//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Friendship, Disharmony & Sonic // by natedeanmaan //------------------------------// It was a slow day at the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) Fortress. The fortress was not visible on the land, it was located underground. Every G.U.N. agent was monitoring all the activities across the world, and no sign of any disturbances was picked up on their computers. Above the underground base on each level, we see a great number of G.U.N. troops and mechs marching on the surface, ready for any possible threat that plans to attack the base. On top of the platform above the surface of the fortress, Shadow the Hedgehog was standing with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. With nothing going on at the base, he was bored with the lack of activity. He opened his eyes and turned around as he heard that he had company. Rouge the Bat joined him after an hour had passed when he went above ground. She approached him and said, “You know Shadow, staying up here isn’t doing the base any favors.” He closed his eyes and said, “I thought I sensed something a while ago.” Curious, she asked, “What was it you sensed?” He opened his eyes, looked at her, and said, “I thought I sensed the Chaos Emeralds.” Surprised by this, Rouge said, “That can’t be right. One of the computers should have picked something up if the emeralds are being used again.” Shadow corrected her and said, “If Eggman were using them, then yes one of the computers would have picked it up. I was sensing that one of them had been hopping around randomly.” Not believing what he just told her, she said, “That’s unusual.” Before they could talk about the subject any further, the alarm in the base started going off. They got off of the platform and ran back inside. Deep inside the base, Discord was seen toying with the F-6 Big Foot mechs, as well as the F-6r Big Foot mechs, and the R-1/A Flying Dog mechs. He challenged the agents and said, “Is this all you humans have to offer me?” Each of the mechs fired their missiles at him, but before they could make an impact, Discord snapped his eagle claws, changing the missiles into pillows. The missile-turned-pillows made contact with Discord, and he laughed at the G.U.N. agent's attempts to harm him. He then snapped his fingers on the lion paw and the pillows turned into boulders. Discord lifted the boulders with his magic and threw them at the mechs. The agents working their respective mechs got out before the boulders could hit them. More of the G.U.N. agents surrounded the creature and started firing their guns at him. Discord shook his head and said, “I swear this is no fun at all.” Discord snapped his finger again and stopped the bullets from hitting him. He then turned the bullets to the G.U.N. agents with his magic and fired the bullets back at them. The G.U.N. agents disappeared before each of the bullets could hit them, leaving him confused about what had happened. A voice suddenly said, “Who are you supposed to be you jumbled-up mess?” Discord turned to see where the voice was coming from, and saw a black hedgehog with red stripes and white chest fur, along with a white bat with all of the G.U.N. agents on a platform above him. The black hedgehog jumped off the platform, landed on the ground, and glared at him after he stood up on his feet. “Oh great, another hedgehog,” Discord thought to himself in annoyance. He nonchalantly said, “Who am I you ask? I’m Discord. Who, or what are you supposed to be?” The black hedgehog took a fighting stance and said, “I’m the Ultimate Lifeform Shadow the Hedgehog!” The hedgehog then snapped his fingers, and a blast of Chaos Energy came out of nowhere. The energy hit Discord in the chest and knocked him backward. Shadow dashed towards the surprised Discord and started throwing punches and kicks at him. After taking a few shots, Discord grabbed Shadow’s fist and threw him to the roof. Discord charged up a purple energy ball in his lion paw and was ready to fire it at the defenseless hedgehog. He fired the blast at him, but before it made contact, Shadow had disappeared from his sight. Discord was concerned after seeing this. He tried his best to look around the area to see where Shadow would show up. Before Discord could react, he reappeared in front of him and punched him under his chin. Discord stumbled backward from the hit. He rubbed his chin after he regained his balance from the punch. Shadow disappeared again before Discord could attack him again. He then felt an unusual reaction from the yellow emerald once Shadow disappeared again. Discord felt every movement Shadow made after his disappearance. He took in his surroundings and spotted the hedgehog’s exact movements. Shadow was going to attack Discord from behind this time, but he opened a portal and Shadow slipped through it. Instead of landing another attack on Discord, Shadow reappeared in front of him, and he was left confused by what happened. Discord charged up some energy into his eagle claws and struck Shadow in the back of his head. He landed hard on the ground after the attack made contact. “Damn it,” he grumbled to himself before losing consciousness. Discord towered over the unconscious hedgehog and said, “For the “Ultimate Lifeform,” you didn’t put up much of a fight.” He started charging up energy into his lion paw. He raised it and was ready to deliver the final blow to Shadow. “Say goodbye Shadow!” yelled Discord. After tweaking the radar, and using Chaos Control, Sonic and the gang arrived at the G.U.N. Fortress. After a quick look around, Sonic asked, “The radar says the emerald is here?” After looking over the radar, they see that the emerald was right where they were, Tails said in excitement, “Yes, it's here!” Glad to hear this, Mordecai said, “Ah, yeaa-uhh! Way to work that brain little man.” He and Tails exchanged high-fives. Tails said with a grin, “Thanks, Mordecai.” Applejack asked, “So where exactly is that emerald at Tails?” Rainbow Dash added, “And why is that alarm going off?” After hearing the alarm, Knuckles said, “I hope it’s not going off because of us.” Amy said, “It’s been going off since we got here. So, something is here causing trouble.” While the others were too busy quarreling over the alarm, Pinkie heard a familiar voice say, “Say goodbye Shadow!” After hearing this, she got their attention by saying, “Hey guys, it sounds like that Shadow guy is in trouble.” Sonic said, “Let’s move it, everyone!” And with that, everyone rushed into the Fortress, ready to help Shadow. Discord swung his lion paw at Shadow, and an explosion was made after the sphere of energy made contact. Discord smirked, believing he had defeated Shadow. After the smoke settled, Shadow was not seen where the blast mark was made. He looked around and saw the white bat from earlier. She was flapping her wings away from the spot and she had Shadow in her arms. The hedgehog said in a weak tone, “Thanks Rouge.” Discord started firing more dark energy balls at her, but she was able to dodge each one of them with ease. He became frustrated and fired a bigger energy ball at Rouge and it hit one of her wings, causing her to scream in pain. She and Shadow fell to the ground and hit hard, but before they hit, Shadow positioned himself to hit the ground to cushion the blow for Rouge. Shadow did his best to get back on his feet, but he was still too weak from the last hit he took from Discord to get them away from him. The only thing Shadow could do was keep Rouge safe as he held her tightly in his arms, ready to take the brunt of the upcoming attack. Discord charged up another energy ball in his lion paw and was ready to finish them off. “There is no escape this time!” he said with a wicked grin. Discord was about to throw the energy ball at them, but he got a double kick to the face and was sent flying backward from the impact. Both Shadow and Rouge looked up to see that Sonic was standing in front of them staring Discord down. He shook the hit off and was surprised to see that Sonic and the rest of the group had finally caught up with him. Grateful about this, Rouge said, “Thanks for the save Big Blue.” Shadow responded with a simple “Hmph” for Sonic’s rescue. He gave them a thumbs up and took his battle stance, getting ready to fight Discord. Twilight used her magic and lifted the two out of the way, so they wouldn’t be attacked by Discord, leaving them confused about what had happened. Discord snapped his fingers and teleported himself closer to Sonic. Discord charged up his energy into his eagle claws and he charged at Sonic. He slashed at Sonic with the claws, but he managed to dodge the attack with ease. Discord continued his assault and to tried to slash Sonic with the eagle claws, but Sonic kept dodging the attack. After he dodged the last slash from him, Discord tried to punch Sonic with his lion paw. Sonic saw this and stopped the attack with his left hand and held the lion’s paw very tight. He tried to punch Discord with his free hand, but Discord stopped his punch as well. The two stared each other down, not letting go of their grips on each other’s fists. Discord head-butted Sonic, and he lost his grip on Discord’s lion paw. Discord charged up an energy ball in his lion paw and was going to blast him with it, but before he could attack him, Sonic threw a kick to Discord’s face and he lost his grip on his fist, sending him flying in the process. The blast was sent flying to the ceiling after the kick, the G.U.N. agents covered themselves from the debris the explosion caused. Sonic raced to Discord and was ready to knock him out. He jumped up and was going to slam him with a punch, but Discord snapped his fingers and teleported out of the G.U.N. Fortress, having Sonic slam his fist into the metal floor instead. “Got away again,” he said under his breath while rubbing his hand, thankful that it was only numb and not broken. Sonic turned to everyone, and it looked like Shadow and Rouge had finished introducing themselves to the ponies, Mordecai and Rigby. He walked over to them and said, “I see that everyone has introduced themselves to Shadow and Rouge. Hey Tails, where did you say the emerald was at again?” Tails looked at the radar, and said, “It’s gone again.” Frustrated by this, Mordecai and Rigby said, “UGH!!” Upset over the situation, Rainbow Dash said, “I thought you said you fixed it.” Tails said, “Trust me, it was here when we got here.” The group started getting themselves into a quarrel over Tails’ radar screwing up again. Twilight, however, was thinking over the situation instead of arguing. She thought everything over before and after their arrival. “Tails worked hard on the radar before the last Chaos Control and it did say the emerald was here at the G.U.N. Fortress, we all saw it on the radar, but then it just disappeared after...” Her thoughts were interrupted once Mordecai said in a concerned tone, “Twilight, are you ok?” After coming to her senses, she said, “Huh? What?” He said, “You kinda zoned out there. Are you ok?” Twilight said with a smile, “Yes, I’m fine.” Rainbow Dash said, “Well if the emerald isn’t here, we should find the next one before Discord or Time Eater does.” Confused by this, Rouge said, “Time Eater? I thought Sonic defeated it.” Rarity said, “It somehow survived, according to what Sonic has told us.” Tails looked over the radar and said, “The radar has found two emeralds, about three hundred miles from here.” Knuckles said, “All right, let’s go!” Sonic and the group gathered around and were ready to leave, but Shadow got back on his feet and chose to join. Surprised by this, Sonic said, “Hold up, you want to join me on this quest?” Shadow said, “I got a score to settle with that mismatched moron, and I have nothing better to do around here anyway.” Rouge said, “Same here, I’m kind of glad something came up.” Sonic shrugged at them and was going to use Chaos Control, but Shadow interrupted him by saying, “Just leave it to me, faker.” Sonic rolled his eyes at his comment. Shadow used Chaos Control and teleported the group to the new area that has one of the Chaos Emeralds. The sun was shining over the Land of Ooo, not a sign of trouble was going on. Finn and Jake were still asleep from their previous adventures in their Tree Fort. The sun’s rays shined through the window and hit Jake’s face, waking him up in the process. Seeing that the sun was up, Jake got out of his drawer and went over to wake Finn up. After he passed the window, the sun suddenly set, and the moon had risen. Jake was oblivious to this change as he approached Finn, he said, “Finn. Finn! It’s time to get up bro.” Finn got out of his sleeping bag and rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. He looked out the window and had seen that it was still nighttime outside. He was upset with this and said, “What the flop, Jake?! It’s still dark outside.” Confused about what Finn had said, he looked out the window himself and to his surprise, it was nighttime outside again. He then said, “I swear Finn, the sun was up.” Finn said, “Next time you want to pull a prank on me, can you at least wait until it’s daytime?” He crawled back into his bed with a frustrated grunt, wanting to go back to sleep. Jake went back to his drawer and decided to go back to sleep as well. But before the duo could fully go back to sleep, a bright light flashed through the window and into the room. 5 minutes earlier Sonic and the gang arrived in a forest. The sun was shining and gave the group a good view of where they were going in the forest. Sonic asked, “Hey Tails, does the radar say that the emeralds are here?” But before Tails could look the radar over, the sun had suddenly set on them. Surprised by this, Mordecai asked, “What just happened?” Rouge said, “Yeah, why did the sun just suddenly set?” Twilight said with a sheepish grin, “Sorry, I forgot to mention that Discord can change the sun’s rising and setting.” Shadow said, “So he can just make it morning or night whenever he wants?” She simply said, “Yes.” Tails looked at his radar, and was glad to see that the radar and said, “Hey everyone! The radar has found an emerald!” Knuckles said in surprise, “What?! Where is it?” Everyone gathered around him, and they were excited to hear that the emerald was found. Tails pointed in a general direction and said, “It’s just past that hill over there. It also looks like there’s an emerald back in Ponyville too.” Sonic asked, “It’s back there? How did we miss it when we were there the last time?” Tails said, “I don’t think the radar was accurate before we left. We just found the emerald at the park, and we just went from there.” Shadow asked, “So how do we get that emerald?” Sonic pondered this and said, “I think it would be best if I get the emerald here, while you take part of the group back to Ponyville and get the one over there.” Shadow asked in surprise, “What?! Why do I have to go there?” Sonic simply said, “I’ve already been there.” Shadow flatly said, “What’s your point?” Sonic rolled his eyes at this and said, “My point is, I have enough energy to use one more Chaos Control for today, and I think that if some of the group goes there, while the rest stay here…” Picking up on this, Twilight said, “Then we can get the two emeralds easily. I like the idea.” Amy said, “I like it too.” Sonic nodded in agreement with a smile and said, “So who wants to go to Ponyville?” Tails said, “I think I should go; they need my radar to track the emerald there.” Rouge shrugged and said, “I don’t mind going to Ponyville.” Amy said, “I’d like to pay the town a visit.” Mordecai said, “Same here.” Rigby said, “I just want to go for the chocolate cake.” Pinkie said, “If he wants chocolate cake, I think I should go back myself.” Fluttershy weakly said, “I need to check on the animals back at my cottage anyway.” Twilight said, “I don’t mind getting the emerald back in Ponyville.” And with that Rouge, Tails, Amy, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Mordecai and Rigby gathered around Shadow, ready to go to Ponyville. Sonic tossed him the cyan emerald and he used Chaos Control to teleport them to Ponyville. Shadow and the gang arrived in Ponyville in no time. It was nighttime in Ponyville as well. However, it didn’t last, as the sun had risen shortly after the group arrived in the town. Once the sun had risen, everyone, excluding the ponies, looked around the town and they were in awe of what they had seen. For a town inhabited by ponies, it looked amazing. Among the group, Rigby spotted the gingerbread house in the town and ran toward it. Mordecai shook his head and said, “I’m guessing Rigby found Sugarcube Corner.” Rouge said, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t eat the shop out,” and left the group. After looking at the town, Amy said, “This place is beautiful!” Pinkie said, “We could take all of you around the town, I know everypony and every place there is to know around here.” Shadow interrupted and said, “I’m sure we all want to, but there will be more time to do some sightseeing when we’re done with Time Eater and Discord.” Twilight said, “Shadow’s got a point, we can give you guys the tour when all of this is done. Tails, where does that radar say the emerald is at exactly?” Tails looked over the radar and found out exactly where the emerald was. He said, “According to the radar, it says that it is in that mountain over there.” Everyone turned to where Tails was pointing. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie recognized the area is the same spot where they had to convince a sleeping dragon that lived in it to leave. Twilight said, “It shouldn’t be hard to go up that mountain again. I’m going to go get some things ready for the trip.” And with that, she left the group and went back to her home. Feeling scared at the idea of going to the mountain, Fluttershy said, “I’m going to go feed the animals back at my cottage. I don’t mind any help if anyone is interested.” Amy said, “I’d like to help you with the animals.” Tails said, “If Twilight says she’s got the mountain thing down, I can help out with the animals as well.” He then gave Mordecai the radar and left with Amy and Fluttershy to go help her with the animals. Pinkie turned to Shadow and said, “Hey Shadow, wanna help me with Rigby? Just in case he is trying to eat Sugarcube Corner’s entire inventory.” Shadow said, “Shouldn’t you be asking Mordecai about that? He is Rigby’s friend after all.” She then said, “I know, but with what Mordecai has been telling us is that Rigby doesn’t always listen to him. No offense, but you don’t give off that intimidating feel Mordecai.” Mordecai simply said, “It’s cool Pinkie.” She continued by saying, “Shadow, you come off as a very super ultra-intimidating person, and can keep him in check.” Getting angry at the situation he’s being put in, Shadow yelled, “I didn’t come here to babysit some idiot!” In an attempt to calm him down, Pinkie said, “I know, I know. But if you help out, I can straighten things out with Mr. and Mrs. Cake and you can help yourself to any of the sweets we have in Sugarcube Corner.” He sighed in frustration and asked, “What would be there exactly?” She said, “We have cakes, cupcakes, pies, cookies, pastries…” Shadow crossed his arms and said, “Just the regulars for a bakery.” She said, “We also make Swiss Rolls too.” He raised an eyebrow and asks, “Swiss Rolls you say?” “Looks like I found his sweet tooth,” Pinkie thought to herself with a smile. She continued and said, “Yup, Swiss Rolls.” Wanting to get the sweet treat, Shadow said, “Lead the way, Pinkie.” She hopped past him leading the way to Sugarcube Corner. Shadow started following her, but he just remembered something before leaving. He said, “Hey Mordecai, you and Twilight can meet us at Sugarcube Corner when you get the emerald. I’ll meet you two at the mountain in about an hour and help with the emerald if you haven’t arrived by then. I’ll tell the others where to meet us.” Mordecai nodded in understanding and said, “All right, we’ll see you guys there. Oh, hey Shadow, if Rigby does act rude to any of the ponies, or in general, you, Rouge, or anyone, have the right to punch him for me.” Shadow gave him a thumbs up and an evil grin, happy to know he gets to punch the idiot. After they left, Mordecai went in Twilight’s direction to meet up with her. Finn got out of his pajamas and got dressed in his usual outfit, which was his bear hat, which he calls his “awesome” hat, a light blue T-shirt, denim shorts, rolled-down white socks, and black shoes. Finn grabbed his backpack, unsheathed his dad’s Demon Sword, and was ready to attack the possible threat outside the Tree Fort. He and Jake ran out the front door and took in their surroundings. It was still dark outside, but after a few seconds of looking around, the sun rose unexpectedly. Confused by this, Jake asked, “Dude, did you see that? The sun just rose just now.” Finn said, “Yeah, I saw it.” Before they could question the sun’s sudden rising any further, the duo heard rustling nearby and saw Billy walk out of the bushes. He appeared to be very injured, seeing that he was keeping his balance on his sword “Nothung”. After taking a few more steps, Billy collapsed on the ground, leaving the duo shocked in the process. They screamed in unison, “BILLY!!!” They rushed to the fallen warrior as quickly as they could. Jake said, “Billy! Say something!!” The injured warrior coughed and opened his eyes. He then said in wonder, “Finn? Jake? Is it you guys?” Relieved to see that he was ok, Finn said, “Yes, it’s us. What happened to you, Billy?” Billy got himself in a sitting position and said, “I was involved in a fight with a new threat to Ooo.” Surprised by what he said, Finn asked, “A new threat? But how could you lose to this threat? You’re the greatest hero in all of Ooo!” Billy then said, “Yes, a new threat is here. The threat was a blue hedgehog, and he was threatening to destroy the Candy Kingdom. I thought I could take him, but he overpowered me with speed I never thought existed. He also has some hidden abilities that I didn’t think a hedgehog could possess.” Jake asked, “What was this hedgehog’s name, and what abilities did he have?” Worried for the candy people, and for Princess Bubblegum, Finn asked, “Is everyone in the Candy Kingdom safe?” Billy coughed again and said, “The hedgehog said his name is Sonic. After our fight, he left the Candy Kingdom out of boredom in a blinding light. Finn, Jake, if you see that hedgehog, don’t go easy on him. He will kill the two of you if you show any signs of weakness to him.” Finn felt complete anger after hearing what Billy told him and Jake about Sonic. He then vowed, “We will put a stop to Sonic Billy, I swear this on my hero’s name!” Billy smiled and said, “Thank you, Finn and Jake. You two truly are my heroes.” The duo wanted to help Billy, but he declined their offer and told them he was going to go treat his wounds at his home. Finn and Jake felt uneasy about it, but he assured them that he had the strength to get back home. They let Billy go and they left the Tree Fort to look for Sonic. After they were out of his sight, a bright light covered Billy and the light revealed Discord. He laughed and said, “This is just too easy!” He then snapped his fingers and disappeared; his laughter can still be heard.