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

A dark corridor extended to a really large distance.

Suddenly, from the metallic ceiling, a ventilation door fell to the ground, followed by Rouge coming out of it and landing in the floor. She was using the same clothes she used back when she first met Omega and free'd Shadow from Eggman's stasis capsule.

After that, she looked at her surroundings, and once she checked nobody was around, she brought out a small device that looked like a tube, before opening it up. The tube released a grey gas, and then, Rouge threw the gas so it could roll across the floor. As it did so, the gas revealed many red lasers across the corridor, which made the bat smirk, weirdly enough.

Then, she wrapped herself on her own wings and began to dodge all the lasers professionally, even sliding below some of them, until she managed to get to the other side without having touched a single laser.

Next, she took out a device that she placed over a panel control, and after that, she stepped back and flew to the ceiling, staying there before the device extended a black stick with a spike, which it used to cut a perfect circle on the whole wall around the panel control.

And then, when the circle was completed, the hole was open with a massive punch, and the piece of round metal ended on the other side of the room, while Rouge landed on the floor and looked at the hole with a smirk.

Right through the hole, Omega and Shadow entered, as the former started to scan the entire basement they were in, while Shadow looked at Rouge with a bored expression.

"What took you so long?" Shadow asked with a glare.

"Honey, being sneaky is my thing" Rouge replied with a mocking tone. "Just because I didn't do it as fast as you'll like does not mean my results are less effective~" she added with a wink.

"Dr. Eggman could be planning to escape from us this very second!" Shadow pointed out with anger. "If he hasn't escaped, that is..." he added with another glare.

Rouge rolled her eyes at Shadow's attitude, but before she could reply anything, Omega let out a 'beep' sound, indicating that his scanning was complete. "Eggman's basement scanned. The main lab is located at the end of this corridor" he informed, pointing at the left direction of the hole in the wall.

"Say no more!" Shadow replied, as he immediately boosted towards the lab.

Rouge rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance, before following him by flight, while Omega did the same and rushed as fast as he could, until he decided to use his rockets to lift up from the ground.

Then, Shadow curled into a ball and Spin Dashed through the lab's door, taring it down and then looking around with a frown, which actually disappeared slowly as he saw that the lab was not only empty, but also rusty, dusty and messy, which was weird since Eggman was everything but messy with his labs.

Rouge and Omega arrived, and the former freaked out at the empty lab as well, while the latter scanned the room in search for any sign of Dr. Eggman.

"Scanning completed. No signs of Dr. Eggman detected" Omega reported, although his tone sounded bot disappointed and frustrated, as he shamelessly showed a hand and closed it on an angered fist.

"Eggman's not here either..." Shadow muttered, frowning in rage once again.

"This is the fifth installment we've found and infiltrate..." Rouge pointed out, then she approached to the big computer in the middle of the room and tapped on it, but the computer was totally empty. "And just like the previous ones, it's totally empty. There's... nothing here... No data, no pictures, not even a browser..." she explained with concern.

"Eggman must be trying to distract us" Rouge suggested. "I mean, five empty basements with no defense mechanisms, no data on his computer, and all dusty and messy? Are we sure this were created by the same Eggman we know?" she questioned.

"Dr. Eggman is a genius. He knows we're after him. Therefore, he has reasons to pull us off the path" Omega pointed out.

"And if he wants to avoid Opaline now that he betrayed her, it's only normal to think he wants to distract her as well" Shadow pointed out, as well. "Making empty bases to trick her and us is spot on for the doctor, but it does not changes the fact that we must find him" he stated with a frown.

"Well, considering that he pretty much disappeared after his plan backfired in the Starfall Islands 6 months ago, it's also safe to say he's planning to get revenge on Sonic somehow" Rouge added with a frown as well.

Yeah, Team Sonic and the Mane 5 made a deal to not talk about Sage, so Misty, Amy and Team Dark don't even know she exists... And they want to keep it like that.

Suddenly, Omega made another beep sound, calling Shadow's and Rouge's attention. "Incoming recorded video from: Pipp Petals" the robot informed, before projecting with his eyes an image of a video sent by Pipp, as he stated.

"Hey everypony!" Pipp spoke happily as she held her phone. "As you all know by now, we have spent the last 6 months away from each other... But I think it is finally time we all reunite again!" she explained.

"That's why, we want to invite you all to a little welcome party in the Brighthouse exclusively for us!" Sonic spoke as well with a smirk, getting into the video as he hugged Pipp from her back, while Pipp giggled a bit. "We're making this on Friday, ya'll. Don't be late!" he added with a wink, as the video finished playing.

"It was fun to tease him off camera about having a girlfriend... now the fun is over..." Shadow said with a bored expression.

"I think we should go back and chill with them for a while" Rouge suggested. "As important as it is to find Dr. Eggman, perhaps we could take a brake from it for a couple of weeks? Maybe a month, even?" she added with a little smile.

Shadow inhaled and exhaled, before smirking at Rouge. "You know? I actually do not mind taking a break for once..." he confessed. "Besides, I'll be lying if I said I don't want to check on Sunny after 6 months without seeing her" he added.

Rouge looked at Shadow with wide eyes, and even if Omega could not show emotions with his face, he still looked at Shadow confused.

"... That wasn't expected... Not even for me..." Omega said.

"I second that..." Rouge admitted.

With this, Rouge and Omega turned and head towards the exit, a.k.a. the hole that they made in the wall, but Shadow stood behind and looked at a camera over the ceiling that neither Omega nor Rouge seemed to notice before.

"Doctor..." Shadow spoke with a frown. "I do not care where you are hiding. We will find you, and whatever you might have in store, we will stop you. As we always do!" he stated, before launching a Chaos Spare to the camera and then boost away from the lab as well...





Eggman stared at his computer with a frown.

After all the stuff he has done to the Mane 5 and Team Sonic for the past months, he never expected to see that Team Dark would be the one chasing him instead of the blue blur.

Still, seeing Shadow threat him and warn him about finding his actual new hidden lab... He did felt chills on his spine.

But that wasn't going to stop him. He's been threatened to be stoped before, and he never did, so why start now, when his newest and diabolical plan was already in the works, anyways?

"Father" Sage's voice spoke. "Should I initiate protocols to recon and destroy for this 'Team Dark'?" she asked.

"No need to do that, dear" Eggman replied. "Is not the first time Shadow has threatened me, and it won't be the last. Of course, it does not mean I'm gonna stop!" he pointed out with a grin. "Creating fake basements to get those fools of the track has worked so far, both for Opaline and Team Dark. Hopefully, it'll stay that way..." he said with a frown.

"I can always create more basements for you, father" Sage suggested.

"That'll be wonderful, but we cannot waste more resources" Eggman pointed out. "Now that I have no Chaos Emeralds with me, I gotta be careful with where I sent my creations from now on" he explained. "If Team Dark is really taking a break for the next month, then we better get to work!" he stated.

"Yes, father" Sage replied, as she changed the image in the computer from Shadow's video to a bunch of images that showed the silver/metallic liquid sample moving around its bottle. "I've already studied this sample and ran around 3 million simulations, but... I still cannot tell why it's alive..." Sage explained with concern.

"And it has gotten bigger, too..." Eggman pointed out with a frown. "It used to be just 1/4 the size of the bottle... now it's 3/4 size of it, and it scares me... Just as much as it fascinates me!" he stated with a grin.

"It expands at fast paste, that's for sure..." Sage pointed out. "But its properties are a mystery, even for myself, and it grows with each passing minute... You are right, father. This is fascinating" she confessed.

"And it's exactly that the reason why we must investigate further on this specimen!" Eggman stated, still grinning sinisterly. "Dear, put the sample data on my database. We must find out more about this metallic goo... or whatever it is. Guess we'll have to give it a name..." he pointed out.

"Right away, father!" Sage replied cheerfully.

As the currently AI started to work, Eggman looked back at the 3/4 full bottle and the substance inside, still grinning. "I cannot wait to explode your hidden power!" he stated, as he laughed like a maniac.





Sonic, Pipp, Hitch, Amy and Misty were preparing everything for the 'Welcome Party' in the Brighthouse.

Hitch, Pipp and Amy were placing down some snacks in the kitchen's table, while Sonic and Misty were placing all the decorations across the living room.

"I can't believe we're finally seeing everyone again after 6 months!" Pipp said excited, before squealing like a filly.

"Well, considering all the crazy stuff we lived on those Islands months ago, I'm really glad we all got some time for ourselves!" Hitch said with a smile.

"I still cannot believe that your ancestors are really from this world, Sonic..." Amy told the blue hedgehog with a smile. "I thought that Longclaw was saying gibberish in her message!" she confessed.

"Honestly? I still find it surreal myself" Sonic replied with a smirk.

"There's also that weird thing that looked like a red moon..." Misty pointed out. "What was that?" she asked confused.

"Satan himself..." Sonic replied with a bored expression. "Jokes aside, it was a weirdo that got control over my body, and then turned into the most hated animal by any normal female: A giant snake!" he added with a frown.

After saying this, Misty, Pipp and Amy all collectively felt a chill running down their spines at the mention of the giant snake.

"I will normally say snakes are cool, but considering that one almost destroyed our entire planet... Yeah... That's everything but cool..." Hitch said with a sheepish smile.

Suddenly, the doorbell ringed, and before anyone could attend the door, it was suddenly opened, and then, both Izzy and Knuckles boosted inside, each carrying around 3 or 4 bags full of stuff they both collected on their treasure hunt. Also, Knuckles was wearing his treasure hunter outfit.

"Hallo, hallo und guten Tag!" Knuckles greeted with a huge smile, as he placed two of the bags in the floor and even made a bow while taking off his hat.

"Hello!" Izzy greeted cheerfully.

"Izzy!" Pipp and Misty said happily, as they immediately rushed towards the unicorn mare and wrapped her in a big hug, with Izzy giggling and hugging them back.

"Knux!" Amy said, as she also wrapped Knuckles in a big bear hug, and Knuckles chuckled a bit before hugging her back as well.

"Yo, Knux! Long time no see!" Sonic cheered with a smile, as he and Knuckles fist bumped each other.

"Honestly? I kind of thought you two were gonna be last!" Hitch said with a smirk, as he extended his hoof and hoofbumped with Knuckles as well. "But I'm also glad that you proved me wrong!" he added.

"We also though we would be the last to arrive" Izzy said, as Pipp and Misty finally let her go. "We kind of let ourselves get too invested in the treasure hunting on our way here..." she added with a sheepish smile, also scratching her neck.

"But I'll say it was worth it! We got you souvenirs and everything!" Knuckles stated with a smirk, as he opened one of the bags. "Let's see... the Chaos Emeralds..." he started, as he threw both the Red and Purple Emeralds to Sonic, who caught them with his hands and smiled at them. "I found this neat pink crystal in the deeps of a cave with a weird silver lake..." he continued, now giving said crystal to Amy, who smiled brightly at the sight. "I got this aquamarine crystal in an abandoned farm, not so far from Fluttershy's old cottage..." he added, extending the crystal to Hitch, who grabbed it with a smile.

Next, Izzy used her magic to levitate the remaining bag off her back and started to look through it as well. "I think I had something for... AHA!" she exclaimed taking out a green emerald collar and giving it to Pipp, who gasped dramatically at the sight, as she took the collar on her hooves with a huge smile. "It reminded me of you when I saw it!" she said with a smile.

"Izzy, this is really gorgeous!" Pipp sang with a smile, as she hugged Izzy again. "Thank you so much for this!" she added.

"I knew you would like it!" Izzy said with a cheery smile, before digging into the bag again and then brought out a small topaz and show it to Misty. "And for you, I found this! I thought it would look nice on your bracelet!" she explained.

Misty gasped as well and grabbed the topaz with a smile, before place it over her bracelet on her left hoof. "Izzy, this is so beautiful! Thank you!' she said with a smile.

"Anything for my fellow unicorns!" Izzy replied happily, as the two mares shared another hug.

"I also found this sapphire..." Knuckles said, as he brought it out and threw it to Sonic, who once again caught the gem with a smirk. "It kind of reminds to you, so I thought... 'Eh, why not'?" he explained with a smirk.

"The Chaos Emeralds would've been enough for me, but this is pretty neat, too!" Sonic said with a smile. "Anything else you found, besides that weird metallic looking-like lake?" he asked Knuckles and Izzy.

"Nah. We had to deal with an Eggman badnik, but we crushed it like a fragile glass!" Knuckles replied with a smirk.

"You too?" Pipp asked with a bored expression. "Does that guy knows what 'vacations' stand for? He should try it sometime..." she pointed out.

"Yeah... Although, it wasn't Eggman actually. It was a weird toy with springs around..." Izzy pointed out confused.

"So a decoy as well..." Sonic said with a bored expression. "If I had a nickel for everytime Eggman has tried to kill any of us, I'll be rich at this point!" he pointed out with a frown.

And then, the doors opened again, this time to reveal Sunny, Tails and Zipp, also entering to the Brighthouse as they seemed to be talking between themselves happily.

However, any chance they had to say hi to everyone else went through the window when the three of them were either tackled to the floor or embraced in a big hug: Izzy tackled Sunny down as she also hugged her tightly, while Pipp went to wrap her hooves tightly around her sister with a smile.

As for Tails? Sonic grabbed him from his waist and started to twirl him around happily, as Tails giggled while being lifted in the air, before Sonic finally finished the hug with him properly holding Tails, even if the young fox could still not touch the ground, but he still hugged Sonic back.

"Oh, it's nice to see you again, little bro!" Sonic said with a huge grin, but once he put him down on the ground, he found himself amused when he noticed that Tails was... taller... Well, he was 4 feet tall before, now he's like 4.6 feet tall, but still... he has grown up.

He also seemed to be wearing some googles over his head, and his shoes were a blue variant instead of red as well!

"Whoa... When you said that I wouldn't recognize you, you weren't kidding!" Sonic said with an amused smile.

"Pretty cool, right?" Tails talked... but there was something different with him...

It was so amazing, so mind-blowing that it made Sonic stare at Tails with wide eyes. And what is it? Well... Tails sounds older now.

"... Y-Your voice... You sound... older..." Sonic pointed out, completely flabbergasted by this fact.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... Well, the thing is that my voice have might get a tiny, little bit low pitched... But it's still me!" Tails explained with a smile. "Whatcha think?" he asked with a smirk.

However, Sonic started to move at really fast past on his place, as his smile slowly grew, until it was a big enough, and then, Sonic curled into a ball and boosted back inside the Brighthouse, as he booted all over the place and booted through the living room like a pinball ball.

Then, he went back to the outside and wrapped his arms around Tails, hugging him tightly once again. "YOU ARE GROWING UP, AND I COULDN'T BE ANY MORE PROUD OF YOU, MAN!" Sonic shouted, as he violently shook Tails, while the fox weirdly enough chuckled a bit as he was shaken. "I know any other guy would freak out, or even cry, or be mad because you're getting older, but... MY GOSH, YOU ARE BECAME A MAN, BRO!" Sonic cheered, as he hugged him once again.

"You're taking this better than I expected!" Tails said with a smile.

"Why would I be mad? Because you sound older?! Man, I'm proud of you!" Sonic said cheerfully, now rubbing Tails head with a fist, while Tails chuckled again and fought to take him off him.

Meanwhile, Sunny was busy as Izzy and Hitch wrapped her in a tight hug, while Zipp was the same with her little sister.

"Aw! It's so good to see you all again after so long!" Sunny said with a warm smile, before being wrapped on one side by Sparky as well, who jumped from Hitch's back to her side.

"How did your mission went across Equestria?" Izzy asked her with a cheery smile.

"Oh, it was pretty good, actually!" Sunny replied with a smile. "Everypony around Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights were really welcoming at everything I told them about my dream of a world of love and harmony" she explained. "I don't know if telling them about what I saw with those Koco in the Starfall Islands had something to do, but... They actually seemed really happy and supportive with everything I said!" she pointed out.

"That's great to hear, Sunny!" Amy said with a smile, and Sunny smiled back at her.

"I also heard rumors about a certain Alicorn solving some friendship problems around Equestria!" Hitch said with a mocking smirk, as he slightly pushed Sunny on her shoulder, while Sunny giggled at the gesture. "Does that ring a bell to you?" Hitch added with a wink.

Sunny blushed a bit, but she still rolled her eyes and smirked mockingly back at the stallion. "Oh, I don't know. Are you talking about Opaline, hmm?" she mocked back.

That actually made the small group burst out laughing at how ridiculous it sounded the idea of Opaline helping out instead of being a threat.

"Seems like you had fun on your journey across Equestria!" Hitch said with a smile. "Things in Maretime Bay were really boring..." he confessed.

"Yup! It's weird you guys had been attacked by Eggman. The Brighthouse has been silent and peaceful ever since Eggman was defeated on his Death Egg Titan" Amy pointed out. "Not even Opaline has approached here, either!" she added.

"So Eggman attacked us, and Opaline stood on the sidelines... Weird..." Sunny muttered with concern.

On the other hand, as Sonic and Tails came in, the young fox was dragged into a side hug by Knuckles, as he also rubbed his head a bit, and Tails chuckled once again, trying to get the echidna off.

"How you doing, little man?" Knuckles asked him with a smirk. "I've heard that your voice has grown a bit!" he added.

"It has, actually. I'm not so 'little' anymore, am I?" Tails asked with a mocking smirk.

However, Knuckles' eyes widened, and he stared completely shocked at Tails. "... Huh... You were not joking about the voice change..." he realized.

"Of course it wouldn't be a joke! Or what, do you thought I was going to sound girl-ish forever?" Tails mocked up.

"Actually, yes. I did" Knuckles replied with absolutely no sign of shame.

To this, Tails stared at Knuckles with a bored expression. "For both of our sakes, I'm gonna pretend you're just kidding..." he replied.

Then, Tails was tapped in the shoulder by somepony, so he turned to see who it was, but he felt confused when he saw nopony there. Then, he was tapped on his other shoulder and looked again, but again, nopony was there, and that confused him even more.

But then, when he turned around, he was suddenly wrapped in a hug by Misty, and even if he felt kind of startled at her being more playful, he still smiled and hugged her back.

"Aw, Mist!" Tails said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you again, too!" he added cheerfully.

"Oh, it feels like an eternity since the last time we talked..." Misty said with a little smile. "By the way, you sound different..." she pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah! Now I'm a bit taller, a year older, I have a new look, and my voice is slightly low pitched!" Tails said with a proud smile. "But I'm the same old Tails, anyways!" he pointed out with a smile.

"It's noticeable!" Misty replied with a little grin, slightly pushing Tails on a shoulder. "So, anything interesting while you were out with Zipp?" she asked with a smile.

"Well, aside from finding the Yellow Chaos Emerald..." Tails started, as he tossed said Emerald to Sonic, who once again caught it with a hand. "We found this really weird ship that seemed to belong to some pirates before..." he added with a weirded expression.

"Pirates? Wait, you found a pirate ship?!" Misty asked in awe.

"Kinda? I mean, I can't tell if it was a ship, or a giant hot air balloon... I think it was a mix of both..." Tails said with a bored expression. "Oh, we also found this really neat town not so far from what I think it used to be Ponyville, but we didn't saw that much ponies there..." he pointed out. "Gosh, there's so much I wanna tell, and I don't know where should I keep going!"  he exclaimed excited.

"Well, I can't wait to hear everything!" Misty exclaimed excited as well for a minute, before looking down to the floor with sadness. "Too bad I haven't discovered anything on how to get through Opaline's shield around her castle..." she said with disappointment.

"Hey, it's okay, Mist!" Tails told her with a smile. "We'll find a way to get through it!" he assured her with a confident smile.

As Sonic lay on a wall and chuckled at Tails and Misty talking, Sunny suddenly dragged him into a hug as well.

"Whoa, there!" Sonic said with a chuckle, as Sunny broke the hug and smiled at her. "I didn't knew you missed me that much, Sunny-Bunny!" he said with a mocking tone and a wink.

"Aw, please. I've missed all my friends!" Sunny pointed out with a smile. "In all seriousness, though. It is good to see you again, Sonic. I wanted to give you this!" she added, as she brought out the Light Blue Chaos Emerald from her saddlebag and gave it to him.

"Whoa, cool!" Sonic said with a smirk, as he grabbed the Emerald. "We have five with this one, considering Little Pipp and I found the Blue one on a place named Baltimare..." he pointed out with a smile.

On the other hand, we had the royal sisters, hugging each other tightly as well.

"Oh, Zipp! I seriously cannot start to describe how much I've missed you!" Pipp exclaimed with a smile.

"I've missed you too, sis!" Zipp confessed, as she hugged Pipp once again. "I got a lot to tell on everything Tails and I discovered! But most importantly, I think you're gonna like about this really cool place with abandoned clothes" she added with a smirk, wrapping a hoof around Pipp's neck.

"Why do you say that?" Pipp asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"An abandoned boutique that gives you a spooky feeling with lots of fancy, although also really dusty, clothes all over the place?" Zipp described smoothly.

"Oh, now you have my attention!" Pipp replied with a smirk.

"Ladies!" Sonic said suddenly, as he appeared at Pipp's other side with a smile. "Zippster, do you mind if I steal your sister just a sec?" he asked the older pegasus with a wink.

"All yours, champ! I gotta have a talk with Sunny, anyways" Zipp said as she flew away and towards Sunny.

"What's the matter, Blue Star?" Pipp asked her boyfriend with a smile.

"Sorry to bug you, Little Pipp, but do you know anything about Team Dark?" Sonic asked concerned. "I haven't heard any kind of answer from them..." he pointed out with a slight frown.

Pipp took out her phone and checked the group chat were all the Mane 6, Team Sonic and Team Dark shared, but there was now message from either Shadow, Rouge nor Omega. "No... there's nothing so far..." she replied with concern.

"That's odd... I haven't heard anything from them since last month..." Sonic pointed out with a frown. "Never thought I'll say this about Shadow, of all people, but... I hope those three are okay..." he confessed.

"You? Concerned about me?" Shadow's voice spoke, and Sonic deadpanned as he slowly turned around and looked at Shadow with a bored expression. "Seeing is believing, living is seeing!" he added with a mocking tone and smirk.

Team Dark was approaching to the Brighthouse as well, and once Sunny noticed this, she gasped happily and immediately went to wrap Shadow into a hug.

Of course, Shadow was still not used to Sunny being this affective with him, but he still allowed her to hug him, even though he didn't hugged back this time around, although it was just to protect his ego in front of Sonic, who was smirking mockingly at him, not because he didn't wanted to hug Sunny back.

"I haven't heard anything from you in the past month! I thought something happened!" Sunny said with concern, as she finally broke the hug.

Shadow did felt a bit guilty after Sunny explained this, and he even looked away from her, but his frown remained. "There was a situation as we looked for Eggman's new lab..." he replied.

"What kind of situation?" Knuckles asked with a frown, as he and everyone else approached Team Dark.

"We broke into five different basements" Rouge replied with her arms crossed.

"What?!" Zipp exclaimed with wide eyes, while everypony gasped in panic, and Team Sonic just frowned. "What do you mean you broke into five basements?!" Zipp added confused.

"Is what you hear" Shadow replied. "Eggman built different labs across Equestria, but every single one we broke was empty and dusty..." he pointed out.

"I can get behind the empty part, but dusty? Eggman might be a lot of things, but messy is not one of them..." Tails pointed out, crossing his arms and frowning.

However, after Tails opened his mouth, Shadow and Rouge stared at him with wide eyes.

"... His voice is different..." Rouge pointed out, a bit freaked out by this.

"Puberty reach him late. Ignore that fact and get to the point!" Amy said with annoyance.

However, it didn't took Tails late to understand what Amy said at first, so he looked at her with a frown. "Hey!" he complained.

"The point is that Eggman is still out of our radar, and we still can't find where he's hiding" Rouge replied, before she looked over at Misty. "Have you found a way to get through Opaline's barrier?" she asked her.

"No..." Misty replied with shame, as she looked down in disappointment. "All I can say is that the barrier is way too powerful. I don't think we can get through it, not even with all our Cutie Mark magic combined..." she added with concern, looking over at the rest of the Mane 6.

"So, in terms of defeating evil, we're not going anywhere yet, are we?" Knuckles asked with a bored expression.

"Pretty much..." Izzy replied with the same bored expression.

"Well, at least we did found the Green and Silver Chaos Emeralds in two of the basements we broke in" Shadow said, as he brought the mentioned Emeralds out and tossed them to Sonic.

The blue hedgehog caught them and looked down at them with a smile. "Would you believe me if I told you that we have all the Chaos Emeralds now with these two?!" he asked Shadow with a smirk.

"Do I have other choice?" Shadow asked with a bored expression.

"Nope" Sonic replied proudly.

"Then no" Shadow replied, as he headed towards inside the Brighthouse, with Rouge, Sunny and Omega following behind.

"Dude, you are seriously the edgiest man alive..." Sonic said with a bored expression, as he walked inside as well, while Pipp chuckled at his joke.

"Ooh, I just remembered! I hope you all are free tomorrow, because I wanna show you something amazing!" Izzy exclaimed happily.

"Is it related to gems?" Rouge asked.

"Nope, but it's just as beautiful!" Izzy replied cheerfully.

"Huh... It sounds interesting, actually. I'll... consider it" Rouge said with a smirk.

"What are you gonna show us exactly, Izz?" Knuckles asked his girlfriend with a smile.

"Oh, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, silly!" Izzy replied with a cheerful smile.





The next night, at a full moon, the Mane 6, Team Sonic and Team Dark are following Izzy through the Bridlewood forest, as some critters are wandering around.

"This is kinda spooky, isn't it?" Pipp asked her friends with an exciting smile.

Suddenly, an owl hooted and fluttered their wings loudly, which startled Hitch as he gasped in fright, while Pipp gave him a playful smirk.

"No. Not at all" Hitch said nervously, while Sparky is on his back was sleeping like the baby dragon he is, also sucking his thumb.

"Izzy, what are we doing in the middle of the Bridlewood forest… at night?" Sunny asked nervously.

Sonic, on his own, stretched out his arms and yawned a bit. "Yeah... What's the reason to private me from my beauty sleep?" he complained as well.

"Better stop sleeping, then. It's not working" Shadow said with a bored expression, even though his intention was to mock Sonic over.

And it worked, because Sonic turned to him and looked at him with a glare.

"It's a surprise!" Izzy answered cheerfully, as she turned to them. "If I told you, you wouldn't be surprised!" she pointed out.

"She does have a point there" Zipp admitted.

"Yeah, can't argue with that logic!" Misty agreed with a smile.

"It doesn't change the fact that is 2 a.m. in the morning..." Tails deadpanned.

"2:37 a.m. to be precise" Omega informed.

"You guys told him that he doesn't has to be this specific, right?" Knuckles asked Rouge with a bored expression.

"Oh, we did. The thing is that he listens" Rouge replied with the same  bored expression.

"You're all gonna love it. Hoof to heart" Izzy said with a smile.

"I still don't get what that means..." Amy said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sunny's father used to tell her that all the time when she was little. Call it a 'family tradition' from hers that we're all following up" Sonic replied with a smile.

"Come on! It's just up here!" Izzy announced, as she took the lead again with hops.

"Oh yeah!" Pipp cheered, as she followed Izzy while Sunny and Zipp followed with a little laugh, and everyone else simply walked normally.

"Uh…" Hitch said nervously as he looked around, before he trotted after the rest as well.

The group kept following Izzy as they trotted through the forest, but then, Izzy gasped with a smile as she saw something that made her stop, which made her pony friends bump into her and into each other with a yelp, while Pipp fell to the floor

"Oof, ow" Hitch said from the bump, which made Sparky wake up, as the baby dragon yawned and rubbed his eyes.

As Sonic came by and helped Pipp to stand up, the rest looked over at Izzy with raised eyebrows, and Misty shook her head after the bump. "Izzy! Why did you stopped?" she asked confused.

"Because we're here! Ta-da!" Izzy announced cheerfully as she raised her hoof in front of her.

What was she pointing at? Just a clearing in the woods with crystals and un-sprouted flowers around.

Everyone else stood quiet for a moment until Zipp broke the silence. "Uh… Izzy? Is something supposed to happen?" she asked confused.

"Yeah, 'cause everything I see is a bunch of flowers that haven't sprouted yet..." Sonic pointed out with a bored expression.

Izzy just smiled and raised her hoof over her mouth. "Hush" she said. before walking up to an un-sprouted plant and lean closer to it. And just like that, the plant sprouted into a big flower that glowed bright.

One by one, all the flowers across the clearing sprouted and started to glowing as well, and even the crystals started to shine bright. Then, some glowing tiny flies came out of the plants and started to fly around, which made the rest of the Mane 6 and Team Sonic feel amazed at the sight.

"Wow!" Sunny said in awe.

"Holy Chili Dogs!" Sonic exclaimed with a smirk.

"Gorgeous!" Pipp cheered with a wide smile.

"No way..." Tails said with wide eyes.

"Awesome!" Zipp called out with a smile.

"Sweet grapes!" Knuckles said with wide eyes and a smile.

"Beautiful!" Misty said with a smile.

"I second that!" Amy agreed with Misty, as she looked around in awe.

"What?" Hitch asked in surprise and awe at the sight.

Suddenly, a glowing fly passed by Sparky, who gurgled at them and tried to reach it with a smile, until the fly flew away.

"Wow. I've never seen anything like this in my life!" Sunny cheered, while looking closely at the flowers with a smile. "This is amazing, Izzy!" she added, as she touched the flower, which glowed brighter by her touch.

"And here I thought this place couldn't impress me!" Rouge admitted, as she also approached a flower and touched it.

On the other hand, Omega was now covered on both his shoulders by many of the glowing flies, but he didn't seemed to mind, he just stared at the flies a bit confused.

Shadow also approached the same flower that Sunny touched and, weirdly enough, he smiled a bit at the sight.

"What is it?" Sunny asked in awe.

"It's called the 'Lumi-Bloom'!" Izzy replied with a smile, as she got next to Sunny and Shadow while waving her hoof. "Every moon season, for one week only, all of the plants and stuff in this part of Bridlewood go all wild and glowy!" she explained, while gesturing to the area.

"Yup! I second Rouge with what she said earlier!" Sonic said with a smile.

Then, a glowing fly flew to a flower, and Zipp came in front of the flower as she held up her magnifying glass to examine the flower and fly. "So it's not just some sort of Unicorn spell? Just a natural phenomenon?" she asked Izzy.

"Yup!" Izzy answered.

"Good. I'm not in the mood for another odyssey to find out about magical stuff with no real science behind..." Tails deadpanned again with his arms crossed.

"You're just not in the mood because it's too early to be awake" Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression.

"Do you like it?" Izzy asked her friends with a smile.

"Like it?! Do I like it?" Pipp asked excitedly, before turning to her friends. "I love it!" she cheered, as she twirled in the air before landing. "It makes me wanna sing!" she added, as she began to vocalize.

This made some glowing flies fly towards her from her singing, while Pipp flew into the air as the flies circled around her head.

The Mane 6 and Team Sonic watched Pipp with awed smiles, while Izzy got her jaw dropped from that, finding Pipp's scene amazing, and Sonic even had a slight blush as he smiled like an idiot, which made Shadow roll his eyes once he noticed.

Pipp realized the flies were circling around her and smiled. "Oh my glow. Did you guys just see that?" she asked her friends with a smile, as she landed back on the ground.

"Yup. And it was amazing!" Amy replied with a cheery smile.

"Yeah, huh, that was actually really cool" Zipp admitted with a smile.

"I have to do it again!" Pipp stated with excitement, as she flew next to Sonic. "Quick, get it on camera this time!" she added, as she gave her phone to her boyfriend.

Sonic nodded and held up Pipp's phone, starting to record Pipp as the pegasus landed on the ground.

"Ha, wait!" Pipp suddenly called out as she turned to the others, while Sonic lowered the phone and everyone looked at Pipp confused.

"What's wrong?" Hitch asked.

Pipp flew back with Sonic and took her phone back with a smile. "I just had an even better idea!" she said, as she flew off to the spot she took off again and landed. "We can share this beautiful sight with everypony if we bring them all here…" she explained, while she recorded the sight with her phone.

"Whoa" Misty said surprised. "How are we gonna do that?" she asked.

"By hosting the biggest and brightest musical festival that Equestria has ever seen… or heard" Pipp replied with a smile, as she hopped and twirled around excitedly.

"A festival? Not what I had in mind, but I'm honestly not complaining, either..." Rouge confessed with a smirk.

"That sounds so magical! I love it!" Sunny cheered in excitement.

"I'm not too found on festivals, but... Might as well give it a chance this time around..." Shadow said with a slight smile.

"But Izzy said the bloom only lasts a week!" Pipp recalled with worry. "Which means… we're already running out of time!" she panicked, as she flew in front of her friends. "We have to get started right now!" she stated, as she flew ahead of them, while the others followed Pipp.

However, only Izzy and Sonic stayed behind, with Izzy stopping as they heard a maniacal laughter.

"Huh?" Izzy asked confused, as she looked behind her, while the maniacal laughter continued in the distance as it echoed through the forest.

From behind some bushes and trees, the mysterious voice creature is looking at the unicorn mare.

"Yes. Sing for us, ponies" the mysterious voice said to her, followed by another maniacal laugh that echoed through the woods.

Izzy looked around one last time before trotting away in fear, while Sonic had his sight lost in certain direction, as he gasped in panic with wide eyes.

And why was this? Well... Cyber Sonic, once again, was there, looking at him through his soul, in the middle of the forest, which only gave Sonic terrible flashbacks on when The End took control over hid body.

He shook his head and closed his eyes, also looking away, and once he opened them, the figure was gone.

Sonic sighed in relief, but he couldn't help but feel worried about the living nightmare that is Cyber Sonic, since he couldn't forget him yet...

With a sigh, Sonic boosted away, hoping that he wouldn't see Cyber Sonic ever again, or not that often at least...





That same morning, in the Crystal Brighthouse, Pipp was at her desk.

She was wearing red glasses and preparing for the festival, as she hummed happily to herself, while her bed section of the room is covered in piles of papers and books from some ideas she scrapped for the festival.

Then, Pipp stopped for a second to think about something, before getting another idea and write it down on her notes.

Izzy woke up from her bed with a yawn, stretching a bit and rubbing her eyes, until she saw Pipp working and humming happily to herself.

Knuckles woke up as well, since he had the off today, so he stayed on the Brighthouse and stretched a bit with a loud groan, rubbing his belly a bit before waking up and put his gloves and shoes on.

Then, both Izzy and Knuckles approached Pipp to her desk. "Whatcha doing?" Izzy asked Pipp with a smile.

"Making my dreams come true!" Pipp cheered, as she waved her hooves up and some flowers around her flew up, while she took off her glasses. "Because if you can dream it, you can do it, Izzy!" she added with a smile.

Izzy gasped with a wide smile and came next to Pipp. "I just dreamed that I crafted an entire sailboat out of tortilla chips!" she said cheerfully, and even if Pipp cringed a bit, she still smiled at her.

"Looking back at your record of stuff you have build, I'd say it's totally possible" Knuckles said with a smile, as Izzy blushed a bit but smiled, and so, the two of them shared a quick kiss before looking back at Pipp.

"See? I love that for you, Izzy!" Pipp said with a smile, as she pushed Izzy back a bit. "And I love this for me!" she added, as she held out her notebook to them before hugging it. "But if I want to make the Bridlewoodstock Music Festival happen, I can't waste a single minute" she stated, as she flew off from her desk, while Izzy and Knuckles followed her. "Everypony has to see the Lumi-Bloom before it's over!" she added.

"No offense, but even if this only lasts a week, Izzy mentioned it come out every full moon... If you don't have time to plan this now, why not wait 'till the next full moon? That is in, like, a month or even less" Knuckles pointed out.

"The sooner everypony finds out about this, the better!" pipp replied with a smile.

"It is pretty special, huh?" Izzy asked with a smile.

"Which is why I'm going to need help today!" Pipp said, as she flew around them before flying towards the board she made about her festival idea. "We'll have to bring in everything and fast" she stated.

"Uh…" Izzy started uncertainty after what she heard last night.

But before either of them could speak, Pipp continued. "Tents, stages, sound equipment, decorations and of course… musicians!" she listed quickly, singing the 'musicians' part and then cheering with a laugh. "Wait. Why does your face look like that, Izzy?" she asked her confused.

When Pipp pointed this out, Knuckles looked at her girlfriend as well, and he also noticed it. "Izz? You good, honey?" he asked her with concern, since one of her eyes was twitching.

"Well… Uh, I don't want to burst your excitement bubbles, Pipp, but… there is a little teensy weensy problem with that particular spot..." Izzy explained nervously. "Um. Maybe we should have the festival somewhere else!" she suggested with a nervous smile.

"A problem?" Pipp asked, as she landed in the ground, next to Knuckles.

"Sweetie, what the heck are you talking about?" Knuckles asked confused.

"Umm… it's just that we…" Izzy started uneasy, not knowing how to explain it to them, especially to Pipp. "We Unicorns think it's kinda Jinxie to sing or make any loud noises during the Lumi-Bloom because of the... the Troggles..." she explained nervously.

"Troggles?" Knuckles asked with a raised eyebrow. "I think I've read about something like that back in my island... If I recall correctly, they're a race of humanoid creatures with pig-like characteristics... I thought those were just silly old legends from my people..." he confessed with a concerned frown.

"Is that it?" Pipp asked, laughing with disbelief like it was a joke. "An old 'Jinxie' rumor? Psst! Ha!" she exclaimed.

"No, it's not a rumor! There's even a poem!" Izzy insisted. "It goes like this..." she stated, clearing her throat. "Eyes of the Monster, form of the pig. Sing, laugh or yell, step hoof on a twig!" she recited, followed by monster pig noises made by her before Pipp cut her off.

"Izz! Izz! Izz! Izz! It's going to be fine!" Pipp reassured, almost like she ignored the whole warning. "Once the unicorns hear the amazing music with the glowy sights, they won't even remember that silly poem!" she stated, flying up behind the chart board she made.

"Right..." Knuckles said with a frown. "So, you're gonna ignore a whole ass warning from your friend just because you find hard to believe in what she says?" he asked Pipp with his arms crossed.

"Oh, come on, Knux" Pipp said with an eye roll and a smirk, as she landed in front of Knuckles and Izzy. "You can't seriously believe in a silly story of humanoids with pig faces, do you?" she asked in disbelief.

"Just as much as I didn't believed in five islands full of way too advanced tech" Knuckles replied madly, and Pipp's smug expression fade away, since she immediately got what he meant. "Legends have some truth behind, and if Izzy believes that there's something to worry about with this 'Troggles', then I choose to believe her" he stated confidently, and Izzy smiled lovely at him, feeling touched by his words.

Pipp, however, looked down nervously before frowning. "No offense to Izzy nor the unicorns, but many of the things they believe that are 'Jinxies' end up being silly things that are not even real" she pointed out. "Why would this be different?" she asked with a frown.

"Have you forgot what happened in the Starfall Islands?!" Knuckles asked with anger. "We all thought that the idea of a bunch of islands with advanced tech and a lost civilization was stupid, and yet we almost got trapped forever in Cyber Space!" he pointed out. "Worse of all, Sonic hasn't been the same, and you know it, Pipp" he added.

"What do you mean? He's been fine all the time he's been with me!" Pipp lied, because she knew Knuckles was right, but she didn't wanted to think about it.

"Oh really?" Knuckles asked sarcastically with a fake smile. "Because suddenly turning to a random direction and freak out when he sees something does not seem like 'nothing' to me!" he pointed out. "Sonic isn't fine, Pipp. But hey! Let's ignore how your boyfriend is feeling, as well as your friend's warning, and instead prepare a silly show they're warning you shouldn't be made because YOLO!" he added, once again in anger.

"Think whatever you want to think, Knuckles. I'm making this festival, and that's final!" Pipp stated with a frown.

"Ugh! No wonder Sonic is in love with you. You're just as stubborn as him!" Knuckles declared, as he walked out of the room, even slamming the door behind him.

Izzy gave a nervous chuckle, looking at Pipp a bit ashamed. "Forgive Knuckles, Pipp. Personally, I guess you could be right. I've never actually seen a Troggle" she confessed.

"See?" Pipp beamed, then she flew in front of Izzy and held out a small flower petal in her hoof.

"Okay, let's do it!" Izzy smiled, taking the petal in her magic. "Bridlewoodstock, here we come!" she stated.

Both Pipp and Izzy turned their attention back to the board and got to work, but very, very, very deep inside, Pipp was concerned for everything Knuckles said, about the troggles, and about Sonic's attitude.

Still, she wasn't going to let those things get in her way, and she was still gonna make this festival happen.





Later on, Sunny, Zipp, Tails and Misty were in the kitchen having breakfast.

Sunny placed some pancakes down, while Zipp sipped her drink and Tails and Misty chatted between them.

Then, Sunny turned and saw Izzy and Pipp coming into the kitchen, while Pipp was looking at her phone. "Good morning! Breakfast?" Sunny asked her friends.

Izzy gasped happily after hearing the question. "Yes, please" she answered, as she levitated a piece of pancake from Sunny's stack and held it in her hoof.

"Thanks, Sunny, but I've gotta fly. Too much to do!" Pipp said as she flew away. "Emergency music festival planning meeting at Mane Melody later! Be there!" she quickly added before leaving the Brighthouse.

"At least take a smoothie to-go!" Sunny called out while holding out a smoothie, but Pipp was already gone. "Wow. Who doesn't have time for a smoothie?" she asked playfully, while Izzy took a bite out of her pancake.

Just as she said this, Sonic and Amy arrived, sitting down on the table as well. "So, Pipp hasn't been paying attention to me, apparently, because she just rushed out of the Brighthouse like if someone was chasing her!" he pointed out. "She didn't stopped to say hi to me!" he added confused.

"Yeah, she seemed in a rush. Anyone knows what's gotten into her? Like, who ever ignores a 'good morning' from their couple?" Amy asked confused.

"A pony on a mission, that's who" Zipp replied, while the others looked at her, as she sipped her smoothie and then sighed. "Here we go. Everyone, brace yourselves for a wild week" she told them with a smirk, also tilting her head.

"Why you say that?" Misty asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pegasi love music festivals" Zipp started explaining. "They're kind of a big deal in Zephyr Heights. Pipp has always wanted to plan one of her own" she pointed out, while Sunny and Izzy looked at each other, while Amy looked at Sonic for context, but he shrugged and denied with his head, so she looked over at Tails and Misty, but they shook their heads in denial as well. "So she must be feeling the pressure to make it perfect" Zipp finished.

"What do you mean?" Sunny asked.

"She did stay up all night working!" Izzy pointed out to them.

"Yeah, and she was way too excited to be stopped..." Sonic pointed out as well. "Which is gonna lead her to get sick again if she keeps overworking herself like this... Again..." he deadpanned.

"Then we have to help her out" Sunny suggested, while Zipp nodded her head in agreement.

"Well, Pipp is definitely the kind of girl that gets something in her head and nobody can get her out of it, so I say we should help out as well" Tails said with smile.

"I could barely do anything before... You know... My whole deal with Opaline and Eggman..." Misty said with a nervous chuckle. "But I'll be happy to help if I can, too!" she added with a smile.

"I'll try to get Rouge and Omega in as well!" Amy said with a smile. "Shadow's probably gonna deny it, but I'm still telling him anyways..." she added with a bored expression.

"Oh, don't worry, Amy. I can help you out with convincing Shadow!" Sunny stated with a confident smirk.

"Then eat like if this was your last meal ever, everyone! We have a festival to plan out!" Sonic stated with a smirk, as everyone cheered in agreement.

Izzy, however, felt unsure, but still nodded her head slowly. "Uh-huh..." she said, as she took another bite of her pancake with an anxious look.





At Mane Melody, the meeting was getting started.

Pipp was using the same board from before to explain front of the rest of the Mane 6, Team Sonic sins Knuckles, Jazz and Rocky, and even Team Dark.

Yes, Sunny convinced Shadow to participate, even if he acted a bit annoyed about it.

"I want to lean into the theme of the Lumi-Bloom and go full Flower Fest." Pipp started to explain, before stepped in front of the magic mirror, which reflected her with a yellow flower crown on her head. "Flower Crowns! Snack tents featuring edible flowers!" she stated.

However, Jazz looked at her a bit concerned. "Where does the music part come in?" she asked.

"I am glad you asked Jazz." Pipp said with a smile, as she walked in front of her board and flipped it, showing a drawing of the stage she wanted to build. "The Mane Stage!" she revealed.

Rocky, Jazz and Hitch gasped after seeing this. "What bands are gonna play?!" Rocky asked with a smile.

"That's where you ponies come in!" Pipp answered, which confused everyone else.

"How? We're not a band" Zipp pointed out.

"Yet!" Izzy inquired with a smirk.

"Oh, no! This isn't what I signed for!" Shadow said with a frown.

"I mean, technically we are a band since we know how to play instruments..." Amy pointed out, gesturing at herself, Sonic and Tails. "But Knuckles is being an idiot, so I don't know if we can get him in to participate..." she added with a frown.

"No, no, no, no, no. I need you ponies to help me secure some amazing bands while I work on... everything else!" Pipp clarified, gesturing to the board behind her. "I think we can get Electric Blue."

"The super epic Pegasus rock band?" Hitch asked with a huge smile.

"Wow Hitch, I didn't know you were such a musical expert!" Pipp commented with a mocking smirk.

"I know things!" Hitch replied with pride, and Sunny chuckled.

"And I am dying to have the incredible pop artist, Ruby Jubilee perform" Pipp added, while Jazz brought out a picture of the pony.

Ruby Jubilee was a hot pink pegasus pony with a mane design similar to Misty's but having purple with hot pink shading on the edges and, from what Sonic could get from the photo, her wing feathers were deep purple and white.

"I love her!" Jazz stated.

"Me too! Everypony does. Her vocals are unreal!" Pipp added with a squeal, while Rocky looked at the picture with a gaping smile. "Which is why she's going to be hard to lock down on such short notice..." she pointed out with concern.

"But we have to try, right?" Izzy asked with a cheerful grin.

"Right. But we still need an incredible Earth Pony or Unicorn band to round off the lineup." Pipp pointed out, before turning to Jazz and Rocky. "Any ideas?" she asked them, as they thought on something.

But then, Sunny spoke suddenly with excitement. "I know! I know! we could get... The Dreamlands!" she stated.

"No way!" Jazz breathed.

"The who now?" Tails asked confused.

"They're this really famous Earth Pony trio that I loved when I was younger. They practically invented the genre of 'girl group' music" Sunny quipped.

"In Equestria, that is..." Sonic muttered, while Amy pushed him slightly on the shoulder with a frown.

"But they haven't performed in moons" Jazz pointed out. "How can we find them?" she questioned.

"I have a connection. I know ponies." Hitch replied happily. "Actually, my Grandma Figgy does. She used to bake for the lead singer, Minty!" he added with a smile.

"That's convenient, but is the good kind of convenient!" Tails said with a little smile and his arms crossed.

Pipp squealed and twirled in the air happily, before landing again. "This is all coming together like perfection! Rocky and Jazz, you're on style duty! Zipp, Tails and Misty, you get Electric Blue!"

"You got it!" Zipp nodded.

"Leave it to us!" Tails stated with a thumbs up and a wink, and Misty nodded in agreement.

"Sunny, Hitch and Shadow, find those Dreamlands!" Pipp added, looking at Sunny and Hitch before turning to the Mobian girls. "Amy, Rouge and Omega, try to get Knuckles into participating! I would love to have a band of Mobians as well. And Izzy, Sonic and I will convince Ruby Jubilee to dazzle us!" she finished.

"Yeah!" Izzy said with a smile

"Let's do it!" Sonic stated with a smirk.

"Okay!" Sunny agreed as well.

"We've got this!" Amy stated too.

"On it!" Hitch said with a smile.

"Yeah!" Jazz and Rocky exclaimed.

"Do whatever you have to do, just get those bands to come to Bridlewoodstock!" Pipp instructed with a smirk, as everyone left.

"And make sure to smack Knuckles for me if he gets too stupid, Ames!" Sonic said as well.

"Sonic!" Izzy scolded with a frown.

"What? After what he did this morning, you gotta admit he was an idiot!" Sonic pointed out with a frown as well.

"I'm sure Amy and Rouge can get him to understand. And if that doesn't work, well... There's a reason why I sent Omega as well!" Pipp said with a mischievous smirk.

"And that's why I love you, babe!" Sonic said with a proud smile.

Izzy, however, still felt concerned about Knuckles' attitude towards Pipp, and she recognized that Sunny was right about him deserving at least a smack, but she still didn't wanted to think about it, so she decided to focus on her task along Pipp and Sonic, and hope that Amy and Rouge would put some sense into him.





Sometime later, in Zephyr Heights, Zipp, Tails and Misty were hiding behind a trash can.

Zipp was wearing her Z-Googles, while Tails putted on the ones he already had on his forehead, and Misty simply brought out a pair of binoculars, as they saw a group of ponies, who were facing a store with their phones out.

A pony sipping through a cup was walking by, but then, they tossed the cup and hit Zipp's head.

"Oh…" Zipp groaned, as she picked up the cup and tossed it into the trash can.

"I'm gonna pull a Hitch one of these days and scold anypony that does that again..." Tails muttered with a bored expression.

"Guys, look!" Misty called out, as she pointed at the store.

From it, Electric Blue came out with smiles. The leader was a pegasus stallion with electric sunglasses, blue fur, deep bluish purple wings, light blue and electric blue feathers underneath. His name is Fretlock.

The drummer of the band was a plum purple stallion with light blue and dark blue shading on his legs and sparkly aquamarine eye shade. His mane was a slick mix of blue and purple. On his chest was a vivid pale blue lighting bolt mark. His name is Jam Donut.

Finally, the third member was a mare with more of a neon blue with a purple mane and tail that slicked back. Both members' wings feathers were the same colors as the leaders. Her name is Arpgreggia.

"Is that them?" Misty asked Zipp, as she looked down at her, since Misty was looking through her binoculars over Zipp's back.

"Yup!" Zipp answered, as she lowered her Z-Goggles and stood up. "Alright, how hard can this be?" she asked with a smirk, as she walked up to them.

"Great, she just jinxed us..." Tails said with a bored expression, and Misty giggled a bit at his comment.

Then, Tails and Misty followed Zipp from behind, while the pegasus princess walked to the leader of Electric Blue, standing in front of the stallion while the ponies around them kept taking pictures.

"Hey! Electric Blue?" Zipp asked with a small smile.

"Huh?" Fretlock asked confused.

"Zipp" she greeted herself.

"Uh... Who?" Fretlock asked again, still confused.

"Seriously?" Misty said confused, as she looked at Zipp and her Z-Googles. "Those things don't really make a difference, right?" she muttered to Tails.

"No, this guy probably barely checks out TV or something..." Tails replied with a bored expression.

"Uh…" Zipp said uncertainly, so she took off her Z-Googles and put on her sunglasses quickly. "Princess Zipp?" she asked again with a small smile.

"Oh, hey, Princess" Fretlock greeted, now recognizing her. "How's your sister?" he asked, while pictures were still being taken.

"She's great!" Zipp answered. “Actually, that's why we wanted to talk to you" she added.

"We?" Fretlock asked confused again.

"Yeah, we!" Tails remarked, as he stepped in while dragging Misty, with the unicorn mare smiling sheepishly and waving her hoof slowly.

"Say... Aren't you the fella that's always following Pipp's boyfriend?" Fretlock asked, while he looked at Tails closely.

Tails deadpanned and rolled his eyes after he said that. "Yeah, and it's Tails. Well, Miles Prower, actually, but everyone calls me Tails. Let's keep it that way" he requested.

"I, uh... I'm just a friend coming along!" Misty said with a nervous chuckle.

"I'll explain you later" Zipp said quickly, while ponies around them took notice of Zipp and Tails, so they took more pictures of them. "But it's top-secret. Can we... Can…" she tried to say, as she tried to cover herself with her hoof, while more ponies were taking more pictures of her, which made her uncomfortable. "Can we get out of here?" she requested.

"Yeah, this is a little too crowded..." Tails cringed in agreement.

"Too much for my linking, even..." Misty agreed as well, as she tried to hid behind Tails.

"Yeah. I'm down with that" Fretlock said in agreement, before he turned to his band. "Hey, guys, let's go!" he called out as the four pegasi spread their wings and took off, while Tails grabbed Misty in bridal style and flew away as well.

Their fans chased after them, either flying or trotting off to them. However, they were blind enough to pass by Electric Blue, who were posing as statue ponies on a fountain.

"Phew..." Fretlock said in relief, while he and his two band mates stopped the poses and sighed in relief as well.

Suddenly, they heard a whistle and a call out. "Hey! Up here!" Zipp's voice called out, as the band looked up and saw Zipp, Tails and Misty on top of a tall tower of the castle. tails was the one who whistled, apparently.

Electric Blue flew up and landed on a balcony of the castle, while the lead of the band walked up to Zipp, Tails and Misty.

Zipp decided to speak first as she took off her sunglasses. "Pipp sent us to find you guys because she wants to invite you…" she tried to say, but as Tails pushed her slightly on her shoulder, she stopped and then chuckled nervously. "… we want to invite you to play at Bridlewoodstock!" she announced, as she spread her wings.

"Uh, what's that?" Fretlock asked curiously.

"It's a festival that Pipp came up with herself!" Tails simply explained.

"And it's the very first music festival in Bridlewood, and it's gonna be so… uh… so… rockin'? Yeah!" Zipp said uncertainly, which made Tails force a smile and twitch an eye.

"And we figured we could invite you three to play on it!" Misty added with a small smile.

"Hmm…" Fretlock hummed, as he turned to his two bandmates and they huddled together, whispering to each other while discussing it.

Zipp waited a bit desperately for the answer, while Tails and Misty looked at each other a bit confused.

"Hmm…" Zipp hummed a bit desperate. "So, uh…" she tried to ask as she chuckled nervously. "What do you think?" she asked them.

Fretlock walked up to her with doubt. "We're not sure..." he said.

"Maybe I didn't explain right!" Zipp said to him nervously. "So there's a thing called the Lumi-Bloom, right? And all the plants and flowers and crystals glow!" she added, as she flew around. "And it looks awesome! Imagine those visuals with one of your sets. I mean, really cool and uh…" she tried to explain further, but she was feeling really nervous right now.

Tails chuckled awkwardly and spun his tails to fly at Zipp's height. "Zipp! What are you doing?!" he asked her with a forced smile and a glare.

Finally, since neither Tails nor Zipp seemed to get to a conclusion, Misty quickly said the first thing she could think of. "You'll be the headliners!" she called out to them with a nervous smile and a twitchy eye.

Tails and ZIpp looked at Misty surprised, then at each other confused, and then they looked back at Electric Blue with smiles, landing at Misty's sides and nodding in agreement.

"Well, why didn't you guys lead with that?" Fretlock asked with a smile, while bandmates walked next to him. "Of course we'll play" he answered, while his bandmates smiled in agreement.

"Great!" Zipp said with a smile. "Phew..." she sighed with relief.

"Good save, Mist!" Tails told her with a smile.

"Pipp said we had to do anything we could to get them in, so I just did that!" Misty replied with a little smirk.

Tails just nodded at that, but then he looked down at the ground and sighed a bit disappointed, since he didn't expected to be referred as 'the guy that's always following Sonic' by anyone.





Meanwhile, in Zephyr Heights, Sonic, Izzy and Pipp were in the throne room waiting for news from Ruby Jubilee.

Pipp was buzzing with excitement, as she was pacing back and forth, before going in front of Izzy and Sonic, fluttering her wings in excitement.

"I can't believe we're about to meet Ruby Jubilee! This is our big chance to work with the newest, most talented, chart-topper!" Pipp exclaimed excited, and then took a large gasp. "Do I look okay?!" she asked in panic.

"Pipp, honey, chill! Relax! ¡Todo está bien! Shinpai suru hitsuyō wa arimasen!" Sonic stated, saying 'No need to worry! in Japanese, as he grabbed Pipp's hooves and rubbed them with his hands, while Izzy gasped.

"Your sparkle is shining bright!" Izzy said cheerfully.

Pipp squealed excited once again, before Zoom came in and handed Pipp a letter with Ruby's Cutie Mark on it. It was a heart ruby with a microphone over it.

"It's got her cutie mark on it!" Pipp squealed, then she opened the letter and read it. "Your Majesty Princess Petals..." she started, before turning to Izzy and Sonic for a moment. "That's me!" she said happily, and then continued. "... Miss Ruby Jubilee sends her deepest regrets. She cannot join you today due to a case of... creative block!" she finished reading.

Pipp and Izzy gasped dramatically, while Sonic raised an eyebrow. "We're 15 minutes into the first episode, and we're already recycling a plot from Season 1? Huh..." he muttered. 

"Maybe we can help her!" Izzy suggested.

"My thoughts exactly!" Pipp agreed instantly, and the trio immediately went off to Ruby's suite.





In the suite, the three of them were waiting for Ruby while sitting on chairs.

Meanwhile, Izzy was applying some makeup from Ruby's supplies on herself, something that Sonic noticed, so he deadpanned. "Izz? I'm pretty sure you need permission to use stuff that isn't yours..." he pointed out.

Suddenly, the suite's door opened, and Ruby Jubilee herself entered the place. "Princess Pipp?!" she called out surprised.

"Sorry to surprise you like this, but my friend Izzy, my boyfriend Sonic and I got your note and we had to help" Pipp explained, as she and Izzy leaped from theirs sits and went over to Ruby, while Sonic stood behind.

"We've had creative block, too" Izzy stated. "We get it" she whispered with a wink.

"Oh Princess, it's just... Ugh, awful!" Ruby grunted in frustration and disappointment, as she sat in the floor.

"Well, then! Better tell us what's going on!" Sonic stated, as he slid and stroke a pose in the floor. "You can trust and talk about it! We son't say a word out of here!" he assured her with a smile and a wink.

"After the success of my debut single, I've just been putting so much pressure on myself to top it with a new hit!" Ruby explained her problem before she sighed. "How do you top a chart-topper?" she asked with concern.

"Ruby, you have no idea how much I understand what you're going through" Pipp said with a smile.

"Yeah, creative blocks can be a pain in the ass. I know 'cause I've been there as well" Sonic said with a playful smirk.

"Me too! But Luckily, we have some tricks up our hooves to help!" Izzy added.

"You do?" Ruby asked.

"Yes!" Pipp replied confidently.

"Let's start with the basics: You gotta find inspiration!" Sonic stated. "Find something unique, special, awesome, gorgeous, something so mind-blowing that it's impossible to ignore all the inspiring ideas popping in your mind!" he explained confidently.

"Exactly!" Pipp agreed with a smile. "Now, try not to be inspired when you watch this!" she stated, as she whipped out her phone and showed Ruby the Lumi-Bloom video on her phone.

Ruby gasped at the beautiful natural event in Bridlewood. "My Stars! That is the most magical sight I've ever seen! It makes me think of..." she started, before gasping with a smile, as she flew to her desk and opened a notepad. "Quick! I need to write this idea down before I forget!" she stated, as she wrote down her idea on her notepad, while Izzy, Pipp and Sonic watched her with smiles.

"You've already inspired!" Izzy beamed.

"And it's even better in real life!" Pipp added, before she flew over to Ruby's right, who was still writing her idea. "You have to see it. At the Bridlewoodstock festival! Onstage!" she stated once again.

"Will you perform for us?" Izzy asked, as she came to Ruby's left.

"I-I don't know..." Ruby replied with doubt.

"I've heard wild rubies are in season back on Bridlewood!" Sonic pointed out, as he looked at Ruby upside down, since his feet were hanging from the mirror on the desk. "And, a Ruby performing over rubies sounds logical to me! Also, you love rubies, right?" he asked with a smirk.

"I really do..." Ruby sighed happily at the thought of rubies - a part of her name.

"And....you'll be the headliner!" Pipp pointed out with a smile.

"Wow. Okay! Now I'm really inspired!" Ruby grinned, before the pop star flew up and landed on the ground happily, spreading her wings. "I'll do it!" she said, and then happily trotted off with her wings spread to get ready.

Pipp chuckled, and Izzy giggled, while the two mares hooftapped each other with smiles.

"Well, we have our headliner! Now we only wait for everyone else to get down the rest!" Sonic said with a smile.





In Maretime Bay, Sunny, Hitch, Sparky and Shadow were waiting along Figgy.

Sunny, Hitch, Figgy and Sparky were sitting on a table, while Shadow lay on a wall near by, and Sunny looked closely at a cover of the Dreamlands on her hooves.

"You sure we'll find her here, Figgy?" Sunny asked after looking at the cover.

"Oh yes" Figgy answered with a smile. "This is where Minty comes to do her weekly shop!" she gestured to the block they were in. "I run into her all the time" she added.

"You're so cool, Granny!" Hitch said happily to his grandmother, and Figgy laughed a bit, placing a hoof on her grandson's cheeks, while Sparky sipped some smoothie.

"So are you, Hitchie" Figgy replied with a smile.

Shadow had to resist the urge to cringe or straight up pull out his tongue and say 'Yuck!', all because he wanted to be as polite as possible.

And then, he felt his right ear twitching, so he turned to the right and saw a green coated with silver mane and tale earth pony wearing, who was also wearing a purple headband and blue highlights on her eyelids.

"I think our guest is here" Shadow commented loudly so the ponies and baby dragon in the table could hear him.

Sunny was the first to see in the same direction than him, and when she sa that Mare, she gasped with a smile. "Look, over there!" she pointed her hoof in a direction, before placing it on her chest.

Figgy gasped once she noticed her as well. "That's her all right" she confirmed, while she turned to Sunny, Hitch and Sparky. "Well, don't dawdle now. Scoot!" she encouraged playfully, as the two ponies stood up and walked up to Minty.

Shadow let out a sigh and decided to walk over to them as well. "Let's get this over with..." he said with a bored expression.

As the two ponies, baby dragon and hedgehog approached Minty, Sunny cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me. Are you Minty?" she asked politely, while Minty stopped and looked at the four of them with a surprised look.

"Yes. Why?" Minty asked a bit confused.

"I'm Sunny, this is Hitch, and the grumpy hedgehog over there is Shadow" Sunny started, as Hitch smiled wide, while Shadow only nodded at Minty. "Hitch and I are big fans of yours and we wanted to know if maybe you would consider getting the group back together to play at our music festival this weekend?" she asked quickly, as she hold the Dreamlands cover on her hoof, while Hitch and her smiled nervously, Shadow looked at them with a raised eyebrow and Minty felt surprised by everything Sunny said. "After all, coincidentally, it's the anniversary of your very first hit single!" she added.

"Yeah!" both Hitch and Sparky agreed at the same time.

"Anniversaries should be celebrated, don't you think?! Heh..." Sunny said nervously, while Minty looked at her with wide and surprised eyes. "Sorry. Sometimes when I get nervous, I talk really fast..." she apologized sheepishly.

"It's true. She does" Hitch confirmed with a knowing smile.

"I third that" Shadow said with a tiny, little smile.

"So what do you think, Minty?" Sunny asked with a little smile, while Minty grabbed the music cover.

Minty looked at the cover with an uncertain look. "I don't know..." she said as she shook her head. "The Dreamlands broke up moons and moons ago. Even if I could convince Snuzzle and Blue Belle, we're so out of practice..." she pointed out.

"Oh, I know the perfect place you can practice!" Sunny called out. "It's called Mane Melody, and it's got a stage and everything!" she added.

Still, Misty doubted about this and sighed. "It's not just that..." she said, as she gave the music cover back to Sunny.

Sunny and Hitch look at each other in concern, and Shadow raised an eyebrow at Minty. "Then what is it?" he asked.

"Does anypony even care about our little girl group anymore?" Minty questioned.

"Of course they do!" Sunny answered, as she put the music cover on her saddlebag. "You're the originals! You're what started it all!" she added.

Then, Figgy came up to them, holding a basket and placing it down.

Minty saw Figgy and smiled at the elder mare. "Figgy!" she said happily.

"I hope my grandson and his friends aren't bothering you too much" Figgy said with a smile, while Sunny and Hitch smiled sheepishly, and Shadow let out a small chuckle. "But I told them I'd help convince you to give it a try. It'd be so wonderful to see you girls singing together again" Figgy said to Minty.

Minty smiled at Figgy, while the elder mare opened up the basket slightly. "Is there a key lime pie in the deal?" she asked with a smirk.

"Already baked it!" Figgy answered, as she took out said pie from the basket, while the four ponies laughed, and Shadow rolled his eyes with a playful smirk.

After the laugh, Minty nodded her head to them. "Okay then… I guess we'll do it. As long as we're not pushed aside at some little stage for 'old timers' while the flashy new acts play the mane stage" she pointed out while waving her hoof around. "We have to make a splash if we're making a comeback!" she added.

Shadow thought about that for a second and, for once, he decided ton smile. "Say, wanna make the deal better?" he called out, surprising Hitch and Sunny since he was smiling. "Let's make the Dreamlands the headliners!" he stated.

Sunny gasped after he said this, and she nodded quickly in agreement. "Yes! I love that! The Dreamlands will be the headliners!" she declared as well.

"Let's do it!" Minty said to them with a smile.

Sunny and Hitch cheered, while Sparky gurgled and Figgy just smiled.

"Yes!/Yeah!" Both Sunny and Hitch cheered.

"Welcome aboard, Minty!" Shadow said with a smirk.





Knuckles was on the Sheriff Station, placing down some papers in the cabinets.

Despite this being his free day, he still went to distract his mind from his previous outburst with Pipp. He was still mad, sure, but he also recognized that he wasn't as polite as he should be. Still, he refused to help Pipp just for the sake to ignore Izzy's warnings.

And yet, Amy, Rouge and Omega were right there, in the middle of the station, trying to convince him on joining the little celebration as well.

"Let me get this straight..." Knuckles started to talk with a frown "You not only support Pipp's nonsensical festival that's gonna backfire her anyways if Izzy's right about the Troggles, but you also want me to be with you..." he pointed at Amy. "Sonic and Tails as a band and be part of the concert?!" he asked in anger.

"And also stop acting like an idiot in the way, if you don't mind that..." Amy replied with a frown and her arms crossed.

"I have good reason to be mad, or as you call it, 'to act like an idiot'. What Pipp is doing is not only reckless, is also stupid and a waste of time!" Knuckles said, as he closed the cabinet he opened to place the papers in.

"Look, I get that you're mad because she made fun out of your girl's shenanigans..." Rouge said with a frown as well. "But I also know that you're not the kind of guy that turns on whoever needs a hand, regardless of what you think about them!" she pointed out.

"I'm not mad because she made fun of Izzy's word on the Troggles. I still find it hard to believe, if I'm being honest..." Knuckles confessed.

"Then why are you being such an idiot right now?!" Rouge shouted in rage.

"Because the last time I ignored a warning, I dragged three of the closest people I care for with myself, to and island were we almost stood trapped as digital ghosts forever!" Knuckles snapped back with anger, as he accidentally smashed the desk with a hand and his electrical powers came alive. "Sonic almost freaking died, Amy! Controlled by a guy that, either if we like it or not, will return one day to finish the job!" he added with a glare.

Amy and Rouge's ayes widened, but they didn't stepped back from him, although they were surprised to see Knuckles this angry and... vulnerable...

"I just... Pipp is my friend too... And if those Troggles are real and show up during the festival, I..." Knuckles tried to say, as his powers went away, but now he looked down at the floor in sadness, and he even sighed. "I just don't want to loose anyone... Not after we almost did that with Sonic 6 months ago..." he said with concern. "But I know Pipp enough to understand that no matter what I do or say, she won't listen..." he pointed out with a worried frown, as he kneeled and sighed defeated.

After Knuckles finished explaining himself, Amy and Rouge looked at each other with concern, specially because they never expected to see Knuckles so... afraid of something.

"... Knux... I... I didn't knew you were struggling this much after what happened in those islands..." Amy said with concern. "I honestly thought that it was just another adventure for all of you!" she confessed.

"Well... Red here isn't the only one feeling bad, you know?" Rouge pointed out with worry. "Blue seems to be seeing things lately, if what Pipp told is true, and Yellow seems a bit conflicted as well despite the noticeable changes" she explained.

"I think Sonic is afraid of falling for any form of mind control after The End took his body over..." Knuckles pointed out. "As for Tails... I can't tell... I've been too busy trying to not participate on Pipp's festival that I haven't payed attention to anything else..." he confessed.

"Listen, Knux... I understand that you don't wanna loose anyone... But ignoring Pipp isn't going to make her Music Festival turn into dust and not happen. It just doesn't work like that, and you know it!" Amy pointed out.

"Also, if those Troggles are real and you're not there to help, I don't think your current situation is gonna be any better..." Rouge pointed out as well.

Knuckles' eyes widened after hearing this, and he stared at Amy and Rouge with disbelief.

Just then, Omega decided to approach Knuckles and looked down at him, while the echidna stared at the robot with a raised eyebrow.

"I suggest to attend to the festival and make the most out of it. If these Troggle creatures my database can't found are real, you might get a chance to rub it on Princess Petals' face for the rest of our stay in Equestria" Omega suggested.

Now that, that made Knuckles looked surprised at the robot... And yet, it also made him smirk mischievously.

"Omega!" Rouge scolded with a frown. "That's not helping!" she pointed out with a frown.

"We want him to join for a good cause, not to cause more unnecessary fight between Pipp and Him!" Amy added with a frown as well.

"Hold up, let him cook!" Knuckles said, as he raised an arm and stood up, while he smirked at the trio. "Omega has a point. I may still believe that this is all stupid, and that we shouldn't ignore Izzy's warning. But, I can still enjoy myself with this crap and show off my drummer skills on-stage!" he stated.

Amy and Rouge blinked a pair of times, before looking at each other, and then back at Knuckles.

"Wait... So this means that you're gonna help us?" Rouge asked a bit confused.

"Oh, hell yeah I am!" Knuckles replied with a smirk. "In fact, I'm gonna enjoy myself... quite a lot!" he added, with another mischievous smirk.

"Well, that's great!" Amy said with a smile. "I really hope you're doing this out of your heart, though!" she warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything for a friend..." Knuckles replied with a smirk, as he walked out of the station, while Omega decided to follow behind.

Amy and Rouge looked at each other again after they left. "At least he accepted" Rouge pointed out.

"Yeah, well... Let's just hope everything goes as smoothly from here on..." Amy said with concern.





At the Brighthouse, Pipp was writing stuff down on the living room, when the door opened suddenly.

"Hey!" Zipp called out.

Pipp, who was wearing glasses, got a bit startled, and she turned to the entrance. "Huh?" she exclaimed.

"Tails, Misty and I talked to Electric Blue! They're gonna do it!" Zipp said with a smile.

"We convinced Minty to get the Dreamlands to play!" Sunny added with a grin.

"And we got Ruby Jubilee!" Izzy mentioned, as she happily trotted through the door towards Pipp. "Which you and Sonic knew already" she added with a smile.

"And Knuckles is down to be part of it as well!" Amy informed, while Knuckles entered the place and walked with a confident smirk towards the group.

"Wait, what?" Sonic said in disbelief. "You are seriously gonna do it?!" he asked him surprised.

"Yup!" Knuckles replied with a smirk. "I get to show off my drumming skills and look fabulous in the process" he said, before turning to Pipp and approach her with a mischievous look. "Best of all, if you're wrong, I can rub it in your face... forever!" he muttered the last part sinisterly, and Pipp cringed at his attitude.

Still, Knuckles moved away, and Pipp sighed on relief before smiling. "Great work, everyone! I knew I could count on you" she stated, as they all sat down, with Zipp hovering in the air, and Pipp turned to them. "Now we just have to set up an entire festival! Easy peasy!" she let out a slight nervous laugh.

"Good. This should be a piece of cake! Right, Tails?" Sonic called out... but Tails didn't answered, which freaked Sonic out. "Uh... Tails?" he called out again, but now looking around.

"Uh, Sonic?" Misty called out, and Sonic turned to the mare. "I saw him heading upstairs... He wasn't looking good all the way here..." she confessed with concern.

"Yeah... He didn't looked that happy after we talked with Electric Blue..." Zipp pointed out as well.

Sonic frowned at this, and then he looked up to the bedroom's door with concern. Why did Tails went to the room and told nobody? Something was wrong, and he could feel it...

"Maybe I could check on him and see what's––" Sunny tried to say.

However, Sonic already boosted towards the bedroom before she could finish her sentence. Still, she frowned and made her etherial wings and horn appear, as she flew towards the bedroom as well.





In the bedroom, Tails was feeling down.

He was playing at 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' on the original SEGA Genesis as himself on a TV on his are of the bedroom, racing as fast as he could through the second act of Emerald Hill Zone, but his expression was a tired and hurt one.

And then, he not only crashed with a badnik and lost all his rings, but he also couldn't catch them in time and even got hit by another badnik that killed him. Of course that this was disappointing, but as the screen showed the 'game over' screen, it instead showed a message that said 'You're too slow', which only frustrated Tails even more.

So, he picked up the TV remote and switched from the HDMI to the regular TV, as it showed a video of Sky Dazzle informing about important stuff.

Just then, Sonic arrived and looked at Tails with a worried smile. "Hey there, big 'little' bro!" he greeted cheerfully, as he then sat at Tails' side and looked at him with concern. "Misty told me that you ran in here after arriving. What's the matter, dude?" he asked with worry.

Tails let out a sigh and shook his head. "I'm just... Concerned on how everyone looks at me..." he replied.

"Concerned?" Sunny asked, as she approached as well, this time as a regular earth pony, as she sat at Tails' other side and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "What are you concerned about?" she asked him with worry.

Tails sighed again before replying. "Everyone around me looks at me and says 'Hey, that's Sonic's pal' or 'Hey, aren't you Sonic's sidekick?' or even 'Don't you follow Pipp's boyfriend around?' and..." he stopped and sighed again, as he looked at the ground with sadness. "I'm just tired to feel like a burden... This past months I grew physically, sure, but has anything changed at all?" he pointed out with concern. "Everyone looks up to me like if I was a kid, but.. I'm tired of that too!" he exclaimed with a frown, as he stood up and looked at Sonic and Sunny "Can't everyone understand that I ain't a kid anymore?!" he asked with anger.

"Tails, you should know already that you are not my sidekick. You never had, and you never will" Sonic started with a frown, before smiling. "You're a smart fella that can fly with his butt, and you have shown before that you can do fine by yourself!" he pointed out. "Sure, you had moments of weakness, like when Infinite attacked me, but you should already know that it didn't made you a fool or useless" he added.

"People on internet disagrees" Tails replied coldly.

"And?" Sunny asked with a mocking smile. "A bunch of random strangers can't be right about what they think about you! They don't know the real Tails, but we do!" she added confidently.

"It doesn't change the fact that everyone still look at me as Sonic's sidekick..." Tails replied with a frown.

"Hey, dude, look at me!" Sonic called out, as he walked up to Tails and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are on your right to doubt and feel like you need to be better. We all have been there at some point in life" he pointed out. "But you also have to know when to be afraid, and when not" he stated.

"Sonic is right!" Sunny agreed, as she approached Tails and placed a hoof on his shoulder again. "You are more than just a sidekick. We've seen it, like when you fought Dr. Eggman inside his Death Egg Titan as a distraction!" she pointed out with a smile. "Or when you managed to give Sonic all the information from Cyber Space he couldn't process because of his memory loss and corruption!" she added.

Mentioning the corruption made Sonic had a slight flashback of Cyber Sonic again, abut he quickly shook his head and focused back on what mattered right now.

"You just got to find the courage to put your fears and doubts aside!" Sonic added with a smile. "But the moment to show the world who you are won't arrive that easily" he pointed out.

"Why not?" Tails asked confused.

"Because you won't choose that moment, Tails" Sunny pointed out with a smile as well. "That moment will choose you" she added.

"Really? How did the moment choose you, guys?" Tails asked curiously.

"Oh, it happened long time ago already!" Sonic said with a confident smirk. "I wanted to be able to go beyond Green Hills one day, and thanks to Dr. 'I killed your parents' Eggman, I did it!" Sonic replied with a smile.

"And I always wanted to bring ponykind together, and I thought that getting the Crystals together was going to to that..." Sunny spoke next. "But it wasn't until my lighthouse fell down that I understood we had to unite, not the Crystals. My moment came when everypony decided to unite and let the fear away!" she added with a smile.

"And your moment to show everyone in Equestria that you are your own hero without me will come as well!" Sonic assured him. "You just gotta wait for it!" he stated confidently.

After hearing all of this, Tails couldn't help but smile at Sonic and Sunny, and so, he dragged both of them into a tight hug, which startled them both, but they still hugged him back.

"Thanks, guys!" Tails said happily. "I mean it..." he added.

"Anytime, man" Sonic said with a smile.

"Now cheer up, young man!" Sunny said with a determinate look. "We have a festival to set up!" she declared.





Sometime later, the Mane 6, Team Sonic and Team dark walked through the Bridlewood forest.

The entire group carried all the necessary supplies on a rolling cart Sunny got and on Izzy's Unicycling Cart, while Tails, Omega and Knuckles carried some stuff with their own hands.

Sparky was playing around with a rock, until he sees a bunnycorn hopping by, so the baby dragon gurgled and chased after the bunnycorn as it squeaked, while Hitch followed after them with a chuckle.

"Everypony get ready!" Pipp called out to the unicorns in Bridlewood, as they all turned to their direction. "The music is coming-to-town! The music festival that is" she commented, as she trotted ahead. "It's called 'Bridlewoodstock'!" she called out in front of two unicorn stallions. "You're gonna love it!" she finished.

Yeah, no, they aren't.

Just then, a trembling voice was heard, so they turned and saw three unicorns coming towards them with a scared look.

"Loud music?! During the Lumi-Bloom?" the blue unicorn mare asked frightfully.

"Of course!" Pipp confirmed, not noticing the tremble in her voice. "Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever witnessed?" she asked them with a smile. "Now it will have a soundtrack!" she added.

"This is a very bad idea!" the pink unicorn stallion cried out as he shook his head.

And then, the yellow unicorn stallion screamed in fright. "Count me out!" he cried out, as he and the other two unicorns ran away in fear.

Pipp and the others were surprised by this, so they decided to keep walking, while more unicorns began to hide.

"Um… Is it just me or do these unicorns seem kind of…" Sunny started.

"Not into the idea?" Zipp guessed.

"Spooked out?" Amy added.

"Scared as if they saw a ghost?" Shadow added with a raised brow.

"Yeah..." Sunny nodded.

"They are definitely freaked out about something" Zipp said, while the group saw a couple of unicorns, a foal and an elderly mare, trotting off in fright.

"It feels like we were warned about it or something..." Knuckles added with a frown, as she looked directly at Pipp.

Pipp herself felt nervous about the fact that the unicorns were against the idea of the festival, but she still gave a smile. It was sheepish, but a smile all the same.

"So… Are there any amazing local Bridlewood musicians who would love to perform at the show?" Pipp asked, but the Unicorns around Bridlewood either hid or screamed and went into hiding, until she saw Onyx and Dapple nearby. "Oh! Onyx! Dapple!" Pipp called out, as she got close to them. "You two would be perfect additions to the lineup, heh. What do you say?" she asked the two ponies.

Dapple looked at Onyx, waiting for her to answer, while Onyx gave a neutral expression to Pipp. "No" she answered slowly.

"Oh, well that's okay, heh..." Pipp said with a small smile. "You still have time to mull it over" she suggested.

"Uh, we don't need time" Dapple interrupted.

Pipp gasped happily after hearing that. "You don't?" she asked hopefully.

"Because we Unicorns know better" Dapple answered, while gesturing to the other unicorns hiding behind their tree homes. "You should never sing during a Lumi-Bloom because of the…" he said firmly, before getting scared. "…Troggles!" he finished.

The unicorns gasped before they hid again, while Dapple played with his bongos and made soft percussive music.

"Ah crap, here we go again..." Sonic deadpanned.

"Eyes of the monster, form of the pig. Sing, laugh or yell, step hoof on a twig" Onyx recited, as she stepped a hoof on a twig to prove her point. "Troggles appear, steal what's to be. No cure to be found, past the red ruby" she said, then held up a red ruby before wiping her other hoof around it and vanish it, finishing her poem, while Dapple stopped playing.

The Mane 6 looked at the two ponies in surprise by the poem, while Team Sonic deadpanned and Team Dark had no idea of what they just heard.

"What the––" Shadow tried to say, before remembering he couldn't swear in this story, so he brought out a computer and looked 'soft curse words' on Google, before closing the computer and put it aside. "... frick was that?" he finished confused.

"Okay, I… I give up" Pipp said, as she shook her head. "What are these Troggle thingies?" she asked confused.

"A race of humanoid creatures with pig-like characteristics–– Have you even payed attention to me the whole day?!" Knuckles asked her in rage. "Probably not considering we're here..." he added with a frown.

"Legend says… that the Troggles are mystical spirit monsters!" Dapple explained with a serious tone.

"Th-th-they only come out during the bloom!" the blue unicorn mare from earlier cried out frightfully.

"And they steal things from you if you make any noise!" the pink unicorn stallion from earlier added.

"But they can only work their spirit magic at night…" Dabble explained as he got close to Sunset and Pipp, who got startled looks. "... so beware of singing! Or you'll be cursed!" he finished, as he turned back to the other two Unicorns. "Bing bong! Bing bong!" he cried out, while making that stupid dance again.

The other two unicorns followed and made the same dance as well. "Bing bong! Bing bong! Bing bong! Bing bong!" all three unicorns called out.

The Mane 6, Team Sonic and Team Dark stared at the unicorns with cringed expressions.

"... I have no idea what my eyeballs just witnessed..." Omega informed.

"Yeah... I'm with the robot on this one... What the hell was that?!" Misty asked, completely confused at what she just saw.

"Unicorns tent to do that whenever they feel something is 'bad luck'..." Sonic replied with a bored expression.

"Guess one of the ups of not being from Bridlewood is that you're never gonna do that" Tails told her with a slight chuckle.

"That does not makes this less weird..." Misty pointed out with a weirded out expression.

"I'm with the kid on this one... That was beyond weird..." Rouge agreed with Misty.

"Oh. Is that all?" Pipp asked the unicorns, not bothered by everything they told her, while her friends chuckled nervously.

"She's gonna ignore the signs again..." Knuckles deadpanned.

"Reminder: You can rub she was wrong on her face if the Troggles are real" Omega told Knuckles.

This actually made Knuckles smile a bit and nod, as he and the rest resumed their walk towards the place of the Lumi-Bloom.





Soon, Pipp was present at CBZ Studios to announce Bridlewoodstock to everypony in Equestria.

"Come to the Bridlewoodstock Music Festival and I, Princess Pipp, guarantee you the greatest sights your eyes have ever seen and sounds your ears will ever hear!" Pipp laughed before she continued. "Yes, that is correct. It's called the 'Lumi-Bloom'. And we'll have the hottest musical acts in the industry; the Dreamlands, Electric Blue, Team Sonic and... Ruby Jubilee! That's Bridlewoodstock Music Festival, okay! In Bridlewood! Be there or um..." she tried to add, but then, she flew behind Skye Silver and Dazzle Feather. "You know what? Just be there everypony!" she requested with a smile.





In Bridlewood, in the Lumi-Bloom field, ponies were busy setting up for the festival, building tents, the stage, etc.

"Looking great everypony! Take five!" Pipp beamed as she walked by.

Then, Pipp walked up the Marestream that was parked nearby, as Izzy popped her head from the door.

"Hello!" Izzy called out, and then began to hum happily, while the Marestream table popped up and Izzy brought out some cloth, pillows, a book, a plant and Sunny's lantern, lowing the wings to get the tarp open and bringing out some speakers as Izzy hopped out of the Marestream happily and sat next to a fireplace.

Pipp smiled, and she flew towards Izzy, sitting next to her while Izzy brought out some marshmallows and placed one on a stick, roasting it over the fire.

Then, Pipp sighed relaxed. "Home sweet Marestream!" she said with a smile before turning to Izzy. "Thanks for setting it up! Isn't luxury glamping the best?" she asked with her wings spread.

Izzy levitated the marshmallow off the stick and ate it happily. "I love to glamp!" she cheered, as she placed another marshmallow on the stick before getting nervous. "It helps me forget about all my worries" she said nervously.

"Aw. What do you have to worry about?" Pipp asked concerned.

"Uh…" Izzy trailed off to come up with an excuse, so she held up the stick. "Want a toasted marshmallow?" she asked innocently.

Izzy gave Pipp the marshmallow, who accepted it and ate the whole thing, before sighing. "You're right. My worries have melted away!” She said with a smile.

"Yes! Yeah!" Izzy said, as she laughed nervously. "Me too, me too!" she added, sticking another marshmallow into her stick and roasting it over the fire.

Suddenly, behind the bushes behind the Marestream, some creature was watching them, as the rest of the Mane 6 came out of the Marestream,

"Hey, Pipp!" Sunny called out.

The creature started to breath a bit raspy, rustling in the bushes.

"Huh? Uh" Zipp muttered, since she heard the noise.

"What was that?" Misty questioned, since she heard that as well.

"Oh no..." Pipp's voice, so the rest turned to her, and Pipp began to worry. "What's wrong? Did one of the bands back out?! Did Knuckles made something stupid again?!" she cried out in panic, as she hopped in front of her friends.

"No, nothing like that!" Zipp answered as she landed in the ground. "It's just…" she tried to add, but didn't knew how.

"Um, Pipp?" Misty called out this time. "Are you absolutely sure we should be having the festival here?" she asked, while she and the others smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, why wouldn't we?" Pipp asked them with a smile. "It's literally gorgeous" she pointed out.

"Um, but you heard what Onyx said earlier about the legend, right?" Hitch asked next nervously.

Izzy gasped at this and stopped using her magic, dropping her stick in the process. "With the Troggles? Um…" she started nervously, before going next to Pipp with a nervous look. "Why? Have you seen anything… Troggle-y?" she asked.

"Um... No... Even with that weird description Knuckles gave, I still don't get what they look like..." Misty pointed out, and the rest nodded in agreement.

"Trust me, there's nothing to worry about!" Pipp assured, not worried one bit as she flew up and gestured to the festival as she twirled around. "Besides, look at this place already. Everything is coming together like the harmonies on my last single!" she said, singing the 'harmonies' word.

And then, Knuckles passed by laughing loudly, while he and Shadow were carrying a bunch of wooden planks. "I'm so gonna enjoy when you get proved wrong, Petals!" he stated, laughing about it again.

Pipp rolled her eyes in annoyance, before she suddenly gasped. "Izzy! Is that what I think it is?" she asked, as she came to Izzy excitedly.

"If you think it's my flower crown booth, then yes!" Izzy sang happily, as she smiled at Pipp. "Want a sneaky peak?" she asked with sparkling eyes.

"Yeah, I do!” Pipp said excitedly, as she turned to the others. "And I want all of you to stay here in our amazing Marestream and relax! Toast some marshmallows!" she said, then she flew off while Izzy followed her.

Sparky waddled around, as the rest of Mane 6 and looked in concern.

"Should we do something to stop all this?" Zipp asked the others confused.

"I don't know... All of this looks way too advanced to be stopped now..." Misty pointed out, as she gestured at all the boots being builded up.

Then, Sparky picked up a marshmallow, but then he sneezed out one of his dragon fires and turned the marshmallow into a butterfly, as it flew away while Sparky gurgled with a smile.

"Misty has a point..." Hitch pointed out with a concerned look. "And, things do look fine so far..." he added.

"And we worked so hard to get the bands to agree to play" Sunny added with a smile. "Which reminds me, I have to go!" she called out, as she raced back into the Marestream, going through some stuff and the came back, wearing her roller skates and her helmet. "Minty invited me to watch the Dreamlands dress rehearsal back home and I'm pretty excited about it!" she said eagerly. "See you ponies later!" she called out, as she rolled out of sight.

"I don't really want to ruin Pipp's festival…" Zipp said to Hitch and Misty, while they turned to her. "... but are you guys still feeling uneasy about those strange unicorn warnings, too?" she asked.

"Actually, yes" Hitch said in agreement. "In fact, I started to worry ever since the day we planned this!" he confessed.

"Since that day?" Misty asked confused. "Why?" she added.

"Before I went to Mane Melody for Pipp's emergency reunion, Knuckles came to the office on his day off..." Hitch started to explain. "That was weird already, but... He was mad as well. Madder than usual, I'll say!" he added with concern.

"Knuckles went to the station on his free day and mad?" Zipp questioned with a frown.

"Two bad things in a row aren't usually good news, right?" Misty asked nervously and gulped.

"I don't recall too well everything he said, but he did mentioned something about Pipp being reckless and stupid for ignoring Izzy's warnings about something" Hitch kept narrating. "He also begged me to stay in the office and fill the paper work since he 'refused to participate on something that's gonna explode in our faces'..." he finished with concern. "I think Knuckles believes that the Troggles are real, and Izzy tried to warn Pipp about it, but like you've seen so far, she ignored all warnings..." he pointed out with worry.

"Wow... Whatever Amy, Rouge and that robot told Knuckles must've been very convincing if he's here now..." Misty pointed out, as she saw Knuckles passing by while carrying a giant rock with no effort at all.

"Pipp ignores all the unicorns warnings about the Troggles, Izzy's included; Knuckles is mad with her because she refuses to listen; we heard voices coming from some bushes; and we all feel uneasy about this place..." Zipp listed down, before smirking confidently. "You guys know what I think this calls for?" she asked them in a knowing tone.

"An investigation?" Hitch guessed nervously.

"Boom. You got it" Zipp confirmed, as she lowered her Z-Googles.

"Of curse..." Misty said with a bored expression, before sighing. "Well, if we're gonna find out about the veracity behind the Troggles, better get started, right?" she asked Zipp with a smile.

"That's the spirit, Misty!" Zipp declared with a smile. "Come on!" she stated confidently.





At Mane Melody, microphone feedback was heard along with a pony's frustrated grunt.

That pony was Snuzzle, a silver earth pony mare with short, curly, ruby red mane and tail with blue and pink make up over her eyes. She wore a small blue necklace and a pink and blue hair comb in her mane.

"This isn't working, Minty!" Snuzzle said with concern.

"Snuzzle is right" Blue Belle agreed. She was a blue earth pony mare with violet purple mane, with a purple bow in the back and mane, with a light blue bandana on her head and wearing pink and hot pink bracelets on her forelegs. "Ugh, why did we agree to do this, anyway? We're washed up!" she added with a frown.

"No we're not!" Minty dismissed.

"They're going to laugh at us..." Snuzzle frowned with concern.

"We just need to run it a few more times!" Minty encouraged, before she grabbed her microphone. "Come on, let's just try it again from the top" she stated, while Snuzzle and Blue Belle got ready, even thought the latter rolled her eyes. "And a one, two... a one, two, three!" Minty counted down

That's when Sunny came in just when the music started. "Ha! Sorry I'm late! I came straight from Bridlewood!" she said to Jazz and Rocky.

"Sunny! So glad you're here" Jazz grinned.

"This is not going well..." Rocky stated, before Sunny saw Blue Belle nudged Snuzzle a bit too hard.

"Hey watch where you're going!" Snuzzle frowned.

"You're in my way!" Blue Belle insisted.

"Stop it, you two!" Minty soothed.

"Has it been like this the whole time?" Sunny asked Rocky and Jazz.

"As soon as they walked in the door..." Rocky answered.

"They can't agree on anything!" Jazz informed.

"And they haven't even made it through their whole song once..." Rocky added.

Sunny frowned worriedly at this. She knew broken up bands do have a hard time getting back in sync with everything, but this was a bit beyond of what she imagined.

"Maybe I can fix this" Sunny stated.

The music stopped before Sunny approached the three mares, with Blue Belle frowning. "That's it! I'm done!" she declared, as she walked off stage.

"Fine!" Snuzzle gripped, while Blue Belle leaped into a chair and Sunny approached with her skates and helmet off.

"Ah... Minty! Looking fresh!" Sunny greeted, pretending she didn't saw what just happened. "How is everything going?" she asked.

"Oh Sunny. Don't act like you didn't just see that. It's a disaster!" Misty griped. "The dance moves are off, our looks are dated and..." she tried to keep going.

"We can't agree on what song to perform" Snuzzle added with concern.

"Blue Belle thinks we should try and update our sound to appeal to a younger audience, but that's not so easy" Minty frowned, seeing so many problems with the band trying to make a comeback. "I think this might be a no-go for The Dreamlands. Sorry Sunny..." she apologized.

Sunny looked down in disappointment, but then she looked back at Minty. "Hey, wait! Don't give up! And don't try to change yourselves" she said, while Blue Belle turned in her chair to look at her. "Your classic sounds are what everypony loves about you! You just have to do what you do best and you're gonna rock that stage!" she declared, as her Cutie Mark started to sparkle and glow.

The Dreamlands' Cutie Marks were glowing as well after this, and they gasped when they looked at them. So, Minty, Blue Belle and Snuzzle looked at Sunny and nodded. "Yeah!" they all declared with smiles.





Back in Bridlewood, Zipp, Hitch and Misty walked through the town to find more information on the Troggles.

They came across one grayish brown unicorn that was polishing a crystal, so they approached him. "What can you tell us about Troggles?" Hitch asked him with a smirk, while Zipp held her phone out to record their findings.

"Troggles? Where?" the unicorn yelped, before running away while screaming, earning deadpanned looks from Zipp and Hitch, while Sparky and Misty looked rather confused about the matter.

Next, they came across three fillies in the playground, playing a board game, so they approached them as well.

"Hey! Uh, do you ponies know that Jinxie poem? About the Tro––" Zipp tried to ask, but one filly suddenly closed her mouth with her hoof.

"Shh! Yeah, but I don't wanna say it!" The filly said in fear, before the three ran away frightened.

"What?!" Hitch asked confused.

Them, they asked a green unicorn with a sleek mulberry purple mane and tail wearing mulberry glasses about the Troggles.

"Yeah, I mean... like what is a Troggle anyway, you know?" he asked with a watering can for his flowers in his magical aura.

His response just earned groans and eye rolls from the group, with Misty even facehoofing herself.

"Like when you think about it, what is anything?" the unicorn added

"And... we're moving on. Thanks anyway..." Misty frowned, while the trio moved on.

"Uh, well I think I've come to a conclusion..." Zipp griped.

"Well?" Hitch asked.

"The results are inconclusive..." Zipp frowned, as she grunted and walked in front of Hitch and Misty before moving to their left side. "I can't tell if these monster spirit things are real or just another piece of spooky Unicorn lore!" she added, while two unicorns behind them suddenly stepped to the side, wanting to avoid the group and the Troggles topic.

"On the bright side, I'm kind of glad I never grew in Bridlewood..." Misty said with a bored expression. "I mean, why be scared of something I never seen before? I don't get what they're so paranoid about..." she added with concern.

"Me neither. But I think we need to talk to Pipp again. Before it's too late" Hitch suggested, while Zipp and Misty nodded in agreement.





After returning to the construction of the festival, they saw Pipp working on the giant butterflies stack.

She was now covered in some makeup, with a flower crown on her head, her wings ware rainbow colored, she had a flower necklace on, her mane and tail had blue and pink stripes on them, and her legs and eyelids were in yellow highlights.

Pipp turned and saw Hitch, Zipp and Misty walking towards her. "Hey, ponies!" she called out to them with a smile.

"We wanna talk to you about something" Zipp started.

However, Pipp raised her hoof at them. "Wait, wait! Have you seen the mane stage yet?" she asked excitedly, as she hopped around. "Come look first!" she told them, turning around and flying off.

The three ponies just followed her, while Pipp showed them the unfinished mane stage for Bridlewoodstock. It was purple and light pink flower based stage, with three tower stands where the tall one was in the middle.

The four ponies made it to the front of it with boxes of gems around it, and Pipp landed on the stage with a smile.

"Wow, Pipp. That looks really cool!" Hitch said with a smile, while Sparky climbed down his back.

"Don't you love the rubies?" Pipp asked, as she gestured to the rubies and crystals on the floor.

Sparky gurgled happily, as he picked up one of the rubies and licked his lips. He's a dragon, of course he likes gems... Why did it took him 3 seasons to finally show interest on them?!

"I had them locally harvested from Bridlewood in honor of Ruby Jubilee's big performance!" Pipp explained, chuckling excitedly as she turned to the stage. "I'm just so thrilled with how everything is coming together with no snags at all!" she excitedly said.

This made Zipp, Hitch and Misty looked at each other with cringed expressions.

"Well, about that…" Zipp said, as she scratched her cheek a bit. "There's kind of a snag that we wanted to discuss" she said.

But before Zipp or the others could explain further, an earth pony stallion came up to Pipp. "Uh, Princess Pipp! We need you at artist tent setup!” he informed her, followed by a crashing sound coming from said tent. "Please!" he begged.

"Be right there!" Pipp called out, as she turned to the others. "Thanks for stopping by!" she said to her friends with a smile, before flapping her wings and flying off.

"Am I the only one who is worried about all this Troggle stuff?" Zipp asked her friends with concern, before she turned to the stage. "Look! There are even unicorns on board with the festival now" she pointed to the unicorns setting up the stage.

And then, a unicorn mare rolled the crates of crystals and rubies with some wood on it, but it tripped a bit, which made some wood and a ruby fell off, while the mare and unicorn stallion gasped in fright and looked around nervously.

"Eh... I'll say they're half in board, actually..." Misty said with a raised eyebrow.

"Then maybe you are just trying to dig up trouble where there isn't any, Zipp" Hitch said with a smile, as he placed a hoof around Zipp.

Zipp smiled back after hearing this. "You're right. Maybe sometimes…" she sighed before continue. "... there just isn't any mystery to solve" she admitted.

"And that's okay" Hitch stated.

"I don't know..." Misty said with concern. "I know that all the other unicorns tend to believe in all that weird Jinxie stuff, but they insist a lot about these troggles..." she pointed out. "Maybe this time it isn't just unicorn talkery?" she added with concern.

"If it isn't––" Knuckles spoke suddenly, as he popped in between Hitch and Misty and wrapped his arms around them. "Then I'm gonna make sure your sister remembers it for the rest of her life!" he told Zipp with a smirk.

"Why are you you dedicate to torment Pipp if she's wrong about the Troggles?" Zipp asked, more confused than mad for some reason.

"Because if your sister isn't going to listen warnings about not doing something the easy way, she'll have to learn it the hard way" Knuckles replied with a frown. "Also, she kind of hates me because we clash on idea constantly, so being able to rub in her face that she was wrong is gonna be a sweet revenge to me!" he stated confidently.

"Knuckles!" Sonic's voice called out, and the echidna turned to see Sonic in front of the Tornado IV, which Tails turned into a tent so Team Sonic could get ready for the concert. "Amy's gonna help us with the makeup! Get over here!" Sonic continued.

"Well, that's my sign!" Knuckles said, as he let go of Hitch and Misty and walked towards the tent. "Enjoy around, guys! And if you see a Troggle, tell me so I can rub it in Pipp's face!" he added with a loud laugh.

After this, the three ponies blinked a few times confused. "Okay, I'll take it back... Perhaps it is just unicorn talkery..." Misty deadpanned.

"You know what? I'm gonna try and have fun tomorrow" Zipp said with a smile. "Lean into the whole music festival experience. For my sister" she added with a smirk.

"Me too" Hitch replied with a smile.

"Yeah. This whole Troggle thing starts to sound ridiculous!" Misty said with a chuckle.

Then, the three ponies turned and saw Sparky gurgling, as he picked up a ruby and jumped up, but he accidentally breathed his dragon fire on it, and the ruby turned into a beach ball. Sparky gasped and gurgled in frustration, while he looked down in sadness.





The next day, as the sun was setting, ponies were walking into the Bridlewoodstock Music Festival.

From the main entrance to the tents, everything was done, and Pipp was at the entrance, showing the ponies in while they cheered at the festival.

"Welcome to Bridlewoodstock, everypony!" Pipp announced to the crowd with a smile.

As Pipp did this, Hitch, Zipp and Misty were watching the ponies enter the festival with worried expressions.

"This is all gonna be okay, right? Even after all the stuff those unicorns said?" Hitch asked his friends with worry.

"I really hope so..." Zipp said in the same tone.

"Hopefully, everything's gonna be okay..." Misty said nervously

The three ponies decided to enter the festival already and enjoy themselves, or as much as they could, anyway.

Rocky and Jazz were walking by while wearing glowing glasses, and Jazz was wearing a glowing headset on her head. The two ponies were chatting and laughing together.

The rides of the festival were working just fine. For example: The merry go round with pegasi seats on it circled around.

Near a place were they served french fries, Alphabittle was pouring some tea, levitating the pot and pouring the tea in a cup that he gave to a pegasus.

However, as the pegasus walked away, Alphabittle noticed in the distance that Misty was walking along Hitch and Zipp, and just like in the Manesquerade Ball, he narrowed his eyes to try and look at her closely, just for a couple of earth ponies to arrive asking for tea.

This made him lost sight of Misty, but he decided to shrug it for now and focus on pour more tea, even though he wanted to see Misty closely, since he still couldn't recognize her from anywhere, not even Bridlewood itself.

On another zone of the festival, two earth pony fillies were watching a unicorn mare levitating a flower crown, as she put it on the orange earth pony filly’s head, who then twirled around in joy.

"Pipp really pulled things together fast, huh?" Hitch commented, as they looked around how the ponies were enjoying the festival.

Zipp chuckled with a smile. "That's my little sister for ya" she said with a small smile. "When she wants something, she will make it happen!" she added.

"Well, I'm impressed" Hitch commented. "This place looks awesome!" he commented, gesturing to the festival the ponies are enjoying.

"Very floral!" Misty added with a smile.

"Yeah, it does" Zipp agreed, as she turned to Hitch. "Alright, I'll admit it. I am a little excited" she said with a smile. "And I can't wait to see Electric Blue headline the show!" she added, then walked off.

"Me too! This should be exciting!" Misty agreed, as she followed Zipp.

"Huh. I thought The Dreamlands were headlining the show?" Hitch said confused, as he followed Zipp.

"Guys, look! Izzy's booth is over there!" Misty called out, as she pointed at the tent Izzy is in, so they walked up to it.

Izzy now had rainbow stripes in her mane, wearing flower glasses and a flower crown, also wearing some necklaces, while her horn had a glowing string on it. She was placing flower crowns over some crystals and humming happily, while her three friends came by.

"Hey, Iz. What's all this?" Zipp asked with a smile.

Izzy gasped in surprise before, she turned to her friends with a smile. "The Flower-fication Station! Station! Station!" she announced, while making an echo sound with a whisper. "It's so much fun, it's almost making me forget about how super Jinxie this all this" she said, taking off her glasses and giving an anxious look, before smiling cheerfully. "Take a seat!" she said to them.

"Okay!" Hitch said with a smile, while Zipp and Misty looked at her with wide eyes.

"Wait, what did you just say, Izzy?" Zipp asked.

"That was kinda creepy..." Misty pointed out with concern.

But Izzy either didn't hear the question, or she did, but decided to ignore it, since she was humming happily to herself as Hitch took a seat. Seeing that Izzy wasn't going to reply, Zipp groaned and took a seat on a pillow as well, followed by Misty, who did it hesitantly.

Izzy kept humming, as she turned to her friends for a second, before turning back around and make four flower crowns, tossing them onto their heads with a smile, but one of them did not land properly on Zipp's head, so she held her flower crown with a bored expression.

"How did you just––" Zipp tried to ask, but she was cut off when Izzy went behind them with wide eyes.

"Wait! There's more!" Izzy said with a smile, as she whistled and laughed, getting out of sight.

Then, Jazz and Rocky appeared in front of them, with Jazz holding her makeup kit, while the two ponies smirked to the three ponies and baby dragon.

After that, they started putting some makeup on their faces, polishing their hooves, and claws in Sparky's case, with glitter, putted some glitter dust on their faces, which made them cough, then they did a little face paint on their faces, a little face brush on them, sprayed their manes and tails with some sparkling glitter colors, and then added some few accessories on them.

A few minutes later, they opened their eyes and saw their look and wear for the festival.

"Yeah!" Hitch cheered with a smile at his new look, while Sparky gurgled excited.

Hitch had his hooves painted in purple with light blue waves, neon bracelets on his left foreleg and a green bracelet with purple triangles on his left hind leg, a golden collar with flowers around his neck and with a golden horseshoe, glasses with pink glasses, some flowers and neon tubes on his mane, and his right foreleg was painted with purple glitter.

Sparky had his left eye painted with pink makeup, big purple headphones over his head, a purple band on his forehead with some flowers, his claws on both legs and arms were fully painted on pink, and he had some neon bracelets on his left wrist and on his horns.

"Awesome!" Misty cheered, loving the new look.

She had a flower crown, some purple makeup on her right eye, a neon necklace with a butterfly, some neon rings on her hooves, neon tubes on her mane, and butterfly glasses with purple glass.

As for Zipp, she had a large green necklace with neon lights and a neon lightning, a flower on the necklace, a spike bracelet on her right foreleg and a pink one on the left one, her mane had a yellow stripe now, she had some flowers behind her left ear as well as some neon tubes, a golden earring on her left ear, and neon glasses.

"Wow!" Izzy cheered with a smile, while Jazz and Rocky appeared on both sides of her. "Now you're really festival ready!" she stated.

Jazz then held up a mirror to Zipp, as she looked at her reflection, which made Zipp laugh at her look.

"Yeah we are!" Hitch said excitedly, as Sparky got on his back and gurgled excitedly, while Hitch walked off.

"Thanks, Izzy!" Zipp thanked with a smile, as she followed Hitch and trotted away.

"You're welcome!" Izzy cheered as she waved her hooves. "Have fun and don't let the Troggles bite!" she called out with a nervous laugh, but Zipp and Hitch stopped and stared on in shock.

"What was that?" Zipp asked, as she and Hitch turned around, while Misty looked at her with concern.

"Umm… just some silly old Jinxie saying!" Izzy said with a nervous smile, as she tapped her hooves nervously. "Nothing to worry about! Probably..." she muttered nervously.

"Okay..." Misty said nervously. "Anyways. Troggles aside, is it fine if I hang with you and help with the tent?" she asked her with a smile.

"Of course you can, Misty!" Izzy said with a smile. "Get in here and I'll guide you on what to do!" she stated.

Misty squealed excited, as she got in the tent and approached Jazz and Rocky, while Izzy turned to see Zipp and Hitch with a smile.

"Okay, catch ya later!" Izzy said, raising her hoof.

With this, Hitch looked at Zipp with a smile. "Who's hungry? I'm starving" he said, as he walked off like nothing happened.

"Huh?" Zipp said confused.

And once again, the spooky voice from before stared at Zipp, still watching her from behind some bushes. "Hungry..." they said in a spooky voice, while Zipp looked around for a bit before following Hitch. "Hungry!" they said again.

Zipp stopped once she heard the maniacal laughter in the distance. "Hmm-hmm…" she hummed, as she looked around with concern. "Did you just hear that?" she asked Hitch.

"Come on, let's get some snacks. Woo!" Hitch cheered, not hearing Zipp's question as he kept walking, and Zipp decided to follow anyways.





At a snack stand, a pony was selling french fries stand, while Hitch and Zipp were in line for it.

Of course, Zipp being the action pony she was, easily got bored. "Ugh, this is taking forever! What are we in line for, again?" she asked Hitch.

"Fries! With dipping sauces!" Hitch replied, and Sparky cooed and gently licked his lips.

"Oh yeah. Huh. That does sound pretty delicious" Zipp agreed, while Hitch spotted one pony dipping fries into a small cup of ketchup.

"Mmm. Dipping Sauces" Hitch said with a huge smile.





The two ponies waited about an hour for their turn.

Of course, Zipp groaned all the way towards the stand's counter, since this was taking a lot for her, and Sparky even fell asleep on Hitch's back for all that waiting.

"Yay! Zipp! We're almost there!" Hitch cheered with a smile

However, Pipp suddenly appeared, spooking the two ponies. "There you two are!" she said, and her startle woke Sparky up. "Ugh, thank hoofness! I've been looking everywhere! You look amazing, by the way" she commented happily, before she literally pushed the two ponies off line, showing her surprising strength.

"What the hay, Pipp?!" Zipp snapped with a frown.

"I'm sorry, but this is a festival emergency!" Pipp exclaimed. "Come with me!" she declared, as she flew away.

Zipp followed immediately, while Hitch lingered for a bit, watching a unicorn come by with fries and dipping sauce.

"But... But... dipping sauces!" Hitch whined before Pipp grabbed him and dragged him over near the Marestream.





The three ponies made it to the Marestream, as Pipp landed in front of them with a worried look.

"I don't want to alarm you, but this is bad..." Pipp said as she began to panic. "Like epically bad" she added with a panicked look.

"Does this have to do with the Unicorn legend?" Zipp asked with a frown. "We've been worried about that, too" she added.

"Mmm-hmm" Hitch nodded in agreement.

"And so has Izzy, even if she won't admit it" Zipp added with concern.

"As well as Knuckles, who's really open up about it, actually..." Hitch pointed out with a bored expression.

"Huh?" Pipp asked in confused, not getting what are they talking about.

"We didn't want to upset you" Hitch said a bit concerned. "But, you can be sure that Zipp and I will do whatever we can to minimize damage and help shut things down before it's too late" he assured, while Zipp nodded in agreement with a smile.

"What? Why would you do that?!" Pipp called out in panic.

"Because of the Troggles?" Zipp asked confused.

Pipp tilted her head a bit before speaking. "Okay, I have no idea what you two are talking about, but we actually do have a serious problem on our hooves here" she said desperately.

"More serious than ancient ghost monsters?" Zipp questioned with a bored expression.

"I don't think so!" Knuckles voice was heard from somewhere, and Zipp and Hitch looked at each other confused.

"Yes!" Pipp replied instead. "So two of our major musical acts, Electric Blue and Ruby Jubilee, are here!" she pointed out in panic.

"That's a good thing though… right?" Hitch asked confused.

"Uh, it would be, if they didn't both think they're the headliner!" Pipp stated in panic. "I just don't understand how this mixup happened" she said with worry.

Just then, Shadow was walking by, loudly sipping a smoothie. He was wearing some neon lights on his wrists, his chest was painted with orange and pink colors, and the red lines on his quills were painted all in yellow, while he wore neon glasses.

But then, he heard the conversation going on, so he approached. "What mixup happened?" Shadow asked confused.

"Electric Blue and Ruby Jubilee both thing they're the headliners of the show!" Pipp replied in panic.

At this, Shadow looked away from her and spilled his smoothie with wide eyes, before looking back at her with genuine panic, and Pipp looked at him with wide eyes as well.

"... I think my smoothie had something..." Shadow replied, before boosting away in panic.

As he did that, Zipp and Hitch looked at the ultimate life form confused, but as soon as Zipp processed Pipp's problem again, her eyes widened as well. "Oh..." she said with panic. "Tails, Misty and I may have had something to do with that, sis..." she said slowly with a nervous tone. "Whoopsies?"

"Zephyrina!" Pipp snapped with a frown, before gasping loudly for air and then: "MILES! MISTY!" she yelled out loudly in rage.

This actually made both Tails and Misty flinch on their respective places, with Misty slowly turning to see Pipp near the Marestream and gulp, while Tails popped his head from inside the tent he was with Team Sonic, before gulping as well and fly towards the Marestream.

Tails was wearing a black jacket that had graffiti over it of white and blue flower drawings and a 'T' painted in yellow on the back, as well as a neon collar with a two tail ornament, neon bracelets on his wrists, and his hair was painted with pink, white and light blue stripes that reminded of a certain princess. Also, his cheeks were painted on the colors blue, red and pink respectively.

As Tails and Misty approached to Pipp with sheepish smiles, they both gulped nervously again.

"What did you three do?!" Pipp questioned, as she leaned forward to them, while Zipp, Misty and Tails flinched.

"Uh, what's going on?" Tails asked confused.

"Electric Blue and Ruby Jubilee both think that they're the headliners of the concert" Hitch replied.

When he said this, Tails and Misty's eyes widened, and they finally understood what was wrong. "Ooooh...." both of them said. 

"Hey, we were just trying to help you out!" Zipp said in defense.

"We told them about the festival and how much you wanted them to perform!" Tails explained.

"But they were on the fence about performing, so I uh…" Misty continued, as she gave a nervous look. "... sweetened the deal by promising some stuff?" she added nervously.

"Like I said, this is epically bad" Pipp cried out, looking really nervous and worried. "What are we gonna do?!" she asked them on the verge of tears.

"We'll just have to tell them the truth about what happened" Hitch suggested, and the rest but Pipp agreed with smiles. "I'm sure they'll understand."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Pipp said with a frown. "You don't tell a musician that they've been demoted from headliner! You just don't" she pointed out, then started flying around in panic while looking at her friends. "Maybe they can double-headline! Is that a thing? That's not a thing, is it?! But it could be! If we make it one! Yeah! Yeah! That could work" she said frantically, while the rest watched her flying around with concern. "And then, and then we'll still have plenty of other bands to go on first and open for them. Like The Dreamlands!" she said with a smile, as she landed in front of the others. "Are they here yet? Where's Sunny?" she asked them with panic.

"Right here!" Sunny's voice called out, as the rest turned and saw Sunny and The Dreamlands approaching.

Sunny had her legs painted with light blue colors, while she wore neon bracelets on her right foreleg, other two bracelets on her neck, round glasses, a flower crown and some neon tubes behind her right ear.

"And your headliners have arrived! Here they are!" Sunny continued, as she gestured to The Dreamlands.

"Hey, everypony!" Minty greeted with a smile.

"We are really excited to be headlining a show after all this time!" Blue Belle said excited.

"Thank you so much for this! We feel so special!” Snuzzle said next.

This made everyone else but Sunny cringe as they looked at each other with concern, before looking over at Pipp, who's right eye was twitching, and she looked like she was about to explode in panic, chuckling and smiling nervously.





A little bit later, laughter was heard in The Dreamlands tent.

"On behalf of the royal family of Zephyr Heights, and the um, uh..." Pipp said, before tapping her hooves together nervously. "... friendship fellowship of the Unity Crystals, we are so honored that you have graced us with your talents this fine evening at this celebration of music" she stated, while Hitch looked away while and Zipp deadpanned at her sister, with Sunny and Izzy simply smiling and Misty smiling sheepishly.

"So are we!" Minty replied, even though both her and Blue Belle looked at Pipp a bit confused.

"We weren't even sure we could perform together anymore, let alone headline a festival!" Snuzzle added with a smile.

"Yes, yes..." Pipp said, as she tapped her hooves nervously. "Well, please get comfortable as you warm your vocal chords and prepare for your grand performance! And do let us know if you require anything else, heh... We shall check in on you later, hmm?" she added, trying to keep her cool and composure before she and the group left.

"Why was she talking like that?" Minty asked confused.

"Uh, Royals are fancy?" Blue Belle replied and shrugged.





Once the Mane 6 were out of the tent, Pipp started to groan, while the rest just looked at her.

"Before you say anything, I know that I was just acting totally weird in there!" Pipp said nervously.

"As long as you know" Zipp said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I just panicked!" Pipp cried out, as she lifted her head up to look at Zipp. "But it's okay. We will come up with a plan and fast. But for now, all we have to do is keep the bands separated until the show, heh" she said frantically. "We have time to figure it out!" she finished, still feeling nervous.

"Actually you don't" Shadow spoke, as he approached to the Mane 6 along Rouge and Omega, while he pointed to the sun setting in the sky.

Rouge was wearing neon bracelets on her left hand, a golden necklace similar to Hitch's but with a golden heart, pink shadows instead of the regular blue, a variant of her usual dress but with red and green neon graffiti flowers over it, and some neon tubes behind her left ear, as well as a golden earring on her right one.

As for Omega, the robot had his chest painted with pink, purple and green graffiti, while his right shoulder had a flower drawing, his yellow wrists were painted with neon green graffiti, his eyes were covered with flower glasses, and he also had a flower crown over his head.

"It is almost dusk" Sunny pointed out, as they all saw the sun setting and hear owls hooting.

"If you want the full effect of the Lumi-Bloom, Pipp, we gotta get started!" Izzy stated with a smile.

"And the sooner we start the show, the less chance of any uh… unwanted visitors showing up!" Misty added nervously, as both Izzy and her tapped their hooves nervously.

Yeah, Izzy told too many stories about the Troggles to Misty, and now the poor mare is convinced they're real as well.

"Okay. I'm not going to let anything ruin this" Pipp said with a determinate look. "Not 'Troggies', diva musicians, or… the sun setting!" she stated, as she pointed a hoof to the sky with a frown.

"You're sounding pretty weird again, sis" Zipp teased with a smirk.

"I know!" Pipp called out as she turned to her sister with her wings spread, which made Zipp flinch from that. "What's even weirder is triple headliners..." she pointed out with concern.

"Oh, you didn't heard the news?" Rouge asked with a frown, and Omega weirdly extended an arm, while Shadow panicked and tried to run away, but he crashed with Omega's arm and fell to the ground with a loud groan. "This idiot told The Dreamlands they would be the headliners."

Pipp's eyes twitched in rage, while Sunny covered her hooves after Shadow crashed with Omega, and she immediately rushed to help the hedgehog to get up.

Still, Pipp sighed and putted on a determinate look again. "We gotta fix this and convince one of the groups to open!"





First of all, Zipp, Tails Sunny and Pipp went to talk with Electric Blue about opening the show.

"So in conclusion, when you really think about it, opening the show is actually way better than going last because you'll be the first band in history to rock out to the visuals of the bloom!" Zipp declared at fast paste, breathing heavily once she finished.

"Feeling better?" Tails teased with a smirk.

Fetlock looked at Jam Donut and Arpgreggia for a moment, before Jam smiled at him, while Arpgreggia twisted her drum stick on her hooves and nodded.

"Alright, you got it" Fretlock replied with a smirk.

"Hey, that was a great speech!" Sunny praised, while Zipp sighed in relief.





At Izzy's tent, The Dreamlands were getting ready for the show.

Izzy, along with Misty, Jazz and Rocky, were giving the Dreamlands some makeover, while Hitch was looking at them.

"So you know what I was thinking?" Hitch spoke up, while the Dreamlands and the others listened. "Who wants to go last when everypony is too tired to sing and dance along? Really, being first up is the perfect place to be is what I always say!" he stated with a nervous chuckle.

"Hmm… You know..." Minty started, while Hitch kept chuckling nervously, at least until Minty smiled. "You have a really good point, Hitch."

"I think so too" Snuzzle agreed.

"Let's do it! Let's go on first!" Blue Belle declared with a smile.

Izzy and Misty smiled at this outcome, while Hitch sighed in relief.





Finally, Pipp entered Ruby's tent, as she saw her approach and turned in her chair a bit.

"Princess Pipp! I wanted to talk to you––" Ruby tried to say, but Pipp cut her off.

"Okay Ruby, it's all set. You are the star of the whole night!" Pipp announced. "Our magnificent headliner on our stunning 'Ruby Stage'!"

"Actually..." Ruby said, playing nervously with a part of her mane. "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't mind if I go on first instead?" she requested.

Pipp blinked after hearing this. "What?" she questioned confused and with panic.

"I love to sing during sunset" Ruby explained. "And it matches the exact vibe of the song you, your boyfriend and Izzy inspired me to write!" she grinned, before turning back in her chair.

"Oh, so you wanna go first now?" Pipp squeaked, beginning to panic again, as he right eye twitched a bit.





In Team Sonic's tent, Amy already dressed Sonic and herself up.

Amy was wearing now the same red dress, but it was covered on yellow, blue and pink graffiti of flower drawings, as well as a green letter 'A' on her back, as she had flower bracelets, a neon collar with a small hammer, a flower crown, and neon tubes behind both of her ears. She also had her quills painted in blue, yellow and red respectively.

Sonic wore a black jacket, similar to Tails', but with yellow and pink flowers painted with graffiti, as well as a big S painted on the back and some lightnings made with his powers, while he had Pipp's Cutie Mark painted on his left eye, his gloves were one red and one yellow, both fingerless, and his shoes were one green and one purple. Also, his belly had painted the letters 'TS' with white graffiti. He also had yellow, red and pink painted quills, in that order.

Finally, Amy was finishing dressing up Knuckles. The echidna has Izzy's Cutie Mark painted on his left eye, and his gloves were regular ones and fingerless as well, with one being purple and the other one being yellow. He had a black jacket as well with purple and light blue flower drawings made with graffiti, as well as having a 'K' painted in red on the back, while his chest also had 'TS' painted with white graffiti.

Amy was finishing with his quills, which she painted in blue, yellow and pink respectively. Yes, the four members died their hairs (or cheeks in Tails' case) to represent each other's presence in the band.

As Amy finished to dress Knuckles, the Mane 6 gathered inside, with Pipp panicking a lot.

"So now we have three openers and nopony who wants to be a headliner?!" Pipp exclaimed in panic.

"Yup. That's the situation. Mm-hmm" Hitch nodded.

"This just keeps on getting worse!" Pipp groaned.

"Not to point out the obvious or anything, but uh..." Zipp decided to spoke, as she cleared her throat. "Aren't you a major pop star? A frequent headliner? A singer who loves attent––" she pointed out, but got cut off.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Zippster" Sonic said with a smirk, as he got at his girlfriend's side and smiled down at her. "She does have a point, though. You are a pretty popular singer" he pointed out as well.

"Oh. Right. Yes. I am!" Pipp said quickly, getting where Sonic and Zipp were going with their words. "I suppose I can perform, if everypony insists" she added with a smirk.

The rest of the Mane 6 agreed on the idea, as everyone cheered at her.

"Okay then, I'll do it" Pipp stated with a smile.

"Woo-hoo! The show is saved!" Izzy cheered with a smile, before looking around with suspicion. "Maybe" she added with a frown, that soon transformed into a worried expression.

"Hmm..." Knuckles muttered with a frown, as he looked around in suspicion as well, while Amy finished dying his quills.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked him confused.

"... My toes are tingling..." Knuckles replied, still looking around. "I have a bad feeling with these concert thing... But I'm still willing to go to the end, Troggles or not" he stated. 

"Alright" Pipp said, as she and the Mane 6 left the tent. "Let's get this show started right now" she declared to her friends, while they nodded in agreement.

"So, just to be clear... If Ruby's gonna be the opener, and you're gonna be the headliner... Where are we gonna enter?" Sonic asked his girlfriend from the tent, feeling a bit confused.

"Oh, you'll go before Ruby. Instead of being the openers, you'll be more like... The special guests!" Pip replied with a smile.

"Then we better get ourselves finished!" Sonic said with a smirk, as he got back inside the tent.

"Hey, Pipp?" Izzy called out.

"What's wrong now?" Pipp asked nervously.

"My tummy feels like it's full of butterflies! And it definitely has nothing to do with Knuckles!" Izzy said nervously. "I'm still kinda nervous that the Troggles might show up..." she added.

"No, no. That's just pre-show jitters!" Pipp assured.

"It is?" Izzy asked hopefully.

"Don't worry, everypony gets them" Pipp assured with a smile. "Even me! Just go trot it off!" she suggested.

"Okay" Izzy said with a smile, as she walked off while humming to herself.

"Phew" Pipp sighed in relief.

But then guess what? Knuckles and the unicorns were right: The Troggles are real, because two of them appeared behind Pipp and laughed maniacally at her.

Pipp turned her head when she heard the laugh, but the Troggles disappeared before she saw them, so she saw nothing. "Huh..." she said, before walking off.





Nighttime finally reached Equestria.

With this, the Lumi-Bloom began to glow and shine, as ponies around it started walking towards the stage, seeing the Lumi-Bloom on their ways and feeling amazed at the sight. The plants around kept glowing brightly, while ponies came up the stage and cheered in excitement.

Pipp came up to the stage and gasped in joy, while the rest of the Mane 6, Shadow and Rouge walked up to the front of the stage, with Shadow standing at Sunny's side to feel a bit more comfortable, and Rouge standing at his side.

Omega had to stay in the back because he could simply make zoom with his eyes to the stage, and he didn't wanted to obscure the vision for everypony else because of how tall he is.

So, Pipp brought out her microphone and spread her wings. "Welcome, everypony, to Bridlewoodstock!" she announced, while the lights of the stage turned on and the crowd but Team Dark started cheering, with the rest of the Mane 6 cheering loudly. of course, no one noticed a Troggle spying behind them. "Before we get started with our first artist, please let's welcome our special guests! They might be more the kind of 'saving the world' type of people, but they do Know hot to put a show! Everypony, please welcome to the stage to the brave heroes that fought Dr. Eggman on Maretime Bay: Team Sonic!" she announced.

With this, the crowd cheered loudly once again, and Pipp moved aside, while the reflectors turned on behind to show Knuckles on the drums, Tails with the bass, Amy with a keytar, and Sonic jumping on-stage with his guitar and standing in front of a microphone.

"What up, what up everyone and Shadow?!" Sonic greeted with a playful smirk, and even thought Shadow crossed his arms and groaned loudly with and eye roll, he still smirked playfully as well. "We're all really glad to be here with you tonight! Now, I hope you're ready, 'cause we're just the beginning of one amazing night!" he stated, and the crowd cheered loudly again.

But before he could keep going, he witnessed Cyber Sonic's figure among the crowd, as he made a gesture with his hand and passed a thumb over his own throat, basically telling Sonic that he was going to kill him.

This did made Sonic panic, but he breathed deeply and closed his eyes to calm himself down. Once he opened them, Cyber Sonic was gone, and he smiled once again. "The song we're gonna perform is quite emotional, actually... I heard it all the time when I was little, and I think sharing it with you all is gonna make it even more memorable!" he stated confidently.

After saying this, he looked over at Amy and nodded, while the pink hedgehog smiled and nodded back, as she started to play her keytar.





At first it was a soft melody, but once Sonic, Tails and Knuckles started to play along, Pipp gasped, because she knew which song Team Sonic was going to perform... The lullaby that his biological mother sang to him when he was a baby, a few days before Eggman... well... You guys already know.


Sonic:
Take off, at the speed of sound
Bright lights, colors all around

Team Sonic:
I'm running wild, living fast, and free

Sonic
Got no regrets inside of me


The crowd, specially the Mane 6 and Team Dark, felt surprised at Sonic singing his heart out, specially considering this song was a lullaby made by Bernie before she died.


Not looking back (Not looking back)
Not giving up (Not giving up)
Not letting go

Team Sonic:
I'll keep on running

I'm gonna reach for the stars
Although they look pretty far
I'm gonna find my own way
And take a chance on today


As Team Sonic sang their hearts out, the crowd was cheering loudly at them. Omega, despite not saying a word, took out a small blue pennant with Sonic's face on it and wave it, pretty much as a sign of support towards Team Sonic's performance.

At some point, rouge decided to stop 'playing thought' and started to cheer loudly at them as well, while Shadow felt a bit surprised by this. Still, he looked at Team Sonic and smiled, moving his head the music's rhythm and even tapping his foot now and then.


The sky with stars so bright
The colors feel so right
I never felt like this
I'll keep on running

The sky with stars so bright
The colors feel so right
Just take my hand
We're gonna reach for the stars
Tonight

Tonight

Tails:
Wake up living day by day
Do what I want, and I'll do it my way
The world is flying right below my feet

Team Sonic:
Got no regrets inside of me

Sonic:
Not looking back (Not looking back)
Not giving up (Not giving up)
Not letting go

Team Sonic:
I'll keep on running


Since the rest of the song was going to be almost the same, everyone in the crowd started to sing along the lyrics of the song, which surprised mainly Sonic, but he also smiled brightly at this outcome.


I'm gonna reach for the stars


With this line, Sonic grabbed the microphone and looked down at the crowd with a smirk. "You know it!" he cheered, now removing the microphone from its stand and pointing it to the audience.


Although they look pretty far


"Sing it!" Sonic instructed, once again pointed the mic at the crowd.


I'm gonna find my own way


"I like where this is going!" Sonic said cheerfully, before placing the mic on the stand again and continue singing, as well as continue playing his guitar.


And take a chance on today

The sky with stars so bright
The colors feel so right
I never felt like this
I'll keep on running

The sky with stars so bright
The colors feel so right
Just take my hand
We're gonna reach for the stars
Tonight

Tonight


Then, Sonic started to make the guitar solo of the song, clearly focusing on make it sound impressive, and it worked, because the crowd cheered loudly at him, while the Mane 6 called out to him with smiles, Pipp's gaze was completely lost on Sonic, and Shadow had no idea on how Sonic could be doing such movements with the guitar.


I've got it in my sight
The colors feels so right

Sonic:
Got my feet off the ground

Team Sonic:
I'll keep on running!

Oh, I can feel it now
The colors all around
Just take my hand
We're gonna reach for the stars

Just take the chance 
We'll do it all again

Amy:
(We're gonna reach for the stars)

Team Sonic:
Just take my hand (Just take my hand)
Just take the chance tonight
Reach for the stars

Sonic:
Tonight!

Tonight


Sonic finished singing the song, with Amy finishing off the melody with her keytar, while the crowd cheered loudly at them, including her friends.

"You go, guys!" Sunny cheered.

"That was awesome!" Zipp cheered as well.

"It was beautiful!" Hitch said with a smile.

"Amazing!" Misty said, smiling as well.

"Your sparkles are as bright as the stars!" Izzy cheered loudly.

The entire Team Sonic stood in front of the crowd and hold hands together, followed by a reverence from all of them.

Just then, Pipp came back to the stage with her microphone. "Wow, Blue Star! I knew you guys could sing, but... That was incredible!" she said with a wide smile.

"Oh, it was nothing. Just a little song we wanted to share with everypony, that's all!" Sonic said with a smile, as he looked at the crowd and winked.

"Well you did great, guys. Thank you so much for coming!" Pipp said, while Team Sonic nodded and waved their hands at the crowd, before they left the stage and joined the Mane 6, Shadow and Rouge in the crowd. "Team Sonic did an amazing note, ponies! And now, for real this time, please give a glowy, warm welcome to our first artist! The one… the only… Ruby Jubilee!" Pipp announced, before she flew off.

The crowd cheered loudly again, while Ruby appeared from behind the stage with a pose, before she spread her wings and walked slowly, as she opened her eyes and smiled at the crowd, bringing out her own microphone.

"Are you ready to get this pony party started?!" Ruby asked excited, while the crowd cheered. "Don't be afraid to sing along!" she added, as she then did a dance while music started to play.






Oh, tell me, can you hear that rockin' sound?
(Oh, oh, oh-oh)
If you listen, you can hear it comin' 'round
(Oh, oh, oh-oh)


Ruby made a twirl and flew into the air, while the crowd either cheered or sang along, and Pipp landed beside her sister and her friends with a smile.


Yeah, we're movin' to a brand new beat, oh-ohhhh
(Oh, oh, oh-oh)
And you can see us dancin' in the street
(Oh, oh, oh-oh)


Then, Ruby flew into the air and twirled around, giving a wink to the crowd and then flying around them.


So call your favorite bestie and bring 'em along
'Cause we're movin' and we're shakin' to our favorite song
Oh-ohhhh
Yeah, it's always in style
(Always in style!)


Ruby started to fly and dance around as she kept singing, but nopony realized that the Troggles were appearing from the woods, waiting for the exact moment to attack, while everypony singed or danced along Ruby's song.


Iconic, ooh, yeah, you know it's magic
Iconic, ooh, yeah, you know it's classic
Iconic, when we are together
Iconic, yeah, we are forever
Iconic, yeah, we are forever


The ponies, the Mane 6, Team Sonic and even Team Dark bobbed their heads or bodies to the music.

Then, two pegasi hold out their phones and tried to record Ruby's performance as she sang and danced, but then an error showed that there's no signal as their phones buzzed.

"Oh, don't bother!" Pipp said with a smile, as she approached the stallions. "The service out here is nonexistent. In Bridlewood, it's more about forest streams than streaming, you know?" she joked. "Be in the now, ponies! Forget those phonies!" she declared, while the two pegasi smiled in agreement, and Pipp went back to her friends.


Yeah, you can see them movin', young and old, oh-ohhhh
(Oh, oh, oh-oh)
Dancin' together, yeah, they feel it in their soul
(Oh, oh, oh-oh)


As Ruby kept singing, Glory, Seashell and Peach Fizz were moving to the music, while Ruby spread her wings, and Peach Fizz climbed on top of her two friends as she cheered for Ruby. Not that her friends minded, anyways.


We're with all of our friends, yeah, we're singin along
To the sparkle and the magic of our favorite song
Oh-ohhhh
'Cause they're always in style (sty-y-yle)
(Oh, yeah!)


Ruby kept singing, while ponies waved their hooves to her and cheered, as Ruby gave them a wink and then started dancing again, twirling around.


Iconic, ooh, yeah, you know it's magic
Iconic, ooh, yeah, you know it's classic
Iconic, when we are together
Iconic, yeah, we are forever
Iconic, yeah, we are forever


Pipp kept moving to the music, but neither she nor anypony else noticed that more Troggles appeared from the bushes.

Sparky was dancing along, until he felt that something was wrong, so he looked around and noticed the Troggles moving around, but nobody was noticing because of the music.

At this, Sparky tried to get Hitch's attention, tapping him on the head as hard as he could, but Hitch didn't felt nor noticed, while the Troggles drew closer to Ruby.


(It's magic... It's magic... It's magic...)
(Iconic... Iconic... Iconic...)


"Icon––" Ruby tried to sing, but suddenly, her voice began cutting out, which made the ponies gasp.

"What's happening?" Sunny asked concerned.

"Technical Difficulties?" Hitch asked.

"Oh no, her mic cut out!" Pipp breathed in shock.

However, Knuckles narrowed his eyes and saw Ruby's throat glowing in a yellow sphere.

"Wait a minute..." Knuckles muttered.

Zipp looked the same thing as him and gasped. "Oh no..." she said with concern and panic.

Ruby gasped as she tried to speak, just for a Troggle to appear behind her. When Ruby noticed this, she turned around and stared both confused and freaked out by the Troggle's presence.

But of course, it turned all in fear when the yellow sphere on Ruby's throat came out of her mouth and stoled her voice.

One of the unicorns watching dropped a fry from his mouth and widened her eyes. "TROGGLES!" the unicorn yelled in fear.

Suddenly, more Troggles came out from the bushes and began attacking the ponies, who screamed in fright and ran away, but some of them fell victims and had their voices taken.

One unicorn was cornered near a tree. "No way dude! Don't take my voi––" he tried to say, but the Troggle took his voice and made him a mute.

As this happened, the Mane 5, Team Sonic and Team Dark watched over many ponies loosing their voices because of the Troggles, and Knuckles was beyond furious, because even if he ended up being proved right, it also made him mad since it meant that Pipp should have listened to Izzy, to the unicorns, and to him as well.

"But... but... The show!" Pipp gawked in panic.

"THE SHOW?!" Knuckles yelled in rage, as he boosted in front of Pipp and looked at her beyond furious, with his eyes glowing red and his body letting go of red electrical sparkles. "You ignored the warnings of the unicorns, ignored my warnings about this being a terrible idea, laughed at Izzy for trying to tell you about the Troggles, and all you care about IS YOUR STUPID SHOW?!" he shouted with anger.

Pipp flinched with wide eyes after Knuckles snapped at her, and she even stepped back a bit.

Of course, Sonic immediately went in-between them to try and calm Knuckles down. "Hey, Knux! Chill for a second, dude. I get that you're mad, but we have more important stuff to––" he tried to add.

However, all Knuckles did was push him aside hard enough for him to fell to the ground on his back, while he approached Pipp, while the pegasus stepped back, until her back hit the stage, so she looked in fright at the echidna.

"My only comfort in all of this is that I can rub this in your face for the rest of your life" Knuckles stated, but his frown never changed. "But get this, Pipp: Everypony loosing their voice today is on you, and only on you. You don't ignore warnings about ancient creatures, you don't laugh at what others believe, and you don't do whatever the hell you want without consequences. You simply don't!" he added, before turning around and walk away.

Pipp looked down in shame after Knuckles was done with her, and she couldn't help but whimper a bit while her ears lowered.

Zipp and Hitch, on the other hand, looked at each other and nodded, before stepping in front of their friends. "Come on, guys. We've gotta stop this!" Zipp urged.

"Yes! But first, we need a plan!" Sunny stated.

Izzy thought of something and re-told the poem about the Troggles. "Eyes of the monster, form of the pig! Sing, laugh or yell, step hoof on a twig!" she recited, while her friends stared at her confused. "Troggles appear, steal what's to be! No cure to be found, past the red ruby!" she said, while doing a silly dance.

Zipp held up her hoof to Izzy and stopped her. "Izzy, we don't have time for poems right now!" she snapped.

"Zipp, she literally just said how to defeat those things..." Tails pointed out with a bored expression.

"Yeah. She said that rubies can defeat the Troggles." Misty agreed, also with a bored expression.

Pipp and Sunny looked at the young unicorn in shock. "Huh... I guess I did!" Izzy beamed with a smile.

Then, they all turned and saw Ruby trying to scare the Troggles away as she waved her hooves. In the process, she dropped her microphone, which let go a ruby onto the floor.

A Troggle picked it up and absorbed it with a smile, which made him vanish.

"What?" Zipp said in amazed, while she had an idea. "Everypony, grab those rubies!" she ordered, pointing to the rubies on the stage.

The rest of Mane 6, Team Sonic and Team Dark went and grabbed the rubies, but they were glued tightly onto the stage.

"They're really stuck on there!" Hitch grunted.

"That's because we used extra strength super-duper-Ruby glue!" Izzy explained, trying to pull one off with her magic.

"Why did we do that?" Pipp grunted in despair.

"I've been wondering the same the whole special!" Knuckles groaned, as he tried to pull off one of the rubies with his strength, failing miserably.

Sonic tried to use his Spin Dash over the rubies, but it didn't worked. Then, he used Wild Rush to try and quit them, but that didn't worked either. Finally, he went with a Homing Shot, but none of the spheres he launched moved any Ruby away.

"Yeah, I'm with Pipp on this one... Why did you do that?!" Sonic complained with a frown.

Sparky babbled at one and let out a puff of smoke, but it turned a ruby into a balloon, and that made the baby dragon look at the floor in disappointment.

Then, Sunny looked around at the chaos the Troggles were causing, and knew that she had to do something before the Troggles took every voice away, including their own.

"Come on. My friends need my help..." Sunny concentrated and brought out her Alicorn form. It was difficult at first, but she managed to do it, even though her whole outfit disappeared because the budget is limited. "Yeah!" she cheered, as she flew up into the air. "Everypony away from the stage!" she called out, and her friends backed away with cheers.

With her friends out of the way, Sunny used her Alicorn power to strike the rubies, forcing them to fall off and around the area.

"Everybody, grab a ruby!" Zipp called out, and everyone grabbed a ruby each, as they held them up and made them glow, which called the Troggles' attention.

They floated over and absorbed the rubies, vanishing and returning the voices to the ponies.

"Hello?" an earth pony mare asked, as she then gasped in joy. "Hello! Uh, my voice is back!" she said happily.

Two pegasi saw this, then they looked at each other and nodded, before throwing rubies at the Troggles, who grabbed the rubies and vanished, returning their voices to two fillies who gasped, and then said fillies threw rubies as well to help the other ponies.

Soon enough, everypony was throwing rubies at the Troggles, as they all grabbed went for them and vanished. Ruby held up one ruby a bit scared, and the one that took her voice grabbed the ruby and vanished as well.

"Iconic! Woah oh!" Ruby sang with a laugh, happy that her voice was back.

"It worked!" Hitch beamed, while Sunny landed on the floor and her Alicorn form vanished.

"Nice job, Sunny!" Tails said with a smile, as he side hugged the mare, while Izzy came by and joined the hug.

"That was the dumbest way to defeat a ghost I've ever witnessed..." Shadow deadpanned.

"Dumber than a plumber swallowing them with a vacuum?" Rouge teased with a smirk.

Shadow looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "... It's a 50/50..." he said.

Pipp sighed in relief after seeing that the Troggles were gone. "Ah, thank hoofness!" she said relieved, before flying to the stage and pick up Ruby's microphone, that gave some feedback. "Uh, is this thing on?" she asked, chuckling nervously. "Wow… So I just wanna say… that I'm sorry. To everypony" she said with a guilty expression. "But especially to the residents of Bridlewood... and to you, Knuckles..." she added, while the unicorns began to come out of hiding from the bushes, while Alphabittle and a unicorn mare walked closely, and Knuckles' eyes widened after hearing her. "This forest is your home and you know it best. You tried to warn me, but I didn't wanna listen to you... Or to my friends" she added, and even though she was looking at Zipp, Hitch and Misty, her gaze stopped on Knuckles. "Who only wanted to help make my dream of this festival come true... But Knuckles is right. I was warned about this, and I refused to listen..." she added with shame on herself.

Knuckles stared at Pipp with wide eyes. Was this real? Was he dreaming? Was Pipp actually apologizing to him and not trying to make it all look like a misunderstanding? He knew that they constantly clash on ideas, but Pipp accepting she was wrong and apologizing to him in public... It made him a bit happy for some reason, because he was smiling.

"I guess I just got so focused on planning the perfect Bridlewoodstock festival, that I forgot to consider Bridlewood. And all of the history that comes along with it..." Pipp said, while she turned to Izzy with a smile. "Even the Jinxie stuff" she added, and Izzy smiled back at Pipp, while the pegasus continued with a broken tone. "But I know better now. And I wanna thank you all for coming to the first and last Bridlewoodstock. The festival is over!" she cried out as she tossed the microphone away as she began to walk out stage with her head down.

"Are you kidding me now?!" Knuckles spoke suddenly, not only surprising Pipp as she stopped and looked at him confused, but also startling everyone among the crowd, even his friends.

Then, Knuckles jumped from his seat and into the stage, approaching Pipp and kneeling in front of her with a frown.

"You pulled out everything you got, you putted your heart and soul on this festival, you persisted to the very end to make this festival happening, and you're gonna give up because of ghosts and me being an idiot?" Knuckles asked with disbelief.

"What?!" Pipp asked confused. "B-But I thought that you––" she tried to say.

"I wasn't mad because you wanted to make the festival. I was mad because you ignored warnings!" Knuckles pointed out. "You laughed at Izzy for the Troggle thing, and you treated the unicorns warnings like gibberish! Worse of all, I told you that every legend hides truth behind, and you still ignored me" he added with a frown, but then he smiled. "You recognized that, and you apologized. That's all I needed to hear" he stated.

"Huh?" Pipp said confused.

"Look around you, Princess!" Knuckles said with a smile, gesturing at the festival. "The festival is up, the Troggles are gone, and the unicorns here are ready to party! Am I right?!" he asked, now looking at the unicorns in the crowd.

All the unicorns among the crowd cheered loudly at his words, which made Pipp smile warmly.

"Yeah!" a unicorn stallion with glasses called out. "Don't stop it now!" he stated.

"This is the most fun we've ever had during the Lumi-Bloom!" another unicorn stallion agreed.

"Now that the Troggles are gone, we're not scared anymore!" a unicorn stallion with a deep voice added.

"And I thought Knuckles' voice was deep..." Misty said with an amused expression.

"We want more music!" a young unicorn stallion called out as well.

"Yeah! Let's go!" a mare in the crowd cheered in agreement.

"We want more! We want more!" a unicorn mare called out, while the other ponies began chanting along.

Pipp was surprised by this, but she still smiled with joy.

"You see? This is beyond over!" Knuckles declared, as she started to walk backwards. "I'm still gonna rub that I was right for eternity, though. But in the meantime? You have a show to host!" he stated, before getting down of the stage and going back with the rest among the crowd.

Pipp smiled at him, then she turned to Ruby, who was surprised by everything that just happened as well. "What do you think, Ruby?" she asked her with a smirk.

Ruby laughed at this. "I think the fans have spoken!" she said in agreement.

"Then the show must go on!" Pipp declared with a smirk, as she came next to Ruby, then she picked up her microphone again. "What are we waiting for? Start the music!" she announced.

The crowd cheered loudly after she said this, and the music started to play once again.

"We have more incredible acts coming up!" Pipp announced with a smile.

"Please welcome... Electric Blue!" Ruby Jubilee added, while Fretlock and his bandmates were shown in the spotlight, as the crowd screamed wildly.

"How's everypony doin' tonight?!" Fretlock announced. "I'm Fretlock. There's Jam Donut on the bass, and there's Arpeggia on drums! And we are Electric Blue! Woo!" he called out, while the crowd cheered excitedly.

"And here to join us are our very special guests..." Pipp continued with a smile.

"The original girl group..." Ruby spoke next.

"The ones who started it all" Pipp continued.

"The Dreamlands!" both Pipp and Ruby announced in unison.

Minty, Blue Belle and Snuzzle were in the spotlight together posing, while the crowd cheered loudly, with Sunny and Hitch being the most boisterous as they hugged each other and cheered.

"The Dreamlands!" Sunny cheered, while she and Hitch screamed as the true fans they are.




The Dreamlands:
Ooooh, hey!
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh, oh, oh
Put your hooves up, put your hooves up
Hey! Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh, oh
Put your hooves up, put your hooves up

Pipp:
Generations comin' together
Celebrations, dancing, and laughter
This is a call to you from all walks of life
Lift up your hooves now under the starlights
There's magic rainbows for hundreds of miles

The Dreamlands:
Me and my ponies never go out of style


Pipp and Ruby started to twirl in the air, while Ruby laughed happily and raised her hooves along Pipp.


All:
We don't hang our heads
When things get too hard
We put our hooves together
'Cause we're forever friends
Making our mark
And putting hooves together


As Pipp and the Dreamlands sang, Omega noticed that the Pippsqueaks, Seashell, Glory and Peach Fizz, were having trouble watching the show. So, he ducked down so the fillies could climb over his shoulder and head. Once the fillies did so, Omega raised again, and the Pippsqueaks could see the stage perfectly, as they cheered at Pipp and Ruby with their hooves raised, while the two pegasi on stage danced together.


Minty:
All new places, the lengths that we've gone to
Newfound faces, the friendships that grew

Blue Belle:
This is a call to you from all walks of life

Snuzzle:
Lift up your hooves now under the starlight

Pipp:
There's magic rainbows for hundreds of miles

The Dreamlands:
Me and my ponies never go out of style

All:
We don't hang our heads
When things get too hard
We put our hooves together
'Cause we're forever friends
Making our mark
And putting hooves together

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
We put our hooves together
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Put our hooves together

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh


Pipp and Ruby started to move in sync again, as they took to the sky while doing some moves and twirls in the air, before landing back down to dance and touch each other's hooves. Meanwhile, the rest of the Mane 6 and Team Sonic kept dancing and cheering at their friend's performance, while Electric Blue played their instruments and Ruby laughed a bit before doing a pose.


Minty:
If it ever feels like there's something out to get ya

Snuzzle:
Or if it ever feels like you're wasting time

Blue Belle:
Yeah, we come galloping from across Equestria

Pipp:
You just reach out and touch your hooves to miiiiiiiiiine!


Pipp moved back from the Dreamlands and twirled in the air, before landing next to Ruby again, as the two ponies touched hooves again. And then, a firework was launched to the sky, which impressed the entire crowd. Soon enough, more fireworks started to explode, which made everyone cheer loudly.


All:
We don't hang our heads
When things get too hard
We put our hooves together
'Cause we're forever friends
Making our mark
And putting hooves together

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
We put our hooves together
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Put our hooves together

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Pipp:
Putting hooves together!


Pipp finished the last note, while she and Ruby moved in circles in the air and touched each other's hooves, and the crowd cheered loudly, as fireworks went off once the music ended.

Truly, Bridlewoodstock was a musical experience nobody was ever going to forget.





At Opaline's Dark Castle, Opaline herself was looking at her reflection in her mirror.

Her hoof was lightened up with flames, and she was grinning sinisterly at herself. "Mmm-hmm. Power looks so good in you, Opaline!" she said to herself, followed by an evil laugh. "Those ponies and Mobians don't stand a chance!" she added, while she looked at her reflection again with a bigger grin. "Now, I must find my way to not only get more Dragon Fire... But also finish the job that I started. I gave those fools enough time to rest after what Ivo did months ago. Besides, getting all the Dragon Fire from their Baby will be the perfect lesson... TO NOT MESS WITH OPALINE!!!" she declared.

After this, she started to laugh maniacally, because now that her magic's back to full strength, she won't stop until she drains every drop of Dragon Fire from every single dragon in the world, Sparky included...





Eggman and Sage spent the whole week studying the silver-metallic liquid sample.

While our heroes were busy preparing the festival, Eggman decided to leave them alone for the time being and be absolutely sure that his next plan is gonna work, which is why he's planning to stay hidden on his new lab and simply study and experiment the liquid sample he found.

Speaking of the sample, it has grown even more in the past week. It went from being half on the bottle it was before, to be big enough to cover half of a container in the lab. If it kept growing, Eggman was already considering the idea of preparing a bigger container for it, if he had any, that is.

"Sage! Status report!" Eggman requested with a frown.

"The sample has grown at least 20 times it's original size in the span of one week..." Sage started to inform. "The analysis we have made to it show that the liquid is alive and contains mysterious magical properties, as well as an alarming, although fascinating, speed of reproduction" she added.

"Such a fascinating substance, yet we still know so little about it..." Eggman pointed out, even though he was grinning from ear to ear. "Have you found anything else?" he asked Sage.

"Just that it might be capable to infect someone, but i's just a theory" Sage replied. "We require an alive subject to test the theory" she pointed out.

"I see..." Eggman said, before grinning once again. "Well, I have no problem with that. After all, the idea is to make a massive army of powerful ponies, and maybe some Mobians, out of this liquid. With such an army, not even Opaline's Magic could be a match to me!" he stated confidently.

"Father, I know you hate when I do this, but should I suggest a little warning before you proceed with your plan?" Sage asked with a shy tone.

Eggman deadpanned, and even his mustache flattened a bit, so he turned away from the container with the sample and faced his computer. "... Go on..." he said with a bored tone.

"The sample is somewhat fragile and weak to proceed with a proper test. We can still use it if you desire it, but..." Sage tried to explain.

"Let me guess: The subject is going to die..." Eggman said, but now frowning with concern.

"... Yes... That is correct..." Sage replied. "... Should... Should we proceed with the experiment?" she asked.

"... If they die... They die..." Eggman said, before turning once again to face the liquid inside the container. "Let's find us some subjects, alright?" he stated with a grin.

"Understood" Sage replied.

"Look through all the animal kingdom for a proper subject to our next massive project, dear!" Eggman instructed with glee. "Code name: Metal Virus!" he added, as he let out a maniac laugh, while his glasses fell a bit and showed his dark eyes with red pupils.

The liquid inside the container seemed to react at the way Eggman named it, probably indicating that it liked it...