//------------------------------//
// 7. Family Trees - Part 2 
// Story: Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: Make Your Mark - Season 3 
// by BronySonicFan 
//------------------------------//

An infinite black void of emptiness extended as far as the eyes could witness.

Soon, the only floating figure around slowly started to wake up, and they looked around at the emptiness surrounding them. Confused, they stood up and looked all over their body... Tails seemed to be just fine physically speaking.

But then, he suddenly heard a giggle, and he turned around... For some reason, he saw the figure of a filly running around while following a butterfly... But then, that figure disappeared and turned into dust, something that startled and confused the young fox.

But then, another figure passed by his side. This time, when he turned, he gasped, because it was an adult mare this time around... More specifically, it was Misty, who seemed to be running away.

"Misty! Wait!" Tails called out, and he twirled his tails to follow her around.

However, it didn't mattered if seemed to be boosting ahead to catch her, she simply moved more and more far away, until she disappeared entirely.

"MISTY!" Tails shouted.

"Tails..." A voice suddenly started to call him out.

Tails stopped moving and looked around confused, since he was looking for the source of the voice.

"Tails!" The voice, now sounding clearer, spoke again. It was a female voice. "Tails, wake up!"

"Huh?" Tails said confused for a moment.

Yet he couldn't question anything further, because a sudden flashlight blurred his vision, and he covered his eyes...





"Tails!" Sunny's voice was calling out desperately as she shook him. "Tails, wake up!"

Tails began to groan a bit, and he opened his eyes slightly, just to close them immediately again when he felt the light shining tight over his eyes, which annoyed him a little bit.

"Hmm... Five minutes more, Mom..." Tails muttered, as he covered his sight with his arms.

Sonic, Amy and Sunny, the ones looking after him after he fainted, all sighed in relief when he replied that, but Sonic still removed his arm off his face and shook his head a bit.

"Come one, little buddy! You already gave us a terrible scare, now's time to shine again." Sonic told him with a mocking tone.

Tails groaned and opened his eyes, also slowly sitting down in the ground, as he shook his head while feeling a bit dizzy. He realized that he's still on the Night Market, inside the Wishing Tree.

"What... What exactly happened?" Tails asked, since he barely remembers why he fainted, or that he fainted at all.

"Well... Misty went missing, and you fainted." Sunny explained him with concern.

"Misty is..." Tails tried to ask, but then his eyes widened when he remembered exactly that. "Misty!"

He immediately stood up and looked around concerned, pretty much looking after his friend.

"Where is everyone else?" Tails asked.

"After you fainted, everyone went to look after her." Amy explained. "We stood at your side, although we had a hard time convincing Zipp to go and look after her. She was really concerned for you."

Tails smiled a bit after hearing that. "I bet she is." He then shook his head and looked at Sonic with a determinate expression. "Well, I'm up, and while still concerned for Misty, I'm ready to help look for her!"





Around the Night Market, the ponies and breezies were still minding their own business.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Mane 6, Team Sonic and Shadow were looking for Misty around the place.

"Uh. Hmm…" Zipp hummed as she looked around, before flying towards Hitch and Sparky. "Any sign of Misty? She just disappeared!"

"Not yet. But it is tricky to spot a unicorn in a market full of unicorns." Hitch pointed out, gesturing to the many unicorns in the Night Market.

Then, Pipp landed next to them. "No luck a the macaron stand either!" She cried out, as she ate a macaron, which made her sister glare at her. "What? It was a free sample!"

"Izzy, Shadow and I tried to trot around the whole Night Market." Sunny said, as she arrived along Izzy and Shadow.

"But this place goes on forever!" Izzy cried out with concern.

"Is like walking though a maze that's constantly changing." Shadow pointed out with a frown. "Am I crazy, or wasn't that stand two floors below us 10 minutes ago?"

He pointed at a stand that had all kinds of jewelry, but the ponies' eyes widened when they realized what he meant.

"It was!" Sunny said in shock. "How did it got down here?" She asked, but Shadow shrugged at her.

"Well, I still can't believe this all fits inside the Wishing Tree." Izzy said with a smile.

"Hmm…" Zipp muttered, then she flew up and looked around. "Where could that pony be?"

"Or most importantly: Where is Team Sonic?" Hitch pointed out.

As he said that, none of them realized that Knuckles was gliding all above the Market, as he looked around to every stand with his eyes, in search for the missing unicorn.

"Any sign of her, Knux?!" Tails asked him through the watch's communicator.

"Not yet." Knuckles replied. "Is hard to look after a unicorn when there's a market full of them. She could be anywhere!"





Near a stand with flowers, Amy walked by and heard the whole thing.

"I agree with Knuckles." Amy said with concern. "However, not only it is hard to find a Unicorn in a market full of unicorns, but I also feel that I'm lost. I've seen this flower stand at least five different times in the fives different areas I've been!"





Sonic was running through the whole market at top speed, also hearing the conversation.

"That's because the market changes from position every 10 minutes." Sonic reminded. "I get that the Breezies wanna keep their costumers for as long as they can before closing the market, but can't they stop for a moment? This is too much! Even for me!"

"Focus, Sonic!" Tails called out from the watch's communicator.





Speaking of Tails, he was flying over the market at slow paste, looking stand by stand for Misty.

"We've gotta find Misty before they close!" Tails stated. "We're gonna have to keep looking after her, but this time as twice as fast as we were doing until now!"

"Roger!" Amy said confidently.

"Who's Roger?" Knuckles asked confused.

"He's talking to me." Sonic's voice said, although a lot more deeper than ever. "Leave this to us, buddy!" He added, now with his normal voice.

Team Sonic cut communication, while Tails flew higher and looked around the market with concern.

"Where are you, Mist?" Tails muttered with worry.





You might be wondering, then: Where the heck is Misty?

Well, she was back in Bridlewood's forest, but just like in her dream, there was fog all around her, and the moonlight was showing up in the sky, as she walked through the fog nervously.

"Okay, just stay calm." Misty told herself, then she looked at the key again, that's now wrapped around her neck. "Just because this seems exactly like my dream doesn't mean it has to end the same way. I just need to find that magic door, then maybe I'll remember where I came from." She stated, then put the key down. "Fine. One more time."

The Unicorn mare took a deep breath, and then focused on trying to remember anything else from her past.





Misty accidentally tripped and fell into a ditch.

Misty felt a bit dizzy at first, but then, she saw a tree, the Wishing Tree. "Wow!" She exclaimed, standing up and noticing a blue glow besides the tree, which made her gasp in awe. "Where'd that come from?"

Misty decided to surround the tree and look what the light was about, ending up finding a glowing door.

"Whoa!" Misty said amazed, and she was about to touch the door, but then she heard something rustling behind her. "Huh?"

Misty turned around and saw a shadowy figure in the fog, which made her scream in fear.





"No!" Misty snapped back into reality.

She grew concerned for the vision she just had, scratching her head a bit, before noticing a Breezie flying by, while holding a lantern and humming to themself.

Misty smiled with a gasp, as she walked towards it. "Pardon me!"

The breezie exclaimed in surprise after seeing Misty.

"Um, hello. I was wondering if you know of any doors around here?" Misty asked the breezie, who thought for a moment at her question, before nodding and saying quick gibberish. "You do?"

The breezie turned around and gestured Misty to follow them, then they boosted away, surprising Misty.

"Wait! If you could just…" Misty called out, chasing after the Breezie.

The creature was flying really fast, and Misty tried to keep up, but she ended up panting, because she wasn't used to run this much. She internally wondered if this is what if feels like to chase Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow around, because if it was the case, thank hoofness she's on their side now.

Suddenly, the breezie stopped moving and turned to Misty, while the unicorn tripped on a stem and rolled across the floor, landing on her stomach with a painful grunt, before she stood up.

"Yeesh, those little guys can really fly." Misty muttered to herself. "Tails probably flies as fast as them, if not more." She added, just when the breezie circled around her and said something else, also gesturing to the area they're in. "This is it? But where's the door?"

"Uh..." The breezie said a bit nervous, before looking around and then see a small doorway that leads to their house that's inside the tree. "Bye-bye!" The breezie went into the house.

Misty sighed in disappointment after seeing this. "Thanks anyway. But that's not the door I was looking for." She said sadly, and then turned away.

The breezie looked at Misty with sympathy, feeling bad that Misty didn't find the door she was looking for. Noticing that Misty was sad, the Breezie flew over her head, looking at her upside down.

Misty smiled a bit after thinking on something else. "But you can help me with something else." She said, while the breezie looked at her a bit confused. "How do I get back into the market? I got a little lost." She explained, gesturing to the forest and then sighing. "I think I've been gone a long time. My friends must be worried."

The breezie exclaimed something happily, and then they lead the way, while Misty smiled and followed them.





Back at the Night Market, the rest of the Mane 6 regrouped after not finding Misty on the market.

"Okay, everypony, get your hooves in the game." Zipp spoke first. "I'm worried I'll miss a critical clue about Misty's visions if I'm away from her for too long and I can't––"

"Zipp! That isn't important right now." Sunny pointed out, while Zipp looked down concerned. "Misty is still just learning her way around Bridlewood. What if she got lost?"

"It wouldn't be hard to do in a place like this." Hitch commented as he looked around. "In fact, I think I'm lost! Where am I?"

"I think I heard Sonic saying something about this place changing every 10 minutes fro the breezies to keep costumers in as much as possible before closing." Shadow commented. "We're not lost. The place is simply changing whenever it seems we're close to get out."

"... So we are lost..." Zipp deadpanned and Shadow deadpanned back.

"I've lived here all my life and even I'm all 'woo-ooo'." Izzy said, as she gave a weird work and moved around to prove her point.

"Too bad I still don't have any service." Pipp said with concern as she looked at her phone, which soon beeped and showed that there's no signal. "My Pippsqueaks can find anything or anypony!"

Pipp's phone beeped again, which concerned her, but then, two breezies came flying towards her after hearing her phone beeping, and Pipp tried to keep her phone away from them.

"Again?! I told you Breezies, this isn't magic, it's just the latest and greatest in pony tech!" Pipp reasoned with a small smile, but the breezies still wanted it, making Pipp groan and still try to keep her phone away from them... just for more of them to come, as she ran off protecting her phone, with the breezies chasing her.

Meanwhile, as this happened, Knuckles glided around, and when he saw the ponies and Shadow following Pipp, he glided down towards them, stopping in front, with Amy soon arriving to his side by running.

"I looked over to the last stand, and even double-checked with the first three changes for the past 30 minutes." Knuckles said with a concerned frown. "But I saw nothing.

"Same here!" Amy said with concern as well. "Is like if she just disappeared in thin air!"

Then, a blue blur ran at top speed across the whole market, until is slide and stopped besides Amy, revealing to be Sonic. "I looked the entire market top to bottom. She's not here at all!" He said with a concerned frown, too.

"She couldn't have just disappeared!" Tails said, as he slowly descended and landed on Sonic's side. "Maybe she got so lost that now she's back in Bridlewood?"

"Is a possibility." Sunny said. "With how huge this place is, maybe she found the exit and got out."

The group kept talking, and Sonic even was going to suggest on getting out of the market and check on his own if Misty was outside. However, just then, Sparky saw a stand that called his attention.

The Baby Dragon perked up and turned to the stand, looking at a big footprint that he seemed to recognize... Said footprint made him have a vision of his own, and it somehow triggered a memory on his mind.





Far away from Equestria, we have the Dragon Lands.

This place is a lush jungle of exotic plants, with some birds with feathers on their heads chirping and landing on a branch.

And then, something made the earth shake and rumble, making water move and shake as well, and also making the birds flying off. Right int that instant, a big and scaly purple leg smashed the floor, leaving a footprint behind, while the creature that made the footprint roared.





Back in reality, Sparky began to sniff the fossil footprint, trying to smell the scent.

Hitch felt this and turned to Sparky, with the rest noticing the baby dragon's attitude as well. "Sparky?! What is it, little bud?"

Yet, Sparky only gurgled and hopped off Hitch's back, as he ran towards the fossil, surprising both Hitch and Knuckles.

"I haven't seen him move like that since before Opaline drained him!" Hitch exclaimed surprised.

"Maybe he found something!" Knuckles pointed out with a smirk, as both Sheriff and Deputy followed the baby dragon.

Everyone else followed as well, but Tails stood behind and looked around concerned, something Sunny noticed, so she came up to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

"Hey, Tails. We'll find her." Sunny assured him with a smile. "Like you said, maybe she's just outside in the forest. We'll check for her outside if necessary."

Tails looked at Sunny and smiled a bit, then he nodded, and then they both catch up with the rest. There, they saw that Sparky went up to the fossil and o'ed at it, while the rest looked at the fossil.

"Huh? These don't look magical or healing." Hitch said confused.

"Yeah, what the hay?" Pipp said confused as well. "It's just a bunch of old rocks."

That made Knuckles gasp loudly and dramatically, as one of his eyes twitched, and then he grabbed Pipp and shook her violently. "Damn pegasus, you take that back!"

Just then, a breezie flew in and said a lot of gibberish with anger at what Pipp said as well.

"See? Even the breezies agree!" Knuckles groaned with a frown.

"Oh, I think we offended them." Sunny said sheepishly.

"Yes. Yes, we did." Hitch said with a deadpan.

"Ooh!" Sonic closed an eye and then chuckled. "Big mouth for a little creature!"

"I never heard someone swearing at such a high speed before." Shadow said with a somewhat proud smirk.

"What are they saying?" Amy asked.

That made Hitch, Sonic and Shadow's eyes widened, as they looked away and tried to play innocently.

"... I feel like it's better if I don't know..." Amy muttered while narrowing her eyes.

"It actually is." Hitch said sheepishly, before looking at Pipp with a glare. "The breezie is seriously offended, though."

"Oops, sorry." Pipp apologized sheepishly to the breezie, then she brought out her phone. "Can I make it up to you with a little bit of this?"

The breezie wasn't too pleases with this, and she pushed Pipp's phone away.

"Hey!" Pipp said offended.

"On the bright side, they're not fighting to get your phone anymore." Sonic said with a mocking smirk.

"Wait, no, she's trying to tell us something." Hitch said, while the breezie kept talking and gestured to the fossils, with Hitch translating. "She says, 'These aren't just any rocks, these are ancient fossils'!" The breezie then flew up to the fossil Sparky is looking at. "And that's the fossil of... a dragon print'."

This made everyone's jaws to drop. Well, Shadow's didn't, but he was still wide eyed, facing at the print in shock, while Sparky looked excitedly at it with a smile.

"A Dragon print?!" Hitch said in shock, as he turned to Sunny.

"Wow, look!" Sunny pointed at Sparky.

The baby dragon nuzzled the fossil happily, with his horns and scales glowing the moment he touched it. "The fossil's lighting him up!" Izzy said with a big smile.

"It must be from his home." Knuckles pointed out. "I never actually stopped to consider where the Egg he hatched from could come from... But perhaps it is time to find out." He added, although rather with sadness.

"Maybe we need to get him around more dragon things!" Zipp suggested with a smile.

"You're right, maybe he's been away from other dragons for too long…" Sunny said with concern.

"And the only way to fully cure him is to get him back with his kind!" Zipp added, while Sparky kept glowing and nuzzling the fossil happily.

"Hmm..." Izzy muttered, rubbing her chin with a hoof. "I know I said Bridlewood has everything but, uh…" She looked down at Sparky and put him on her back. "You won't find dragons here." She stated, then she looked at Sparky, who was gurgling happily, and that made Izzy laugh. "Except Sparky of course."

Hitch laughed a bit as he came up to Sparky, but then sighed sadly as he rubbed the dragon's head. "At least we know what will help him now, that's good news."

Yet there was no happiness on his tone, and Sunny noticed that, as well as everyone else, but the Earth Pony mare was the first one to approach her best friend.

"Then why do you seem upset?" Sunny asked him concerned.

"It's just that I always knew I'd have to say goodbye to him one day, but that day might be sooner than I thought." Hitch said with low ears, while Sparky gurgled at him cutely.

However, when Hitch mentioned that, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles seemed to look away, because even if Hitch was talking about Sparky, the three of them felt called out, maybe because they know that they have to say goodbye one day as well, and none of them are prepared for that day, just as much as Hitch isn't ready to say goodbye to Sparky.

"Hey, you never know. Maybe not!" Zipp said, as she flew in front of everyone else. "We'll figure something out!"

"Right..." Tails agreed, then he shook his head, flew at her side, and looked at the rest with a serious expression. "But first, we need everyone to focus on tracking down Misty!"

However, right after he said that, the rest but Shadow gasped, with the latter's eyes opening wide, which made both Zipp and Tails feel confused at their friends' reactions.

"Why are you all looking at us like that?" Zipp asked confused.

"Guys... Look behind." Sonic replied with shock.

"Huh?" The couple said as they turned, just to see Misty walking towards them with the breezie that helped her.

"Oh Misty!" Sunny said in relief.

"There you are!" Sonic said with a smile.

"We looked all over!" Hitch added.

"You just disappeared! Like–– Poof!" Knuckles added in shock.

“Where'd you go?” Pipp asked.

"We were so worried!" Amy added with a smile.

"Thank the moons!" Izzy cheered happily.

"About damn time." Shadow muttered with his arms crossed and a smirk.

"Oh." Misty said in relief, then she waved in goodbye at the breezie that helped her, and the breezie waved back before flying off. "I was worried you might've gone back to Maretime Bay without me!"

"We would never do that!" Sunny said.

Then, Zipp came up to Misty. "Where did you go? Was it another vision?"

"Well…" Misty tried to explain, but...

"Did you find something? What's that key you're carrying?" Zipp pointed to the key, while Misty felt uncomfortable.

Yet when Sunny was about to remind Zipp on giving Misty space, Tails boosted pass them and hugged Misty tightly, startling the unicorn mare a bit, and also making her blush.

"... Never scare me like that, ever again." Tails begged her with a shaky voice.

Misty felt her heart fluttering at his worry, but she also smiled and returned the hug. "Aw, Tails."

Once they broke the hug, Zipp followed and hugged her as well. "I was really worried." She said with honesty, and Misty chuckled, once again returning the hug.

When they broke the hug, Misty showed them the key. "A breezie gave me this special key."

As she gave the key to Tails, the young fox inspected it closer, with Sunny joining him.

"I haven't seen anything like this before." Tails said. "With all the books I've read from this world, I thought it'll click, but... no."

"Well, I think I've seen these patterns before." Sunny said, looking at the patterns on the key. "They're old, but I don't know what they mean." She added, while Zipp took out her magnifying glass to inspect it.

Knuckles, however, narrowed his eyes and tried to look closely at the key, but then his eyes widened. "Tails, let me see that key!" He pled.

Tails looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but he still gave him the key. Knuckles looked at the key closely, at first looking at it the same way everyone else has... But then he turned the key upside down, and when he saw the bow upside down, he gasped again.

"I knew it!" Knuckles said with a smile. "I've seen this door before!"

"Wait... a door?" Amy asked confused.

"In fact, I've seen this key before, too!" Knuckles confessed. "It takes you to the place you want to go the most. These keys appear every 10 years, but they can be used just once since the key disappears after being used."

"Wait... You've seen this before?!" Misty asked in shock.

"If you specified the kind of door you were looking for, I would had helped you hours ago!" Knuckles replied.






Angel Island - 17 Years Ago...


A young Knuckles was watering the tree he found along Team Sonic while humming to himself.

"I was watering the tree we found back on Marble Garden to ensure it'll last forever, until I almost tripped with a rock." Knuckles narrated.

Meanwhile, his younger self almost tripped with a rock, just like he said, and even if he sighed in relief, he still frowned down at the rock he almost tripped with, and then he kicked it away... But that made him find something under the rock that he didn't noticed before.

"When I kicked the rock out of anger, I found a key just like this one under it." Knuckles narrated, as his younger self picked the key and looked at it confused. "Just then, I saw some of the breezies saying something, but since Sonic wasn't there to translate their words, I looked at them confused."

Young Knuckles looked confused at the breezies, but then he noticed them pointing at a certain direction in the tree, so Knuckles surrounded the tree, and then felt amazed when he saw a glowing door in the other side.

"When Misty talked about the glowing door I didn't thought she was talking about the same kind of door I encountered that day." Knuckles narrated, while his younger self looked at the key, then at the door, then at the key again, and finally was going to introduce the key...





Back in reality, Knuckles kept narrating his story.

"The breezies stopped me before putting the key on the door and explained me how the key worked, so I didn't used the key until a year later." Knuckles narrated. "Don't ask me what I used it for, though. That's classified info I'm not sharing."

"I'll blame you for not talking sooner, but like you said, Misty never specified how the door looks like, so..." Sonic deadpanned.

"Then it definitely has something to do with home!" Misty said with a smile. "I thought that maybe if I could just find the door it goes to, I'd find some answers about my past and my family."

"Well? Did you find anything?" Zipp asked, while Sparky hopped off Izzy's back.

"No." Misty said sadly, but then she felt something hug her hoof, and when she looked down, she saw Sparky hugging her hoof while gurgling happily, which made Misty smile. "Sparky?! You found a cure for him?"

"Only a temporary one." Hitch replied. "I think the only thing that will really heal him is finding his family."

Sparky nuzzled Misty's leg, making her smile even more, as she rubbed the baby dragon's head. "I know how you feel, buddy."

"We can help!" Sunny said with a smile. "Come on, everypony, let's find that door!"

Misty smiled after seeing them willing to help, while Tails came by and placed an arm around her neck. "We won't rest until we have answers, Mist. And that's a promise!"

"I know, Tails." Misty said with a smile. "By the way... I, uh, I didn't wanted to really bring this up ever, but... Since we have this whole thing of the family, why you never talk about yours?"

Tails felt a bit confused with that question. "What do you mean? Sonic is my family! So are Knuckles and Amy. So are our friends. So are you!" He replied with a smile.

"I mean your biological family." Misty said with a cringed expression, since she's not sure if this is a delicate subject for him or not.

"Oh..." Tails said with concern, scratching his neck a bit. "Well, I can't say much on them. I only knew my parents, but that'll be stretching the truth. I barely saw them face to face. And when I did, they didn't even cared for me. They were really weird, and I honestly can't say if they were good or bad parents. They were not there. Heck, they didn't even cared when I was made fun of because of my tails."

Misty looked at Tails with pure shock and horror after hearing that. "They... They bullied you because you were different?" She asked concerned.

"That's just being gentle with how things happened." Tails replied with a chuckle. "For the first 5 years of my life, I felt lost and alone... Until I met Sonic. I found the family I never knew I needed with him and Longclaw. And the more friends we made as years passed by, the bigger our family grew." He smiled, then he looked at Misty. "I'll help you find answers about your family, but even if we don't find them, know that you have us, your friends, and we'll always be that family. Maybe not the one you want, but then one you definitely need and deserve."

Misty smiled warmly at his words, and then hugged him tightly one more time, with Tails hugging back. "Thanks, Tails. I'm really glad we're friends." She told him happily.

"I'm glad we're family, Mist." Tails replied with a smile as well.









The Mane 6, Team Sonic and Shadow began searching around the market for clues.

However, as they did so, Alphabittle felt his Cutie Mark glowing again, weirding him out, while Misty was in the lower floor and went up to a stand, showing the key to two breezies, who'm shook their heads, since they had no clues for the door that the key opens.


Misty:
What is the key to a family? (Oh-oh)
What is the key to a home?
What is the part of that I'm missing? (Oh-oh)
To help me find where I belong


As Misty sang this, she checked out the other stands around to find a match to the key.

Then, Zipp flew out of the market and searched outside, while Hitch was checking a fossil stand, holding out a bird one.


Hitch:
I'm searchin' 
I'm looking for something
Something that comes from the heart (From the heart)


Hitch left the stand to keep search, while Tails came to Misty and bumped her playfully to cheer her up a bit, which actually made Misty smile and giggle.

Meanwhile, Sparky saw two breezies making a fire show, which made him smile happily, since it reminded him of his own fire, while Hitch smiled when he noticed Sparky felt better, and Tails and Misty smiled at this as well.


Tails:
'Cause sometimes you need something to lift you up
And help to reignite your spark


Then, Misty, Hitch and Tails came towards each other and sang together, also holding tails for a moment, before continue on separate directions.


Misty, Hitch and Tails:
'Cause I've got you
And you've got me
'Cause when you're with your friends yeah
You're with your family


The rest kept searching around the market, while Zipp was still outside, wearing her Z-Googles and searching around the tree. Soon, Knuckles arrived and began to look around the tree as well.

Meanwhile, in the market, Izzy, Pipp and Amy saw a dragon plushy in a plushy stand, looking at it cutely with smiles.


Keep 'em in your heart
'Cause that is the key


Izzy brought out two plushies, a dragon one and a unicorn dog one, but when she showed the dragon one to Sparky, he denied with his head.


Oh when you're with your friends yeah
You're with your family
I've got you and you've got me


Then, Hitch came up to Sparky, and the baby dragon jumped happily, while Hitch picked him up and placed him on his back. The baby dragon hugged him, while Misty, Tails and Sunny looked at him with smiles, while Misty looked down at the key.


'Cause we aren't just friends
No, we're a family
When you're feeling lonely or incomplete


Outside, Zipp took off her googles and looked around, but down, Knuckles whistled and called her attention by waving his hand and gesturing her to come down where he was standing.


Don't forget about your friends
Yeah they're your family

Oh-woah-oh-oh-oh
Woah-oh-oh-oh-woah
Woah-oh-oh-oh


When Zipp flew down, Knuckles pointed with a smile at a place that was glowing. Then, he removed the vines covering the way, and Zipp's eyes widened, but she also smiled, and then Knuckles and her fit/hoof bumped with smirks.


'Cause when you're with your friends
Yeah you're with your family


Meanwhile, the rest regrouped once Misty, Tails and Hitch finished singing. However, Sparky  yawned and lay down on Hitch's back again, then started to snore.

"The dragon fossil helped him, but I don't think it was enough." Hitch said with concern and dropped ears.

"Hitch, I'm so sorry for letting Sparky get hurt." Misty said with guilt, since she's the one who brought Sparky to Opaline in the first place. "I'll never forgive myself."

"Well, I forgive you, Misty." Hitch said with a smile. "I've seen how good your heart is and, well, even if you don't find what you're looking for, we can be your family."

Misty smiled brightly at him. "You mean it?"

"Of course!" Izzy cheered happily. "I've always wanted another unicorn in the family."

"See! What did I told you?" Tails told Misty with a smirk, bumping her shoulder. "Quoting someone else's words: 'Family' is just a fancy word for those who always stick together. And like I said before, you have us! Your friends! And we'll always be there with you."

"Friends forever?" Sunny asked with a smile.

"And ever!" Pipp finished with a happy nod.

After that, everyone shared a group hug, and even though Shadow tried to move away, he still got dragged thanks to Sunny's magic, for his eternal annoyance, and now he was trying so hard not to scream for help.

"Awww!" Everyone else exclaimed happily, while Shadow gave up and accepted his fate.

"So cute." Izzy commented.

However, Pipp noticed that one pony of their group, as well as certain echidna, were missing. "Hey, has anyone seen Zipp and Knuckles?"

"ATTENTION CI-DESSOUS!" Knuckles' voice suddenly called out saying 'CAUTION BELOW!' in French.

They broke the hug and turned up, seeing Knuckles diving towards them, more specifically towards Shadow, who simply deadpanned and teleported away, while the one that ended up tackled in the ground was Sonic, as both Knuckles and Sonic rolled and then crashed into a wall.

Everyone cringed after seeing this, while Shadow appeared again and chuckled when he saw that Sonic got hit instead.

"Misty, we found it!" Zipp called out next, and the group but Sonic and Knuckles turned to see her land between Hitch and Pipp, also panting a lot from how fast she came here.

"You found what?" Amy asked confused.

Knuckles then zoomed in while holding Sonic's hand, and he smiled widely. "What we've been looking for!" He answered, then he looked at Misty. "Girl, we found your magic door."

Misty gasped with wide eyes after hearing this.





Outside the market, the group followed Zipp and Knuckles.

Once the pair lead the rest to the same spot they found earlier, they moved the vines aside to reveal the door.

"This is it! This is the door!" Misty exclaimed in joy.

"We couldn't see if from the ground because it was so overgrown, but when I looked from the sky… Boom!" Zipp explained while spreading her hooves at the 'boom' word.

"Hey! I found the glow from the ground!" Knuckles complained. "You literally didn't saw anything until i pointed it out!"

"Ha! You wish." Zipp mocked up.

"You stupid chicken, I'm going to–-" Knuckles tried to say, but Izzy pulled him aside by grabbing one of his quills with her magic and dragging him away, making Knuckles groan in pain.

"Excuse us for a second!" Izzy said cheerfully, then she pushed Knuckles behind a bush, then she jumped into the bush.

Next thing everyone knew? Knuckles cried out loud for getting hit, and then Izzy came out of the bush humming happily, while Knuckles came out rubbing his right cheek.

"Did it hurt?" Amy teased Knuckles with a smirk.

"What do you think?" Knuckles replied with a deadpan, but still rubbing painfully his cheek.

Then, Zipp pushed the door, but it didn't budge. "Locked! Which means…" She looked at Misty eagerly.

"We need this!" Misty stated, as she took out her key with a smile.

"Oooh! Where will it lead us to?" Izzy asked excitedly.

"The Breezie who gave it to me said it would take me to the place I most wanted to go." Misty explained with a smile, but then Sparky started to gurgle sadly again. "But it can only be used one time."

"Is what I said." Knuckles reminded. "These keys appear every 10 years. It means that if you use it now, you'll have to wait ten long years 'till you can use it again."

"Well, what are you waiting for, Misty?!" Zipp said excitedly. "You can use the door to find your home! Your family!"

"I could, but…" Misty looked at her key, then she took a deep breath, and then walked up to Maretime Bay's Sheriff. "Hitch, I want to use this key for Sparky."

"What?" Hitch asked in surprise. "But what about your family?"

"Sparky needs to be around dragons." Misty pointed out with a smile. "You've all taught me the true meaning of family and friendship. I'm willing to wait a little loner to solve the mysteries of my past, if it means I can save Sparky's future. Besides, 10 years could go in a flash."

"Or be painfully slow." Shadow greeted his teeth, but Sonic hit him on his shoulder and denied with his head with a frown, which miraculously made Shadow shut his mouth, although he still rolled his eyes annoyed.

"Please let me do this." Misty urged Hitch. "After all, we're family now, right?"

Hitch and Sparky looked at each other, then they both smiled and nodded to Misty.

Misty smiled back and took a deep breath, then she turned to the door and walked up to it, taking off the key from her neck and placing it on the lock of the door. "The place I most want to go is where Sparky came from."

Suddenly, the key began to sparkle, and Misty gasped in awe.

"Something's happening." Sunny pointed out.

No crap, Sherlock. Shadow thought to himself with an eye roll, but since he wouldn't dare to offend Sunny, he kept the comment to himself.

"Take us to the Dragonlands!" Misty announced with a smile, turning the key, which disappeared and made her gasp again.

"It's working!" Izzy cheered.

"Okay, but do we think it's supposed to shake like that?" Pipp asked nervously.

"Maybe it's a little rusty." Zipp said with a nervous chuckle.

"Or the door's gonna explode and we're all gonna die." Sonic said with a neutral expression, gaining glares and deadpans from everyone else.

"Wow, thanks for the unconditional support." Tails said sarcastically.

"Remind me to never count on you for inspiration ever again." Knuckles frowned, and Sonic rolled his eyes annoyed.

Then, the door opened up and showed a portal inside, surprising the Mane 6.

"A door that's actually a portal to a place full of dragons." Sonic commented, then shrugged. "Just another Monday."

"So I guess now we just––" Misty started, feeling a little nervous.

"Step through this strange door into the unknown based entirely on the world of a tiny pixie pony!" Izzy finished cheerfully with a nervous chuckle.

"What's so strange about it?" Knuckles shrugged as well.

"Mom would not be pleased to know we were thinking about doing this." Pipp said nervously.

"When has that ever stop us?" Zipp questioned with a smirk.

"You guys act like if we were going to get killed or something. "Knuckles deadpanned. "Is just a damn portal! Not the gate to hell."

"Don't tempt destiny, Knuckles." Shadow warned him with a frown.

"Well… Okay then. You first, Hitch." Sunny suggested with a nervous smile.

"Me?" Hitch asked surprised. "No, no, I couldn't possibly. After you."

"Is this sexual tension, or just them teasing each other?" Sonic asked Amy in whispers.

"Yes." Amy replied in a whisper as well.

Just then, a leaf came out from the portal, surprising the group. When Sparky saw the leaves, he gurgled excitedly, and the rest turned to him.

"Look at him!" Hitch called out with a smile.

Sparky jumped from Hitch's back and picked up the leaf, then he started running to the portal and jumped in it, surprising everyone else.

"About damn time!" Sonic cheered, before boosting and crossing the portal without hesitating.

"Why am I not surprised he jumped first besides Sparky?" Knuckles deadpanned.

"Guess we have no choice now!" Sunny said with a small smile.

Hitch gave a determined look, as he and everyone else jumped inside the portal, with Shadow being the only one staying behind.

"I would go in, too... But I'd rather stay here in case the portal seems to unstable or something." Shadow told to himself, so he turned around and crossed his arms, determinate to watch over the portal.





The portal was open in the Dragonlands.

At the other side of said portal, the Mane 6 fell to the ground and landed over each other, with Izzy landing on top of the rest, while Team Sonic seemed to be the only ones that landed away from the others.

"Hey! That wasn't so bad." Izzy said cheerfully.

"Speak for yourself." Hitch groaned, since he was on the bottom along Pipp and Sunny.

"You guys should really get used to it." Sonic said with a smile. "It becomes more easier to handle over time."

"Say... Where's Shadow?" Amy questioned, as she cleaned some dust off her dress.

"Probably stood behind to guard." Knuckles deadpanned. "You know how he is: He worries for us, but chooses to not say anything and let his actions speak."

"Let me doubt the 'he worries for us' part." Tails deadpanned.

"Ditto." Sonic agreed with a nod, then he turned to the Mane 6 with a smile. "Anyways! You guys seeing this? It's beautiful!"

"Huh?" Zipp said, before she gasped, and so did the rest of the Mane 6.

They were no in a lush jungle of exotic plants, and the six ponies stood up. "It is beautiful!" Pipp said with sparkling eyes, then she took out her phone, which beeped again. "Definitely no service here, but…" She squealed and flew around like a happy, little filly, which Sonic found adorable as usual. "I can't wait to get photos of a real adult dragon!"

"I can't wait to meet another dragon." Zipp said next. "I have so many questions."

"I hope we're not disappointed." Sonic said with a smirk. "We've been teasing dragons since Season 2. We better see at least one of them!"

Yeah, you and everyone else is gonna be disappointed, and I'm not only talking about this story so far...

"Well, I did met a dragon before, and I don't mean Sparky." Knuckles said with a smirk. "I have never been here, but the dragon I met was quite a match!"

"Dude, you seriously have to speak more often and not wait until the last DAMN second to speak!" Sonic scolded him, and Knuckles rolled his eyes annoyed.

"Wait... You've met a dragon before?!" Sunny asked Knuckles with wide eyes.

"Have I?" Knuckles replied with a smirk. "He was quite a thing, I'll tell ya."






Angel Island - 15 Years Ago...


A younger Knuckles was walking near Lava Reef, making his rounds across the Island.

By this time, he already has got his eyes pink-colored instead of being black, and he simply was making sure that everything seemed to be fine... Until a rumble shook the entire Island.

"When I was younger, something shook the entire island while I did my rounds." Knuckles narrated, while his younger self attempted to keep his balance. "I thought that it could be Eggman attacking, so I rushed out of Lava Reef, where I was currently in, and went straight towards the Master Emerald."

Thinking that is was Eggman, Knuckles boosted to the Altar of Emerald to keep it safe from whatever made the island shake... But he found himself completely surprised when he was face to face with a really big dragon.

"Instead of Eggman, I found a giant dragon, eyeing the Master Emerald and trying to take it away from me." Knuckles narrated. "That dragon was huge and purple with green scales and belly. His wings resembled those of a gigantic bat, and his claws looked sharp. They shined so brightly that I could see my reflection in them."

As he narrated this, the dragon attempted to attack the Echidna, who jumped backwards and grabbed the Master Emerald then he putted behind him and looked back at the dragon with a frown.

"I was ready to fight that thing, but just when I jumped and aimed my punch to his face... A cry stopped me." Knuckles narrated.

In the memory, his younger self was about to hit the dragon on the face, but then, their eyes widened when they heard someone else crying. So, the dragon turned to their back and saw a pair of babies crying, while each of them hold on their paws a dragon egg.

Knuckles noticed this as well, and he glided back to the Master Emerald, but now he was looking confused at the dragon and the babies on their back.

"It turned out that dragon was a father, in search for food for his children." Knuckles narrated. "He told me that in his dimension they ran out of gems to feed their newborns, so now every dragon was crossing one dimension to the other in order to have crystals for their babies. I couldn't let them get the Master Emerald, but I did knew of a place where he could take as many gems as he needed."

Young Knuckles looked down in thought and rubbed his chin, before smiling at the adult dragon and nod while hitting his chest, since he was going to help the dragon out.

"After that, I lead that dragon to Hidden Palace, a place full of gems." Knuckles narrated. "The dragon took as many as he wanted - that is, three fourths of the palace - to feed both his babies and his fellow dragons. He thanked me for the help, and even taught me about dragon stuff. Heck, I could carry one of his eggs for a good while! And then, he thanked me once again before disappearing in a portal made out of his own dragon fire."





"Again, it could had been nice if you told us this before..." Sonic deadpanned.

"So you met an actual adult dragon from Equestria?!" Sunny asked excitedly.

"Well, considering the eggs that dragon carried looked like Sparky's before he hatched, I guess so." Knuckles replied.

"Oh! So that's why you knew about the egg being a dragon one!" Tails noted. "I thought it was because you hatched from an egg, and you know from other species that hatched from them, too."

"Is a little bit of both." Knuckles replied with a smile.

"You hatched from an egg?!" Zipp asked him with shock and wide eyes, also zooming to his face.

To this, Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Duh! I'm an echidna, one of the only two oviparous mammals that exist. My entire species was born from an egg." He replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.'

"Well, sorry for skipping school, Knucklehead." Sonic said sarcastically with an eye roll, before looking around. "Say... Where's Sparky?"

Once he said that, Hitch started to look around with concern. "Sparky?! Where'd he go?" He called out, just before Sparky came to him happily, as he jumped around his friends, and Hitch laughed. "There you are, little guy!" He said happily, then he picked Sparky up. "Look at him. This place is helping already!"

"Then we're in the right place." Tails said with a smile. "I thought for a moment this was other area, since Argyle's archives describe this place way differently than it currently looks.

Then, Hitch turned to Misty. "Thank you, Misty. Truly." He told her, while Sparky babbled to her, and Misty patted Sparky's head with a smile, just before Sparky jumped off Hitch's arms. 'Huh…"

The group watched Sparky running to a tree, and he started climbing it, then he turned to gesture the rest.

"It looks like he wants us to follow." Izzy said cheerfully. "Does he know the way?!"

"It must be instinct." Zipp theorized. "This is his homeland!"

"Hey, buddy!" Knuckles called out. "Do you know da wae?"

After hearing this. Sparky ran off again. "Whoa, wait for us, buddy!" Hitch said, while the Mane 6 and Team Sonic went after him.

Sparky kept running, while the ponies panted for breath, while Team Sonic seemed to be trotting and not tired at all. They're pretty much just holding back to not leave their friends behind. Then, Sparky stopped and landed in a big footprint, so he followed the tracks, also breathing his dragon fire around happily.

"He's so much better." Hitch said happily before, they all screamed when Sparky nearly hit them with his dragon fire. but then it was followed by laughs.

"And his fire's back!" Misty added, while Sparky kept breathing out his dragon fire.

"Again: That means we're in the right place." Tails repeated with a smile.

Then, Hitch turned to see Misty with a smile. "I can't believe you used your key to help Sparky instead of finding your family. Do you remember anything about them?"

"I wish I could…" Misty replied sadly at first, before she started to look around with a smile "But I'm glad I'm here to see this."

Now, Pipp brought out her phone and started to record this moment, since she cannot keep it up with her mega-pega-mindfulness anymore.

"I bet we're gonna see a big dragon any second now!" Pipp exclaimed excitedly.

"I wonder if the dragon I met is with them. Dang, if only I could remember his name..." Knuckles scratched his head.

Meanwhile, everyone else waited around for a dragon to show up... but for some reason, no dragon came to them. Heck, there wasn't even the slightest sign of rumbling or the ground shaking at their stomps. There simply was nothing of the dragons around here.

"Any second now!" Pipp repeated, but still nothing. "Any second now."

"Does anypony else sense there's something a little off here?" Zipp asked with concern.

"Besides the fact that there's nothing so dragon-y in here beyond the footprints?" Sonic asked with a bored expression, also kicking a rock near by.

"Huh, let me check." Izzy said, then she posed like if she was meditating, and the rest simply stared at her confused, while Sparky hopped around happily. "I'm definitely sensing some energies. A lacking of luminescence. And absence of sparkle, really." She began to hum again. "I think something happened here."

"No crap, Sherlock." Tails rolled his eyes.

"A lot of dragons seem to live here." Sunny pointed out. "There's all these clawprints, and those amazing statues but…"

"No dragons." Zipp finished.

Then, Hitch stepped over one of the clawprints. "Maybe they're just off foraging somewhere?"

"All of them? At the same time?" Sunny questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"And with Sparky here making all this commotion…" Zipp added with concern.

"Yeah, wouldn't his family hear? And want to come to him?" Pipp added confused.

"Hmm..." Sonic muttered, then he turned to see Knuckles. "Yo, Knux. You seem to be the one who knows about dragons the most. Is there anything you know about why their home would be this empty?"

"There's a lot of reasons I could think of, actually." Knuckles replied. "Dragons are creatures that constantly emigrate around the globe. They don't stand in a specific place for too long, and if they do, is rather because something scared them so much they'd rather remain hidden."

"What in the name of Chaos could scare big monsters with claws, pointy spikes, sharp teeth, and freaking fire breath?!" Amy asked confused.

"Something just as dangerous as a dragon." Knuckles replied with a frown. "And if it's not migration what they're doing, then they're definitely hunting food down. Perhaps the gems reserve they had ran out again, and now they're hunting for food. But usually at least 2 or three dragons stay around... Something's definitely off if there's no one else here."

"Maybe they all took off before we got here, or…" Zipp said, trying to think of another reason.

"Or somepony else got here before us." Misty said with concern.

"Opaline." Sunny said worryingly.

"That's what I mean with 'Something just as dangerous as a dragon'." Knuckles pointed out. "But if Opaline is as dangerous as you guys say she is, then she's even more dangerous. Ugh! If only I could remember the name of the dragon I met! I just remember it started with 'Sp'!"

"We can help you finding that out later, Knux. Right now, we've gotta find some other dragon around..." Amy pointed out. "If we find anyone, that is..."

Just then, Sparky came to them and babbled excitedly. "What is it?" Hitch asked him, but then, Sparky ran further again.

"I'm starting to think Sparky is more hyperactive than me. Is that a good thing or a bad one?" Sonic questioned, while scratching his head.

"It'll be hell if he ends up being like you." Knuckles deadpanned. "One Sonic is enough to deal with."

With everything said and done, they all followed Sparky to a cave, as he babbled to it amazed, while the rest caught up to him. As usual, the ponies felt nervous, while Team Sonic was not even impressed.

"Oh…" Izzy said before laughing. "No thanks, Sparky. Kind of you to show us your home, but I rather not go into a creepy cave." She chuckled nervously.

"Same." Pipp said in agreement. "One mysterious entryway in a day is plenty for me!"

"What? Is just a cave where probably an adult dragon lives." Knuckles pointed out confused.

"Or snakes, bats, rats... Anything's possible." Amy added with a smile.

"You guys used to these kind of stuff?" Zipp asked confused.

"Zipp, literally everyone present right now but Amy and Misty was turned into a digital ghost six months ago while I was fighting machines that came from Evangelion with Sleeping with Sirens vocalist singing in the background." Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "Why is a dark cave where we cross the line?"

Then, Sparky started to babble again, urging the rest to take a look. "Alright, I'll just take a look." Hitch said, although he was still feeling nervous.

"I'll go with you, Hitch." Sunny said with a smile.

"Is Sparky pushing his parents to be alone? I ask so we can turn around and let them be." Tails said with a mocking smirk, while the remaining mares and Amy tried not to burst out laughing.

As the three ponies went into the cave with Sparky and looked around, Knuckles was deep in thought, still trying to remember the name of the dragon he met 15 years ago.

On the other hand, Hitch cleared his throat inside the cave. "Hello?" He said, but no response reached his ears.

"I think you'll have to be louder than that." Sunny suggested, then she cleared her throat. "Anydragon in here?!"

Sunny's voice echoed through the cave for quite sometime, but no response reached her ears, either.

"Spencer... Spanky... Spot..." Knuckles was muttering.

"What are you doing?" Misty asked him confused.

"I'm trying to remember the dragon I met's name, but I've got notting besides the 'Sp' part." Knuckles replied.

"Well, unless you can spike this mystery out, I'm afraid we'll be stuck in here for a while." Sonic deadpanned.

Yet Knuckles' eyes widened when Sonic talked, and he zoomed to his face. "What did you just said?!" He asked him.

"Uh... That I'm afraid we'll be stuck––" Sonic tried to repeat.

"Before that!" Knuckles clarified.

"That unless you can spike this mystery out––" Sonic said, but then Knuckles threw him away, just the same way Izzy throws Pipp away sometimes.

"That's it!" Knuckles said with a smile, then he zoomed inside the cave, took a deep breath, and then shouted his lungs out. "SPIKEEEEEEE!!!"

This time around, a pair of glowing eyes appeared, which startled the ponies. Then, more eyes opened up, and then a bunch of bats came out of the came, making the ponies of the group scream, except Izzy since she laughed, then the bats flew away.

"Ha! I knew bats could be in there!" Amy said with a smile.

"No dragons in there, either!" Hitch said with a sheepish smile, but that made Sparky sigh in sadness.

"Then they definitely are hiding somewhere else." Knuckles pointed out with a frown. "I saw some traces of food inside the cave, which means they didn't left to get more."

"Where could they have gone?" Sunny wondered with concern.

"They must've sensed the growing dragon fire power in Opaline." Misty theorized.

"You sound so sure." Zipp pointed out worried.

"She's been the closest thing I've had to family for a long time.” Misty explained as she continued. “I know Opaline's interest in total domination goes way beyond Equestria."

"She wants to rule over the Dragonlands too?" Zipp asked in shock.

"Over everything." Misty said with concern. "She wanted Sparky's dragon fire to gain power. Maybe she wanted to take it from the other dragons too! And maybe they fled before she could get to them?" She theorized, which scared Sparky as he nuzzled Hitch's leg.

"Huh... That actually makes Eggman betraying Opaline kind of weird." Pipp pointed out. "He said that he wanted to rule it all as well, and he was actually trying to do so, but Opaline stood back. And he even betrayed her!"

"Yeah, he shook her like..." Izzy said, then made weird noises as if she was being electrocuted to prove her point.

"So why did he betrayed someone that has the same aspirations than him?" Pipp questioned.

"Eggman's never been the kind of guy that likes to share." Tails explained. "He just uses those that make his game easier on the way to conquer everything, and if they're not of use to him anymore, he ditches them like trash. That's how it's always been, and I doubt it'll change anytime soon."

"Yeah, Eggman has his goals pretty clear." Sonic deadpanned, before smirking. "But so we do! Kicking his butt and Opaline's flank before any of them try to pull out a new move again!"

"That is, if we can find out what are they up to first." Tails pointed out with a frown. "I still need to finish that device to tear down Opaline's barrier, and I have no sign of Eggman from my drones yet. Eggman's been really quiet ever since what happened in the Starfall Islands, and I don't like it."

"Me neither. Whatever he's up to now must be big if he's this secretive about it." Amy pointed out with a frown as well.

"For now, let's just hope that the dragons actually left after sensing Opaline's power growing." Knuckles stated.

Hitch rubbed Sparky's head for comfort. "Let's hope that's what happened. Being with Misty and coming here has shown me that everypony deserves to find their home. Where they belong. Maybe Sparky belongs with dragons."

"Are you thinking of... leaving him here?" Sunny asked surprised, while Sparky hugged Hitch's leg again.

Hitch looked around and stared at a dragon statue. "One day, I'll have to let him go. But I won't leave him here, all alone." He stated, then he looked down at Sparky. "I'll be Sparky's protector for as long as he needs me."

Sparky hugged him happily after he said that, while Knuckles came by and picked the baby dragon up, placing him on his head. "Which means that you won't say goodbye to us anytime soon!" Knuckles declared with a smirk.

"And as long as you need us, we'll help you open as many doors as we have to, to find your family." Sunny said to Misty.

"That also means you won't get rid of me so easily!" Tails mocked Misty up with a smirk as well.

"Um, yeah about that..." Izzy said suddenly, as she looked around nervously. "Anypony remember how to get back to the door?"

That made the others look around for the way they came in, but none of them could remember where they've been, not even Sparky.

"Great, now we're lost in a jungle on Chaos knows where!" Sonic groaned and rolled his eyes annoyed.

"Don't sweat it, ponies!" Pipp called out, and everyone turned to her, seeing she was holding a piece of a petal. "I got it covered." She said, then she flew to a trail of petals on the ground. "I left a trail of jungle flower petals I just picked up for my all-natural beauty line so we could find our way back." She explained, flying around and sniffing the petals. "And these one smell tropical, like passionfruit! Mmm, yumi!"

Everyone else sighed in relief, and they all walked their way back to the portal.

"Smart thinking!" Hitch complimented.

"This is why I love you, Little Pipp!" Sonic said with a smile.

"Thank hoofness." Izzy added gratefully.

Meanwhile, Zipp looked at her sister with a smirk. "What?" Pipp asked.

"Nothing. I'm just... impressed." Zipp said to her sister with pride.

"Hey, you're not the only sister who can do cool tricks!" Pipp said with a smile, before she picked up another petal and sniffed it. "Oh, and this one smells just like 'Canter Number 5'!" She sniffed the petal again.

Zipp chuckled after seeing that. "Let's go!"

Then, the sisters flew off to catch up to the others back the way they came.

Yet as they moved, Sonic could hear a chuckle from behind, and he immediately turned to the cave, just for his eyes to widen in panic when he saw Cyber Sonic again, analyzing a petal similar to the ones Pipp made a trial with.

"All of this effort is so... pointless." Cyber Sonic spoke, then it turned to see Sonic. "In the end, this world's fate won't be avoided. It'll still fall, and you will witness it on first row."

Sonic panicked at his words, but then shook his head and moved forward before making any of his friends worry or notice that he was hallucinating again. The last thing he wanted was to worry them... Even though they were already, despite not having saying it out loud yet.

He's gone, Sonic. He told himself mentally. He can't hurt you or your friends. Not anymore.





Later on, Shadow stared at the portal with concern.

The Mane 6 and Team Sonic have been gone for at least 20 minutes, and even though the portal seemed stable so far, he was worried that none of them would come back intact, but he was mostly concerned for Sunny.

But then, Sunny was the first one to walk back from the door, followed by the rest of the Mane 6, and finally by Team Sonic, with Sonic himself being the last one to cross. After that, the portal closed and the doors shut, something that confused Misty, before she went with her friends.

"And here I thought you guys wouldn't made it." Shadow mocked up with a smirk.

"That'll make you happy if Sunny wasn't with us, Faker." Sonic mocked him up back.

"Won't even try to deny it!" Shadow replied, and Sonic deadpanned, also rolling his eyes.

The group made it back to the entrance of the Night Market, but then the breezies flying out of the entrance closed it.

"Guess that's it for the Night Market." Sunny said, while the breezies flew off to their homes.

Izzy then walked up to a breezie. "Pardon me, when does this mystical magical market come back?" She asked.

The breezie spoke slowly with a smile and flew off, while Izzy tilted her head confused.

Hitch then come up to Misty. “She says, ‘You never know’.” He repeated while talking it slowly to Izzy.

"Huh, that doesn't really narrow it down." Izzy commented in thought.

"The breezies are just playing with you, Izz." Knuckles told her with a smile, also wrapping his arm around her neck. "They open at night. Hence why it's called 'Night Market'."

Just then, a couple of breezies flew up to Sonic and gave him something n his hand that made his eyes open wide: The owl statue from Longclaw that he saw earlier.

Sonic looked up at the breezies confused, and they told him something at fast paste. "R-Really? I-I can keep it?!" The breezies nodded, and Sonic looked down at the statute again before smiling. "Thanks. This means a lot to me."

The breezies smiled, then waved their hooves and flew off, while Sonic smiled warmly at the statue.

"One more thing to keep your memory alive, Mom." Sonic muttered, before putting the statue on his quills.

Meanwhile, Misty was looking at the tree in deep thought. "Hey, Misty? We just wanted to see if you're okay." Sunny said with concern for her friend.

"You've been a bit down ever since we walked back to the portal on the Dragonlands." Tails pointed out with worry.

"Yeah, and if you wanna share anything else you might have learned about your past, we're all ears." Zipp said as well with a smile, and not being so pushy over her questions this time around.

However, Misty sighed disappointed. "I wish I had more to tell." She replied, then began to look around. "At least I know I've been to Bridlewood. But, I'm not any closer to figuring out who was in my memory or who I used to belong to." She said sadly as she walked around, but then she smiled. "But that's okay for now."

"Well, as long as you have us, you have family." Tails said with a smile, as he stood next to her and pushed her playfully in her shoulder, making Misty chuckle.

"And you have our Zephyr Heights family too!" Pipp added, flying down to stand at Misty's other side, before she gasped as she remembered something. "I totally forgot to tell you we saw my mom in the market earlier today!"

"Queen Haven was here?" Hitch asked surprised.

"Yep!" Pipp answered with a nod. "She was walking around with Alphabittle. Oh, look!" She then brought out a golden sparkling photo booth picture. "We went into that enchanted photo booth together!"

The others huddled around to see the pictures, and soon, both Sonic and Knuckles bursted out laughing after saying it, while Pipp and Izzy laughed as well.

"Ha-ha! Zipp! What is the expression you're making?!" Izzy asked.

The photo booth pictures seemed to be magical, and it showed the sisters, Queen Haven, Cloudpuff and Alphabittle. Each section changed into a different photo, and Zipp's face was always off and weird in all of them, which made everyone but Zipp laugh. Shadow even grinned and snorted a bit.

"I wasn't ready!" Zipp complained and covered herself in embarrassment.

Tails then flew up and embraced her into a hug. "I say you look really cute, Zipp~" He told her with a wink and a flirty tone that made Zipp blush and chuckle nervously.

But then, Izzy saw Misty looking at the pictures longingly. "Huh, and what's the expression you're making, Misty? Is something wrong?"

"Oh no. Another vision?" Zipp asked in concern.

"Is it good or bad?" Tails asked anxiously.

"Is it Opaline this time?" Sunny asked next.

Misty shook her head. "No, it's not that, I… I think I recognize…" She started, looking even more closely to the picture, but only focusing on Alphabittle. "Who is that?"

"Oh, that's Alphabittle!" Pipp answered. "We've mentioned him before. He runs the Crystal Tea Room here in Bridlewood."

But after Pipp explained this, Misty walked off with a sad and confused expression, while the others looked at her.

"Um, Misty?" Hitch asked.

But while Misty stood in front of her friends in deep thought, her Cutie Mark started to glow again. "Wait a second, Alphabittle's Cutie Mark was glowing today too." She said, rubbing her chin with a hoof, before gasping and flying to Misty. "Misty! In your vision, the large shadow, is it possible that it wasn't a creature after all?"

"Huh?" Tails said confused. "Zipp, what are trying to––" Yet he cut himself off, and his eyes widened. "You are not suggesting what I think you're suggesting... Are you?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Sonic asked, completely lost already.

Misty, however, thought for a moment on Zipp's words, before she gasped and remembered everything once again.





Filly Misty was looking at the glowing door.

But then, she turned to see a large shadow behind her. Yet this image zoomed in closely, and in the end, the large shadow happened to be Alphabittle, a young Alphabittle who's hair was dark blue, as he was looking for Misty around the fog.

"Where'd ya go, pumpkin?" Alphabittle called out with concern. "It's almost dinner-time!"





Misty was brought back to reality in shock.

She finally remembered what that figure was, and she could barely believe it. "D-d-d… Dad?!"

This made everyone else but Shadow gasp dramatically in utter shock and disbelief.

"Alphabittle is your dad?!" Izzy shouted in shock.

"What the hell is going on in this episode?!" Knuckles shouted. "Anyone else has an incredibly and shocking revelation to share right now?! I mean, now that we're at it, that is!"

"This crap went from 0 to 100 to freaking fast, even for my liking!" Sonic shouted with a twitchy eye.

"Why aren't you surprised?!" Amy asked Shadow, as she grabbed him from his shoulders and glared daggers at him.

"I already knew it." Shadow replied. "Both Misty and Alphabittle's Cutie Marks were casually glowing the same day under the same unknown circumstances. Even a foal would had guessed that if it payed enough attention."

"Yeah, yeah we get it, Shadow." Amy said with an eye roll, as she placed a hand on his face and pushed him away. "You're cool, the Ultimate Life-Form, figured this on your own, yada-yada-yada."

Tails, on the other hand, approached Misty with wide eyes. "This... This is hard to process..." He confessed. "Alphabittle is your dad?!"

"Yeah, I think so." Misty replied with a big smile.

"Wow." Tails said with an awkward chuckle, then he looked down in thought. "Shadow makes a point, actually. The glowing marks should've been obvious enough. But still, I'm glad we finally have the answer. Just... How do you think your other dad's gonna feel if he finds out?"

Misty looked a bit concerned after hearing this, and she looked down in thought. "I... I don't know. I doubt he'll mind, if what you said earlier of him is true, but if he does... I don't think he'll interfere, either. If he really cares for me, and I really believe he does, then he'll be happy and leave me alone. Besides, I really wanna meet my real family!"

Tails smiled at this answer, while Zipp zoomed at Misty's side and wrapped a hoof around her with a smirk. "We gotta get to the Crystal Tea Room right now!" She declared.

However, none of them noticed a pair of red eyes recording the entire thing, even their conversation. And soon, the figure that recorded it all stepped back and got lost in the forest.





A the Crystal Tea Room was already closing again.

Inside, Queen Haven was helping Alphabittle to clean around, grabbing some cups and walking up to him.

"I didn't even believe in Breezies before today!" Alphabittle said with happiness, putting his teacups away. "Ha! And then, one beat me at a tea-tasting contest!"

Haven chuckled a bit. "I never know what excitement awaits me in Bridlewood." She said in amusement, before looking at Alphabittle with a loving gaze. "Although… You're welcome to join me in Zephyr Heights, whenever you'd like."

But Alphabittle looked concerned after she said that, however. "Yeah, about that, um… I haven't been totally honest with you about why I don't like to leave Bridlewood."

Then, Alphabittle went over to a shelf with photos and took one off, handling it to Haven. This picture was one of a young blue filly with a striped blue mane in a pigtail, holding a bunnycorn plushie.

"How adorable! But... I don't understand. Who is she?" Haven asked.

"... My daughter." Alphabittle admitted, which made Haven gasp.

"You have a––" Haven trailed off in shock.

"She went missing, many moons ago. I searched everywhere, but... I couldn't find her." Alphabittle lamented over the loss of his daughter. "So the real reason I can't leave Bridlewood is because I need to be here, when my filly comes home."

Then, Alphabittle put the picture back on the self.

"Oh my lovely Alphabittle, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Haven breathed, putting a hoof on his chest.

"It never gets easier..." Alphabittle sighed, but then, his Cutie Mark began glowing again. "Why does this keep happening today?"

"D-Dad?" Misty called out suddenly, as she entered the Crystal Tea Room, with the pair's Cutie Marks glowing together.

"Misty is... your daughter?" Haven gasped in shock.

"Misty? But how?" Alphabittle gasped.

"I'm home, Dad." Misty smiled, before she galloped over to Alphabittle, and he did the same, as the pair met each other and hugged deeply.

"You are home." Alphabittle cried.

"Aw, Dad.” Misty smiled.

"And I'm never letting you go again." Alphabittle smiled with tears of joy, finally having found his daughter after years apart and Misty now knowing she had a real father in her life.

The rest of the Mane 6 and Team Sonic arrived just in time to witness the beautiful family moment, with Knuckles trying so hard not to brake down in tears.

Shadow, on the other hand, lay on a wall outside of the teashop, since he was not too fond of wholesome moments, but he still smiled, knowing that everything inside was going well, and deep down he was happy for Misty on finding her family, even if he'll never show it.





The next day, everyone but Shadow returned to the Tea Room.

Shadow choose to stay in the bay with Rouge and Omega to check over the Crystals, while in the teashop, each of the Mane 6 and Team Sonic mixed up on their own tables while enjoying some tea.

Sonic, Tails and Amy were on a table; Sunny and Hitch on another; Knuckles and Izzy on third one; and Zipp, Pipp and their mother on a fourth one, while Alphabittle showed his founded daughter around the teashop.

"So um… do you wanna hear about my tea kettle collection?" Alphabittle asked, hardly containing his excitement as he showed Misty his tea kettle collection on a shelf. "Of course you don't! That probably wouldn't be interesting." He rubbed his hoof nervously.

"I'd love to hear it." Misty answered with a smile. "I wanna hear everything."

Alphabittle was surprised, but then he smiled. "Aw, kid, I just can't believe it." He wiped his tears of joy off his eyes. "Okay, well um, I started my collection before you were even born, when I sat in on an ancient tea ceremony held by unicorn elders."

Meanwhile, Haven and her daughters smiled at the two getting along, but as Haven sipped her tea, one of Sparky's dragon fire hit her teacup and turned it into a butterfly.

They all turned to Sparky, who was babbling excitedly and running around the tea shop. Soon, Sunny stood in front of him, so he skidded to stop before breathe his dragon fire out, which startled her.

"Sparky! No inside fire!" Hitch cried out, as he chased after Sparky, then caught him and placed him on Izzy and Knuckles' table with an anxious look.

"Look who's back to be an hyperactive little fella!" Knuckles said with a smile, as he patted Sparky's head.

"Heh, so sorry, Alphabittle!" Hitch apologized anxiously, while Izzy tickled Sparky. "He's still trying to learn to control his fire breathing, and ever since we all went to the Dragonlands, it's more powerful than ever."

But Hitch made the mistake of mentioning that, and Haven heard it, so she looked at her daughters in shock. "You all went where?!" She asked with wide eyes, while Zipp and Pipp stood stiff with wide eyes as well.

"Busted." Sonic muttered with a playful smile.

Seeing that they were caught, Pipp moved back nervously. "Uh, I think I have to go work on my Mane Hoof line!" She flew off, while Haven glared at her.

"And I, uh, gotta help her!" Zipp said nervously, flying after her sister.

"Girls!" Haven angrily yelled, as she flew after her daughters with anger.

The others watched the royal family go, and with the strange exception of Tails, everyone else laughed at the scene.

"It's okay, Hitch." Alphabittle told him with a smile. "Nothing can dent my mood now." He gave Misty a side hug. "And I'm glad to see Sparky feels well enough to be a hoof-ful again."

"I'm glad too." Hitch said with a smile. "Even when it's tough, I love being Sparky's dragon-pony-dad." He stated, as he nuzzled the baby dragon happily.

"Well said." Alphabittle said, then he levitated tea cups for him, Hitch, Sunny, Sparky, Izzy, Misty, and Team Sonic. "To family." He announced with his cup raised. "We wouldn't want it any other way!"

"Yeah! To family!" The group but Tails announced together.

And then, Sparky sipped his tea, but then he burped out his dragon fire, turning Hitch's mane and tail color to rainbow streaks and flowers, something Hitch noticed and despised.

"Sparky, not the mane!" Hitch cried out, as he looked at his now changed mane and tail with concern, while Sparky looked at him innocently.

Both Sonic and Knuckles bursted out laughing at this, while Amy playfully touched his mane a bit. "Yeah, this colors suit Sunny, but not you."

Hitch rolled his eyes, but then he look a Sparky and smiled, since he can't stay mad at him for so long. Then, Sparky grabbed his tail, and then everyone but Tails started to laugh again.

Speaking of Tails, he was deep in thought. Even if he did grabbed the cup, he didn't participated on the toast that Alphabittle made, and he was so lost on his own thoughts that anyone else's voices where echoing... At least until Sonic smacked him on his head.

"Ow!" Tails complained in pain.

"Well, about time you hear!" Sonic scolded him with half a frown. "What's gotten into you, buddy?"

Tails rubbed his head a bit and looked back on the ground with a concerned expression. "Nothing important, is just... We haven't really sat down like this to consider how odd it is that Eggman's so quiet lately."

"Uh, I thought we agreed that his attack will happen when it happen?" Sonic said confused.

"Well, yeah, but we've never been so misinformed on his moves like now!" Tails pointed out. "At least last year, we knew he wanted the Crystals and the magic to become so powerful and almost unstoppable, which he actually did. And in the Starfall Islands, we knew he tried to hack Cyberspace to get his hands on the Ancients' technology. But what do we know about his next plan? Nothing! He hasn't shown up in months! I know that's a good thing, but... It concerns me how big his next plan will be, considering how big the last two were."

"You're worried that any of our friends goes through what Sunny went through, right?" Sonic asked him concerned. "Or if Sunny herself will get through something similar again."

"I don't want more friends to suffer." Tails replied. "That's why I'm focusing as much as I can on Eggman, but there's this neat experiment I've been wanting to do for so long... I don't know if keep delaying it, or just go for it already."

"Well, listen to your heart, buddy." Sonic told him with a smile. "It'll show you the right thing to do. And we'll find Eggman eventually. He can't stay hidden forever, anyways. Besides, we still gotta show him what happens when he messes with a friend, our more specifically: With our sister!" He extended his fist to him.

Tails smiled after hearing this, and then, he fist bumped with Sonic, since they were both ready to defeat Eggman for what he did to Sunny.





Metal Sonic was slowly descending on an elevator that leads to Eggman's new hidden lab.

Once he reached the bottom, the doors opened, and Metal boosted towards the main room, where he found Eggman still testing out the Metal Virus with Sage.

The robot stood behind Eggman, but since his steps were too loud, he didn't had to turn around to see him there.

"Welcome back, Metal." Eggman said. "Report."

Metal Sonic nodded, and so, he played an holographic screen that showed him following the Mane 6, Team Sonic and Shadow around the forest ever since they arrived. He heard the entire thing about Misty wanting to have a family, about finding it with her new friends.

That actually made Eggman feel bad and concerned, because he still remembers that he considered her family. Yet Misty still had relatives out there... Unlike him, that he's all alone here with his machines.

Yes, Sage was alive, but she was an AI for now, and he was still working on creating her a new physical body. But what definitely crushed him was to hear that Alphabittle was Misty's father, and that's when he knew that she was lost... That she was on better hooves and hands now.

Maybe it was for the best that Misty was with someone that would take care of her properly. A life with villainy would never made her happy, and even if it hurt, a life with him wouldn't either.

"... Thanks for the report, Metal. Go back and... Keep and eye on them." Eggman informed.

Frustrated for being reduced to this task, Metal Sonic nodded and turned around, leaving the room and getting back to the forest, while Eggman turned back to the Metal Virus experiment... But instead he stared at his reflection. There was something on it that he despised.

Was it his looks? His mustache? His glasses? No... It was the pain that only he could see over himself, the pain of having lost two daughters in such a short amount of time.

First, Misty betrayed him and Opaline by joining their enemies as an ally, even gaining her Cutie Mark by helping them out. Then, Sage sacrificed herself by launching Supreme's damaged body against The End to save Equis from destruction... All of that with 2 months of difference.

Now, six months after physically lost his second daughter, he felt lost and confused on what to do. The Metal Virus wasn't progressing so far, so maybe it was time to––

"Father!" Sage's voice called out suddenly in excitement, and Eggman got out of his thoughts.

But when he looked forward, his eyes widened in shock: The plant that they infected with the new sample of the virus was... Intact. It was infected entirely, it's signs seemed to remain stable, and the plant wasn't dying... The Metal Virus was stable. It was done. It was ready.

"The plant remains alive!" Sage said. "The stats show that it's molecules have been replace with the virus' ones, but in general... It lives. You did it! We have completed the Metal Virus!"

Hearing this gave Eggman a confidence boost so big and bright that it made him smile sinisterly as usual, and he even began to laugh maniacally as well.

Whatever thoughts he has seconds ago were gone, and good ol' Dr. Eggman was back in all his glory.

"Eggcellent!" Eggman declared. "The next step on our plan is a go: The take over for the land of Equestria!"

After saying that, he once again laughed like a maniac, and he was more than ready to put his new Metal Virus in action.