Where Does the Fox Wander?
The front door to Twilight's castle opened and a young earth pony with a pale light gray coat and a light cyan and moderate opal mane and tail was led out by Starlight. Sandbar, the pony in question, turned to look at the unicorn after she left him go and asked, "Are you sure we can't see her, Miss Starlight? Nopony has seen Princess Twilight or Spike around Ponyville for days and they're all getting worried. Are they really that sick?"
Starlight gave him a comforting smile as she said, "No, Sandbar, they're not sick anymore. They're just very busy right now. See all this?" She gestured inside the castle at the banners and decorations hung up in the entrance. "Twilight is going to be making a big announcement tomorrow to all of Ponyville regarding the future, and we're all trying to get everything ready. You'll see her tomorrow, I promise."
Sandbar replied, "Huh. Well, maybe we could help? I know school's out so you can’t really offer us anything for it, but…"
Starlight stopped him short, "Sandbar, I think it's great that you and your friends want to help, but really, it's okay. Twilight has been resting peacefully these last few days and is in rare form today. When she addresses the whole town tomorrow, it's going to be something you'll remember for the rest of your life, so you should spend today getting ready because it's going to blow you away." She stepped back inside and used her magic to close the door. Sandbar stood there staring at the doors for several moments before letting out another “Huh” and turning and walking away.
He headed back into town and found his friends Yona, Gallus, Silverstream, Ocellus, and Smolder waiting for him near the path leading to Twilight's castle and the school, just like they said they would. Smolder looked over at the earth pony as he approached them and asked, "No luck this time either?"
Sandbar answered, "No. Miss Starlight still says we can't come in, but she said Princess Twilight is preparing to give a big announcement tomorrow. She says it's going to blow us away."
Silverstream cooed, "Ooh! Sounds exciting! I wonder what she's going to say! Do you think she's going to have a party?"
Gallus snorted and said, "Yeah, Twilight preparing a party on her own while Pinkie and the rest of our teachers are off taking care of something important. That sounds like a great idea."
Sandbar shrugged, "I don't know, Gallus. Miss Starlight said Twilight is in rare form today. Maybe she can do it herself."
Ocellus spoke up, "It's a bit strange though, isn't it? Miss Starlight said Princess Twilight was feeling sick several days ago and now she's preparing to give a speech? And everypony who says the others were called away by the map all heard it from Starlight the same day. They didn't tell anypony close to them they would be gone? And what about that other unicorn, Tempest?"
Smolder crossed her arms, "I'll give you it's a bit coincidental, but it's not really weird, Ocellus. We've seen a lot stranger stuff since we came here."
Yona let out a shout, catching the attention of nearby ponies as well, and said, "Yona no like this! Yaks no like uncertainty! Should go see Princess Twilight now!"
Gallus rolled his eyes, "Geez, we haven't even done anything and you're already looking to break something."
Sandbar said, "Just… calm down please, Yona. We don't know what's going on with Twilight, but after all she's done, we should give her the benefit of the doubt. We can wait one more day to see her, can't we?"
Yona did feel calmer due to Sandbar's voice, but she did look away as she uttered, "Still no like…"
Smolder raised an eyebrow, "So what should we do now, then? No one said anything about any other plans beyond trying to see Twilight."
Ocellus said, "I was going to go check on Fluttershy's animals. I've been stopping by to see them a few times a day since she left. Would you all like to come with me? I… might need a little help with some of them…" The others agreed to accompany her, some a bit reluctantly. As they walked off, they didn't notice a pair of green feline eyes watching them from a nearby alley.
Twilight grunted softly as she took each measured step, making sure the cane she was given was firmly on the ground before readying herself for the next step. Her legs had some pain in them from her injuries and her balance was shaky due to not using them for a couple of days, but Terv had cleared her to start getting back on her hooves, something she was all too eager to do. Sonic stood close behind her, ready to catch her if she started to lose her balance, and Spike, Tempest, and Grubber were behind him watching, all of them getting her up to speed while they watched her.
Twilight managed to take the remaining steps to her bed without losing her balance and sat down on the edge heavily with a sigh, Spike climbing up and sitting down next to her while Sonic, Tempest, and Grubber sat on the empty bed next to hers. She collected her thoughts for several moments before speaking, her voice sounding less hoarse compared to when she first woke up, "It’s all so much to take in…” She looked at Sonic, “You’ve been locked up for six months… Eggman’s been waging all-out war… Tails is still missing…” She turned to Tempest, “And now we’re here…”
Tempest nodded, "I know. It's… it's madness that this all happened."
Spike looked at Twilight and put his claw on her flank, "Well, you're back now, Twilight, so everything's going to be alright!"
Twilight sat still for several moments, her gaze dropping to look at the ground. Then her cane suddenly fell from her grip and she hung her head, burying her muzzle in her hooves. "This is all my fault…" she moaned.
"Oh, not this song and dance again," Sonic said as he slid off the bed onto his feet. He stepped in front of Twilight and bent his knees, crouching in front of her. "This is not happening all because of you, Twilight," he stated, looking up at her.
Twilight raised her head up from her hooves to look at him, "Yes, it is! I was the one trying to get the Warp Ring working again as fast as possible! I gave Infinite an entrance to Equestria! He's the one who went through my things! That's how he found Tempest as well as Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow! My notes must've had enough information for him to find them! I put my friend in danger, and now the rest of my friends and Equestria are in danger too! I…" She lowered her head again, "If I'd been more careful, if I kept all that in a safer place, if I hadn't been so worried about taking the throne, this wouldn't have happened…"
Sonic let her sit and cry for several seconds before quietly saying, "You don't know that."
Twilight raised her head a little, "What…?"
Sonic repeated, "You don't know that. You couldn't have known what was happening a world away, what Eggman was plotting any more than you could have known what your own bad guys were doing. I mean, it's not like you're watching them 24/7, right?"
Twilight lowered her hooves as she admitted, "Well, no… but Chrysalis was the only one we didn't know the whereabouts of, and she was the only one who didn't change. And Eggman didn't know about Tirek or Cozy Glow…"
Sonic shook his head, "No, he didn't. He didn't even mention either of them after we beat him. But… well, did anything happen to Discord?"
Twilight replied, "Yes, he's friends mainly with Fluttershy. She reformed him. …Mostly."
Sonic said, "And no one's said anything about him being around here."
Twilight raised an eyebrow, "What does that have to do with this?"
Sonic replied, "I'm not sure why he's not here with Fluttershy if they really are good friends like that. Infinite could have even done something to him, but he clearly didn't convince him to side with Eggman again."
Twilight said, "No, I think he probably learned his lesson about that after Tirek did the same and then betrayed him."
Sonic continued, "And it could even mean Infinite did something bad to him, but I don't think it could be too bad. I mean, if he was as ruthless and edgy as he makes himself look, don't you think he would've dealt with me back then?"
Twilight said, "I guess that's true, but I still don't get it."
Sonic replied, "The point is Eggman didn't just send him to Equestria for a kidnapping. He probably wanted to strengthen his army even more and told Infinite to do some research. Sure, he got the info from you, but he could've found it elsewhere and not been too pleasant about it. And as for Infinite getting to Equestria… You know how Eggman is. He reacts about the same to a remark about his mustache as he does to his plans getting foiled."
Twilight found herself smiling a little as she glanced at Spike and said, "Yes, we actually do know a thing or two about that."
Sonic finished, "The Warp Ring probably made it easier to get there, but Eggman was never going to let the Time Eater thing go. He was going to find a way to get to you girls for helping to stop it and undo his work. Sure, this isn't how I thought we'd meet up again, but look what happened while you were out. Tempest and Grubber came to help you, all your friends came, and when you all came over, the Resistance found you all before something worse happened. It's not the best situation, but it could've been a lot worse."
Twilight sniffled and smiled lightly, "Yeah… You're right."
Sonic stood up and said, "Well, sure. Is it weird when I am or something?" She smiled a bit wider at that.
There was silence for several moments and then Spike asked, "How did you do that?"
Everyone turned to look at him and saw him staring at Sonic with awe. “Do what?” Sonic shrugged.
Spike held his arm out, “Dude, you totally calmed Twilight down! Right at the start of one of her ‘Twilight Zone’ moments! How?! I’ve never been able to calm her down until she’s at the end of one and I’ve been with her my whole life! This is what, your second, third time with her? What did you do?!” Sonic and Twilight looked back at each other with raised eyebrows, neither one getting what he was so worked up about.
Tempest and Grubber were also looking at each other, their gaze being broken when everyone heard a familiar voice say, "Excuse me, Miss Tempest?" The unicorn turned her head to the left and saw Cream standing a short distance away behind her, her arms behind her back.
"Oh… Cream, correct? What is it?" she asked while the others waved to the rabbit.
"Mama told me about what you did on the Death Egg, and she agrees with me that you're a good person," Cream said.
Tempest nodded, "Okay…"
Cream finished, "So I wanted to give you the gift I was making for you."
Tempest tilted her head, "A gift?"
Cream nodded and said, "Come here." Tempest complied, standing up from the bed and going over to the rabbit. Cream motioned for her to bend down and when she did, she brought her arms forward, revealing a crown made from the flowers Sonic had picked for her, surprising Tempest. She placed the crown on her head, the front of it touching Tempest's horn, and smiled at her. She then looked at the others, "I'm making more flower crowns. I'll bring them when they're ready." With that, she turned and made her way out of the infirmary, a skip in her step.
Tempest stood up after she left, still surprised by the gift. Sonic spoke up, “Nice!”
Tempest turned her head to look at him, giving him a slight glare. “Are you making fun of me?” she asked.
Sonic replied, “Nope. Those flowers do look good on you, but also, Cream only makes and gives her flower crowns to folks she really likes.” This made Tempest raise her brow, surprised.
Spike asked, “Really?”
Twilight added, “Has she given you any, Sonic?”
He turned to look at them, “You bet.”
Grubber twiddled his fingers together as he said, “I hope she really likes me too. I’d like to get a flower crown too.”
Tempest had conflicting feelings about this new information, but as she looked up at the flowers with an uncertain expression, she couldn’t resist a small smile appearing on her muzzle. “So, she’s not afraid of me?” she uttered.
She looked down when Sonic said, “No way. She’s braver than some people think. If you’re curious and you get a chance, ask her to tell you about the time she met the guy with the big ax.” His Miles Mobile went off suddenly and he pulled it out. It was Knuckles, so he answered it and said, “Hey Knuckles. What’s going on?”
The echidna’s face appeared on the screen and he asked, “Hey Sonic, you still in the infirmary with Twilight?” Sonic nodded, so he said, “I need you to send Spike down to the meeting room if he’s not on his way already. It’s time for him to take on an assignment.”
Spike overheard this and exclaimed, “What?! But… Twilight just woke up! She’s still getting rehabilitated! She needs someone here with her! That can be my assignment!” While he was talking, Sonic turned his Mobile towards the baby dragon and moved it closer so Knuckles could see him and hear him better.
Knuckles sighed and said, “Listen, Spike, I get you want to help her get back on her hooves, but we made an agreement. And that agreement was you could stay by her side until she regained consciousness. She has, so you can’t just stay in the infirmary all day anymore. It’s time to start pitching in.”
Vector’s face appeared in front of Knuckles’ on the screen, “Yeah, come on, kid! If Charmy can focus enough to help out, then you really have no excuse now! You’ve got five minutes to get over here on your own, and then I’m coming down there to bring you here, even if I have to drag you the whole way!” The call ended and the screen went blank.
There was silence and no movement for several moments aside from Sonic putting his Mobile away. Spike then reached over and grabbed onto Twilight’s flank, saying, “Well, then I’m going to make the most of those five minutes.” Twilight, Sonic, and Grubber gave him sympathetic looks at that.
Grubber had a thought looking at the two and turned to Sonic. “Hey, uh… What about your friend? Do you think he’s…?” he trailed off.
“Nah. I’m not worried about Tails,” Sonic replied.
“Not even a little bit?” Twilight asked.
Sonic hesitated for a moment before answering, “Well, maybe a little, but this is Tails we’re talking about. You’ve seen him; he’s still a kid, but the days of people calling him a sidekick are over. He knows how to take care of himself.” He crossed his arms, “It is weird that he hasn’t tried to contact the Resistance in so long, but I’m sure there’s a good reason for that. After all, if Eggman had gotten him, I’m pretty sure he’d be letting the world know it.”
Tempest asked, “Like when he captured you?”
Sonic nodded, “Exactly. He hasn’t done that, so Tails has to be out there and doing well. As long as that’s the case, I know he’ll figure something out and find his way back.”
Tails let out a groan as he returned to the waking world, the reminder that he'd fallen asleep in a cave hitting him immediately due to feeling the pressure in his side. It was enough of a reason for him to wake up almost all the way and he rolled onto his rear, placing his hands on the rocky ground to steady himself. His eyes opened a couple moments later, his vision a bit blurry. It hadn't been the most comfortable or restful sleep, but he was feeling better.
As he rubbed the last traces of sleep out of his eyes, he recalled the events of the previous day. After meeting the other Sonic and dealing with Chaos, the two headed into the main part of the city. Some of Eggman's robots were patrolling the streets, so they dealt with them swiftly while avoiding being caught. Tails knew the Resistance base was somewhere in the city, but he couldn't recall where, and without the right program on his Miles Electric, he wouldn't be able to open the secret entrance anyway. The two ended up making their way to the outskirts of Green Hill since his Miles Electric finally started functioning normally there. Unfortunately, they had no way to contact anyone in the Resistance and they hadn't seen anyone in the city, and they were both getting exhausted from going through a lot in a short period of time, so they decided to crash in the small cave they found and rest for a while.
As his thoughts caught up with him, Tails turned to look at the other Sonic, who was still asleep. He seemed much more comfortable with the accommodations, his hands behind his head against the cave wall and one leg crossed over the other. "I don't know how he does it, but that's Sonic all right. And right now, the world needs a Sonic to help it," he thought. He let him sleep for another minute before crawling over and giving him a light shake, "Hey Sonic, wake up." The light blue hedgehog cracked open his right eye to look at the fox. "I think we'd better get going. Eggman has patrols in areas like this, so it's not a good idea to stay in a place like this for long," he explained. He scooted back and turned to gather his Miles Electric and tools while Sonic stretched and leapt to his feet.
The two stepped out of the cave a minute later, both breathing in the still fresh air. They were both ready to resume their search, but they soon noticed that the light on the horizon was not where it should've been. Tails turned to Sonic, "We must've been more exhausted than we thought. We were asleep almost a whole day." Sonic gave him a concerned look. Tails caught onto what he was getting at and said, "Don't worry, Sonic, I'm feeling better. My stomach still feels a little funny, but I'm fine otherwise."
Tails set his toolbox down and brought up his Miles Electric, switching it on. After giving it a minute, he set it to perform a scan of the surrounding area, setting a focus on open communication lines. It came back several seconds later with the results. "Hmm… The signal is still clear, but I'm not picking anyone nearby. Let me increase the search area." He tripled the search radius and this time it gave him something interesting. "I've picked up some strange readings. They look similar to the readings I got the day… the last time I…" He shook his head, unable to finish the sentence. He looked back at Sonic, "I think we'd better take a look." The light blue hedgehog nodded and they headed into Green Hill after Tails grabbed his toolbox.
When they reached the top of a hill that offered a good view of the surrounding area, Tails and Sonic came to a stop atop it, the latter looking around in surprise and confusion. Green grass and brown hills that had a checkerboard-like pattern to them, palm trees, tall sunflowers, ancient totem poles… this Green Hill was exactly like the one from his world except for one thing: it seemed to be in the middle of a desert. There didn’t appear to be a drop of water in the otherwise lush landscape. There was only sand where he expected to see water; even the waterfalls had been replaced with sand spilling down.
Tails noticed the way he was looking around and said, “I don’t know how Eggman did this to Green Hill, Sonic. As far as I know, this desert first appeared six months ago, right before the war started. Sonic… er, the Sonic from this world saw it when he passed through a valley here to get to the city.” He glanced around, “It’s weird, though. I would’ve expected the plants around here to have started to suffer with the water gone, yet everything still looks pretty vibrant. Something strange is going on here.” He consulted his Miles Electric for a second and then looked up and pointed, “The readings are coming from that way. The enemy is still in this area, so we’d better watch out.”
They encountered Egg Pawns, Buzz Bombers, and Choppers that were somehow able to move through the sand like it was water despite not appearing to have any modifications as they traveled through Green Hill. They fought their way through them while Tails kept an eye on his Miles Electric to make sure they were still going the right way. After evading a school of Choppers that attacked them while they were going across a bridge, he checked again and saw they weren't far from the signal. "The source of the signal is just up ahead! Be on your guard, Sonic," he said. They proceeded forward, Tails keeping an eye out as they did.
The signal was coming from the other side of a large hill, so they made their way around it. As they were approaching the other side, they saw that part of its base had broken off and was lying on the grass. Tails also noticed someone standing further past it and motioned to Sonic to take cover behind the broken rock as they got closer. Peering out over the top of it, they saw it was Infinite, the masked jackal holding up a magenta icosahedron ruby in three fingers in his right hand. Looking to the right of him, they saw Dr. Eggman hovering above him in his Eggmobile a short distance away and some sort of small black cloud that was leaving a trail behind it as it circled above the two.
Their attention was initially drawn to the cloud as it was the one thing neither one of them had seen before, but they turned to look at Infinite when he crushed the gem in his hand and then said, "And with that, the disposal of the Phantom Ruby prototypes is complete."
Eggman replied, "It was a defective model. It could only be activated once by someone it formed a mind connection to."
Infinite huffed, "Mind has nothing to do with it. Only a being with my strength of will could ever hope to activate it."
Eggman waved a hand, "It doesn't matter now. All the missing prototypes have been found and I've had the lab in Mystic Jungle locked down. By the time the Resistance manages to get in, any data they could get will be either fragmented or wiped completely." He then raised an eyebrow, "That reminds me, did you encounter Sonic there after he escaped?"
Infinite answered, "Yes. But even with help, he was no match for me. I sent them all running; there is no need for concern."
Eggman glared, "Excuse me? First of all, you let that hedgehog live! Second, whether he actually ran from you or not is a minor point when he ran straight to Spiral Hill Village afterwards and helped them defeat Tirek, suggesting that on your own, you didn't beat him anywhere near as soundly as the first time! I consider that a great cause for concern!"
Infinite replied, "I suppose you would think that. After all, he has beaten you numerous times. Perhaps you unknowingly give him too much credit. Meanwhile, I have defeated him in both of our encounters." Eggman continued to glare at him, though his brow rose a bit.
Behind their cover, Sonic looked at Tails as the fox murmured, “Phantom Ruby prototypes? Mystic Jungle lab? Tirek? And Sonic… is alive?” He looked back at the villain gathering a moment later and his eyes focused on the cloud again, this time because it had stopped moving. He tapped Tails’ arm and the fox followed his gaze. As they looked at the cloud, they saw it dissipate a little, revealing a pair of red eyes with green scleras and part of a muzzle. They saw the left eye turn to the left, looking in their direction. They quickly ducked, managing to get down before both eyes turned to look directly at them.
Infinite noticed what Cozy Glow was doing and turned to look, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. “What is it?” Eggman asked.
He turned back and said, “Nothing. This Flowey Glint must be seeing things. It may need to be fixed.”
Eggman replied, “Well, as long as she can fight the way she’s supposed to, we can wait to do that.”
Infinite nodded, “Very well. As for this new plan of yours… You’re ready to move forward with it?”
Eggman replied, “Of course! When it’s complete, the Resistance will be wiped out and the rest of the world will be reduced to ashes. And from those ashes, a glorious new empire will rise!”
As he started to rise off the ground, Infinite said, “The only potential survivors will be fools who think they can stand against the Phantom Ruby’s power. All will either be erased or submit.” Eggman nodded in confirmation. “I will begin preparations,” he said before flying off, leaving him and Cozy Glow alone.
Back behind cover, Tails started, "There's a lot more going on here than we thought. I think we'd better…" He didn't finish because Sonic had already made the decision to confront the problem directly.
As he leapt out, Eggman saw him almost immediately and exclaimed, "What?! Sonic?!" He took a closer look as the hedgehog stood up and glared at him. "No, you're not the one. You must be that other Sonic that briefly showed up before," he mused. He noticed Sonic running towards him and raised his right hand and snapped his fingers while saying, "Please."
At this, Cozy Glow shot down, intercepting Sonic as he was jumping up to attack Eggman. He was knocked back onto his rear on the grass while Cozy Glow’s body fully materialized before she reached the ground, the hedgehog looking up at the pink alicorn standing in front of him a moment later. Tails left his things behind the debris and leapt out, asking, “Is that… Sombra?!”
Eggman looked up at the fox and said, “Tails? Well, isn’t this a nice reunion. Too bad I’ve got more important things to do right now, so I must be off. And if either of you think of following me, Salty Glimmer here will make you think twice about that!”
While he was talking, Tails ran over to Sonic and helped him up. After he finished, Tails looked at Eggman with a raised eyebrow and asked, “Wait, I thought that guy said her name was Flowey Glint? But it’s actually ‘Salty Glimmer’?
Eggman stuttered, “Yes- er, no! No, it’s not! It’s actually…” He thought for a moment before saying, “Whatever! Rosie Soles will be your doom!”
Tails deadpanned, “Neither one of you knows her name? Why is she okay with that?”
Eggman yelled, “ENOUGH! This is insolence! Fizzy- no, Sombra Shimmer, get rid of them!” With that, he turned and shot away, leaving the two with Cozy Glow.
Tails and Sonic looked up at Cozy Glow as she spread her wings and flew up a little bit, her body past her wings dissipating and forming a black cloud behind her. Her horn began to glow red and she fired a beam down at them moments later that they leapt back to avoid. She kept the beam going, however, and swung her head up a moment later. They jumped to the sides to avoid it, the beam leaving a black line down the grass, the grass near it beginning to wilt as well. She snarled, but she had more options available.
Tails looked at Sonic and the hedgehog gestured with his head past Cozy Glow. Tails got what he was saying and said, "You're right, Sonic. We can't let Eggman get away!" They both looked at Cozy Glow and saw her preparing to divebomb them. She swooped down and Sonic curled up into a ball and rolled to go under her right wing and the cloud while Tails spun his tails around and flew to the side to avoid her. They then regrouped and hurried after Eggman while Cozy Glow stopped and turned to glare at them while the rest of her body became part of the cloud.
Eggman looked down at his Eggmobile's console when it started beeping and saw that he was being followed. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Sonic and Tails coming up behind him, having enough time to utter "What?!" before Sonic caught up and jumped up to hit him. Eggman was sent spinning from the hit, going end over end once before his Eggmobile righted itself. He shook his head and then glared, turning around to face them while still moving away as he said, "So you want to play like that? Well, fine! I can run and fight you two at the same time!"
As he was priming his missile systems, he noticed something behind the two. They noticed it as well due to a sudden sense of dread coming over them. They looked back and saw Cozy Glow further behind them, still in her cloud form; only her eyes and horn were visible. She started by launching another sweeping magic beam at them, but it seemed that was just to get them to separate since Tails flew up to get away from it. Her horn began sparking afterwards and she fired a lightning bolt that flew past Sonic. Upon hitting the grass, it caused a black chunk of crystal the size of a landscape boulder to appear.
Sonic was able to jump over it easily, but she continued to fire bolts in front of him, creating more crystal chunks in his path. They wouldn’t have been too hard to avoid on their own, but Eggman began firing missiles at him as well. Sometimes the missiles hit the chunks before Sonic could get near them, but their timing was good otherwise and he had to stay alert to avoid their attacks.
After dodging a missile from Eggman, Sonic tripped over a crystal chunk that Cozy Glow created right in front of him. He fell face first and slid a short distance before stopping. "Yes!" Eggman said at this, pumping his fist. He then noticed Cozy Glow speeding up, her cloud almost like a black abyss looking to swallow the hedgehog up. Tails swooped in before she could reach him and grabbed him off the ground, though, holding onto his hand tightly. Eggman was a little disappointed by this, but he still seemed impressed by Cozy Glow. "Look at that power! It goes beyond my expectations!" he exclaimed.
Tails heard him as he was flying closer and said, "That just shows you don't know anything about this new Sombra! Or you miscalculated; either way, you're not doing what you should be doing, Eggman."
Eggman retorted, "Ha! To exceed expectations is what every great scientist aspires to, the mark of a true genius! Not that a mundane, play-it-safe fox mechanic like you could hope to understand." Tails retaliated by swinging and letting go of Sonic, the hedgehog curling into a ball as he flew. Eggman grunted when he hit the front of his Eggmobile and commented afterwards, "No need to get snotty about it, Tails."
Sonic resumed running as soon as his feet hit the ground, so Tails flew down and switched to spinning his tails behind him to follow and stay close to him. They both heard a low growling behind them and looked back to see Cozy Glow sink into the ground. They looked at each other, wondering what she was doing. They found out about a minute later after they were able to catch up to and attack Eggman when, after landing, they got a scare when her cloud suddenly shot up to the left of the hill, the top of it towering over them while she stood in the center of it on a black crystal. She let out a distorted roar before large black tendrils began to emerge from the cloud that aimed for them.
Tails got nervous at the sight of the tendrils and flew up, making quick movements around to avoid them, but Sonic remained calm and kept going after Eggman while jumping and rolling to avoid getting grabbed. Some of them attacked by slamming against the ground as well. One slammed a little too far ahead of Sonic and he managed to grab onto the end of it as it pulled back. It swung around trying to shake him off, but he held on until it swung back the way he wanted, at which point he let go and went flying at Cozy Glow, hitting her and causing her to take a step back. The tendrils retreated back into the cloud at this as well.
Tails flew over to grab his hand as he bounced back, returning to the path. Cozy Glow recovered a moment later and spread her wings, flying after them. She got between them and Eggman, preventing them from attacking him. Tails looked down at Sonic and he gave him a nod. Tails nodded back and he helped him attack Cozy Glow, swinging him forward so he could jump at her and catching him when he came back. They did this several times before she was knocked off course and she went into a free fall off to the side of the hill.
Sonic resumed running after she fell out of sight. Tails flew close behind him as Eggman said, "You have a lot of nerve for a pint-size Sonic that doesn’t belong here. Still, that Spotty Cow is far from finished."
Tails countered, "That sounds like a lie. You can't even remember her name; how would you know what she's capable of?"
Eggman replied, "You won't have to wait long to find out." Sure enough, Cozy Glow flew back up a couple of seconds later, but instead of moving to intercept Sonic and Tails again, she flew ahead of Eggman for several seconds before stopping and turning to look back. Eggman grinned at this and looked back at the two, saying, “Well, that’s that! I’ll be seeing you!” He then turned his Eggmobile around and went full throttle, shooting away from them. He flew underneath Cozy Glow after a few seconds and she used her magic to make a giant crystal formation sprout from the ground beneath her. It finished growing a second later and she landed on one of the rises in the center afterwards, looking at the two.
Although they kept moving forward, Sonic and Tails weren’t sure what they were going to do about this obstacle. It looked to be quite sturdy, but as they shared a look, they both knew they had to keep going if they were going to catch Eggman and put an end to the war. So, steeling their nerves, they went to full speed and prepared themselves to give it their all. As they approached the crystal structure, Tails flew slightly ahead of Sonic and he jumped up to grab his hand. Tails then closed his other hand around Sonic’s and tilted a little to the side before he began to spin around, the two soon becoming a spinning blur. Cozy Glow remained where she was as they shot towards her, though a small gasp did escape her lips.
There was a loud crashing and shattering sound and Eggman turned to look back over his shoulder. The crystal structure had shattered and something was flying towards him, and as it got closer, he realized it was Cozy Glow. He also realized she was coming straight at him, the wind resistance from her wings being open not doing much to slow her down. Eggman tried to move out of her path, but he was too late to react. Cozy Glow crashed into him and bounced off, landing hard on the ground a second later and rolling on her side for several moments before stopping while Eggman's Eggmobile hit the ground and slid for a few seconds before stopping, both of them dazed.
Sonic and Tails high-fived each other and ran straight for Eggman. Before they could reach him, though, Cozy Glow recovered and vanished into a black cloud, reappearing directly in front of Eggman on her hooves, forcing them to skid to a stop. She stood battle-ready, glaring at them with her teeth bared.
They broke their gaze with her when Eggman laughed and said, "I have to admit I'm surprised, Tails. I didn't think you two would be able to get past that. Not bad."
Tails replied, "You shouldn't have come out, Eggman. We're ending this here!" While he was talking, Eggman pushed himself off of his back and righted himself.
Once he was upright, Eggman gave a short laugh and said, "Isn't that cute? Fighting like you have a chance, expecting to end it all here… It's almost a shame this is the last time we get to do this little dance."
Tails asked, "What are you talking about?"
Eggman replied, "I see no harm in sharing this with you." He raised his right hand and held up three fingers, "In three days, my preparations will be complete, and when my plan is unleashed, the Resistance will cease to exist!"
Sonic and Tails looked at each other for a moment before looking back at him, the latter asking, "Three days? What plan? And how did she get here?"
Eggman answered, "If I told you, it wouldn't be much of a mystery." He started messing with his control panel to get his Eggmobile started again, "I'll leave you to stew over that. You know what they say: the anticipation of the end is worse than the end itself." His Eggmobile fired up and it was hovering above the ground a moment later, "Although in this case, that may not be true. At any rate, I bid you adieu, my friends. I look forward to seeing you meet your end from the sidelines!"
They got ready to attack him, but stopped when Cozy Glow's body faded from view, leaving only her eyes and part of her muzzle visible. She then flew around Eggman once, her black streak circling around him, and then went behind him before flying up over him and shooting down into the ground. A black veil rose up behind Eggman and came down over him, causing him to vanish from view. It then followed Cozy Glow into the ground, a black spot remaining on the ground for several seconds before it began to fade, the grass beneath appearing to be unharmed.
Tails and Sonic stared at the where the spot had been. "Three days…" Tails murmured. Sonic looked over at him while he was thinking. He then looked at the hedgehog and said, "Eggman said the Resistance has been making progress in the Mystic Jungle with Sonic's help. We need to tell them about this. If we go there, we might be able to get in touch with them." Sonic nodded in agreement and waited while Tails went back to get his belongings. Their next stop was the lab in the Mystic Jungle.
Well, this is a bit unusual, isn't it? So soon after the previous chapter. Thought about making it a surprise posting on the first, but it wasn't ready anyway so it didn't happen. Don't count on this happening again any time soon.
Notes.
Yes, we're finally jumping back to see how things are going in Equestria. Expect to see the Young Six's side of the story in the coming chapters.
Cream making flower crowns is a nod to "Sonic X".
Sonic's mention of "the guy with the big ax" is a reference to the interaction between Cream and Death Adder in "Sega Heroes", which is helpfully fan-animated below.
The fight with Eggman and Sombra Glow (credit to sonicandmario826 for the nickname) is technically unresolved, which is why she didn't disappear at the end of it. They could've kept going, but Eggman called it off.
I think that's about it. See you later, everybody!
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Great chapter.
Though I'm surprised that he didn't ask how she got wings and became a princess
11200477
War first, questions later.
I gotta say, that running gag of Eggman and Infinite constantly making a different name for Cozy Glow because they don’t know her real name made me chuckle a bit.
Please tell me you won’t make this story as short as Sonic Forces was right?
11200545
Fair enough.
11200477
Considering he wasn't surprised by her wings when he saw her in the infirmary before he went to fight Infinite, one of the ponies probably mentioned she was a princess when they were getting him up to speed (Pinkie most likely).
11200687
True enough, then again nothing surprises Sonic nowadays.
11200557
At this point, this story's probably already longer than the game was.
In all seriousness, though, it is a ways away from completion. There's the Young Six discovering what's going on in Equestria, a few new things planned, expansions on other things, a longer final battle... I don't think it'll be over soon.
Also, no respect for Cozy Glow.
Depending on what Sonic Frontiers is about, will you regret not basing the sequel on that game?
11200940
Can always work it in if I like it.
Awesome chapter! I got to admit, I was expecting to see the egg dragoon but this new fight got me off guard, i love the details you put in when the battle was going out! Can’t wait for the next chapter!
11201067
I was considering keeping the Egg Dragoon here, but I wanted to show what Sombra Glow could do and I thought having the Egg Dragoon present would make it pointless to have her there too.
Capper? Not sure who else have those eyes.
Heh, classic.
We finally get to see Twilight finally getting to interact with everyone again and see Sonic is still pretty good at talking her down.
Man, Eggman and Infinite couldn’t even remember Cozy’s name. That’s gotta hurt a little. Your absolutely welcome for that name!!!
It was a pretty nice battle between Cozy and the 2. Kind of funny how what many people consider the weakest villain in power outlasted heavy hitters like Tirek and Chrysalis.
I’m definitely thinking our heroes are going to have to save Equestria once they finish saving Sonic’s world.
This was a nice surprise today and a good chapter overall!!!
Hope everyone enjoys the Sonic 2 movie!!!
11201298
Yeah. Hope the real Cozy Glow never finds out neither one of them had any idea why she was ever considered a villain and thus had no respect for her.
11201395
Which is funny because she might be the most important member of the evil trio in season 9. She was the one who ultimately got Tirek and Chrysalis to work together and I think she should have been the one to form the trio in the first place.
You know, you still haven't answered one of my questions. When you namedropped the Battle Bird Armada in that one chapter, I went looking and learned about the Egg Bosses in the Archie Comics. So I asked if we would see more of them in the future.
11201777
I suppose I didn't. Well, I will say there won't be many showing up here. Perhaps in the future...
11202114
That’s all I needed to hear.
Looks like Sundowner from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was right; kids are cruel!