Way Past Equestria

by Onomonopia

Down A God

"...and then I brought us back here, where I promptly fell over," Discord finished.

"Oh you poor, brave hero," Fluttershy said. She gently placed her hoof on Discord's head, which was resting on her lap. "You used up your power to save our friends. That was very noble."

"I'd rather have my power than be noble, but what can you do?" Discord asked with a shrug.

"Sonic, did you know about the Chaos Force?" Tails asked.

"Maybe? I think I did once, but now it's all...shaky," Sonic muttered.

"I'm glad to see that all of you are alright, but we can't rest on our laurels for long. If what Discord said is true, the breaking of the Chaos Force is the reason for everything," Sally reminded the group. "And I'm willing to bet my kingdom that the crack in the force came about when Eggman messed with the Chaos Emeralds again. And probably when Sombra tried to rewrite your reality. The combined chaos at once might have been too much for the force."

"That's a possibility, but it would take a lot of chaos power to do that," Discord added.

"Sally girl, did ya and the others manage to get that emerald?" Bunnie asked. Sally nodded and pulled out the emerald. "Does anything seem the matter with it? Like it ain't working right or something like that?"

"Um, I think it's still working right," Sally muttered. She shook it a few times before shrugging her shoulders. "Sorry, I can't really tell."

"Give," Discord said as he extended a hand. Sally tossed the emerald to him and he clutched it tight, closing his eyes for a moment. "You guys got lucky. This bad boy still holds all of its power. Seems that it only draws from the force when it needs to recharge. Other than that, it's good."

"For now, but if it needs to recharge and the force is damaged, then we will, at best, get one use out of it," Twilight pointed out.

"Good point. Make the one use count then."

"We also managed to find your element, cousin!" Pinkie added on. She pulled out the element and tossed it to Applejack, who caught it with a smile. "Only had to fight a giant snake and some meanies, but other than that it was a piece of cake."

"Meanies? What meanies?" Rotor asked.

"Robo-Chrysalis, a giant mecha wolf, some guys that I didn't know and a red...uh..."

"Knuckles. They have Knuckles under their control," Sonic finished for her.

"That confirms my suspicion," Sally said. "When we went after the emerald, we ran across two of the Deadly Six, Metal Sonic, one of Twilight's foes...and a mind controlled Shadow."

"How many of our friends do they have?" Tails asked.

"At this point it would best to assume most of our villains and friends have been taken captive," Rarity stated. "It is how Sombra operates. Turn those we love against us."

"Spike..." Twilight whispered.

"Hey, we'll get them back. This isn't the first time Egghead has tried to use our friends against us...and most likely it won't be the last," Sonic said with a smile. "That's a promise."

"A promise? Ah feel so much better now," Applejack snorted. Sonic shrugged in response.

"Sally," Rotor whispered. Sally fell back and leaned an ear close. "If our friends and villains are being controlled by Sombra's dark magic, then it stands to reason, based on what we saw, their friends and villains..."

"Yes, they have all been roboticized," Sally finished. She then looked at the faces of the ponies and shook her head. "Not now. We'll tell them later, but right now finding the emeralds and the elements are our biggest priority. We can't have anything distract from that."

Rotor gave a look that told Sally that he didn't agree, but then he nodded his head and stepped back.

"Seeing as we have procured both an element and ze emerald, what shall we be doing next?" Antoine asked the group.

"Take a day." All eyes turned towards Celestia and Luna. "This is going to be a long and difficult battle, against both enemy and friend. So now, while we have the chance, take some time to relax and recover. We shall search for the next element and when Discord is feeling up to it, the next emerald. But enjoy this time while you can, because I am certain our foes will not give us many of these days."

"A little R and R, huh? Sounds like a plan," Sonic agreed. "Think I'll take a trip around Equestria, see what's hot and what's not. Wanna race me, Rainbow?"

Sonic glanced over at the mare as he said this, but to his surprise, Rainbow Dash seemed lost in thought. She stayed there for a long moment, before glancing over at Sonic and smirking. "Sure, I'll go with you. Show you around and all that."

"Great, sounds like a plan."

"Ya two want to come on down to mah farm?" Applejack asked Antoine and Bunnie. "Ah know that mah family would love to meet ya and Bunnie can see mah stash of hats."

"Ah would love to! Would that be alright, Sugar-Twan?" Bunnie asked.

"Anything for you, ma cherie. But I would like to check out Rarity's boutique eventually," Antoine added.

"And I would love to have the two of you. It be nice to talk with someponies who understand culture," Rarity replied.

"Sally, would you, Tails and Rotor mind coming with me to my other castle?" Twilight asked. "I know you might want to rest, but I would still like to go over a couple things."

"Sure, I can do that," Sally said. She glanced at Rotor and Tails, who both nodded before Tails turned his attention to Pinkie.

"But once that's done, I want to go to Pinkie's place! She said she works in a sweet shop and I want to try everything!"

"Everything? My little friend, you know not for what you ask," Pinkie replied with a devious smile. "But I will grant you your desire! Be warned, for when you visit my shop, you will have sweets the likes of which you have never had before!"

Pinkie then...blinked out of existence, leaving the group to stare at where she had been.

"And I thought I was fast," Sonic muttered.

"Don't compare yourself with Pinkie. It'll just make you sad," Rainbow said, patting him on the shoulder.

"What about you, Fluttershy? What are you going to do?" Celestia asked.

"I'm going to stay here with Discord. I can't just leave him like this. He looks so weak and pitiful," Fluttershy said. She looked down at Discord who was looking up at her with big, puppy dog eyes. "Is that alright with you, Celestia?"

"Don't ask me, it's not my castle anymore," Celestia teased. Fluttershy then glanced over at Twilight.

"It's fine with me, Fluttershy. Just keep Discord out of my room," Twilight replied.

"Promise."

"Hear that, Discord? Behave yourself," Twilight warned. "And with you in such a weakened state, I will throw you in the dungeon if you try anything."

"Hmph, please, no dungeon has ever held me," Discord muttered.

"Have a good day, heroes. Rest well. And be ready for what is to come," Luna warned.

Twilight's horn glowed and she teleported herself and the heroes she had asked to come with her. Antoine, Bunnie and Applejack stood together, allowing Celestia to teleport them to Applejack's farm. Luna did the same for Rarity, before the two sisters glanced at each other.

"So what now, sister? Do we immediately start looking for the elements?" Celestia asked.

"We could. But we can just as easily search for them from the beach as we could here," Luna stated.

"I like that idea, sister." Celestia then turned to look at Fluttershy. "Is there anything or anywhere you will require us to send you before we head out, Fluttershy?"

"No, I think I'm good for now," she replied. Celestia nodded, Luna summoned the leis and the two were gone a moment later. Fluttershy then looked down at Discord, who was half asleep. "Do you think you can get yourself into a bed or will I have to carry you?"

"If it was anypony else offering, I would force them to carry me, but since it's you..." With a grunt Discord got to his feet and followed Fluttershy through the castle, holding onto her wing so she could guide him. "You doing alright? You didn't get hurt fighting, did you?"

"No, Tails had me go for the element while they dealt with the bad guys," Fluttershy replied. "I was really happy to get to see the giant python, though! I didn't know they could get that large! And I have no idea what it could possible eat to maintain that size, since the only thing roughly around it's size was the mecha wolf and I don't think it will be..."

Discord drifted off as Fluttershy talked. He didn't like the fact that Sombra and Eggman had been able to follow him. The Chaos Force should only have been accessible to a being that was very proficient in chaos. Was he simply that weak...or were the two of them that good?

'Whatever the reason,' Discord thought as he reached his room. 'It doesn't bode well for us.'

||--O O--||

"How rude to just throw us out like that," Robotnik sniffed. The two had found themselves back in their base, perfectly unharmed except for the fact that Robotnik had found a kick me sign on his back and Sombra has a muzzle on.

"Rude, yes, but we scored a win today. We've shaken Discord's confidence," Sombra replied now that his muzzle was off. "That fool is always so smug because of the power he wields, but not only is he losing his power, but he now knows he can't even return to the source to refuel because we will be there."

"Is he really that powerful? He didn't seem that impressive to me."

"That is because you have only seen him in this weakened state. He's unbelievably powerful and coming from me, that means something," Sombra replied. "But that crack in the force...do you believe we are the cause of it?"

"So what if we are? If the force is weak enough to be damaged by something as small as multiverse reality warping, then it deserves to be broken," Robotnik replied.

"Can't argue with your logic," Sombra agreed. Portals opened up next to the geniuses and they glanced over to see that their forces were returning. "About time you all got back. What have you to report?"

"Sally has the Chaos Emerald and Sonic has retrieved the Element. Both teams failed," Metal Sonic reported.

"I hope that you all at least tried to put up a fight?" Robotnik snarled.

"I always do. Also, this happened." Metal Sonic stepped aside to allow Shadow and Knuckles to drag Zavok forward, who was groaning weakly and covered head to toe in bruises. "Twilight managed to free him from your control. Luckily, I knocked him out and had Shadow keep knocking him out until we got back here. If he tries anything, Shadow is under instructions to teleport a piece of glass into his brain."

"You think...you will win?" Zavok spat out. "Heh, no, this is no different from all your other petty attempts, doctor. You gather allies, scheme plans and build your machines, but it won't matter. You will fail all the same. The heroes will gather their weapons and they will defeat you as they always do. If I...we...couldn't beat them...neither will you."

"Oh, poor Zavok, you've been hit so many times that you're delusional," Robotnik said, patting Zavok on the shoulder. "You really have no idea what we're planning, do you? What do you think, Sombra? Should we tell him our plans before we send him back under your control?"

"...no. Why waste our breath on one who wouldn't understand?" Sombra asked as his horn began to glow. "There is only that we need to say to somepony like him is..."

"Obey."

Author's Note:

"Do you feel bad about this, Luna?"

"What's that?"

"Sitting on a beach, searching for the elements with magic and staying back while the others risk their lives fighting the bad guys."

"Not in the slightest. We would just be in the way."

"We wouldn't..."

"We would. It's what we do. So let the heroes do what they do best. We'll support them as best we can. Now sit back and enjoy the view."

"Yes, I suppose it is a lovely sea...you're not looking at the sea, are you? You're looking at the stallions."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Comments

[MLPMekarm]

saucy luna. and kinky to.

[badninja]

Glad to see how genre savvy everyone is being. Now comes the question of who will be the first freed and how will several of their enemies react once freed as well.