//------------------------------//
// 3. Growing Pains 
// Story: Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: Make Your Mark - Season 1 
// by BronySonicFan 
//------------------------------//

Hitch was having another tired day guarding up Maretime Bay, specially since the earth pony magic seemed to be overwhelming him a little.

"I just hope things got more 'normal' eventually" Hitch told himself. "Now I just have to make Sparky sleep, clean all the mess I know he made and then fill up my paperwork... yay" he said on a dead tone. He finally reached the station and entered. "Alright, let's see what's up for..." he stopped in midsentence at what he saw: the station was clean and shining bright, while Sparky seemed to be sleeping over the desk that should be the deputy's desk and he found that the pile of papers, usually covering all his desk, was smaller and organized, something he never saw before since, well, Sprout didn't helped that much and he was alone.

Then, one of the piles was lifted and putted on the ground, and Hitch saw Knuckles sitting on his desk. Once Knuckles returned his gaze up, he noticed Hitch looking at him. "Oh, hi Hitch!" Knuckles greeted. "I hope you don't mind that I'm organizing your stuff... again, but I saw that you had a lot of work and decided to give you a hand or two" he explained with a smile.

"Um, sure, I don't mind, but..." Hitch tried to find the right words. "You've been doing this for a while now, Knux" he said a little concerned.

"Organize your paperworks?" Knuckles asked confused.

"No... Well, yeah, but not only that" Hitch corrected himself. "I mean that you've been entering the station when I'm not around and help me with things that I didn't asked for" he explained. "It's not that I'm not grateful, I really appreciate the detail, but... I don't get why are you doing it, Knuckles" he finished a little worried.

"So you have noticed, huh?" Knuckles said with a sad smile.

"You've done this at least twice a week for the last month, and it's pretty hard to ignore" Hitch confessed.

Knuckles let out a big sigh and stood up from Hitch's desk, then he walked towards the sheriff with a sad frown. "Well... the truth is that I've been trying to feel useful again..." he confessed with sadness.

"What?" Hitch asked with confusion. "What do you mean?" he added.

"Back home I'm known as the guardian of the Master Emerald, one of the - if not the - most powerful artifacts in the entire galaxy" Knuckles began to explain with pride. "As its guardian, it is my duty to keep safe from anyone who attempts to put their claws on it and used it for evil purposes. Dr. Eggman tricked me many times on thinking that Sonic wanted the Master Emerald, and I even lost it because of a bat thieve that's a pain in the ass... But I managed to remain as its guardian anyways..." he paused for a moment, feeling a little down again.

"But?" Hitch asked, knowing that Knuckles would say that next.

"But ever since I ended up here, that connection I have with the Master Emerald has being dying slowly, and now I feel like it just keeps growing apart every day I spent here" Knuckles kept going. "If I'm not guarding the Master Emerald, or helping Sonic and Tails to kick Eggman's butt, I feel... useless" he confessed with sadness. "That's why I hang out with Izzy sometimes, and that's why I help any way I can around, so I can feel I'm doing something important again..." he finished.

"What about Sonic and Tails, tho?" Hitch asked him.

"Sonic just runs around all day and daydreams over Pipp and Chilidogs, while Tails spends most of his time making fancy tech or investigating about things I don't understand" Knuckles said with disappointment. "And Eggman hasn't showed up in a while, so I'm not required on the battlefield either..." he added with sadness. "Sonic got new powers that outmatch the Chaos Emeralds, and Tails is big enough to take care of himself, so... I guess I'm afraid that I'm not needed for anything..." he finished.

"You just want to feel that you're doing something for the rest... right?" Hitch asked him with a little smile.

"Yeah, that's a way to put it" Knuckles said.

Hitch though for a moment. He wanted to help Knuckles out for real, not just cheer him up so he could feel better, no, do something. And luckily, he didn't had to think about it too long: Knuckles could make Sparky sleep, he cleaned up the station and even did some paperwork. Also, they both had something in common: the loved to lift up litter and made other ponies do so. "Well, Knux, I think I have the solution" Hitch stated with a smile.

"To what?" Knuckles asked.

"You want to feel like you're helping, and you want to help others in need, just like me!" Hitch explained. "Also, you love to lift litter the same way I do, so I have the perfect solution for you: Knuckles the Equidna, what would you say to be my fellow deputy?" he asked with a smile.

Knuckles eyes widened as he looked at Hitch in shock. "W-What?!" Knuckles cried out surprised. "Me? Your new deputy? No way! I mean, yeah, I would like to, but you know I won't stay here forever, right?" he pointed out.

"Yes, I do" Hitch assured with his smile growing. "But I think you'll be a perfect deputy for the time you stay on Equestria" he stated. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you'll get used to be called 'Deputy Knuckles' with time" he said jokingly.

"Oh, please no. I won't mind doing the job, but I don't want to be called 'Deputy' with my name everywhere I go..." Knuckles confessed a little concerned. "I'm good with them just calling me Knuckles" he assured with a smile.

"Okay, the 'Deputy' part can be ignored, but are you up to the task or not?" Hitch asked, now on a mocking tone.

Knuckles looked at him with a frown and a smirk. "Sheriff Hitch, Knuckles reporting to duty, sir!" he stated in a military pose, meaning that he accepted the job.

"Very well, then!" Hitch said with his 'sheriff voice', bringing out a belt with another badge smaller than Hitch's and putting it around Knuckles. "This is your uniform. Whenever you come to the station, you must be wearing but the belt and the badge. Understood?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sir, yes sir!" Knuckles replied with a salute.

"Okay. We can quit the act now, Knux" Hitch told him with a smile. "Tonight was the private promotion, tomorrow will be the official announcement of Maretime Bay's new deputy!" he stated.

"Oh yeah!" Knuckles said with a joyful smile, as he grabbed Hitch and gave him a big hug. He even lifted him from the ground, which made Hitch chuckle a little. "Thanks for the chance, Hitch! You won't regret it, I promise!" Knuckles assured.

"I know, Knux, I know" Hitch said with a smile.





The next morning, Hitch was trotting towards the station very early, since the sun was recently rising in the horizon.

"It's another beautiful day in Maretime Bay where the sun is shining, the pegasi are flying..." Hitch narrated to himself, as he greeted some ponies along the way. "And practically nothing could go–– Wrong!" he shouted suddenly.

In front of the station, Knuckles was pulling out some vines from the entrance that Dahlia accidentally made grow.

"Oh, sorry, Hitch..." Dahlia apologized to the sheriff. "I was actually trying to open the door for you" she explained with a little chuckle. "I know you don't like magic..." she pointed out a little ashamed.

"What? Me not like magic?" Hitch asked with a sheepish smile, pointing at himself. "Pshh! I'm totally cool with it now!" he assured with a confident smile.

Dahlia smiled at him and left, while Knuckles keep trying to remove the vines. "I know you're lying, but I won't comment anything on that" he told Hitch, who glared at him. "If anything, magic is a good thing as long as no one gets hurt" he added, ripping another vine from the station.

"Uh-huh..." Hitch replied with a bored expression. "Look at that, your first official day as my deputy and you're earlier than me" he pointed out with a proud smile.

"Hey, if I'm going to be your deputy until I go back home, the least I can do it's take the job seriously" Knuckles pointed out with a smile. "That, and also I'm used to wake up earlier since, you know, guardian of the Master Emerald thing" he added.

"Well, I'm, glad you're taking the job serious!" Hitch said, still smiling. Then, he heard Kenneth chirping at him. "What, Kenneth?" he asked the bird, while the animal pointed at his wing like if he had a watch on it, and Hitch got the message immediately. "Oh, you're right! I'm already late for my morning rounds!" he said in panic, and then trotted away.

Knuckles didn't knew what to do exactly, if keep pulling the vines from the entrance, or follow Hitch. At the end, he decided to follow Hitch since he had to learn the routine anyways, so he would keep pulling vines later.

"Ready to take action, sheriff Hitch!" Knuckles said, once he reached Hitch's side. "So, what do you exactly do every morning?" he questioned him.

"I see you're willing to learn the route as well, huh?" Hitch said with a proud smile again. "Seriously, where have you been my whole life?" he said jokingly, while both he and Knuckles chuckled a little. "Okay, so first things first, I..." but before he could finish, he got startled at something.

Knuckles looked at the same direction at him and got confused. "What the...?" he whispered.

"Good morning, Sheriff Hitch!" Seashell, Glory and Peach Fizz said in unison.

The three fillies were stuck on a weird vine that Seashell accidentally made grow with her magic. "Uh, um... Gah-reat job, Seashell!" Hitch told her with a sheepish smile.

"Come on kids, let's get you down from there" Knuckles said with a smile, while he helped Seashell and Glory to get down, while Hitch did the same with Peach Fizz. "There we go!" Knuckles said happily.

"Thanks!" Seashell told both Hitch and Knuckles. "We were actually stuck" she explained.

"Magic is pretty wild, huh?!" Glory pointed out.

"Too wild if you ask me" Hitch said on a panic tone, looking at the vine behind the fillies.

"Oh no! Are you upset?" Peach Fizz asked worried.

"Me? Upset? About magic? Never!" Hitch assured with a nervous smile, which Knuckles noticed, and he knew that Hitch wasn't telling the truth at all.

"So we can use all the magic we want, then? No rules? No holding back?" Seashell asked excited with a chuckle.

"You were holding back?!" Hitch asked in panic.

This time, Knuckles decided to step in. "Okay, let me be clear here: you can use your magic? Absolutely, no doubt about that" he started to explain. "But you do have to hold back, unless you want someone to get hurt" he pointed out. "Other than that, sure, have fun!" he added with a smile

But then Hitch screwed it. "Um... yeah, sure..." he said to the fillies.

"Hitch said 'Use all the magic you want,' don't hold back, everypony!" the three fillies shouted out loud so everypony in Maretime Bay could heard them.

Knuckles had to cover his ears for a moment, and then he looked at Hitch. "Is 'screw it up' part of your routine?" he asked sarcastically with a bored expression, while Hitch chuckled nervously as an answer.

Outside of the old Canterlogic factory, Sprout was along other two ponies doing his Community Service, since it was really taking time for him to get done with it. "My magic's probably the most powerful in the 'Bay. Wanna see?" Sprout told the other two ponies with an egocentric smile, while the ponies looked at him with annoyance.

"Does it involve sweeping? If not, then no, Sprout" one of the stallions told him with annoyance.

Sprout looked at them mad, and he stomped his hoof softly on the ground. But nothing happened, and the other stallions looked at him with smirks, knowing he only wanted to show off. "Honest! Just need to warm up" Sprout assured, but the stallions walked away. He looked mad again and stomped even stronger this time, and it made a berry bush behind him grow until it made the berries gigantic. "Uh-oh, that's a new feature" Sprout said a little worried. And then one of the berries fell from its root, which made Sprout to run away while the berry rolled behind him. "My magic is too powerful! Run!" he shouted, passing between the two stallions from before.

When those stallions turned around, they started to run as well. "It's everypony for themselves!" one shouted in panic.

"I'm just saying that being strict with them isn't a bad thing, no matter if they're just kids" Knuckles pointed out to him.

"I know, Knux. But everytime I try, I panic and... well, things like that happen" Hitch explained. And then, both of them heard screams from Sprout and the other two ponies, and saw the giant berry rolling towards them. "Berry attack!" Hitch announced.

"This is not a drill!" Knuckles announced as well, as they both ran on the opposite direction.

Hitch pushed a filly that was passing by on her skateboard to keep her safe, and Knuckles used his speed to move objects and ponies aside so they couldn't get hurt. Meanwhile, Sprout manage to climb into a building to stay safe while Hitch announced the few ponies left on the road to move aside. But then he tripped on a little cart and started to move around town. At the end, the cart tripped with some books that were on the ground and Hitch landed with a thud on the ground.

The Berry was coming towards him, and he screamed in fear. Knuckles noticed that after pulling some fillies aside and looked at the berry in shock. He felt anger and ran towards the berry at a speed similar to Sonic. However, he was feeling a bit more anger than usual, and he didn't noticed that his body was starting to let some red electricity came out, and his eyes turned fully red as well. He jumped over Hitch and, without knowing it, he charged some electricity on his fist and punched the berry, that immediately exploded and left a mess behind.

Knuckles landed and then looked for a moment to his hand, noticing the red electricity. "What the heck?!" he muttered to himself with widened eyes. He looked at his body, and at one of the quills that was on his shoulder: they were all more red than usual and had some electricity as well. But then it slowly faded away, and Knuckles looked around at the ponies staring at him in awe. "Um, it's everypony okay?" he asked with a nervous smile, which made the ponies around to cheer at him.

Knuckles thanked Chaos that his skin was red, or else he would be blushing right now. Then he noticed Hitch on the ground with a bored expression and covered with the berry's juice.

"Ugh..." Hitch groaned with annoyance.

"You okay there, sheriff?" Knuckles asked him with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Hitch replied sarcastically. "Just another beautiful day in Maretime Bay..." he added with frustration, laying on the ground while Kenneth stood over his head.





Later that day, Sunny arrived to her stand alongside Tails so they could make smoothies and Tails would deliver some of them. Then, they noticed both Knuckles and Hitch walking towards the station, with Hitch still covered on berry juice and Knuckles had some on his hands since he helped to clean out. Both Sunny and Tails chuckled at Hitch's aspect, and they walked towards he and Knuckles.

"Oh, wish I had been around earlier!" Sunny told Hitch with a mocking tone. "Sounds like you made a real impact!" she added with a laugh, while Tails chuckled a bit as well.

"Ha-ha. Laugh all you want, Sunny" Hitch told her with annoyance. "But fruit juice funk can stay in your mane for weeks!" he pointed out with frustration.

"Not to mention how sticky it is..." Knuckles added, trying to het some juice off from his gloves.

"This plant-powered magic is something special" Sunny said with a smile. "Growing stuff at the stomp of a hoof? Incredible!" she said, looking at the vines still covering the station entrance.

"I may not understand the science behind magic, but I really like everything you ponies do with it!" Tails confessed with a smile.

"Make that two with me!" Knuckles said with a smile as well, finally getting rid of all the juice on his gloves.

"Ugh. It's more like incredibly unpredictable!" Hitch said, still a bit annoyed and pulling a vine off the door. "I mean, we don't even know all that it can do yet..." he pointed out.

"Well, we know enough" Sunny said. "Like you seem to be the only pony who can talk to animals" she pointed out with a smile. "But have you tried to grown anything yet?" she asked him.

"He's too scared to do it" Knuckles replied instead of Hitch, pulling off the vines from the station's door.

"Hate to admit it, but Knuckles is right" Hitch confessed with concern. "And after this morning, it scares me more..." he added with worry.

"Aw, come on, man" Tails told him with a smile. "A mistake can happen anytime, and just one accident isn't enough to say something is totally dangerous" he pointed out.

"Tails is right, Hitch" Sunny said on agreement. "You can't judge all earth pony magic on one little mishap!" she pointed out.

Since Hitch was pulling out a vine of the door, he ended up pulling out and flying backwards. He crashed on his back against Sunny's stand, and then the superior part the usually showed the stand being close came down and crashed on Hitch's head. Sunny, Tails and Knuckles cringed at this, while Hitch pulled the superior part up and sighed in defeat.

"Maybe you just need to see the scene of the slime for yourself" Hitch told both Sunny and Tails.

"You go on, guys" Knuckles told the other three. "I have to fill the paperwork for this accident" he stated, pulling off the last vine from the entrance and entering the station.

"Uh... fill the paperwork?" Tails questioned.

"Isn't that Hitch's job?" Sunny pointed out confused.

"I'll explain you later" Hitch told Sunny and Tails. "Follow me" he added, walking towards the Canterlogic factory, while Sunny and Tails looked at each other confused and followed Hitch.





Meanwhile, in the Brighthouse, Sonic was sitting on his bed, still desperate to make something up for Pipp.

"Oh, come on! There has to be something! Anything!" Sonic complained. "There's no way that I've been living with her for 9 months now and still don't have an idea of what to give her!" he shouted in frustration.

"Um, Sonic?" Zipp's voice called out from the bedroom door.

Sonic shouted and his phone flew a little. He tried to catch it before it tripped, and although it almost did, he managed to catch it just in time. Sonic sighed in relief that his phone didn't broke and sat on the bed again. "Zipp, please stop being so sneaky, it's really annoying" he told her with a bored expression.

"I don't promise anything" Zipp told him with a smirk. "So, I heard you complaining from downstairs. What's going on, dude?" she asked him.

"I'm just... looking for a gift, but I got nothing!" Sonic complained. "As far as I look, I have no idea of what to give her..." he said with frustration.

"'Her', huh?" Zipp asked with a smirk.

Sonic's eyes widened and he facepalmed, knowing that he said to much. "Dang it!" he said.

"So, what are you looking for?" Zipp asked curiously. "And who is the lucky lady?" she added with a mocking tone. At that last question Sonic looked at her with a bored expression, shouting 'Really?' with only his face. "Wow! Wait a minute, Pipp? Really?" Zipp asked again, still smirking.

"No shit, Sherlock" Sonic said sarcastically. "Yeah, I want to give something to her... why? Not even I know it, I just... want to show her how important she is for me..." he explained with a blush and a smile. "Ugh, but I can't find anything!" he complained once again, now laying on his bed. "What am I supposed to give a spoiled rich girl who probably has everything?!" he cried out in frustration.

"Dude, you're overthinking this way too much" Zipp said with a smile. "I know that her attitude says otherwise, but Pipp is very grateful with everything they gave her, it doesn't matter how small or big it is" she assured him.

"I can tell that, but I want to do something special. Something that she'll never expect from me..." Sonic explained, once again sitting on his bed.

"Hmm..." Zipp said, putting a hoof on her chin. "Something she won't expect from you..." she repeated, as she started to fly around the room to think better.

"I could give her flowers? Nah, very old fashioned. Maybe some new makeup? But she makes her own stuff, so it won't work either..." Sonic listed some things he could give her. "A new microphone? Headphones? Or maybe a new tune..." he kept listing.

And Zipp stopped suddenly when she heard the 'new tune' part. "A new tune... That's it!" she shouted, and flew over to stand in front of Sonic. "Pipp can expect anyone like Izzy or Sunny to make a song for her, but she would never expected from you!" she pointed out with a smile. "A guy who loves speed and adventure cannot sing that much, and she would be surprised and flattered that you made it!" she added, still smiling at Sonic.

"Write... a song... for Pipp?" Sonic questioned with a soft voice. "I mean, it can work, but I'm terrible at writing songs. I was like 10 when I did one for the last time, and it was to calm Tails down from thunders..." he explained, not really convinced on the idea.

"Come on, man. You can try it out" Zipp cheered with a smile. "I know Pipp would love to hear something coming from you" she said.

Sonic blushed a little at the idea, and smiled as well. "I'm terrible at this stuff, but since I have no other options, I'm going to give it a shot" he said, now with a little more confident smile.

"That's the spirit!" Zipp cheered. "And don't worry, Sonic. I won't tell a thing" she added with a soft smile, extending her hoof to him.

Sonic got the message and smiled back, touching her hoof softly with his hand. "Hoof to heart!" they both whispered, putting their hoof and hand on their chests.

Then Sonic deep breathed. "Okay, I'm gonna give it a shot, but I'll need some inspiration first..." he pointed out.





Back in Maretime Bay, outside the Canterlogic Building, Sunny and Tails were alongside Hitch, listening to Sprout explaining what happened earlier.

"I swear I don't know what happened!" Sprout was explaining. "All I did was stomp like this" he said, and once again stomped the ground with his hoof. That made the giant berries behind him to sparkle again, and Hitch immediately panicked.

"Stop the stomping!" Hitch told Sprout, who looked behind, and then looked back at Hitch with a sheepish smile.

"It's better if you don't do that again, Sprout" Tails told him a bit nervous. "We had enough accidents for a day, and it was only one" he pointed out.

Hitch sighed annoyed and looked at the rest of the town with worry. "First, Maretime Bay was shook up with magic, and I said nothing" he said with concern.

"Uh, that's not true" Sunny said. "You actually said a lot" she pointed out.

"Then earth pony magic came! Now I'm saying something" Hitch stated with a determinate look. "I keep this place safe and it's too dangerous without rules!" he said.

"Rules are required when someone does something wrong. Making a plant grown by accident isn't something you can control at all, Hitch" Tails pointed out, while Sprout decided to get back to work.

"And if our magic can produce produce this perfect, there might be no limit to what we can do!" Sunny added with a smile.

"Right! And you shouldn't cut off a whole new planet of possibilities just like that!" Tails added as well.

"More like a cosmos of calamities" Hitch said with a frown.

Sunny groaned at Hitch's attitude and rolled her eyes. "But how are the earth ponies gonna grow and learn... and learn to grow with restrictions?" she questioned Hitch.

"She's right, man" Tails said on agreement. "You earth ponies can take lots of advantage with your new magic, and you want to take that away from them!" he pointed out with concern.

While they discussed, Sprout was pulling some dust away, but he got some on his nose and sneezed. The sneeze caused his magic to activate again, and the berry root grew a bit more, which made a piece of the fence to break and hit Sprout on his head.

Sunny chuckled awkwardly and looked at Hitch. "Uh, just consider what we're saying before you jump to any conclusions" she pled him, while Tails nodded with a sheepish smile.

Hitch sighed before replying. "I'll think about it" he said. "But the safety of ponies in Maretime Bay is my top priority" he stated, while Sunny came close to him and took some of the fruit juice from his chest with her hoof. Hitch turned around and walked towards the station, while Sunny ate the juice she graved from Hitch.

"Um, Sunny... you have a little something in your..." Tails told her with a smile, pointing at his cheeks to tell Sunny where she had some juice left.

Sunny took out her alicorn mirror and opened it to see clean up the juice with her tongue.





"Misty, quick!" Opaline called to the mare on her Castle, seeing that Sunny opened the mirror again. "That alicorn is using the mirror we gave her! Soon her magic will be––" she tried to add, but then Sunny closed the mirror and the image changed again. "Teasing us as it trots away" she finished with frustration. "Why has she barely used it?" she questioned with frustration. "If it was me, I'd have checked my pout every minute on the minute!" she pointed out with, smiling egocentrically.

"Oh, if someone had told you that Sunny isn't like you... Oh wait, I did!" Dr. Eggman said from the other side of the room. "I told you that Sunny Starscout isn't an alicorn like you. She doesn't care about power, she only wants rainbows, and friendship and all that good-for-nothing nonsense!" he pointed out. "I don't even get why you gave her the mirror in the first place..." he questioned with both disappointment and confusion.

"Silence, Doctor" Opaline told him. "At least I'm trying to do something here, while you're just sitting there, waiting for something to happen!" she complained.

"Patience is the key to victory, Opaline" Eggman said calmly. "You lost yours, and now you're on a treasure hunt you won't win, while I keep waiting for the perfect time to attack. Besides, I'm busy tracking something that might help us to get what we want" he added, walking towards his computer.

"Keep wasting your time, doctor" Opaline told him with a glare. "Misty, now it's time for me to tell you to do something else" she stated, while Misty looked on nervously.

Meanwhile, Eggman reached his computer and turned it on. "Now, let's see how are the Metal Mane doing with their research..." he whispered to himself.

He gave the machines the mission to look all around Equestria for the 7th Chaos Emerald before Sonic could find it. The images that he was looking were not very satisfying, but he did saw something from his interest. "Ohohohoho! Now look at that! Seems like Metal Sonic has decided to keep doing his own stuff" he said with an evil grin. The image of 'Metal Izzy' showed Metal Sonic flying near by, on his way to Maretime Bay apparently. "Although these images are from days ago, I'm glad to see that Metal Sonic's still loyal to me, even if he tries to reveal every time he can. Let's send a little hi to him..." he said, pressing some buttons that gave Metal Izzy new orders: to find Metal Sonic and deliver a message.





Back at the station, in Maretime Bay, Hitch finally removed all the fruit juice from his body and was trying to schedule some things to do.

"Creating an inventory of all magic types?" Hitch listed first, putting a card on a board. "Limiting magic to the magic hour of dusk? A card that's bit in half–– Hey!" he cried out once he realized the card on his hoof was bitted in half.

Then he heard someone chomping something, and when he looked at his back, he found Sparky on the ground, chomping one of the cards with a smile.

"Sparky!" Knuckles called out to the baby dragon, grabbing him and pulling the card away. "That's not eatable! You can get sick! And your tummy hurts when you eat paper, remember?" he told the baby dragon with a worried look, but Sparky just laughed and jumped from Knuckles arms.

The dragon ran towards Hitch's desk and climbed it up, trowing some things in the process. "Sparky, careful!" Hitch told him, while Knuckles launched to grab the things before they fell and brake in the ground. "Sparky, come here!" Hitch called out to the Baby Dragon, but he hid behind the board. "You won't be in trouble, I promise!" he assured to the kid.

"Liar!" Knuckles hissed to Hitch. Sparky, however, did trust him and walked towards Hitch, but he accidentally let the board with Hitch's papers organized fell.

"Ah!" Hitch cried out in panic, and Sparky tried to run away. "Sparky, wait!" Hitch told the dragon, and grabbed him in the moment he let go a small amount of his dragon breath. "Sparky! No dragon fire!" Hitch scolded him. Once he had Sparky, he let out a sigh, and Sparky looked at him playfully while moving his hands. "Aww, I can't be mad at you, Mr. Sparkeroni. You're just too cute!" he said with a smile.

Knuckles putted everything on place, the board included and walked towards Hitch. "He's really adorable, yet he causes trouble by accident... ironic" Knuckles said with a smile, panting Sparky a little bit.

Then, they heard the station door open, and Sparky jumped from Hitch's hoof. The dragon baby quickly ran towards the trash can that was full of litter. "No, no, no!" Hitch cried out.

"Sparky, don't do it!" Knuckles shouted to him with worry, but Sparky grabbed the trash can and lifted in the air anyways. The can landed on Hitch's head, with litter falling in the ground and Knuckles looking at the litter with a twitchy eye.

"Love being a dragon dad..." Hitch said sarcastically with the trash can over his head.

"Serious question: Can I be his uncle?" Knuckles asked, pulling the trash can off from Hitch's head.

"Whoa!" Izzy's voice called out, since she was looking from the door. "That was... so funny!" she cheered with a smile. "And also, you may need some help?" she asked innocently to Hitch and Knuckles, looking at Sparky playing with the station's phone and the mess around the station.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Hitch asked with a bored expression. "Sparky's been excitable lately" he explained picking up the phone from Knuckles' desk since Sparky got down and ran around Izzy. "He was a hoof-ful already..." he started saying.

"And now he's literally chomped trough my desk!" Knuckles cried out, grabbing a chomped part of his desk. "What Hitch meant is: yes, please gave us a hand!" Knuckles begged with desperation. "Or hoof, since you're a pony, you know" he corrected himself with a little smile.

"Aww, he's just adding his flair to the furniture, aren't you, Sparky?" Izzy told them with a smile, levitating a chair that Sparky was chomping. She then levitated the chair towards Hitch and Knuckles, while Hitch grabbed Sparky and Knuckles putted the chair away. "You know, if you ever needed a dragon-sitter, I'd be happy to look after him!" Izzy suggested with a smile.

"Wow! Really Izzy? That'd be great!" Hitch told her with a smile.

"And just in time, look" Knuckles told Hitch, pointing at the ponies reuniting at the outside of the station. "It's showtime!" he stated with a smile.

"Okay then... Time for my Town Hall!" Hitch said with a smile. "Thanks, Izzy!" he thanked the unicorn.

"Yeah, thanks kiddo. You're the best! And this helps us a lot" Knuckles told her with a smile.

"If you need anything for Sparky there's a comprehensive list of do's, don'ts and potential threats and dangers. See you later, I'll be outside!" Hitch told her with a smile, getting out of the station.

Knuckles looked at him with a bored expression, while Izzy just looked on confused. "Potential threats and dangers?" Izzy questioned. "What's so dangerous about you?" she asked to Sparky, who erupted a dragon flame in response.

"You would be surprised, Izz. Just don't let him chomp anything that can make him sick and you'll be fine" Knuckles told her with a smile, then he looked at Sparky. "And you be a good boy with Izzy, okay?" he told the baby dragon, panting him a little before walk out of the station. "Have fun, you two!" he told to Izzy and Sparky.





Outside the station, many ponies were reuniting to hear Hitch's Town Hall. Sunny, Zipp and Pipp arrived too, and Tails carried Sonic trough the air before Sonic landed on the ground, with Tails landing at his side. They saw Hitch standing in front of a microphone, while Knuckles was at his side with his arms on his back and looking around for weird activity.

"Hello" Hitch greeted the ponies around. "I know we started the day with a pretty disastrous––" he started saying, but at the last part he corrected himself when Knuckles glared daggers at him. "I mean, magical morning" he said, then cleared his throat. "Now, today's incident made me realize two things: the first one; Knuckles braveness by confronting danger and helping ponies around the 'Bay made realize how useful his help is around our town. So, instead of giving him some kind of reward, I made something that adds more to him: Maretime Bay, say hello to Deputy Knuckles!" he announced.

Surprisingly for Knuckles, all the ponies around cheered at the news of their new deputy. Even Sonic and Tails cheered at him, and Knuckles allowed himself to smile a little at the town, before returning ti his 'deputy' position.

"So Knucklehead is deputy now. I feel things are about to get more interesting from here!" Sonic said with a smirk.

Hitch cleared his throat again, making the cheers to shut down and gaining everyone's attention again. "Now, our second thing: After surveying the recent magical changes in Maretime Bay and the messy ways they've disrupted our daily lives, I have decided there will be... No use of earth pony magic!" he announced with a frown, which made the crowd to gasp dramatically. Hitch looked at his cards again and finished, "Whatsoever!" he added, and the crowd gasped dramatically again. Knuckles stopped acting like a deputy and looked at him on disbelief, since Hitch never told him anything about that, and Sunny and Tails looked worried from the crowd too. "Until I've collected enough data from all of you to form proper regulations and guidelines!" he added with a smile.

The crowd gasped dramatically again, and even one of the ponies fainted. "This goes against everything we told him two hours ago!" Tails complained in whispers, as he facepalmed on disbelief.

"I assure you, this is all for your own safety" Hitch said with determination. "We don't know what's possible with earth pony magic yet. Until I've taken proper inventory of every flight, float, flora, and fauna power, magic is off limits" Hitch stated. "That is all" he finished with the Town Hall with a smile.

The crowd groaned, some in disappointment, some in annoyance and some with anger. But then there was Sunny, who was mad at Hitch like she never has been before.

"I swear I hear her pressure rising..." Sonic said with panic, while Tails just gulped, feeling that this won't end well if Sunny of all the ponies was mad.

"What has gotten into you?!" Knuckles shouted to him. "Why you didn't tell me about this?!" he demanded for an answer.

"Because I knew you would say it's a bad idea" Hitch said with a frown.

"Because it is!" Knuckles cried out at him. "They never had it before, and you're taking it away from them! I may not be on a position to expect anything from you, Hitch, but as your deputy, ensuring the safety of this town is also my duty!" he pointed out.

"Maybe it is, but I cannot risk any chance of something bad happening" Hitch stated. "Look, you can stay at the station and do the paperwork if you want, or come with me to take notes about the earth pony magic" he told him.

"Glad I can choose, because right now I'd rather stay in the station with Izzy than come with you and do or say something I'll regret later" Knuckles replied, entering the station without facing Hitch. The sheriff rolled his eyes and walked towards the other direction.





Later, Hitch was grabbing some litter and putting on trash cans, when the rest of his friends sins Izzy and Knuckles came to him, with Sunny staring madly at him.

"I though you said you weren't gonna do anything drastic!" Sunny complained at him.

"No, I said I would think it over" Hitch defended himself. "And my thoughts are telling me it's bad and it's only gonna get worse if I don't step up!" he stated with a frown.

"Ugh, but earth pony magic it's powerful!" Sunny told him.

"Exactly!" Hitch replied. "What's gonna happen if we have more mishaps?" he questioned her, passing by an earth pony stallion pilling up some boxes, but one fell and Hitch grabbed in time, putting it back on place. "It's my job to make sure everypony is safe!" he stated.

"Man, this is a question of practice!" Tails decided to step in. "The pegasi and unicorns had to practice a lot before finally controlling their magic, right? Do you really expected earth ponies to control their powers since day one?!" he pointed out, trying to make Hitch gain some sense.

And then they passed by the three fillies from before, once again stuck on a giant vine. Sunny chuckled nervously, and Tails facepalmed while Hitch looked on with a frown. "Growing pains! They'll get it" she assured to Hitch.

"Guessing you ponies were too tied up for the Town Hall earlier?" Hitch asked the fillies, then he pulled out three stickers of a vine with a red line in the middle. "Just a little reminder of the new rules!" he said, putting the stickers on the fillies hoofs, indicating that they could not use earth pony magic. The fillies groaned in disappointment, and Tails was now glaring daggers at Hitch.

"Sunny and Tails had a point, Hitch" Zipp spoke. "It's too early to know if earth pony magic is anything to worry about" she pointed out.

"And you're jumping way to early into conclusions, man" Sonic spoke as well. "Being prepared for anything isn't a bad thing, but you're taking this to an extreme I didn't thought even existed..." he pointed out as well.

"Look, I'm part of the reason earth pony magic is here now" Hitch spoke, as he ran towards a can on the ground, grabbed and putted on the trash can. "What if I become the reason earth ponies get hurt?" he questioned, now with a sad expression. "As sheriff, I can't let that happen!" he stated with a determinate look.

As Hitch walked away, both Sunny and Tails stared at him with bored expressions. "Well, this is stupid" Tails said with anger.

"From making traps that don't work at all to restrict something that should be from free use" Sonic said sarcastically. "I have a bad feeling about this..." he confessed with his arms crossed and a worried look.





Back at the station, Sparky was doing a mess al around the place, while Izzy tried to calm him down a little.

"Oh, come on, Sparky!" Izzy called out. "Hey, you hungry! What about food? Would that calm you down?" she asked him, while Sparky looked at her excited and followed. "Whoa, guess that's a yes! I am great at this" she told herself with joy, while she walked towards the cabinet of the station.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was standing at one side of his desk, with his eyes closed and trying to concentrate on his new electrical powers, but unlike Sonic, he couldn't made them awake. "Ugh! This is useless!" he complained. "How's that Sonic makes his powers appear at will but I can't?!" he cried out with frustration.

Then, he saw Izzy taking a note out of the cabinet. "'Play me'" she read. "Well, I have never said no to a talking TV. Sure!" she said with a cheery smile, but before she turned the TV on, Knuckles stepped in quickly and stopped.

"Remember what I told you about don't let him chomp anything that can make him sick? That is literally the only advice you need" Knuckles told her. "Sparky is still a baby, and even tho he has his ways to obtain what he wants, the best you can do is let him be a kid. I know I said that he can make some disasters, but he also has lots of energy to run around and mess up a little, so let him just do that" he added with a smile.

"Are you sure? Hitch seemed worried that Sparky could cause trouble" Izzy pointed out.

"Meh, I'm sure he's just exaggerating... like always..." Knuckles said with a little anger, but then he smiled as he had an idea. "Say, what if we're Sparky's 'funny uncles'?!" he suggested with a smile.

Izzy gasped excited at the idea. "Like the ones that let him do everything he wants and let the 'strict stuff' to Hitch?!" she asked excited, hopping a little.

"Exactly!" Knuckles replied with a smile. "We'll gave hours of fun that Hitch refused to give!" he added with a determinate look. "Besides, I already finished my paperwork, so I'm free right now, and since I still don't know how to activate my powers like Sonic, I can help you take care of the little guy" he finished.

"Your powers?" Izzy questioned.

"Oh, right! I didn't told you. I have powers like Sonic, but mine are read and dead. No, seriously, they don't want to come out now and I don't know why" Knuckles explained to her.

"Ooh!" Izzy said excited. "Sounds like you could use some help" she said with a cheery smile.

"Later, let's focus on taking care for the baby right now" Knuckles suggested with a smile.

Neither Izzy or Knuckles noticed that Sparky sneezed and let out some fire, turning some objects in the ground into leaves that vanished once they touched the ground.





Sunny, Hitch, Zipp and Tails were outside Dahlia's house with Dahlia herself, preparing to do some tests on her earth pony magic.

"This is a controlled magic experiment to collect data, Dahlia" Zipp explained to her with a smile, holding her phone to record Dahlia while Hitch looked with a bored expression, Sunny looked worried and Tails was just using his advanced tablet to take lectures on the magic. "Just muster your magic in a little burst..." Zipp added.

Dahlia nodded and she made her magic appear, stomping softly her hoof on the ground, which made a giant green explosion to happen and blinded the rest for a second. "Whoa! Dahlia? Where'd you go?" Hitch asked worried.

Dahlia was now covered on gardenias, and she poked her head out. "Is now the time I mention I'm allergic to gardenias?" she asked with a sheepish smile, and then she sneezed.

Hitch looked on with disapproval, and putted a Sticker of 'No earth pony magic' on her hoof.

Sunny groaned at this, and Tails looked at his results of the analysis, then he looked at Hitch with a frown.

"This guys is getting on my nerves..." Tails muttered to himself.





Sonic was sitting on table, not far from Sunny's smoothie stand, using headphones connected to his phone as he heard to some melodies for his song to Pipp.

But so far, nothing was convincing him. "Dang it!" he said to himself. "Why writing a song it's so damn difficult?!" he cried out loud, punching his face against the table in frustration. "Ugh, I could ask Pipp herself, but she doesn't has to know I'm even doing this..." he told himself. "Guess I'll just keep trying until something comes to my mind" he finished, before putting the headphones back and keep looking.





Meanwhile, at the station, Sparky was running around and making a mess, to the point that he moved an object that made many objects to move around until a book landed on a bowl of fruits, and a tomato landed on Izzy's horn.

"Sparky! Don't do that again!" Izzy scolded him with a frown, and Sparky almost cried with sadness. "Unless I'm around to film it!" she said with a smile, taking out her phone.

"Now that was funny, little guy!" Knuckles told Sparky with a smile. "Now do that again, but go even wilder!" he stated with a grin, and Sparky immediately went to repeat what he did earlier.

"Let your freaky-fun-flag fly, Sparky! Fly!" Izzy told him with a cheery smile.

"Man, wish I had that energy to make my powers flew out" Knuckles said a little disappointed.

"Aww, don't worry Knuckie, I'm gonna help you out to let your powers appear!" Izzy stated with a smile, which made Knuckles smile as well.





Sunny, Zipp, Hitch and Tails were outside of Mane Melody, in front of a table with a watermelon and a watermelon seed, while at the other side of the table there was an earth pony stallion, waiting for the other to tell him what to do.

Once again, Zipp was recording with her phone and Tails was taking lectures with his tablet. "And what's your magic?" Zipp asked the stallion.

The stallion made his hoof glow and touched the watermelon seed, turning it into an already grown watermelon. Zipp and Hitch looked at each, and Zipp putted her phone away to take a watermelon that the stallion was giving to her. But then, he accidentally activated his magic and made the watermelon multiply, with one of them accidentally hitting Hitch's hoof in the process, which made Hitch to fell in pain.

Once he stood up, he brought a sticker of 'No earth pony magic' and putted it on the other stallion's forehead. "Perfect, great. Don't do it again" Hitch ordered with a bored expression.

Once again, Tails looked at his analysis results, and frowned at Hitch. "All this 'No earth pony magic' nonsense it's going to make me sick... and I don't even have magic on my own!" he complained.





Back in the station, Sparky was twirling around Hitch's office chair.

"Now, that's the spirit!" Knuckles cheered at the baby dragon.

"Abandon all order! Dazzle with destruction!" Izzy said with a cheery smile.

"Express yourself to the extreme!" both Izzy and Knuckles cheered, while Sparky landed on the ground a little dizzy, but still smiling.

"Ah yes!" Knuckles cheered. "I finally felt some energy! It was short, but it was something!" he kept cheering with a smile.

"Seems like strong emotions make your sparkle shine bright!" Izzy told him with a smile. "And also it makes your powers flew. We need more strong emotions! MORE!" she cheered out, while Knuckles smiled at her.





Sunny, Hitch, Zipp and Tails were now with another earth pony stallion, who was having trouble since he was trapped on some vines he made grow accidentally, and looked at Hitch with a sheepish smile.

Hitch looked at him with a frown, and took out another sticker for no earth pony magic. "Don't do it again" Hitch warned him, but then another vine grew and tried to grab one of his hind legs. Hitch could move the leg in time and kick the vine away, then he putted the sticker on the stallion's hoof.

"Okay, I'll admit that this has a slight chance to be dangerous" Tails muttered to himself.

And then Hitch putted more stickers on the other earth ponies, Posey included, who looked confused at Hitch. A little far from where Posey and Hitch were standing, Sunny, Zipp and Tails looked at Posey's and other earth ponies hooves glowing.

"Look at their hooves!" Zipp pointed out.

"They're all glowing!" Sunny added.

One earth pony touched the grass with his glowing hoof, and random vines starting to get out. Behind him, another earth pony touched a tree, and it started to change colors.

"And fizzing?" Tails added a little confused.

Pipp and Jazz were looking at all that was happening with the earth pony magic confused.

"Okay..." Jazz commented with concern. "This is officially getting weird!" she added, looking at the color changing tree. Pipp took out her phone to take a picture at the tree, but then Jazz magic activated out of nowhere and made a big bush grow below hers and Pipp's hooves. "Eh? I didn't even want to do that!" she said confused, shaking her hoof to make the glow disappear. And then she took a picture with Pipp, who had the camera ready to take the selfie.

And then there was Sonic, who was still focusing on his tunes to make his song. "But your voice won't let me be.... So many pretty girls around... They're just dressing to impress..." Sonic muttered to himself, writing down the lyrics from his song. "Man, I found a good rhythm, but I have to find a way to make it more natural..." he added, still wearing his headphones and listening to the tune. But in the moment he paused the song, he heard some ponies screaming, so he took his headphones off and found some ponies being trapped on vines and asking for help. "What the–– Whoa!" he exclaimed when a vine took his leg and lifted him in the air, putting his whole body upside down. "Okay, this is starting to annoy me... If Hitch don't let these ponies use their magic, something terrible is going to happen..." he muttered to himself, trying to get down from the vine.

Meanwhile, Sunny, Zipp and Tails were with Hitch not so far from the Canterlogic Factory.

"See?" Hitch said with a smile, pulling out some blank papers. "I just need to plan and plot out a perfectly thought-out list of precautions all before you ponies can say 'Presto'!" he pointed out with a smile, while Sunny and Zipp looked at each other with bored expressions.

"My analysis says that you are just paranoid over something that hasn't happened yet..." Tails told him with a bored expression. "Earth pony magic is no dangerous! And the worst that can happen its that a giant berry makes the town a bit messy, like what happened this morning" he pointed out.

"Sorry, Tails, but I'm not going to let aside my plan!" Hitch stated with a confident smile.

And then, behind him, and old earth pony mare and Posey made their magic appear by accident. "Presto! Presto!" both Sunny and Zipp cried out in worry.

Hitch looked at them with a bored expression. "Ha-ha. I didn't mean literally" he pointed out.

"No, Hitch, the ponies, they're––" Sunny tried to warn him, but Hitch cut her off.

"Safe and protected now that we've put a stop to this" Hitch said with confidence.

"Ugh, for Chaos sake!" Tails shouted with anger. "Just look!" he told Hitch, moving the stallion's head to take a look over town, and he gasped at the sight of earth pony magic getting out of control.

"Magic is out of control again!" Jazz shouted to the group, with Pipp flying at her side.

"And I have video proof!" Pipp said, showing her phone to the rest, playing a video of the change color tree from before... wearing glasses and with some background music. "In a sassy-sparkle filter too! I know, the sunglasses are a great touch, right?" she said with a cheery smile. "The Pippsqueaks made it just for me" she added.

And then, the vine that trapped Sonic grew large enough to move him with the rest. "This magic is getting wilder, and I don't like it..." he said with an annoyed tone and a bored expression.

The others sins Hitch looked at him with smiles, and Pipp even giggled a little at Sonic's situation. "Um, everything okay there, pal?" Zipp asked with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, everything's cool. I'm just hanging out over here" Sonic replied with a smirk. The joke make the rest sins Hitch burst out laughing, and Tails flew over him, spinning his tails fast enough to cut the vine and free Sonic. He landed on the ground with his feet and pulled the vine from his feet away. "Thanks, lil' bro" Sonic greeted Tails as they fist bumped. "But seriously talking, this magic is getting on my nerves..." he added, now talking seriously.

"And why didn't you try to tell me?!" Hitch yelled at Sonic, while Sunny and Zipp looked at him with bored expressions and Tails glared daggers at him.

"I think it has something to do with the glowing hooves!" Zipp pointed out, while Jazz hooves started to glow again.

"Not a good look, Jazz!" Pipp cried out with worry.

Hitch putted a hoof on his chin to think, and then Sunny touched his shoulder, looking at his hoof. Hitch looked at it too, and then he shrieked when he saw it was glowing. "What does this mean?!" he asked with a frown, looking at his glowing hoof.

"It's gotta be the built-up earth pony magic!" Zipp pointed out. "I don't think you're supposed to keep it all in!" she added with worry.

"As I said to myself before: if you don't let the earth ponies use their magic, something terrible is going to happen!" Sonic tried to resonate with Hitch.

"I was wrong..." Hitch said with concern. "I shouldn't have put a pause to earth pony magic..." he added.

"Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say that!" Sunny told him with a smile.

"You won't be anymore, Sunny..." Tails warned her with a bored expression.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked him confused.

"I should've have gone straight to the Unity Crystals!" Hitch said next. "When ponies united and the Unity Crystals were created, everypony got their magic. Maybe if we remove the earth pony one..." he added with a smile.

"What?!" Sunny asked on disbelief. "No! That's not what I meant" she pointed out with worry.

"Told ya" Tails said, still with his bored expression.

"Hitch, you forgot to have your cup of coffee this morning, didn't you?" Sonic asked with a neutral expression, but deep down he was as worried as the rest.

"You were right, Sunny!" Hitch said to her. "Earth pony magic is powerful, too powerful! We never had it before, why do we need it now? Come on!" he stated with a determinate look, and then ran towards the Crystal Brighthouse.

Sunny, Zipp and Pipp followed behind immediately, while Tails wanted to follow but got stopped by Sonic. "Tails, go to the Brighthouse at top speed and try to slow him down, I'm going to call for the only guy that can make him snap!" he ordered, and the boosted towards the station.

"Got it!" Tails replied, flying to the sky with his tails spinning, and then boosting straight to the Brighthouse at full speed.





Back at the station, Knuckles was lifting both his desk and Hitch's some chairs, cabinets, books, and Izzy was sitting on the top with sparky on her hooves.

"Remind me... how's this suppose to help me?" Knuckles asked Izzy, grunting a little for all the objects he was lifting.

"Strong emotions makes you feel your powers, so, a bit of pressure should make you mad, and then..." Izzy explained, stopping so Knuckles could finish the sentence.

"My powers should... come out?" Knuckles finished unsure.

"Exactly!" Izzy cheered with a smile.

"I'm still not so sure about this, but if you say so..." Knuckles confessed.

And then, the doors of the station opened immediately, startling Knuckles who let everything he was lifting fall on him.

"Knux!" Sonic called out, since he was the one that opened the doors. "Knuckles?" he called out again, and then he saw the mess of the place.

"Hi, Sonic!" Izzy greeted with a smile, immediately levitating all the stuff and putting it back on place.

"Uh... Izzy? Where's Knuckles?" Sonic asked, but once all the objects were back on place, Knuckles stood up a little dizzy. "Uh, never mind" he said. "Knux! Quick! We have to get to the Brighthouse!" he stated with panic.

"Ugh... Sonic?" Knuckles asked, as he could recover a bit. "What's happening?" he asked.

"Hitch thinks destroying earth pony magic is going to solve everything!" Sonic explained with worry. "He's going to the Brighthouse right now!" he added.

"He wants to do what?!" Knuckles asked with both surprise and anger, now frowning slowly. "Out of my way!" he said, as he pushed Sonic aside and boosted towards the Brighthouse.

"Come on, Izz, we're going to need your help too!" Sonic told her before boosting out as well.

"Coming!" Izzy told him, and then she turned to Sparky. "Sparky, Izzy has to pop real quick, but if you're good while I'm gone, I'll..." she stopped as she grabbed a crab plushie and gave it to the baby dragon. "Unicycle your very own race track!" she told him with a smile. Sparky grabbed the crab plushie and grabbed cheerfully, meaning that he loved Izzy's suggestion. "Thought you'd like that. Okay, Kenneth, you're in charge!" she told to Kenneth, who entered the station and stood at Sparky's side. "Watch Sparky for just a moment" Izzy finished, while Kenneth saluted at her. "Okay, good dragon. Stay right there! BRB!" she said, finally leaving the station.





At the Crystal Brighthouse, Hitch was in front of the Unity Crystals, with all the rest trying to stop him.

"Taking the earth pony crystal out is the only way to keep everypony safe from this mayhem" Hitch stated, as he raised his hoof to touch the earth pony crystal.

"Whoa, whoa! Slow your roll!" Zipp called out to him. "You don't know that!" she pointed out.

"Removing a Crystal is not like flipping a switch! We could lose everything!" Sunny tried to resonate with Hitch.

"And if magic disappears entirely again, you're going to cause a bigger disaster!" Tails pointed out as well. "Things being levitated could fall on somepony, pegasi flying can get theirselves killed if they stop flying... and even earth ponies can get hurt if their magic stops working suddenly!" he explained with worry.

"But if we don't try something, we could still lose everything!" Hitch said, not willing to step aside.

"Hitch, no" Sunny told him one more time.

Hitch was about to touch the Unity Crystal, but then a giant white glove grabbed his hoof and stopped him.

"No" Knuckles voice spoke. 

"What? Knuckles, get out from..." Hitch tried to make him aside.

"I said... No!" Knuckles reaffirmed, tightening his grip a bit while his eyes turned fully red, just like his quills and his free hand got some rede electricity.

That immediately startled Hitch, and for the first time since he knew Knuckles, he was a bit scared from him. He has saw the echidna mad before, but this was the first time he looked at him genuinely angry, not to mention the red eyes gave a chill on his spine.

Sonic and Tails, however, stared at Knuckles in shock, not because of what he was doing, but of the fact that he also had powers like Sonic.

Knuckles calmed down a bit, and his electrical powers dissipated, while he let go of Hitch's hoof and the stallion looked at the ground with shame. "What am I doing?" he asked himself. "You're right! This isn't me!" he added with concern, stepping back from Knuckles and the Unity Crystals while Sunny let go a relieved sigh. "Guess I'm just... scared and unsure. Magic doesn't operate by any rules! Rules are what I know!" he pointed out. "What if I can't be the sheriff everypony needs now?" he said with sadness.

Knuckles' eyes then widened, finally getting why Hitch was doing all of this. "So you make all of this mess because you're afraid you won't be needed anymore. You're afraid you won't be... useful... right?" he asked him, now with a comprehensive look, while Hitch sighed in defeat and nodded slowly.

"You'll always be a strong sheriff, Hitch. Because you care" Sunny told Hitch with a smile.

"I'm sorry everypony..." Hitch apologized with shame. "I just love Maretime Bay so much. But maybe having less magic isn't the answer" he pointed out.

"Well, I'm glad you finally realize that" Tails said with a smile. "And Knuckles, what was that?!" he called out to him.

"What was what?" Knuckles asked confused.

"Um, your quills getting more red than usual? Electricity on your gloves? Fully red eyes? Don't tell me you didn't noticed it..." Sonic said with concern.

"They appeared again?!" Knuckles questioned, looking at his quills and hands. "I guess Izzy's right and it only appears when I'm feeling strong emotions, like anger" he pointed out with a frown.

"Well, let's put that aside for now" Tails suggested. "Even tho I want to make some questions about that, we should look for an answer to our earth pony magic problem first" he stated with a smile.

"And we're going to find out what is that answer. Right?" Zipp questioned to the rest with a smile.

"Yeah!" both Hitch and Tails said with smiles.

"You bet!" Pipp stated with a smile.

"Of course!" bot Sunny and Knuckles said, smiling as well.

"Definitively!" Sonic said with a smirk.

Izzy replied by hopping around with a cheery smile, and then she noticed her Cutie Mark shining bright. But not only hers: all of the Mane 5's Cutie Marks were shining and powering the Unity Crystals.

"Huh, more Cutie Mark magic stuff?" Knuckles questioned.

"Our Cutie Mark magic is... combining?" Sunny asked in awe, looking at the Unity Crystals.

And then, all the group gasped when the figure of a pony appeared as a projection from the Unity Crystals.

"Holy Chilidogs!" Sonic exclaimed with awe.

"What filter is that?!" Pipp asked with disbelief.

"That is definitively not a filter" Tails said surprised.

"That is..." Zipp tried to say, but then the figure finally got clear, and it revealed to be an alicorn mare with purple fur, a dark indigo mane with a streak of lighter purple and pink in her mane and bangs, as well as her tail, and purple eyes that showed worry.

Sunny knew perfectly who's hologram that was. "Twilight Sparkle!" she said in awe, looking at the mare that inspired her dad and herself on the mission to reunite ponykind.

"If you're seeing this, magic is now more powerful than it's ever been, and earth pony magic has been activated for the first time in the history of Equestria!" Twilight's hologram spoke, while Hitch looked at his glowing hoof for a moment, and then looked back at Twilight. "Magic is alive, always changing, growing stronger. There are evil forces out there who will want to exploit it" the hologram kept telling, while Zipp and Izzy looked at each other and Zipp took out her phone to record Twilight's message. "Once a pony tried to steal all the magic in Equestria for herself, and almost succeeded" Twilight's hologram said with worry. "I did all that I could to protect it from..." the hologram got static, and the message didn't delivered complete. "... by summoning all of my magical strength to achieve placing the magic in the Crystals and the..." the hologram got static again. "But the spell is broken! You are exposed to the world once again. You must watch out for Op–– Before she op–– I'm with you" Twilight's hologram disappeared after that last line, leaving the message incomplete.

"No! Come back!" Zipp pled.

"'You must watch out for Op...'" Tails repeated. "Who can be this 'Op' she mentioned? And why does it sound so familiar to me?" he questioned to himself.

And then the ground rumbled, which startled the whole group. They all got out to the balcony, and saw that Maretime Bay was infested on giant vines now. "It's time, Hitch" Hitch told to himself. "You worked hard, researched, tried your best to keep the bay safe, but you've got to reverse action!" he told himself again.

Knuckles, tired of hearing Hitch wasting time by talking with himself, punched him on the neck and glared at him. "Stop wasting time, and move!" he said, now grabbing the sheriff and pulling him away of the balcony.

"Well, I'm still wondering what other evil forces besides Eggman we're facing on this land" Sonic confessed with worry.

"And who's the evil pony?!" Zipp questioned.





"Uh... Opaline?" Misty called out to the alicorn.

"Ugh, if it's another compliment on my hooves, Misty, 'hooftastic' isn't a word, and I refuse to acknowledge it" Opaline replied with annoyance.

"No, look" Misty said, pointing to the 'screen', where an image of earth pony magic was showing up. "The earth pony magic is getting worse!" Misty pointed out.

"Magic isn't getting worse, it's growing into something it never has before" Opaline explained with a grin.

"But if it's growing this fast, how're we gonna stop it?" Misty questioned.

"Oh no, no, no, no" Opaline said with a smile. "We won't be stopping anything, Misty. In fact, we're gonna let it thrive" she explained. "So that when we pluck it, it will be the most powerful it has ever been!" she finished, and the made her maniac laughter. Misty tried to join her on the laugh this time, but she got in on bad timing, and Opaline looked at her with a bored expression. "Ugh, if you're going to maniacal laugh with me, Misty, at least be in sync" Opaline pointed out. "Ready?" she asked Misty, who nodded with a smile. "And..." she said.

Both Opaline and Misty laughed maniacally now, although Misty stopped suddenly since she felt uncomfortable.





Metal Sonic was on a junkyard, not so far from Maretime Bay, hiding between lots of junk and fixing one of his legs with a piece that, even if it looked rusty, was working very well, and that was enough for him.

"Restoration progress: 92% of body parts fully functional" Metal Sonic told to himself. "Main functions restoration progress: 87.4%, at least 95% required before getting back on battlefield" he said to himself again.

He sighed a bit frustrated, as he resumed his reparation process. After his last fight with Sonic, he promised himself to get his rematch and win. After all, killing Sonic was still his prior mission. He received instructions from Eggman the moment he managed to reactivate his systems back: Kill Sonic and Sunny, then get the Unity Crystals and the Chaos Emeralds from the Brighthouse and gave them to the Doctor on Opaline's Castle.

He had free will now. He could just do whatever he wanted and left Eggman on his own... yet he couldn't do it. Why? Was it something on his hardware? Did Eggman programmed him to be loyal till the very end? He didn't knew the answer, and yet here he was, repairing himself to accomplish his mission. He did knew, however, that he shared that desire to kill off Sonic, probably the only thing he had in common with him.

He also knew why Eggman wanted Sunny out as well: she was an Alicorn. Opaline was powerful, despite her 'compromised' power, and yet the Doctor knew Sunny could overpower her simply because of how weak Opaline was turning lately. At least that's what the message Metal got explained, and because of how little to nothing he knew about Sunny, his only option was to trust his word and get rid of Sunny Starscout as well.

"So this is were you were hiding" a female robotic voice suddenly spoke. Metal turned to the direction where he heard the voice, and found some hind of robotic pony. It was a purple robot with the form of a unicorn, using some blue and purple vines as hair and tail. However, it didn't had a mouth, and its eyes where as red as his.

"Who the heck are you?" Metal asked to the other robot.

"Oh, right!" the other robot replied, and since its voice was female, Metal could tell it was a 'she'. "The doctor never told you about us, did he?" she asked to Metal.

"The doctor?" Metal repeated. "What are you talking about? Who are you?!" he asked again, now turning his arm into a plasma ray and pointing at the unicorn robot.

"Oh, I would not try that if I was you..." the female robot warned him, but then Metal shoot her. However, he got impressed when he saw that the robot was not in front anymore, and suddenly got shoot on his back. Metal feel into the ground, and groaned. "I warned you!" the female robot said behind him and chuckled.

"What the... how did you?" Metal tried to ask.

"Oh, well, Doctor Eggman gave us a little power up thanks to Sonic's quill!" the robot explained. "Since he has unlimited power, he's going to upgrade all his machines to be as powerful as Sonic himself. And we're the first candidates! Yay!" she cheered.

"'We'?" Metal questioned. "How many like you are out there?" he asked confused.

"Well, I'm part of a group the doctor called 'The Metal Mane', since we're the robotic copies of the Mane 5" the robot explained. "I'm the counterpart of a mare called 'Izzy", so I guess that makes me 'Metal Izzy'" she said with a chuckle.

"So 'daddy' made more like me, but with 5 pathetic ponies..." Metal told himself. "Why am I not surprised?" he added with annoyance. "So, Metal Izzy, right? How did you find me? And what do you want?"

"Oh, don't worry" Metal Izzy told Metal Sonic. "I'm just here to give you a message from the doctor since you're... let's say, you're not to attached to the family" she said. "So, the doctor saw that you've been around for a while now, and he was wondering if you could do one last thing for him before letting you alone" she asked.

"I'm still following orders, you know" Metal Sonic revealed. "I'm just not in the mood to hear whatever he wants to say with his stupid technical words" he pointed out.

"Well, I'm giving you his request anyway" Metal Izzy said. "He asks if you could take Sonic far from Maretime Bay long enough so he can send any of us and cause a mess around town" she explained. "He thinks the ponies are very dumb, dumb enough to think us, the Metal Mane, are the original Mane 5 and are the ones causing trouble around" she added.

"So he wants to make everyone against those 5... makes sense, actually" Metal Sonic confessed. "Alright, tell him I will do it with the condition that he leaves me to finish my already assigned missions" he requested.

"Leave it to me, Metal pal!" Metal Izzy said with a cheery tone.

"You know, for a Metal, you're very optimistic and cheerful" Metal Sonic told her.

"Oh, don't let that fool you, silly. I'm a killing machine if you mess with me" Metal Izzy warned on a treating tone. "Bye!" she waved, again with a cheery tone, and then left flying since she ha rockets like Metal Sonic.

"That was... something..." Metal Sonic whispered, as he looked at Metal Izzy flying away. "Gotta say, I feel intrigued on how thing turn out at the end for this... Metal Mane..." he added.





Back in Maretime Bay, things were getting out of control for earth ponies with their magic, while the pegasi and unicorns tried to help anyway they could.

And then, Knuckles arrived with a megaphone. "Attention to all the earth ponies of Maretime Bay!" he called out trough the megaphone. "Whatever Hitch told you about your magic, forget it! Used it to get rid of all the plants and fruits before somepony gets hurt!" he ordered.

Hitch and all the rest of their friends arrived as well to make sure Knuckles words spreed quickly. Hitch took the megaphone from Knuckles and spoke too. "Like Knuckles said, forget what I said earlier! Use your magic, as much as you can!" he ordered too.

"But also focus, and guide your magic!" Sunny told the earth ponies, placing a hoof on her chest.

The earth ponies got rid of the sticker that didn't allow them to use magic, and stomped their hooves on the ground to get rid of all the plants growing around town, focusing like Sunny told them.

"Express yourselves!" Izzy said with a cheery smile. "Let your freaky-fun-flags fly!" she added.

"That's right! Listen to Sunny and... Izzy?!" Hitch asked, since Izzy was supposed to be with Sparky. "Where's Sparky?" he asked her.

"Uh... He's back at the station dragon-napping!" Izzy replied with a smile.

"Oh, okay then..." Hitch said calmly at first. "Wait! Did you say napping?! He's going to be up all night now!" he complained and groaned, then moved on to keep an eye on earth ponies getting rid of the plants around town.

Meanwhile, Sprout used his magic to make the berry bush back to his normal size. "Yes!" he cheered with a smirk. But then, behind him, another berry bush grow, and this time it was twice the size from the other one. Sprout looked at the bush terrified, and then the berry broke from its root and Sprout screamed as he ran away for cover.

Pipp, who was looking at her phone, heard Sprout's scream, and she immediately panicked. "Hitch, look!" she called out, walking towards the sheriff. "Giant glimmer berry coming again, six o'clock!" she added with a little smile.

"But it's only 2:15!" Hitch pointed out, while Pipp looked at him with disbelief.

"Oh, for Chaos sake!" Knuckles groaned, and he made Hitch turn completely around.

The three of them saw Sprout running away from the berry, while the same three fillies from before got trapped again on. a vine Seashell made grow accidentally, and now the berry was rolling towards them. The fillies gasped from the sight in fear, since the berry was going for them and they could not escape from their situation.

"My Pippsqueaks!" Pipp cried out in worry, immediately flying towards the fillies, being followed by the rest.

While the Mane 5 and Knuckles stopped in front of the vine, Sonic and Tails ran towards the berry, and the Spindashed on the ground and got stuck in the berry, slowing it down a little bit in the form of a ball.

"We cannot slow this thing forever, guys!" Tails cried out, still Spindashing.

"I hate to admit it, but he's right!" Sonic told them, Spindashing as well. "You'll have to find a solution quick!" he shouted.

Hitch started to think on something. "Okay! Link hooves just like we did around the Unity Crystals!" he told the other mares. "Our powers are always stronger together, right?" he questioned.

The five ponies united their hooves, while Knuckles just stood on Izzy's side trying to get his powers working, but once again they didn't appeared.

"Why are my powers still not working?! Strong emotions makes them appear, but I feel mad right now and I feel nothing" Knuckles muttered to himself, looking at his hands, and then looking at the berry.

Meanwhile, Hitch was looking at his glowing hooves in awe, and Sunny noticed that with a smile. "Relax, Hitch" she told him. "All you have to do is trust yourself, you've got everything you already need" she said with a comfort smile.

Knuckles also heard Sunny's words, and something clicked on his mind. "Trust yourself..." he muttered again. Both he and Hitch closed their eyes, only focusing on their powers. While Knuckles felt the entire world disappearing around, the Mane 5's hooves glowed and made a giant vine draw on the ground that made a giant tree grow on the berry's way. The tree was big enough to stop the berry, and the Mane 5 looked on in awe.

"Guys, let go!" Sunny announced to Sonic and Tails.

"You heard the lady, lil' bro!" Sonic told Tails, while they both Spindashed backwards and let the berry roll again. Tails landed in front of Zipp, while Sonic landed at Pipp's side. Sonic sat on the ground holding his head and shaking it. "Aw man, I'm dizzy..." he complained, trying to regain his composure.

"Ugh... My head's spinning..." Tails complained, as his eyes rolled around from how dizzy he felt.

Hitch then looked at the tree blocking the berry's way. "The tree's right in the berry's path! We're protected! We're gonna save the ponies, we're actually gonna do it!" he cheered with a smile.

"Thanks, Hitch. You just jinxed us" Sonic said sarcastically, getting up and cleaning some dust, while Tails stood at his side, still a little dizzy.

And just like Sonic expected, the berry crashed against the tree and spreed fruit juice all over, as well as giant remaining pieces of the berry itself.

While Izzy, Sunny, Pipp and Tails screamed, Sonic looked on with a bored expression while Zipp and Hitch just looked worried. "Oh no..." Hitch said, covering himself.

"Told ya" Sonic said, still with the same bored expression, and then he hugged both Pipp and Tails to cover them.

However, Knuckles opened his eyes in that moment, now fully red since he had his powers focused. He looked up to the fruit juice, then jumped up high, charged electricity on his fist and with a warrior cry, he punched the fruit juice to send it away from his friends. It fortunately worked, but although no one else got messy because of the fruit, his friends did ended up covered on it. And so, for the second time in that day, Knuckles saved the day.

He landed in front of his friends on the typical super hero pose, still with his powers on, and the rest looked at him in awe, Sonic and Tails included. Izzy, on the other hand, looked at him with sparkling eyes, and even a little blushed too, but she didn't noticed it the last thing.

"It's everyone okay?" Knuckles asked to his friends.

"Yeah, just a little messy" Tails said, licking some of the fruit from his arm.

"Seems like we're trapped on a little jam!" Sonic said jokingly with a smirk. The joke made all the rest of the group sins Knuckles to laugh at the joke, and the rest of the ponies just cheered at them.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Hedgehog" Knuckles said with a bored expression.

"By the way, knucklehead, seems like you have your powers under control now" Sonic pointed out.

"Really?" Knuckles questioned, and then looked at his gloves with electricity on it, as well at his quills. "Yeah. I guess I do!" he replied with a smile now, while he made his powers disappear.

"Of course you do!" Izzy told him with a smile, while giving him a side hug. "I knew you could do it, Knuckie!" she added.

"Thanks, kid" Knuckles thanked her.

"Told ya, earth pony magic is something else" Sunny told Hitch with a smile. "Who knew you had the power to grow magical trees?" she asked him, looking at the giant tree that Hitch made grow outside the Canterlogic Factory..

"Speaking of, have you seen this thing?" Pipp asked, taking out her phone to take a picture. "It's like five sparkle filters combined!" she cheered, taking the picture.

Zipp took her phone out and recorded. "Zipp file number 3-1-O: Flowers on magical tree look strangely familiar somehow. Must investigate" she said, recording the flowers from the tree.

"I'm gonna keep saying this until the day I die: I love Equestria!" Sonic said out loud. "Every day you ponies impress me on ways I never thought were possible, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us" he stated with a smile.

"I wish the kind of problems we have back home were like the ones they have..." Tails confessed with a sad smile. "It would be a lot better than deal with a bald guy with killer robots" he added with a bored expression.

"You took the words out of my mouth, little buddy" Sonic said, still smiling.

And then, Zipp grabbed Sonic to talk with him aside of the rest. "So, how's the song thing going?" she asked him in whispers so no could heard them.

"Very good, actually! I just need to redo the melody from scratch 'cause I want to make it special, but that aside, everything is working out very well!" Sonic whispered with a smile. "Now I just need to find the right moment to sing it to her..." he pointed out.

"You'll figure it out, but until then, I'll try to persuade Pipp so she doesn't suspect a thing" Zipp told him with a wink.

"Thank, Zippster" Sonic thanked her.

"You were right, Sunny" Hitch told her. "I shouldn't have tried to control all that magic, especially my own" he confessed with shame.

And then, they all heard a loud crash. "What was that?" Sunny asked worried. "It sounds like it was coming straight from the station" she added. They all turned around to see the doors of the station open, with some dragon fire coming out of the station.

Hitch gasped worried at the sight. "Sparky!" he cried out, running towards the station while the rest followed him. Once he reached the station, he stopped suddenly. "Izzy, I thought I told you not to let Sparky make a mess... That is entirely cleaned up" he said, looking at the station clean and shining. Then Sparky ran towards Hitch excited, while Kenneth saluted at him. "Wow!" Hitch said in awe, looking at Sparky being so happy with him. "I've never seen Sparky this happy" he confessed, while both he and Izzy looked at Sparky eating some of the fruit juice on Hitch's back. "Did you follow the Safety Schedule? Feed him before sleeping? Not sleeping before eating? Check all the boxes on the comprehensive list I left" he asked Izzy. 

"Nope, nope, and... nope!" Izzy replied with a smile, while Hitch just looked at her with a bored expression. "I just find out that ditching all the rules and letting Sparky run free was just what the dragon ordered!" she explained. "Isn't that right, little cutie?" she asked the baby dragon.

Sparky purred against Hitch in response.

"I also told her that your list was exaggerated" Knuckles said with a calm smile. "I get you worry about him, but not everyone does what you do, man" he pointed out. "Besides, he's just a baby! He needs to run around freely, you know" he added.

"You're right, Knuckles" Hitch confessed with a sheepish smile. "And thanks, Izzy. I... may have over-thought it a bit..." he said a little ashamed. "Trying to work on that. I mean, Knuckles is right, he's just a little dragon, what's the worst that could happen?" he asked, lifting Sparky a bit.

And once again, Hitch jinxed himself since Sparky let out a big sneeze that spread some dragon smoke around the room and changed some things into balloons, party hats and balls.

"And there it is..." Knuckles said with a bored expression. "Dude, please stop jinxing us." he begged.

"Wow!" Sunny said, surprised at what Sparky could do. "Sparky has magic?!" she asked with disbelief, as the rest looked as surprised as her.

Sparky sneezed again, and made the balloon that Kenneth was holding turn into the trash can again and fell into the bird.

"What, you didn't know?" Izzy asked Hitch, since she did noticed.

"He's been doing that all day" Knuckles pointed out, noticing that before as well.

Hitch made a balloon flew away with his head, and looked at Sparky with a smile. "We'll clean that up later, buddy" he told him.





At sunset, the ponies around Maretime Bay reunited around the tree that Hitch made grow. Sparky ran towards the tree and looked at it in awe. He got closer to it and touched the trunk with his eyes closed, while his horns glowed a little bit.

However, Hitch got close to him and grabbed him to put him on his back. "Okay, Sparky, that's enough magic for today" he said with a smile, now walking towards the station, while Sparky kept looking at the tree with a smile, as the flowers on the tree started to shine and Sparky's smile grew bigger.





Back at the Crystal Brighthouse, Tails got some analysis on one of the Knuckles quills after making the same process he made with Sonic's quill days before.

"Well, just as I expected: Knuckles also has unlimited power" Tails said, not panicked this time since Sonic didn't seemed to care about the fact he was very powerful anymore. "This just makes me more confused now, and many of my theories got to waste" he added a little frustrated.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked him confused.

"I thought that, maybe, your powers were obtained from birth, but you never knew and they stayed sleep inside you until you feel rage and they came up again... but that doesn't has sense at all, because Knuckles activated his powers on a dangerous situation, so that's not it" Tails explained. "I still think your powers were always there, you just never knew, but as for Knuckles, I can't tell exactly. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe I don't need to find out why do you guys have these powers..." he finished a little down.

Both Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other and nodded with smirks, knowing what to do to cheer Tails up. "Hey, Tails, I'm sure you have similar powers as well" Knuckles said with a smile.

"Yeah, you just have to find the proper situation to awake them" Sonic added with a comforting smile. "Now, why do we have these powers, or how we've got them, I don't know. But I do know one thing for sure: whatever has gotten into us, whatever's happening to the Chaos Emeralds too, we'll find it out. Together!" he stated with confidence, putting his fist in the middle.

"Together!" Tails cheered, extending his fist too.

Both Sonic and Tails looked at Knuckles, and the echidna smiled before extending his fist too. "Together" he said with a calm tone.

"Power bump!" Team Sonic cheered as they fist bumped, now with the promise of solving their mysteries together.