"Alright, time to find the next emerald." Sonic said to himself. "Hmm... It looks like I'm heading," Sonic looked towards the forest that he woke up in, "back into the forest." Sonic dashed off, following the trail leading through the forest. When he got deep into the forest, he noticed some familiar robots that were attached to some of the trees. Robots that he didn't see a few seconds ago, and were shooting orbs of energy at him. "Huh. These guys? C'mon Eggman. Don't you have something new for me to fight? Why have you been going back to badniks recently?" Sonic questioned, faking a yawn before jumping and dashing towards each of the badniks, destroying them in the process. "Alright, who's next?" As if on cue, warthog-like badniks appeared from behind a nearby bush, and charged at Sonic. Sonic jumped before they could hit him, and landed on one of them, destroying it as he bounced off of it. Using that bounce, he aimed at the second one, and jumped off of it, causing it to explode as well. "Round three anyone?" Sonic said with a smirk. Once more another set of badniks appeared, these ones having the shape of monkeys, and each of them holding a bomb in their hand. "Now it gets interesting!" Sonic said, as each monkey threw their bombs at him. Moving swiftly, Sonic picked up each bomb, and threw them back at the monkeys, blowing them up as the bombs reached them. "Or, maybe it doesn't get interesting. Thanks for proving me wrong guys." After waiting a few seconds to see if any more badniks would appear, which they didn't, Sonic pulled out one of the emeralds to see how far he was from the next one. He was still a bit far from it, and was about to continue his trek through the forest, when something in the pile of badnik scrap caught his eye. He went over to see what it was, and saw that it was a shard from the Master Emerald. That robot must have thought it was a Chaos Emerald, and picked it up to take to Eggman. I've got to find Knuckles. Sonic thought to himself.
Knuckles himself was busy searching for the shards of the Master Emerald himself, but to no avail.
If only that horse didn't destroy the Master Emerald, I wouldn't be in this mess. Knuckles thought to himself, his anger steadily rising. I have no knowledge of this world, so finding the shards will be more difficult than it should be. I never asked for this. I just want to return to my island. Knuckles let out a sigh, and stared at the direction he came from; A mountainous region near the town of Ponyville. He then turned to the direction he was heading; A forest beside the mountains. Knuckles let out another sigh before running off into the forest, hoping that he would finally find even one piece of the Master Emerald, just to give him hope. Almost as soon as he entered the forest, he felt the familiar energy that radiated from the Master Emerald. "Finally, something to look forward to!" Knuckles said with relief, as he dashed towards the source of the energy. When he reached it, he looked around him, and saw nothing on the ground. He looked up at the closest tree to find a shard wedged into it high up. Knuckles climbed the tree, and punched the surrounding area where the shard was lodged into, allowing him to pull it out with ease. "Alright, one down," Knuckles jumped off onto the ground, a satisfied look on his face, "a bunch to go." Almost immediately after landing, Knuckles felt the presence of another shard nearby, this one getting closer to him. "Looks like my luck is changing for the better." Knuckles readied himself for anything that could happen, which turned out to be a few badniks in the shape of wasps. "One of the shards must be in one of them. I'll have to bust them all open to find it." Knuckles said as he charged at them, fist raised. The buzzer badniks all fired at him at once. Knuckles jumped into the air to dodge the easily avoidable projectiles, and used his gliding technique to ram into most of the badniks, fists first. With their numbers diminished to only two, they turned around to try and fly away from Knuckles, but were too late, as he had already charged at them to punch them to the ground, blowing them up. Knuckles searched the piles of metal to find his second shard of the Master Emerald. "Alright. If we can keep this winning streak going, we can end this search in no time." Knuckles said with confidence. Knuckles could no longer sense any shards, so he decided to go deeper into the forest to try and find another. This is odd. Knuckles thought. Forests as large as this should have some sort of wildlife, but I don't see any. I guess Eggman's robots must have scared them into hiding. Knuckles was so lost in thought, that he didn't notice the faint sense of energy from a nearby shard. It wasn't until he got closer that he finally noticed it. "A third shard already! It's like they're just being handed to me at this point!" he said with anticipation. He ran to the source of energy to find Sonic looking over a pile of metal in thought. He sensed that the energy from a shard was coming from him, and he saw one right in his hand. "Hey, Sonic!" he yelled to him. Sonic turned to face him, breaking away from his thoughts, and smiled at his friend.
"Hey Knuckles! I was just about to go looking for you." said Sonic.
"Let me guess. To give me that Master Emerald shard?" Knuckles questioned.
"What do you know. He actually learned to ask first, and not throw punches this time." Sonic said with a taunting smirk.
"Ha ha. Very funny. You still won't let that slide?" Knuckles asked, irritated.
"That was the second time, almost in a row, that Eggman fooled you. What reason would I have for taking the Master Emerald shards anyway when I helped save it, and you, from Eggman and his robots twice?" Sonic questioned Knuckles' logic.
"Just shut up and hand me that shard." Knuckles cut in, his irritation growing.
"Whatever. Catch." Sonic threw the shard at Knuckles who just barely managed to keep hold of it.
"Thanks. Is that the only one you had?"
"Yeah. If I ever find any more, I'll try and find you."
"Thanks. I'll see you later." Knuckles turned to search for the rest of the shards before Sonic stopped him.
"Wait Knuckles. Have you seen a Chaos Emerald around here?" he questioned.
"No. Sorry."
"Hold on, Knuckles. I helped you out, so how about you help me?" Sonic pointed out.
"I'm grateful that you gave me the shard, but I need to look for the rest. You need to search for the Chaos Emeralds on your own." Knuckles replied bluntly, and tried to leave again, before Sonic ran in front of him.
"Come on, Knuckles! You know as well as I do, that we need the Chaos Emeralds as much as we need the Master Emerald. I told you Eggman used them to send us here, and we need them to get back!"
"Hm... You do have a good point." Knuckles thought about whether or not he should help Sonic. "Alright, I'll help you out. Besides, I might find more of the Master Emerald shards."
"Glad to have your help, pal!" said Sonic, giving his friend a high-five. "Let's see where the next emerald could be." Sonic pulled out an emerald, and saw that its glow, that was once shining a tad brightly, was now very faint. "What the-? What happened to the next emerald? It just got further away!"
"From what I can tell, someone or something has it, and it's traveling through the forest, and I doubt it's a forest animal, because I haven't seen one animal in this entire forest. Only Eggman's robots." Knuckles tried to figure out why the next emerald moved away from Sonic's location.
"You too? You think it might be Eggman?"
"It could be. The only way to find out is to catch up to it."
"You're right. Let's go!" And Sonic and Knuckles dashed off to locate the next emerald. Little did they know, that the emerald was not held by Eggman, but rather, a pony.
A pony who was on her way to Ponyville for revenge.
Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Twilight was practicing her levitation spell on Fluttershy's animals, much to the latter's dismay. She used her magic to fly the animals around in the sky with grace, and slowly eased them towards the ground, where they showed clear enjoyment from the ride, wanting to go again.
"That's all for now, little ones." said Twilight, worn-out by the extensive use of magic. "Maybe we can practice again later, if Fluttershy says it's alright." looking at her friend, as the animals ran to Fluttershy to supposedly ask for another go, however, Fluttershy was busy shielding her eyes from what she believed to be a terrible occurrence.
"Your magic has really improved since we came to Ponyville, Twilight!" Spike said, noting her amazing magic. "Princess Celestia's gonna love it!"
"Thanks, Spike. I have to be at my best when she arrives with the delegates from Saddle Arabia. I can't believe she's trusting me with the entertainment!" Twilight said with anticipation. Suddenly, a rainbow blur charges into Twilight, showing itself to be Rainbow Dash, who wasted no time in explaining to Twilight about trouble in town, all with an extremely worried look on her face.
"Twilight, come quick, it's an emergency!" she practically yelled to Twilight.
Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash arrived in the middle of town to see Rarity, fainted and being carried by Applejack, with Pinkie Pie following them, a worried look shared between her and Applejack, as well as the entirety of Ponyville.
"What's going on here?" Twilight asked, puzzled.
"Well, well, well. I it isn't," a cloaked pony began, before removing her hood to reveal somepony familiar to the town of Ponyville, "Twilight Sparkle." Twilight and the entire town gasped.
"Trixie!" She said, her face changing to anger.
"What's she doing here?" Spike added, also with the face of one who is enraged. (What did I just write?)
Rainbow Dash flew towards the antagonistic pony, saying, "You call that 'great and powerful'?
Trixie's simply stood still and used her magic to enlarge one of Rainbow Dash's wings, causing her to flutter off uncontrollably.
The crowd ran from the unstable Rainbow Dash, except for two young unicorn children who enjoyed the show Trixie gave them; That is, until Trixie turned to them, and unleashed her magic on them, causing them to be fused together by their horns. The two ran off as Twilight turned to Trixie, furious at her actions.
"Stop picking on my friends, Trixie!" she said.
"You and I have some unfinished business." Trixie said in a boastful voice, "My magic's gotten better since I was here last, and I'm going to prove it; Me and you; A magic duel. Winner stays, loser leaves Ponyville. Forever!"
"Forget it." Twilight replied. "I'd never make a deal like that!" Twilight turned to walk away, when Trixie levitated Spike, and turned him into a living basketball to bait Twilight into dueling her. Not feeling it was enough, she ripped Pinkie's mouth off, and turned Twilight's house over until she agreed to duel Trixie. This turned out to be a hopeless effort, as for each magic spell Twilight conjured, Trixie would use a more powerful one, without even breaking a sweat, until she pulled off an age spell; A most difficult magical task, that not even Twilight could do, causing her to lose the duel. With an evil laugh, Trixie threw Twilight out of town, and created a giant glass dome to cover it, making sure nothing could get in, or out. Twilight ran towards the Everfree Forest, hoping to find a way to set things right.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles were running through the forest in the direction that the Chaos Emerald was leading to. During their trek, they came across a rather large, heavily-armored robot. Sonic looked to Knuckles, who looked at him and nodded. Sonic then charged a spindash, only for Knuckles to jump above him. As Knuckles got close, Sonic let loose, and charged Knuckles high into the air, who dive-bombed the robot fists-first, tearing through it's armor, and completely destroying it.
"Nice one, Knuckles!" Sonic smiled at his friend, and gave him a thumbs up.
Knuckles returned the gesture, and said, "Thanks. Let's keep moving, though. We don't want to lose that emerald!"
Before they continued, they were stopped by a zebra speaking in rhymes.
"Stop right now, for I must speak.
The forest today is looking bleak.
You destroyed that machine. I'm very happy,
But are you with, or against, my friends and me?"
"Uh..." Sonic tried to find the right words to react to what he just heard, but Knuckles spoke before he could respond properly.
"I'm Knuckles, and this is Sonic. We aren't any enemies of yours. We're just passing through."
"Yeah. Have you seen anyone with a glowing gem like this?" Sonic followed, showing the zebra the Chaos Emerald.
"Yes. I have seen one like it pass by.
It's holder ran faster than I could ever try.
It was placed in a necklace, and felt powerful.
Evil actions will occur; of that, I'm not doubtful.
It's holder ran to Ponyville. It's not too far from here.
I'll lead you there, for the forest has much to fear."
"Uh... thanks." Sonic managed a second word this time, as they followed her through the forest.
"Before we leave, we must stop at my hut.
I must care for some things, so it may be in a rut."
"It better not take long." Knuckles replied. "We really need to get that other emerald.
Twilight was bust practicing the age spell on a flower, but failed to keep it as a bud.
"It's impossible!" she said in anger, "How could Trixie know such advanced magic? Without Spike, I can't get a message to the princess in Saddle Arabia, so who else do I know, who understands strange and powerful magic?" After saying this, Twilight got an idea, and took off to her friend Zecora. When she arrived, she saw Zecora with Sonic and Knuckles, who were getting ready to go as Twilight came in. "Oh! Sonic! And... Knuckles, right?" Knuckles nodded at her, and Sonic said, "What's going on, Twilight? You look kinda distressed." Twilight told the three about what happened in Ponyvile, causing herself and Zecora to discuss a way to beat her, as Sonic and Knuckles listened intently. When neither of them could find a way to beat Trixie, Sonic thought of a similarity between Trixie and the cloaked figure that Zecora saw while in the forest. "Hey, Twilight, was this Trixie wearing an amulet with a gem in it?" he asked her.
"Come to think of it, yes she did! A red one."
"That must be the same pony as the one holding the Chaos Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed. "Zecora, can you take us to Ponyville right now? I know how Twilight can beat her, AND how we can get the Chaos Emerald!" Zecora nodded, and the group quickly left the hut, and ran towards Ponyville. When they arrived, they saw that a dome was indeed surrounding the town. Knuckles and Sonic both tried to destroy the dome, but merely bounced off of it.
"It's no use. I don't think the dome will break, you two!" said Twilight, her hope fleeting.
"If we can't go through it, then I guess we'll just have to go under it!" Knuckles replied as he pulled out his shovel claws. He then dug a pathway under the dome, as Sonic, Twilight, and Zecora followed suit. Almost immediately, Trixie appeared on a carriage, being pulled by the two unicorn children.
"I knew something was up when my alarm went off!" She said triumphantly. "Who are you two strange creatures, and how did you get past my barrier with-" she cut off after seeing Twilight, "YOU! You lost the duel! You are exiled, and you know it!"
"What I DO know, is that you cheated! You didn't use your own magic! You're using the energy from that gem!" Twilight replied.
"Even if I did, you're too weak to do anything about it." Trixie's eyes began to glow red as her horn started to swell with chaotic energy.
"Maybe if she had her own gem, you'd see what she can really do!" Sonic said as he handed his Chaos Emerald to Twilight.
"Wha-?! Sonic! Princess Celestia told you to keep these things away from us! I'd be corrupted like Trixie!" Twilight exclaimed with total fear in her eyes.
"Trust me, Twilight. If your friends believe in you, then the emerald won't corrupt you." Sonic calmly explained.
"But! The princess!" Twilight tried to explain, but Sonic began to talk to Trixie again.
"Trixie, if you really think you're the best, then prove it by dueling Twilight again, and make sure everyone in town can see it."
"Fine. Trixie will allow this, for Trixie is feeling very generous at this moment. Soon, Trixie had gotten everyone in town to gather around for another duel. Trixie looked ready to destroy Twilight, who was feeling more terrified by the Chaos Emerald than Trixie herself.
"Let's skip the age spells, and go straight to the duel!" Trixie said before firing a powerful beam at Twilight, who put up a shield spell, only for it to shatter from the attack. Twilight flew back towards the crowd, who suddenly began chanting her name.
"What are you all doing? You all know that Twilight Sparkle would lose this from the beginning! You should all be chanting Trixie's name!" Trixie boasted, before Sonic suddenly said,
"Twilight! Now's your chance! Stop her in her tracks!" Twilight did as instructed, as she used her barrier magic to surround Trixie.
"Ha! How pathetic. Trixie will just simply break this one as well!" Trixie said as she fired another beam, only for it to rebound off the inside of the barrier, back at her, causing severe damage to her. After the dust settled down, Trixie was shown to still be standing, a look of absolute fury on her face. She fired another beam at Twilight, only for Twilight to fire a beam of her own right back at her. The two lasers collided, causing them to to be in a struggle to see which beam would overcome the other. When the entire crowd's chanting grew louder, Twilight's beam became stronger, as it overpowered Trixie's beam, and headed straight for her, only for Twilight to diminish it at the last second.
"Wha?" Trixie stared at Twilight, her mouth agape, before suddenly smirking, and saying, "Ha! You couldn't keep the beam going! How pathetic!"
"Actually, Trixie, I stopped it before it could hit you, because I don't want you to be in even worse condition than you are now." Twilight calmly replied.
"What?! Well in that case, your gem must clearly be the superior one, Which means that it's for Trixie's hooves alone!" Trixie exclaimed as she ripped of her amulet containing the Chaos Emerald, as she used her magic to take Twilight's emerald, only for Sonic to speed by and snatch the emerald from the air, and then grabbing the emerald in the amulet.
"Hey! Give both of those back! They belong to Trixie!"
"Yeah right! You're not touching either of these! They're staying with me! Neither of these emeralds are stronger than the other." He replied with his usual grin.
"But- How could someone like Twilight Sparkle use much powerful magic than me with the same kind of gem as me?!"
"Because Twilight had the support of the entire town. The emeralds are powered by positive and negative energy. If you use the negative energy, you become corrupted, but if you have the support of your friends, the positive energy will overpower the negative. So, I just got the crowd to cheer for Twilight, and the duel was pretty much over from then on." Sonic explained. Trixie began to feel the weight of the wrong she had done, and was feeling incredibly guilty.
"Trixie is very sorry for all that she has done. I was wrong to use that gem's power for revenge. Before I knew it, I was corrupted by it's power, and I couldn't control myself. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Hmm..." Twilight thought, before smiling and saying, "Sure."
"Oh, thank goodness. Don't you think the Great and Apologetic Trixie is the most magnificent, humble pony you've ever seen?" Twilight simply shook her head, and rolled her eyes at that. Trixie then threw a smoke bomb, before running out of Ponyville. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew up to Sonic, an apologetic look on her face as well, and said to him,
"Seeing what Trixie did today showed me how wrong it is to try and get revenge on someone just because they're better than you. I shouldn't have attacked you, and forced you into a race today. I'm sorry, Sonic."
"It's okay. I had fun racing you anyway!" Sonic replied with a smile.
"Really? You're not mad?" Rainbow Dash said with a flabbergasted look.
"I'm not exactly the kind of guy to dwell on the past." Sonic joked.
"Really? Still making fun of me for being fooled by Eggman seems like dwelling on the past to me!" Knuckles replied.
"Well, you're an exception!" Sonic said as the whole group laughed.
"That was interesting, Sonic, but I've got to keep searching for the pieces of the Master Emerald."
"Good luck, Knuckles. See ya' later." Sonic replied as Knuckles ran off to continue his search.
At the end of the day, Twilight preformed her amazing magic show to the princess and two horses from Saddle Arabia. After a long explanation as to why Sonic had given Twilight a Chaos Emerald, even though Celestia told him specifically not to, Celestia finally understood, and continued to enjoy the rest of the magic show.
Meanwhile, on the Egg Carrier,
"Orbot! Are there any updates on the Chaos Emeralds?" Dr. Eggman called for the small robot.
"Well, sir, I have bad news and good news." Orbot replied.
"What's the bad news?" The doctor awaited, ready to yell at his robot.
"The bad news is, Sonic has obtained two Chaos Emeralds since we last gathered intel."
"WHAT?! TWO?! ALREADY?!" Eggman rose from his seat, ready to stomp the robot, before Orbot quickly stated,
"Thegoodnewsisthatthebadnikshavereturnedwithoneemeraldoftheirown."
"They have?! Good!" Eggman calmed down, and returned to his seat. "Mark my words, hedgehog; This is only the beginning!"