//------------------------------//
// 10. Zombot Apocalypse 
// Story: Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: Make Your Mark - Season 3 
// by BronySonicFan 
//------------------------------//

Sonic has met up with Eggman in various and strange ways in the past.

Sometimes he found the doctor in a very bad mood, sometimes he found him on a very good one instead, which usually always lead to bigger problems; and sometimes he even discovered him so outraged that he simply attacked him without thinking straight, which usually allowed him to win.

Today, however, was the very first time in his life that he was afraid to even look at Eggman.

It was bad to look at him out of his Eggmobile already, but the fact that his whole body looked like metal, that he had no glasses, and that his sight seemed totally lost was bad... Well, the sharp teeth and the spike-alike wrists are bad too.

"Uh... Eggman?" Sonic asked confused, stepping a bit back since he never saw Eggman so creepy before.

Yet he got no answer, as Eggman stared at him blankly.

"This is giving me the creeps..." Sonic muttered with concern.

Soon enough, however, Sunny stood in front of him, activated her Alicorn form and lightened her horn up. "So 6 months of absence bring you back to what, Eggman?!" she asked him in rage, since she was ready to get some payback for what happened with the Death Egg Titan.

However, Eggman still remained silent, which now confused her as well.

"Why is he so awfully quiet?" Amy asked, raising her Piko Piko Hammer just in case.

"Shouldn't he be mocking us up on how are we gonna lose or something?" Zipp asked, as she stood defensive in front of Pipp, while Tails did the same with Misty, also pointing a plasma gun to Eggman.

But then, Eggman stepped inside the Brighthouse, making really weird sounds as well, like if he was some kind of zombie.

"Okay, this is just getting creepier... How about some context, Egghead?!" Sonic asked with a frown, while both him and Sunny stepped a bit back.

But instead, Eggman just slowly entered the Brighthouse and approached Sunny and Sonic, which made latter gulp and the former frown and light her horn up, although she was also sweating nervously.

"Seriously, Eggman. If this is some kind of joke, is not funny!" Sunny said with anger and a nervous tone, as she lightened her horn brightly.

Again, Eggman replied nothing and kept walking towards them like a zombie.

"Okay, this drawing a line beyond creepy!" Hitch said with a frown, as he placed Sparky on his back, since he was hugging him in a protective manner when Eggman arrived, and then made his hooves glow in green, getting ready to attack.

Ans still, Eggman was just getting closer to Sunny and Sonic.

"D-Doctor... P-Please step back..." Sunny said entirely nervously, because even if Eggman made her pay a whole month of therapy, deep down she didn't wanted to shot him.

But Eggman didn't stepped back. It was like if his mind wasn't responding to him, and he was just walking to them.

"Eggman!" Sonic called out next. "This isn't funny anymore... Say something!" he begged this time around.

But Eggman didn't said anything, and just extended his hand, ready to touch Sunny.

Gulping nervously, the named Alicorn looked at him extremely scared. "W-Well... You can't say I didn't warned you!" she declared, as he horn lightened up brightly.

And then, just seconds before Eggman touched her, Sunny let out a massive blast with her horn, one that came out of the Brighthouse's entrance and blurred everyone's sights.

Slowly, everyone started to slowly open their eyes, as they all adapted to the light of the place again. Sunny thankfully wasn't touched by Eggman, but a scream of despair from Izzy made everyone else alert. They all looked around in despair, but it wasn't until they all saw that she was pointing at one direction and saw in said direction that they realized why she screamed in the first place...

Right in front of them, Dr. Eggman chest had a hole, because Sunny's blast traversed him entirely.

Weirdly enough, though, Eggman didn't showed any sign of feeling bad or being in a difficult position. In fact, he was standing normally, and his gaze was still completely lost.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for the heroes: Tails' eye twitched, Knuckles felt anxious, Pipp and Amy covered their mouths in shock, Hitch covered Sparky's eyes and look anxiously at the hole in Eggman's chest, Zipp had to make herself look away, Izzy was already petrified at the sight, and Misty went to bathroom to throw up in there.

As for Sonic and Sunny? The former was hoping to be in a bad dream that he'll wake up soon, while the latter's Alicorn form disappeared, and she stared with pure shock at what her horn just did, at what she just did.

"... I... I-I just..." Sunny said with shock, as she looked down at her hooves and started to breath heavily.

"He... He's really... Gosh..." Sonic muttered with shock and wide eyes.

However, before anyone else could even process what just happened, they all heard Eggman kind of laughing.

So, as Misty came back from the bathroom, they all noticed how Eggman's hole was... regenerating. No, seriously, the hole was slowly disappearing and getting filled by some weird metallic liquid, until the hole was fully covered and even restored the aspect of Eggman's clothes.

His laugh stopped, and soon, he resumed his walk towards Sonic and Sunny, which made the former grab the earth pony mare and step back entirely.

"What the actual heck just happened?!" Knuckles shouted in shock and panic.

"I don't know... But whatever that thing is, it clearly isn't Eggman!" Sonic said with a frown, as he placed Sunny down.

"So I didn't killed him?!" Sunny asked, both relieved but still concerned for what was going on.

"Then why does it look and kinda sounds like him?!" Amy asked with concern.

"Whatever's the reason behind, I don't give a damn!" Hitch said with a frown, before he stomped his hooves on the ground and made some vines grow big enough to tie Eggman's feet.

However, this was a big mistake, because the vines soon started to get infected by the same metallic liquid over Eggman, and it was spreading at a very fast paste. And, since the vines were still linked to Hitch's hooves, the liquid extended until it made contact with the sheriff's right hoof.

"Ah!" Hitch screamed in panic. "It's on me, that thing's on me! Get it off, get it off!" he cried out in panic, rubbing his hooves over each other.

"Hitch!" Sunny cried out in panic, but when she was about to move to him, both Knuckles and Sonic interfered and stopped her.

Hitch was desperately trying to get the liquid off him, and Sparky even saw some spreading on the pony's neck, so he tried to remove it by rubbing his claws over it, but the liquid ended up spreading over the baby dragon as well.

And just like that, at a very slow paste, the liquid spread over Hitch's and Sparky's bodies, until they got completely infected by the liquid and stopped moving for a second... Just to slowly turn around and look at their friends with the same lost gaze that Eggman had.

Their bodies looked more metallic now, and both their iris and sclera looked entirely red, like if they were some kind of robotic zombies.

Sunny felt her heart shattering at the sight... Her crush was now infected with whatever Eggman had over him, as well as Sparky. Worse of all, this also made her realize that she shot at the real Eggman, and even if he regenerated, it doesn't changes the fact of what happened.

"Hitch? Sparky?!" Knuckles called out confused, but getting a zombie-kind of roar was enough answer to know that he was a goner, and that Eggman was infected with something too.

"What the hell is going on?!" Tails screamed in panic, pointing his plasma gun back and forth between Eggman and Hitch.

"Uh... I don't like where this is going..." Misty muttered in panic.

"Me neither!" Pipp said as well, and even if she would usually find spooky stuff entertaining, this was beyond creepy, even for her.

"Hitch..." Sunny muttered, as she started to tear up while looking at her childhood friend. "Hitch... Please say something..." she begged.

"I doubt she'll reply, Sunny!" Amy said, slightly panicked, but still having her hammer high just in case.

"I don't think any of them is going to say something..." Sonic pointed out with concern.

Just then, the Brighthouse door was shut down, as various ponies from Maretime Bay entered the Brighthouse... All having the same lost gaze, metallic body and red eyes as Eggman, Hitch and Sparky.

"Aw, great! There's more of them now!" Sonic complained, turning his electrical powers on, while he and everyone else started to walk backwards from all the infected ones.

Posey, Dahlia and Toots were infected too, and they were the ones getting closer to the group, along Eggman, Hitch and Sparky. Soon, other ponies were approaching as well, like Sprout, Toots, Rufus, Sweets, Fifi, Windy, the Pippsqueaks, the Filly Three, and even Jazz and Rocky.

It was a nightmare come true, and it was just going to get worse...

"The damn apocalypse has arrived!" Knuckles said with anger, punching his fists together and turning on his powers. "I knew we'll eventually get caught by the end of the world, but I was hoping it wouldn't be today!" he complained.

"This is just a nightmare..." Misty said, as she curled into a ball in the floor and chuckled anxiously. "Yeah! Is just a nightmare! We'll eventually wake up and we'll laugh about this, right?!" she asked with a twitchy eye.

"I wouldn't mind waking up right now!" Pipp cried out in panic.

But just then, all the ponies approaching them were traversed by two robotic figures: The first one was Omega, who stopped moving in front of the group and then turned around, aiming all of his weapons to the infected ones.

"Omega?!" Amy asked with wide eyes. "H-how did you got here?!" she asked confused.

"Where's Shadow? A-And Rouge?!" Sunny asked with concern.

However, Omega replied nothing and instead started to shot at all the infected ones, traversing all of their bodies with his bullets... The Pippsqueaks' included.

It hurt him a lot to do so. Even if he's just a robot, Omega definitely had a very soft spot for the Pippsqueaks, and being obligated to shoot at them just to keep them away from those who he starts to call his friends... It was painful, but it was necessary if he wanted to avoid them getting infected as well.

Yet some of the infected ponies were coming from the other side, something Izzy noticed. "We've got trouble at 12!" she cried out with concern.

But just when Sonic, Tails and Zipp noticed this as well, something completely unexpected happened: Metal Sonic, the second robotic figure that arrived, used his claws to slice apart some elder ponies that tried to approach the group, and once he was done, he looked over his shoulder at the heroes, but specifically at Sonic.

"... You own me one, hedgehog..." Metal Sonic said, although his voice sounded like a bunch of recycled voice clips from other people, like Eggman and Sonic himself.

"What the heck is going on today..." Sonic muttered with shock.

But then, Omega ran out of bullets, and he looked at his arms with concern. "This is gonna be a problem..." he muttered.

"Well, what do we do now?!" Zipp asked in panic.

"We get the hell out of here!" Metal Sonic replied, this time using a mixed voice clip from Knuckles and Amy, while he flew in front of Omega and charged a laser beam on his chest, before shoot it against all the infected ones in front of the Brighthouse. "Don't stand there! Is time to run!" Metal said, now using voice clips of Knuckles and Sonic.

"Why is Metal Sonic helping us?!" Knuckles questioned. "Are we on a simulation or something?!" he shouted confused.

"No time to figure it out here!" Tails said, as he grabbed Zipp and Misty from their hooves, before boosting towards the bedroom, making the two mares he grabbed yelp in surprise.

"Well, you heard the fox!" Pipp said, as she flew and grabbed Sonic from his hand, while Sonic exchanged placed and grabbed both Pipp and Sunny from their hooves, also boosting towards the room.

Knuckles grabbed Izzy and Amy as well and also boosted to the bedroom, with Omega following them, and Metal Sonic stopped using his chest laser, also following the rest to the bedroom... None of them noticed that Amy's hand rosed a hoof of one of the infected ones.

Once the whole group was there, Omega and Metal Sonic closed the doors, also using Sunny's and Pipp's beds to ensure that no one was going to enter the bedroom.

"Hey!" Pipp complained.

Omega looked up at his weapons and then turned to Tails. "I need a recharge" he pointed out.

"I'm on it!" Tails said, as he took out several munitions for Omega and putted some on a backpack he putted on, before giving two of them to Omega.

Omega grabbed the two munitions and recharged his weapons. Once they were ready to go, he pointed at the bedroom door and prepared for anything.

"We still have to get out of here!" Zipp pointed out with a frown.

"And where do we go exactly?" Knuckles asked. "If everypony in Maretime Bay got infected with whatever Eggman, Hitch and Sparky have over them, we don't know for sure if Bridlewood or Zephyr Heights haven't got infected as well!" he pointed out.

"I know where to go" Metal Sonic spoke, mixing voice lines again, this time from Eggman and Opaline.

"Yeah, right..." Sonic said with a frown, as he zoomed into Metal's face. "As far as I know, you're only helping for some kind of hidden plot that will backfire at us at any minute!" he pointed out with anger.

"Believe or not, Sonic, capturing you is not ideal for the current circumstances" Metal replied with Eggman and Misty's voices mixed.

"What does that even mean?!" Sunny asked, as she got close to Metal Sonic and pointed at him with anger. "You were created by the same creep that almost destroyed my home! I had to pay a month of therapy" she complained.

"And I'm still going to kick Eggman's butt for that!" Tails said with anger, also stepping in with Metal Sonic. "Why should we trust you, anyways?!" he asked in anger.

"Because, Young Prower... You are outnumbered by a bunch of Zombots that have specific orders to kill you all" Metal Sonic replied coldly with a bunch of voices mixed. "Like it or not, you have no choice but trust me" he pointed out.

Suddenly, the doors of the bedroom started to get stomped by the ponies outside, since they wanted to get in and infect everyone inside.

This made everyone but Metal Sonic and Omega panic, while Metal Sonic looked over his shoulder and Omega was ready to start shooting in case anyone traversed the doors.

Sonic was conflicted right now... He knew perfectly that trusting Metal Sonic was a sin, and he could regret it later... But he also knew that the robot was right: He didn't liked it, but the truth is that Metal was the only choice to escape from here, and maybe even get some answers.

So, with a sigh, Sonic looked at Metal Sonic with a frown. "... You better not trick me this time, Metal..." he warned.

"Trust me, Hedgehog..." Metal said with Eggman's voice, before he took out a warp ring from Chaos knows where. "I hate this as much as all of you do" he stated, still with Eggman's voice.

After saying that, Metal launched the warp ring, as it opened and showed a lab on the other side.

Of course, seeing a lab like that one gave terrible flashbacks to Sunny about the time Eggman tortured her, but she quickly shook her head away from those thoughts. Now wasn't the time to think, it was the time to run.

Then, Sunny and Pipp's beds were destroyed by the Zombots, as Metal called them, and they all entered like crazy maniacs to the bedroom, while Omega had no mercy over them and started to shot at all of the Zombots, the Pippsqueaks included, for his eternal suffering.

Seeing this, Sunny didn't thought twice and jumped into the portal, followed immediately by Zipp and Pipp, with Misty hesitating at first, but Tails placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded, which made Misty smile, and so, they both jumped through the portal.

Izzy and Sonic went through it as well, and Metal Sonic traversed it too, but when Knuckles was going to do the same, he heard a weird noise behind.

"Uh... Amy? Did you heard––" Knuckles tried to ask, but just when he turned around, he saw that Amy got infected and turned into a Zombot as well, with the wrists of her gloves getting spikes, her eyes turning red and her body becoming metallic as well. "AMY!!!" Knuckles cried in panic at the sight.

However, just when he was about to jump in to save her, Omega arrived and pushed her away, as well as he pushed Knuckles through the portal, while Omega turned and started to shoot at Amy, who slowly got up and got her body traversed with bullets, but it immediately regenerated as she tried to traverse the portal as well.

And it dies as an attempt to do so, because the portal closed in that very moment, and with that, only 9 of the heroes from the group remained... And Metal Sonic.





Now, the survivors where on Eggman's hidden lab.

Then, Knuckles stood up and looked with wide and panicked eyes at the place were the portal just closed. "A-Amy..." he muttered with shock and terror. "No... No, no, no, no..." he muttered with panic.

"Knuckie?" Izzy called out, slowly approaching to her boyfriend.

And yet, all she got from a response was Knuckles aiming a punch to Omega, if it wasn't because Izzy surrounded him with her magic.

"YOU STUPID BASTARD!" Knuckles shouted in rage, as he shook violently and tried to get free of Izzy's grip. "WHY DID YOU STOPPED ME FROM SAVING HER?!" he asked the robot in rage.

"Ms. Rose was infected already. You wouldn't had saved her, you would had infected yourself" Omega replied.

"LIKE IF I GAVE A CRAP!" Knuckles shouted again. "HOW DID SHE GOT INFECTED IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" he asked madly.

"Or even better: With WHAT did she got infected?!" Zipp questioned as well.

"Guys..." Sunny called out.

"We can explain. But we need you all to remain silent––" Metal Sonic tried to explain, but this time Sonic stepped in.

"Silent?!" Sonic shouted in rage, and just when he was about to move, Pipp grabbed him from one arm. "You and Omega are the ones that got into our home all of a sudden, seconds after Hitch and Sparky got infected with whatever is that weird-ass liquid! And now Amy is infected too, so don't you dare to ask any of us to remain calm, Metal-Scrap!" he snapped in anger with the robot.

"Guys..." Tails called out next, but he sounded a bit more irritated.

"Is not our fault that the virus spread, it's Op––" Omega tried to speak next.

"Virus?!" Zipp said in anger, and Misty used her magic to surround the white pegasus before she did something stupid. "What do you mean with that?! WHAT VIRUS?!" she snapped in anger as well.

"GUYS!!!" both Sunny and Tails called out, tired of this fight going on.

With that scream, everyone shut up and looked over at Sunny and Tails with wide eyes.

"Look... We all hate the idea of having to trust in Metal Sonic, right?" Tails spoke first, and everyone else but Sunny, Omega and Metal himself nodded at his statement, which made Metal Sonic deadpan annoyed.

"But like it or not, he's the one who saved us from that situation..." Sunny kept going, before she looked at the robot with a frown. "And something tells me that he knows what's going on..." she pointed out.

Metal Sonic only nodded at this statement, but something behind those robotic eyes could almost tell Sunny that he was concerned about something...

"So, until he explains what's happening..." Sunny kept talking.

"Can you all shut the hell up and let him speak?!" Tails finished with anger.

Experience told everyone in the group that it was a sin not to listen to Tails when he was mad, so they all looked at each other for a moment, before looking back at Tails and nod in agreement.

"Good" Sunny said, before turning to Metal Sonic with a frown again. "So, Mr. Robot... care to explain yourself?" she asked sarcastically with an eye roll.

Metal Sonic just nodded, before he walked up to a computer and pressed a button, which turned the whole system on and straight up displayed all the information about the Metal Virus: What it was, how it works, how to control the infected ones, how to cure it, everything.

"What in the name of Chaos..." Sonic muttered.

"For the past few weeks, not so long before you all performed that 'Bridlewoodstock' thing, Dr. Eggman was working on his ultimate weapon..." Metal Sonic started to explain. "A virus capable to control all organic matter and turn it into metallic matter. Code name: Metal Virus" he said.

"Metal Virus?" Zipp questioned confused. "That sounds... dangerous, and reckless..." she pointed out.

"In other words, it sounds like Eggman..." Sonic said with a frustrated sigh.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking... Why is your voice mixed with so many recycled voice lines?" Tails asked Metal confused.

"Eggman deactivated my voice" Metal replied with a deadpan. "This is my only way to communicate. Not ideal, but... It works" he pointed out.

"Hmm... Fair enough..." Tails said with a deadpan as well.

"Getting back to the point... The virus function is to control the mind of everyone who gets infected with it" Metal Sonic explained, but whatever he said next, Sonic stopped hearing.

As soon as Metal mentioned that the virus controls your mind, he got PTSD on when The End took over his body again, and he panicked a lot, and even worse, when he looked back at Metal Sonic, The End was right there, as he slowly turned to see Sonic and narrow his eyes with anger.

Sonic felt anxious at the sight, but he still took a deep breath and calmed himself down, also closing his eyes, and when he opened them again, The End was gone.

"So Eggman created something to control our minds... Neat..." Sunny deadpanned.

"He at least calculated all the possible outcomes while making this, right?" Zipp asked with a bored expression.

"The doctor contemplated all the ups and downs with this virus" Metal Sonic replied. "He tested it out on plants and critters until the virus was perfect and functioned as he desired... Let's just say it worked too well..." he explained with a concerned tone, something weird to see in Metal Sonic.

"What do you mean?" Misty dared to ask with a gulp.

"We came in, and Eggman used the virus on us..." Omega spoke next, and everyone but Metal Sonic turned to him with wide eyes. "I didn't got infected since I'm not organic life... But I don't think I have to explain what happened with Shadow and Rouge..." he pointed out, slowly looking down with worry for his teammates.

This were shocking news for the rest. On one hand, Pipp covered her mouth with her hooves and her ears lowered. Amy, Rouge, Jazz and Rocky... all her stylist friends fell as victims of the Metal Virus, and she started to tear up because of it.

On the other hand, Tails and Knuckles felt anxious, and they looked at each other with concern; Izzy lay on Knuckles shoulder and started to tremble in panic, while Misty and Zipp looked at each other in shock and worry.

As for Sunny? The idea of Shadow, one of the most powerful Mobians she has ever met, falling down as a victim of this Metal Virus... It crushed her, and knowing that both Shadow and Hitch were infected, as well as Sparky, Amy, Rouge and everypony in Maretime Bay... it crushed her soul, and she was feeling hopeless again...

But Sonic probably had the worse reaction... So many people, both citizens he cared for and closest friends and allies, fell as victims of the Metal Virus that Eggman created because of his obsession with his Empire... He felt angry at him, no doubt, but he was still confused about something.

"Metal..." Sonic called out. "How... How did Eggman got infected?" he questioned. "I mean, if he created the virus, how did he fell victim of his own game?" he asked.

"... Eggman calculated all the possible outcomes, true..." Metal Sonic spoke with mixed voices again. "But there's one thing he never contemplated... Opaline" he pointed out with concern.

Again, everyone's eyes widened as they all stared in shock at Metal Sonic, and even Omega's eyes widened this time.

"... O-Opaline?" Misty asked, as she gulped nervously after hearing her name.

"We still don't know how she arrived. We just know that she found us somehow..." Metal Sonic explained. "When she came in, she used her magic to immobilize both Eggman and I... Once she discovered everything about the Metal Virus and how it works, she made Eggman change the setting on the Zombots orders, then she free'd Shadow and Rouge, who infected Eggman with the virus" he finished explained.

"So Opaline turned Eggman's plan against him..." Sonic muttered in concern. "That's both impressive and concerning, because... If she could outsmart Eggman, then we truly aren't facing just a cold that turns you into a zombie made of metal..." he pointed out with a frown.

"Zombot" both Metal Sonic and Omega said.

"Wait... That's how you guys call the infected ones? 'Zombots'?" Zipp asked.

"That's how Eggman and Opaline call them" Metal Sonic pointed out.

"It kind of fits, considering all the infected ones turn into half-zombies, half-mind-controlled-robots" Omega added.

"Right..." Sunny rolled her eyes. "But, did Eggman ever thought about a cure? I mean, you said Opaline is something she wasn't counting with, so he must had made––"

"A cure" Metal Sonic finished for her and nodded, before walking towards frame in a wall.

This frame in particular showed Eggman graduating from college and getting his diploma, and Metal Sonic slid the diploma to the right, revealing a hidden safe box behind it.

Metal Sonic pressed a green button, which made a red laser scan Metal Sonic's eyes. Once the eyes were scanned, a numeric panel appeared, and Metal placed the code 23061991 in said panel. Then, he pressed the green button again, and the safe box opened, showing off a small tube with an orange liquid inside.

Metal carefully grabbed the tube and took it out of the safe box. Then, he turned and faced the others. "Eggman knew that the virus could get out of control at some point, no matter how much he tried to avoid it. That's why, he created this sample of a cure, as part of his 'Party Pooper' protocol" he explained.

"Party Pooper protocol? What kind of name is that?" Zipp deadpanned.

"The doctor believed that the only ones capable of making sure this cure could be finished if the virus went wrong were, and I quote him here: The very same party poopers that destroy his plans over and over again" Metal Sonic explained.

To this, everyone in the room deadpanned at the robot.

"So Eggman screwed up his own plan, and now he wants us to clean his disaster?" Sonic asked.

"This all sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me" Knuckles said with a frown, also crossing his arms in anger.

"Yeah... Why would Eggman relay on his enemies to fix his disaster?" Zipp asked with a bored expression.

"Believe me, he never planned to relay on any of you" Metal Sonic assured them. "This is just a last minute solution in case the virus didn't worked as he planned. But I know for a fact none of you like the sound of that..." he recognized.

"You're asking us to fix the mess from the same guy that almost destroyed our home!" Pipp pointed out with a frown. "Of course we don't like the sound of that!" she added.

"And yet, you're ignoring the most important detail of this..." Metal Sonic pointed out.

"Which is?" Tails asked with a bored expression.

"That Opaline has control over the virus now... And that your friends have been infected with it" Metal Sonic pointed out, and all the frowns in the room disappeared, with everyone's eyes widening at that reminder. "This little tube right here..." he pointed at the tube on his hand. "... Is the only thing that can save them. Yeah, that implies that you have to save Eggman as well, and I know you all hate the idea... But keep in mind that there might not be another choice..." he explained.

"So we either save everyone from the virus, Eggman included, or we all fall to Opaline's game..." Misty muttered with concern.

"Ugh... Why do we always have to deal with some kind of weird-ass intervention?!" Knuckles complained out loud.

Sonic had to stop for a moment and start to consider all the possible outcomes: If they did nothing, the virus would spread across Equestria, and everypony will be infected. Worse of all, Opaline would succeed on conquering the magical land, and no magic of friendship could save them this time around...

On the other hand, finishing the cure implies defeating Opaline and restore everyone back to normal... That includes Eggman as well.

It wasn't a hard decision, if he was being honest, but... The fate of everyones was on his hands, and he couldn't let that slip just because he didn't wanted to help his nemesis.

So, with a heavy sigh, Sonic approached Metal, and they stared at each other for quite a while, before Sonic extended his hand open, and Metal didn't hesitated on giving him the tube with the cure's sample. Sonic closed his hand after getting the cure, and he looked back at Metal.

"... I owe you two now, Metal... I don't like how that sounds..." Sonic said with anger.

"The cure is necessary for everyone, Hedgehog... However, you do owe me one for saving your butt" Metal Sonic mocked up.

Sonic rolled his eyes and turned around, walking up to Tails. "I know for a fact that you're familiar with this kind of stuff, little bro" he told him with a smile, as he showed him the tube with the cure's sample. "Think you can impress us with your science magic?" he asked him mockingly.

Tails looked at the tube for a second and grabbed it, analyzing it for a bit before smiling and look back at Sonic. "I have everything I need to finish this in my workshop!" he stated.

"Uh, but that's gonna be a problem..." Zipp pointed out with concern. "If you forgot, everyone in Maretime Bay is infected by the virus. How are we going to get close to Electronic Tails without getting infected?" she questioned.

"Oh, oh! I think I know how! Anypony's got a map here?" Misty asked cheerfully.

Soon, Metal Sonic went to the computer and tapped on the keyboard, then showed up a map of Equestria, which had Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights, Bridlewood, Opaline's Castle, and even Canterlot on it.

"Okay..." Misty muttered, as she analyzed the map for a second or two. "So... Electronic Tails isn't so far from the Sheriff Station, right? So, if we get a detour out of Zephyr Heights, and we then move to this forest here..." she kept muttering, until she finally had a path memorized. "I think I know how to get there without getting infected or spotted!" she said with a smile.

"And how do you know so much about Equestria's demographic––" Zipp was going to ask, but her own mind answered for her. "Oh, right... If you used to spy on us, you had to memorize every path in Equestria..." she said with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, I'm not proud of that, but at least I can put my knowledge on good use!" Misty pointed out with a smile, while Izzy came by and hugged her.

"Of course you are!" Izzy said cheerfully with a smile.

"Well, that's great! We have Tails working on finishing the cure..." Sunny started with a smile, while Tails scanned the cure's sample with his Miles Electric. "And Misty can guide us back home without getting infected!" she cheered.

"That's good and all, but shouldn't we be looking for an exit?" Pipp pointed out.

"I was previously here when my comrades got infected with the virus" Omega pointed out, before he turned to a direction and slowly walked to it. "I know where's the exit. Follow me!" he instructed, as he quickly moved towards the exit.

Everyone else followed him, but Sonic and Metal stood behind for a second.

"I'm going to guess you'll come with us, don't you?" Sonic asked Metal with a frown, and the robot nodded. "Well, keep this in mind: I don't care if you are helping us for selfish reasons, because you want Eggman back, or because you actually give a damn about what's happening to the world. One false move, and I'll destroy your body piece by piece. Understood?" he warned him with anger.

"Aye, aye, captain" Metal Sonic replied with Sonic's voice.

Sonic growled in anger after hearing that, but he nodded, and then, he boosted in the same direction everyone else went.

Metal Sonic was about to follow, but the computer behind him showed a weird logo, and Metal stopped moving.

"Brother..." Sage spoke, and Metal looked over his shoulder at the computer. "Are you sure you can trust on them to bring father back?" she asked with concern.

Metal Sonic looked straight ahead for a second, before letting out a sigh and turn around to face Sage again.

"Like it or not, 'sister', we have no choice..." Metal Sonic spoke with mixed voice lines from Eggman and Pipp.

After that, Metal boosted away to follow the rest as well.

Sage let out a sigh, despite still being a program. "... Good luck, brother..." she muttered.





In the middle of Zephyr Heights, a sewer cover opened up.

Then, Omega boosted flying out of it and landed in the street, being followed by Zipp, Pipp and Tails coming out flying as well, with everyone else coming out by crawling, and the last one to get out was Metal Sonic, who covered the sewer again.

"Wait a second... Eggman's lab has been hided on Zephyr Heights this whole time?!" Tails exclaimed with wide eyes.

"No" Metal Sonic replied. "This was a temporal establishment to finish the Metal Virus. His actual lab is still hidden" he explained.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sonic said with an eye roll.

Soon enough, though, the whole group walked down Zephyr Heights, but... The entire city had a weird vibe, like if it was abandoned. There even was fog all around the city, which just contributed to the creepy vibe.

"Geez... This place is giving me goosebumps... And not the good kind of ones..." Knuckles said with a frown.

"Where is everypony? Zephyr Heights is usually one of the most inhabited places in Equestria!" Zipp pointed out with a frown. "Something's not right..." she muttered with concern.

"It's even a bit cloudy in here. That never happened before..." Pipp pointed out as well.

"Maybe they're all aware about the virus and went home to stay safe?" Sunny asked, trying to cheer up the situation.

"It wouldn't be weird, if we're being honest" Sonic pointed out. "I mean, Sky and Dazzle are recording news 24/7. Perhaps they discovered what happened and told everypony else to go home" he suggested.

But then Omega, who was guiding the group, stopped moving and raised an arm with his fist closed, a sign everyone took to stop moving.

Soon, Omega looked in a direction and aimed his weapons. "Zombots!" he informed with anger.

With this sign, Metal Sonic turned around and prepared to protect the group from behind, as both robots stood alert and looked around to make sure that they wouldn't be surprised nor attacked on their backs.

Zipp and Tails stood close to protect each other, Izzy and Misty lightened their horns just in case, Knuckles and Sonic turned on their powers, Pipp opened her wings despite feeling nervous, and Sunny made her Alicorn form appear, with all the group getting ready to defend each other just in case.

After a while, notting seemed to happen, but then, a figure appeared from the fog and hissed, as it jumped towards Knuckles.

The echidna yelped in panic, but before he could do anything, Omega interfered and punched the figure away.

The figure rolled in the ground with a yelp and groaned in pain, but after a few seconds, it stood up on its two feet and opened their wings, slowly approaching and moving like an angry zombie towards them... Revealing to be Rouge, who was infected with the virus and showing her sharp teeth to the group.

"Ah crap!" Knuckles groaned. "Seems like we've been spotted!" he pointed out with concern.

Omega, however, lowered his weapons a bit... He still remembers how scared Rouge seemed when she got infected by the virus, but now, she was mad, and her mission was to destroy them, to destroy him... It hurt...

But it didn't mattered how much it hurt. They had a cure now, and they could bring her back. However, and liked it or not, he had to fight against her if he wanted to make sure the cure was properly finished.

"I'm sorry, partner..." Omega said with sorrow, once again pointing his weapons at the bat.

Rouge hissed again and flew to the air, diving towards the group, which made Omega fire and shot at her wings, which made Rouge fall to the ground and turn into a metallic mud, but then, she quickly regenerated again into herself, slowly walking like a zombie towards the group.

And then, more and more Zombots appeared, all being pegasi infected by the Metal Virus, and all of them walking towards the group.

"This is starting to get out of hand, and I'm sick of this!" Knuckles screamed in rage.

"But we cannot fight them!" Tails pointed out with concern, as he created a boomerang with his powers and launched it towards some of the Zombots, cutting their heads in the process. "If we touch any of them, we get infected!" he pointed out.

"And that's exactly the plan!" a female voice spoke, followed by a maniac laugh, and everyone's eyes widened.

"Oh no..." Misty muttered with concern, as she slowly turned around and saw Opaline, slowly descending and landing not so far from them, while the Zombots stepped back and allowed her to have some space.

Of course, everyone but Misty glared in anger at the Alicorn, and Sunny lightened her horn in anger, while Omega pointed his weapons at her.

"Great, the Queen of the Fire Nation is here..." Sonic muttered with annoyance.

"Aww, what's the matter, Sonic? Can't stand the fact that you and your pitiful friends have lost?" Opaline mocked up with a sinister grin.

"We don't have time to deal with your stupid games, Opaline!" Sunny shouted in rage. "Now get lost before I launch a beam to you too! I know for a fact that you won't regenerate like the Zombots..." she stated with anger.

"Ooh! Daring to fight against me, Sunny?" Opaline asked with a snort. "I have no fear towards that weakling thing you dare to call power!" she stated. "And I know for a fact that you plan to get a cure for the Metal Virus... Well, I won't allow it!" she stated with anger.

"Like if being outnumbered was a problem..." Metal Sonic said this time with Sonic's voice, before he looked at Omega over his shoulder.

Omega also looked at him in the same way, and both robots nodded in agreement, before Metal Sonic started to run at sonic speed around the group, while Omega stepped back and allowed Metal Sonic to do his thing.

Soon, the group was in the middle of a tornado created by Metal Sonic's speed, and everyone but Omega and Sonic were confused.

"What is happening?!" Pipp asked in panic.

"Metal is creating a distraction for us to escape!" Sonic said with smirk, as he looked at the top of the tornado. "We've gotta escape through the sky!" he stated, pointing upwards.

"But there's pegasi infected as well! We can't just escape like that!" Zipp pointed out.

"Actually, we can!" Tails said with a smirk, before he grabbed Misty bridal style and twirled his tails, boosting towards the air.

"What about us?!" Knuckles cried out in panic and anger.

After saying that, Sunny flapped her wings and surrounded Knuckles, Sonic and Izzy on her magic.

"Were you saying?" Sonic mocked him up with a smirk, and Knuckles rolled his eyes annoyed.

With that, everyone else went to the sky, leaving Omega and Metal Sonic in the ground to defend the rest.

So, Metal Sonic stopped moving, as the two robots stood back to back, and they prepared for anything that Opaline had in store for them.

However, as the Zombots launched to the two robots and they made sure to make them step back, Opaline's eyes widened once she saw that the rest of the group was gone.

"Where... Where did they go?!" Opaline shouted in rage.

But then, Opaline noticed that a figure was flying away in the sky, also surrounded by a golden aura, and she frowned and growled in rage.

"You think you can escape me, huh?" Opaline snickered with a sinister smile. "Very well, then... I shall prove you wrong!"





In the sky, the group was flying through a bunch of storm clouds.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?!" Sunny asked, panicked because of the lightning.

"If we want to loose Opaline from sight, we have to risk ourselves here!" Tails pointed out with concern.

"But this is too much risk, even for us!" Misty pointed out with worry.

"And I feel it's going to get worse!" Knuckles said with a frown, as he saw something ahead approaching.

The rest of the group saw straight ahead as well, and they all gasped in shock when they saw a bunch of Zombot pegasi flying towards them. However, the real shock was that the Zombots were lead by Queen Haven, Zoom and Thunder.

"MOM?!" both Zipp and Pipp asked shocked with wide eyes.

"I knew that calling her mother-in-law was going to pay the bill one day..." Sonic deadpanned.

Just when the pegasi zombots were approaching them, they decided to split up to dodge them each one on their own, that way avoiding to get infected with the Metal Virus as well.

However, Sunny was having some trouble dodging properly, because she also had to keep in mind that she was levitating Izzy, Sonic and Knuckles as well, which only complicated her task of dodging the Zombots. Worse of all, she was getting tired because of overusing her magic.

"G-Guys..." Sunny called out tiredly. "I-I don't know how longer I can––" she tried to say.

However, before she could finish her sentence, both Izzy and Knuckles were dragged away from her magical aura by Zoom and Thunder, while Sonic barely dodged Queen Haven, who tried to grab him as well.

And yet, his eyes widened when he saw Izzy and Knuckles being held by Zoom and Thunder. "KNUCKLES! IZZY! NO!" Sonic shouted in panic and fear.

Meanwhile, Izzy was blasting her horn over Zoom, while her body was getting slowly infected by the Metal Virus, although it made her laugh for some reason. "Hahaha! It tickles!" she said cheerfully.

On the other hand, Knuckles was punching constantly Thunder's face to make him let him go, but the pegasus' face always regenerated, and worse of all, Knuckles saw his hands and saw that the virus was spreading through his body as well, which concerned him. "Oh merde!" he said in french with a frown.

So, he turned and saw Sonic and Sunny, both looking at him and Izzy getting infected by the Virus with wide eyes.

"Hedgehog! Starscout!" Knuckles called out. "You two better get that cure working, or I'll infect you two next!" he mocked up with a smirk, while Sonic and Sunny felt their hearts skipping a beat in panic.

After that, Knuckles ripped off Thunder's wings and jumped off him, ripping one of Zoom's wings as well, while the three ponies and the echidna fell from the sky and got lost on the clouds. Izzy and Knuckles were screaming in fear at first, but with the infection getting completed, their screams turned into enraged ones.

Now, Izzy and Knuckles were Zombots as well, and neither Sunny or Sonic could do anything about it.

Soon, the rest gathered with them and looked at them in concern. "Guys? What happened?" Zipp asked concerned.

"Where's Knuckles? And Izzy?" Tails asked as well.

However, just by the anxious looks and low ears from Sonic and Sunny, the rest could tell already what happened, and their ears lowered as well, while Pipp covered her mouth with her hooves.

"... This just getting worse and worse..." Sunny muttered anxiously. "Shadow, Rouge, Hitch, Sparky, Amy... Now Izzy and Knuckles too..." she listed out with concern.

"And everypony in Zephyr Heights and Maretime Bay..." Misty said as well. "This is the worst nightmare ever..." she muttered with concern.

"Is worse than a nightmare..." Sonic said, while he still stared in the direction where Izzy and Knuckles fell along Zoom and Thunder. "This is real... Is damn nightmare turned into a reality... When you think it can't get worse, it gets worse..." he pointed out.

"Couldn't had said it myself better!" A mixed voice between a male and a female spoke.

Everyone else looked around confused, but Sonic's eyes widened in panic, because he could recognize that voice anywhere. After all, it's been haunting him for months now.

And so, with no previous warning, something dragged Sonic away from Sunny's aura and pushed him down towards the ground, quickly getting lost in the clouds, while the figure left a red and glitchy aura behind.

"SONIC!" all his friends shouted in panic, and Pipp immediately dived towards him, not giving a damn if whatever took him away was a Zombot or not.

"Pipp! Wait!" Zipp exclaimed in panic, diving towards her sister, while Sunny followed immediately, with tails making sure he was holding Misty tightly and then dive towards his friends and girlfriend.





Meanwhile, Sonic was still getting pushed towards the ground.

At first, he couldn't see what was dragging him, but when he opened his eyes, they widened, because he saw that Cyber Sonic was pushing him towards the floor with a frown.

"Y-You..." Sonic muttered with panic, while his breath started to increase.

"Me!" Cyber Sonic replied, followed by him punching Sonic in the face and sending him towards the floor, as Sonic crashed against some tree branches and bushes, before rolling on the floor and stop doing so painfully.





However, before he could get up and shake his head, the entire environment around him changed, and now, he was in some kind of infinite black void.

Concerned, Sonic stood up and looked around with panic, as his breath was starting to calm down a bit... And then, a light illuminated over another place: It showed Sonic himself, for some reason, but he was trapped on a Cyber Cage, like the ones were his friends were trapped in the Starfall Islands.


Languished in silence
A cell beyond time
Thought I was alone but I saw your mind


Sonic was used to songs starting out of nowhere, but he didn't expected to hear a villain like The End singing.

However, when The End sang that last part, the entire environment changed again. Now, they were on some kind of astral plane where Sonic's memories started to replay. Stuff like Perfect Chaos being defeated, Shadow and him going super, defeating Metal Overlord, Dark Gaia, the Deadly Six, and even Infinite where shown.


The key to my freedom
The unwitting aid
With every selfish choice
You broke the seal


As The End sang this, the images switched and showed each time Sonic free'd one of his friends from Cyberspace: Sunny, Knuckles, Tails, Zipp, everyone, while the Cyber energy of the cages entered his body.


No longer contained
You are the key
You've conquered gods and machines


Now, The End showed himself with Sonic's form, covering his face with his hands, before singing out loud with a smirk, as his eyes turned red, and his whole body went back to be Cyber Sonic's form.

At the same time, Sonic stepped back nervously, but then, holographic figures of Perfect Chaos, Dark Gaia, the Death Egg Titan and Giganto appeared around him, which only startled him even more.


Now you've set me free
It's armageddon
Do you know my name


At this part of the song, Sonic covered his ears and eyes, trying to avoid what was coming, but with the last verse, Cyber Sonic appeared right in front of Sonic.


You stand against the end of all things
In space and time
You tore down the walls of the prison
Without care for what's inside


With this being sang, Cyber Sonic showed Sonic the images of him freeing his friends from Cyberspace, while his Cyber Corruption got worse and worse with every free'd friend.


An inescapable force
I cannot be denied
Like the countless before you consumed
I'll leave nothing behind


Then, Sonic was transported to space, where he could see Equis, and with the last verse being sang again, Cyber Sonic appeared like a giant and crushed Equis with his hand.

This made Sonic panic, but before he could do or say anything, he was falling towards the ground again, as he screamed in fear before falling face-first to the ground, while the environment changed again to show Chaos Island this time around, with Sonic laying over a floating platform.

The Blue Blur slowly stood up and shook his head, but when he realized where he was standing, he panicked. And then, Cyber Sonic appeared right behind him, which made Sonic turn around in panic.


You've served you purpose
Done your service
Now it's time to meet your end


With that last sentence, Cyber Sonic pushed Sonic off the edge, and the hedgehog screamed in fear as he traversed several platforms floating in Chaos Island, until he crashed in the ground.

Now, Sonic was kneeling in the ground, while Cyber Sonic appeared in front of him while floating.


Bow down to order like before
Your futile effort to defend


As Cyber Sonic sang, the sky suddenly turned red, and many of the defensive mechanisms of Chaos Island started to shoot to the sky, and Sonic knew perfectly why they were doing so.


Erase the teeming chaos
The endless noise
The mote of golden light snuffed out
And your existence destroyed
So why can't you see


With this whole verse being sang, Sonic witnessed in the distance the death of the Owls and Hedgehogs defending the island again, as well as Knave's.

Sonic tried to move to them, but then, The End shot against the defenses, as well as against Knave, killing them all in the process.


You stand against the end of all things
In space and time
You tore down the walls of the prison
Without care for what's inside


This time around, Sonic was witnessing all the times he entered back at Cyberspace and got more and more infected with Cyber Energy. He was also seeing all those times he escaped the virtual reality and remembered nothing for a few seconds or even minutes, until his mind regained the memories again.


An inescapeable force
I cannot be denied
Like the countless before you consumed
I'll leave nothing behind


Cyber Sonic started to float around Sonic, tormenting the Blue Blur and singing loudly, while Sonic grabbed his head and tried to cover his ears, closing his eyes hardly and begging silently that this will be over... But it wasn't.


Come on


Instead, The End/Cyber Sonic started to torture Sonic with countless replies on all the living nightmares his friends lived while being trapped in Cyber Space, and now Sonic understood perfectly why Knuckles and Izzy hated to be in their Cyber Cages so much.

Sunny's nightmare was ending alone, and actually turning into somepony with the same morals than Eggman; while Hitch's nightmare was to be untrusted and unliked as a Sheriff, failing his duty to protect.

Knuckles and Izzy's nightmares were being all alone in an empty void of darkness; Tails' nightmare was not being strong enough to protect those he cares for; Zipp's nightmare was to fail as a Queen for Zephyr Heights; and Pipp's nightmare was to be unloved by everyone, friends and family included.

Then, The End showed Sonic all the planets he has destroyed across the cosmos, included the Ancients' one, and Sonic was reaching his braking point... Months of torture were finally paying the bill, but now, he literally needed it to stop.


Strike this body down with all your might
This changes nothing
You can burn your soul away


The scenario suddenly changed again, once again being entirely black, and now, only Sonic and his corrupted self/The End remained, floating in this void of emptiness.

However, Cyber Sonic had his eyes closed, but when he sang that last sentence, he opened them again, just to show that they were purple instead of white now, and then, Cyber Sonic transformed again into The End's final form: A giant purple snake with a dragon head, three glowing pink scales on his forehead and three more on his parietal bone, as well as twelve long pink tails on his head that worked like his hair.


You stand against the end of all things
In space and time
You tore down the walls of the prison
Without care for what's inside


This time around, The End was showing Sonic the whole fight that happened on space.

Super Sonic and Supreme, piloted by Sage, were fighting with everything they had against The End. Soon, Supreme lost one of his arms, and then, The End was trying to wipe out Sonic from existence, if Supreme didn't came back to lend a hand and protect Sonic against the attack.


An inescapable force
I cannot be denied
Like the countless before you consumed
I'll leave nothing behind


With this, Supreme grabbed Sonic and launched him against The End, literally passing through The End's face to destroy his tail and coming out of that zone.

But what happened next was a memory that Sonic hoped not to see ever again: The End was about to explode, and in an attempt to save everyone else, Sage launched with Supreme against The End, avoiding the destruction of Equis in the process.

"NO!" the real Sonic said with concern, but the explosion actually sent him backwards, as he finally got away from that weird-ass reality where he was launched into when The End was singing.

Sonic fell on his back, then sat down on the floor and shook his head, but when he opened his eyes, they widened again in pure terror, because Cyber Sonic was right in front of him again.

"I warned you, mortal..." Cyber Sonic spoke, as he walked towards Sonic, while Sonic tried to stay away from him. "I am inevitable... I cannot be denied..." he reminded him.

"N-No... S-Shut up..." Sonic muttered, as he finally was laying over a tree, while he held tightly to it, while with his other hand he grabbed his chest.

"You are not brave, you are not victorious..." Cyber Sonic spoke.

"Shut up!" Sonic screamed in fear, panic and rage, all the emotions mixed together.

"No matter what form I take... The End comes for you all" Cyber Sonic finished.

"SHUT UP!" Sonic screamed, and now, he was tearing up, while his breath increased, and he closed his eyes in despair, afraid that The End would still be there when he opened his eyes again.

Soon, all he could hear was his own heart beating at full speed, while his breath got worse, and he was grabbing the specific part of his chest where his heart is located.





Not so far from him, his friends were looking for him.

"Sonic!" Tails called out first, as he tried to locate him with his googles.

"Blue Star!" Pipp called out with concern.

"Sonic!" Zipp called out next, as she tried to look for any signs of him from the sky.

"Sonic?" Misty shouted as well.

"Guys!" Sunny's voice called out suddenly, and everyone turned to her. "I found him!" she said.

Everyone else immediately rushed towards Sunny, and they all saw Sonic, laying over a tree, grabbing his chest and holding to the tree tightly, while his breath was increasing with every second.

"Sonic!" Pipp said, as she immediately flew towards him, and everyone else just followed her.

Once they were close to Sonic, they realized how hardly he was breathing, and he was closing his eyes so tightly that he refused to open them again.

"Sonic?" Pipp called him out, but Sonic refused to open his eyes, even when she placed a hoof on her chest and tried to shake him off. "Sonic, what's wrong?!" she asked.

However, Sonic only heard muffled sounds beyond his heartbeat, and as far as he knew, whoever was talking to him could be The End pretending to be Pipp and trying to torture him even more.

"W-What's gotten into him?" Misty asked concerned for him.

"He... He's having a..." Tails tried to say, but he could barely believe what he was going to say...

"A panic attack..." both Sunny and Tails said in unison.

"What?!" Pipp asked in concern. "What do you mean my Blue Star's having a panic attack?!" she asked them confused and worried.

"Pipp, something's been bothering Sonic for a long time, and you know it!" Tails pointed out. "He has been acting strange ever since we came back from the Starfall Islands. He stares at random places like if he's seeing a ghost, he mumbles things no one understands when he never mumbles, and he even has woke up in the night from nightmares!" he explained. "I didn't wanted to interfere because I thought he would say something eventually... But it seems that I was wrong..." he pointed out with anger to himself.

"But how do we calm him down?!" Sunny asked concerned, since Sonic's breath was increasing with every passing second.

Pipp looked around concerned, then back at Sonic... But then, she had an idea.

So, the younger pegasus went to Sonic's left side and slowly rested her head on his chest, like if she was some kind of puppy in need of attention.

Sonic's breath was still heavy, but as he physically felt the soft touch of Pipp's head on his chest, his breath started to slow down. He even lifted his trembling hand from his chest and slowly approached it to Pipp's mane. Despite having gloves, he could still feel her soft mane touching his hand, and his breath finally came back to normal.

He couldn't hear his own heartbeat anymore, since it went back to normal as well, and Sonic slowly opened his eyes, looking at the night sky over the trees.

Then, he lowered his sight and found his friends looking at him with concern, although they still smiled at him, while Pipp was resting her face on his chest and even caressing him a bit with her hooves, having her eyes closed for a second, at least until she felt Sonic's breath being normal, so she opened them and smiled lovingly at her boyfriend.

Sonic smiled back and caressed her mane a bit more, before letting out a content sigh. "... Thank you, Pipp..." he told her, finally feeling like he could put his thoughts together.

Pipp slowly lifted her face and nuzzled it against Sonic's neck, while Sonic chuckled a bit since it tickled him a bit.

"Sonic..." Sunny called out. "We, um... We know that something's been bothering you for a while..." she confessed.

"But we thought that you wanted to tell us when you were ready" Zipp added with concern.

"So, if you don't mind us asking... What's going on?" Misty added with worry as well.

Sonic let out a heavy sigh, before looking up at the sky. "... Ever since The End got control over my body, I... I have been living in a nightmare..." he started to explain.

"A nightmare?" Tails asked confused.

"The End... Cyber Sonic... He always appears randomly at random places..." Sonic kept explaining, letting out another heavy sigh. "He's been haunting me wherever we go ever since... Ever since we left the Starfall Islands..." he confessed.

"... Six months...?" Pipp asked with concern, and even if a part of her wanted to scream at him in rage, she decided to remain calm and not explode at him. Not yet, at least. "Why... Why didn't you told us anything?" she asked him calmly.

Sonic chuckled, although he was not finding any of this funny. "Well... I always had the idea that I shouldn't show when I'm afraid of something, so... My dead-ass mind told me that the best was to stay quiet about it..." he replied with a broken tone, wiping some tears that dared to escape. "I'm supposed to be the one that finds the solution when things get bad, not be a scared kitten that wants to run away and hide... But I haven't felt like myself the past months..." he confessed.

"Sonic, keeping this to yourself clearly didn't helped..." Sunny said with a concerned frown.

"Why did you choose to keep this as a secret instead of asking for our help?!" Tails asked, concerned and angered with Sonic.

"The first few times I saw Cyber Sonic, he popped up out of nowhere randomly every few weeks..." Sonic explained, as he played with his fingers. "I guess... I just... A part of me hoped that I was just hallucinating, and that it'll eventually stop... But it just got worse after Bridlewoodstock..." he confessed. "He appeared on everything, to the point I couldn't even look at my own reflection... I... I was scared, and I guess I was... Worried on how everyone would act if I admitted that... That I'm afraid... Afraid of ever turning into him again..." he finished explaining.

"Oh, Blue Star..." Pipp said with concern, as she hugged him tightly and nuzzled on his neck, while Sonic limited to wrap and arm around the pegasus.

"Worse of all, I... I had weird thoughts that I never dig to much into..." Sonic confessed. "Thoughts about... killing... Conquering... Burn it all... I started having these kind of thoughts after Longclaw died, but when The End took over my body... Those thoughts intensified..." he added.

For the next couple of minutes, no one said anything. After Sonic finally confessed why he was acting so weird, and why he choose to stay quiet, it was kind of understandable. Now, Sunny was still upset that he choose to stay quiet when he's one of her friends that insisted in the idea of her asking for help when she was traumatized because of the Death Egg Titan.

Yet, she could also see why he choose to keep it as a secret, because if she ever was forced to watch how a powerful entity uses her own body against her friends, she could never not be afraid of actually do it on purpose.

Pipp had a lot of things to say, but she didn't wanted to push him. After all, he's been through enough already by hallucinating with Cyber Sonic for months, so she'll keep her words quiet for now. As for Tails, he felt a bit guilty for not interfering before, and for not show some support to Sonic when he definitely needed it.

"... Sonic..." Pipp called out after a while, as she separated from the hug. "I'm... I'm upset because you didn't say anything, don't think I'm not... But I can understand why you are so afraid of actually becoming that 'Cyber Sonic' thing..." she explained.

"Yet, that's no excuse to stay quiet for so long..." Sunny said next with a slight frown. "I remember you said something about promising to not keep secrets from us. I understand why you did it anyways, but I wished you looked for any of us and told us about it!" she pointed out with concern.

"And you shouldn't be afraid of becoming Cyber Sonic... Because you never became him, remember?" Tails pointed out to him with a little smile. "The End controlled your body while your mind was trapped in Cyber Space. None of what he did with your body was you, and you didn't hurt us. The End did" he reminded.

"I can get behind the fear of turning into something you aren't..." Misty said with a little smile. "Before meeting you all, I was always scared that I was actually as evil as Opaline always I said I was... It wasn't who I am, and thanks to you all, I'm happy to say that I could never be like Opaline, or like Eggman... Because I got you and everypony else at my side" she pointed out.

"We're not saying that you shouldn't feel afraid. We're just saying that if you ever do, never doubt of talking about it with us" Zipp pointed out with a smile. "We're friends, man! And we help each other with anything, even if it might look silly for everyone else" she added.

"Because if it matters to you, it matters to us" Pipp added with a smile, as she kissed Sonic's cheek lovely. "Never doubt on telling us how you feel, Blue Star..." she finished, as she caressed Sonic's cheeks tenderly.

Sonic couldn't help but smile at his friends words, and he let out a long sigh. "... I'm gonna be honest: I can't promise that I won't do this ever again. Trust me, I know it because I'm stubborn like a mule..." he explained with a deadpan.

"More stubborn than a mule..." Tails deadpanned.

"But I do promise that I'll try to be better" Sonic assured with a smile. "I'm still kind of concerned about The End, specially because his presence has been even more noticeable lately..." he pointed out with concern.

Then, he saw in a certain direction, and his eyes widened, because Cyber Sonic was right there again.

Pipp seemed to immediately notice this, so she got in the middle and made her boyfriend look at her. "Sonic, listen carefully: If you are looking at him, remember that you are not him, and you'll never be" she reminded.

"She lies" Cyber Sonic spoke, as he suddenly appeared behind Pipp, but apparently only Sonic could see him.

"He used your body against us, just like Tails explained, but nothing he did was your will" Pipp kept talking.

"It was, and you know it" Cyber Sonic countered.

"But most importantly? Know that if you ever fell in a similar situation, you will never be a monster... Because being mind controlled means that you're doing stuff you wouldn't usually do against your will, not because you want to do it" Pipp stated with a determinate look. "So, if you see him and he tries to convince you that you are a monster... Sent him to hell!" she declared confidently.

Sonic's eyes widened after hearing that last thing, but he still smiled warmly at her.

And this last action seemed to be enough, because Cyber Sonic disappeared again, leaving Sonic alone one more time, which made Sonic sigh in relief and smile even more at his girlfriend.

"Thanks, Little Pipp..." Sonic thanked her again. "I'll try to keep it in mind!" he added with a wink.

"Anytime, Blue Star" Pipp smiled.

"As for your intrusive thoughts––" Sunny was going to add, but Sonic raised a hand and made her stop.

"I already have something to deal with that" Sonic replied with a smile. "I just look back at everything I did and accomplished without doing any of the stuff I thought about, and they go away in a flash..." he explained, and Sunny sighed in relief with a smile.

"Seriously, though, please don't just stay quiet about this kind of stuff. It's starting to get annoying!" Tails begged, at first with a bored expression, and then with a frown.

"Again, I don't promise anything!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk, and Tails rolled his eyes annoyed.

However, they all heard some bushes moving not so far from them, and so, they all stood up quickly in fighting positions, with Sonic and Tails turning on their powers, Sunny and Misty lightening up their horns, and Zipp, Pipp and Sunny opening their wings defensively.

The bushes kept moving, and they were all ready to fight against more Zombots... And yet, what came out of the bushes were Omega and Metal Sonic who finally stopped in front of the now much smaller group.

"Oh, is just Omega and Metal..." Zipp pointed out with a raised eyebrow, while everyone stopped being so defensive.

"We finally found you!" Metal Sonic said, mixing voice clips of Zipp and Tails.

"We lost the Zombots, but we can't say for sure how long they'll leave us alone" Omega pointed out. "We have to keep moving" he explained.

"But before that: Where's Knuckles and Izzy?" Metal Sonic asked.

Sonic let out a sigh after remembering what happened with them. "... We were ambushed in the sky... Knuckles and Izzy got infected..." he replied with concern.

To this, Metal Sonic closed his eyes and lowered his head, while Omega growled and shot at a tree with his weapons just to let go of his frustration.

"... We better keep moving if we want them back, then..." Omega declared, before he turned to Misty. "Little unicorn. You know how to get out of here?" he asked her.

"Y-Yeah..." Misty replied, shaking her head and focusing again. "I used to run through here when I didn't wanted to be spotted when Opaline or Eggman sent me to spy on you, guys. Follow me!" she declared, as she ran into one direction.

With this, everyone else followed her, but when Sonic was going to, he stopped and looked at Cyber Sonic over his shoulder, since he appeared again.

"You can't run forever, Hedgehog..." Cyber Sonic said with anger, before slowly pointing a finger at him. "I will haunt you forever, until your mind collapses and can't take my presence anymore..." he declared.

"Yeah, uh-huh. Come back when I give a damn, Faker" Sonic said coldly with a bored expression. "You're not worth my time, and you know it!" he declared with a confident smirk, before boosting away to follow his friends.

Cyber Sonic's eyes widened after hearing this, and he growled in rage.





Misty got her friends and the robots out of the forest in no time.

As they did so, they could see Maretime Bay in the distance, which meant that they were closer to their home, as well as closer to make a cure.

"Okay..." Sunny said, panting heavily along the rest of the mares and Tails, while Sonic looked ahead with concern. "We just have to approach Tails' workshop, and everything else should be fine! Right?!" she asked with a twitchy eye.

However, both Omega's and Metal Sonic's systems made loud beep sounds, indicating that something was approaching. That wouldn't be bad... If it wasn't because of the fact that the thing approaching, was doing it at super sonic speed, and if Sonic was not infected, then that could only mean one thing...

"Crap!" Metal Sonic shouted, as he and Omega turned around and saw a blur coming towards them at fast paste. "Guys... You're not gonna like this Zombot..." he warned with a frown.

"What?!" Zipp said with wide eyes. "Another Zombot is coming?!" she asked in panic.

"Affirmative" Omega replied with concern and anger. "But this one is... fast. Very fast..." he pointed out.

"Fast?" Sonic asked confused, before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh no..." he muttered with concern.

"What? What's the matter?! What do you mean with oh no?!" Pipp asked in panic and concern.

However, her answer arrived sooner than she might have expected, because the blur was getting closer and closer, until the figure stopped not so far from the group, jumped in the air, and then tried to kick Sunny, if it wasn't because of Omega, who got in the middle and worked like a shield for her, before pushing the zombot back.

The Zombot slid a bit in the ground and stopped, soon revealing himself as Shadow, who's body was pink and metallic now, his wrists and ankles got spikes, and his fingers grew to look like claws. His sclera was red now, and his pupils were yellow, while all his teeth sharpened, and the now Zombot roared in rage, charging against the group while impulsing with his air shoes.

"Shadow?!" both Sunny and Sonic said in panic, while the Zombot roared in rage and aimed at them.

This time, however, Metal Sonic was the one who interfered, and he pushed Zombot Shadow back, but Shadow slid and quickly impulsed back, which made Metal impulse as well, as the two of them weaved their fingers and started to push against the other.

At least, it was like that for a while, because Omega soon arrived and helped Metal by using his own rockets, pushing Zombot Shadow away, with Metal Sonic grabbing the Zombot from his neck and then smashing him against the ground.

With this, Omega turned to see the rest. "We'll keep him busy. You go back to the normal horse town and finish that cure!" he instructed, before boosting away towards Metal and Shadow.

Sunny made her Alicorn magic appear again and tried to follow him, but Tails grabbed her from her tail and stopped her.

"Where do you think are you going?!" Tails asked her with a concerned frown.

"To help them?!" Sunny pointed out, but before she could explain any further, Sonic made her turn to him.

"Are you nuts, woman?!" Sonic shouted with wide eyes and panic. "Sunny, you saw how Hitch, Sparky, Izzy and Knuckles got infected with the virus! You won't be helping anyone, you'll just get infected yourself!" he pointed out.

"But I can't just stand here and do nothing anymore!" Sunny pointed out. "I can't let any more friends get infected with that thing!" she stated in anger.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but we can't do anything right now" Sonic pointed out. "We are exposed, and until we get to Tails' workshop and finish that cure. Until then... We're gonna have to keep going..." he added, now looking down at the ground sadly, and then looking at the rest. "... Even if that means that we have to leave some of us behind, no matter how much we hate to do it..." he finished.

"So that's it?! We just let all the infected ones behind and then try to finish a cure we don't know for sure that's gonna work?!" Sunny shouted in rage.

"Sunny..." Pipp called out. "We all hate the idea, but... Sonic's right. We can't do much being exposed, and our best chance is to use Eggman's sample of the cure..." she pointed out with sadness and concern.

"But it's not fair!" Sunny pointed out, stomping her hooves in the floor. "All the infected ones did nothing to deserve that! Shouldn't we at least try to take them out without a cure?!" she asked desperately.

"We won't help anyone if we stay here discussing it instead of finishing the cure like Omega told us to!" Zipp pointed out with w frown.

"I don't give a damn about that sample! It's not fair for them to be like this!" Sunny shouted completely enraged.

"WELL, THAT'S HOW LIFE WORKS, SUNNY!" Tails snapped. "Sometimes it's fair, and sometimes it isn't. Right now, we're on a situation were we don't have a choice. We can't help them now, Sunny. And discussing it and screaming at each other won't solve anything, either!" he pointed out with a frown. "So stop complaining and crying about what's fair or not, and––" he tried to add.

However, he had to ignore Sunny's frown and glare at him, because he barely saw that behind Sunny, a different Zombot was approaching, and this one blasted her magic against the group.

"MOVE!" Tails shouted, as he grabbed Sunny and moved her out of the way, while everyone else just moved as well by reflex because of Tails doing so.

The group all stood up and looked at the new Zombot that just arrived: Izzy, who's skin was metallic purple now, her hair was metallic black, she had no Cutie Mark anymore, her sclera was red, her pupils were yellow, and her teeth where sharp. Also, her bracelet on her hoof was replaced with spikes, and her horn lightened up with lightning around it.

"Okay, first of all: I'm sorry, everyone" Sunny apologized. "I'm just... so stressed over this whole Metal Virus thing that I needed to let my frustration out somehow!" she pointed out with concern, as she blasted a laser beam against Izzy, making the unicorn mare stop for a second, because all her hooves were turned into a metallic puddle.

"Well, it's understandable... We're all stressed with this whole thing!" Misty pointed out with concern.

"I want to apologize too, Sunny. I shouldn't had snapped at you like that!" Tails apologized as well.

"It's okay, Tails! I deserved it..." Sunny replied a bit ashamed.

Suddenly, however, the ground started to rumble and so, everyone moved even more back, because from the ground came Knuckles, turned into a Zombot as well.

His skin was now metallic red, his quills and wrists had spikes, his sclera was red and his pupils were yellow. Of course, that was a big problem already... But it was even worse, because he also had still his electrical powers, and thanks to the Metal Virus, they were expanded.

"Okay, what the actual hell?" Sonic said with a frown, because zombot Knuckles punched his fists together, turning his electrical powers on.

"Well, I'm glad you two have made amends..." Pipp told Sunny and Tails. "But we have a bigger problem to deal with right here!" she pointed at Knuckles with concern, while the echidna smirked sinisterly at the group.

"Um, how are we suppose to fight back if he chooses to attack?!" Zipp asked with concern, but just then, Izzy's hooves regenerated, and she started to move towards the group again. "If they choose to attack?!" Zipp corrected herself.

"We can't touch them or we'll turn into Zombots!" Misty pointed out with wide and panicked eyes. "What do we do?!" she asked in concern.

"We'll have to improvise!" Sonic said with a frown. "Misty, Zipp, Pipp. You three go deal with Izzy. Fly around and distract her, maybe Misty even can use her magic to keep her away for a while!" he pointed out.

"Gotcha!" Zipp said, as Pipp and Misty nodded in agreement, while the three mares went towards Izzy.

"Sunny, Tails. You two and I will deal with Knuckles..." Sonic declared. "We can't punch him directly, but since Tails can use his weapons, maybe I can use the energy of the watch" he pointed out again.

"So we have a plan?" Sunny asked with a smirk.

"Half of one, actually... But it's better than nothing!" Tails pointed out with a half smirk.

And so, the three of them launched to fight with Knuckles, while the Zombot shouted in rage and jumped towards them as well with a raised arm.

Meanwhile, Omega and Metal Sonic were busy dealing with Zombot Shadow. The infected hedgehog was stubborn and kept insisting on running away from the pair of robots to infect everyone else with the virus as well, but thanks to Metal Sonic being as fast as Sonic, Shadow couldn't ever accomplish that plan.

So, Shadow decided that he would fight off Metal and Omega until he could finally infect the rest. Shadow boosted against Metal Sonic and tried to punch him, but Metal dodged the punch and launched the hedgehog against Omega.

The Ultimate E-100 Robot caught Shadow with an arm and smashed him against the ground, holding him still with the same arm, while he used the other one and started to punch him on the face several times, in hopes of eventually knock him off, or at least stun him.

However, Shadow stopped the attack with an arm and pushed Omega backwards, before charging up an Spindash and attack the robot several times, but before he could aim a punch, Metal Sonic grabbed him from behind and made a fight key with him.

Of course, Shadow felt enraged by this, so he quickly teleported away, grabbed Metal from one foot and twirled him around, before launching him towards Omega, making both robots be sent backwards.

Shadow smirked satisfied with this result, then he turned to see that Sonic was fighting alongside Tails and Sunny against Knuckles, and he smirked sinisterly, because he had planned to infect Sonic next... A plan that failed once Metal Sonic came and turn him around, before starting to beat the crap out of him with his bare fists.

Of course, Shadow tried to fight back, but all he could do was groan in pain whenever Metal hit either his chest or his nose, he could not respond back.

And then, Metal Sonic gave a really good use to his claws, because he used the left one to rip Shadow's right arm entirely from his body, making the Zombot groan in pain, as he grabbed the place where the arm used to be, while Metal boosted back and showed Shadow's arm to Shadow himself.

"Want to get it back, champ?" Metal mocked up, before he launched the arm to Omega, who caught the arm and turned around.

"Then come and get it!" Omega said, before he boosted away, while Shadow growled in rage and turned on his air shoes, boosting to the max behind Omega.

Meanwhile, Zombot Izzy was trying to hit with her magic at Zipp, Pipp and Misty, in hopes that she could infect any of them in the process.

However, and just like Sonic told them to do so, the pegasi sisters were constantly flying over Izzy like a pair of flies that wanted to bother her, while Misty constantly levitated her and let her go to let her turn into a puddle of metallic liquid, but of course, everytime this last thing happened, the four mares were careful to not get infected with it.

On the other hand, we had Tails using several weapons from his arsenal, while Sunny launched laser beams and used her magic to hit Knuckles and turn him into a metallic liquid puddle as well.

Sonic was being extremely careful, however, because even if Knuckles was just attacking without thinking, the echidna still had both super speed and super strength, which were amplified by the electrical powers he had. In fact, Knuckles smashed the ground in some occasions with his powers, and instead of braking the ground, he created giant metallic spikes that aimed to reach any of the three survivors fighting him.

"Well, this is definitely getting us nowhere!" Sonic complained with a frown. "We can't punch them, and our long-distance attacks are not doing much!" he pointed out with concern.

"But we can't touch them!" Zipp pointed out. "And if we keep loosing time dealing with them, we'll never get back to Maretime Bay to make the cure!" she added with concern.

"Seems like one of us is going to have to stay!" Sunny said with concern. "But I don't want that to happen! We already lost enough friend to the virus!" she added, as she launched another laser beam to Knuckles, separating hims from half of his body.

However, once Sunny said that last thing, Sonic stopped moving, and time a round him seemed to stop for a second.

He looked around at everything happening: His friends fighting with each other, because even if Izzy and Knuckles were Zombots, at the end of the day they were still his friends.

Then, he saw at the distance Omega and Shadow freeze'd as well, with Shadow missing one arm and chasing Omega, while the robot had Shadow's missing arm an boosted away from him, probably as an strategy to win more time and let the rest escape...

But Sonic knew that escaping wasn't going to save anyone. Like Sunny said, one of them had to stay behind and keep the three Zombots altogether busy, allowing everyone else to escape.

And, of course, Sonic knew what he had to do now... But before doing what he wanted to, he had a last talk with Cyber Sonic, who once again appeared in front of him. So, since he was kneeling in the floor, Sonic stood up and stared with a frown at Cyber Sonic, who frowned back at him.

"... Finally giving up?" Cyber Sonic asked with a mocking tone. "I shouldn't be surprised... After all you were always the weakest one of––" he tried to add.

"Shut up" Sonic said with a confident smile. "You have no power over me. You're free, true, but I'm not scared of you" he confessed, and Cyber Sonic's eyes widened. "Want to keep invading my mind? Go on. Wanna trick me with more creepy ideas? Be my guest! You'll just waste your time, and you know why?" he questioned, now getting at Cyber Sonic's face, while the entity stepped back. "Because we're not the same guy, and we never will" he finished with a confident smile.

The End/Cyber Sonic stared at Sonic in shock and disbelief... After months of haunting him, the Hedgehog now felt nothing by looking at him, and of course, that made his body slowly turn into dust.

Has he been real this whole time, or just an hallucination from Sonic? Only time will tell...

"... Well played... Mortal..." Cyber Sonic said in anger, narrowing his eyes as well, before finally disappearing.

Sonic smirked with confidence and nodded to himself, before snapping his fingers and make everything and everyone around him run at their normal speed again.

Followed by this... He grabbed Izzy from her tail and launched her away. Then, charged up an Spindash and launched it against Knuckles, pushing him backwards towards Izzy as well.

Soon, Omega and Metal Sonic were launched towards the group, while Zombot Shadow growled and placed his right arm back on his place, as the Metal Virus regenerated the arm. With this, Shadow grinned sinisterly and prepared to boost towards the group, if it wasn't because Sonic punched him away and made him land over Izzy and Knuckles.

With this, Sonic panted heavily and sighed...

"HEDGEHOG!" Metal Sonic called out with Knuckles voice, and he looked over his shoulder at his robotic copy. "ARE YOU NUTS?!" he asked.

"Why are you screaming like that?!" Pipp asked.

"... He touched the three Zombots..." Omega said, but something on his tone clearly said that he wasn't happy on saying this.

"The what now?!" Tails said, as he looked back at Sonic with wide eyes and a frown. "Sonic, please tell me you didn't––" he tried to beg, but the moment Sonic turned around, he stopped talking, and he started to feel incredibly anxious.

Sonic's hands were trembling and covered a bit by the metallic liquid, but soon, it started to spread, fully covering his hands, followed by his arms getting slowly covered in the virus as well, and then, it started to spread on his back, on his chest, and his feet, but of course, at a very slow paste.

Sunny felt as anxious as Tails now after seeing this. "No... No, no, no... Please no..." she begged.

"Darn it!" Zipp muttered, covering her face with a hoof to fight the tears that wanted to get out.

"N-No, no, no..." Misty begged as well, stepping a bit back.

"S-Sonic..." Pipp muttered with wide eyes, seeing hopelessly how her boyfriend slowly turned into a Zombot as well.

All the adventures he went through, all the obstacles he cleared, all the people he saved... Now, he was transforming into one of the many Zombots that Opaline controls, and she could do nothing to stop it...

"What the hell were you thinking, Sonic?!" Metal Sonic scolded, which was weird since he always wanted to defeat Sonic, but perhaps this isn't the way he pictured it would happen. "Any organic living being gets infected with the slightest touch!" he pointed out.

However, despite the fact that his hands were trembling at first, Sonic closed them into fists and smirked, looking back at the rest. "Eh, is not the first time I get possessed by weird stuff like this" he pointed out confidently. "But I know for a fact that I can slow down the process a bit, yet I'll become a Zombot eventually..." he explained.

"It would've been better if you didn't!" Tails shouted, although his tears were starting to show.

"Someone has to stay and distract those three..." Sonic said, looking over his shoulder at Izzy, Knuckles and Shadow, who were slowly standing up. "And I'm the only one fast enough to keep the three of them in one place before getting fully infected" he pointed out.

"But why do something this reckless?!" Sunny shouted, as her tears were already falling through her cheeks.

"B-Blue Star... W-We need you..." Pipp said, as she started to tear up as well. "I-I need you..." she muttered to herself.

Sonic felt bad for making Pipp cry, but he still smiled warmly at her, despite the effect of the virus already fully covering his legs and part of his chest.

"Pipp... I don't even know how to finish the damn cure Eggman made..." Sonic pointed out with a sad smile. "You guys don't need me. Which is why I will give us some time!" he declared confidently, before turning around and face to the three Zombots that already got up, but also showing to his friends that his back was already fully covered with the virus.

"Sonic... Don't you dare to––" Tails tried to warn, but...

"Tails, little bro..." Sonic interrupted him, looking over his shoulder at him with a smirk. "You have a mind so smart that sometimes it scares me to look back and notice how talented you truly are... I trusted that cure to you because I know you have what it takes to save us all. So don't stand there and save the day, man! Because this time around? I'm not the hero of the story..." he finished, before boosting away towards the Zombots.

"SONIC!!!" Pipp shouted desperately, while she tried to follow him along, but Zipp and Misty stopped her by grabbing her. "ZIPP, MISTY! LET ME GO!!!" she shouted, tears falling down her cheeks desperately.

"No!" Zipp said. "I won't loose you to that virus like we lost Mom!" she stated, holding her sister tightly.

Meanwhile, Sonic started to run at top speed around Izzy, Shadow and Knuckles, creating a massive tornado where the three Zombots got located in the middle of it, while they all looked around confused.

"GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!" Sonic shouted as he kept running, while the virus covered his chest, meaning only his face was left to get infected.

"NO! SONIC!" Pipp shouted desperately.

"Pipp, we have to go!" Misty pointed out. "There's nothing we can do for him now!" she added.

"Tails must finish the cure..." Sunny muttered, as tears fell down her cheeks as well, but she quickly tried to wipe them away. "W-We must keep going..." she stated, as she turned around with effort and then flew away towards Maretime Bay.

Tails noticed this, and he looked back at the tornado in the distance for a second, before sighing and let out a last and lonely tear. Then, he nodded confidently to himself and went to Misty, Zipp and Pipp.

"Girls, we gotta go!" Tails stated. "Equestria's fate is now on our hands. Let's get back to my workshop and finish this damn cure!" he instructed.

"B-But Sonic!" Pipp cried. "W-We can't just––"

"Pipp, Sonic is infected, and he'll soon be against us" Tails pointed out, as he got in front of the young pegasus. "I hate this idea as much as you do. Heck, maybe even more! Sonic's my best friend! My older brother! But... We can't do anything to help him right now..." he pointed out with concern. "We gotta go and finish the cure, or else he'll never come back to normal..." he added with a frown.

Pipp hated everything she was hearing. She didn't wanted to leave Sonic behind, she didn't wanted to run away and hope for a cure to work when there was no guarantee that it even was a stable cure.

However, she also knew that if anyone got infected, they had no salvation until Tails could finish the cure... And that unfortunately included Sonic, because like he said it himself: He can slow the process, but he'll eventually will turn into a Zombot as well.

So, with a hurtful expression and shattered heart, Pipp stopped trying to fly away from Misty and Zipp, and when the two mares let her go, she... She choose to fly towards Sonic anyways.

She couldn't save him, true... But if he was to fall as a Zombot here, then she'd rather fall with him.

"PIPP! WHAT THE BUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Zipp shouted desperately after Pipp boosted away, but before she could leave, Misty surrounded her with her magic, while she walked backwards. "MISTY! LET ME GO!" Zipp begged.

"... Sorry Zipp... But we already lost enough friends" Tails said coldly.

It hurt him to speak in that way to her girlfriend, specially considering that she just saw her own sister flying towards her boyfriend since she refused to leave him alone.

"TAILS, NO!" Zipp said, as she started to cry loudly, while desperately attempting to get free from Misty's magic, but failing miserably in the process.

"We gotta go!" Misty told Tails, and he nodded in agreement with a saddened expression.

So, Tails grabbed Misty bridal style, and the unicorn still had Zipp surrounded on her magic, so Tails flew in the air and boosted towards Maretime Bay as well, while Zipp sobbed even harder and lowered her head, devastated that she couldn't stop Pipp from flying away.

As for Metal Sonic and Omega? The y looked at each other concerned for a second, before nodding sadly and then leave as well, since they needed to protect the survivors and the cure.

Meanwhile, Sonic was still running and holding the tornado a bit more, but then, he finally stopped doing so, as he kneeled to the ground and panted heavily, while the Zombots behind him didn't moved, since they could see he was already in the process of turning into a zombot.

Suddenly, however, Sonic was wrapped in a pair of hooves, and he opened his eyes widely, because just by the touch he could tell who was hugging him... And he didn't liked it...

"P-Pipp?!" Sonic shouted in shock. "What are you––" he tried to ask, but Pipp broke the hug and covered his mouth with one of her hooves.

"I couldn't leave you alone, Blue Star... I simply couldn't" Pipp said with a warm smile, while the Metal Virus started to cover her body as well. "We're a team. And if you're gonna turn into a Zombot... The I'm happy to turn into one with you..." she added.

"But this is insane! Are you nuts or something?!" Sonic said with wide and panicked eyes.

"Well... Ponies do crazy things when they're in love" Pipp pointed out, playing a bit with her mane with a hoof. "And I really, really love you, Sonic..." she added with a slight blush, because even if they tell that to each other on a daily basis, she still felt butterflies on her stomach whenever she said it.

Sonic felt butterflies as well, and despite knowing that he was about to turn into a Zombot, he still moved Pipp by grabbing her from her chin and make her face at him.

"... I love you too, Pipp..." Sonic said with a smile.

Pipp smiled back, and so, they decided to share a kiss one last time, before their transformation to Zombots was completed.

Soon, the five Zombots walked ahead to a cliff, which got infected with the virus as well, and the zombots stared to Maretime Bay in the distance with frowns and growls.





Misty was leading the way as the group of 4 friends and two robots approached Maretime Bay.

Finally, after at least 3 or 4 hours from the Virus spreading, they were finally so close to their home, to Electronic Tails, and to finish the cure for the virus.

"Come on, guys. We're almost there!" Misty announced.

Soon, they took a turn around Mane Street, which should lead them towards the Sheriff Station and Electronic Tails... But what they found instead made them gasp: Yes, they found these two places, but they also found the whole street infested with Zombots everywhere.

It didn't mattered where they turned to, the place was infested of Zombots: Toots, Dahlia, Posey, Hitch, Sparky, Eggman... Even Rouge, Haven, and a Zombot Alphabittle were here as well.

"Seems like Opaline was busy redecorating..." Sunny muttered with concern, making her Alicorn form appear for what felt the millionth time in the last few hours.

"But we need to reach the workshop, or I won't be able to finish the cure!" Tails pointed out.

"Then stay close..." Metal Sonic said, as he and Omega stepped in front. "And whatever you do... Don't. Get. Infected." he added, looking over his shoulder at the group.

"With so many Zombots, is gonna be tricky..." Zipp pointed out. "But we gotta fight to the very end!" she declared.

The rest nodded in agreement, and so, Metal Sonic and Omega boosted towards the Zombots, punching them out of the way as they launched towards the group, while the ponies and the fox moved as fast as they could and approached to the workshop.

But just when they were about to reach the workshop, a massive blast of fire made them stop, and so, they all slammed the brake from going anywhere ahead.

They looked around and noticed that they were all surrounded by a massive fire barrier. Worse of all, Omega and Metal Sonic were nowhere to be seen, but there were no Zombots near by, either, so at least there was a good sign in whatever was going on.

However, they all heard a maniac laugh, and Misty's eyes widened in panic. "No, no, no, no..." she muttered in fear, stepping a bit back.

And so, Opaline landed in front of the three ponies and the Mobian with a loud stomp, while she showed off her ignited horn and wings, which made Zipp, Sunny and Tails frown in anger, while Misty gulped nervously.

"Well, well well... Took you long enough!" Opaline declared with a smirk.

"Aw, great... Queen Ursula is here..." Tails muttered annoyed with a frown.

"You'll refer to me as Queen Opaline Arcana, stupid fox!" Opaline snapped in anger, but Tails just rolled his eyes. "Now, hand me over the cure, and I'll make sure your transformations into Zombots is fast and not painful!" she declared with a sinister grin, also extending her hoof.

Tails snapped his tongue and snorted. "You want the cure?" he asked playfully, soon using his power to create a long, metallic stick that he twirled around and then stuck to the ground. "You'll have to go over me!" he declared.

Of course, this made Opaline burst out laughing, since she could not take Tails serious. "Oh, pluh-ease! A little weakling gremling like you could never––" she tried to mock up.

And yet, she soon found herself rubbing her nose with a hoof when Tails boosted in front of her and used the stick he created to hit her straight in her face, showing absolutely no mercy in the process, while also frowning up at the Alicorn.

Of course, this left the other three mares completely shocked and jaw-dropped, specially Misty, who even covered her mouth with her hooves. Yes, they all knew that when Tails got serious, he got serious, but they never expected him to go as far as punching Opaline on the face.

"Let me show you what this 'little weakling gremling' is capable of!" Tails said with anger, as he twirled his stick around, using it like a shield.

Opaline rubbed her nose a bit more, but when she retired it, she noticed that she had some blood on it, and her eyes widened in panic.

In all her years of living as an immortal Alicorn, nopony was ever capable of making her bleed. She's been punched, slapped, smacked, and even thrown against walls on her own throne, but none of that ever made her bleed... And yet, Tails just made one simple move with his stick, and made her bleed.

She was beyond furious now, and she slowly looked over at Tails. "... You... You little piece of CRAP!" she shouted in rage, before shooting a massive blast against Tails.

Of course, Tails boosted to the air, while Sunny used her magic to create a magic shield that protected her, Zipp and Misty from Opaline's attacks, while Tails landed back and looked at Opaline with rage.

"Hey, handsome!" Zipp called out to Tails. "Want a helping hoof?" she asked with a smirk.

"... I appreciate the offer, My Princess..." Tails replied without looking at them. "But I'll take it from here!" he declared, before taking out the cure's sample and launch it to Zipp, who caught it with her hooves. "Go finish the cure, Zipp! I know you're as capable as I am on finishing it!" he declared, before boosting towards Opaline with a warrior cry.

"Oh no, you w––" Opaline tried to say, but she was punched to the air by Tails and his stick, as the young fox boosted to the air to fight with the Fire Alicorn.

In the meantime, Sunny used her magic to dissipate the fire surrounding them, just to found herself surrounded by Zombots again. However, Omega and Metal Sonic soon came by and pushed the Zombots away from Electronic Tails, allowing the three mares to move on.

"Come on, girls!" Metal Sonic said. "You have the cure, finish it!" he instructed.

"We'll hold the Zombots as much as we can!" Omega added in agreement, as he recharged his munitions and then started to shot at the Zombots again.

"You two go!" Sunny told Zipp and Misty as she turned to them. "I may not be immune to the virus, but I can stay in the air and use my magic to keep them away from the workshop as well!" she stated.

"A-Are you sure?" Misty asked concerned. "We already lost a lot of friends, Sunny..." she pointed out.

"That's why you have to finish that cure!" Sunny said, as she pulled Misty and Zipp into a hug, which the two mares returned. "Just in case things go wrong..." she muttered. "Good luck, girls!" she told them with a smile, before blasting a bunch of Zombots away from Tails' workshop.

Seeing the path free, Zipp and Misty looked at each other, before nodding with confident looks and then get inside of the workshop.

With the cure safe, Metal Sonic, Omega and Sunny stood back to back, glaring at all the Zombots that approached them, before they all started to use everything they had to keep the Zombots away from the workshop, and therefore, from the cure.

So, Sunny flew to the air and created a magical barrier around her, before diving to the ground and then fly towards a bunch of Zombots, which she sent flying away as she blasted through them. Next, Omega fought several Zombots and launched them, taking the fact that he's bigger than all of them as an advantage.

Finally, Metal Sonic made a good use of his claws by ripping apart some extremities from the Zombots and launch them away, confusing them and making them to move away to recover their correct extremity.

However, Metal Sonic was soon pushed backwards, and he rolled a bit in the ground with a painful grunt. Soon, he shook his head and stood up, but when he saw who punched him, his eyes widened: The one who sent him away was Zombot Sonic, who looked at Metal Sonic with rage.

"Well... It all comes full circle..." Metal Sonic muttered, positioning to run towards Sonic and fight.

Zombot Sonic growled in rage and showed his sharp teeth, while he boosted against Metal Sonic, and the robot did the same, as the two of them raised their fists and punched the other one. Soon, Metal let go Sonic's fists and started to punch him in the face, but Sonic moved and hit Metal Sonic on his chest, sending him backwards.

Metal Sonic slid in the ground and dig his claws on the pavement, before boosting back with Sonic and hit him on the face, then dodge an attack and hit him on the back.

Now, instead of finish him off himself, Metal moved aside and let Sunny come in and blast her horn against Sonic, traversing entirely his chest. Then, Omega came by and hit him strong enough to sent him flying backwards, which made Sonic scream in rage as he crashed against a random store in the town.

"Sorry, Sonic. But until the cure is ready, I'm afraid we'll play on opposite bands..." Sunny said with concern.

However, Omega heard a warrior cry from a Zombot coming from the sky, and soon, he shoot at their wings and made them fall to the ground.

The Zombot in particular was Pipp, who rolled painfully in the ground, before quickly standing up, shake her head, and then growl in anger towards Sunny, Omega and Metal Sonic.

"Princess!" Metal Sonic called out. "I hope you and Misty are making progress with that cure, because your sister just arrived, and she looks mad that we wiped the floor with her Zombot boyfriend!" he pointed out, before he and Omega boosted towards her, while Sunny went to the sky again.





Inside the workshop, Zipp and Misty were grabbing some things.

"We're working on it!" Zipp shouted back, before she and Misty moved to the storage room of the workshop.

They gathered several items to use to finish the cure: A balance scale, a microscope, graduated cylinders, beakers, droppers, and erlenmeyer flasks with several chemical substances they were going to use to finish the cure.

"Okay... Safety first!" Zipp said, as she brought a couple of protective googles and gave one pair to Misty, who grabbed it and putted it on, with Zipp doing the same. "Okay. Hand me the microscope over. We gotta check what's this cure made of before we can finish it..." she explained.

Misty just nodded and gave her the microscope, while Zipp placed the cure's sample under the microscope and started to check on it.





Outside, the battle against Opaline and the Zombots continued.

In the skies, Opaline was launching blast of fire after blast of fire towards Tails, while the young fox used his stick to protect himself from the attack, but he also started to use other weapons, like boomerangs, bazookas, guns, and even a hook that he used at some point to pull Opaline closer, before creating a metallic glove and then punch her in the face with it.

Irritated, Opaline teleported behind Tails, but he activated the shield on his watch to protect himself, before deactivate it and then divide his stick into nunchucks, which he used to hit Opaline in her face again.

However, Tails didn't stopped there, because he used the nunchucks to hit her face for a good while, before he joined the nunchucks into the stick again and then started to fly at top speed around Opaline, hitting her on her weakest and exposed spots like if she was a piñata, until he hit her face once again.

The Fire Alicorn screamed in rage, and so, she blasted a very strong and powerful blast, while Tails used his stick as a shield, but he also activated the one from hi watch at some point, sweating nervously at Opaline's power.





Zipp finished analyzing the cure's sample, and so, she and Misty got to work.

"I gotta hand it to Eggman: Despite being a menace, he did made sure to make this sample work, 'cause I think it could definitely work" Zipp pointed out.

"But don't we need a subject to test it over?" Misty asked concerned.

"I gave a drop of the sample to Sunny, and she used it over Sonic while fighting him" Zipp explained with a smirk. "She says that the drop managed to dissipate the virus effect temporally, so the cure finished should save them all!" she pointed out.

"Let's finish this cure, then!" Misty stated confidently, while Zipp nodded in agreement.

Soon, Zipp mixed some ingredients on beaker, and she instructed Misty on how to do the same so she wouldn't mix up the ingredients. Since some of the substances had the same colors, Zipp decided to call them by number (Green 1, Green 2, Red 1, Red 2...) instead of their names so Misty wouldn't confuse them.

"I need Blue 2 and Pink 1, Misty!" Zipp said at some point, and Misty gave her the respective ingredients.

Then, as Misty was mixing some as well with droppers and a graduated cylinder, she gasped a bit concerned. "Zipp, give me Orange 3 and Yellow 4!" she requested.

"Got it!" Zipp said, as she gave Misty the substances.

After a few minutes, the two mares finished up their respective mixes. Then, they combined them on the beaker and then ducked down for cover, while a small explosion happened. With the explosion over, Zipp and Misty looked at the beaker's content, and then, Zipp dropped everything that remained of the cure's sample inside.

"Is it ready?" Misty asked.

"Almost..." Zipp replied, before she moved over towards a microwave, and Misty followed her.

Zipp placed the beaker with the cure inside the microwave, and then settled it for a minute and a half.

"Once the microwave has the cure over, we'll be able to destroy this Metal Virus" Zipp explained with a smile.

"So... we did it?!" Misty asked with a hopeful smile.

"If Tails, Sunny, Omega and Metal Sonic can keep Opaline and the Zombots busy while we finish this, then we're just a minute and 15 seconds away to save our home, Mist..." Zipp replied with a little and hopeful smile.





Outside, Tails was still fighting with Opaline.

The young fox fired several blasts from his guns against Opaline, but the Fire Alicorn burned the blasts down and aimed to Tails, who once again used a shield to protect himself from the Alicorn's attacks... But then, he heard Sunny growling as she used a magical shield to protect herself.

Zombot Amy, Hitch and Izzy were all stomping over her shield, trying to make her brake it and get infected with the virus as well, but Sunny was willing to fight back.

"Sunny!" Tails exclaimed with wide eyes and panic.

However, when Opaline noticed this, she smirked sinisterly, and then, she teleported behind Tails, before charging up her horn entirely with her magic... And then, she launched the attack towards him, blasting the poor fox against his own workshop, as he traversed the window and broke it, while he crashed on his back against his logo near the counter.

After that, Tails fell to the ground, while he groaned in pain and then kneeled, even scratching his head a bit. Then, he coughed some blood, and he even felt one of his eyes purple from the pain.

"TAILS!" Sunny screamed in fear, before she blasted the zombots trying to infect her away with her magic, and then, she flew towards Tails and his workshop.

Meanwhile, Opaline landed on the ground and laughed maniacally, seeing how Tails was crawling out of sight, but in her eyes, that was just a sign of weakness.

"You really thought you could stop me?! YOU WORTHLESS, WEAK LITTLE NOTHING!" Opaline shouted in rage. "COME OUT AND FIGHT! Or are you too scared?!" she mocked up with a sinister grin.

Tails hid behind the counter and groaned, while he held his left arm in pain and breathed heavily after the blast he received from Opaline. He also looked down at the floor in sadness, because he attacked Opaline several times on her face and she could still fight back, while one single blast from her weakened him and made him feel painful.

He did got strong if he didn't wanted to cry, true... But maybe Opaline is right. He is a worthless, weak and little nothing at the end of the day...

Since she got not response from Tails, Opaline cackled. "Just what I thought" she said confidently.

But then, Sunny arrived and blasted against Opaline, which made the older Alicorn scoff at first, and then growl in anger, as she blasted back at Sunny, while the younger Alicorn created a shield to protect herself from Opaline's attack.

"So you wanna fight, little pest?! THEN BRING IT ON, STARSCOUT!" Opaline shouted in rage, as she launched against Sunny.

Irritated, Sunny wrapped herself in some kind of yellow shield and aimed against Opaline.

The Fire Alicorn imitated this action and wrapped herself in a shield as dark as the night and pounced on Sunny. When both shields collided, they were pushed backwards; Opaline took the opportunity to turn off the shield and launch another powerful beam towards Sunny, which she quickly dodged.

Then, the younger Alicorn also turned off her shield and launched herself at Opaline, punching her in the face. The enraged Fire Alicorn used her front hooves to push Sunny to the ground, where she landed unharmed, but she moved in time to dodge another blast from Opaline.

The younger Alicorn then began to move nimbly through the air, as she dodged more of Opaline's attacks. She made sure she was on pony-free ground so the blasts didn't hit anyone, and she began to fly back towards the Fire Alicorn. She used her wings to protect herself from the last beam that Opaline was throwing at her, and when she unfolded them, she released a very powerful one herself that sent the Fire Alicorn to the ground.

However, Opaline went ahead and activated her shield, so that at the moment that Sunny stopped throwing the beam, she turned off the shield and launched another very powerful one towards the alicorn, which in response also launched one herself.

Both were almost equal in power, since the blasts of both Alicorns collided and did not move from their place. The two ponies did their part to get past the other, but both dodging and throwing blasts exhausted Sunny a bit, while Opaline, having more experience with magic, managed to push her blast and surpass the younger Alicorn's.

At the last second, before the blast hit her, Sunny made a very daring move and used a transportation spell that moved her right behind Opaline, and then, she shot a powerful laser blast and attacked her from behind. This action only angered the Fire Alicorn, who again tried to attack Sunny.





Meanwhile, inside the workshop, Tails was still hiding behind the counter, feeling weak and hopeless.

Soon enough, though, Zipp and Misty came out of the storage room, with Misty holding a big jar that had the finished cure, but as soon as the two mares saw Tails having some blood on his mouth, some cuts around his body, and a purple eye, they both gasped in shock.

"TAILS!" the two mares shouted in panic, and they rushed to him, with Misty placing the cure carefully in the ground.

"Are you okay?!" Misty asked panicked.

"Hey, honey, what happened?!" Zipp asked with concern and an anxious look.

Tails did nothing but sigh and weakly look at the two mares. "... I thought that I could stop her... That I could fix everything... But it doesn't matter how much I train, or how much I 'upgrade' myself... I'm still the same pathetic and scared kid that Sonic met when we were kids..." he explained with concern.

"What? What are you baffling about?!" Misty asked confused.

"I can't even keep a fight against Opaline without getting a hit and be weakened!" Tails said with a frown, also closing his hands in fists. "I... I don't feel like I really changed in the 6 months we spent away, girls... I still feel like I'm just a burden..." he confessed with concern.

"Tails, babe, I though we had this conversation already..." Zipp said concerned. "Of course you have grown! Or what, you're gonna let the words of a 10 budget mane style Alicorn like Opaline tell you how you truly are?" she added with a slight frown.

"Tails, I don't know why just one hit from Opaline was enough to bring your steam down, but I know for sure that anything she told you is a lie" Misty told him with a determinate look. "So what if you are scared? Isn't Sonic scared all the time? He still does what he does because he knows he's helping so many people, and he doesn't lets his fear win the best of him!" she pointed out with a smile.

"And you think you can't fix this? Man, Misty and I might had finished the cure, but if it wasn't for you and Sunny giving us time, we wouldn't had even done it!" Zipp pointed out with a smile as well. "And I'm not even mentioning things like when you helped out to fight the Death Egg Titan! O-Or how you went to look after me after my fight with Mom!" she added.

"Or how you always believed in me, and how you forgive me despite all the time I worked with Opaline and Eggman..." Misty added with a smile. "You're the reason why Zipp and I are here today! And we're grateful for that..."

"... I... I did all of that?" Tails asked slightly confused.

"And so much more stuff!" Zipp said. "Maybe we were not there, but the way Sonic talks about you with so much pride already tells in which position he has you, and I know for sure that he isn't wrong!" she stated.

"The cure is ready, but... We think you should be the one to spread it around!" Misty stated with a smile.

"... Are you girls sure...?" Tails asked, still having doubts about this. "I don't want to screw things up again..." he pointed out.

"Tails, I know for sure that you can do this!" Zipp stated once again.

"All you gotta do..." Misty followed.

"Is find your flame!" both mares said with smiles.

Tails' eyes widened after hearing this, and his mind flashed back to something...





"You just got to find the courage to put your fears and doubts aside!" Sonic said 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.

"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.





Tails finally understood it...

He was chasing his moment for so long, but it never arrived because of said reason... Because he went after it.

Now, Opaline was outside, fighting the pony he considers his sister, and he wouldn't allow her to get way with hurting her as well.

Because this was his moment.

"... Alright... Opaline wants to go nuts?" Tails asked with a frown, before he stood up, grabbed the jar with the finished cure, and then he adjusted his googles, now walking to the exit. "Let's get nuts!" he stated.

Zipp and Misty got up and looked at each other with smiles, before following Tails towards the exit.

The young fox kicked the door of the workshop, just to witness how Opaline was blasting a powerful fire blast against Sunny and growling in rage, while Sunny tried to protect herself with her own magic, but the trick wasn't working...

"Hey!" Tails voice called out, and Opaline's ear twitched, before she stopped hitting Sunny and slowly turned around with a frown. "Leave her alone!" he stated, as she stepped closer and glared daggers at the Fire Alicorn.

Opaline growled in rage and lightened her horn again, but this time, she aimed it at Tails. "You just don't know when to quit!" she shouted in anger, lightening her horn in fire again.

"Yup! I'm stubborn like a mule!" Tails replied with a smirk, also wiping some blood coming out from his mouth.

Opaline growled more, and without further ado, she charged up her most powerful and devastating blast. Then, she let out a loud warrior cry and shot her blast against Tails, who didn't even flinched nor attempted to move away, even placing the jar with th cure in front of him with a frown.

"TAILS, NO!!!" Sunny shouted, and right at that moment, Zombot Hitch touched her back, which made the virus start to spread across her body.

As for Tails, he could feel time stopping around him for a second. He was staring at the blast, that was inches away from him and the cure for the virus.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on the energy of his body. He knew for a fact that his electrical powers had some Chaos Energy, so maybe he could focus on that and contact the Chaos Emerald to use their power. After all, they could make the job of defeating Opaline and spread the virus' cure a lot easier.

So, he focused, and focused, and focused, until time stopped moving for a moment, and the Chaos Emeralds surrounded him. They twirled around him for a few seconds, before entering his body and illuminate it entirely.

Soon, a light shone bright, and when time started to run normally again, Opaline's blast hit Tails and the jar with the cure.

"NO!" Sunny screamed, while her body was getting covered with the Metal Virus.

As for Opaline, she laughed like a maniac at her accomplishment... One that failed, actually.






We won't back down, we won't
(Yeah, yo)


Soon, the dust from Opaline's blast hitting Tails dissipated, and it showed that the young fox actually survived the hit, and was now glowing in a bright white color that covered his fur.

His eyes turned red as well, and all the cuts he got, as well as the bleeding mouth and the purple eye, healed thanks to the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

Yes, he went Super Tails, why aren't you clapping?

Tails opened his eyes and smirked, before making the jar with the cure float on his own, and then, he boosted towards Opaline, making her traverse a bunch of walls with one single punch, while the Fire Alicorn grunted in pain because of that single hit.


Will the whole world know your name
When we dance with destiny?


With Opaline down for the moment, Tails smirked and used the Chaos Emeralds' power to make the cure float out of the jar, and soon he pointed it to the sky, as he started to accumulate energy with his body.


I've been there, and I've seen it
I'm never gonna stop believing
You'll find your flame


Soon, Opaline shook her head and noticed what Tails was doing. "NO!" she shouted in rage and tried to fly towards him, but she got a blast that made her crash on her back against the wall and then fall to the ground.

"Not so fast!" Misty said with a frown, as her horn was lightened up and sparkling, while Sunny joined her, despite the virus still being infecting her.


(So take this as a lesson
Cause it's all that we know)


Opaline growled in anger and tried to stood up, but then, both Sunny and Misty shoot a powerful and combined blast against the Fire Alicorn, which made her yell in pain.


Will the whole world know your name
When we dance with destiny? (We won't back down)


Meanwhile, Tails was growling in pain as he extended the cure for the virus and made it so big that it was almost covering half of Equestria, but he started to feel the power of the Emeralds flickering, probably because he never used their power at all in the past.


I've been there, and I've seen it (We won't)
I'm never gonna stop believing (Back down)
You'll find your flame (We won't)


"You just got to find the courage to put your fears and doubts aside!"

Sonic's voice echoed on his mind, and his eyes widened, before he nodded to himself with a determinate look. He wasn't going to let fear take over himself when his friends needed him. He allowed it to happen when Infinite attacked, but he wouldn't fear today... Not anymore.

So, with a warrior cry, Tails focused all his energy and finally finished extending the cure, before releasing it over all the Zombots, and Sunny included.


Now here we go, it's the end of the show
Hear them, they're calling your name


Soon, the cure started to make its work, and it slowly began to cure all the infected ones, who at first shone bright once the cure made contact with them. Once the light was gone, all the infected ones where back to normal, and they started to look around confused.

With that done, Tails looked at Opaline, still being attacked by Misty and Sunny, the latter being cured as well from the virus.

With a determinate look, Tails boosted towards Opaline and punched her on the face, which made the Alicorn groan in pain, but before she could attack back, Tails grabbed her from her tail and twirled her around for a while, which made her have a huge Dejà vu, before Tails launched her far away, while Opaline screamed loudly in rage and fear.

"I'LL GET MY REVENGE, STUPID FOX!" Opaline shouted maniacally, getting lost in the distance.


Cause in the end
It's you and your friends
You'll find your flame (Oh, we can save the day)


With Opaline gone, Tails started to pant heavily exhausted, but he still smiled satisfied. He did it... He spread the cure... He defeated Opaline... He won...

Meanwhile, all the once infected Zombots were looking around confused.

"Uh... How the hell did we came back to Maretime Bay?" Knuckles asked.

"Weren't we in the sky trying to get away from Opaline?" Izzy pointed out confused.

"I... I was encaged in a capsule that blocked my powers..." Shadow said confused. "Then Eggman opened a small vent and released a weird metallic liquid... I don't remember anything else... How did I got here?!" he asked.

"Shadow!" Sonic cheered, as he tightly hugged the Black Blur, which confused Shadow a lot.

"... What kind of alternate reality am I?" Shadow questioned.

"Oh, don't get used to his, I'm just glad you're not a Zombot anymore!" Sonic explained with a smile, before putting Shadow back in the ground.

"A what?" Shadow asked, but Sonic boosted away before he could ask further.

"Uh... I thought we were in the Brighthouse when that creepy Eggman came in?" Hitch pointed out, while Sparky on his back babbled with a dizzy expression.

"Hitch?" Amy called out, scratching her head confused. "But I thought you turned into one of those things... Wait, how did I got in town?" she asked confused.

"AMY!" Knuckles said, as he dragged the pink hedgehog into a tight hug, before he started to shake her violently. "DON'T YOU DARE TO SCARE ME LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!!!" he screamed at her with a panicked tone and expression.

"Scare you? What are you talking about?!" Amy asked, not understanding what the heck happened.

"Long story short: You guys turned into Zombots!" Sonic said, appearing suddenly and wrapping his arms around them.

"I did?!/A what?" Knuckles and Amy said at the said time.

"I'll explain you later, Ames––" Sonic tried to say, but then, his eyes widened when he remembered someone. "WAIT! Where the heck is Eggman?!" he asked confused.

After saying that, Sonic started to run around the bay at fast paste in search for the doctor, but soon, he stopped near Mane Melody when he heard a maniac laugh coming from the sky.

So, Sonic looked upwards, and he frowned slightly when he saw that Metal Sonic was carrying Eggman by holding him from one hand, while Eggman looked down and laughed like a maniac. "You have won today, Hedgehog... But my next sinister plot will be unbeatable! Until next time, you wretched hedgehog!" he shouted, before Metal Sonic turned around and rolled his eyes.

"I don't get paid enough for this..." Metal Sonic said with Knuckles' voice.

"You're a robot, I don't need to pay you!" Eggman complained, as Metal Sonic boosted away. "And how are you talking?!" he asked with rage.

Sonic et out a heavy sigh and shook his head, also placing his hands on his hips. "Until next time, Doc. And the time after that, and the one after that..." he said with a worried expression. "Maybe you'll eventually come around..." he pointed out.

"SONIC!" Pipp said, as she tackled the Blue Blur to the ground and hugged him tightly.

Sonic chuckled and hugged her back, while the pegasus tenderly kissed her boyfriend's lips. "Let me guess... We turned into Zombots?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah!" Pipp said with concern. "You don't remember?" she asked.

"I honestly don't remember anything that happened after I grabbed Izzy's tail..." Sonic confessed. "Is like, I grabbed her from her tail, and the next second I blinked, I was here... Is strange..." he pointed out.

"PIPP!" Zipp's voice screamed, as she came by and wrapped Pipp into a really tight hug. "Don't you dare to scare me like that again!" she begged, but Pipp just let out a giggle.

"You grabbed me from my tail?" Izzy asked confused, as she arrived along Knuckles, Amy, Hitch and Sparky.

"Yeah... Although by your expression, it seems that you guys don't remember turning into Zombots..." Sonic pointed out with a playful smirk, as Pipp and him stood up.

"I turned into a Zombot?!" Izzy asked panicked with wide eyes, also placing her hooves on her cheeks.

"What the hell is a Zombot?!" Amy and Hitch asked at the same time, both confused and irritated.

"Izzy!" Misty's voice spoke, and she arrived along Sunny, with the unicorn mare hugging Misty tightly, and even if Izzy was still confused on how she turned into a Zombot, she still hugged Misty back. "I'm so glad that you're back!" she said with a smile.

"I honestly don't even remember how I turned... But I guess is good to be back!" Izzy said with her usual cheerful smile.

As this happened, Sunny dragged Hitch into a tight hug as well, but she also nuzzled her face against his neck, which made Hitch blush like mad.

"U-Uh... S-Sunny?" Hitch asked confused.

"Don't mind me, Hitchy... I'm just glad you're back..." Sunny replied, and even if she was blushing as well, she wasn't planning on letting him go.

Hitch felt his heart skipping a beat after Sunny said that, specially because she hasn't called him 'Hitchy' in years... But he couldn't help but smile, and he hugged her back.

"I'm still confused on what happened, but... It's good to be back" Hitch replied with a smile.

On the other hand, Shadow helped Rouge to get back up, while the bat scratched her head confused.

"What the heck happened?" Rouge asked. "I don't remember anything after Eggman released that liquid in our cages..." she pointed out

"No clue, either..." Shadow replied. "Apparently, he spread that thing, because everyone around seems as confused as us..." he pointed out.

But then, Omega came by and grabbed his teammates, wrapping them both in a really tight hug, while his eyes shining brightly, probably as a sign that they are sparkling.

"Don't you #*@!#!! dare to leave me alone ever again!" Omega said, still hugging Shadow and Rouge tightly, while they looked at each other confused.

After this, Omega let them go, then he went over and approached the Pippsqueaks, who despite of being as confused as everyone on what happened, they still giggled and accepted to approach the robot and hug him, since he was kneeling down the same way he always does when he allows the fillies to climb over him.

At the same time, Zipp and Pipp were hugging tightly their mother, even though Queen Haven had no idea on what was going on, nor how she arrived to Maretime Bay in the first place.

But as this happened, Sonic realized that someone was missing. "Say... Where's Tails?" he asked confused.

Just then, he felt his ear twitching when he heard someone panting exhausted, so he turned around and saw Tails, still on his Super form, slowly descending until he collapsed in the ground, while the Chaos Emeralds left his body, but instead of spreading around as they usually do, they just stood there in the ground.

"Tails!" Sonic screamed, boosting towards his little bro and helping him to stand up, while Tails shook his head dizzy.

"Ugh... S-Sonic?" Tails asked, a bit confused at first. "Did I... Did I did it? I-I actually cured you and everyone else?" he asked, groaning in pain again.

"... You're the one who spread the cure?" Sonic asked with wide eyes, but also with a very proud smile. "Y-You used the power of the Emeralds despite not having the experience with them?!" he added, but still feeling so proud.

"I... I guess?" Tails replied. "I just remember that I used their power to spread the cure and then sent Opaline away, but that's it..." he pointed out.

"Wait... You thrown Opaline away?!" Sonic asked with an excited smile.





Opaline was still screaming in fright, until she crashed against a window of her castle.

There, she groaned in pain as she lay on the ground, until she decided to stand up and shake her head. But once her mind stopped feeling so dizzy and remembered what happened, she felt her right eye twitching, then her face turned red from rage while her ears let out some smoke, and then...

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!" Opaline shouted in rage, as she blasted another power blast of fire against a wall of her castle, which traversed it, as well as it activated the magic barrier around the Castle again, also spreading a bunch of fire.





"... Yeah... Now I think she wants me dead..." Tails realized with wide and panicked eyes.

"But that's amazing, little man!" Sonic said happily, as he hugged Tails tightly. "I mean, the fact that Opaline hates you more now isn't, but the fact that you stood up for yourself and beat the crap out of her is it!" he pointed out.

"Well, I couldn't stand aside and let my fear take over me again" Tails pointed out with a sheepish smile. "I just... I knew I had to do something to prevent all of this!" he declared. "Like you told me to before Bridlewoodstock, I putted my fears aside and decided to find the courage to stand up and fight 'till the end!" he stated.

"And I couldn't be happier for you!" Sonic stated, once again hugging him tightly.

"Tails!" Sunny's voice called out, and soon, he was wrapped in another hug by the earth pony mare, while Tails chuckled at the gesture. "I can't believe that you managed to stand against Opaline the way you did! I'm so proud of you!" she said with a smile.

"Well, thanks!" Tails replied with a smile. "But I couldn't have done it if you and Misty didn't hold her enough for me to spread the cure!" he pointed out.

"Tails, that was amazing!" Misty called out as well, and both Zipp and her arrived to wrap him into another hug. "We knew that you could do it!" she stated happily.

"Yeah! We told you that you had in you! And now, everypony is safe and back to normal!" Zipp pointed out with a smile.

"Wait... So Tails fixed everything up?" Knuckles called out with a smirk. "And here I thought Sonic was going to save the day as usual..." he mocked up.

"Come on, dude. I can't have the fun for myself all the time!" Sonic mocked back with his arms crossed.

"Well, I'm glad that whatever Eggman or Opaline were doing is over, but can someone now explain me what happened?" Hitch asked with a bored expression. "I'm completely lost here!" he pointed out.

"I'm actually eager to have an answer as well..." Shadow said, as he came with the Emeralds' Box, because he already picked up the seven of them.

Soon, all the ponies around Maretime Bay gathered around the Mane 6, Team Sonic and Team Dark, since everypony wanted to know what was going on.

So, Sonic went over to grab a box then placed it over where he was standing earlier, and then he stood over the box, clearing his throat and asking for everypony's attention.

"Okay, everypony! I know you want answers, and you'll have them!" Sonic started. "The creepy guy that builded that giant robot and almost destroyed the town created a dangerous Virus that mind controlled all of you!" he began to explain.

Of course, everyone but those aware of the virus gasped in shock. Yes, Amy and Hitch gasped too because they didn't knew about it since they got infected before the rest discovered what was the Metal Virus.

"The few of us who survived managed to find a cure, but it wasn't finished!" Sunny joined the explanation. "Unfortunately, on our way here to try and finish the cure, only Zipp, Misty, Tails and I survived to get infected with the virus... Everyone else fell victim of it..." she pointed out with concern.

"Then how are we back to normal?!" A unicorn mare among the crowd asked.

At this, Sunny and Sonic looked at each other with smiles, before turning to Tails, who looked at them with wide and panicked eyes.

Still, Knuckles deadpanned at his attitude and pushed him ahead, while Sonic grabbed him and made him stand over the box in-between Sonic and Sunny, while Tails felt all the confused stares from the crowd over him, as he paralyzed completely in panic.

Soon, Sunny used her Alicorn magic to levitate Zipp and Misty as well, since the three mares over the box and the young fox were not only the three survivors, but also the reason why the Virus was destroyed in the first place.

"It was Zipp and Misty who finished the cure for the Metal Virus!" Sunny said with a smile.

After hearing this, the crowd started to whisper among themselves, but when Queen Haven logically started to cheer for her daughter, the crowd of ponies soon where all chanting together and cheering not only for Zipp, but for Misty as well.

Of course, none of the mares were used to so much attention, even less to hear their names being chanted that much... or at all. Still, it was good to know that the ponies were happy for the mares that stopped the Metal Virus from getting worse at some point.

"But the responsible ones for stopping the tyrant that spread the virus across Equestria, as well to spread the finished cure, those were Sunny and my little fella Tails!" Sonic added with a smile, rubbing Tails' hair with a hand.

And once again, the whole crowd started to cheer for them. Of course, Sunny got used over time to hear her name being chanted, and thankfully it wasn't because of her being the Alicorn anymore.

As for Tails? He was beyond happy to see that everypony was so supportive to him. After years of feeling on Sonic's shadow, after years of being called a sidekick, after years of feeling so useless... He finally was getting recognition for something, and couldn't be happier.

"Enjoy it, little man!" Sonic told him with a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You earned this!" Sunny added, also smiling, and Tails smiled back at them.

"I'm still gonna pay for a month or two of therapy, though..." Zipp muttered to Misty at her side. "I saw my friends, my Mom and my sisters turned into robo-zombies... You just don't move forward from that easily..." she pointed out with an anxious smile and look, while one of her eyes twitched.

"Point me to the therapy thing, too..." Misty muttered. "I... I thing I really need it..."

However, as the crowd kept chanting, Shadow noticed that in no moment neither Sunny or Sonic mentioned Opaline, nor that she's the tyrant that spread the virus around.

So, the Ultimate Life Form approached Hitch and whispered to him. "Say, Sheriff. Shouldn't all the ponies be aware that Opaline exists?" he asked them.

When Hitch heard this, he sighed and whispered back with concern. "I know we should tell them about her, but... Do you really want them to panic over a pony they've never seen before?" he pointed out. "I know that keeping Opaline's existence as a secret could lead to disaster, but it doesn't changes the fact that everypony panics incredibly easy. How do you think they would react knowing an Alicorn tyrant exists?" he asked.

"... Yeah... Fair point..." Shadow replied, although he wasn't happy with the answer.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, we will tell them about Opaline one day" Hitch assured with a smile. "For now? We just want to keep peace and quiet across the bay, even if it means we have to lie..." he pointed out with concern.

"For your sake and everyone else's, Sheriff... I hope you're right..." Shadow replied with a worried frown.





Eggman and Metal Sonic arrived to their actual hidden lab.

After the doctor caught his breath because he felt tired for being dragged do fast to this place, Metal Sonic showed him recordings of everything that happened: Omega and Him escaping the lab in Zephyr Heights; the two robots arriving to the Brighthouse; Hitch, Sparky and Amy getting infected; Metal handling the cure to Sonic; Opaline trying to stop them; Knuckles, Izzy, Sonic and Pipp getting infected; the survivors reaching Maretime Bay and fighting against the Zombots...

Once Metal Sonic was done explaining, Eggman let out a loud and heavy sigh. "Of course that I was defeated again..." he complained. "I can't believe Opaline outsmarted me and stoled my plan!" he shouted in rage.

"Not everything is lost, though..." Metal Sonic pointed out, his voice mixing voice clips from Pipp and Sonic. "Yes, you have lost again. But maybe you could stable the Metal Virus and––" he tried to point out.

However, Eggman growled and brought out a controller, pressing a button over it, which muted Metal Sonic entirely.

"I won't use that thing!" Eggman shouted in rage, also removing his glasses and glaring daggers at the robot. "It's way too dangerous, and that stupid Fire Alicorn could sabotage it all again! I cannot risk myself!" he explained with anger.

Soon, the computer turned on and showed that weird logo again. "F-Father?! Y-You're back!" Sage spoke with a happy tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I know I am..." Eggman replied a bit annoyed. "But now that the Metal Virus has showed to be a failure, is time to change the plans..." he stated with a frown.


To be continued...