//------------------------------//
// Journies of Fate 
// Story: Chaos and Harmony (A Sonic & My Little Pony Crossover) 
// by InkWeaverFiM 
//------------------------------//

	Eggman took another sip out of his bottle of Apple Cider as he nonchalantly stared out of the window on the train. He was amazed at how used to his pony body he already was after only two days in the village. A testament to this was how he was able to hold his bottle with only one hoof. Although he probably wouldn't outright admit it, he was strangely captivated by Equestria's scenery, even in the night.

On one side of the train was a flowing river, which was dotted with steep rocks that poked up and created thin trails of foamy rapids. On the other side was a lush forest, although a road separated it from the tracks. And every so often, Eggman could see a small house nestled into the edge of trees.

Eggman stared up through the window at the bright full moon. According to his research and his numerous discussions with the village ponies (thank goodness the village had a sizable library), Equestria was ruled by two Princesses that had the magical abilities to raise the very sun and moon. Eggman's brow furrowed. Unicorn magic was something he was truly puzzled by. Was it truly magic? Surely not, there was no such thing... In his world at least. And how did these Princesses handle managing the very cycle of day and night? Eggman shook the thoughts away and focused back on the matter at hand... or hoof. He had to become as fluent in Equestrian slang as possible. If deities powerful enough to move solar bodies were in control of this world, he would have to be careful, at least for now. No matter how powerful these Princesses Celestia and Luna were, there was no way they would ever be a match for the seven Chaos Emeralds. After all, he had used their power to destroy a moon once, and he didn't even have all of them at the time.

The doctor also knew that there were two more princesses in Equestria. The Crystal Princess Cadence, who ruled the Crystal Empire in the far north and therefore shouldn't be a problem for a good while, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. Eggman shook his head. What world needed a royal figure on friendship? At first he supposed the title referred to someone who kept the peace between cities or nations, or perhaps someone who welcomed dignitaries. But, no. Princess Twilight was in charge of spreading literal friendship. It seemed the more Eggman researched this world, the less he understood about it.

But Twilight's job wasn't what worried Eggman. What worried him was Twilight's location. Her castle was in the same place that his train was heading. Ponyville. Of course, in a way, that's why he was heading there in the first place. His thoughts shifted back to the Starlight Glimmer character he was chasing. He knew what kind of person (or pony) she was. The village's previous state was her idea of perfection, and it was ruined. She would want revenge. And since she couldn't go back to her ruined village, where would she go? It was so easy to see. She would keep her enemies close. She would hide in Ponyville in plain sight, waiting for the right opportunity; an opportunity that he would give her.

It was almost certain that Starlight would be in Ponyville, but how exactly to find her was another matter. She would obviously have to be connected to somebody (somepony, blast it!), but who? Eggman wasn't exactly sure how he could uncover her system, but he had a few ideas. But he needed her. Someone who could build something out of nothing, who could trick an entire populous, then disappear like smoke while never really having left at all? That was exactly who the doctor needed to make his plans a reality. As an added bonus, she would know every detail of Equestria and would have unicorn magic, something Eggman needed but lacked himself. From what he studied of magic, Eggman could safely assume that stealing a cutie mark was no easy magical feat. But he would have to act fast. No doubt Sonic was already hunting the Emeralds, and he had a few days' head start. As the train rolled on into the night, Eggman took another sip of cider, sank into his chair, and closed his eyes in an attempt to get what sleep he could before his pony-hunt began.


. . . . .


Knuckles wiped the sweat off his forehead as he continued towards the barn, the large apple bushels in the baskets at his sides seemingly glowing in the harsh sunlight. Applejack laughed beside him, carrying almost as many apples as he was.

"Hard work, ain't it?" Applejack playfully bumped into him and smiled. Knuckles nodded.

"Not that I'm not used to work, but I didn't think it would take this many trips for just that one patch of trees."

"Well, ah promise that this here's the last one." Applejack winked. "Thanks again fer helpin' me today."

Knuckles nodded. "No problem."

Once inside the barn, the two dumped their apples into a large trough and unlatched their apple-collecting baskets. Knuckles bowed down and stretched out, his back popping in the process. "Didn't you say you had a brother?" Knuckles asked after he was firmly back on four hooves. "He usually helps you with this stuff, right?"

"Yep, and he would've been helpin' me today, but he's over in Baltimare. We're seein' if we can pitch some of our Apple Family apples to their Farmers' Market." She picked up an apple and threw it to Knuckles, who caught it perfectly in the crook of his foreleg.

"Thanks," he said promptly before taking a massive bite out of it.

"Too bad, too. From the way you were workin' out there today, I'd say you're one the few ponies I've seen who can maybe take him in a hoof wrassle." Applejack chuckled. "That'd be fun to watch."

"Well unless he can split boulders or climb walls, I don't think he stands much of a chance." Knuckles took the last bite of his apple and threw the core into the pig feeding trough across the barn. Applejack looked down at his legs.

"So is that what them metal hoof plates are for?"

Knuckles followed her gaze and picked up his foreleg to stare at his shiny metal hoof. He sighed.

"Pretty sure they're not hoof plates, AJ." He looked up and gave a lopsided smile. "All natural as far as I can tell. Let's just say I've always had pretty hard fists... and hooves too apparently."

Applejack stared for a few moments longer, then shrugged. "Well, alright then."

The short silence was suddenly interrupted by an odd sound. A sound that Applejack recognized. She turned to look at her flank, and saw exactly what she expected. Her cutie mark was glowing and pulsating. The map was summoning her.

"What the heck?" Applejack turned to see Knuckles staring at his own flank. She followed his eyes to his cutie mark and gasped. His giant green gemstone cutie mark was pulsating, too. He was being summoned as well. Knuckles turned to her with mild concern in his eyes.

"Should I be... worried about this?"

Applejack snapped her jaw shut. "Uhh... maybe?" When Knuckles just stared at her in response, Applejack cleared her throat. "Look, I'll explain later. Right now, you just need to come with me." With that, she turned and dashed out of the barn.

"Hey, wait a second!" Knuckles watched as she took off and, with an annoyed sigh, galloped after her.


. . . . .


Knuckles and Applejack were seemingly the last ones that arrived to the throne room, where the map was lit up, showing a large group of cutie marks hovering over the city of Manehattan. The cutie marks belonging to Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie made a large circulating ring over the city's shopping district. But inside that ring was a ring of five more cutie marks: Sonic's blue fireball, Shadow's ominous red symbol, Tails' crossed wrenches and golden ring, Knuckles' giant green Master Emerald, and Silver's turquoise current. They were rotating counter clockwise while the Mane 6's marks rotated clockwise around them. The room was filled with the sound of a monotone noise emitting from eleven different flanks. Everypony stared at the map until Applejack finally broke the silence.

"Twilight, what's goin' on?"

"It's the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic was staring at the marks more intently than anyone else. "It has to be."

"We can't be sure." Twilight stared at the map with a thoroughly puzzled expression. "I just don't understand. Why is it summoning all of us? The map is supposed to only be connected to me and and the girls, so why is it summoning you all?"

"If I understand correctly, haven't Tails and Silver been experimenting on your table?" Eleven faces turned to Shadow. "Could that have anything to do with it?"

"Uhhh, maybe?" Tails opened his mouth further to probably give some sort of bogus scientific analysis, but Spike cut him off. 

"Why are you guys even talking about this? If one of those Chaos Emeralds are there, then this is exactly what we need. Can't you ask questions about the map later?" Meshed conversations rose up in reply, until Twilight cleared her throat.

"Whatever's happening, if the Map says it's important, we have to go." She looked at the ten ponies looking at her. "All of us."

Sonic gave his trademark confident grin. "So how do we get to this... Manehattan? Do I need to carry you guys?"

"The train, of course." Rarity clapped her hooves excitedly. "This will be so fun! A nice road trip with all our new friends!"

Silver cleared his throat. "I think there's something we're all forgetting. We all agreed that it's a very real possibility, if not guaranteed that Eggman is here, too, right?"

The mood in the throne room shifted dramatically. Sonic turned his gaze towards Twilight.

"If there's any chance Eggman's going to be a part of this, then no offense, but I don't know if I want you and your friends involved. We owe you for what you've done so far, and for volunteering to help us to locate to Emeralds, but we need to be the ones to retrieve them. This is our fight." Sonic gave an apologetic look to Rainbow Dash, who was standing beside him. "That means you, too, Dash."

Rainbow Dash stared at him for a moment in shock, then in anger. "What? Hay, no! The map says we should all go! I don't care how bad this egg guy is, we can handle it! We've handled worse!"

"He won't hesitate to kill you." Shadow's tone was dead serious. All eyes turned to him. "You being our allies will be plenty reason enough. We don't know what medium he'll use in this world to get what he wants, but if he's here, we can assume he's already well on his way."

"For now we're assuming he's here." Sonic turned to Twilight once more. "Listen, helping us find where the Emeralds are was one thing but... we can't ask this of y-"

"You don't have to. This may be your fight, but it's our home." Twilight stamped her hoof down and held her head high. "It's our responsibility to help protect Equestria. Which reminds me. Spike, take a letter."

Spike somehow already had a blank piece of parchment and a quill in his hand. "Sure thing! Who to?"

"Princess Celestia. Inform her that the map has possibly revealed the location of one of Sonic's world's Chaos Emeralds or the location of Dr. Eggman." Spike furiously scribbled the letter down. Sonic sighed lightly in defeat.

"I hope you guys know what you're doing..."

"We do." Twilight glanced down at Spike, who smiled expectantly.

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

At this, Spike rolled up the scroll and breathed a light gout of green fire onto it. The scroll disappeared into smoke and traveled out through the throne room doors. Sonic and his friends stared awe. Spike's chest visibly puffed out in pride.

"Let me guess," Tails asked in a quizzing voice. "Magic?"

"Yep!" Tails raised an eyebrow at Spike, then smiled wryly.

"Ya know, I know you've told me about everything you know on how magic works Twilight, but I still don't totally understand it. Spike, is there any way you would be interest-"

Sonic cut him off. "No experimenting on anyone, Tails." Tails lowered his head and stuck out his lip in a demeanor similar to a pouting filly.

"Fine."

"Well, I believe that settles it!" Rarity began trotting off towards the exit. "If you'll all excuse me, I have a lot of packing to do!"

Knuckles raised an eyebrow at Rarity's retreating form. "Lots of packing? How long are we planning on being there?"

Applejack chuckled "That's just Rarity."

Knuckles looked over at Twilight, his big, muscular form towering over the crystal table. "Who's paying for the train tickets? You've paid for pretty much everything we've needed so far, and I don't want to drain your pockets anymore if I can help it."

Applejack nudged him. "Is that why you've been goin' out of yer way to help everypony? You're guilty that we're spendin' bits on ya?"

Knuckles looked away. "No... I'm just... a helpful guy..."

Twilight laughed. "Don't worry about the train tickets, Knuckles. As the Princess of Friendship, my friends and I can ride the train anywhere free of charge. And we can bring as many guests as we want."

"Oh. Well that helps."

Applejack laughed and nudged Knuckles again. "Tell ya what, Knux, if you don't want us buying stuff for ya, you can work at Sweet Apple Acres. We could always use another farmhoof."

Knuckles stared at her. "Uhhh... sure... I guess."

Applejack nodded and started for the exit. The rest of the group began to follow suit. Rainbow socked Sonic in the shoulder.

"Hey! Dash, what was that f-"

"Stop being overprotective!" She quickly turned away from, her tail flicking his nose in the process. "We've only been on two dates!" She huffed and started walking away from him, but it took Sonic less than a second to run around her and block her path, putting a hoof against her chest.

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry." His gaze softened and he lowered his hoof. "I just don't want anybody hurt... especially you. You guys didn't ask for this." Rainbow's expression softened. She wanted to be angry at Sonic, but she just couldn't be.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure we all actually want to go. And we've handled stuff like this before." She tossed her mane as she sidestepped past him. "Now I'll see you on the train."

Sonic slapped his hoof against his forehead. "What have I gotten myself into," he mumbled quietly. But when his eyes opened again, he gave a small, playful smile and stormed his way out of the castle, the turbulence of his sudden sprint nearly taking Rainbow Dash off her hooves when he passed her. She stared after him in shock.

"Hey!" Her wings picked her up off the ground and she dashed after him, a prominent smile on her face.

Twilight laughed. Those two were something to watch.

"This could be dangerous." Shadow approached Twilight cautiously. They were now the only ones in the room. "We don't know what the good doctor has in store."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "We don't even know if he's there. We don't even know if your Emerald is there. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Shadow closed his eyes and turned to leave. "I hope you're right."

Twilight watched him retreat towards the castle exit. Her head sank a little. Sonic and Rainbow Dash had gotten together for a second date after the double date at the restaurant, but her and Shadow hadn't. Their first date had gone exceedingly better after Rainbow Dash drug her away and told her to stop being a scared little filly, but apparently it hadn't gone well enough to commend an encore. She was too nervous to ask.

Her ears drooped. She was the Princess of Friendship. Did she even have time for a relationship? And why was she so interested in one with Shadow? She wasn't entirely convinced he was interested in a relationship with her! At least, he hadn't made his interest very apparent. Although she didn't want to admit it, she had been doing her best to avoid him as of late. She just didn't know what to say. She shook her head. He was leaving eventually, anyway. To another world, another universe, even. It wasn't meant to be, he was probably just too nice to tell her that. She looked up and trotted after him, stopping him right before he got past the throne room's doorway.

"Shadow?" He paused and turned his head.

"Hm?"

"I... I'm sorry." Her head dropped towards the floor.

Shadow turned around to face her. His expression seemed mildly concerned. "About what?"

"About asking you on a date. It was wrong... ridiculous even. You're about to leave... to go home. I know you've been trying to spare my feelings, and I appreciate it, but... I know this is a bad idea." Shadow just looked at her, his face as emotionless as ever. she sighed. "So... I'm sorry."

She waited, continually staring at Shadow, waiting to see a sign of emotion. Any emotion at all. She dropped her head again. Just as she was about to turn around to head to her room to pack for the train ride, Shadow laughed. Twilight ears perked and she looked up, but before she could react, Shadow planted a quick peck on her cheek.

She froze, her brain needing time to process what just happened. Once it did, she could feel her face heating up. "Iiiiiuuhhhhh..."

"You're right," Shadow said with a smug smile on his face. "This is an absolutely horrible idea. Doesn't mean I care, though. As long as you don't."

"Uh, I... huh?" Twilight felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Shadow laughed again.

"I'll take that as a no." Hazy orange magic enveloped Shadow's horn as well as his hooves, and Twilight watched as he levitated about an inch off the ground. He turned and began sweeping his hooves in a skating motion, blurring away from her vision in seconds. She probably should've been impressed, but her mind was still focused on the fact that Shadow had kissed her. Her cheek, anyway.

Eventually, utter confusion gave way to grinning like an idiot. She flapped her wings happily and began trotting off to her room, smiling and humming all the way. Spike intercepted her in the hallway, carrying a small rolling bag. He raised an eyebrow.

"Somepony sure is happy." he said as he dragged his suitcase towards the exit.

"Oh, you have no idea," she said quietly.


. . . . .


Eggman scanned the scenery around him. Ponyville was a nice little town, filled with small houses, friendly ponies, and a towering crystal castle that held its Princess. Eggman's ear twisted in the direction of the sound of a train whistle. The last train of the day was departing. He looked up at the sky. The sun was getting close to the horizon. He figured he had about an hour and a half of daylight left. And he was intent on using it wisely.  He was sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe, sipping a cup of black coffee and eating a pastry. The train ride had left him famished. The village ponies had given him some bits (which was apparently this world's currency) for the train ride and enough for some food and a few nights at an inn. He would have to make it last. He looked down at his plate and furrowed his brow. There was no time for this. He stuffed the rest of the pastry into his mouth and began to stand up.

"That's quite an impressive mustache you've got there, mister." a friendly male voice stopped the doctor in his tracks. He turned to look at its source.

"My name's Caramel. You must be new here." He was an earth pony. His coat was a light brown and his thick mane was a dark chestnut. Three blue horseshoes made up his cutie mark, and he was wearing what must have been the most sincere smile the doctor had ever seen, pony or otherwise. Eggman quickly swallowed and politely smiled back. This was exactly what he needed.

"Why, thank you good sir!" Eggman sat back down and motioned to the chair across from him. "Please, sit down, if you don't mind."

Caramel gave him a puzzled look. "Are you sure? You looked like you were just leaving."

Eggman shook his head. "Just stretching the old legs."

"Well, alright." Caramel took the seat and flagged a waiter down. "I'll have a hot tea and an oatcake, if you please." The waiter nodded, scribbled down his order, and walked off. Caramel turned his attention back to Eggman. "And who are you, if I may ask."

"Red Groom." He hated the name, but it had worked so far. Caramel nodded.

"I know I definitely haven't seen you around before. What brings you to Ponyville?"

"Oh, just a little traveling. Actually, I'm looking for a place to maybe settle down. How long have you lived here?"

"All my life. Thank you." The waiter set down Caramel's tea and cake. Eggman laughed inside his head. His pony-hunt had officially begun.

"So, Caramel, does this town get many visitors?"

Caramel took a sip of his tea. "Other than visiting family members, not really."

"Who, dare I ask, was the last visitor to this town?" 

Caramel froze right before he took a bit out of his cake. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Well... if I'm going to potentially live in this town I want to know what kind of ponies visit here."

Caramel mulled this over for a moment, then shrugged. "There are whole bunch of new ponies that have come to town, actually. They've only been here for few days. I know one of em's named Sonic or something of the like."

Eggman nearly choked on air. Sonic was here? In Ponyville? He quickly glanced around him, then back to Caramel. "What does this Sonic look like?" The doctor's suddenly harsh tone made Caramel's ears fold back. Eggman straightened himself. "Sorry, I just... believe I may know who you're referring to."

"Well, uh... he's a wild-looking guy. Earth pony. Blue coat, big, dark blue mane..."

"Is he..." Eggman hesitated. "Fast?"

Caramel threw his forelegs into the air. "Fast? He moves like a ghost! I've never seen anything like it! How can an earth pony do that? Do you know he does it?"

Eggman clenched his teeth. "I'm afraid not."

"Oh." Caramel's face fell. The doctor cleared his throat.

"You said there were more here in town with him?"

Caramel nodded. "Yeah, all stallions. A big red earth pony, a dark and a silver unicorn, and a yellow pegasus. I heard they were staying at Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle. They sure must be important if that's the case. I even saw them get on a train with Princess Twilight and her friends just a few min-"

"They're what?"

Caramel flinched away. "Whoa, what did I say?"

"N-nothing!" Oh, no. Sonic and his idiot friends were in league with a Princess? If that was the case, There was now a huge possibility that Equestria's government was aware of his potential existence. He was in danger. Finding a partner was no longer preferable. It was mandatory. At least if Sonic was on a train, that meant he wasn't here.

"W-what other tourists have come here recently?"

"U-uh... nopony I've noticed... except maybe a mare that moved to town about a month ago..."

"What mare? Do you know where she lives?"

Caramel eyed him with a nervous expression. "Uhh, I don't know if I should tell you that..."

"Can you just... describe her to me."

"Well... she's a unicorn. Light brown coat, purple hair, works at the flower shop..."

"Her name?"

"I think... she said her name was Honey Shine?"

"That's my sister!" Eggman couldn't hide the giant smile that stretched across his face. "Please, you have to tell me where she is!"


. . . . .


It was amazing to Twilight how much everypony had seemed to bond in between their two separate groups. They were in the very back of the train, Luna's moon and small, glowing lights in the ceiling teaming up to light the small seating car. Sonic, Tails, Spike, Knuckles, and Applejack sat in a rounded booth in one corner, engaged in a game of cards. Rainbow Dash was sitting next to Sonic, leaning against the stallion with her face in a Daring Do book. In the other corner booth, Rarity was striking up a conversation with Silver, explaining to him what made Manehattan a "wonderful paradise of fashion and opportunity." Fluttershy and Pinkie sat next to them, engaged in their own conversation. Twilight was sitting between the two corners, right next to Shadow. And right then, there was no place she would rather have been. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed.

"You know you're going to have to go home eventually, right?"

Shadow wrapped his foreleg around her. "Yes." She could feel him smile. "I'll just enjoy this in the meantime."

"What changed your mind?" Twilight leaned away to look up at him. He pulled his foreleg back and shrugged.

"I had time to think. I agreed to go on that date because I knew you were interested in me, but I was so caught up thinking about my home that I didn't consider if I was interested in you."

Twilight weighed his answer. "What about... Maria?" Twilight could see that she struck a nerve. Shadow's face hardened. "I know you loved her Shadow. I'm... sorry."

"I did. But I've kept her final wish. I protected the people of earth, then the people of Sonic's home world, and now I'll help protect your home until we can get back to ours." His gaze went somewhere far away. "I have... to assume she would want me to be happy."

Twilight's gaze fell. "But... why me?"

"Because you care." Twilight stared at him. "You knew I was different. One of the first things you learned about my existence was that I was created in a laboratory by the grandfather of the man who we're trying to protect you from. That I tried to destroy an entire planet. A planet with millions of lives... but you just... brushed it off. At first I thought it because you pitied me." He smiled. "I'm guessing now that it was something a bit more."

Twilight smiled back. "Well... experiment or not, I think you're amazing."

Shadow smiled again, raising an eyebrow as well. "How about not just an experiment, but a weapon?"

"Doesn't change anything." Shadow wrapped his foreleg around her again and she happily nestled up to him. She could get used to this. She wished it could last forever. Applejack threw down her hoof of cards while everyone in the booth around her, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, groaned in unison.

"Woohoo! Ah win!" Everypony dropped their cards and laughed.

"I call bogus." Tails turned to Sonic. "So what if an Emerald is in this city? What do we do?"

Sonic wrapped his foreleg around Rainbow, who shifted to get more comfortable. "We get it and bring it home before Egghead can touch it. Then you and Twilight get cracking on that machine again so we can find the rest of em'."

Rainbow looked up from her book and stole a glance at Twilight nestled against Shadow. She gave a her a wink and then promptly brought the book back up to her face. Twilight tried not to blush. Sonic nudged Tails with his foreleg and then pointed his head in Fluttershy's direction. Tails' eyes went wide. He turned to Sonic and shook his lightly. Sonic raised an eyebrow, then took a deep breath and opened his mouth as if he was about to yell something. Tails elbowed Sonic in the ribs right before he could get it out though, and then sighed.

"Hey, Fluttershy?" The cream-yellow pegasus in question turned towards him. "Want to sit over here? There's room for one more."

"Uhh..." Fluttershy's ears fell back and she rubbed her foreleg. She turned to Pinkie, who smiled ecstatically and all but shoved the poor mare out of her seat. Fluttershy squeaked, but stood up and began walking over to the other booth.

"That was totally evil," said Rainbow Dash to Sonic without looking from her book.

"Yeah, I know." He nestled his head on top of hers.

Twilight smiled contently. Fluttershy sat beside Tails and attempted to make small talk. Although it might have seemed awkward to some, the light smile that crossed Fluttershy's face when she looked away from Tails told Twilight otherwise. She glanced around the train car. Knuckles and Applejack were conversing, as were Pinkie, Rarity, and Silver. Spike was out cold, and while Sonic and Rainbow Dash were silent, they looked perhaps the most content out of everypony. She finally closed her eyes and wrapped her hoof around Shadow's midsection. They would arrive in Manehattan by morning, and Twilight was content to stay how she was until that time.


. . . . .


The door to the tiny house made a hideous squeaking noise as the mare stepped inside. She groaned and crossed the cramped living space into the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror. Light brown coat, dark purple hair up in a bun, and a ticked off expression. Her horn lit up with light green magic and she watched as her coat changed color from felt brown to light purple. Her magic then tugged at her mane, releasing it to show the pastel green stripes that were previously concealed. Finally, she wet a towel in the sink and used it to rub the fake image of a glimmering jar of honey from both sides of her flank, revealing the dark purple sparkle and green wisp cutie mark underneath. Starlight Glimmer stared at her reflection and gave a frustrated sigh. She hated Honey Shine. She hated her temporary job as an arranger at the flower shop. She hated this tiny house. She hated Twilight Sparkle, and all of her friends.

She walked out of the bathroom to flop on her bed. She had been spying on the Princess for almost a month, looking for some kind of weakness to prey on, some kind of angle. She wanted Twilight to feel what she had felt. Her village was perfection, and The Princess of Friendship had ruined it. She hadn't destroyed it, no, she had perverted it and put it out of Starlight's reach. Starlight Glimmer wanted to do that to Twilight Sparkle's bonds with her friends. She didn't want to spill any blood, that's not who she was. She wanted to alienate Twilight from her friends, from the world she knew. That was real revenge, but she couldn't find a way to do it. But Starlight wasn't ready to give up. Revenge was all she wanted, and she would have it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She sat up so quick it gave her a small headache. Who could possibly be knocking on her door at this hour? It was almost midnight.

"Coming," she called in her practiced fake Honey Shine voice. She galloped into the bathroom and pulled up her mane as quick as she could. Her magic flared as her coat color changed to light brown once more, and she carefully used makeup to stencil her fake cutie mark as quickly as she could while sill making it look believable.

After about a minute, she trotted out of the bathroom to answer the door, cringing when it squeaked. Standing outside was a somewhat rotund earth stallion, dark red in color with a giant brown mustache, which stood out even more with his bald head. He had a pair of dark glasses on, despite that it was night, and he was smiling wickedly.

"Starlight Glimmer, I presume?" Her heart skipped a beat.

"I... I think you have the wrong house..."

He wasn't fazed. "Oh, I don't think so. I've been to your village. Happy little place, although I was told it wasn't always like that."

Starlight backed away into her house, her gaze hardening. "Wh-what do you want?" The stallion cackled and walked into the house after her. Starlight's horn flared, ready to attack.

"My name is Dr. Robotnik. Believe or not, Miss Glimmer, but this is your lucky day."

Starlight's magic deactivated. "What?"

His smile grew even wider. "I'm going to make you a deal."