Outside the Crystal Brighthouse, at night, Misty sneaked out with Sunny's lantern on a bag.

She managed to reach the Community Garden, but as she tried to walk quietly, she tripped with a shovel, and the bag with the lantern fell with a loud thud.

Inside the Brighthouse's bedroom, Zipp woke up on her bed, and looked around. Everyone was on their respective beds, although Izzy was completely covered on her blankets, but aside from that, everything seem normal. Zipp yawned, and then walked over to the window at her side. She opened it, and then saw something in the Community Garden.

"Huh?" Zipp exclaimed, as she was pretty sure she saw a figure ducking to hide from her. "Ugh, is somepony down there?" she asked, but since she didn't heard nor saw anything out of normal, she yawned and looked on tiredly. "I must be dreaming" she stated, closing the window.

The next day, Zipp woke up with a stretch of her front hooves and her wings, as she flew out of her bed and got over her desk.

"Morning, Investigation board. Morning, Rad-Visor" Zipp said to her detective spot, then she walked away. "Morning–– Lantern?!" she exclaimed with panic, noticing that the lantern was not on its place. "It's... It-It's gone!" she yelled with panic.

At the main floor, Sunny was making pancakes for breakfast, when Zipp suddenly arrived and startled her.

"Hope is gone!" Zipp yelled, landing accidentally on the plate with pancakes and spreading them around.

"I mean the 'Hope Lantern'!" Zipp corrected herself with worry. "It's not in its case... And it's not here with you!" she said with panic. "Which means it's missing, which means I gotta find it! It could already be too late" she added, flying around on a panicked state. "Did you know that the first few hours after a crime are critical for clues?" she asked Sunny, still flying around until Sunny stopped her.

"Zipp, wait!" Sunny said, as Zipp finally stopped in front of her. "I'm sure I just left the lantern somewhere in the Brighthouse" she assured with a smile.

"Oh. Cool, cool, cool" Zipp said, still not convinced about the lantern being around. "But just to be sure..." she added.

Zipp started to look all around the Brighthouse. She checked out the living room first, then Izzy's crafting spot, even the Critter Corner, but the lantern was not there.

Sunny, on the other hoof, was looking for the lantern around her side of the bedroom, but she didn't found it there either.

"You were right. It's nowhere! Oh..." Sunny said with sadness, and then she started to run around with panic as well. "How can my special lantern be nowhere? Oh, this is bad. This is really bad!" she exclaimed, suddenly stopping in front of Zipp and grabbing her cheeks. "Besides the Unity Crystals, that lantern is the most important thing in the Brighthouse! It contains magic Prisbeam power! What are we going to do?" she questioned with worry.

"Only one thing to do" Zipp stated with a smile. She then putted on all of her detective gear, like a little drone on her bag and her Z-Goggles. "Detective Zipp on the case!" she stated, flying out of the bedroom while Sunny just looked on with a smile.

"That Sailor Moon sequence was completely unnecessary" Sonic said with a blank expression, as he stood besides his bed while Knuckles stood at his side with the same blank face and Tails was pulling out some things from his cabinets on his side of the room.

"Tails said something about giving us some kind of watches? I don't know, all that fancy tech he mades confuses me" Knuckles replied.

"Can relate. Sometimes I don't get half of the things he's talking about" Sonic confessed with a smirk.

"Okay?" Sunny said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm just going to... uh, bye" she said, walking away from them.

"Aha! Found it!" Tails exclaimed, quickly running towards Sonic and Knuckles. Instead of saying anything, he putted on Sonic's right wrist a blue triangular watch, a red square watch on Knuckles' right wrist and a yellow circular watch on his own left wrist.

"Well, I decided to make this communicators for us" Tails explained. "They have other functions, too, but those are mainly for battle, so right now they only work for communicate between ourselves" he added.

Tails pressed the watch itself, and then Sonic's and Knuckles' watches made a bip sound as they also let out a small light. "You just have to press that button, both to make a call and to answer one" he explained with a smile.

"That's it? Sounds easy!" Knuckles said with a relieved smile. "But now I'm interested on those battle things you mentioned" he confessed with a grin.

"I'll show you eventually, but right now I can't because 1- We should probably wait for someone to attack, and 2- You're getting late for your deputy work, you know" Tails pointed out with a bored expression.

"Right! I gotta get out of here!" Knuckles shouted, quickly running towards the exit.

"I'm guessing you have to work on Electronic Tails too, don't you?" Sonic asked him with a smile.

"Yup! But I gotta clean up the mess I caused on that cabinet first..." Tails replied.

"Well, I'm free today, so maybe I will just run around and enjoy the view" Sonic stated. "See ya, Tails!" he said, boosting out of the room.

"See ya!" Tails waved back, as he got back to organize his cabinet. However, something else caught his attention, something he didn't knew he had on his cabinets. He took out a magazine that had Sonic on the cover, as he posed giving his back to the camera and smirking, while also raising a finger. The magazine was called 'Square Times', and Tails quickly took a look inside just to find many pictures of Sonic posing in many ways and with different clothes, which was even more weirder since Sonic usually didn't did that kind of stuff. "Huh... weird..." Tails muttered to himself, putting the magazine over his bed and quickly getting back to organize his cabinet.

Meanwhile, Zipp was looking around the Brighthouse for Sunny's lantern with her detective gear.

She scanned some pillows and furniture, while her little drone scanned Cloudpuff, who barked at the weird machine.

She then opened the fridge and found a chomped green apple. "Oh yeah, there was definitely some kind of fiend in this house!" Zipp stated. "I mean, who does this?!" she asked herself, pointing at the chomped apple back on the fridge.

Zipp closed the fridge soon enough, but then Izzy came by and open the fridge again to grab the fruit. "Oh! The rest of my apple!" she said cheerfully, grabbing it and chomping it again, while Zipp behind looked at her with a bored expression as Izzy closed the fridge again. "So good!" she said.

Soon enough, Zipp returned to the bedroom, and while she got in, Tails slowly walked out looking at the magazine. "Hahaha! I can't believe Sonic accessed to wear pants!" he said, looking at a picture were Sonic was imitating clothing style from the early 2000's.

Zipp flew around the room, until she saw something. "Ha!" she exclaimed, flying over Sunny's night stand at her bed's side and scanning the outline on it with her goggles. "Just as I suspected, this outline is the exact diameter of the lantern's base!" she said, landing on the ground and pulling her Z-Goggles aside. "And what's this?" she questioned, looking at the outline and grabbing a bit to lick it. "Dirt! Hmm. The same kind of dirt that's used in the Community Garden. Interesting..." she stated, then she realized something. "Did I just taste dirt?" she questioned, then coughed from disgust. However, she realized there was a trail of dirt hoof prints on the floor, and she decided to follow it.

Meanwhile, at the main floor, Pipp was dancing around as she sang to herself. "So put your hooves up high, 'Cause we're feeling all right. Every day is awesome in the Mare––" she sang, but then she heard Tails laughing crazy while he was sitting on the couch with the magazine on his hands.

He was looking at a page where Sonic was wearing some pink clothes. That wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't because Sonic was blushing on the picture as he tried to look away, THAT was funny according to Tails.

"Uh, Tails?" Pipp called out as she approached him. "What's going on?" she asked, a bit confused on why he was laughing that hard.

"Oh, its... its nothing, I'm just..." Tails tried to reply, but then he saw the picture again and started to laugh it off again.

He ended up letting the magazine fell, and Pipp pick it over with her front hooves as she sat on the floor, but then she saw the exact same picture Tails was looking at and her face immediately turned red at the sight, as well as her wings opened suddenly. "W-What's this?" Pipp asked nervously.

Tails managed to calm down and relax on the couch. "Oh, that? A magazine from 2 years ago, if I remember correctly. I think Sonic did a photo shoot because the money earned with the magazine sells would be used to help some sick people at the hospital. That's literally the only reason why he accepted to use pants" he explained with a smirk.

Pipp moved forward to the next page, that showed Sonic wearing a black smoking on one page and a white one on the other one. Pipp felt her face turning up, and her wings flapped a lot, even tho she didn't left the ground. She kept moving forward just to find more pictures of Sonic posing in different ways as he also wore different clothes, while Pipp started to feel that her heart was racing a marathon and felt it was hot.

"O-Oh my..." Pipp muttered, as she saw now a picture of Sonic wearing nothing but a swim suit. Even tho he was always naked, for some reason, that picture made her feel more attracted to the hedgehog than she already was.

Tails looked at her, then at the magazine, then at her again and smirked. "You know, you can keep the magazine..." he started to say, then Pipp's eyes widened and she looked at him as she grabbed his cheeks.

"Okay then" Tails said with a little smile. "So, remember that time you helped Dahlia with her flower stand when she accidentally made giant flowers grow from the ground?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm glad Dahlia managed to make her business keep going" Pipp said with a smile.

"Me too. Anyways, would it be too bad if I asked you to help me expand my business beyond Maretime Bay? You know, electronic Tails it's doing well here, but I would like to help ponies in Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood as well" Tails requested.

"What? Of course it won't be any bad! Even if you didn't gave me magazine, I would have done it for you anyways!" Pipp assured with a smile.

"Okay then, I leave it to you" Tails said. Then, his watch started to made a beep sound, and when he touched to stop it, he realized the time and worried. "I'm gonna get late to my deliveries! I gotta go, bye Pipp!" he said, as he boosted flying out of the Brighthouse.

"Bye, Tails!" Pipp said with a smile, then she looked at the magazine with a little blush and squealed with excitement, as she fell in the floor hugging the magazine.

Soon enough she got up and putted the magazine down her wing, but before she could make another step, Zipp arrived and stopped her.

Pipp decided to fly instead, although she was confused. "What are you doing?" she asked to Zipp.

"This is an active crime scene!" Zipp said, pointing at the floor. "Can't have you contaminating the evidence" she added with a frown.

"A real-life mystery?!" Pipp asked her with a smile, and then gasped excitedly. "What's the crime?" she asked again.

At this, Pipp just gasped dramatically. "I am shook! How can I help?" she asked with a little smile.

"No help needed! I've got this investigation under control" Zipp assured with a confident smile. Then, she flew over to the open doors and took a closer look to them, also pulling out her phone. "No sign of forced entry" she registered on her phone.

Pipp, however, just looked at her working, and then gasped excited. "Your Cutie Mark!" she said, since Zipp's Cutie Mark was shining bright because Zipp was doing what she does best. "Wow, I guess you really do have this under control!" she said with a smile and a little giggle. "Well, I should just leave you to it then, Detective!" she stated. "Have fun!" she sang, before leaving entirely the Brighthouse while Zipp kept with her researching.

Outside the Brighthouse, Pipp hummed to herself and landed on the Community Garden. She took a selfie with one of the flowers, but just when she turned around, she tripped with a bag buried on the dirt.

"Ah! What in the hay?!" Pipp exclaimed both mad and confused. She took a closer look to the bag and grabbed it, then she shook it until something fell with a thud on the ground: Sunny's lantern. "Lantern! What are you doing out here?!" she said, grabbing the lantern and blowing it to get some of the dust away. "Aw, yay. Zipp will be so excited you aren't missing after all!" she said with a smile, hugging the lantern and then flying back to the Brighthouse.

However, once she arrived to the Brighthouse door, she looked at Zipp flying around, focused on finding the lantern, and also, her Cutie Mark was shining more than ever, so she felt bad for ruining the fun for her sister.

"Aww... But she already looks so happy!" Pipp said with a smile, then got out once again, and looked at the lantern a bit concerned. "If I give it to her, her fun will be over" she said, putting the lantern down, and then she got an idea. "I guess the lantern doesn't need to be found right now" she added with a smile, grabbing the lantern again and flying back to the place where she found the lantern initially.

She marked her hoof print on the dirt, and then pulled out a bottle with aquamarine glitter.

"And for a little extra mystery, some of my all-new 'Pipp brand Wing Glitter'!" Pipp said, as she spreed the glitter around the 'crime scene' with a smile. "There! The perfect clue to have Zipp on the lantern's trial to me in no time. So fun! I am really good at this! I should plan a mystery party!" she exclaimed excited, and then flew away with the lantern.

Soon enough, Misty arrived to the Garden on sneaky mode, but when she entered, she found the hole empty.

"What?!" Misty asked, looking with panic at the empty hole. "It was right here! I buried it right here!" she said with confusion, then she noticed Pipp's hoof print and frowned. "Ugh! Somepony found it" she said with frustration, and then groaned. "Oh, why did I think burying it was enough to keep it hidden? Oh, why do I always panic and do the wrong thing? Oh..." she said with worry. "Opaline's gonna be so angry when she finds out... But... not if I can find it again first!" she stated with a grin. "Besides, I need to gather some info on those Emeralds for Dr. Eggman, too" she pointed out to herself.

"Misty?" Zipp called out to her, while Misty gasped startled, as she looked at Zipp with panic. "What are you doing here?" Zipp asked, landing in front of her.

"Me? Oh, I was... Uh... I was just filling in this hole, left by uh, gophers!" Misty explained nervously. "Yep! Silly gophers, leaving holes everywhere!" she said, giggling nervously as well. "Wouldn't want somepony to trip" she added.

Zipp then flew over and examined the hole. "Ah... This hole is too wide for a gopher, it is just wide enough to hide a lantern!" she pointed out with a smile, while Misty just looked at her a bit confused. "And I don't think any gopher would be leaving a hoofprint like that, do you?" she asked her with a smirk, but then Zipp noticed the aquamarine glitter on the dirt. "Glitter? Is it a magical remnant?" she questioned, grabbing some of the glitter from the ground with her hoof. Then she started to fly around, while Misty just dissimulated to know nothing by placing a hoof on her chin. "Maybe this hoofprint belongs to an earth pony who was trying to grow something here or maybe it belongs to... The lantern thief!" Zipp stated.

Misty gasped and then replied a bit nervous. "Lantern? What's that? I've never even seen one of those! Bye!" she said, quickly running away from Zipp.

"Well, she was acting totally weird. But that tracks" Zipp said, then brought her phone to give an update on her current investigation. "Update: No solid leads yet" she recorded, then looked at the glitter on the dirt again. "But somepony out there in town must have some answers" she stated with confidence, as she called to her drone, who arrived with her and nodded in agreement.

Back at the bedroom, Cloudpuff was on Sunny's bed playing with a toy, while Sunny walked back and forth with worry over her lantern.

"I know Zipp is on the case, oh..." Sunny stated with worry, and then stomped frustrated on the floor. "But it's agony just sitting around here doing nothing!" she confessed. "There's gotta be something I can do without stepping on her investigation, right Cloudpuff?" she asked to the dog on her bed.

But Cloudpuff was too busy playing with his toy, and Sunny sat on the floor with sadness and worry. Then, she saw the rainbow light coming from the elevator, and her smile quickly returned.

"Oh, that's it!" Sunny said with a smile, jumping towards the elevator while Cloudpuff decided to follow her. Sunny stepped inside the elevator and pressed the button, then the doors closed and the elevator moved up to the Crystal Room with the Unity Crystals. "The Crystals and the Prisbeam rely on the unity magic of ponykind to keep them powered!" she explained to the dog, pointing at the Unity Crystals floating. "If the little bit of Prisbeam in my lantern is anything like this one, we could power up the lantern no matter where it's hidden! Like a beacon leading us straight to it" she pointed out with a hoping smile.

"All I need is enough ponies gathered and united together!" Sunny cheered, now with a plan on her mind. She grabbed Cloudpuff and squished him with joy. "Thanks, Cloudpuff!" she told the dog with a smile, going back to the bottom of the Brighthouse.

Tails was near Hitch's station, fixing up the via train from its lower part before it could got back to work normally.

Then, Misty arrived near him, although he didn't noticed yet. Remember, Misty: try to be as discreet as possible she reminded to herself on her mind. "H-Hey, Tails!" she decided to be the first one greeting.

Tails hit his head with the train and groaned, he slowly pulled himself out and faced Misty. "Oh, hi Misty" he said with a smile, even tho his head hurt.

"O-Oh my hoofness! T-Tails, I'm sorry, I-I didn't meant to..." Misty apologized quickly.

"Hey, no biggie. It isn't the first time I hit my head, and I know for sure it won't be the last either" Tails assured with a smile. "Anyways, what can I do for you?" he asked to her.

"Oh, um..." Misty started to think on how to explain this exactly. "Well... you know, Izzy mentioned something about some Emeralds, and I thought you could, uh... fill me with more context?" she asked with a sheepish smile.

"Huh? Izzy mentioned the Emeralds? Seriously?" Tails said a bit annoyed. "Ugh, I shouldn't be surprised... it's Izzy, after all. And I don't blame you to feel curious" he assured with a smile again. "Now, I wish I could tell a lot, but even tho we have interacted with them for years, it's still hard to tell everything they can do or how they work at all. Only Sonic can control them, and just for a short time, because once he used all the seven of them, they left and spreed all around the world until someone gathers them together again" he explained, while at the same time he kept fixing the via train.

"Sounds... interesting!" Misty said with a sheepish smile. "Now, just out of curiosity, do you know if they can run out of energy?" she asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Well... I once though that they couldn't, but I was proven wrong years ago" Tails started to tell. "Once an evil genius known as Dr. Eggman stoled the power of the Emeralds, and awakened a sleeping evil from Earth. Sonic had to travel all around the world to find 7 sacred temples to restore their power" he explained. "So far, that was the only time they got underpowered... or I would say that, if it wasn't because they also got out of energy when they arrived to Equestria" he added with a bored expression.

"Yeah. Now, here comes the part that I can't explain: one of the magical crystals from Bridlewood and Sonic's new powers made them work normal again" Tails confessed, and that was everything Misty needed to hear. She got the info Eggman told her to get, now she only had to find a way to leave without being too harsh on Tails. "I cannot still explain, but I think..." Tails tried to add, but Misty cut him off.

"Thanks for, uh, giving me some context, Tails" Misty said with a smile. "I was juts curious. Anyways, gotta go now, bye!" she said, running away from him.

Sonic was running around peacefully around a grass field, as he enjoyed breathing the fresh air from Equestria.

Suddenly, two figures started to follow him from the sky, and Sonic could tell because of their shadows, that moved at the exact same speed he could. At first, he though they were both pegasi since one of the shadows had wings, but then he realized exactly that: only one had wings, then how does the other one was flying as well?

Without waiting for anything else to happen, he suddenly braked, which made the two figures in the sky stop suddenly too. But before the figures could react, Sonic launched his Spindash straight to the face of one, who immediately fell in the ground, and once Sonic was in the air, he charged up another Spindash with his electrical power and launched against the other figure, that fell to the ground as well.

While the figures feel with a thud, Sonic landed on his feet, and then frowned at the two figures that were following him around: Metal Sunny and Metal Pipp.

"Well, well, well. You must be two of Egghead's Metal Mane, aren't you?" Sonic asked with a mocking smirk.

"Now just look at that, you aren't as idiot as I though you would be" Metal Sunny said sarcastically.

"Well, what can I say, it's part of my charm surprising my enemies" Sonic joked. "Now, jokes aside, give me a good reason to not sweep the ground with your body, piece of metallic trash" he warned with a serious voice, as he made his electrical powers appear again.

"Whoa, that's a big change of attitude. I like it" Metal Pipp said with a threatening voice.

"Honestly? We have no reason to make you... let's say, have mercy on us" Metal Sunny said . "Pipp? Mind to make the first move?" she asked to the pink robot.

She immediately launched herself against Sonic, who not only managed to dodge the attack, but also slow time a little and hit Metal Pipp on her back. However, he didn't expected what came next: even tho he managed to hit her, Metal Pipp could make her whole body move as fast as Sonic and hit him back, sending him backwards. Time started to go at its normal rate once again, and Sonic stared in shock at Metal Pipp.

"So it is true... Eggman has one of my quills" Sonic muttered to himself. "And he used its power to create this... monsters... typical of him" he added with anger.

He charged up his Spindash again, and even if Metal Pipp dodged it, Sonic managed to redirect the attach and hit her on the face. Then he ran towards her and punched her again, but just when he was about to do a kick, Metal Pipp moved quickly and kicked him instead. Sonic groaned a bit, while he also heard Metal Sunny giggling at his back.

"Oh, so you wanna play fast? Well then: let's get fast!" Sonic said with a smirk, as he charged up his whole body with electricity and ran towards Metal Pipp. First it was a hit, then another, then another, then another, and then another, until he was running so fast around the robot that she could not defend herself.

All her systems were failing now, but before she could say anything or react, Sonic kicked her head so hard that it ended up leaving her body, and when it fell in the ground, Sonic stomped it with his feet, destroying her head completely.

"Huh... so that's why that fat plumber enjoys stomping on his enemies so much. It is very pleasing, to be honest" Sonic admitted with a smirk.

"No!" Metal Sunny shouted with frustration and groaned furiously. "This wasn't supposed to hap-" she tried to say, but Sonic hit her strong enough to send her flying backwards.

"I'm sorry, Metal Sunny-Bunny, but you messed with the wrong Hedgehog" Sonic told her with a frown. However, Metal Sunny quickly stood up, groaned angrily, and launched herself with the rockets of her hooves against Sonic. He managed to dodge her, but then she started to launch missiles, lasers and other attacks from her body, while Sonic dodged her and started to run away from her.

"And you messed with the wrong Metal!" Metal Sunny stated, as she kept trying to hit Sonic with her attacks.

Back at Maretime Bay, Zipp was analyzing everyone around town with both her drone and her Z-Goggles, marking all of them as suspects from stealing Sunny's lantern.

"Hmm... So many potential witnesses, so little time" Zipp complained. "Where to start?" she questioned, until she make a zoom to the three usual fillies, with Seashell holding her phone camera while Peach Fizz and Glory were dancing. However, that wasn't what caught her attention: she saw that the three fillies had flowers on their ears. "Flowers from the garden? Gotcha!" she said with a confident smile, pulling off her Z-Goggles.

"Pipp's going to love our dance moves!" Seashell assured to her friends with a smile.

Suddenly, Zipp stomped her hooves loudly, startling the fillies and Seashell accidentally threw her phone in the air. "Seashell! Glory! Peach Fizz" she said with a frown, catching Seashell's phone. "Where were you at approximately 4:22 a.m. last night?!" she questioned to them.

"What? 4:22?" Seashell asked nervously, while the other two looked at Zipp with fear. "We were, uh... Definitely sleeping at home in our beds!" she said with a nervous tone.

"Yeah!" Peach Fizz added. "We definitely weren't up watching YouHoof videos!" she added, then immediately covered her mouth with panic.

"Hmm... That was very specific, too specific... And not very convincing!" Zipp stated with a frown.

But before this could get worse, someone pulled Zipp from her tail and lifted her in the air. Then, whoever lifted her let her go, and Zipp fell in the floor with a thud, while Seashell's phone flew again, but Tails caught it this time, since he was the one who pulled and lifted Zipp.

He landed on the ground and gave Seashell her phone back. "There you go! Sorry for Zipp's attitude, girls. She's been... utterly annoying lately that not even her own friends can stand her" he explained, looking at Zipp with a frown, then looked back at the fillies with a smile. "You can go now! And I won't tell your parents you were up late, okay?" he promised to them, while the fillies just nodded with smiles and walked away.

While Tails waved at them with a smile, Zipp got up and looked at him confused. "Tails?! What are you doing?!" she asked to him with a frown.

"I should be the one asking you that" Tails scolded her with a frown. "First Misty, and now fillies? What the heck is wrong with you lately?!" he asked with rage, with his eyes turning yellow for a slight second.

"I'll admit I crossed the line with Misty, but this time a real mystery happened!" Zipp explained with worry. "Somepony stoled Sunny's lantern, and all the evidence pointed to those three!" she added with frustration.

Before replying, Zipp noticed that Mayflower, who was passing by, was carrying a bag with some things that Izzy fixed for her. She also noticed that, in the bag, there was a lantern that looked exactly like Sunny's, and Tails noticed that just in time, because Zipp was about to fly towards her, but Tails managed to grab her from her tails and made her fall.

"Watch, and learn about good manners, 'Detective'" Tails replied to her. He then approached to Mayflower and talked gently with her. Mayflower then showed Tails the lantern and explained that he got it fixed at 'Izzy Does It'. Tails thanked her for her time, and got back with Zipp. "See? Talking with manners gives better results" he explained, not as mad as before, but still frowning at her.

Zipp slowly stood up and looked at him with embarrassment. "Yeah... I guess I need to try a different strategy" she pointed out.

"As long as you stop treating ponies like if they just did a carnage, do what suits you best" Tails told her with a bored expression, flying away from her.

Zipp juts sighed in defeat, and then she heard a horn. "Zipp!" Izzy greeted at her, approaching to her with her Unicycling Cart and waving one of her hooves. "Zipp, Zipp!" she said again, still sing the horn of the cart.

"Oh hey, Izz" Zipp greeted back with a smile. "How are the 'Izzy Does It' unicycling house calls going?" she asked with curiosity.

"Awesome!" Izzy replied cheerfully. "I can't even belizzle how much stuff ponies have just sitting around their houses begging to be beautified. Requesting to be repurposed! Clamoring for a crafting!" she stated, making weird faces and moving around Zipp, while said pegasus just looked at her with a smile. "I just fixed Mayflower's old lamp actually" she pointed out.

"So I heard..." Zipp said with a little sadness, since she almost framed Mayflower of something she didn't did, if it wasn't because Tails decided to interfere.

"You seem a little..." Izzy said, then made a weird face that clearly stated that Zipp wasn't felling good at all. "What's up?" she asked with a smile.

"Sunny's lantern is missing, I haven't been able to come up with a single real lead in the case... and Tails is mad at me because I haven't been thinking before acting at all" Zipp explained with worry. "So far my only leads on this case is just dirt and glitter!" she added.

Izzy giggle a bit before replying. "Honestly, what isn't?" she said with a smile. "As for Tails, I think you should wait until he gets over with it" she suggested, still smiling.

That made Zipp gasp and quickly turn around at her. "We need to talk!" she stated, grabbing Izzy and dragging her away to a more private place.

At the station, Sparky was running around with Hitch's sheriff badge, while Knuckles organized some lats papers on the cabinets.

"No Sparky! Once again, my badge is not a toy!" Hitch told the baby dragon, as he chased him around until he finally grabbed the baby dragon and putted his badge back on place. "And stop putting random things in your mouth, okay? It's a choking hazard!" he pointed out.

Knuckles closed the last cabinet and walked towards the other two. "Here, try this instead!" he told to the baby dragon, giving him a pacifier. Sparky grabbed it and started to use the pacifier.

"Aww" both Hitch and Knuckles said in unison, but then Sparky spilled the pacifier to Hitch's head.

"And cute moment over" Hitch said with a bored expression, then he grabbed the pacifier again and extended it to the baby dragon. "Let's give that another try, huh?' he told to Sparky.

"Hitch, Izzy and I literally told you this 5 episodes ago: just let the kid be a kid" Knuckles insisted, but then Sparky spilled a small dragon fire that changed the pacifier for a badge, but this time it wasn't Hitch's; it was Knuckles'. "And... he has my badge now... great..." he said with a bored expression.

Then Sunny entered to the station with a worried expression. "Hitch, Knux! My lantern is missing, but I think I have a way to track it down" she said, looking at Sparky running around while Knuckles chased the baby dragon to get his badge back.

"Ooh! Is it Detective Zipp? 'Cause she's great at solving mysteries" Hitch asked curiously.

"She's on it! But I also need just a little, teeny, tiny bit of help from everypony's favorite town sheriff and deputy!" Sunny told with a smile.

"Oh, you know" Sunny said, placing a hoof on her chin. "Gather up every single pony we can find to amplify their Unity magic and blast it to the lantern. Call it a... town meeting!" she explained.

"Wait just a second" Hitch said. "Do you really think it's a good idea letting everypony know the lantern is missing?" he questioned to her.

"Remember what Twilight Sparkle warned us about?" Sunny reminded Hitch with worry. "An evil pony who wanted to steal magic? What if that pony finds it?" she pointed out with worry.

"Stop it!" Knuckles shouted, making not only Hitch and Sunny to look at him, but also making Sparky stop. He grabbed the baby dragon and putted his badge back on place. "The answer will be clear, Sunny: no" he stated with a frown.

"First of all, Opaline is that evil pony Twilight tried to warn about" Knuckles started to explain. "Opaline is working with Eggman, and they want your magic, the Chaos Emeralds and kill us!" he pointed out. "Telling the ponies about the missing lantern would imply telling them about Opaline and Eggman, which will pretty much cause those two to attack us and cause panic around" he added, still frowning and putting Sparky on the ground. "Look, we'll help on any possible way we can to find that lantern, but we're not telling the ponies about this. And that's final" he finished.

Hitch looked both with shock and pride at his deputy, while Sunny just looked shocked and more worried than before she entered the station.

"I'm gonna check on town to keep an eye on them" Hitch said, placing a hoof on Sunny's shoulder. "We'll find your lantern, I promise" he told her with a smile, then walked towards the exit. "Knux, take care of Sparky and the station while I'm gone" he instructed, then got out of the station.

"Aye, captain!" Knuckles said with a salute, but then Sparky grabbed Hitch's puzzle and started to run around again. "No, Sparky! Hitch would kill us if we miss one single piece!" Knuckles told the dragon as he chased him around.

Sunny looked down again, still thinking that she had to tell the ponies about the missing lantern. Then she saw Hitch's megaphone on the desk and smiled. "That'll work" she said, grabbing the megaphone and walking out of the station too.

"That puzzle is a limited edition, and Hitch loves it more than anything! Even more than you and Sunny!" Knuckles complained, as he tried to take the puzzle back from Sparky.

At a dark place, Izzy was sitting on a chair, when suddenly a light turned on over her.

"Ah!" Izzy exclaimed, as her eyes tried to get used to the light. "Uh, where are we?" she questioned to Zipp, since it was still pretty dark, while Zipp walked slowly towards her with a frown.

"Not important!" Zipp replied, placing a hoof over Izzy's shoulder. "You said you saw it last night, but what exactly did you see?" she asked her.

Izzy juts giggled at her before replying. "What do you mean what did I see?" she asked innocently. "I saw the lantern! You're so silly!" she said with a cheery smile.

"'Cause what I saw was somepony in the garden sneaking around with it" Zipp pointed out.

"Yeah!" Izzy replied with a cheery smile. "I had insomnia last night, happens all the time really. So I thought I'd brew up some Unicorn Sleepy Time Oo-oo-long tea" she started to explain. "It is sure to lull even the most wide-eyed pony to the gentlest shores of the snoozy ocean" she added, mimicking the sleeping position with her hooves.

"Well, I had to search search the garden to look for the tea leaves, 'cause I just ran out" Izzy explained. "And what better to light the way than a bright lantern?" she pointed out with a smile.

Zipp then analyzed her story, and found a flaw on it. "But wait–– You were in bed at the time! I saw you!" she pointed out.

"Oh, that? You probably just saw my unicycled Izzy copy I use to put under the covers anytime I have to get out of bed in the middle of the night" Izzy confessed. "It is Jinxie to leave without saving your spot, you know!" she explained another of her many Jinxies.

"So if it was you who took the lantern out last night, why didn't you put it back where you found it?" Zipp questioned to her with more confusion than before.

"I did!" Izzy revealed. "Right back on Sunny's nightstand! She likes to sneak the lantern out of the case and sleep with it next to her because it reminds her of when she was a filly" she whispered to her. "Don't you just love that?" she asked with a smile.

"If you took the lantern and returned it, then where the hay is it now?!" Zipp questioned with panic, while Izzy just shrugged. Zipp sighed in defeat ant turned the lights on, revealing that they were in the washroom the whole time. "Izzy, you're free to go" Zipp told her with disappointment.

Zipp sat on the chair, that was now near to the bathtub, as she also lay in it and recorded something on her phone. "Hmm, I feel like I'm getting closer. Like I'm on the edge of something..." she said, then she tripped into the bathtub, causing a shampoo bottle to fell on the tub and some water to fell on it as well, while Zipp stood on the tub with a bored and tired expression. "Ugh, I fell right into that one" she told herself with tiredness.

Eventually, Zipp returned to the Community Garden, where her drone started to scan around again for any missing clue.

"Well? Anything?" Zipp asked to her drone, who once again scanned the filled hole of dirt with aquamarine glitter. "Then I guess you're the only solid clue I've got so far" she said, once again analyzing the hole.

However, Misty arrived there suddenly and tried to hid, but unfortunately for her, Zipp did noticed her strange attitude.

"Hmm? That's... suspicious" Zipp stated, approaching to the place where Misty decided ho hide.

Misty immediately jumped the garden fence and ran away from Zipp, who followed her by flight.

Eventually, they reached the town, where Misty dodged some ponies while Zipp followed her with her Z-Goggles. Suddenly, Misty was about to crash with the via train, that Tails already finished fixing, but then she jumped inside the train, then she quickly got down and entered Mane Melody.

Zipp, on the other hand, almost crashed against the via train, but she managed to brake before that happened. "Sorry!" she apologized with the driver, then she took her Z-Goggles off and started to look around for her, looking sideways to Mane Melody's door that recently closed.

She entered the place with a frown, while her drone followed and they both looked around for Misty. They did passed by her, but didn't noticed since she was hiding on a chair while reading a magazine. At the end, Zipp decided to left after looking around and not finding her. Misty felt relieved, and decided to left as well, but Zipp was still near by, so she got back inside.

Misty tried to find another escape route inside the salon, but after opening a door that had Jazz at the other side and turning around she found Zipp looking at her with a frown.

"I know everything, Misty!" Zipp told her with anger. "And I know it was you who stole the lantern!" she said, while Misty didn't knew what to say exactly. "Ever since the unicorn sleepover, I had a weird feeling about you. Those probing questions about Sparky, not knowing anything about Bridlewood, and then finding you trying to activate the elevator up to the Crystal Room!" she pointed out, as she started to surround Misty on a corner, while the unicorn looked at her in fright. "But I ignored my instincts and gave you the benefit of the doubt, until now. All the galloping and shadiness today solidified it! Now, you better tell me where you've got Sunny's lantern hidden!" she warned her.

"Enough!/Stop!" Tails and Pipp said, as they both got in front of Misty to stop Zipp from going any further.

"Guys! What are you doing?! I've got the lantern thief right here!" Zipp told them with a frown, pointing at Misty, who was still in fright.

"It's me! I'm the lantern thief!" Pipp confessed, once again stepping in front of Misty.

"Well, no, I mean, I'm not the lantern thief, but..." Pipp stated, then quickly flew at the backstage of the salon and got back with Sunny's lantern. "I've had it all day" she confessed with a guilty expression.

"Huh? No! But Misty is the lantern thief!" Zipp stated, still convinced that Misty stole the lantern in the first place.

"Ugh! For Chaos sake, Zipp! Misty didn't stoled anything!" Tails shouted, tired enough of her attitude. "After you treated three fillies like criminals, I decided to search for clues too, and Misty wanted to help. I told her to go back at the garden and look for more clues! But after how you've been treating her, I'm not surprised she decided to run away from you" he explained with a frown and crossed arms.

"What?" Zipp said with shock and worry, now understanding why Misty ran away in the first place.

"The truth is..." Pipp said, as Zipp turned around to face her. "I found the lantern outside the Brighthouse this morning. And I was going to show you right away, but your Cutie Mark was glowing and you were having so much fun investigating and I––" she explained.

"I put it there, to keep you going" Pipp pointed out, grabbing the lantern and flying down from the stage. "And the wing glitter was a clue to lead you to me!" she said with a small smile, that faded away. "I had no idea it'd send you on a trial after Misty" she said, while the two sisters looked at Misty, who was being panted on the back by Tails, and Misty chuckled nervously at Zipp.

"So my whole investigation was for nothing then?" Zipp questioned with sadness and guilty. "Just me looking like a fool and accusing Misty of a bunch of terrible stuff she didn't do?" she questioned, while Misty slowly and quietly walked away, while Tails stood at Pipp's side with a bored expression.

"Yup" Tails said blankly, while Pipp kicked him with her hind leg on the foot. "I bring sincerity: She asked and I answered frankly" he pointed out.

"That one is totally my bad and I definitely owe her a big apology, but I've never seen your Cutie Mark glow like that!" Pipp said with a smile, pointing at her glowing Cutie Mark. "You finally got to be a true detective! Ah! That's worth something, right?" she questioned with optimism.

Zipp sighed and looked at the lantern. "I guess you're right. I did have fun" she confessed with a smile. "So... I guess I can forgive you for sending me on that wild goose chase all day" she stated with a mocking smirk. "Even if I did miss a few obvious clues" she added, which causes Pipp to laugh and Tails roll his eyes with a smile. "How did I not connect the glitter thing?! It was aquamarine!" she pointed out, as she laughed alongside Pipp.

"Like my sparkle!" Pipp said, as she threw some aquamarine glitter in the air. "And I can't believe you thought it was Misty! She's so sweet! She could never!" she added with a smile.

"Thank you! Finally someone gets it!" Tails said with a smile, as he side hugged Pipp, and the young pegasus did the same.

Zipp quickly flew to stop Misty before she got out of Mane Melody. "Misty..." she called out, while said unicorn turned around in fright. "I am so sorry" she said with a guilty expression. "I never should have accused you of being a thief... or chased you around town, or cornered you in here" she pointed out with shame, while Misty just looked down, thinking if she should accept her apology or not. "I guess I need some more practice with this whole detective thing, huh?" she said, extending her hoof to help Misty stand up.

"Maybe a little bit too much" Tails said sarcastically with a smile, while Pipp giggled a bit at his side.

Misty looked at Tails for a second as the fox nodded at her with a smile, and Misty smiled a bit nervous in return. "It's okay" she told Zipp, accepting her hoof and standing up. "I know how it is when you get really wrapped up in something!" she added.

"Well, I'm glad you are accepting your mistakes" Tails admitted with a smile, that for some reason made Zipp's heart melt, but she ignored the feeling. "I do have a question, tho. Misty, did you ran from Zipp because of what I said before? About her not being as friendly as she should?" he asked to the unicorn.

"Oh, well, I, uh... I have this thing where I just can't get the words out when I'm nervous sometimes and I, um..." Misty tried to came up with an excuse, but as she said it herself, feeling nervous wasn't helping at all. "Oh would you look at the time! I should really get going before my cake... goes... stale? Bye!" she said, running out of the salon as quick as possible.

"I bet she's still just shy about us" Pipp suggested. "Some ponies are, you know!" she pointed out.

"Yeah, we can't all be doing Clip Trot dances like you" Zipp said with a mocking tone, as she, Pipp and Tails laughed a little.

"I say we should just give her time to adapt properly" Tails suggested with a smile. "She's still new around and all of that" he pointed out.

"Hey, um, I'm really sorry, Tails" Zipp said a bit nervous. "You were right, I shouldn't had been so rude with ponies during the investigation, specially with Misty" she apologized.

"Hey, it's okay. I think I should apologize, too" Tails confessed with a side smile. "If I wanted to help you do better, I should have done it more calmed and not so panicked or angry. I'm sorry for acting like that lately. I don't know what's making me feel so stressed" he confessed with a little frown.

And then, Zipp side hugged Tails suddenly with a smile. "Hey, no biggie, man" she assured to him. "I actually needed my hooves on the ground, so you kinda helped me with that" she confessed, and Tails decided to return the gesture with a smile as well.

"Ooh! I just remembered!" Pipp said suddenly, gaining Zipp's and Tails' attention. "Zipp, your little caper today fully inspired me to write this jam!" she exclaimed excited, as she brought her phone out and showed both Zipp and Tails a video.

Oh, oh
Where'd it go?
Oh, oh
Where'd it go?

Here we go, here we go
We're not gonna stop 'til we find what we're missing
Where'd it go? Where'd it go?
A perfect case for a private eye
I'm searching far and wide
So here we go, here we go
We're not gonna stop 'til we find what we're missing

Oh, oh
Where'd it go?
Oh, oh
Where'd it go?

The trio got out of Mane Melody, where Izzy stood confused as Sunny passed around with the megaphone.

"Sunny, please stop! This is not the way to solve this!" Hitch said, as he chased Sunny while Knuckles followed behind, chasing the two ponies with Sparky in his arm.

Then, Sparky grabbed Knuckles' badge and threw it, which made the echidna go back and put his badge back on place. "And you! Stop squirming, young man!" he told to Sparky, before resume his chase.

"I don't know" Izzy replied with a cheery smile. "But it seems like we're about to play a really complicated game of 'tag'!" she added.

"Wait... This is pretty much about..." Tails started saying, then gasped in realization. "Pipp, bring her lantern, Sunny's about to say things she shouldn't!" he told to the young pegasus, before quickly boosting to follow Sunny as well.

"Everypony! We need your help to find my lantern!" Sunny announced with the megaphone.

"Sunny Starscout! Don't force me to use my deputy authority against you!" Knuckles scolded her, but she still refused to listen. "Sunny! Stop, for the sake of Chaos!" he shouted.

"We found it, Sunny!" Zipp told her, and Sunny finally stopped running, which made Hitch to trip with her, while Knuckles managed to brake in time.

"You did?" Sunny asked to the sisters with the megaphone, while the feedback made a loud noise, and Sunny turned off the megaphone with a sheepish smile. Hitch got up from the ground, with his head spinning since he was feeling a little dizzy. "You did?" she asked to Zipp and Pipp again.

"Yeah, it was all just a case of a little innocent sister meddling" Pipp explained sheepishly with a nervous laughter, while she brought out the lantern. "Probably should have let you in on my plan sooner, Sunny! So sorry about that!" she added with a sheepish smile.

"Ah! What a relief!" Sunny said with a smile, throwing the megaphone backwards while Hitch tried to catch it, but then he fell into the ground. "Thank you for returning it" she said to Pipp with a smile.

"Oh! What happened to the game of tag?" Windy asked with disappointment, as she and the other ponies returned to their daily lives.

"Yeah, it could have been a total disaster if the lantern had actually been taken by somepony dangerous..." Zipp pointed out with a smile.

"Like the mysterious evil pony Twilight warned us about?" Izzy asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm working on that mystery too" Zipp said, as the group laughed it off.

"As long as we stick together, and tell each other about our plans, I know we'll be able to keep this lantern and pony magic safe" Sunny assured with a smile, holding the lantern. "This thing is powerful, we have to be more careful with it" she stated.

"Psht! Why would I need a lantern? I've got a glowing horn!" Izzy said with a smile.

Once again, the group started to laugh, but then Sunny's Cutie Mark glowed up and the lantern started to glow as well, which surprised the group and caused Sunny to gasp.

"Note: Lantern's energy linked to proximity to unity magic" Zipp said, recording the glowing lantern with her horn, and Izzy's Cutie Mark that was glowing. "Or is it a separate power?" she questioned herself, putting her phone aside and approaching Sunny. "Hey, Sunny, do you think I could keep my hooves on the lantern a little bit longer? I wan to do some more scientific analysis on it" she requested, now looking at the lantern.

"As long as you don't let it out of your sight, Detective" Sunny told her with a smile.

Zipp did a little loop on the air and snatched the lantern out of Sunny's hoof. "Don't worry, I won't!" she assured with a smirk.

"Say..." Knuckles said with a thinking face suddenly. "Where the heck is Sonic?" he questioned.

Sonic managed to lost Metal Sunny, as he hid on a dark cave and panted a little. He was used to run long distances and keep going for days even, so he wasn't panting because of that: the adrenaline of fear for Metal Sunny to find him was what made him pant.

Even if she was just a robot, he learned long ago that any Metal could be pretty scary in the darkness.

"Come out, Sonic!" Metal Sunny spoke. For a moment, Sonic thought it was the real Sunny, but the robotic effect on her voice made him realize in time that she wasn't. "I know you're hiding here, but don't be scared! I promise your death will be as quick as you are" she added with a threatening voice that send chills on Sonic spine.

He poked his head to fin Metal Sunny looking around for him, then he looked at the exit, and an idea showed up on his mind.

Quietly, he managed to threw some rocks in certain direction, which called Metal Sunny's attention. "Gotcha!" she said with a victorious tone, flying towards that direction, while Sonic ran out of the cave and used his Spindash, charged up with his electrical powers, to hit the cave's ceiling and cause an avalanche. Once the entrance was fully covered, Sonic sighed in relief thinking that he was finally safe.

The pile of rocks was traversed by Metal Sunny, and she managed to punch Sonic strong enough to send him flying backwards. Sonic slowly got up, as he shook his head from the pain and looked at Metal Sunny.

"You cannot run forever, Sonic" Metal Sunny announced. "Eventually, you'll meet your fate. You're just a little, pathetic weakling with a big ego and terrible sense of humor! So why don't you just surrender already?!" she shouted with anger.

Sonic cracked his fingers, and stared at the female robot with anger. "There's the thing: I never surround. And I may be a weakling, but I'm an unstoppable one" he stated with a mocking smirk, as he launched himself against Metal Sunny and punched her on the face. "Try to catch me if you can, Metal scrap!" he shouted, as he started to run away from her.

Metal Sunny groaned and started to chase Sonic again, once again launching all kind of attacks that Sonic dodged. He considered contacting Tails and Knuckles with the watch, but then he saw that it had a button at one side, a button that he pressed curiously. The watch glowed in color blue, and somehow he could felt his speed increasing, which confused Metal Sunny, who tried to caught him up with the power of the quill that Eggman installed on her and the other Metals, but Sonic kept running more and more, until he was completely lost sight.

However, Sonic discovered a new function by accident when he turned his electrical powers on. The watch drew some of his electricity, and turned it into a weapon. "Whoa!" he said in awe, now having a sword completely made out of his electricity. He then had an idea, and thought of another weapon, which made his sword change into a nunchaku. "Tails, you absolute genius!" he said, then he looked that Metal Sunny was almost near him.

However, Sonic smirked and ran towards her. They stared at each other as they were about to crash, but Sonic managed to stop time, use his watch to create a sword and cut Metal Sunny's head with a victorious smile. He landed on the ground and made the sword fade away, while Metal Sunny's body and head fell in the ground with a loud thud, and then they both exploded.

Sonic turned off the new function of his watch and smiled, then the watch made a beep sound, and he knew that Tails was calling, so he answered. "Hey buddy" he greeted with a smile.

"Sonic!" Tails said from the other side. "Where are you, man? We haven't heard from you" he pointed out.

"I know, and I'm sorry" Sonic apologized, then looked at the destroyed body of Metal Sunny. "I just have... a lot to tell when I go back" he confessed.

Misty returned to Opaline's Castle, and pocked her head from the door to the throne room. When she saw no one there, she tried to run towards her room, but then Opaline's voice spoke.

"So you're finally back" Opaline said, landing in front of Misty, while Dr. Eggman also arrived with her.

"I was starting to worry that you got discovered" Eggman said with a neutral expression.

"So, where is my powerful lantern?" Opaline asked on a soft tone at first, trying to hard to follow Eggman's advice on make Misty stay.

"Well, you see, I was on my way to get it, but then I got to thinking, maybe it's not as powerful as we––" Misty tried to explain.

However, Opaline knew exactly what happened. "Another failure!" she shouted with anger, stomping her hooves on the floor, which startled Misty. Eggman felt his heart flinch at that sight of Misty, but he decided to not step in, or else his alliance with Opaline would go to waste. "There seems to be a pattern emerging. It makes me wonder if it truly was a mistake... Or if you're just going soft on those ponies!" she stated with a frown.

"No, Opaline! It was all a mistake!" Misty assured. "I want to do whatever I can to help your plans succeed!" she assured again.

"Well, I hope you're telling the truth. It would be terrible for you to abandon your only friend" Opaline warned her, as she made a gesture with her wing to prove her point. "Without me, you'd have nothing. No family, no home, no Cutie Mark!" she reminded her, passing a hoof over the fake butterfly Cutie Mark. "You still want me to give you a Cutie Mark, don't you?" she questioned to Misty.

"More than anything!" Misty replied. "I promise I won't let another mistake like this happen again. I'll get the lantern! Hoof to––" she tried to assure.

"No!" Opaline said coldly, as she walked towards her boiler. "We're wasting time with the pursuit of these silly enchanted relics!" she stated.

"B-B-But how else are we going to get the magic?" Misty questioned, while Eggman stood at her side with his arms on his back.

"With something that will instantly restore my ultimate power" Opaline replied with an evil grin, as she made an image appear on the boiler of Hitch and Sparky as he spilled dragon fire on Hitch's badge. "Dragon fire!" Opaline said, while Misty looked on worried.

"Well, if it can help you be more powerful to finally take your magic back, then let it be" Eggman replied blankly. "And Misty, about my request..." he asked to the unicorn.

"Oh yeah!" Misty said, now looking at him. "So, um, I asked Tails, and he said something about sacred temples to restore their power. Also something about magic crystals from Bridlewood and Sonic's new powers making their Emeralds work again" she explained.

"What? Their Emeralds are working again?!" Eggman asked in shock. "That's... that's amazing! Now I'm even closer to the completion of my Master Plan! Now, I still cannot get the power of the dead Emerald, unfortunately, but at least I can make the two sleepy ones work normally" he said with a smile, walking toward his lab. "Oh, and Misty" he called out, stopping right in front of the door. "Thank you for your help!" he said with a soft smile, entering his lab, while Misty just looked with a bright smile, knowing that she at least did one thing good.

Later on, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic were sitting on a little resting room they had behind the Brighthouse, helping Hitch with his puzzle.

"Of course!" Hitch complained. "It's always the last piece that goes missing!" he pointed at the puzzle with the missing piece with frustration, then he looked at his side with a bored expression, since Sparky was playing with the last piece. "Sparky... no. Put it down" he ordered, trying to take the piece back, but then Sparky sneezed and turned the piece into a butterfly, that ended up flying away, and Hitch sighed with frustration. "So much for mint condition" he complained again.

"Don't worry!" Izzy told him, as she brought a pair of scissors and a piece of cardboard, then she cut the cardboard to make a new piece for the puzzle and gave it to Sparky, who grabbed it and gibberish.

He saw the new piece, then at Hitch who had a worried expression, and then jumped on the table and putted the piece on the spot left of the puzzle.

That made Hitch emotional for some reason, tho. "Nothing prepares you for the moments like these!" he said.

While the rest laughed, Knuckles just patted his back with his hand with a smile. "There, there, sheriff. You'll eventually get used to it" he assured him.

"Sparky's dragon fire transformations are amazing!" Zipp said, as a the piece turned into a butterfly landed on her hoof.

"And he's just a baby now! Imagine everything the little guy's gonna do when he grows up" Sonic said with a cheery smile.

"Seems like the sky's the limit for your powers. Right, little buddy?" Zipp told to Sparky with a smile, while the whole group laughed when the baby dragon let out a small dragon fire as a response.

"I wouldn't worry too much, man" Sonic said with a confident smile. "Metal Izzy and Metal Hitch are basically useless, Metal Pipp and Metal Sunny are nothing but piles of junk and as for Metal Zipp, well, she' the only one left aside from Metal Sonic, so I wouldn't worry that much about them" he added.

"You should be more careful, Sonic" Pipp said a bit worried. "You could eat your own words when you least expect it" she pointed out.

"I mean, they may be powered by my quill, but so far they've been easy to defeat" Sonic pointed out, still smiling. "Besides, they pretty much are like Metal Sonic: they may share your names, but they wished they were half of amazing you guys are" he said with honesty.

"Aww!" the Mane 5 said, as Pipp and Sunny placed their hooves on their chests, and Pipp side hugged Sonic, who blushed slightly.

"Just like I said: you may act all chill and careless, but deep down you're just an adorable hugging dork" Tails pointed out with a smirk.

"And again, I'm absolutely proud of that" Sonic said with a smirk. "As for the Metals, don't worry, Little Pipp. I doubt we'll see them in a while" he stated, side hugging the young pegasus with a confident smile.

Eggman groaned as he punched his keyboard with frustration, looking at the Metals stats, seeing that Metal Sunny's and Metal Pipp's life signs were dead.

"I cannot believe this!" Eggman shouted. "At least you were there the first time, Metal. What happened now?!" he asked to Metal Sonic on his computer.

"When I realized Sonic was fighting with those two, it was too late, doctor" Metal Sonic confessed. "They blocked the sign, like if they didn't wanted you or me to know what they were doing..." he explained.

"Because they didn't wanted! I've never ordered them to attack Sonic!" Eggman shouted frustrated. "Now I only have 4 metals left, and two of them are still useless for fighting!" he complained.

"However, they do can do me another favor" Eggman said with an evil grin, finally calming down and quickly calling Metal Izzy and Metal Hitch. "You two, here's a new mission for you: go to the Bridlewood forest and get some of the crystals. Once you have them, deliver them to me immediately" he instructed.

"Good" Eggman said, then he ended the call with them and called Metal Sonic again, this time with Metal Zipp along. "And as for you two, the mission to destroy those fools is still up. So go now, and kill. That. HEDGEHOG!!!" he shouted to them.

"Killing Sonic? It'll be my pleasure" Metal Sonic said, ending the call as well.

Eggman then walked towards the capsuled Emeralds he had, opened it and grabbed the one that was still dead. "I may not know how to reactivate you yet, but I know I would find a way eventually" he stated with an evil grin.

Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: Make Your Mark - Season 1

by BronySonicFan

8. Hoof Done It?