//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: A Glimmer of Hope // Story: Mobius and Equestria: Worlds Collide // by AngelShy24 //------------------------------// More than 20 years ago, a unicorn stallion by the name of Solar Dusk was a royal crystal/gem manufacturer of Princess Celestia. He had a major talent for creating many different types of crystals with different attributes and magic. However, he eventually got bored of his old work and wanted to do something different. So he started a secret project behind the Celestia’s back creating special types of gems that could be used to control the minds of others. He was quite proud when he finally perfected it that he couldn’t wait to demonstrate it to Celestia when he was ready. Unfortunately, Celestia was quite appalled once she saw the gem in action when Solar Dusk tested it on a couple of her guards. She couldn’t let something like this exist in her kingdom, so she carried out orders to destroy all of the other mind-controlled gems that were made and everything else that was worked on to create them. Solar Dusk had begged for Celestia to listen to reason and find out how his new invention could benefit them all, but it proved no use. He had worked so hard on it and spent many of his time to perfect them, and it was all gone in an instant; well… almost. From that moment, a huge hatred feeling toward Celestia had began to grow deep inside his dark heart and had began to plot revenge against Celestia for making a mockery of his hard work. Even though all of his work was gone, the creation procedure was all still in his brain, and he used it to create a crystal that was a bit more stable than his other crystals that he had made and somehow tricked Celestia to try it on. She was suddenly under the influence of his gem and he was soon going to use his obtained power to become the new ruler and have his genius shone throughout Equestria. Unfortunately, the magic of his gem didn’t last long and Celestia was able to break free from Solar’s spell. At that moment, he had no choice but to retreat and hide out until he could figure out a way to bounce back and get back at Celestia. He finally had another chance for revenge 10 years later when Cream the Rabbit and her Chao friend, Cheese came to his world. He captured Cheese and harnessed his power that had the potential to overcome Celestia. But in the end, his own plan was thwarted thanks to Cream, Cheese and Fluttershy; with the help of Twilight and Angel. He was taken away and imprisoned in the dungeons of Canterlot castle where he would probably spend most of his days. Unfortunately, a fated day came when when a powerful mecha by the name of Metal Sonic arrived from Cream’s world and laid waste to the inside of the Canterlot palace. He broke Solar Dusk out of prison and broke him free of his magic restraint that annoyed him for three months. Now he was brought into Cream’s world where he teamed up with Dr. Eggman and plotted to finally gain the revenge he wanted. Twilight and the others were soon informed and eventually found a way into Cream’s world where they caught up with her and met her friends to tip them on what was happening. With the Elements of Harmony along with world renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog and his team, it seemed that victory was going to be a snap. But things took a turn for the worse when they faced Solar Dusk at Eggman’s base. They were unprepared as they found out the hard way that his magic was more powerful than ever and he was able to overcome them; and now they were all captured and placed under his dark magic. Even worse, thanks to Eggman’s robotic technology, Solar had created robotic duplicates of Twilight and her friends and threw them for a loop. Then it all went downhill from there. Solar Dusk finally had his revenge against Cream and had her held against her will by Cheese and her own Mother. He then returned to Equestria where he overran Ponyville with his newly gained forces; and on top of that, he took Celestia and Luna by surprise by suddenly showing up on palace grounds moments after hearing about Ponyville’s fall. Their magic even failed when Solar Dusk protected himself with a special gem that he seemed to have crafted… but why? Was this it? Was it really all over? Had Solar Dusk finally won? Was there nothing that even Celestia and Luna could do to stop him at all? Was all hope finally lost for Mobius and Equestria? ………….. yeah right. ------------ Back in Mobius, Cream was being held up in her own house. Sitting on a single chair with her Mother standing on one side and Cheese floating on the other side; both still being controlled by Solar Dusk’s magic. Cream was sulking, feeling all lost of hope. She had given up any thought of trying to stop Solar Dusk now. She just sat there feeling helpless and upset of everything that has happened. ‘What am I… suppose to do now?’ Cream thought to herself sadly, ‘How can I ever come back from this? All of my friends… my Ponyville friends… my Mom… ‘sniff’ they’re all under Solar Dusk’s control now. I’m all alone and… by myself… without any way of escaping. But… what’s the point of trying to do something now? Solar Dusk did it; he won. I hate to say it but… what else can I say?’ She then remembered again of the fight she had with Fluttershy and how it was her last conscious memory of her. ‘And… what happened between me and Miss Shy… I never got to tell her that I was sorry; sorry for being such a stubborn little rabbit girl! I want to beat Solar Dusk down on his flank so bad, but… what can I do? I’m just one rabbit… now outnumbered by hundreds.' Cream finally admitted to herself to defeat. She didn't think that she could turn things around and save her friends. She pretty much thought that it would've been better off if Solar Dusk had taken over her mind as well. 'Solar Dusk is right, it’s too late for me to stop him now; he’s way too powerful for me to handle. It’s best for me to just… sit here… give up… th-there’s no more hope for anyone now. Its over.’ But... as she sat there sulking with her head and ears drooping down, she started to remember of all the fun adventures that she had with Sonic and her other friends. She remembered how she and Cheese faced danger head on with them and helped out in big ways. She knew that no matter how tough or difficult the challage they faced was, they never gave up. That was an important lesson she learned from them firsthand. Then she remembered her adventure in Equestria when she met her pony friend, Fluttershy and faced tough odds just to save her friend, Cheese. She made an incredible friendship bond with Fluttershy and the others, and that was something she never wanted to lose. Cream suddenly sat back up in her chair and had a determined expression on her face as thought of all of those good times and that all of it was taken away in an instant. Her next decision was a clear one. ‘No… no… no! Its not over! I… I-I-I refuse to let it end like this! I can’t just sit here and let Solar Dusk get away with this! I am not weak… I am not defenseless… I am not a coward! I can take care of this myself! I won’t… let Solar Dusk get the best of me. I’m going to figure out a way to end his spell and get my friends back!’ Cream was now fully determine to not give up on her friends just yet. She still had plenty of fight left in her, and she was going to use it to make the best of the situation. ‘Solar Dusk chose to not control me with one of his gems and leave me here to cry like a little baby. I’ve gotta prove to him that doing that was a big mistake! As long as I’m still myself, I have a fighting chance to change all of this! It may be crazy, but… but… I’m doing it for my friends!’ She suddenly jumped up and stood in her chair with her Mother and Cheese still being controlled looking up at her as she shouted out, “I’M COMING FOR YOU, SOLAR DUSK!!!” Immediately, Cream jumped out of her chair and started to head towards the door. But because of the gem’s power, her Mother quickly zipped past her and got in front of her to block the path out. Sh couldn’t get past her and pleaded, “Please, Mom, out of my way!” Cheese then charged at her to apprehend her. However, Cream saw him coming; and in a quick` reaction, she grabbed him mid-charge and threw him away from her crashing into a wall and being knocked out. “Are you okay, Cheese?!” Her Mother tried to grab her, but she quickly dodged and slid under her accidentally causing her to be tripped off her feet and fall down. She didn’t mean it, but it was effective. “Sorry about that, Mommy.” After apologizing, she ran out the door and was towards the direction of where she knew that cave with the portal was located, “I’ve got to get to that cave and get to Equestria… and see if I can do something!” But she suddenly stopped when she realized something, “Wait… I just realized; how am I supposed to get there without…” But before she knew it, she was tackled on the ground and held own by her Mother with a strong grip. Cream tried to get loose, the strength from the gem was a bit too much. “Get off of me, Mommy! Get off! I can’t save you if you don’t let me!” But suddenly, a small hook onto the back of Vanilla’s dress and then hoisted her up in the air and away from Cream. Cream got and saw that her Mother was being held back by fish hook; and guess who was at the retrieving end? “Are you and your Mom having a fight? I’ve never seen that before.” “Mister Big!” Cream shouted in relief. It was technically Big the Cat and his friend Froggy. They had showed up just in time. “Hiya, Cream,” said Big as he waved with one hand, “What’s going on here? Why did your Mom tackle you on the ground? Did you do something bad?” “F-far from it, Mister Big,” Cream responded, “I’m afraid the situation is worse than it looks.” BIg was kind of confused of what Cream meant. He didn’t even know what was going on. But then Cheese came soaring out of the house and took Cream by surprise by knocking her down on the ground. Big Gasped upon seeing that; followed by Cream rolling on her back to catch a dive bombing Cheese and holding him back… barely. “Oh no, Cheese too?” Big shouted. While he was distracted though, Vanilla grabbed the fishing rod holding her and pulled it out of Big’s grasped. She then faced him and Froggy with a menacing glare as she snapped the rod in two with her bare hands and dropped it on the ground. “My fishing rod! That was one of my favorites too!” ‘Ribbit’ Vanilla then proceeded to dash at Big, and he found himself holding her back with his hands. But he was surprisingly struggling against her. “W-whoa; when did you get so strong, Miss Vanilla?” “Big, be careful!” said Cream who was still holding back Cheese from her, “Those gems around their necks… they’re filled with Solar Dusk’s dark magic; they aren’t themselves right now!” With Vanilla right in front of him, BIg could see the gem that was around her neck. But then it hit him, “Solar… Dusk? Is that the baddie from the other world with ponies that I heard about?” “Yeah, he is,” Cream responded, “He’s using those gems to control them and obey his every command; and not only that, it makes them much more stronger than they usually are!” “Oh, that makes sense now.” Big was suddenly being pushed down slowly by Vanilla’s growing strength. He could easily use all of his strength to repel her off of him, but he didn’t have the heart to possibly hurt her. “I don’t want to hurt you, Miss Vanilla! If I do, I’ll be real heartbroken.” ‘Aw man, this is deja’ vu all over again,’ thought Cream to herself thinking back when she struggle against Cheese back in Equestria, ‘O-o-only... this time… Cheese feels more stronger than he did last time. Solar Dusk really has gotten more powerful, hasn’t he?’ While Big continue to struggle against Vanilla’s might, Froggy brought his attention to probably breaking off the gem necklace to solve their problem. ‘Ribbit Ribbit!’ “Hey, you’re right, Froggy,” said Big, “If these necklaces are what are controlling them, then all we have to do is break them off! I could probably do that no problem!” Cream overheard what Big said and tried to stop him, “Wait… no, Mister Big! Don’t…” But Big had already gave the necklace a little pull, and then a huge electrical surge went throughout his and Froggy's body. “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” Both yelled out loud and flew back from the shock. Big felt a bit woozy as he held his head and said, “S-something tells me doing that… w-wasn’t a good idea.” ‘R-r-riiii~b-bit...’ Vanilla then lept up and landed on Big holding him down by his neck; and he couldn't move. “Ouch! Hey, not so tight!” “Mister Big!" Cream knocked Cheese away and was headed to help Big out, "No, Mom… stop!” but she was brought back down by Cheese again holding her down in a position that she couldn’t escape from. “This is bad. How are we suppose to stop them like this?!” Big then looked up in slight fear as Vanilla held him in place and raised up her fist to throw him painful punch. “Well… this may hurt a bit.” But then out of the blue, a dark silhouette swooped down and kicked Vanilla off of Big. Then a second one appeared behind her and held up something to the collar around her neck; and there was a huge electrical surge that emanated while Vanilla shouted in pain. Afterwards, she fell unconscious face down. "Mom!!!" Cream shouted upon seeing what happened to her Mother. But suddenly, the same thing happened to Cheese as he was still holding on to Cream, and he fell down on the ground unconscious as well beside her. "W-w-what's going on?!" Big suddenly got up and was scratching his head trying to figure out what happened. "Whoa, what happened? Did someone just save us?" ‘R-ribbit?’ Suddenly, the two silhouettes landed on the ground with such stylish flare. Cream looked their way and couldn’t believe who it was. "Shadow! Rouge!" "What's up,” said Rouge with a wink, “You glad to see us?" "You guys came in the nick of time,” said Big, “Thanks a lot!" 'Ribbit!' "Are the two of you alright?" Shadow questioned. "Y-yeah, we are... thanks to you two,” said Cream, “I don’t know what would've happened if you didn't come in just now. But. What did you do to Cheese and my Mother? Are they alright?" "They’re fine,” Shadow lightly scoffed, “See for yourself." Cream suddenly looked over at her Mother as she was finally getting up. She groaned while holding her head trying to get ahold of her surroundings."Wh-wh-what... happened? Am I... still having a nightmare?" "Mom!" Cream shouted in happiness as she glomped onto her Mother giving her a huge hug. Vanilla felt a little confused seeing her daughter in such a cheerful mood apart fro when she saw her last, but she also saw that she was covered in light bruised. "Cream? You look a little roughed up. Are you okay?" Suddenly, Cream another familiar voice. 'Chao chao chao chao!' Her chao friend, Cheese was now awake too and gave her a hug from behind. Cream was relieved to see that he was okay too. "Cheese! Thank goodness you’re both okay!" Vanilla suddenly looked down beside her and saw some broken gem fragments. She picked up one and looked at it carefully. But then she gasped as she suddenly remembered what took place a little while ago. "That's right! That strange pony came in my house and…” She then looked back at Cream and her light bruises, “Oh my gosh, it was me who hurt you, wasn’t it?" "Its okay, Mom,” said Cream with a smile still on her face, “you weren't in control of yourself; and neither was Cheese. But I'm okay now thanks to Mister Big, Mister Shadow and Miss Rouge." Vanilla looked up and saw the very ones Cream mentioned standing around and looking back at them. She then sighed and said, "Well... whatever I did, I'll still say that I’m sorry." Almost immediately after apologizing to her daughter, she remembered about the others who weren’t back yet. "So what about the others. Are they okay too?" Cream’s ears suddenly drooped back down as she sadly responded, "I'm afraid not. Solar Dusk got all of them. He had a trump card in his plan that the others didn’t see coming. They're... under his control now and are helping him to conquer Equestria even as we speak." "Oh... th-that’s terrible!" said Vanilla with tears suddenly in her eyes. 'Chao chao...' "However, Shadow and Rouge somehow managed to easily break off the collars on you and Cheese. How did you two do that anyway?" "Yeah,” Big agreed, “I tried to take it off and all that I got for it was a shocking outcome… literally." Rouge gave Shadow a little nudge and said, "Well, Shadow, they asked. Care to show them?" Shadow then responded with an answer. "We were able to easily destroy the gems in those collars... with this." He suddenly held out a bright red gem that was also... "A chaos emerald?!" Cream shouted. 'Chao chao chao?!' “A chaos emerald?” Big wondered, “Those things sure tend to turn up a lot.” "Much earlier before your friends went to take on Solar Dusk,” said Shadow, “Rouge was infiltrating the Doctor's base and spying on him to find out what he was up to." "What can I say,” said Rogue while smirking and shrugging her shoulders, “infiltrating important places is what I do." "It was there that she discovered that Solar Dusk’s dark magic had a negative effect against the emerald's power. I guess that why he hasn’t bother using their power for his conquest.” “You should’ve seen the look on his face the first time he tried it,” Rogue chuckled, “It was hilarious.” Hearing this brought great relief to Cream and she felt a whole lot better of her situation. “That’s… that’s great! That means that we actually have a way to beat him. He can still be stopped! But... wait a minute; if you guys knew about this, why didn’t you tell us! And where were you when my friends were captured?!” “Hey, don’t blame that on us, kid,” said Rogue, “We had our own personal things to care about and can’t be at two places at once. Besides, I’m not getting my brain taken over by some pony lunatic.” Cream crossed her arms while pouting a bit, “That’s not a very good excuse you know.” And Cheese was with her too. ‘Chao chao’ Vanilla knew what was coming next, and there was no way that she was going to change the outcome. “So what’s going to happen now, Cream? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about going after that villain to that other world?” “I’m not thinking about it, Mommy,” said Cream with confidence, “I’m done thinking. Now that I know of a way to beat Solar Dusk, I have to go back to Equestria and free my friends from his magic so we can finally beat his butt! All I need now is a chaos emerald of my own; a weapon that will help me get the advantage I need!” “Then here… take this,” said Shadow as he tossed the chaos emerald in his possession over to cream. She quickly caught it and looked at him while stating, “Huh, you’re giving me the emerald you have? Aren’t you coming with me and Cheese?” ‘Chao?’ “No, you have to do this on your own. You said that you wanted to prove yourself to Dusk, didn’t you? Do that by saving your friends so that they can help you save that world and ours. Show Solar Dusk that you’re not to be trifled with.” Cream never thought of Shadow to support her so much, but she figured that there was a first time for everything. “Look at you being so supportive,” said Rouge with a light chuckle, “I never see this side of you too often.” “Oh knock it off.” “So… what are you going to do?” Cream asked. “With Eggman gone, Rogue and I can infiltrate his base and take it down. This is the perfect chance to do it.” Cream looked down at the emerald in her hands which emanated with power. Cream knew that this was all she had to save her friends; so she was going to protect it with her life. “Well, Cheese, this is it; this is our last chance to stop Solar Dusk. Otherwise, Equestria will fall to him; and eventually… so will our world. You ready to do this?” Cheese put on a tough expression on his face and responded. ‘Chao chao chao chao’ Cream just giggled seeing Cheese trying to be tough. “Of course. I don’t know why I even asked you.” “Hey, Cream,” said Big, “is it okay if I come along with you? I can fight too!” ‘Ribbit’ “No… that’s okay, Mister Big. Cheese and I have to do this ourselves. But, can you stay here and make sure that my Mommy is safe? I would really be thankful if you did.” Big didn’t mind doing that for Cream. He’d rather be away from the main danger anyway. He went beside Vanilla as he responded to Cream, “Okay... if that makes you happy, I’ll do it.” But just as Cream and Cheese were about to go off, Vanilla called out, “Cream… j-just promise me something.” Cream turned around with a light smile and said, “Anything, Mommy.” “Make sure you and all of your friends win this fight.” She then put on a more serious face and said in a more demanding tone, “And… and if you ever get the chance… give that impolite, bad-mannered, evil jerk a good ol’ punch in the face! Okay?” It was a bit surprising to Cream to hear that kind of a response from her Mother; but she understood how she felt and nodded with a smirkwhile giving her another hug. “Come on, Cheese; lets go!” ‘Chao chao!’ With that, Cream ran off with Cheese leaving her Mother in Big’s protective hands. She looked back and shouted, “Thanks again for all of your help again!” “Bye, Cream; bye, Cheese!” shouted Big as he waved back, “Go on and save the world… or worlds in this case!” “Well, I guess we should make our way to the base,” said Rogue to Shadow, “Just make sure you don’t get too reckless, mister chaos spear everything in sight.” “Looks who's talking.” Before long, Shadow and Rouge had left to take care of their business; and it was just Vanilla, Big and Froggy who were left at the house. Big noticed that Vanilla still had a slightly worried expression on her face as she watched her daughter leave her yet again. “Don’t worry, Miss Vanilla,” Big said, “Something tells me that your daughter will be okay; you’ll see.” Vanilla just whipped away a single tear as she suddenly smiled and admitted, “Yes… I know she will.” ------- Things were coming full-circle for Cream and Cheese as they finally reached the cave that held the same portal access that transported them to the world of Equestria. They went inside feeling a bit scared, but at the same time were being brave and were preparing for what could be waiting for them. However, once they got to the dead end, Cream still saw the circling symbol carvings of the Elements of Harmony; but she called Cheese’s attention as she saw something different and peculiar in the middle. “Cheese look at this! Is that... Mister Sonic in the middle of the Elements of Harmony symbols now? What do you think that means?” Cheese saw it and was confused too. The last time they saw it, the middle carving was just an orb; but now it was a silhouette of their friend, Sonic the Hedgehog. But as odd as that was, Cream knew that they couldn’t waste any time. “Well... that’s not important right now. We can wonder about that later; we have friends to save.” She held up the Emerald to the portal, and then a bright light filled the entire cave. The gateway to Equestria was opened once again, and Cream and Cheese were now on their way to save two worlds. --------- With Eggman gone and most of his robotic forces with him to help Solar Dusk conquer Equestria, Shadow and Rouge were this opportunity to raid his base and take it down without too much hassle. On the way there, Rouge felt a little conflicted as she was thinking about Cream and her chao friend heading straight into danger to prevent double world domination. "You know, Shadow... I think you may have put too much faith into that little girl with two worlds at stake. Maybe you should have gone with her and give her some support in freeing her friends. Plus, I'm sure I could take down Eggman’s base all by myself while you did so." Shadow stopped in his walking path and turned to Rouge as he stated, "And what use would babying her do? She'll be fine; she needs to do this on her own so she can prove to herself that she’s strong and not weak. We all have challenges and risky moments in our lives that test us on that theory, and this is hers. Only then will she prove herself to be truly strong; I should know." Once again to Rouge, Shadow was being all emo and ‘doing what he wanted’ kind of thing. She knew that she couldn't argue with him at this point. "Whatever you say, drama queen. But if two worlds fall under the rule of Eggman and some pony lunatic, don’t come crying to me." They began to walk towards their destination again… when suddenly and bright light appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. They both stopped and shielded their eyes as they were preparing for the unexpected. Just then, a mysterious figure jumped out from the light and landed right in front of them. Once the light disappeared, Shadow and Rouge uncovered their eyes and saw the mysterious figure stand up while surprisingly holding a chaos emerald in hand. "Shadow the Hedgehog,” the figure shouted, “I've finally found you! I need your help!" Shadow was a bit surprised and a bit cautious of this mysterious being showing up out of nowhere and knowing who he was. "Who are you... and how do you know my name?" "Really?” said Rouge, “you respond with that classy line of yours?" Whoever this being was, Shadow and Rouge have never seen before… as far as they knew. However, they were a bit curious of why it was in possession of a chaos emerald; and more importantly… what did it want with Shadow? "Don't worry,” said the figure, “I will explain everything! You don't know me, but I do know you; as well as another from this dimension. Listen very closely to what I have to say!"