way none in the group have seen before, specially Tails and Knuckles.
"I agree with Sunny and the rest. Everypony should get their magic back" Izzy replied, but Discord noticed that she wasn't that excited like the rest.
"You don’t seem so sure about it though. And I can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with you, Tails and Knuckles' arrival in Canterlot. I’ve noticed that you three came in on your own, and I can tell that you feel off about this, Izzy" Discord replied with a concerned look.
Both Tails and Knuckles gulped and looked at each other with worry, since they knew Izzy felt out on the morning.
"Oh, well, that’s because we split up so Sunny, Zipp and Pipp could use their magic to fly above the trees and Hitch could use his magic with the forest critters while Sonic ran around the forest and Tails and Knuckles kept me company" Izzy replied with a sheepish smile.
"And they left you behind. Only Tails and Knuckles decided to stay with you" Discord pointed out.
"It wasn’t exactly like that…" Izzy tried to counter, but deep down she felt he was right.
"I see so much of Fluttershy in you Izzy…" Discord said in a sad tone, as he looked at her with sympathy. "... During those years, she also made excuses for others. But I could see how much it really hurt her. Just like I can see how much it hurts you" he added, clearly seeing how excluded Izzy felt. "It’s hard to feel left behind because of the magic you don’t possess" he said, remembering the conversation he heard between Izzy, Tails and Knuckles before the entered Canterlot.
Discord expression changed as he clenched his lion hand. "But I’m going to fix it for you, Izzy" he assured, while he opened his claw hand and magically brought the Pegasus Crystal. "To truly rid of division magic creates, it now seems there is only one answer: No more mutants" he said, while the Mane 5 stared at him confused and Team Sonic looked with boring expressions since they got the reference, even Sonic. "I kid. I kid. I must destroy the Crystal and get rid of magic once and for all" he declared, earning shock expressions from the rest, especially from Izzy since Discord was doing this for her now.
The whole group gave determinate looks at Discord. "That’s not going to happen on our watch" Sunny declared as she summons her alicorn magic. "Come on, ponies. Let's make sure this number’s a real showstopper" she stated, as they stood ready and flew straight to Discord to get the Pegasus Crystal back.
"Finally!" Sonic yelled with a smirk, as he charged his SpinDash towards Discord, while Sunny also charged against him.
Discord turned to Sunny and Sonic with a smug grin. "You love Canterlot History, Sunny. Let me teach you about chaos magic!" he called out as he snapped his fingers.
Sunny reappeared on the stage, with her hooves tied to strings like puppets, leaving Sunny shocked at this.
"Sunny!" Hitch called out to Sunny from what Discord just did to her.
Sonic, on the other hand, got his attack redirected, as he crashed into a rock wall and lay down on the ground, looking at Discord in shock. "He... he dodged my SpinDash... no one could've ever done that before..." he whispered to himself, both amazed and terrified. "How powerful is this guy?!" he asked with genuine fear.
"Sonic!" both Pipp and Tails yelled, but Tails did not stayed there and pulled out a gun with a ned as he shoot the ned to Discord, but the creature snapped his fingers and the ned trapped Tails instead.
"Oh, come on!" Tails complained.
Knuckles tried to attack Discord from the back, but Discord snapped again and Knuckles crashed into a wall as well, as he fell on the ground and growled. "Man, I feel like in 2017 again..." he yelled in frustration.
Izzy gave off a determined look and used her magic to levitate the snacks from the table. "You let Sunny go, Discord!" she demanded, but then her magic glitched out again, releasing the snacks from her magic grip as they fell to the ground, and got some on the Mane 5 and Cloudpuff as well.
Pipp glared at Izzy. "I’m sticky. Why is this happening to me?" she called out rhetorically, while Izzy rubbed her arm in embarrassment.
"Enough of this" Discord said, as he snapped his fingers again, trapping the Mane 5 and Team Sonic in robes, keeping them secure from attacking him.
"Even if you destroy the crystal, Twilight’s magic is too powerful. There’s no way to break her protective spell" Sunny declared with confidence.
But Discord just smirked at her. "No way that we know of yet. But Twilight taught me the power of a little research. I’m sure I’ll figure something out" he assured, as he snapped his way out of the cave. However, his voice could still be heard. "The theater can be an emotional experience for everypony. You’ve been a wonderful---if not rowdy---audience" he declared with a playful tone. "And it's been a pleasure to meet some people from another dimension, specially the blue one" he added, which cause Sonic to react once again, as he frowned with anger. "I hope we reunite for another tea party during more peaceful times" Discord finished, as his voice completely faded away.
The Mane 5 and Team Sonic stood in silence for a few minutes, until Knuckles broke the silence with a bored expression.
"Yeah, this is stupid" he said, as he just separated his hands like if they were not tied up and freed his feet, then started to brake the ropes of the rest. Cloudpuff came out of of the stage curtains and started to freed the rest as well.
"He’s going to figure out how to destroy the crystal, and if we don’t stop him in time… We’ll lose our magic forever" Sunny said with an anxious expression.
Sonic, on the other hand, never felt so mad before. Not even when Eggman said he wanted to rule another dimension, no. It was even worst than that. Whoever this guy is... he knows something about the Chaos Emeralds... and I'm gonna find out what is it Sonic though. He then looked at the rest, who where really worried about the situation, as he remembered a promise he made not son long ago. But of course, I'm not doing this search alone he thought again with a smile
To be continued...