> Sonic's Freedom Fighters
>  by Amereep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Entering Worlds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the Everfree Forest, a quick blur can be seen as a trail of dust leaves a path behind it.  The image that was leading the trail was that of a blue hedgehog, giving off a determined look on his face.  "How much farther is this place, Nichole?" he asked a compact computer he was carrying.

[We are almost there, Sonic] the device replied back.  Two months have past since Robotnik's Doomsday project failed, taking along Robotnik to who knows where.  With the evil ruler gone, his second in command, Snively, took over running Robotropolis.  Snively does have a lot of power, but unlike his predecessor, he has trouble at expanding his empire.  He usually just kicks back and enjoys having so much power.  As such, the Freedom Fighters have little to no problem at taking back their once beautiful land from Snively.  One day, Sally uncovered information about an ancient civilization within Nicole's files.  It said that the culture was highly advanced in the field of magic, but the society vanished a long time ago.  She asked Sonic to investigate the lost empire for any clues at using magic to un-roboticizing their friends and family.  He was given Nichole to help him find the location of the empire and to give him some knowledge; Sonic may be fast, but it doesn't mean he gives things much thought.  The blue speed demon also took with him three power rings, these rings were a trump card made only for him to use during moments where he may need some extra speed or strength.  Sonic has now been on search for five days now, and Nichole finally states [We have reached the destination.]

The hedgehog slides to a halt to see an open field of grass with nothing but small bugs and some flowers blowing in the wind.  Sonic was scratching his head "Yo Nichole, what gives?  There's nothing here that looks anything remotely civilian.  Are you sure this is the place?"

[I am positive that this is the place] the computer replied.

Sonic just gave a sigh and begins running through the meadow for any ancient architect he could find.





Within the city of Robotropolis, Snively is working an observation post and glances down to the testing chamber.  Ancient stone walls with hieroglyphics etched into them.  Snively pushes a button and a wall in the testing chamber rises to reveal a swirling vortex known as 'The Void'.  Within mere seconds, a figure can be seen flying out of the Void and landing on the floor.  Snively lowers the wall over the Void and prepares for his guest.  A door open inside the observation post and a misshaped creature approaches Snively.  The creature had ears like a bat, a horn of a rhino, a claw like a lobster, and was dragging a long tail like a snake's behind him.  He was wearing a purple outfit with gray gloves and a black cape.  He starred at Snively while he stroked his long beard "I take it that you have prepared finishing your end of the bargain" he said in a raspy voice.

"Yes Naugus" Snively said, handing over a pill "This should help protect you from the Void's effect.  Its temporary and one of a kind, but it's the best I could do."  Naugus takes the pill and swallows it.  "I assume you enjoyed your time with the big round guy I sent you."

"The last time I left him, I turned him into an anteater" Snively snickered at the remark.  "He should be fine for a while, I left him with plenty of fire ants" Naugus started wheezing laughter from his own actions.

Ixis Naugus is a powerful wizard that has the power to transform himself or other's shape and appearance to a curtain limit.  Naugus also has control over the four elements as well; fire, earth, wind, and water.  His element controlling was the result of an incident caused by his greed for power.  Speaking about greed, his desire for power has never faded from his mind and will stop at nothing to increase his magic, even at the cost of his own life.  Naugus' greed eventually lead him to the Void, which made him a slave inside the vortex.  Spending years in the Void has given him a side effect where leaving would cause him to turn to crystal.  Now thanks to Snevily's medicine, the effect has been pushed back for the time being.

"Now with you here, we can take down those pesky Freedom Fighters once and for all.  With them out of the way, nothing can stop us from taking over the entire world" Snively proclaimed triumphantly.

Naugus didn't show much enthusiasm in conquering the world, because their was something stopping him.  He pat his belly, feeling the pill dissolving in his stomach, and gazed at Snively with a sly grin "Tell me Snively, are you a gambling man?"

"What do you have in mind?" Snively asked.

"What if I told you that I could extend my visit permanently?  While I was in the Void, all I had was the knowledge I've learned from the books I've read long ago and after much pondering, I believe I've found out what happened to a magical race that could be quite helpful at keeping the Void's effect in check."  Naugus grit his teeth, giving the most wicked of smiles "So tell me; do you want me to help you now or later?"





*Woosh Woosh Woosh*

Sonic was laying on the grass with one hand holding his head up and the other hand spinning a power ring on his finger.  "I've been searching for hours and I still haven't found anything.  Did you pick up anything unusual, Nichole?"

[Afraid not] Nichole replied.

*Woosh Woosh Woosh*



"What in the world is that thing?"

"It looks like a giant ring."

"I can see that, but why is it spinning in the air?"

*Woosh Woosh Woosh*



"What am I going to tell Sal when I get back?  She's counting on me at finding something" Sonic said to Nichole in hopes for an answer.

[The civilization did vanish so suddenly, they must have taken any connection that would lead to them as well. That is the only thing we can tell her] Nichole responded.

*Woosh Woosh Woosh*



"Should we do something?"

"Maybe we should leave it alone?"

"Forget that!  I know just the pony that could figure out what it is."

*Snatch*



Without notice, the ring Sonic was spinning suddenly started dashing away through the air.  "WAH?!?!?!  HEY, GET BACK HERE!" Sonic yelled at the ring and quickly ran after it.  The ring was flying ahead of him at a constant speed to his.  The ring practically mocks in front of him by shimmering.

*Shing*



"Hey Twilight, I found this strange ring outside"

"Would it ever kill you to use the front door like everypony else?  *sigh* What's so strange about it?"

"Well, you see this ring was spi- WOAH!"

*grip*



The ring made a sudden stop and Sonic wasted no time at grabbing it.  As he snatch it, he felt like it was caught on something.  His suspicions were correct as the ring pulled back from Sonic.  "Oh no you don't" the hedgehog pulled the ring back.

*grip*



"Your not going anywhere!"

"Rainbow Dash, what's wrong?"

"It... it feels like someponies pulling it on the other end?"

*grip*



"It... it feels like somebodies pulling it on the other end?" Sonic wondered at what was giving his ring such a fuss.  "I didn't really wanna use this... but..." he tightened his grip and began to activate the ring's power.  It began to glow and a whirling sound could be heard emanating from it.

*WHIRL*

And in a quick flash, a pair of hands appeared on the ring across from Sonic.  He traced up the hands to find it belonging to a cyan pony, at least, it looked like a pony.  He could identify that it was feminine but what took him back was that she had wings; all the ponies he knew never had this feature.  She was hovering in the air, giving a shocking expression that Sonic quickly imitated as well.  He scanned slowly around himself and found that he was inside of a hollow tree. The room was decorated like a library, judging by all of the books on the selves, and had another pony there with purple fur and a horn on her head.  She too was also giving the same expression as the ring holder's were.  The cyan colored pony lightened her grip on the ring until it fell back towards Sonic.

The blue hedgehog looks at the two "Who are you guys?"
> Introductions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Naugus suddenly bursts from a teleportation spell and found himself high in the mountains.  He knew Snively couldn't handle things on world conquering on his own and would ultimately agree to this little side-quest.  Naugus searches the location and finds a large flat plain.  "Now if I know my castles, this area would be the throne room."  He wandered towards it and yelled out loud "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, LET ME IN, ELSE I'LL FORCE MYSELF IN!"  No one answered back "I KNOW THE TRICKS YOU'RE PULLING.  YOU AND I MAY BE IN DIFFERENT REALITIES, BUT WE SHARE THE SAME PLAIN!"  Naugus extends his hand and tightens his grip at the air.  His hand starts shacking and slowly rises up.  The land around him starts shivering and soon increases to shaking waves of tremors.  The shifting ground eventually shakes a throne room around Naugus, finding ponies scattered on the floor caused by the quake.  Naugus slowly stops the movement of the earth, looks around the room and finds the leader holding onto her chair.  She was a mature mare with a pure white fur coat, and a messed up quad-colored mane.

She straightens herself up to look formal before looking at Naugus, in an authority state.   "Were you the one that just caused that tremor?"

"Yes, it was necessary to get a hold of you ponies" he said walking to her.

The guards pointed their spears at Naugus "You will address Princess Celestia properly, warlock!"

"Stand down!" Celestia ordered.  This warlock would seem to cause trouble if things went out of hand, Celestia knew this from the power he just used.  "What do you need of us?"

The guards stepped back and Naugus bowed seeing things going his way "Thank you princess.  My name is Naugus and I have come in search for your magic.  I am in desperate need for it to stop an illness from spreading within my body.  Soon I will be fully crystallized and I need a spell to stop it.  I've learned that ponies have mastered a wide variety of spells, and I have come in search for one."

Celestia sat back in her chair and thought about the request, "Giving a spell to cure an illness is no problem..., but I can't shake the feeling that he has more planned then what he's telling."  Celestia has learned before about never judging a book by its cover, so she allows this with reason.  "Very well Naugus, I'll get a guard to go search for a cure in the library" she looks up to the throne room to call a guard from outside to search, she could've sworn she saw a glint of Brilliant Persian Blue from the door.

"If it's all the same to you princess" Naugus stopped her half way "I would very much like to view the library myself."

This was the reason she didn't want "I'm sorry Naugus, but our magic is strictly confidential.  I don't want any foreign eyes to learn some of our magic."

"I won't learn any of your magic, honest" Naugus said smiling with a face that could make a foal cry.

"Now I know he has something more in mind" Celestia certified.  "Is it possible that your looking for another cure?" Naugus speculated about her question, glaring at her "I've caught on that your a unique creature that possesses many different physical appearances.  You have long rodent ears, a mammal horn on your head and a coruscation claw for an arm.  If I'm right, your an end result of a fused experiment, your a chimera."

Naugus glanced at the ground and thought about it, he never took consideration on his past and now that he was told about this, it seemed true.  He couldn't remember having a childhood or even how he got started into working with magic.

Celestia stares at Naugus and gives him a warm motherly smile "If you want, I can also ask for a spell to separate you back into your original form."

Naugus looks at her, giving shocked sympathetic eyes.  Slowly, those eyes start to form an enraged glare at the caring princess.  "NEVER!" Naugus yelled at the top of his lungs "Separating myself?  You take me for a fool?  Who would choose to weaken their selves.  I need my power!  My power is everything!  It's used to tame the weak and is needed to put fear into their souls, and you are asking me to become like one of them?  I need power!  The more I have, THE MORE PEOPLE WILL FEAR ME!!!!"

Celestia now knew his intentions, "He's drunk on power and is trying to learn our magic to increase his strength."  Celestia stands up and her horn lightens up "You have shown the greed for control that resides in your heart.  You will not obtain any help from us and have overstayed your welcome here.  Leave now, and don't return."

Naugus grits his teeth, cursing himself for the outburst he just made.   "I may have slipped up there, but I have waited to long for a chance like this to suddenly slip by!"

Naugus turns around and the guards point their spears at him once again. "You will follow us outside" one of them announced.

Naugus back-slaps the air and creates a strong gust of wind to blow them away, slamming them into the wall.  A magical barrier is suddenly formed around him, enclosed into a ball.  Turning back, he sees Celestia casting the spell "Your elemental magic won't help you now" she said sternly.

"Your spells may be powerful, but I bet there are spells that are unavoidable even to you."  Naugus places his hand on the barrier and Celestia strengthens it from any attack he might pull.

Nothing seems to be happening.  Celestia keeps the magical barricade strong, seeing no spells coming at her.

"SISTER, BEHIND YOU!" a night blue alicorn said at the front door.

Celestai jerked her head around to see a large violet portal with yellow ring flowing deeper into the vortex.  She turned around and suddenly feels a grip forming around her that kept on pulling towards the vortex.  Celestia knelt down to grip the floor as she started to slide towards the void.  The wind kept getting stronger as she tried to stay planted, until her ultimate destination plucked her from the ground and pulled her into the enclosing vortex.





The two ponies were staring at the blue hedgehog, wondering on how they're going to handle this situation.  He had traits that resembled them (height, biped, could talk) but the biggest differences was that he wasn't a pony.  The purple one took the lead, "Er... my name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rainbow Dash.  Who and... um... what are you?"

The blue rodent folded his arms, feeling disrespected "My name's Sonic, and what do you mean what am I?  Haven't you ever seen a handsome, cool, looking hedgehog before?" Dash rolled her eyes to that.

"Well... no" Twilight said, trying to act as polite as possible "in fact, I've never seen a hedgehog before in my life."

"Well to be fair, I've never seen horses with wings and horns before in my life either."

"We're not horses, we're ponies!" Rainbow Dash confronted, glaring Sonic in the face.

Twilight pulled her friend back and motioned her to calm down.  "How'd you get here?" Twilight asked the blue hedgehog.

"Don't know" he shrugged "I was sitting in a grassy plain when suddenly my ring went wild.  I chased after it and tried getting it under control, it wouldn't, so I used its power and then *poof*... you guys appeared."

Twilight glances at Sonic's ring "May I look at it?"

"Sure, it's all juiced out anyways" he tosses it to her, which she fumbles it around during the catch.

The unicorn examines the golden metal ring and finds it odd "There's no resident of it ever having magic inside it, so what power did it have?"

Sonic jumped on her question "Magic!  You know magic!"  Twilight's reply was simply levitating the ring over to him.  "Sweet, you must be the ancient civilization I've been searching info for."

"Ancient?  Do we look like a Greek culture to you?" said the pegasus.

Twilight again gestured Dash to settle down, "Why were you looking us up?"

"To find a way to help my friends" Sonic started "My friends and family have turned into robots and I'm hoping to find a magic spell that could un-roboticize them.  You guys know a verity of magic so I'm guessing I might find one here."

The lavender unicorn couldn't grasp at what he was saying "I've never heard of something called robot before?"

"A robot, you know; metal, clanky, needs an oil change every two thousand miles."

She still didn't follow "I don't know if I can help, maybe Princess Celestia might know of a spell.  Tell me, how did this happen?"

"Robuttnik!  He took civilians and turned them into robots so he could have workers for his world conquest."

Twilight was now too far gone "Robuttnik?  Civilian workers?  World conquest?  I know I'm into reading old books, but this is the type of news that should've made some kind of implication on society for me to notice."

"It should!  Houses, buildings, statues were destroyed leaving only trash, rubble, and pollution everywhere!  Isn't that why you went into hiding?"

"Hiding?  We haven't been hiding from anypony and besides from a few attacks, we never had more then maybe a couple of building destroyed."

"Say what?" Sonic looked around and saw a window.  He approached it to be stunned that Twilight was right.  Knothole was a decent sized village, but this town was twice as large and three times as lively.  Ponies were walking about on stone roads instead of dirt ones.  Food were being given out for profits instead of being held for rations.  The sky was filled with pegasi flying about, careless of possibly being spotted by others.

"This place could make any hedgehog feel at ease" proclaimed Sonic "all this place needs is a chili dog stand and I'm in heaven."

Twilight felt like she would regret asking, but "What's a chili dog?"

"It's something you call when you put chili on a hot dog."

"Wait?  The chilly dog was first hot?" Rainbow followed up with her question.

"It might sound odd but it makes a delicious combination."

"YOU EAT DOGS!?" Rainbow yelled in terror.

"No no, its made out of pigs."

"YOU EAT PIGS!?!?" Twilight screamed in fear.

"Now that you mention it, I don't even think they are made from pigs?" Sonic wondered in mystery.

Suddenly, thankfully to Twilights sanity, footsteps were being heard coming down stares.  "Twilight!  I got a message from Celestia!"

"Thanks Spike, you don't how much I needed something to get my mind off of current issues" Twilight said rubbing her temple and taking the letter.

Sonic was viewing a reptilian creature handing over a scroll to Twilight.  It was a creature he never thought he would see another one of, but there it was, a dragon.  Dragons are an endangered species thanks to Robotnik roboticizing almost every one of them.  The dragon had purple scales with lime colored spines, a green-grayish underbelly and was about the height of Tails, his two tailed fox companion that looks up to him.  "Would Dulcy ever love to meet you" Sonic said under his breath.

Spike noticed Sonic looking at him and gave an odd look back, not sure what to make of this new visitor.  "Don't see very many dragons where I come from.  You must be one tough guy" Sonic complemented.

Spike's ego began to show "Well I don't want to brag, but one time I belly flopped into a pool of lava."

"Really!  That's way past cool!"

"What?" Rainbow Dash's competitive nature started to surface "If you thought that was cool then get ready for this."  Rainbow Dash got in front of Sonic so she could see his reaction to her skills "I can fly so fast that I, Rainbow Dash, can break... THE SOUND BARRIER!!!" She said, leaving no word in her sentence unglorified.

"What?" Sonic said unimpressed "That's it?" Rainbow Dash was so dismayed by that, you could swear you could hear her ego crumbling.  "So you can break the sound barrier, big deal.  Breaking the sound barrier is easy stuff."  Rainbow Dash had just about enough of this guy.  She started clenching her teeth, her face was getting red from frustration, Spike's giggles began slipping.

"WHAT!!!"  Everyone in the room turned their attention to the unicorn that just shouted.  Her face was giving a shock expression to the letter she was reading.

"What's wrong Twilight?" Spike asked with concerns.

Twilight took a moment finishing the letter before answering "This letter came from Luna!"

"So, does it really make much of a differences if Luna sends a letter from time to time?"  Rainbow Dash said, thinking her friend is incorrigible.

Twilight shook her head "No, she says that Celestia has vanished into another dimension!"

Everyone joined with the lavender pony's upset expression "How did this happened?"

"A chimera opened a portal and trapped her inside!"

"How'd it do that?"

"Magic it seems; powerful enough to break through an anti-magic sphere."

"Well what are we waiting around here for?  Let's use the Element of Harmony and send that chimera packing out of there." Rainbow eagerly said.

Twilight shook her head "Luna states that the chimera is increasing its magic as we speak and if this chimera is like the one in the prophecy, then not even magic will help us stop it."

"So?" Sonic spoke up "Just because it's a prophecy doesn't make it true, their must be a way to stop it."

Twilight wondered about a way, then started searching through books and pulled out a book titled 'Predictions and Prophecies'.  She flips through the pages and stops at an image of a misshaped creature.  "Dididididi... chimera will take over the empire... dididididi... disaster to the realm... didididididi... magic uncomparable... didididididi... ah!  It's power could be match by the gems of Discord.  With them, fate will be decided in due time."

"Gems of Discord, what are those?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to grasp the issue.

"I know I've heard about it before" Twilight began rubbing her forehead for information.

Sonic took this opportunity to search for an answer as well.  "Nichole" he took her out "do you know anything about the 'Gems of Discord'?"

[Never heard of them] it told back.

Rainbow Dash lost all interest about the gems when the hand held computer spoke up.  "Whoa, what's that?"

Sonic looked over to the fascinated pegasus "It's a machine that holds information and little gadgets."

"What's a machine?"

Sonic was taken back by the ignorance she had.  "What's a machine?  What generation are you from sis?  Machines are everywhere, they're tools that help with everyday life."

Twilight broke her train of thought, "Wait!  What did you say?"

"I said 'they're tools that help with everyday life'."

"No, before that."

"I said... what did I say?"

[He said 'What generation are you from sis?'] Nichole spoke up.

Twilight went back to her thinking "Generation are you from sis........ generation........ sis.......... GENEration SIS......!  GENESIS!"  Twilight began to look frantically through her books, throwing them to her sides as she searched for a certain title.  "Here it is!" Twilight lifts up a book with the title 'Genesis' written in a sharp edged, blocky font.  She opens up the book, flipping through the pages before she stops at one and speaks up.  "Long ago, a tribe known as the Echidnas, lived among the land.  They were peaceful, but arrogant people that followed a chef named Pachacamac, who wanted power and planned on attacking various tribes.  His plan was to use the Gems of Discord known as the Chaos Emeralds to do so, but met his death to the guardian of the gems, Chaos.  As luck would have it, a girl of the tribe sealed the guardian within a Master Emerald before it did much damage using the Chaos Emeralds.  Destroyed, the survivors feared of the beast's return and separated the Chaos Emeralds from the Master by giving the gems to the first tribe they were planning to invade, the Pony tribe, as a peace and forgiveness offering.  The Ponies knew they would be pursued for having them, so they asked the Echidnas to make shrines to help provide them protection.  The Echidnas were experts at fully utilizing the emeralds and build shrines to turn the Pony tribe invisible from the world."

"Invisible from the world?" Sonic asked "It would explain why you appeared out of nowhere, but why are you visible now?"

"I don't know, either the invisibility barrier wore off or you somehow entered the barrier with us."

"You said that the Gems could stop that chimera" Spike traced the conversation back to topic "so where are they?"

Twilight skimmed further through the book and started speaking up again "The Chaos Emeralds can be used to unlock unlimited power, so they were placed in guarded locations.  One in the clouds, another among the crystals.  The third in the young mountains, and the fourth within the plains.  The fifth is falling, while harmony holds the sixth, and royalty holds the last."

"............Huh?" Rainbow Dash broke the silence that followed.

"I don't know where for certain" Twilight admitted "but we've got a lead, no matter how bizarre it is."  She paused before psyching up and looking at Rainbow "Dash, I need you to go gather the girls."

Rainbow Dash gives a salute and flies out the window, leaving a wind current towards it.  "Geez she's fast" Sonic thought "but she's nowhere as fast as me."

"Spike" Twilight continued "write back to Luna about how we're planning to confront this."  Spike then ran up stairs to begin writing, "As for me, I'll try to figure out where the emeralds are."

"What about me?" said Sonic, feeling unnoticed.

"Um..." Twilight couldn't really figure out a purpose for him "make yourself at home."

Twilight went to her desk to focus while Sonic looked around the tree house library.  Nothing here would make him comfortable, so he decided to check out this new place outside.

With a burst of wind, Sonic leaves the library through the front door.  "So you finally used the front door, huh Rainbow Dash?  Tell me, was it really tha-!" Twilight caught herself, realizing that Dash already left.  She looked back at what caused the sudden burst of wind to find nothing, no cyan feathered pegasus or blue quilled hedgehog.
> Can't Stop Me, So What!?  That's The Way I Roll.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



It should be noted that I made a gap between this chapter and the last for a possibility of a bonus, non-plot focusing, chapter.  Not saying that I will make this extra chapter, just going to focus on the main plot for now.







"And the chimera send Celestia into the vortex, trapping her inside" Twilight informed four new ponies within the haven of her library.  Spike was there being re-informed about the situation and Dash was staring out the window; giving a stern, pouting look.  "That's why I called all of you here."

"To use the 'Elements of Harmony' to send that there chimera for a loop" a southern accent stated.

Twilight shook her head "I read in a prophecy that magic would be unstoppable against it, which the 'Elements of Harmony' are."

"You can't believe everything you read in a book dear, especially if it's a prophecy" a transatlantic voice notified.

"Perhaps, but I feel more comfortable if we do what the book suggest on doing."

"Ask it politely to stop being mean?" A soft tone whisper questioned.

"No, to gather the Chaos Emeralds and confront the chrimera."

"So we're going to go get these emeralds.  So where are they, oh, are they guarded by a large army of changlings or maybe by a huge ferocious fire breathing dragon.  No wait, geese, they're guarded by geese, those buggers can be very mean and they always love to block your path to the door" a hyped-up voice asked on and on.

"They might be guarded, but I was able to find the locations of them."

Spike's head shot up and looked around the room.  "Shouldn't we wait for Sonic before going into where the emeralds are?" he wondered aloud, but before Twilight could answer...

"Forget that stupid pincushion" Rainbow blurted out with a hint of disgust within the words.

"You've been very agitated ever since we met Sonic, Dash" Twilight questioned authoritatively.  "What do you have against him?"

The pegasus turned around, giving an ornery look to the topic "There's just something about him that gets under my feathers.  He's so full of himself and acts like he's awesome all the time.  I bet he's really just some loser that can't live up to his words, that stinkin' son-of-a-hog."

"That's 'magnificent' son-of-a-hog."

Rainbow Dash spins around to see Sonic looking through the window at her.  She growls a bitter look at him and slams the blinds on his face.

The front door to the library blast opened with a strong air current and stops behind Dash, only to shock her with a blue hedgehog smirking.  "Alright fine, I'll settle for wonderful son-of-a-hog, instead."

"Geez he's fast" Rainbow Dash thought while turning around"but he's nowhere as fast as me" she encouraged herself.

"Ooo, is this the Sonic you guys were talking about?" A pink pony zipped up to the new person's face.  Sonic stepped back to see this face more clearly; she didn't have any special features like wings or a horn, but she did seem special in her own way.  Her fur was a light bubble gum pink color with a darker tone version for her poofy mane.  She looked as though she was ready to attack by her rapid movement, which actually happened a second later.  She stretched out her hand to grab Sonic's and begins shaking it.  "Nice to meet you mister hog, my name's Pinkie Pie" she said, gleefully smiling at Sonic.

"Don't that beat all.  Never seen a fella with needles sticking out of him like you before" the southern accent spoke up again.  The preoccupied hedgehog glanced over to see an orange furred mare scanning him from ear to sneakers.  She seemed to be more down to Earth then anypony else around here; not just in the sense of being the type of pony Sonic is used to meeting, but also seemed to be the type who would get down and dirty at getting a job done.  She took off her brown stetson hat and started scratching her blond mane at what to make out of this new prickly visitor.

"Um... they're called spines, actually" a soft tone voice barely catching Sonic's attention.  She was another pony that had wings, but hers seemed more cared for then Dash's.  She had butter colored fur that matched quite well with her long light-pink mane, though sadly it seemed to be a problem for her due to the fact that it was covering up her face.

"Spines or needles, they must be a hassle to try and work with" the transatlantic voice said, being the last one to get the hedgehog's attention.  She had light gray fur with purple curls for the mane and tail.  She too had a horn on her forehead along with eye-shadow above her curly eyelashes.  She was admiring Sonic's 'due', but cringed at his choice of attire; she must have a specific taste in clothing.

"If I may" an impatient Twilight redirected to the main topic at hand.  "I found the locations for the emeralds.  The book said that they were in guarded locations; the clouds, crystals, young mountains, plains, falling, harmony, and royalty."

The lavender unicorn begins to walk around the room, acting as if she was a detective holding all of the cards to a mystery. "As I searched, the word 'plains' kept ringing in my head, as if the word was recently used, and then it hit me.  I remembered Sonic stating that he was in the plains before he got here, the locations began to make sense from there on out.  We live where there are hardly any trees, a place where we can gallop for miles, an area whe-"

*knock knock knock*

The front door declared an arrival of another visitor that stopped Twilight's rambling.  Twilight walks up and opens the door to reveal a pale-ambered fur pony.  She seemed formal with those thin glasses and green cravat around her collar.  She was caring an old green purse around her shoulder that probably seemed just as old as her gray mane.  Twilight put on her welcome face and steps aside "Mayor Mare, thank you for coming."

"I was able to find the gem you spoke of, Twilight" the government mare said walking in.  She open up her purse and hands over a dark blue gem, cut into a diamond shape jewel.

Everyone focused on the shimmering gift the magical unicorn was holding, making the connections of the situation.  "Is that supposed to be..." Sonic trailed off saying.

"You see, Ponyville is the plains they spoke of in the book" Twilight said, showing off the Chaos Emerald to everyone.  "No doubt the Chaos Emeralds are held at specific towns, like the Crystal Empire having one because they're in crystals."

"Or Cloudsdale because they're in the clouds" Rainbow Dash caught on.

"Or Canterlot because of their royalty" the light-gray unicorn in the room announced.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying!" Twilight declared joyfully, happy to see her friends catching on.

The fashionista took another look at the gem her friend was holding "I'll admit, Twilight, that this gem is giving off a weird vibration to me, but this isn't an emerald, it's a blue goshenite."

Taking another look, Twilight raised her gaze sheepishly from the jewel back towards her friend; no doubt the egg-head was feeling she had yoke on her face.

"Vibration?" Sonic wondered at the statement, and apparently something else was too.

[Sonic, let me take a look at the jewel] Nichole asked the blue hedgehog.  Sonic flips open the compact computer and a horizontal light shines over Twilight's hands.  Startling the librarian at first, she quickly finds interest at Nichole's method of analyzing.

"Wait a sec" the southern accent mare in the room called for attention.  "Ya said that the gems were in towns, but there no towns that correspond to falling, young mountains, and harmony."

Twilight responds "Do you remember where we found the elements of harmony?  We found them in the Everfree Forest's castle ruins.  That place was abandoned just like the other two town that the gems reside in; Neighagra Falls and Foal Mountain."   Nichole's scanning light disappeared a few seconds later "So what did you find out?"

[The jewel is giving off a wave of electrons that stimulates organisms] the voice box told.

"What does that mean?" Sonic questioned.

[It means, that it holds energy which is equal to, the Power Rings.  In fact, they are giving the same frequency to, the Power Rings.]

The hedgehog's mind was cruising at warp 7, "I get it!  Sense my ring was using the same energy the Chaos Emeralds were using, it could by-pass the barrier's effect and interact with you guys even when I was outside it.  When I used the power inside the ring to give me a little extra juice, that energy allowed me to enter inside and when the energy died out, I was already within the barrier so now I'm protected by the Emerald's power."

Twilight was astonished at Sonic's conclusion "That's some sharp thinking, Sonic."

"Sharp as a hedgehog's spine" he responded with a cocky look.

Rainbow groaned in disgust "Would you stop with the hedgehog puns, its getting on my nerves."

"Hey check it, somepony is getting annoyed."

The bureaucrat mare took in the spiny creature "You must be the new fellow in town, I hope you're enjoying your visit here."

"It's great, but you guys really need a Chilidog stand."

She seemed lost "What's a chi-"

"DON'T! Don't. Don't ask" Twilight interrupted.

"Very well..." Mayor Mare wondered, but decided it's best to just move along.  "*cough* Come along Sonic, I have to be at a meeting soon" she said, heading towards the door.

"Huh?  You want me to come with you?"

"I've asked Mayer Mare to watch over you until we get Princess Celestia back" Twilight informed "the princess will help with that magic request of yours."

The hedgehog crosses his arms across his chest "No can do Twi.  I came here to find a cure and if the only way to get it is by saving a princess, then it means I'm going to have to save a princess."

"Too bad, you're staying" Dash bluntly told and pushed him towards the door.

Sonic latches onto the door's frame, pushing against Dash's persistent.  "With me around you'll get this done in no time and I bet Nichole, here, can help find the locations."

[I can pick the location of the gems by their frequency, Twilight]

The unicorn's eyes shined at the new possibility of ending this ordeal quicker.  The kingdom was in danger, a threat was getting stronger, what better reason did she need other then those.  "Alright, you're coming along" Twilight announced.

Rainbow staggered when she heard those words, giving Sonic the chance to slid away from Dash's shoving; causing her to roll out of the front door.

"We'll be splitting up into two teams and will be meeting up at Foal Mountain.  Rarity, I want you to head to the castle ruins along with Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash to get the Chaos Emerald there.  Using the gem spell of yours should make searching for the gem a lot easier.  Spike, Pinkie, Sonic, and myself will be heading towards Neighagra Falls to get that emerald and we'll all meet up at Foal Mountain to get the final emerald before heading to Canterlot."  Everyone gave a nod or an acknowledgement expression at the plan before Twilight continued.  "I'm going to write to Princess Luna to spread the word to Cadence, they'll get the other emeralds that are within the other towns.  We'll be leaving shortly so I want you guys to get prepared."

Against their strategic friend's suggestion, Applejack Pinkie Rarity Fluttershy and Spike took this time to learn more about Sonic.  They gather around him and start asking questions about his home, life, attire and stuff like that.  However, on the other side of the room, Rainbow Dash was glaring daggers at the new speed demon that was stealing her thunder.

"I hate that hedgehog."
> Castle Ruins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Weakly opening her eyes, the Princess of Equestria finds that she was laying on a cold, hard, reflecting floor that looked like ice.  Celestia sits up with a hand on her head, recalling how she got here.  She was facing Naugus, she was swallowed by a vortex, and now shes sitting in a crystal world.  A crystal empire she knew had nothing on this place at being literal; but it also left a lack of life from this.  No plants, flowers, bushes, trees, or even ponies were anywhere in sight of this glassy cold world.

The alicorn princess began a search for something, somepony, anything that might help her at getting out of this world.  She walked at a slow pace to observe her surroundings.  The mare found crystals in a variety of shapes that formed resembling decorations.  Plants, statues, chairs, a castle, stairs, bri-... a castle!  Celestia headed for the fortress in hopes of finding some authorities that might have some answers at getting her out of here.

She enters the throne room with wishful thinking but was sadly met with the harsh reality of finding no one there.  The princess encouraged herself that someone must be here and begins searching room after room.  It seemed pointless with this search, all she was finding was more and more crystals.  It came at a little bit of a shock when she found a wooden door in this crystal labyrinth.  Her heart starts beating louder with anticipated hope and swings the door open.  She enters the room but was only able to find a soft cushy bed settled next to the wall.

"You've got some nerve returning back here, Julian" Celestia's eyes widened and turned when hearing another person.  "I said before, 'I want you out of this cas-" the source of the voice stopped mid-sentence when he saw the princess.  He wasn't a pony she ever saw before, let alone species.  He was a squirrel like 'pony'-oid that had two tones of brown fur.  A blue uniform with gold epaulettes surrounded his body along with the black boots that he stood in.  His expression was a surprised one, the type that leaves someone frozen with an open mouth and a drooping mustache.  He also was holding a candelabra in the air but he slowly placed it down on the ground.  "I-I'm dreadfully sorry for frightening you my dear.  I never get guest around here you see and the ones who are here are wretched beings."  He straiten himself up and takes a deep breath.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is King Maximillian Acorn."





Applejack was leading her fellow friend through the wild Everfree Forest in search for the castle ruins.  Rarity and Fluttershy followed close behind AJ with Rainbow Dash tailing the end, lost in her own world.

"I wonder if this Chaos Emerald will be in a different color then from the last one?" the meek Fluttershy asked everypony.

"It would be nice if it was actually green like the name it portrays" Rarity complied.

"I think this one might be a golden yellow.  It just seems like a good combo in color for the elements of harmony.  What color do you think it will be, Applejack?"

"I don't know, haven't really considered that.  What about you, Dash?"

"..." Dash was still oblivious to her surroundings.

"Dash" the orange mare snapped her back into reality "what do you think?"

"He's a dweeb!" she lashed.

Applejack turned at the baffled answer "...the color of the jewel?"

"Jewel!" the pegasus became flustered "Oh... um.. color... ah... wha-whatever you said."

"I didn't say a color."

"Oh, then.. hmm... er.... l-l-lets just keep m-moving" she managed to say before flying ahead of the group.

The girls gave a concerned look among themselves before following after Dash.  "So any ideas where the gem might be?"  The country mare asked.

"Well, Twilight said that it would be surrounded by four column and resting on a pedestal in the center.  It would be perfect for the treasury, but something like this might be in a more secluded area" Rarity recalled.  "Well, wherever the jewel resides lets just hurry and get this over with."

"What do you mean by that?" the cyan pony flew up to the unicorn's face.  "Are you saying I'm slow?  You think I'm slow, don't ya?  DON'T YA?"

Rarity was slowly pulling back, a look of shock and wonder was on her face from this sudden outburst "No."

Dash flies backwards, doing a hand gesture where she points two fingers at her eyes and then points at the unicorn's eyes with those fingers.

The moments that followed were silent one; all waiting for one of them to question the obvious.  The question wasn't really brought up until they finally arrived at the castle, where it was answered before it was asked.  Rainbow Dash puffs out her chest and points a thumb to herself "Leave this to me guys, I'll find that gem in no time flat."

Applejack sighed "Dash, you shouldn't go alone, besides-"

"Don't worry, I'm more dependable then any hedgehog could possibly be" and with that, she flew into the ancient fortress.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE IT'S AT!!!" Applejack ran after her, hoping she could keep up.

Fluttershy was giving a worried expression at the two stubborn mares "Poor thing, she must feel intimidated by Sonic's arrival."

"They do seem a lot alike" Rarity begins walking into the castle with Shy "They both share the same uncultured traits, can be quite stubborn at times, have strong egos that must be proclaimed and both have a tendency on getting things done at a fast pace."

"Should we try and consult her?"

"No, let it be.  This will do her some good."

"It will?"

"Yes.  She needs to accept that there are others just like her.  Besides, a little competition can always do you some good."





Speaking of the mare, Dash is soaring down the hallways of the old structure.  "That stupid rodent may be fast, but he's definitely no Element of Loyalty" she encourages herself before landing.  "EVERYPONY WILL SEE THAT I'M STILL THE BEST THERE IS" she yells into the corridor.  The vibration of her voice bounces on the walls and responds by dropping a small stone on Dash's head.  "Ow... they will see!  Now, if I wanted to hide something very important, where would I hide it?"  Walking down the hall with a hand on her chin, she crosses a room that might hold the answer.  The pegasus double takes and start beaming from her deduction skills "In the bedroom!  That's a perfect place!!!"

Rainbow begins her search under the bed "I always cram stuff under here.  Garbage, books, albums" but she found was bugs, dust, and webs.  "Nothing..." she sits up to view the room and sees a closed French door "...alright then, the closet."  Dash jumps up onto her feet and latches her hands on the doorknobs "There's always something hiding in the closet."  The doors flew open and Dash was engulfed in a cloud of dust.  She coughs and waves the dirt out of the way to find that dresses and shoes were in there.  "Not here either..." she squinted her eyes to scan through the dust filled air to find a make-up table.  Dash opens the drawers to find a few socks, some make-up, and a brush inside of them.  "Where is it?" she slams her fist on the table causing a bit of vibration to the room.

"...Ow!"





Applejack was looking through rooms of the castle in search for her rash friend.  She traveled through the Great Hall, she traveled through the Kitchen, and finally took pause in a room with glass bottles stacked on wooden racks.  "Darn that girl, she would fly through a thunderstorm just to inflate that over-sized head of hers" she murmured before leaning against one of the racks of the room.  She scanned her surroundings to come up with the conclusion that she was in the Bottlery.  "Hmm... I wonder" Jackie picked up one of the bottles and wipes the dust off the brand name "Ha!  I knew it!  Sweet Apple Acres' Cider" she smiled at her family's brand.

"Wonder if it's still consumable?" AJ looked over the room once more and found a cork screw.  "Alrighty then" she twisted the metallic helix into the rubber plug and pulled with all her might, but it wouldn't budge.  "Stubborn little rascal, aren't ya?" Jackie messaged her arm before making another attempt.  She gritted her teeth and groaned at removing the top, but it gave little response from the cork.  AJ wouldn't let up and continues her struggle.  She shifts her body into various poses, her arms steadily begin to shake from the pressure she puts into her attempts.

The cork soon escaped from the glass container with a popping sound and a stream of cider following it.  "Whoops" Applejack embarrassingly said, lucky enough to avoid drenching herself with the beverage "guess I shook the bottle a bit too much."  She peers into the bottle and sees theirs still some left in it.  Jack tilts the bottle just enough for the liquid inside to reach her lips.  Her eyes dilated when she sipped in a bitter taste from the bottle; she responded by spitting it out.  "CONSARNIT!  It fermented!" Jackie recoiled backwards from the drink "Smells worse than rotten eggs bathed in vinegar."  She tries to rid the taste from her mouth by shaking it off.  She bumps into one of the old wooden racks and a shelf from the furniture breaks; dropping the bottles that it held.  Applejack took quick actions and grabs as many bottles as she could before the fell.  The attempt at catching soon became overwhelming as the other shelves soon broke from the increased weight.  The bottles where rattling and shacking about.  It didn't take long for AJ to realize that this situation was about to get worse.

"Ah oh..."





Rarity and Fluttershy have been searching the castle together and found themselves walking down a strange hallway where there were stone hands holding torches.  A look of frustration was etched on Rarity's face while she walked down the corridor.

"What a strange hallway" the pegasus said softly.

"Must be the 'Place of Arms'" Rarity joked.

As they traveled, Fluttershy noticed a perfectly shaped hole in the wall.  "Rarity" she ran up to it "Do you think the Chaos Emerald might be back here?"

The unicorn shook her head as she walked by "No that's an Oubliette; a small room for prisoners to die in because they fell through a trap door."  The yellow belly mare jumped back from the wall with a shriek. "Frankly, I've been having some trouble at getting any signal of a Chaos Emerald in here.  I don't even think theirs one here."

"Don't say that Rarity" Fluttershy encouraged her friend "we still haven't found the alter after all.  The gem should be located there right?"

"Yes" she smiled at the reassurance "but where could an alter be in this old place?"

As the two girls continued the journey, a familiar sound started to get louder and louder.  It was... ranting... ranting of two hot headed mares.

Rarity and Fluttershy reached the room with the bickering fillies.  The room they were standing in was large in height and length.  It had a vibe that told this place was a ceremonial place that held rituals of some sort.  No doubt this was a chapel.  At the side of the room, Rainbow Dash was arguing with Applejack about something trivial.  Rarity caught a strange odor coming from Applejack that just smelled awful.  "What are you girls arguing about?"

Applejack glanced at the two mares entering for a second before returning to her current frustration.  "We ain't arguing.  I'm just scolding her for barge-in in here without us"

"I said I would get the gem.  What?  You think I can't do it?" Rainbow scowled.

Rarity gave her opinion "We all know that you can do it by yourself dear, but we should stay together.  You can't just go into some ancient castle just so you can show off."

"Show off?" she snorted to the remark "I'm not showing off.  I know I'm awesome."

Then Fluttershy spoke up "You've been showing some kind of grudge against Sonic, so you might be trying to prove that your awesome because you... um... feel... threatened."

"I'm not threatened by that RAT!" Dash stomps her foot on the floor, causing a vibration to the room.  "...Ow!" a stone from the ceiling fell on her head.  Dash snatches the rubble and attempts to strangle it "I HATE THIS PLACE!" then she hurls the stone at the wall.  The wall was dented and begins to crumble apart; forming a cloud of dust from the collapse.  

When the dust cleared, the girls found another room behind the debris.  The room had a small broken shrine with four column spread apart to form a square and a pedestal in the center.  This new room is called an Oratory, a small chapel used by the royal family to pray in privacy.

The girls entered the small shrine and found that the pedestal which hold the Chaos Emerald; was barren.

"Where is it?"

"Do you think somepony got to it first?"

"Like who?" They looked at each other for any ideas, but none of them had a clue.

"What do we do now, Twilight is counting on us to find the emerald."

"What are we going to tell her?"
> Neighara Falls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

An iron-bar door flies of its hinges and crashes into a library, presenting an hourglass at the center of the room.  "Such nuisance these ponies can be" Naugus stated in thought "the least they could do is to point me in the right direction."  The powerful wizard walks in to see scrolls and book piled upon the selves.  Many of them were covered in dust, some seemed to have been recently viewed, but all of them had something in common.

Naugus opened a book up and skimmed it.  His stomach started to sink as he scanned the contents "Just as I feared.  The book is in a unique language unknown to me.  This will take some time to decipher."  Naugus takes a seat on the closes stool and begins his enduring lesson in writing.





"WHOA-A-A-A-A-A-A!"

"SLOW DOWN, SONIC!"

"NO!  FASTER!  GO FASTER!!!"

"Faster it is then."

"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-AH!"

Trailing up a hill, we find a screaming unicorn holding a terrified dragon sitting next to an over ecstatic pony cheering a blue hedgehog at pulling the wagon they're in.  The wagon shakes about like a ride on a roller-coaster for the three passengers, nearly throwing off some of the supplies it carried.

With trees bluring by them, a large lake begins to emerge ahead.  "SONIC, STOP!  WE'LL CRASH INTO THE WATER!!!"  Giving off a smirk, the hedgehog skids on the dirt road to leave a dust cloud behind him.  Everyone on the cart latched onto the wagon at the sudden change of inertia.  They felt like they would be flying foward any second, but thankfully, they were yanked back when the ride finally stopped.

Sonic takes a step back, gives a stretch and readjust his backpack.  He turns around to view his passengers "See, I toldya I'd get you here in one piece."

Twilight's messy hair said otherwise.

"Whooo!  You certainly did!" Pinkie jumps to the ground "We were going so fast!  Just VOOOoooooommmmmm and then we went vooooooooooooomMMMMM" she exaggerated.

"They don't call be 'The Fastest Thing Alive' for nothing."

"I'm just happy to be alive" a woozy Spike commented.

"Agreed" Twilight replied as she steadied herself off of the cart.  "Anyway, where's the gem?"

The cocky hedgehog flips open his compact computer "You heard the lady Nichole.  Where's the gem?"

After a few seconds on flashing buttons it answers [The Chaos Emerald is 1.7 miles forward and 20 feet up.]

The gang views the direction and witnesses one of the largest waterfalls in the world.  Bright blue water kept on falling to the lower level, making a misty white fog and a continuous splash that deafened all other sounds.  It covered a sharp rocky cliff that curled towards our heroes in a crescent like moon shape.

Everyone stood viewing the marvel on the sandy beach.  The emerald was only a run, jump, and a spin dash away; but the large pool of water was keeping them at (or rather 'on') bay.

"Out there?" Sonic questioned "Why would it be out there?"

"It would be the best place to hide it" the ponderous unicorn said "some of the best places to hide is in plain site."

"Well whatever, but that still begs the question; how are we going to get there?"

"By boat of course" with a glow of her horn, Twilight lifts up the wagon in a dark pink aura.  The wagon's wheels begin to come loose followed by the axles that held them.  The wheels soon begin to meld on the underside of the cart horizontally before the entire structure was placed into the water.  The wagon, now boat, was actually floating on the water, using the wheels as a type of buoyancy.

"Way cool!" the blue hedgehog jumped onto the boat.  

Twilight then picked up four broken tree branches and handed one to each of her friends.  They began to paddle their way to the location Nichole indicated.

"So, you said that this place used to be inhabited, right?"  Spike started making small talk "What happened to everypony?"

"The books I've read never really gave a solid answer about that" Twilight explained her analysis.  "They all seem to involve the falls in some way, like the noise kept them up at night or the rainbows to the fall dried up along with the attraction it brought."

Sonic questioned "The rainbows... dried up?"

"Yes.  Many waterfalls are perfect places for rainbows to form, but for some reason or another, something here kept making the rainbows disappear."

"But a rainbow is a light spectrum, you can't just grab it and take it away."

"Actually you can, you see rainbows are made when            I wonder how many of you will be reading this?"

"WHAT?" Sonic yelled at Twilight, trying to inform her to speak up over the booming falls.  She didn't seem to hear his words.

Suddenly, the boat was collided by something.  The vibration was enough to shake everyone off balance.  Everyone gathered to see a large rainbow colored fish, no bigger then a dolphin.  It's slender body held a dorsal fin along the top and had eyes that seemed to pop out at any moment.  It's blunt rounded snout and prominent lips didn't seem to be a threat to the crew.

The dragon of the team viewed this creature "Hey, watch where your going."

"Spike!" the unicorn cautiously stated "Don't aggravate it!"

"Come on, it looks like a real pushover.  A little bit of a push back could help it wise up and avoid any future incidents like this to happen again."

The fish's mouth then began to open and frighteningly, it kept on opening.  Wider and wider, it's cheeks stretched and it's jaw kept spreading showing off sharp teeth along the jaw bone.  Finally, it's full mouth was four times as tall and five times as wide; more then enough to swallow the boat whole.

Twilight gave an annoyed look at Spike "I hope that was sarcastic, fringhead."

"WHAT?"

The fish violently snapped it's jaws shut, nearly smashing the boat it two.  It was a miracle that it missed them; though then again, it wasn't much of a miracle as it was fast thinking and fast speed.

Sonic was on the edge of the boat, running as fast as he could on the water.  He was literally acting like a motor for the wooden structure as it made it's escape from the pursuing rainbow fish.  Everyone was cheering him on with his action, but the over-sized tuna was slowly catching up to the group.

Sonic had to think fast if he was to escape his digestible fate, but with his hand full at pushing the boat, he couldn't really do much of anything.  "Quick, get a ring!" he struggled to say.

"WHAT?"

"A power ring!  My backpack!"

"You mean this?" Pinkie said, appearing out of the backpack with Sonic's second power ring.

She lends it to the hedgehog and he quickly snatches it out of her hand before losing control of the boat.  The ring soon began to glow with a whirling noise.  The fish was right on Sonic's tail with a wide opened mouth.  He glances back with a smirking grin "Later, fish lips" and blast forwards the boat into a hydroplane.

Everyone on board leaned forward in an attempt from to keep the boat from flipping as it skids across the river.  Course this didn't stop the hungry predator's pursuit at the crew.  It was swimming with it's mouth agape but the fast food was slowly widening the distance between themselves.

The fish wasn't alone there with an opened jaw.  Twilight stared at Sonic's sudden burst of energy with amazement and curiosity.  She witnessed the power first hand but she just couldn't figure out what type of power it was.  It definitely wasn't magic, and yet, its burst of energy was comparable to magic as well.

Her thoughts were quickly pushed aside when she viewed her destination point; quickly, making her heart sink.  Ahead of them was the waterfall's curtain, with no Chaos Emerald in sight.  "NICHOLE!  WHERE'S THE JEWEL!?!?" Twilight panicked.

[We have 500 more feet] it replied calmly in a monotone sound-chip.

"WE DON'T HAVE 500 MORE FEET!!!!"  They had, about, 200 more feet before they would crash into the rocky cliff that laid behind the falls.  Everyone was sweating as they looked at each other for an answer for their current course of action; turn around and try to avoid the hungry guppy so they could restrategized, or accept a device's readings and head towards a most certainly painful pummeling of their lives (slamming into a brick wall at super-sonic speed followed by the smothering weight of a liquid force equal to about 316 orca whales).

The team desperately panicked at the choices, but the motor seemed to have already made a decision.  "HOLD ON GUYS!" everyone turned to the get-it-done hedgehog in disbelief "WE'RE BLASTING ON FORWARD!!!"

Everyone was afraid of the decision but followed suit by desperately clinging onto something solid.  Sonic struggles for a moment before succeeding by blasting through the sound barrier.  With the falling water near yards away, everyone screamed and clenched their eyes for whats to come of them.

*SPLASH*

The water coats over them as everyone found that they have entered into a cavern.  There wasn't much to see with the only light source coming from the entrance they ran through, but then again, they didn't have much time to view the surroundings when the boat started vibrate.  It appeared the boat hit land and was bumping against the rocky floor.

"S-S-S-S-T-T-T-O-O-O-P-P-P-!-!-!" the crew managed to say with vibrating voices, but the speedy hedgehog was already attempting just that.  The ride slowly began to stop shaking until finally it stopped with everyone on board feeling the same way they felt when they first got to the falls.

After a round of relieving sighs later, Twilight's horn began to illuminate a purple aura to make the cavern viewable for everyone.  "How's everypony doing?" she asked with concern but only obtain a group of weak moaning from them.  A glistening ring from Sonic's hand caught lavender unicorn's eye "Just how.... when was....." she recollected herself  "what's that ring made of anyway?"

"Don't know really" the blue blur viewed the golden torus in his hand "I know it involves a power rock and that I'm the only one that can use them, but my uncle Chuck is really the only one that knows exactly what they're made of."  He began to reminisce about the times with his friends and family, starting to get a little bit home sick.  With a shake of his head, Sonic returned to the topic at hand "So where's the gem Nichole?"

[Almost there Sonic.  Just keep heading deeper into the cave] the electronic device informed.  Everyone grabbed their belongings and abandoned the ride they took on the way here.  They aimlessly walked through the darkness with Twilight's magic being the only source of light for them to see with.  The shadows that lay ahead eventually began to reveal a structure; four columns spread out evenly to form a square with a pedestal in the center.  There, on the pedestal, laid a diamond shape aquamarine gem awaiting for our heroes to take it.

"Look look!" a flash stepping Pinkie ran forward and back to show the group the shiny pebble "It's one of those chaos thingies, right?"

[Correct] confirmed Nichole.

With a nod, Twilight said "Alright, let's get out of here and head towards Foal Mountain."

"So how do we get pass Lockjaw?" Spike reminded her of the guardian to the falls.

That was a good question.  No doubt the creature was waiting outside and it wouldn't let them leave without a dinner date.  Twilight hummed while she viewed her surroundings before the obvious hit her.  "This was constructed here, right?" she began as she pointed to the shrine.

"Yeah, why you ask?"

"Workers would usually create multiple entrances, to prevent cave ins" the unicorn informed.  "If we can't go out one way...." she trailed off as she lead the gang deeper into the cavern.

The walk seemed like it wasn't taking them anywhere as they hiked through the cavern. After twenty-five minutes of treading the grotto, they finally say a shimmer at the end of the tunnel.

They emerged from the cavern to find a few tree branches blocking their path.  A simple brush aside and they find themselves at the top of the falls.  It was a refreshing view to see.  The cool breeze on their skin, the more calmer water, and the large landscape they crossed to get here.

With this majestic nature setting, one can't help but think at what other magnificent sights the other group is seeing.
> Diamond Tunnels
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"And then, she wrote back saying 'I didn't learn anything.'"

"Ho ho, she certainly does sound like a silly pony."

Within the crystal world, specifically inside the castle, Celestia is sitting comfortably in a chair.  She tells of her subjects' adventures to her new friend, King Maximillian Acorn, who sits in his own chair across from her.  King Acorn, was once the ruler of Mobotropolis, a once beautiful city that has now been turned into the most pollutant place in Mobius.  The outcome of the city was the result of Julian Kintobor when he overthrowned Acorn and began his world domination as Robotnik.  Max told Celestia all of this and continued to inform her that his cell was this very world they're in, a place called 'the Void'.  Regretfully, he also told that there was no known way out without the help of an outside source with strength to overcome the powerful wind currents; and if one cannot escape in time, they will be dependent on the void for them to survive.

It was a tough pill to swallow for the majestic pony.  She just had to wait it out and hoped that somepony was planning a way to get her out.  She was used to such situations before, but she could never completely get over the suspense.  Acorn could see this and began to get her mind off of it by asking her to talk a bit about herself.

Its been awhile now and Celestia has been thinking of pretty much anything but her current predicament.

"These bearers of harmony sound like a charming group of young ladies" Max said while he calmed his laughter down, "but by the sound of things, they only became Equestria's defenders within the last few years.  Tell me, how were you able to avoid Julian and his army from taking over?  They must have attacked at least a decade ago."

The alicorn princess folded her arms and began rubbing her chin, "A decade ago?  I'm not familiar with any army or an individual named Julian with attempts at overthrowning Equestria.  I assume the barrier to the kingdom helped us from any confrontations."

"You mean you saw the attack coming?"

"No no" she corrected him.  "You see, a barrier has been protecting us for thousands of years from any outside source at interacting with us; making it as though nopony was there to begin with.  The same goes the other way around for us upon them."

"So you secluded yourself from the world by avoiding it all together," Acorn frowned at that "doesn't the wonders of the world make you want to learn all their is outside the bubble you're in?"

Celestia formed an authoritative posture as she explained "The overview of the possibilities are tempting, but I have a responsibility to my subjects and a duty to protect them.  It's true that we may have some mischief makers within the country, but the protection we have from the forces outside help make this a peaceful, perfect society."

Max seemed distraught by the idea.  He placed an elbow on each of his armrests, folded his hands up in the air, laid his head upon them and closed his eyes. "Celestia" he calmly announced, "do you know what the word 'utopia' means?"

She knew it meant a 'peaceful place;' but for the sake of argument, she decided to humor him.

"It's a special word that actually has a double meaning.  The first meaning describes a perfect society."  His eyes open, recalling his past "At one point of my life, I striven for such a thing."

"You see my wife, Alicia, was the world to me.  Charming, clever, ...beautiful... she made me feel like I could overcome any issues that laid before me, ...except her own."

The room was silent for a second for Max to recollect himself.

"She passed away from the result of a war incident, leaving not only me but our daughter, Sally.  ...the passing left me a bit hysterical, the thought of it happening again with my daughter frightened me.  Frightened me so much, that I was determined to protect her by making a utopia for her to live in."

"I thought, if I could rule all of society, then we could not worry about conflicts and invasions from other nations."  His face was full of regret "It was a pitiful thought, but sorrow, fear and ever the anger of that event, fueled my ambitions to fulfill the idea.  I began searching my castle's archives for something, anything that might have knowledge at achieving such authority; but instead, I eventually found documents on an ancient tribe leader that I immediately identified to."

"A man named Pachacamac was once a ruler of an ancient tribe called the Echidnas.  He was a decent and fair ruler that cared deeply for both his people and his family.  His kingdom was a peaceful one, but despite the friendly society; they had enemies.  Eventually, an assassin assaulted the throne and killed Pachacamac's wife in the process.  This loss struck Pachacamac pretty hard; all he had left was his daughter, Tikal.  Pachacamac was then determined to avoid this tragedy to happen again to his daughter so he on making the country a utopia by following under one ruler.  How he planned to accomplish such a feat was by using some powerful weapon of some sort to conquer the land.  Ultimately, his strive for power killed him by the very weapon he planned to use, and left his daughter alone with an uncontrollable weapon, which unfortunately, she sacrificed herself to stop that very weapon.  The tale then ended with it stating that 'in the end, Pachacamac was then able to finally achieve his own utopia as well as his daughter was to achieve her own.'  It was then, at that moment, I realized he was doomed from the moment he decided to make his kingdom perfect.  No matter how much land or followers he had, his desire for an utopia would always be out of reach."

Max refocused his attention back to his listener "Have you figured out what the second meaning is yet?"  Celestia was actually too focused on the story to give much thought on the word "It means; of not, imaginary, illusion.  A utopia is a perfect society that does not exist."  The king repositioned himself in his chair "What I'm getting at with this story Celestia, is that we can never achieve a perfect society.  There will become times in which we can't provide the benefits our subjects want from us.  They'll need to fend for themselves instead of counting on us for help all the time.  We're in a position that gives our subjects a direction for them to follow and a pillar to count on, but if we disappear along with the Elements of Harmony, do you think the people can handle themselves?"

The majestic mare pondered over the actions of the ponies over the course of the years.  They do cooperate together at times; like creating hurricanes to transport water to Cloudsdale and even cleaning up winter for the coming spring.  The answer seemed clear that they could but then she started to remember the more drastic moments that have happened.  They panicked in terror at a swarm of hungry Parasprites, hid in fear from a zebra, screamed at a three-headed dog gnawing on their houses, fainted at a stampede of bouncing baby bunnies and even had to obey the orders of an Alicorn Amulet wearing magician.  Those were situations that could've probably be solved if they banded together and tackled the situation as one, but ultimately one of the bearers of harmony had to reconcile the situation.  As much as she hated to admit it, her ponies really are lost without somepony to lead them.

Perhaps theirs a way to have them fend for themselves?





Over the dirt field of Rambling Rock Ridge, a group of ponies trotted at a slow-defeated pace over the plains.  Applejack was leading the pack again while the distraught Rarity and the saddened Fluttershy followed her, leaving the irritated Dash at the end of the group.

"I feel just awful, leaving that castle empty-handed" Rarity grieved aloud.

"I know, but we can't keep Twilight waiting any longer" AJ answered back "We'll just hafta tell her that we couldn't find anything there."

"Won't she be upset?" Fluttershy had some worry in her concern.

"She'd be disappointed, but it's better then having her start to worry about us."  AJ didn't like that excuse, but she had to mare up and admit defeat; even if it meant tarnishing her stubborn pride.  Speaking about stubborn, "How you holding up back there Dash?"

"He's just a stupid pin cushion!"

"Great great, at least one of us isn't taking this lost too hard" she murmured to herself.  The country mare wasn't about to give up though.  She kept jumbling the idea on where the Chaos Emerald could've been hidden and soon began at resting her eyes while she walked.  "We check every nook an' cranny of that castle and there was no gem or jewel to be found.  Although, that castle does have more secrets than granny does for her Zap Apple Jam recipe.  Maybe we missed someplace?  No no, that can't be.  Rarity would've picked up a signal from the gem if it were in a secret room of some kind.  If I put faith in her assumption, then the Chaos Emerald can't be in the castle at all.  That pedestal and column Twilight spoke of was proof enough that it was there, so that means that som-AAAHHH"

The girls broke out from their inner thoughts to witness Applejack falling down a hole in the dirt road.  They all cried her name as they ran to grab her, but she faded into the shadows of the pit before they could get to her.  With a thud and a 'oof' coming from the hole, Rarity called out "APPLEJACK, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Yeah" her voice echoed off the walls "I hear ya."

"ARE YOU OKAY?  CAN YOU GET OUT?" replied Fluttershy.

"A bit bruised, but nothing I can't handle.  Getting out might be a problem though.  I can't see an inch in front of my muzzle."

Dash groaned to this new hindrance "HANG ON!" she yelled then flew over to the unicorn and began to lift her off the ground "Come on Rarity, you too Shy."

"Wh-what do you think your doing" Rarity stuttered at the intrusion of personal space.

"I can't see where I'm flying in the dark, so somepony needs to light the way" Dash then looks at Fluttershy "and somepony is going to have to carry you out while I carry Applejack."

The highly pampered unicorn detested the thought of being down-graded to a common tool, but what other options do they have?  The trio slowly descends into the pit and Rarity begins making her horn illuminate a light cornflower blue color aura to guide them.  The trip took less then a minute before they could see the bottom with Applejack looking up at them.  She was standing in a corridor that looked like it was dug out wide enough for a small group to walk through with enough space for them to avoid feeling restricted.

Once the team touched the ground, a sudden flare shot from the living lantern's horn.  It startled everypony but none more so then Rarity; her entire body shook from a familiar vibration.  "It's here" she said in a monotone voice, too fixed on this feeling.

"Here?" Applejack questioned "What's here?"

"The Chaos Emerald."

"Here!?!?" she questioned again.

Rarity didn't answered as she ran deeper into the tunnel with her friends following close behind.  She made twists and turns at the branches and forks of the road; all while her horn was shining in the darkness.  Eventually, Rarity came to a stop at a wall and began to frantically pacing back and forth, focusing passed the wall intensely.  "Why would it be here?" Rainbow Dash asked the concentrated unicorn "Twilight said that it would be at the castle."

"I know she said that, but I can tell it's somewhere close by" Rarity told.  She made a few quick flinches before she continued her sprint through the tunnels.  She hurried faster through the dark tunnels, the source of this signal were mere steps away from her.  After much hassle she came across something; a large furred individual standing on two legs glared at her.  It had sharp and jagged teeth with a strong upper body to show the threat it holds.  It wore a red vest along with a black collar studded with gems around it.  It glared its green eyes at the little white mare and memories began to run through the creature's mind.

"You again!  You not welcome here.  Get out.  NOW!" it barked at her.

Rarity began to recall memories as well.  She was looking at a Diamond Dog.  At one point in her life, they tried to use her as a tool to find gems for their own purpose.  Kinda ironic that her friends were using her not to long ago as a tool as well, but unlike now, the dogs didn't respect her and treated the unicorn like a mule.

Rarity refused the thought of leaving the place without something to show "We're sorry for intruding into your domain good sir," she spoke flatteringly "but we were hoping to find a gem here."

"All gems in mine are ours.  GO HOME!" it roared.

The fashionistas pony was considered the Element of Generosity.  She gave up possessions as well as moments of her time for others and had a way to make others do the same for her, however this canine was determined to have nothing to do her; at the very least give anything.  So she decided to show some generosity instead "How about we make a deal instead.  I'll show you ten locations where you can dig up a jewel.  In return, I get to pick one gem to keep out of your entire collection.  You get to walk away with nine gems in place of one; quite a generous offer, don't you agree?"

"But gems in mine are already ours."  He recalled the hassle she was back then "We don't need you cause we can get gems ourselves."

"And I have complete faith in your abilities at finding those gems," she complemented "but wouldn't it be wonderful if you had the gems now?" she ended her statement by putting emphasis on the last word.

The impatient temptation began to rattle the dog's mind.  It chewed on its nails and avoided making any eye contact at the offer before him.

The white mare's friends were wondering at the offer as well.  "What the hay is she doing?" Dash whispered to Applejack "Wasn't she looking the the emerald just a second ago?"

AJ questioned the thought before she began to fit the pieces together.  "Don't worry Dash," she grinned to at the revelation "she's just 'cracking the safe open' for us."

Greed eventually got the better of the dog when it eventually agreed to the offer.  The next few minutes were passed quite quickly for the group; Rarity found gems with her horn, the diamond dog dug up that gem, and found ten shimmering gems in no time.  "Here" the canine gave her one of the gems it dug up.

"Oh no" the unicorn sternly said "I said that I get to choose a jewel from your entire collection."

The dog gave an annoyed look at her.  It then showed all of the gems it just dug up.

Her face didn't change "your entire collection."

A pause of stern looks happened before the dog retrieved a few extra gems from the left pocket of its vest.

"This isn't all of your gems"

"This is all gems I have!" the overgrown pup retorted.

An eyebrow raised on the mare and she gave a small humph.  "Your not lying to me," Rarity put on a sad expression with teary eyes and the most irritating whine that brought back memories "are you?"

The dog wince at the recollection she informed.  The canine showed a bit of remorse for taking up on the deal, and shuffled a hand in the right pocket of his vest to pull out a golden beryl jewel.

This was the source Rarity was drawn to.  The shape match just like the one Twilight shown and it sparkled brighter then any other gems within the cavern.  No doubt, this was a Chaos Emerald.

"I found gem in big building long time ago" the diamond dog informed.  "Building look fancy, so me thinks their jewels there, but only found shiny one" the dog placed the Emerald in Rarity's hand, biding farewell to the little trinket.

The other girls glomped onto the unicorn, overjoyed that they found the emerald they thought that was gone for good.  "Come-on girls," Rarity said "we've wasted enough time as it is.  The others are waiting for us" she told before taking one more look at the shimmering gem.
> Foal Mountain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Come on Twi, it will just be a sonic second.  You won't even know that I was gone" an agitated hedgehog said.

"Sonic no, I want the group to stay together" an annoyed unicorn replied.

At the foot of Foal Mountain, a team made of four friends were waiting to meet up with another team of four friends before ascending the slope of the peak.  Twilight was looking onward towards the horizon, wondering where the other team was at.  She was also hearing an impatient hedgehog behind her that wasn't helping with her concerning issue.

"Man, my sneakers are itchin for some action.  It won't take long, I'll go on ahead, get the emerald and be back by the time the others show up" Sonic suggested.

"I said no, Sonic."  He was pestering the issue just as much as her other blue friend.  "Why don't you go join Pinkie and Spike."

He looked over his shoulder to see the two of them sitting down and looking up into the sky.

"That one looks like an apple" Pinkie expressed.

"That one over there looks like a skateboard" Spike joined in.

"And that one looks like Gummy" Pinkie gladly proclaimed.  They were pointing at the clouds in the sky and identifying them at what they looked like.  Pinkie asked the hedgehog "What does that look like to you, Sonic?"

Sonic didn't seemed thrilled by this but gave a quick gaze anyways.  "Looks like rain" he told unamusingly, but quickly changed the tone when an idea came up "I guess that means we should hurry up and find the emerald before the storm comes."

Twilight smiled at realizing his bluff, "Nice try Sonic, but there's not going to be a storm today."

"I think he's right, Twilight" Pinkie backed him up.

Another nuisance befallen the unicorn as she turned around "I checked the weather report and they said-" she stopped her sentence when the truth was in front of her.  A large dark cloud was off into the distance that definitely showed a sign that it would be raining soon.  "Yo-you're right Pinkie, I don't believe it" she wondered at what the weather team was doing.

"I ain't Whistling Dixie" the pink mare proclaimed.

"Don't pick on her" Twilight returned back to finding her friends "you know how homesick she is.  Ah, there they are!"

The lavender pony was pointing towards a colorful group approaching the mountain; one that consisted of Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.  Everypony was giving a welcoming smile as they approached, but as for a blue mare, she was slowly changing her expression into a scowl when a hedgehog came into sight.  She gave a decent amount of space between them, but the presence of him being here made her psych up to prove her superiority at a moment's notice.

Sonic looked at the team with an irritating look "Took you long enough."

At that moment's notice; no quills were pulled, but feathers were ruffled.  Dash was flying as hard as she could towards the hedgehog, but a quick fingered Applejack lassoed her from progressing any further.  Sonic was left baffled at what the pegasus' problem was as she grasp her hands at him and swears up a storm.

"I was starting to worried about you guys" Twilight asked a more sensible pony, Rarity.  "What took you so long?"

"Sorry dearie" she hands over the chaos emerald they found "but we had to do some digging around in order to find this."

Taking her friend's word, as well as the gem, Twilight gathers everyone around "Alright team, at the top of this mountain, we'll find the last emerald that's needed before we head to Canterlot and meet up with the princesses holding their emeralds.  We're doing great, but we still need to be on guard for what might be ahead of us.  Are we ready?"

"Been ready for the last hour" Sonic spoke up for the group as he readjusted his backpack.

Twilight still checked over the rest of the team and they seemed eager to get this over with.  "Then lets start climbing."

Despite what many may think; Foal Mountain was anything but small.  The name derived from being the smallest mountain range among all the other mountains within Equestria.  Reaching the top would take about a whole day and that's only if you can withstand the cold clement and steep terrain with little to no trouble.  The peak is a difficult journey for anypony, that's why a town was built on the elevated land.  It served as a midway point for travelers who dared to take the mountain by giving them a place to rest, a taste of the cold weather to come, and to restock for their journey.  Now, the town was deserted of all residents, and it appeared to be quite abruptly.  The barrels and appliances left within the open, wagons and chariots abandon in the middle of the streets, the doors left wide open to houses with many of the accessories left inside.  Nothing but the snow comforted the town's belongings

"So," the small purple dragon started making small talk "what's the story on this place?"

"It seemed to be that a dra-" Twilight caught herself from continuing and made a quick glance at Fluttershy.  She cocked her head back towards the unicorn.  "Um..." Twilight thought up of a different word "...a drawback!  Yeah, a drawback of tourists made the settlers having to move to a more profiting location."  If her tone didn't hold any secrets then it was the bad poker face she was giving "Hopefully, that thing isn't hanging around anymore."

[The emerald is straight forward] The handheld computer, Nichole, informed everyone.

The team found cold solid rocks blocking their path; if Nichole didn't speak up, you would've thought of it as just another rock to climb.

"So should we start digging?" the country mare asked.

"No need" the lavender unicorn said while she begins to light up her horn.

"I'll handle this."

Twilight nearly fell over when Sonic volunteered to make a path.  She boggled the thought of just how he was planning on accomplishing this feat.

"This'll take a sonic second, stand back" he warned and quickly curled up into a buzz-saw and began drilling a hole into the mountain.  A humming sound could be heard while dirt and rubble were being flung behind Sonic as he proceeded further into the rocky structure.  The gang was soon able to view inside the hole he made without any worry of anything hitting them.  The humming sound eventually stop and a hedgehog could be heard "Come on guy!  Plenty of room in here."

"Weeeeeeeeeeee!" Pinkie squealed when she dove into the tunnel.

The others gave a careful look to each other before proceeding one by one into the hole.  The passage was small, but the gang could make it through if they went in one at a time.  They crawled into a dome that was illuminating; bright blue gems, crystals and rocks were glowing all along the walls and ceiling.  

"That was awsome!" Spike complemented on Sonic's digging.  "I gotta try to learn that trick" he touched his own spines in hope.

"Bet he couldn't clear the sky in 'a sonic second'" Dash mocked the last few words of her sentence.

When everypony made it inside, the search continued.  Stalactites formed overhead while stalagmites scattered the floor, blocking the paths for the team.  Simple monuvers helped everyone slip-by and eventually found a hidden treasure trove of pilled gold coins, sparkling gemstones, and other royal accessories.  One such accessory Twilight picked up was a dusty crown.  It was in desperate need of repair from fallen of gems and tattered cloth.

The lavender mare peered inside the headgear.  "EEK!" she cried, dropping the crown.  Out came out a small eight legged insect that was running at high speed out of the vicinity.  "I hate spiders!" a flustered Twilight said.

"Oh, theirs nothing wrong with spiders" Fluttershy knelt down to view the little bugger, "their just little house decorators."

The hedgehog had to take another look at the butter coated pegasus.  "What do ya know?  I thought Shy would be scared of spiders, she seems to be jumpy at everything else."

"She is a timid young thing" Rarity told as she walked by "but when it comes to critters, she is very open to almost all of them."

"Almost?  What critters can't she stand?"

"Well there's.... there it is!"  Rarity pointed near the top of one of the many hills of gold bits.  There, she was pleased to finally find an emerald that stayed true to its name, even if it was a scarlet emerald.

Everyone headed up the hill, but for one distracted mare, she followed a spider to make sure it was safe from harm.

"Got it!" Sonic announced as he snatched the gem "Now we can save that princess of yours, right?"

"Yes, now let's get out of here" spoken an agitated Twilight.

"Say, Twilight" Spike began to question the mountain of bits he was standing on.  "I thought you said that the reason the ponies had to leave was because of a lack of profit" the others were seeing where this was going "so why did they not use these bits for profit?"

The gang was looking at the lavender unicorn for an answer.  "Well... that is... you see..." she was searching for an excuse so she wouldn't have to deal with a frightened Fluttershy.  "Wait.... where is Fluttershy?"

The carefree Fluttershy was following the itsy-bitsy spider until she bumped her head on a soft leathered surface.  She rubbed her noggin and viewed the contact she just made.  Her pupils began shrinking as she looked upon an enormous navy blue snout.  Its grayish violet jaw rotated to get readjusted to a more comfortable position.  The once closed eyelids began flickering from the sudden collision.  "A........a.......a....." the meek pegasus stuttered as the once sleeping creature opened its eye to have it glare a pair of reptilian eyes at her.

"A DRAGON!!!"

Sonic and the gang whipped their heads to see a scared pony running from a large reptilian beast rising onto its hind legs.  The blue hedgehog always had to look up to see a dragon's face from ten feet off the ground, but this over-sized lizard was at least fifty feet tall!

The party gave a gasp that caught the ears of the grumpy dragon to view them standing on his treasures.  It winced its bloodshot eyes at the intruders and inhaled itself up to blow out a scorching stream of fire.  Everyone quickly reacted to the approaching flames by dodging them through means of rolling down the hill of gold bits, hiding behind said hill, or simply out maneuver it with flight or speed.

"HEAD FOR THE ENTRANCE!" Sonic yelled out loud "I'll stall him."  In mere seconds, the blue decoy appeared on the opposite side of the raging dragon "YO RED-EYES!  You should lay off the spicy food.  It's giving you serious heartburn."

The dragon roared at the hedgehog with it's flames, but failed at hitting the speedy rodent.

Everyone headed towards the exit, seeing as Sonic is having no trouble at dealing with the overgrown reptile, but a cyan colored pegasus was not about to let someone else at being considered a hero in place of her.  Rainbow Dash flew within the dragon's sight "HEY!  Flying target!  Hundred points!" which lead to it trying to swatting her out of the air.

The team made it to the small opening and began shimmying their way through the cramped hole one by one, while the dragon kept on attempting to roast the two cocky risk takers with its fiery breath.  The heated battle of dodging flames began to make its presents know as the caverns soon began to feel stuffy from the intense heat it left.  Before being the last one left to leave, Twilight yelled out to Sonic and Dash that everyone made it through and it was their turn.  Rainbow Dash shot for the exit, leaving Sonic to deal with the dragon.  The dragon was now a large blockade for the blue hedgehog, blocking any escape for him to use.  His back was up against the wall as he desperately looked for a way around the drake and he happened to notice Rainbow Dash flying near the ceiling of the cavern.

And then he smirked.

Reaching into his backpack, Sonic pulled out his last power ring and began to activate its powers.  The dragon sprayed flames at the cornered hedgehog only to be shocked that he avoided it by running.  Running up the wall and onto the ceiling.  He was running so fast that even gravity couldn't keep a hold on him as he went right over the dragon and within mere moments, he passed by Rainbow Dash.  She may have been defying gravity on her own, but it seemed like her jaw wasn't able to defy as it began hanging when he passed by.

Sonic was the first one to enter through the small tunnel he made early, followed by a frustrated Rainbow Dash that was grumbling something about the word 'awsome'.  Eveyone made it through the small opening and with one final roar, the dragon attempted to crisp the intruders to only fail at inflicting any casualties.

With a sigh of relief, everyone began thanking the two decoys for bravely risking their lives for them.  "Thanks you two for keeping the dragon preoccupied" spoke Twilight.  "I was hoping that we wouldn't have to deal him, but I guess things got a bit out of control back there."

"You knew that 'thing' was in there!?"  Rarity practically gasped.

"Kinda"  Twi was giving a sheepish smile.  "The town was abandoned due to a dragon a long time ago.  I was hoping he passed away by now."  Everyone gave a groan at her weak reasoning "Come on guys, we had to get the emerald.  Plus, nopony got hurt in the process."

"I feel kinda wet" Spike open-mindedly announced.

"You're probably sweating from the heat."

"No, it's mostly around my feet" everyone looked at his feet and it did appear that there was a bit of liquid around him, in fact, it was a bit everywhere.

*Sloosh*

The group violently whipped their heads at the large sounds.  They were looking up at the mountain they just escaped and witness that their little fight with the dragon brought fourth some results.  The heat from the flames inside the cavern began to rise and make its way through the terrain to eventually meet up with the snow that was covering it, that soon began to melt the frozen liquid.  With another loud sloshing sound, the snow began sliding towards everyone.

Sonic probably said it best at describing the current situation they're in "Whoa!"

The gang began running down the mountain at hopes of avoiding the avalanche/tsunami.  By the time they made it to the mountain's small town, there was already objects flowing on a current down the hill.  This led to Twilight getting a spark of enlightenment "QUICK!  Get something to slide on down the hill with!"  Everyone ran their own ways towards the closest vehicle that seemed possible to ride on.  It didn't take long before the contraptions began sliding across the ground.

With another slosh, another chunk of snow broke apart and pushed the team with a wave of water down the hill.  Applejack steered on a flipped table, using the legs to pilot the furniture.  Twilight and Spike rode in an open wooden crate together, using it like a bobsled.  Pinkie was riding a red wagon with her tongue hanged out to the side.  Rarity chose a cart for her ride along with Fluttershy riding next to her, gluing herself to the vehicle in terror.  Dash, being the tough pegasus as she was, decided to stay airborne above the melted snow on her way down.

The gang seemed to be all here, to everyponies relief before noticing they were one head short.  Terror could be registered in each other's eyes as they looked back to see large piles of snow crushing some of the houses.  Just before one house was about to be impacted, one of its windows shattered from a blue spinning ball.  At the sound of a splash as it impacted the water; the missing head everypony was worried about was streaking down the surface of the water, ridding on a wooden board.  Sonic was carving down the hill; making small spins on the bumpy path.

He wasn't the only one dealing with a rough ride.  Sliding down the mountain was no different then riding in the rapids of a river.  Water bounced everywhere when it hits the rocky trail as it fell or when it hits a bolder in the way, making everyone's ride leap every once in a while.  Fluttershy screamed, Rarity screeched, and Pinkie squealed when they hit a large jump, but when Twilight and Spike hit a jump, things got a little hectic.  Spike was thrown out of the crate he was in before Twilight could react at catching him back inside; he is now attempting to reach out for someone while keeping his head above the rushing current.

"Don't worry, I'll get him." Rainbow Dash exclaimed before diving at the little dragon.  She smiled at this chance of basking in the esteem respect this will bring for her.  Dash stretched out her hand arm to grab Spike...

"Gotcha!"

She practically stumbles in the air at the missed opportunity when Spike vanished from site by a sudden blue blur.  Her blood boiled when she glared at the speedy pass-by that stolen her glory.

"You okay there though guy?"  Sonic asked Spike who was dangling through the air by the wrist his hero grabbed.  With a nod, the hedgehog proceeded by placing him into his backpack "You can ride with me."

Spiked popped his head out and watched his driver's moves in action.  After a few more minutes of the wild ride, the avalanche began to die down and leaving the temporary sleds on a flat level ground.  The girls gave a relieving sigh and a few looked back at the mountain to see if it was finally over.  The top looked like was completely barren of any snow, not to mention the any town either.  They scanned down from the peak to see the last of their party finally catching up to them.

Kicking the board into the air to catch it, Sonic landed firmly on the ground with a smile "OH MAN!  That was WAY past cool!"

"Cool?" Twilight tripped out of her ride, still jittery from the experience "COOL???  We were nearly crushed under a pile of snow and thought we lost not one, but TWO important friends in that and you think it was COOL?????"

"No" Spike spoke up from behind him "He thought it was way past cool."

The unicorn throws her arms up in defeat "And now he's saying it."

Everyone took this opportunity to count their blessings and to settle down after that crazy experience before they for the time being.... well, except for one.  With him right there, she just couldn't calm down.  With him showing off awesome move and heroic deeds, Rainbow Dash felt like he was a threat to who she is, at what made her unique.  It was as if she was staring down at another version of herself that could possibly be better then her.  She quickly shook that thought out of her head realizing that she was worth more then a second fiddle; and she'll prove it too.

Even if it means proving her worth the best way she knows how.
> For True Title... The Fastest Thing Alive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With four of the emeralds obtained, the gang now travels to Canterlot to obtain the last three gems and to confront the chimera.  Currently, they're traveling on a path through the forest and everypony is trying to visualize at what Sonic is telling them.

"So the SWATbots can ride in Hover-Units."

"Yeah."

"Which allows them to fly through the air."

"Yeah."

"And they make it fly by using their magic."

"For the last time, there's no magic involved." The blue hedgehog groans with a slap of his hand to his forehead.  "It is designed to fly on it's own.  The SWATbots only controls it when they needs to fly."

With all the corrections about not using magic, Twilight had to ask Sonic "Does any of your people know any magic?"

"A few."

"Really!" she beams "I would love to meet them!  Just think of what we can learn from each other."

Folding his arms, Sonic begins recalling the magicians he knows.  "Well there's Lazaar, but he's probably out there somewhere trying to do good for the wrong he's done.  As for Naugus..." he took awhile before answering "though I only met him once, I think he would rather learn magic from you guys instead.  He seemed like the greedy type."

"Sounds like the place your from isn't very mystical at all." Rarity carried the conversation on.

"It has its share of oddities.  There's a stream that makes plants grow in seconds and plants that can decay anything it touches.  There's even a pair of stones that I used once to travel to the past with."

"Really!?" Spike was getting into the discussion, "What did you do there?"

"Well I raced against my younger self." he was starting to look boastful from his statement.

"And?"

"I beated myself."

As soon as he finished that statement, Sonic was suddenly jerked back by a strong tug on his backpack.  He suddenly spun around and a glaring pegasus was inches away from his face.

"You know what?" Dash said in a harsh tone "I'm getting really sick and tired of hearing that nasally voice of yours."  Everypony stopped walking to witness a confrontation starting between their blue friends.  "Especially when it's spouting nonsense like that."

"Hey, them's fighting words." He retorted back a glare of his own.

"Darn right 'them's fighting words, 'rodent!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded "that was uncalled for."

"No, he's been getting on my nerves ever since we met him, and I'm not going to deal with it anymore!"

The hedgehog folded his arms while giving some patience to the pegasus, though the rapid tapping of his foot didn't convey that he had much to give.

The lavender pony groaned "Dash, I'm really worried about Princess Celestia.  Can't you put your stubbornness aside until we save her.  We just need to get to Canterlot and we can reach there faster if we don't have any fighting along the way."

Dash's ornery attitude quickly vanished "That's a great idea, Twilight!"  She then turned an arrogant smile towards Sonic "We'll have a race to Canterlot."  An eyebrow raised up on both his and Twilight's face, for reasons of being intrigued or confused by Dash's conclusion.  "This'll knock that cockiness out of you."

"You can certainly try, but this hedgehog is unbeatable."  He placed his arms at his hips "Where's this Canterlot at?"

"There.  On the side of that mountain."  She points off the trail the group was on and into the forest.  Sonic had to climb run up a tree to spot the location.

From where he stood, the mountain seemed almost halfway taller then the tree he was on.  "How could she see that place from the ground?" he wondered before he ran back down to the ground "Alright Dash, you're on."

"But guys-" Twilight protested.

"Don't worry, Twi" Dash interrupted the unicorn while she got into a starting position with wings spread open.  "We'll wait for you guys when we get there.  Can one of you guys give us a signal?"  Sonic also kneels into position and begins to spin his legs in place.

"That's not what-"

"GO!" and from Pinkie's sudden outburst, the two blue racers leave a strong draft leading into the forest.





A forest is an ecosystem that mostly consists of plant life.  They don't particularly have a specific order at where they grow; which makes it no place to run through.  The two competitors were soon reminded of this as they had to dodge around trees, duck under branches, and hurdle over bushes.

"Darn these plants" Dash cursed mentally.  She looked over at Sonic who was matching her speed "I need to go faster." Realization suddenly hit her and she began to fly higher.  She was soon flying over the trees, and with nothing blocking her path, she was able to increase her speed.

The appearance of a rainbow streak overhead caught Sonic's attention.  Looking over to confirm, he yelled up at the mare "HEY!  NO FAIR!"  His outcry was cut short by the wind muffling around Dash's ears.  Despite her advantage, he persisted onward.  His stubbornness eventually rewarded him with a clear perspective of his surroundings.

Sonic reached the end of the forest and was now on a grassy field.  Canterlot still seemed quite a ways away, but as for Dash, she wasn't that far.  She was a pretty easy target to spot with her rainbow mane against the dark grey clouds in the sky.

"Alright" Sonic began psyching up "Juice and Jam Time!" before he began speeding up.

The distance between the two runners didn't seem to change at first, but after a few minutes, the gap was shorter between them.  This change is thanks to a small advantage Sonic had which Dash lacked; a strong opposite force.  When Sonic runs, he needs something to push his feet off of, the same goes for Dash's wings.  Pushing off something solid (ground) can launch you farther then pushing off gases (air).

Sonic was now a couple of feet away from the determined mare when a cold wet chill hit him.  It soon occurred to him that it was starting to rain and by the flicking lights in the distance, it appeared to be a thunder storm.  He looks up at Dash to try to read her mind and it seemed that she was pretty set on continuing despite what lies ahead.  Sonic shook his head to remove the rain drops from his face and preservers on forward.

They were now dead even when the terrain changed once again.  The grass was starting to get shorter and gravel began to appear; it wouldn't be long before they had to start climbing.  It seemed like Sonic was going to be taking the lead for awhile, but he suddenly began to lose his speed drastically.  She was getting farther away and his feet were getting harder to lift with every step he took.  He wasn't getting tired, it just felt like something was cementing his feet to the ground.  When he looked down at the cause, he grunted at what he gotten himself into.

"Oh man."

"Mega-muck."





Dash made a sharp turn up and was skimming along the side of the mountain.  Lightning flashed every so often and with every flap of her wings, she would flick off the rain that landed on them.  She looked back down to see how she was doing.

There was no hedgehog in sight.

She refocused on ascending the mountain, now having a triumphant smirk on her face.  "I knew that jerk couldn't keep up that speed forever."  It would only be a matter of minutes before she would reach Canterlot.  Her eyes sharpened to see farther into the storm and after a few more flaps of her wings, she saw in front of her...

A streak of lightning smiting against the mountain.

The flash of light was enough to make Dash rub her eyes, the cracking sound made her clench her ears, and the vibration... the vibration shook the mountain enough to shake a rock out of place and conk Dash's head.  The blow takes away her equilibrium and she begins to fall.  She managed to stay conscious but her world wouldn't stop spinning.  She was flapping her wings to regain balance but she couldn't judge which way was up.  The sensation was too much for her and she had to close her eyes so she could steady her head.  She collides with a rock and falls a little farther.  Dash's lightheadedness soon began to fade and she started to become aware of her surroundings.  She didn't feel like she was falling anymore, it felt like she was... hanging by her arm.  "I guess my arm got snagged into that rock I hit." Dash thought to herself before it finally registered to her "That was pretty soft to be considered a rock!"

"You okay there, featherbrain?"

Rainbow shot both her head and eyes up to see that hedgehog in sight.  His hand was holding around Dash's wrist while the other hand securely held onto the side of the mountain.  She could tell through the rain that he had a confident smile that said everything is alright; but everything was not alright with Dash.  She felt anger, she felt enraged, why, she even felt....... pathetic.  Pathetic not because she was saved, but because she was saved by.... him.  She felt like she would've rather accept hitting the ground and breaking every bone in her body then to be hanging in the air feeling her pride broken.

The storm was getting worse and after one spinning hedgehog later, Sonic made a small cave in the mountain for the two of them to wait in for the storm to end.  There was just enough room for the two of them to have their own personal space to sit in.  It wasn't very comfortable, but it had to make due for now.

Rainbow Dash was sitting as close to the wall as she possibly could, away from the other occupant of the tunnel.    She was watching the rain continue just like Sonic was.  Her wet fur was starting to make her shiver, catching his attention.

Sonic reaches into his backpack to take out a blanket and extends it to her "Here."

She harshly backhands it away and rotates her body to lay her back on the side of the cave.  "I don't need your sympathy" Dash glares out into the rain, wrapping her legs close to her chest.

"What's your problem?  I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, w-well, I can take care of myself.  Everypony else can too, so we don't need you around to help us."

She was acting tough, but her quivering voice didn't help prove her point.

She mumbles "You should've never come."

Sonic sighs from her stubbornness and returns looking back at the rain "Sorry.  I guess I'm just a little bit too loyal to my friends to just sit back and watch."

Dash tightens the grip around her by having her wings cocooning her.  Two words kept echoing inside her head; Too loyal.  She rubs her face into the feathers that comfort her.

The two stayed silent while the rain continued and Sonic was beginning to get a little impatient at just sitting around.  It seemed that the lightning had stopped but the sound of the raindrops hitting the mountain was starting to sound monotonous.  He was trying to tune it out, trying to concentrate on anything but the rain.  Sonic was dissipating the noise at the best of his ability, and with a twitch of his ear, he heard a new sound.

It sounded like it was close by and seemed like it was trying to be covered.  Source was easily found but was a bit of a surprise for the hedgehog to witness.

It sounded like Rainbow Dash was.... crying.

It let him feeling bit flustered on how to handle the situation.  Her hostile nature towards him kept nagging him that he should mind his own business, but his peace of mind kept saying that he needed to help.

With a concerning voice, Sonic calmly asked "What's wrong?"

She shuddered from failing at hiding her lament.  It took awhile before Dash replied "Why do you have to be better?"

His head tilted.

She rises her head "Nothing scares you, your always saving others, your faster, cooler, tougher, braver, ........loyal." before lowering it back down "What good am I, when my friends have someone better like you."

Sonic took a moment to reflect about the two of them.  She was getting onto something, they did seem a lot alike; but was he really better?

He returned back to watching the rain and started going into thought.  "Better, huh?" he began with and caught Dash's attention.

"Where I come from, you have to be better.  Its basically a war for everyone, make a wrong move and you don't get a second chance to get better.  You get turned into a robot, your will is taken away, and you are forced to help the very enemy that you fought to stop; leaving you only to watch the world being destroyed with the help of your own hands."

"Now I always believed that I was hot stuff, but I'm not the best at everything.  I'm not really the strongest, I'm definitely nowhere near the smartest, and there were a dozen of times where I would've lost to Robotnik; ending up as a robot, but my friends were always there to help me out."

".........they're .....really all I have left.  It kills me losing someone and if I lost them all," he leaned his head back as he thought of the scenario "honestly, ......I wouldn't know what I'd do.  I know that your friends would be devastated if you left them.  They would never think of replacing you with me because you say that I'm better."  Sonic turns to her "You know why?"

Rainbow peeks a teary eye at him.

"Because I'm not better."

"You're more cautious for other's protection, you know the terrain of this land better, your determination is fearless, heck, you can even fly."

Dash's spirit was beginning to return.  The realization of the qualities she had was soothing her and the complements from the frustration in her life was lightening her up.

"A team needs each other to make up for the faults that they have, to lean on others for support, to help make them better than they were alone and the only way your friends can be better is by having you around.  So don't you ever think, not even for a sonic second, that you're not wanted, pal!"

She was wiping away the last tears she had before looking up at him "Sure thing, ......buddy."





The rain eventually stopped and the two blue team continued climbing, eventually arriving to level ground.

"Come on, Pinhead.  Quit showing off and get up here already." Dash called down to Sonic.

"Said the one who flew up there!" he replied, grabbing onto another rock as he climbed.

She chuckles and bends down extending a hand towards him "Grab on."  He does just that and she begins pulling him up.

"There you are!" spoke a third voice that made Dash put too much strength into her pulling and falls backwards from it, bringing Sonic along.

"Tw... Twilight!?  How'd you get here?"

Indeed Twilight, as well as the others, were standing there and is waiting for the two of them to rejoin the group.  "I was trying to tell you earlier that we were going to Hollow Shades to get a train ride here.  I didn't want you two to race because you'd most likely be tired by the time you get here."

The two of them could hardly believe that there was another way of getting to Canterlot at such a fast speed.  Not only that, it would've been easier to ride through the storm then running through it.  The surprise simply made Sonic and Dash collapse to the floor.

The others giggle at their reaction and Twi simply sighs "Those two really are a lot alike."
> Fate's Decision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The chimera of Ixis, prophecy from olden pony times.  Legend has it that a power hungry chimera will take over the empire, bringing disaster to the realm through lies.  It will wield magic uncomparable to any that was used before, but it's power could be match by the Gems of Discord.  With them, fate will be decided in due time.


~ Predictions and Prophecies (6.23.19–91)






With the pounding on the large wooden structure, the team stood at Canterlot Castle's front door, waiting for a reply from inside the fortress.  Patients, anxiety, and curiosity were seen being demonstrated from everyone, but for Sonic, he was being melancholy.  He just walked through Canterlot and couldn't help but recall the town he grew up in.  The architect of the buildings, the clean streets, the carefree ponies, it was like walking through his childhood; before Robotnik took it all away.

The creaking of the front door snapped everyone to attention and a white stallion wearing gold armor peered from inside looking at a lavender colored mare.  "Miss Twilight!  Please, hurry inside" he opened the door wider and the team followed the unicorn inside.  The guard quickly shuts the door "We've been trying to keep the absents of Princess Celestia away from the public's knowledge" and locks it "as well as the chimera's presents."

"Good, dealing with a chimera is tough enough without having panicking ponies in the mix" Twilight thanked "Could you tell me what happened prior to the events of the Princess' absents?"

The guard motioned the team to follow him and began telling all that he knew.  He talked about the tremor before the the chimera's appearance, it proclaiming for a cure, its true intentions at learning all of the archive spells, and finally, the vortex that took Princess Celestia.  When he was done, everyone arrived to witness a group of guards charging at an opened doorway with piles of debre blocking the way.  "The chimera is currently in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing.  We've been trying around the clock at retaining him," the guards slam against the doorway only to proceed no further "but he has barricaded himself inside."

"I see.  Where's Princess Luna?"

"The Princess is in another castle, but before she left, she ordered us to give you this upon your arrival" the guard reached into his armor and pulled out a morganite jewel that shined when light struck it.  "We actually found it fallen off of its pedestal, but luckily, there were no cracks in it."

Twilight took the Chaos Emerald "Must have been from the earthquake the chimera made, which would explain how it got through the barrier."  She has five gems in her possession now, she just needs to wait for the Princesses to arrive with the last two.  "This gives us time to form a plan." She turns towards her friends "Alright guys, here's what I think we should do..."





Meanwhile, on the other-side of the barricaded door, Naugus was busy reading.  He nearly mastered the entire Equestrian written language.  He could read the word 'Fish,' 'Pony,' and even 'Hippopotamus.'  He could even read the word 'Cure' and 'Crystallize' from the page he was on.  Naugus swiftly turned to note "Let's see 'Eheehee Pfufufu' means 'giant gingerbread mare.'"  He stopped for a moment before returning back to the book.  "Perhaps this language truly is better left dead."

As he continued, a low humming could be heard and the cracks of the blocked door suddenly had a strong light shining through them.  The lights flickered followed by a large explosion that shot the door and the block-aid across the room.

Naugus didn't even lift his head from the book.

The once blocked entrance now shows a group of girls, a hedgehog, and a group of soldiers behind them.  "Chimera!" Twilight sternly stated her authority.

"Hush young mare," he nonchalantly said back still glued to the book "this is a library after all."

"For the good of Equestria, I order you to return Princess Celestia and lea-"

"Naugus?"

The person in question finally broke his concentration from the book at the sound of a familiar voice "Why, Sonic Hedgehog!  This is quite a surprise."

"I could say the same thing" so could everypony else, they never thought Sonic would know somebody here in Equestria.  "How'd you get out of the void, and why aren't you a turning into crystal?"

"You have Snively to thank for both of those questions.  He may retaliate behind other's backs to power, but he's defiantly not fit at ruling an entire empire alone, which is why he asked me for help."

"So your working with Snively?"

He laughs in between wheezes, "That fool wishes.  I convinced that spineless snail that I would return once I learned a few spells, but theres no way I'll work as an equal to him.  I have....... other plans."  Naugus returned to his book to see it glowing before it vanished.

"Well you're going to do it someplace else" Twilight warned holding the book she just teleported in plain sight.  She then hides it behind her back.

"Give back the book, dear" the sorcerer began to sound aggravated by this new annoyance.

Sonic takes the book from the lavender mare "You'll have to catch us first!"  He flashes the book for a second to Naugus then runs out of the library.

The rest of the team teleports out with the help Twilight; leaving only the guards there to handle the wizard.  He groans in anger as he marches towards the steadfast soldiers.  With a wave of his claw, the guards were collided with a wave of water.  The liquid pushed them out of the room and into to wall of the hallway.  Before they could get up, Naugus walks by them without even giving as much as a glance and halts them with his hand summoning a strong air current.  It dried their fur from the water that just hit them but found themselves stationed in place from their armor turning to rust.

Sonic ran outside and into the garden.  It seemed like he lost Naugus with his speed, but the warlock's magic proved to be unavoidable when he had to skid to a halt before crashing into a teleported chrimera.  Looming over him, "The book" Naugus demanded.

"Okay okay, you win" Sonic emphasize while giving the book back.  "I guess you're just too smart for me."

He snatches the book from the hedgehog and continues reading it.  "'Earth Ponies founded land.  Unicorns use magic.  Pegasi soar through the air.'  .....WHAT IS THIS???" Naugus snaps at him.

"Gotta learn the basics first, Naugy ol' pal" Sonic told before running away.

Being tricked with a different book nearly blew the sorcerer's horn off, but...

"My, that certainly is an interesting spell!"

...he subsided when noticed a unicorn exaggerating from a book she was reading, his book.  Her eyes gave him a snarky look before she ran into a hedge maze.

Naugus wasted no time and ran after her.  He was in no shape at catching her on foot and teleporting can do only so much with the lack of visibility within the narrow path.

"Hey!" another a pegasus yelled at the wizard from a different direction he was taking.  He glared back and saw that the book was now in her possession.  "Come and get it" she mocked before darting around the corner.

Naugus began a new pursuit...

*Whistle*

...then another pony with a stetson hat displayed the book before running off.  This procedure continued for a while. 

"What's this?"

"Lost something?"

"Keep try'n"

"Over here!"

"Yoo-hoo!"

"Lookie lookie!"

"You're too slow!"

"E-NOUGH!"

Naugus roared a loud defiance.  He stomped his foot into the ground and a red ring began to expand along the dirt.  It was quick, but every path flashed red and was quickly followed by the elaborate hedges going up in flames, starting from the roots.  It soon collapsed the walls leaving an open area for everyone to see each other.

Everyone ran to Twilight, unsure of what to do next.  Naugus takes a step towards them with an extended hand, "NOW!" he demanded while his eyes were glowing red.

The lavender tactician recalls he plan "We got him out of the castle, tired him out with a game of keep away, and made him lose his cool.  Now we can get down to business."  "Okay, everypony" she takes out a chaos emerald signaling Sonic and the girls to do the same with their own emeralds.  They hold them out and Twilight channels their powers together.

...........

"Are you about through?" an irritated Naugus said.

They all looked puzzled, there was nothing happening.  There was no glowing, no humming, no rainbow, nothing.  Twilight was at a loss the most.  She treated the jewels no different from the elements, so why aren't they doing anything?  "Twi" her friend brought her back to the situation at hand with Naugus.

The unicorn swallowed her disappointment and takes out a tiara "Time for plan B."

Sonic steps back as the rest of the girls puts on a necklace.  He wished he could do something, but now that the situation had resort to using magic, he had no choice but to let them handle it.  The girls were now wearing the elements of harmony and begin to channel their power.

The magic that they were conjuring was quickly increasing and Naugus took notice at what they were planning.  He responded by performing a swooping uppercut with his fist that shot all of the girls accessories into the air with a gust of wind.  The magic they were making quickly vanished by the separation of their elements; as well as their emeralds and books they had.  Naugus wasn't through yet, he used the same hand to form another torrent at the flying objects.  He swipes his hand towards him and the trinkets begin falling towards him.  With one last move, Naugus targets the book he chased after all this time and with a clack of his claw, it teleports to his hand.

The falling objects clatter at the ground between the ponies and wizard.  In a 1-2-3 combo, he stopped their most powerful attack, and reclaimed the spell book everyone kept from him.  "Did you really think I would just stand by while you charge your spell?" Naugus mocked "Since you've manage to trouble me this long," he lifts out his hand "I'll reward you by having you join the princess that you so badly want back."

In moments, a vortex begins to form in front of Naugus.  "Spike," Twilight called out with fear "the emergency plan!"  Spike was tasked with finding a rope and tying it to something planted into the ground.  His job was to give the team the rope if Naugus decided to open the Void again.  With one end tied around a flag pole, Spike threw the other end towards the team.  They grabbed the rope in a panic as the wind began pulling them towards the hole.  The elements, emeralds, and books began flying into the Void.  With the team now hanging on in mid-air, Naugus returned to reading his book while the spell continued.

The wind was so strong that even Sonic had to hold onto the rope.  "ANY IDEAS, TWI?" the hedgehog yelled over the rushing of the wind.

"Umm..." Twilight couldn't think of anything that could help them now.

Sonic grit his teeth at the fate he was being pulled towards.  This was unlike the vortex he dealt with in the past, it was much stronger and impossible to outrun.  If he had a power ring then he could probably match it in strength.  He tightened his grip, frustrated at his lack of planing ahead, and realized that one of his hands wasn't hanging onto the rope.  Sonic viewed at what he held, a chaos emerald.  "Why?  ...why didn't it...!"  His gaze widened as memories struck him like lightning bolts.

'The Echidnas were experts at fully utilizing the emeralds.'


'The Chaos Emeralds can be used to unlock unlimited power.'


'[It means, that it holds energy which is equal to, the Power Rings.]'


'What's that ring made of anyway?'



'I'm the only one that can use them.'


Sonic took the chance at the possibility without a second thought.  He lets go of the rope and dives straight into the Void.

"SONIC!!!" Everypony cried at out as their friend fell into the abyss.  Many of them could bare to watch, while others cringe at losing him.  Though they just lost a friend, they also realized that they would soon join his fate if they don't think of something to get out of this mess.

Their grips were starting to loosen by the amount of strain they've been putting on them.  It seemed hopeless while they looked at the Void's pink-purple walls and yellow rings falling towards the center that just gave a glint.  Everypony's eyes widened when two familiar faces started approaching them rapidly from the tunnel.  The team could hardly get a good look at them before their world quickly shifted.

Everypony suddenly felt a bit of lightheadedness that soon settled to witness that they were in a different location.  They weren't that far away from the Void, but they were out of harms way.  The question of what just happened was quickly pushed aside with a delightful appearance from a white alicorn holding the Elements of Harmony and a golden-furred hedgehog.  "Princess Celestia!!!" they cried in astonishment followed by a perplexing "Sonic???"

"Ya miss me?" he humored them.  Though it was Sonic all the same, his blue quills have been turned into a golden-yellow color that resembled the color of his rings.  He turns to view Naugus and everypony sees that the quills on his backside were pointing up.  Before any of them could blink, the book that the wizard was reading was now in the hedgehog's hand.

"Wha... you know magic?" Twilight ask "When did you learn to teleport objects?"

Naugus was left baffled at the sudden disappearance of his book.  He noticed where it went the moment Sonic replied "Didn't you see me run and get it?"  The chimera groaned with frustration and cast another spell with a clack of his claw.  The hedgehog once again vanished, leaving a crystal block about ankle high.  Bewildered, Naugus pondered, "Did I get him?" only to hear his thoughts being spoken aloud by the rodent standing next to him empty-handed.  The wizard gave an angry growl followed by a whip of his hand at a disappearing Sonic.

Twilight was slack-jawed "If he isn't using magic, then he must be moving near the speed of light.  Just what happened in there?"  She turned to Princess Celestia.

"I was inside that crystal world," the alicorn began, "When all of a sudden the vortex opened up again.  Seconds later, books, gems and the Elements of Harmony out from the portal.  I was fearing the worst was yet to come, but that blue individual came instead.  He asked who I was and said 'I'm going to get you out of here.'  If he was, then I had to gather the Elements, so I did while he gathered the jewels.  Once gathered, he seemed to have been channeling magic and to my surprise, he turned yellow.  He proceeded then by picking me up and running through the vortex."

"He..... he got them to work!" Twilight said at the joyous surprise "He must've also saved us from entering the portal as well."  She returned at watching Sonic making Naugus spin in circles.  The others were cheering him on and the delighted expressions of hers were slowly fading.  "Something is not right.  Is this really all it takes to stop him?"  Naugus kept striking with spells at Sonic and kept on missing every time.  "Usually, whenever we use the Elements they knock out or stops the threat all together."  The wizard was showing no signs at slowing down.  "What did that passage say again?  'With them, fate will be decided in due ti-!'"  Twilight's face suddenly went pale at the possible downfall, "SONIC!!!  STOP HIM NOW!!!!!"

The desperation in her voice surprised the hedgehog.  "What was that about?  She sounded like we're in trouble."  Sonic dodged another fiery punch "Tying him up with a rope is out of the question."  After the next escape, he found the perfect way at stopping Naugus, swirling at the corner of his eye.  "Well, it worked once." Sonic latches onto the chimera's arm and hurled him towards the Void.

"I'm not going back there again!" Naugus snarled wiping away the vortex before he could be engulfed.  He rolls on the ground and plants himself on one foot.

"Alright then," the hedgehog was rearing himself up "guess were doing this the old fashion way" and with a sudden flash, he turned back to blue again.  Sonic was left bewildered when the Emeralds he used suddenly appeared around him and fell to the ground.

"No" Twilight barely managed to say.  It was just as she feared.  The power of the Emeralds last only for so long and after fifty seconds, it stopped.

The blue hedgehog frantically picked up the gems to try and become super again, but it resulted with nothing except a cackling from Naugus.  "After all of your attempts, only to fail at the last moment."  He raises his hand at the mobian, planning on stopping him from interfering once and for all "Goodbye, Sonic Hedgehog."

A yell was soon followed after the threat.  The Equestrians were left in shock at what they saw, but none more so then the one being turned into crystal.....

......Naugus.

His body was beginning to crystallize, starting from his feet.  "The book!  GIVE ME THE BOOK!!!" the wizard desperately cried out.

"I thought Snively cured you?" asked Sonic.

"It was only temporary.  In order to cure this, I NEED THAT BOOK!!!" his waist down was now made of crystal.

With a grin, the hedgehog extends his arms out to show he had nothing on him except the gloves that he wore.  "What book?"

"I MUST HAVE THAT BOOK!  IT'S THE ONLY- AH!!!" the crystalization was quickly spreading up his chest.  If he doesn't open the Void now, his arms would be next.  If they were gone, then opening the Void would be impossible.  He had no choice and opened a portal just before his arms were unusable.  He looked back the others with a raging glare, while he was being pulled into the vortex.

The Void shrinks back into nothing.  Sonic smirks as he turns his head at the crystal block Naugus first tried to trap him in "Looks more like a paper weight than a book now."





There was celebrations, cheers, and recoveries that followed after the intense events everyone just passed.  Things eventually calmed down and the group of rescuers were asked to meet Princess Celestia in the throne room.  When they arrived, they were greeted by the white mare getting up from her chair.  "Thank you all for visiting.  I wanted to express my gratitude once more for all you have done for me and Equestria."

"It's no problem, Princess Celestia" Twilight replied "But while we're here, I have someone who wants to meet with you."  She motions her blue spiny friend to come forth "I know you two have met, but this is Sonic."

"It's a pleasure to meeting you again" she bows her head.  "So what brings you to our kingdom?"

And so, Sonic requests a cure for robotization to Princess Celestia.  He tells how it takes free thinking organic life and turns it into simple material slaves.  He even went as far as taking out Nicole and booting up holograms of robots, blueprints, demonstrations, ANYTHING just so he could get a spell for freeing these Mobians from their metallic bonds.

The others in the room stare and grasp as much as they could from the blue hedgehog's speech, but....

"So after what I've told you," he boots down Nicole "Do you think you can help me out?"

The alicorn princess was speechless.  All of this science was beyond her to comprehend even after the breakdown she was given.  With a little shake of her head, Celestia refocused on the request before her.  "Sonic," she begins of slowly "I'm sure you've been here long enough to know how we live our everyday life."

He nods showing excitement.

"We have chariots that help us fly through the air, but only when pegasi are pulling them."

He nods with anticipation.

"And we can make light with candles, gas-lamps, and unicorn magic"

He gives a wooden nod.

"These robots are centuries ahead of our technology.  Not only do we need to comprehend what a robot is, transforming is something that not many unicorns can master.  Though that seems to be a small issue that can be dealt with after some time.  The biggest problem is the individual's self-conscious.  You said that their slaves that follow what they are told to do?"

He gives a nod that showed lament.

"Then just changing the body will not solve the problem.  They'll be back to normal, but they'll still follow what they were told to do."

He lowers his head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry Sonic, but turning them back into self-conscious Mobians is impossible for us."

"What am I going to tell the other Freedom Fighters?" He plants a hand into his face.

His words peaked her interest "If I may ask; what's a Freedom Fighter?"

"A Freedom Fighter?"  He slides his hand off his face and looks at the princess "A Freedom Fighter is someone who always fights for what they believe in, someone who never gives up and always does whats right.  Never being restrained and is given the choice at doing what they want.  In fact..."

He points a thumb behind him at the six ponies and dragon.

"These guys are perfect examples at what it takes to be a Freedom Fighter."  The group responded with flattered, embarrassed, and prideful expressions; it even put a smile on Celestia.  "Oh yeah!" Sonic goes into his backpack, "You probably want these back" and hands out the Chaos Emeralds.

"Keep them."

Everyone was surprised by the princess's response.  "Princess Celestia," said Twilight "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am.  I think it's time for my ponies to learn some independence and I believe dealing with the outside world might help teach them that."  Celestia walks over to the window to view her kingdom.  "While I was in the Void, I began thinking my position as princess.  My job is to protect my ponies from the threat of danger and being stuck in a vortex has shown me that I won't always be around to heed their call.  That's why I want them to build the courage to handle things themselves instead of going to a princess or an Element of Harmony for protection, and removing the barrier that surrounds us seems like a good start towards that."

Celestia followed her speech by going into her pocket and taking out a cork bottle.  She walks up to the little dragon of the group "Spike, may I have a bit of your flame?"  He accepts the request and blows a green flame into the bottle.  Celestia then continues towards the hedgehog "Take this, Sonic.  This bottle of dragon flame will help you get in contact with us whenever you need to.  Just write a letter and burn it with this fire."

Sonic accepts the bottle and places it in his backpack along with the emeralds.  "I should probably get going now.  Everyone in Knothole is probably worried about me by now."

Celestia thanks him once again for all that he has done and the other express their farewells.  As he runs towards the door, one of them yells out "Feel free to drop by any time."

"I'll consider it" he says with his last goodbyes.

"Just make that the next time I visit that there will be a chili-dog stand waiting for me."