At the Crystal Brighthouse, Tails frowned with worry at his Miles Electric, then he looked at the giant computer on his side of the bedroom, that showed images of 5 islands and some info about them.
It's been two months ever since Sonic defeated Eggman and his Death Egg Titan, and things were as normal as they could be on Equestria. However, Tails was concerned at something, and that something wasn't Eggman: it was the Chaos Emeralds.
After they spreed around Equestria again, Tails has been trying to track them and collect them before Eggman decides to do so. But right now, something weird has been happening with them...
"Hey buddy!" Sonic's voice spoke suddenly, as he entered the room with Knuckles, Zipp and Sunny. "We got your message, and came here as fast as we could, but the others couldn't come right now, so..." he explained.
"No problem. In fact, I think this is only going to be of your interest" Tails confessed, now stepping aside and showing the images of the islands.
"What's all of this?" Zipp asked curiously.
"You see, after Sonic defeated Eggman, I've been doing some research on the Chaos Emeralds, and their signal led my tracker to someplace strange..." Tails started to explain, making zoom in the image of one of the islands. "It seems to be the islands Longclaw talked about!" he explained.
While Sonic and Knuckles looked confused at the images, Sunny and Zipp seemed to recognize them.
"Hang on... I've seen this image before..." Zipp said with a small frown.
"Yeah, me too!" Sunny added a bit concerned.
"I was hoping so!" Tails admitted with a smile. "I've researched a bit about them, and they seem to be called the––" he tried to say, but then...
"The Starfall Islands!" Zipp cried out in surprise.
"... Yeah, that" Tails said on a dead tone.
"You know that place?" Sonic asked confused.
"Personally? No. But I have read a lot about them. I thought they were just a legend!" Zipp said with surprise.
"If experience has taught us something, is that there's always some truth on every legend" Knuckles stated with a serious expression.
"What did you found exactly about the islands, Tails?" Sunny asked.
"Pretty basic info, actually. Apparently, they are a set of 5 islands located far beyond Equestria, were an ancient civilization had the most advanced kind of technology, even more advanced than the one we have" Tails said. "And now, the Chaos Emeralds are gathering around these Starfall Islands for some reason" he added.
"Well, you got all the info that exists about the Islands, actually" Zipp said.
"Where did you find all of that?" Sunny asked.
"Internet" Tails replied with a smile. "The best place to get all the info you can!" he stated.
"Not surprised at all with you, Tails. You're very smart, after all" Zipp replied with a smirk and a wink, which caused Tails to blush and chuckle slightly in embarrassment.
"For the sake of Chaos, just kiss or something" Knuckles muttered to himself and Sonic with a bored expression.
Sonic chuckled at Knuckles before turning to Tails. "And you're telling us this because?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I was planning on going to the Starfall Islands myself and find out why the Emeralds are gathering there" Tails explained, and then looked back at Sonic with a knowing look. "Want to come check it out?" he asked with a smirk.
"You're kidding, right? Sounds like an adventure! I'm in!" Sonic stated with a smirk as well.
"You know what? I think I'm going as well" Zipp said confidently. "Not everyday you get a chance to solve a lot of mysteries on a place that is mysterious already!" she said with excitement.
"I'll go too" Sunny said. "Research in these Islands history is a one time opportunity in life!" she explained her reason with excitement.
"Count me out on this one" Knuckles simply replied. "With Shadow and Rouge touring Omega around Equestria, and Misty investigating about that weird barrier that appeared around Opaline's Castle, I'm the only one left in Maretime Bay along Hitch to protect it from anything" he stated with a confident look.
"Okay! In that case, you just do your job and protect everyone while we're out!" Sonic told him with his thumbs up and a wink, as Knuckles replied with a smile. "I'll go give my farewell to Pipp and Pipp in Mane Melody, assuring them like ten times I won't get myself killed..." he said with an eye roll. "Seriously, at this point, Pipp should just install a parental control app in my phone or something..." he added with annoyance.
"Don't gave her ideas!" Zipp told him with a bored expression. "Oh! Can you gave her my farewell, too? I want to go ahead and win some time on my research!" she asked.
"Sure thing!" Sonic said with a smile, boosting towards Mane Melody.
"I'll go with Zipp" Sunny said with a smile. "There's an island at the limits of Equestria, you guys can meet us there" she told Tails.
"Okey, then!" Tails said. "I need to stay and close Electronic Tails, anyways" he pointed out.
"And don't worry about Hitch, Sunny" Knuckles told her with a smile. "I'll make sure the sheriff doesn't loose his mind thinking you'll get yourself killed in those islands or something" he told her with a knowing look.
"Okey, then. I'll trust you with that, Knuckles. Thank you!" Sunny said with a smile, leaving the place as well.
"Are you sure you don't want to come, Knux?" Tails asked a bit concerned. "There's always room for one more" he added.
"You four will be fine! Besides, Hitch has been a bit paranoid lately, so he needs me here" Knuckles replied. "I'm the only one besides Sunny who can calm him down, and with Sunny out for a while, I'm everything he has to feel like no one's gonna kill us at any minute now" he explained. "Also, I don't want to worry Izzy either" he added.
"Well, if you say so..." Tails replied, not very convinced.
Several hours later, Sonic and Tails were on the Tornado IV, flying towards an island located at the limits of Equestria.
"Sunny said she'd meet us with Zipp on the island up ahead" Tails explained. "E.T.A. five minutes!" he announced.
Sonic however, noticed something on the island. "Better make an emergency landing, Tails..." he stated, looking how Sunny on her Alicorn form and Zipp were surrounded and fighting against some giants crabmeat and even one very massive one being controlled by Eggman. "... 'Cuz it looks like they could use some help!" Sonic added.
As Sunny used her horn to blast a magic laser towards a group of crabmeats, Zipp did a loop on the air and stomped her hooves on one of the crabmeats, and then use her hind hooves to kick some of them as well.
And then, Sunny noticed Sonic and Tails' presence. "Seems like we got our backup!" she said with a smile, blasting another laser to a crabmeat.
"Get a load of this!" Eggman said, as he moved on of the crabmeats giant legs to try and smash Zipp, but she moved fast enough to dodge the attack.
"Ha! Sonic and Tails are here!" Zipp stated with a confident smirk, kicking another robot. "Your chances of beating us just went from slim to none, Eggman!" she added.
And then, Sonic jumped off the Tornado IV and smashed the crystal of the capsule where Eggman controlled the giant robot.
"No way! I can't believe this!" Eggman cried out, after Sonic almost smashed him on his robot.
Sonic landed at Sunny's said, who smashed a robot with her front hooves this time. "Did you girls save any of the small fry for me?" he asked with a mocking tone.
"Sorry, that's the last one!" Sunny said with a sheepish smile.
Suddenly, Eggman moved one of the giant Crabmeats arms to smash Sonic and Sunny "All systems–– Full power!" he announced.
"Not so fast, partner!" Zipp said, as she kicked the arm with her hind hooves, sending the Crabmeat backwards.
"Don't hog all the fun~!" Sonic said on a singing tone.
"No way! I can't believe this!" Eggman cried out again.
And then, Tails sneaked behind the robot with an adjustable wrench and quickly flew around the arm, removing the screws and disassembling the arm in the process, that fell on the ground with a clang sound.
"Ha!" Tails cheered with a smile.
"Way to go, Tails!" Zipp cheered with a smirk.
"Time for change of pace!" Eggman stated, as he used the other arm to shoot at Sonic and Sunny, with the former dodging with a frown and the latter barely moving just in time.
"Hold up... I've heard all this mad ranting before..." Sonic said, looking at the capsule where Eggman was with suspicion, as the arm kept shooting at him. "Let's wrap this up quickly! Any ideas?" he called out with a smirk.
Zipp then zoomed by with a determinate look. "Tails, Sunny! Let's take out the front legs!" she stated.
Both Sunny and Zipp used all of their strength to punch and kick the left leg of the giant crabmeat, while Tails used his tails to cut off the other one. The body of the machine, now without legs, fell with a loud thud into the ground, and Sonic jumped in the air, charged his Spindash with no electricity and boosted against the crystal, crashing with Eggman on the process.
However, once he landed, his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. "What–– that's not Eggman!" he cried out.
It seemed like Eggman wasn't even there this whole time: it was a decoy piloting, just like the ones Neo Metal Sonic used to trick them years ago.
"Ha, ha, ha! See if you can make it through here, Sonic!" the decoy Eggman played.
"It's another decoy piloting a mecha. Adorable!" Sonic said with a smirk, taking out the head of the decoy and playing with it like a ball.
"This is all part of a bigger plan! I can feel it!" Tails stated with worry. "He's trying to distract us from the Starfall Islands!" he added.
"Why am I not surprised that Eggman knows about the Islands?" Zipp said with a bored expression.
"You guys invited us to go there and help you find the Chaos Emeralds, right?" Sunny questioned, as Tails landed in front of the two mares.
"Right!" Tails replied. "They're a mysterious set of islands. Legend has it a long-lost civilization once lived there. For some reason, after what happened with Eggman 2 months ago, the Chaos Emeralds started gathering there" he explained.
"And now Eggman launches a decoy to keep us busy" Zipp pointed out with a frown. "He's definitely up to something!" she stated.
"Whatever he's up to now, can't be any good..." Sunny said with worry. "We don't need another massive robot trying to conquer Equestria..." she said.
"That's why we should hurry and get to the Starfall Islands before Eggman!" Tails pointed out.
"Mystery! Action! Adventure! Sound like fun to you?" Sonic asked, kicking the decoy Eggman's head towards Zipp.
She smirked and kicked the decoy's head towards the ocean. "Oh, you know it does!" Zipp replied. "Wherever there's a mystery, count me on board!" she stated.
"I have heard about the islands before, so... research on its history will be a great opportunity to learn more about this ancient civilization. Let's go!" Sunny cheered with a smile.
Both Zipp and Sunny flew in the air with their wings, while Sonic and Tails got on the plane again and followed the mares.
"Next stop: Kronos Island!" Tails announced with confidence.
Meanwhile, at Kronos Island, the first one of the Starfall Islands, Dr. Eggman landed one of his many assets on the island, while the rest spreed to the other islands as well.
Inside the asset on Kronos Island, Eggman was sitting on his Eggmobile, looking at multiple archives of the Starfall Islands he managed to gather. Despite being busy with his past plan, he had lots of free time, and after checking Opaline's library for at least 4 or 5 times, he managed to fin some books of his interest. They all talked about the Starfall Islands, and Eggman was very interested on their ancient technology. So, he gathered all the info he could and downloaded it on his computer.
"Status report!" Eggman instructed to Sage.
"Assets have been deployed to all islands. Supply caches have been distributed" Sage replied.
"Excellent!" Eggman cheered with an evil grin. "Now I can begin surveying the islands. Soon, the long-lost technology of the Ancients will belong to me!" he stated with confidence.
And then, on his screen suddenly appeared a recording, taken by Sage, of Sonic, Tails, Sunny and Zipp defeating the giant Crabmeat at the island's coast.
"Doctor, apparently Sonic and his friends defeated Unit D3-CO4" Sage informed to him.
"What?!" Eggman cried out with worry. "And you're telling me now?!" he asked with anger.
"Analysis of data transfer shows significant delay between unit destruction and contact" Sage said through the computer.
At this, Eggman growled with annoyance, before sighing heavily. "Gosh... I really miss Misty sometimes... She's a lot better than any of my previous AI's to Metal Izzy and Metal Hitch. I take the time to program life-like personalities into minions, and all it does is frustrate me" he confessed with anger. "Once–– just once!–– I'd like one of my creations to fill me with pride instead of regret!" he complained. "The relics hidden on the Starfall Islands are staggeringly advanced. Maybe once I take them for my own, I can finally craft the ultimate creation..." he suggested to himself.
He pressed some buttons on his computer, and not only the images dissipated, but also his Eggmobile roared as it started to float and prepare to explore Kronos Island.
"First things first! The rodents is undoubtedly on his way here. I'll have to accelerate my plans" Eggman stated, then he started to download Sage AI on a HDD.
"Warning. A.I. integration untested. System stress test untested. Accelerated timetable is not advised" Sage warned.
"Ah, but I developed you to protect me, and my coding is impeccable!" Eggman assured with confidence. "There's no time to waste with Sonic on the way. Hurry up and download yourself for deployment!" he ordered with annoyance.
"Download complete" Sage announced.
"Very good!" Eggman said with an evil grin, grabbing the disk where Sage downloaded itself.
As Eggman exited the asset, his Eggmobile was received by rain, but he didn't cared at all. In fact, his machines were all water proof, so he wasn't worried a single bit. After moving around Kronos Island for a while, Eggman spotted one of the ancient technology ruins. He got down of his Eggmobile with the disc that had Sage, and grinned sinisterly.
"My latest, greatest artificial intelligence will make short work of the Ancient's cyber security! And then all of their fantastic achievements will be mine to control!" Eggman stated with confidence.
TO BE CONTINUED IN SONIC FRONTIERS X MY LITTLE PONY