The battle between good and evil continues with Team Sonic and the Mane 5 against Dr Eggman and Opaline, while Misty starts to shift her loyalties.
Misty continues to work undercover as the Mane 5 and Team Sonic's newest friend, although her loyalties may start to shift as she begins to see the true friendship she could have with these ponies. However, as Opaline and Eggman's endgame draws nearer, the fate of Equestria, Mobius, and the battle between good and evil may rest on Misty's shoulders. In the middle of this, some secrets come to light, some romances fly in the air... and some visitors from Mobius arrive to take Team Sonic back home.
That was everything Sonic could see right now. Absolutely nothing.
How did he get there? Where was there exactly? When? He could not remember, but he could still feel even if he could see nothing. And boy, the pain in his whole body was killing him. He wanted to scream, to cry, to shout at the top of his lungs until his voice couldn't speak anymore. He didn't have any broken bones, which was good, but he was sure he got new scars and even some bruises.
And then, in the middle of the silence in the darkness, he could hear something. He didn't know what, but he was glad that he could still listen, at least. Slowly, the sound became clearer and clearer until he could start to hear something like stomps. Yeah, they were stomps. But why? Who could be making such loud noises? Sonic didn't know, and despite the pain in his body, he started to grow nervous as he heard some scratches.
It's a weird word, but it was the best way to describe how it sounded. Now, what could it possibly be?
Lasers. Those were the only things that could make a skrrrahh sound. He felt his eyes opening at a slow pace, and that just made all the pain in his body multiply while the sound became clearer: it was both stomps and lasers. He finally managed to open his eyes but had a hard time adjusting his sight to the light. At first, he only saw something big and blurry, but as his sight adjusted, he felt his heart pumping quickly as his eyes widened.
Right in front, there was a giant robot with Eggman's face. But by giant, I mean 1700 feet taller, at least. It combined his distinctive red color with a bit of light blue and black. It also launched giant red lasers from its eyes, destroying everything on its way.
Sonic decided to stand up, and his whole body begged him to stop. However, he didn't yield and decided to keep moving anyway. If you're wondering how much it hurt, well, it was basically as if his skin was burning and his bones were cracked and destroyed into small pieces. Again, no bones were broken, but he could still feel the pain in his entire body.
Finally, he managed to stand completely up and check his surroundings: the environment was on fire, the ruble of the Brighthouse could be seen around, and the 7th Chaos Emerald was a few meters ahead of him. His mind was dizzy, and he still couldn't remember how he got into this situation or what was happening...
No, he did know what was going on: Eggman. He had done something bad, and now he was taking over Equestria.
"... I... need to..." Sonic said weakly as he took a step and then immediately fell to the ground in pain. "... g-get... that... Emerald..." he finished, standing up again and walking slowly towards the Chaos Emerald.
Then, the robot opened his head and grabbed something inside with his right hand. He threw it away as his head closed again and looked straight at Sonic.
The hedgehog didn't feel intimidated and kept walking towards the Emerald, limping. He held one arm in pain and groaned, but he never stopped watching the Emerald.
"Hey you! Yes, you are the one reading this. This is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog! And I'm pretty sure you have no idea what the actual fuck is going on, right? How do I end up like this? Where that giant robot with Egghead's face came from, why the Brighthouse seems destroyed, and how did we find the seventh Chaos Emerald..."
Sonic finally reached the Emerald and kneeled in defeat, then grabbed the powerful jewel carefully and looked at it with a little smile.
"Well, to answer all of your questions, I believe we should rewind to where everything began..."
The robot focused on Sonic and charged up the laser eyes, and then he shot them towards him.
In the skies of Equestria, Tails flew around at top speed, spinning his tails fast enough as the wind blew his fur, and he smiled excitedly.
Feel the passion ignite me Feel it burning inside me I won't let this life just pass me by
He then charged his electrical powers to give his shoes rockets. He then boosted through the sky, making loops in the air and twirling clouds around just for fun.
Gonna start a revolution Go by the name hero Take back control Yeah, here I go
After that, Tails swooped down with a smirk, and then, seconds before touching the ground, he boosted flying back as he broke the speed of sound in the air and flew all around Equestria.
Today I've gotta make a change Straight to the top, I'm on my way And I was meant for so much more And I found a dream worth fighting for
And nothing can stop me Nothing can stop me Nothing can stop me Nothing can stop me now Can stop me now
He finally reached his destination: Maretime Bay, where he currently lived in since neither he nor his friends had found all the Chaos Emeralds yet. But it didn't bother him at all. He liked Equestria a lot, that is. He had peace very often and even started his own business to give his new powers good use. Electronic Tails was doing great, and now he had his workshop to make his work easier. It was near Hitch's station, actually, and it was a yellow building both on the outside and the inside.
Even Sonic and Knuckles said they loved this land and wanted to stay if they could, but...
No. Don't think about that.
He decided to focus on the path towards Electronic Tails instead. Once he reached the door, he scanned his hand on the scanner so it could recognize his print and let him enter exclusively. He decided to use the scanner as the lock instead of a normal one to avoid robbery, and thankfully, it had worked so far.
"Time to get to work, then!" Tails told himself with a smile.
He grabbed his goggles and put them on his forehead, changed the 'Closed' sign to 'Open,' and prepared everything quickly. He smiled with pride at the place, ready to receive clients, as the door opened and the first client entered.
"Welcome to Electronic Tails!" Tails smiled. "So, what can I do for you?" he asked. However, once he realized who had entered the place, his smile became bigger. "Morning, Sonic!" he greeted his big brother.
"'Sup, Tails!" Sonic greeted back with a smile. "I hope I'm not coming on a bad moment," he said.
"Oh no, don't worry. I just opened it!" Tails explained. "I'm guessing you're not here just for talking, are you?" he asked with a smirk.
"I am," Sonic said with a smile, slightly confusing Tails. "Hey, don't tell me I can't visit my little brother now," he joked, grabbing Tails and rubbing his head with his fist while Tails just giggled.
"Stop!" Tails said in laughs. "I'm not saying that you can't, but... well, usually you don't show up here. Not that it bothers me! I mean, with the missing Chaos Emerald and Eggman still out there, waiting to attack at any moment now... I understand," he said with a sad smile.
"Hey, cheer up, bud!" Sonic said with a smile. "Eggman may be planning something, and the last Emerald is still missing; that's true, but for that, we have a clue Discord gave us, remember?" he said. Besides, I'm the one who gave the place to you as a present, remember?" he added with a smirk.
Tails blushed a bit in embarrassment and scratched his head. "Yeah... I forgot about that..." he confessed with a sheepish smile.
Sonic shook his head with a smirk and a fist on his hip. "Classic ol' Tails, I guess," he said with a smirk.
That made the two brothers laugh, and then they chit-chat normally.
Unknown to them, they were being watched by Misty, hiding behind one of the stock doors, listening to their conversation and gulping nervously, afraid they might accidentally discover her hiding and spying on them.
Useless.
That was the perfect word to describe everything he has done so far with the glyphs Metal Pipp sent months ago before she got destroyed. Everything he did was useless, and the fact that he barely understood the ancient language of the ponies back in the day didn't help either.
"This is beyond everything I know," Eggman muttered with frustration as he walked back and forth in his lab. "Nothing has worked: the translator, the glyph codes, the reinvention... not even Opaline knows the meaning of any of this!"
He then rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb from his right hand as he tried to think about what to do and where to go from there. So far, persuading Sonic and his friends hasn't worked. It didn't work in the cave, it didn't work in Winter Wishday, and it won't work in general. He was trying to be as patient as possible, but he was reaching a point where no patience was left.
"It's not that I need to find out what those glyphs mean ASAP, but there was an image of Opaline and those 'Mane 5'..." Eggman muttered again. "Even the Crystals Opaline wants to steal were on it, so it must mean something..."
He looked back at the computer and frowned. He still couldn't find a way to restore the death of Chaos Emerald, and he knew that, for his plan to succeed, he needed to steal the ones Team Sonic had. However, knowing that Opaline, the Mane 5, and even the Unity Crystals were part of the glyphs made him wonder if he or Team Sonic were part of it as well.
"Gosh, the things one has to do to get what it wants..." Eggman muttered with concern, and then he sighed. "A very, very small part of me hates the idea of betraying Opaline and Misty as well in the process of fulfilling my master plan... but sometimes, we must make some sacrifices to change the world," he stated, a bit more confident now.
While the idea of betraying Opaline sounded very easy at first, as time passed by and he interacted more with her and Misty, every time he remembered he would have to betray Opaline, and therefore Misty, a part of him felt he needed to think things twice before doing it. But another part of him, always shouting louder, told him to keep going. He already got this far, why regret now when he was so close to victory?
"Maybe I should go to attack Sonic and his friends to distract myself..." Eggman suggested to himself. "But they're already more alert because of my previous attacks so that the fight wouldn't last at all..." he pointed out. "Gosh, this is getting harder than it needs to be..." he complained. "But one thing, it's for sure... It doesn't matter how long it takes; I will decipher the meaning behind these glyphs. One way or another..." he stated with confidence.
So, Eggman turned around and walked out of his lab because he had a pending talk with Opaline after threatening her months ago.
Both Amy and Rouge were almost dying from a cold when they unexpectedly arrived in the snowy parts of Equestria, and the worst part was that they arrived during a blizzard.
After opening the portal to arrive into this land, they wandered around for at least 2 or 3 hours before finally finding a cave to stay. Using his Chaos Control, Shadow managed to stop time long enough for Rouge to make a fire, with Amy gathering some wooden planks. However, that fire wasn't enough to warm them, so Shadow left to look for more, and Omega went with him since he was a robot and couldn't feel anything.
"H-He's never going to admit it... b-but I bet he's f-freezing as much as us..." Rouge commented after a very long moment of silence.
"Y-You mean Shadow?" Amy asked as she rubbed her head, trying to warm up herself.
"H-He likes to play hard to get, b-but I know him well enough t-to know he's also freezing to death," Rouge said with a wide smile. "H-He's just out there for us..." she added.
"I-I guess in that aspect, he r-resembles Sonic," Amy said with a little smile. "T-Thinks on others first before taking care of himself, I mean," she said.
"I thought we were past that stage of comparing myself to Sonic," Shadow's voice said suddenly.
The two girls turned to the cave entrance and found Shadow and Omega. The former wore a black winter coat and some female winter clothes, while the latter carried more wooden planks.
"W-What took you so long?" Rouge asked with a mocking smirk.
"We were out for 20 minutes," Shadow said with a bored expression.
"Correction: We were out for 23 minutes and 45 seconds," Omega said as he walked towards the fire and placed the wooden planks on it, making it more alive.
Shadow then extended the winter clothes to Amy and Rouge, who didn't hesitate to take them and put them on. In Amy's case, it was a pink coat and a light blue scarf, while Rouge had a white and black coat with a grey winter hat.
"Oh, this is so much better!" Amy exclaimed, happy to finally feel a bit warm.
"Agreed," Rouge said with a smirk. "Where did you get these?" she asked Shadow, who lay on a wall with his arms crossed.
"It seems like Omega was more prepared for any kind of situation than us," Shadow simply replied.
"The chance for a climate situation like the current one was 27.3,%" Omega explained. "I was prepared for the current situation despite the low chances," he added.
"You could have saved us before you guys left, but thanks anyway!" Amy smiled.
"That's what I told him," Shadow said. "Anyways. Moving to more important stuff... we should leave once the storm has passed," he suggested, sitting in front of the fire as well.
"Again, agreed," Rouge said.
"I hope it passes out quickly," Amy said with worry. "The quickest we find them, the better."
"I know you're worried about them, Amy, but knowing those three, they're probably fine," Rouge commented.
"I hate to admit it, but it's true," Shadow confessed. "The doctor can't take them down so easily, no matter how hard he tries. "Yet, I feel they could need our help," he added, still showing a cold expression.
"So you are worried about them, huh?" Rouge said in a mocking tone.
"I don't want any more deaths," Shadow replied. "Not even from the faker," he confessed.
"It's currently 10:45 in the night," Omega said suddenly. "Climate analysis: should be clear by sunrise. Recommendation: rest to recharge energies for the awaiting journey," he said.
After that, he immediately entered resting mode, shutting down for what was left of the day.
"Well, you heard the robot," Shadow said.
"Nap time, huh?" Amy said as she yawned and put herself comfortably.
"Well, I'll see you in the morning, I guess," Rouge said, putting comfortable as well.
Shadow stood awake, however. When he was sure the girls had fallen asleep, he removed some blankets from Omega and covered them. Then, he walked towards the cave entrance, and even though there was still a blizzard, he could see the stars in the sky.
He wasn't a big fan of Sonic, and his relationship with him was complicated. They didn't hate each other, but it wasn't like they were besties either. As for Tails and Knuckles, he's pretty neutral about them. In his eyes, they're just another Sonic, but one is way smarter and can fly, while the other has super strength but gets easily angry.
And yet, just like he said before, he didn't care how much it would take. He was done with deaths, and he was done losing people, even if they were not what he could consider his friends.
"Wherever you are, guys... we'll find you," Shadow muttered with a confident look. "Whatever it takes..." he added before returning to the cave.
That's everything that could be heard all around Green Hills.
The ceremony of the Hedgehogs, which was celebrated each time the leader's descendant was born, was abruptly interrupted by several missiles from the sky and giant machines that started attacking them without reason.
Bernadette Hedgehog, or Bernie for short, was running away with her husband, Jules Hedgehog. She was a light blue hedgehog with a blonde fringe, purple eyes, and a green dress, while her husband was a dark blue hedgehog with green eyes. Bernie was also carrying their recently born baby in her right arm while she grabbed Jules' hand with her free one.
They were with seven Hedgehogs who served as guards and an Owl lady who flew above them to monitor Jules and Bernie, the hedgehog leaders.
However, several robots with the Gamma symbol on the left shoulder, also wearing a flamethrower as a right arm, surrounded the Hedgehogs and pointed at them.
"In the name of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, we order you to hand over the Chaos Emerald and surrender immediately," one of the robots said.
Bernie immediately grabbed the baby and held him close to her chest, frightened. Jules frowned and made some electrical power appear around his body. Then, stepping in front of Bernie, the other hedgehogs stood at his side, ready to fight back the machines.
Suddenly, a spear traversed one of the robots, and the Owl lady from before grabbed it. She then began to destroy some of the robots as she moved elegantly, dodging the robots' attacks and destroying them by swinging her spear around.
Soon enough, Jules joined her by curling into a ball and launching himself against the robots, stomping in their heads to destroy them and using his electrical powers to punch and deactivate them. The rest of the hedgehogs, minus Bernie, joined their leader and the Owl lady, using the spears they had gracefully as they destroyed the machines.
Once the entirety of the machines were destroyed, Jules approached the Owl lady with a smirk. "Took you long enough to join the party... Longclaw," he said in a mocking tone.
"What can I say? I love a dramatic entrance," Longclaw replied with a smirk.
But at that moment, Jules was shot in his right elbow, and he groaned in pain.
They all turned to see where the shot came from. They saw a bunch of machines and robots that looked like bugs moving towards them. Some hedgehogs and owls fought against them, but the robots were winning.
Jules groaned in anger, and then he turned to see the other hedgehogs. "Go bring them help to fight those things and TAKE THEM DOWN!!!" he ordered.
"SIR, YES, SIR!" the hedgehogs replied before grabbing their spears and running towards the machines to get rid of them.
"I-I don't understand..." Bernie said with a cracked voice. "What did we do wrong? What does this guy want?" she questioned with sadness.
Longclaw went and gave Bernie a comforting hug, being careful not to hurt the baby.
"This Robotnik guy... That thing said he wants the Chaos Emerald," Jules said, extending his hand and making a blue emerald appear. "He attacked our village and burned it down... everything for this thing... The other Emeralds spread around after they showed us our son had been chosen––" he tried to add.
But then, a red point got on his head, and he was about to be shot by one of the robots with the Gamma symbol if it wasn't for Longclaw, who used the spear to move the attack again. Then, she quickly snatched the Chaos Emerald from Jules' hand and pointed it at the robot.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" Longclaw shouted. Then, a massive light blue laser traversed the robot's chest, shutting it down as the machine fell to the ground with a loud clank.
Jules and Bernie decided to run away once again while Longclaw followed close behind. Then Jules turned to see his people being murdered by the machines and losing the battle against Robotnik, who appeared in a round flying cabin with a sinister smile as he saw the hedgehogs falling before his machines.
Jules frowned and groaned, stopping immediately. This confused Bernie and Longclaw, who stopped and turned to see him.
Jules moved towards them and looked at Longclaw with a frown, but his eyes showed worry. "Listen to me: I need you to take Bernie and my son away. Really, really far away from here," he instructed.
"What?!" both Longclaw and Bernie exclaimed in disbelief.
"This guy won't stop until he gets what he's looking for, but I won't allow him to get it. Take the Emerald with them and run away!" he instructed again before turning around and boosting towards the battle area at supersonic speed.
Bernie frowned, and she turned to Longclaw. "I won't run away from this fight. Not anymore," she said with a determined look.
"You two are meant for each other... you are equally crazy!" Longclaw shouted in anger and worry.
"Longclaw, that guy destroyed our home, our ceremony, and if he finds out about our son and his destiny, I know he'll try to get him as well," Bernie replied with concern. "My husband thinks he can always have all the fun in fighting, but he forgets that I was also trained to defend our people... and right now, that's what I need to do," she stated again.
"But leaving your son behind? Isn't that something cruel to do? Leaving your son as an orphan to fight a battle, you might not come back alive?!" Longclaw shouted, desperate, now fighting the urge to cry.
"Don't think I'm happy with this... but it is what must be done," Bernie replied. "Longclaw... the Chaos Emeralds choose him. You saw it with your own eyes! But he's not only destined to defeat the enemy that wiped out our ancestor's home in Equis so long ago, he's destined to do greater things... I know it!" she explained with a proud smile as he looked lovely at her sleeping son in her arms. "I've had visions... dreams where he's all grown up. He's just as handsome as his father... and he overcomes many tasks and defeats bigger foes. He's more than a chosen one to destroy our ancestors' enemy... he's been chosen to be a real hero," she finished with a smile.
Then, she carefully extended her baby to Longclaw, who hesitated before extending her arms and grabbing the little blue hedgehog. The hedgehog seemed very pleasant in his sleep. Longclaw unconsciously smiled at the sight before looking back at Bernie with an anxious expression.
"Please..." Bernie said before Longclaw could. Take care of him. Make sure he becomes a strong man... and if you have to lie about our fate, then do it. Don't tell him about his past until he arrives in Equestria, and don't teach him anything about our people's culture. Just raise him as a normal child, please..." she begged with sad tears.
After hearing all of that, Longclaw felt a lump in her throat. Finally, she released her tears of pain before embracing Bernie in another hug. Bernie returned the gesture, and they were careful not to wake the baby.
"I-I'll take care of him as if he was my child... I promise..." Longclaw replied with a sad tone. "B-But you better get out alive of this, you idiot," she added in tears to her best friend.
"I-I'll do the best I can, girl," Bernie replied with a sad smile, letting her tears fall.
Once they had broken the hug, Bernie dried her tears and looked at the battle area, frowning. She then moved towards the place to help her husband and the other hedgehogs fight Robotnik's machines while Longclaw sighed in sadness before running away, now carrying a baby in her arms.
However, as she ran through a forest, she saw a massive ship in the sky and noticed two things: first, it had a giant symbol that seemed exactly like Robotnik's face, and second, 10 giant cannons appeared and pointed at a specific area.
She realized, too late, where those cannons were pointing. It was already too late when all the cannons shot massive purple lasers at the area, and after 10 seconds, they stopped.
Longclaw felt the entire world around, stopping for a second, and she ended up kneeling on the ground. Her lips started to tremble, her eyes showed pure pain, and her cheeks became wet because of the tears falling from her eyes.
Her best friend, her husband, probably 90% of the hedgehogs, and some of her people were brutally killed, turned to dust, and reduced to nothing by a massive group of lasers.
She closed her eyes and hugged the infant in her arms in search of comfort, but the fact that the child was her best friend's son only made her feel worse. She stood in there for a few seconds, just crying about the loss of her friend in the middle of the forest.
"Longclaw..."
Suddenly, she heard a voice. It was distant... but calming.
She slowly opened her eyes and began to look around, searching for the source of the voice. Then, she noticed that her scarf was emitting a blue glow.
She took out the Blue Chaos Emerald and looked at it, confused. Then, the voice spoke again, and she noticed it came from the Emerald.
"Longclaw..."
It was clear this time, and she could swear the Emerald was calling her.
"Longclaw..." the voice on the Emerald finally said clearly.
"Huh?" Longclaw exclaimed, leaning her head, confused.
Suddenly, she heard giggles on her knees and lowered her eyes to see the baby she had promised to care for smiling brightly and giggling in his sleep.
That made her feel something warm in her heart, and she unconsciously smiled at the little hedgehog, using her free hand to caress his head.
"Hope..." The voice in the Emerald suddenly spoke again. "He... will bring... hope..." the voice added before fading away and recovering a more casual glow.
Longclaw couldn't understand the message, but she guessed Emerald was talking about the baby, which made her smile again.
She put the Emerald down her scarf again, grabbed the baby, and stood up. Then, slowly, she walked away and smiled softly at the little hedgehog.
"I guess it's only you and me now... Sonic," Longclaw said to the baby.
And so, she walked out of the forest, searching for a new home to rise and take care of this little hedgehog... to take care of Sonic the Hedgehog...
Maretime Bay - Present Day
Sonic was resting on his bed, looking at the ceiling with a concerned expression.
Since he and the others stopped Discord from destroying magic, he's been trying to find the meaning behind Discord's clue about the remaining Chaos Emerald... the Light Blue one.
He had a special connection with Emerald because it was his first one. Longclaw had Emerald with her, and she always said that Emerald was one of the reasons she could save him from being killed by the Eggman robots that attacked their home and were chasing them.
Ever since, Sonic always tried to get that Emerald as fast as he could, but now, he had no idea where it could be, and if all the Emeralds had the same fate once they arrived in Equestria, then the Emerald was pretty much out of energy.
"Gosh... this is so lame and frustrating..." Sonic said with concern, now sitting at the edge of his bed. "The Emerald is in Equestria... but it isn't at the same time... How can something be there and not all the same?" he questioned with a frown. "Dang it... I could call Discord and make him spill the beans, but it didn't work when he was convinced magic needed to go. Why would he be different now that he sees that magic is necessary?" he pointed out.
After thinking over the riddle repeatedly, he still got nothing and groaned in frustration, so he rubbed his eyes with one hand and decided to get out of the Brighthouse.
"I'm gonna take a run. Maybe that'll help clear the ideas," Sonic said with a bored expression.
However, as he exited from his bed, Tails quickly rushed in with a huge smile.
"Sonic, Sonic, Sonic!" Tails called out with a huge smile as he rushed right before him. "You would never believe what I found!" he stated excitedly.
Sonic was about to ask what he had found, but Tails didn't even give him time to ask because the fox suddenly dragged him downstairs.
Once they were down in the living room, Sonic was surprised when he saw a big box on a table that said 'Sonic Team Games,' while Knuckles seemed to be looking at the cover of two games inside the box.
"Are those... what I think they are?" Sonic asked with a gasp as a smile grew on his face.
"You mean the insane amount of games based on our adventures? You bet they are!" Knuckles replied, smiling and showing the two games he was holding.
The one on his right hand was called 'Sonic & Knuckles,' while the one on his left had 'Knuckles' Chaotix' as the title.
"No fucking way... NO FUCKING WAY!!!" Sonic shouted in excitement. "Also, this story is rated T, so you're free to curse if you want, Knucklehead," he muttered to him with a smirk.
"OH, FUCK YEAH!" Knuckles cheered with a victorious smile.
Then, the hedgehog zoomed near the box and started to dig in, pulling out two games: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
"How did this stuff get in here?" Sonic asked, confused, although still smiling.
"I guess it's one of the several things that got dragged by the portal when Knuckles and I arrived," Tails guessed. "Although I found the box in the basement, I wonder why it ended up in the bedroom instead of with my stuff. " He rubbed his chin in thought.
"Well, figure it out later!" Knuckles said he brought a Gamecube, a Switch, an Xbox 360, and a PS4. Then, he connected the Gamecube to the living room's TV. "So, are we gonna make some bets in 'Adventure 2: Battle' or what?!" he asked with a smirk to the other two.
Sonic and Tails looked at each other momentarily before smiling with huge grins and looking back at Knuckles.
"Depends on how much you're putting in the line, Knucklehead!" Sonic stated.
Several hours passed, and Team Sonic spent the entire day betting on multiple games.
It all started with 'Sonic Adventure 2: Battle', switching between Sonic/Shadow's gameplay, Tails/Eggman's, and Knuckles/Rouge's gameplay.
After that, they switched to Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, which, due to its bugs and glitches, made things much more interesting and funnier.
Then, they played Sonic Heroes with Team Sonic and Team Dark, which made things very funny for the trio.
Finally, the three of them were currently playing 'Team Sonic Racing,' with Sonic and Knuckles playing on separate Switches, while Tails used the TV to play there. Of course, they were all playing as themselves as they raced against Team Dark and Team Eggman in their current game.
Soon enough, the Mane 5 and Sparky entered the Brighthouse, still not noticing that Team Sonic's been here the entire day.
"Ugh! Finally! The day's over!" Pipp said with a tired expression. "You have no idea how full Mane Melody was today!" she exclaimed with a groan.
"I do because they all went to my stand afterward... I'm already out of fruits, and the next delivery won't be here until Monday!" Sunny said with concern and a tired expression.
"Well, Zipp, Sparky, and I surely had a rough time finding all the bunnies of Eggmund..." Hitch said with a tired expression.
"We had to chase 16 bunnies the whole day!" Zipp exclaimed with a frown. "I seriously do not want the next Easter season to arrive this time," she confessed.
"And I didn't finish my unicycling project this time!" Izzy groaned. "Now the client will be upset because I didn't deliver on time," she complained.
"Well, at least we're finally home!" Sunny pointed out with a smile. "We can finally take a break from such a long and tired day––" she tried to add, but...
"OH, COME ON!!!" Sonic's voice shouted in anger.
"Seriously?!" Tails complained aloud as well.
"Fan-fucking-tastic!" Knuckles groaned, too, with a frown.
The Mane 5 and Sparky looked at each other confusedly before gazing at the living room. There, they saw Sonic and Knuckles sitting on different couches while Tails was sitting on the floor and frowning at the TV screen.
It seemed like Team Eggman won the race; of course, they were upset.
Then, Sonic got up from his seat, pulled out his wallet, and walked towards a table with two jars. One was halfway full of money from won bets, while the other was full of lost bets.
Sonic madly took out 10 bucks and placed them in the jar for loose bets. Then, Tails arrived and did the same thing more politely but frowning. Finally, Knuckles also placed some money before returning to the couch, where she crossed his arms madly.
"I can't believe we still have to deal with Eggman's shit, even in video games!" Knuckles complained.
"At least the only thing he has won is a race in a video game... and that time he took over the world for 6 months, but eh. Details..." Sonic said with a bored expression.
"At this rate, we're gonna run out of money..." Tails pointed out with anger. "... Wanna bet 2 out of 3 in Smash Bros.?" he asked suddenly, smirking again.
"Oh, it's on!" Sonic stated with a smirk, and Knuckles grinned as well.
However, a throat cleared behind, and Team Sonic looked behind the couch, with Tails only popping his head as he approached the couch.
"Um... Hey there, guys!" Pipp said nervously while Sunny and Hitch raised eyebrows. Izzy smiled as usual, and Zipp looked bored. "If it's not such a bother, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Oh, hey, guys! Didn't see ya there!" Sonic greeted with a smile as well. "Don't mind us; we're just having fun playing some games and betting!" he explained.
"Your games?" Sunny asked, confused. The moment she took one step, she noticed her hoof touched something.
Looking down, she picked up a box and saw the cover, to tilt her head with extreme confusion when she saw Sonic running through a forest while his name was printed before him.
"Uh... what the buck..." Sunny muttered, confused, but Sonic snatched the game from her hands.
"Oh, uh... That's a pretty bad one... Just ignore it," Sonic said with a sheepish smile before throwing the game backward as it landed on a crusher and was completely crushed.
"...How bad is that game that you had to crush?" Hitch asked with a shocked look.
The horror time is over; let's get back to the story...
Sonic shivered and cringed at the memory, even pulling out his tongue and shaking his head.
"That... thing... still haunts my nightmares..." Sonic said with anxiety.
The Mane 5, on the other hand, felt traumatized by the idea of a human teenage girl kissing a literally dead anthropomorphic hedgehog.
Pipp even had to cover her mouth to not poke at the thought, especially considering she has kissed Sonic... 2 times already.
"Yeah... I... I didn't want to see that... not even in my mind..." Zipp confessed.
"Wait, stop it, hang on!" Izzy said suddenly. "Why do all these games have your name and face on them, Sonic?" she asked, pointing at all the different games spread in the living room, like 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' 'Sonic Unleashed,' 'Sonic Generations, and even Spin-offs like 'Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games' or 'Super Smash Bros. Brawl.'
"Because they're literally based on my life!" Sonic replied with a huge smirk. "Pretty neat, right?" he questioned with a wink.
After Sonic said that, the Mane 5 stared confusedly at Sonic, and Izzy tilted her head.
"I'm sorry, they're what now?" Zipp questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, here's the full picture..." Sonic stated. "After 10 or 11 years of saving everyone's butts from Eggman, a small group of people started to interview me and my friends about our first adventures ever..." he began to explain.
"It resulted in them wanting to create games based on our adventures to show their gratitude!" Tails continued. "And so, 'Sonic Team' was founded to create games inspired by our battles against Eggman!" he explained with a smile.
"The years passed, and more games came out," Knuckles explained. "Some are good, some are bad, some are weird... But there's something for everyone! And we get paid 30% of the money gained, but eh. Details," he added with a smirk.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hitch exclaimed, raising his hoof in surprise. "So... all these games... Are based on your lives?!" he asked in shock.
"Well, not all of them. Just the more epic and important ones!" Sonic pointed out.
"...Dudes, you seriously just keep impressing me..." Zipp said with a little smirk.
"This is so awesome!" Izzy exclaimed with a cheerful tone and smile.
"Why didn't you guys tell us about this?!" Sunny asked with a little smile as she picked up a game called 'Sonic Colors.'
"The box with the games ended up in the basement instead of with my stuff..." Tails explained. "I still don't understand why, but I don't think I should worry much about this.
"Okay... but why is this game marked as 'Don't you dare even to touch me'?" Izzy questioned as she lifted a box with a cover that said 'Sonic Forces.'
"Oh, that piece of shit?" Knuckles asked with a frown. "We told them all the tragedies and atrocities we endured when Eggman created Infinite and took over the world for 6 months... But apparently, 'iT dIdN't aPpLiEd FoR tHe KiDs,' so they turned us all into a stupid joke..." he explained angrily.
"The only thing they decided to keep was me being a coward when Chaos 1 appeared," Tails complained. "They got rid of everything but that!" he screamed angrily.
"Also, they dragged back my past self and made him pointless... which isn't so far from what happened, to be honest, but it is still lame..." Sonic complained as well with a bored expression.
Then, Pipp lifted a game that showed Sonic when he was younger. His name was printed on the front, but she noticed something behind it.
When she took the thing behind the box, she saw it was a picture... and she gasped a bit when seeing it.
"Hey, Blue Star..." Pipp called out, and Sonic turned to face her. "I found this behind the box," she explained.
The pegasus extended the picture to her crush, and Sonic carefully took it from her. It showed Longclaw smiling with closed eyes, embracing a much younger Sonic in her arms. Sonic giggled at his mother figure's gesture.
Sonic's eyes got nostalgic, and he smiled at the sight of Longclaw's smile.
"What is it?" Sunny asked curiously.
"It's... a picture I took with Longclaw as a kid," Sonic pointed out with a smirk. "I think this was after my very first adventure. Back then, I hadn't met Tails or Knuckles yet... It was only Longclaw and I. She was my only family... after my parents ditched me when I was a baby," he explained with a sad expression.
Everyone but Sunny, Tails, and Knuckles gasped at his last words.
"Y-Your actual parents got rid of you?!" Zipp asked in disbelief.
"Just like that?!" Pipp asked as well.
"T-They just... threw you away and left? What the heck is wrong with them?!" Hitch questioned in disbelief as well.
"I don't know... and honestly don't care," Sonic replied coldly. "Longclaw just told me that one night I asked her about it. After that, I never asked for them again," he explained. "But it doesn't matter. Longclaw is my mother, biological or not. She always showed me the right path to follow... I guess she's the very reason I'm here talking with all of you today," he added with a smile.
"Wait! Hold on!" Zipp said suddenly. "You know, I just realized... we are a month away from celebrating the first time we met, and yet, we never heard about your first adventure! Nor how you met Tails and Knuckles!" she pointed out.
"I... I haven't?" Sonic asked, very confused since he could swear he had told them that already.
"Actually... Zipp is right!" Pipp realized it as well. "We've known each other for almost a year, and yet you haven't told us any of that!" she pointed out, flying over him, Tails and Knuckles.
"Hey! You're right! I don't recall you telling us that, either," Hitch added.
"That's... weird..." Sonic replied. "I'm pretty sure I already told you guys that... or was it just my imagination?" he questioned with concern.
"Probably... But I think it wouldn't be bad to hear that story, either," Sunny stated with a smile.
Sonic smirked and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. "You guys won't leave me alone until I tell that story, will you?" he asked rhetorically. Of course, the rest denied it, so he sighed in defeat and smiled at them. "All right, then! I'll tell you about my first adventures and how I met these two," he said, patting Tails and Knuckles' backs with a smirk.
The others cheered while Izzy said, "Story time!". Then, Team Sonic quickly cleaned the living room so they could tell the story there. Once the place was clean and the games were back in the box, the Mane 5 sins Izzy put comfortably in the couches while Tails, Knuckles, and Izzy sat on the floor, with the latter resting on Knuckles' crossed legs like a cat.
Later, Sonic brought a red beanbag chair and put it in front of the rest before putting it himself comfortably and looking at the rest as he thought carefully about how to start the story.
"Alright, let's see..." Sonic said, rubbing his chin with a hand. "Where can I even start?" he questioned, thinking on the subject before finally finding the proper words. "Now that I think about it, the best way to start this story is talking about my home... no, not Mobius... I'm talking about the place I used to live on South Island... I'm talking about Green Hills..." he said with a nostalgic look...
Green Hills - 21 Years Ago...
"My home could be described, ironically, as a beautiful group of green-ish hills with the must abundant wildlife in South Island" Sonic began to narrate.
He imagined many palm trees across Green Hills, moving around and playing happily.
"It's always been a really quiet and nice place to live," Sonic kept narrating. "It has everything you could ask for: sandy beaches, cascading waterfalls, beautiful sights to the sunrise and sundowns... Heck, even public access to loop-de-loops!" he added with joy.
He pictured several of Green Hill's beaches, with peckies and rockies moving and swimming around happily.
"But my favorite part of all Green Hills? It's gigantic, spacious, it's perfect! Perfect... to run free and be one with the wind!" Sonic narrated with a cheerful tone.
And so, a blue blur can be seen, running around Green Hills as he giggles and cheers, moving around the animals that get startled by the sudden blue blur passing by. Said blur ran through one of the loop-de-loops, and then he ran over a small bridge that suddenly broke and fell to the ocean.
The image zooms to the blue blur, and we see a much younger Sonic with light blue skin, entirely black eyes, and boots that he rolled down to look like speed shoes. He was running across Green Hills at supersonic speed, with his fists in front of his body and his iconic smirk.
"Ever since I was a kid, discovering I had super speed was the best thing to happen to me!" Sonic continued narrating. "Running around to go wherever you want and do whatever you want with the only condition being to be back at home in time for dinner? Heck, count me in! And with my powers, returning home was a breeze! Just a little blue ball with super speed running around in an extremely handsome package!" he added confidently. "But unfortunately, that peace I mentioned didn't last forever..." he added with a serious tone.
As Sonic kept running around Green Hills, he saw some robotic red bug with a blue face, silver metallic 'arms,' and a wheel to move around, trying to catch two helpless flickies that flew and moved away from it. He also saw a blue robotic bug flying and chasing two flickies.
He was surprised and mad at the robot's actions, so he approached it. He curled into a ball, then jumped over it, smashing it hard enough to destroy it in thousands of pieces and free a flicky trapped inside.
The flicky fell to the ground, a bit dizzy at first, but it shook its head before looking around and stopping its sight in Sonic.
"Are you okay, little fella?" Sonic asked them with concern. The flicky shook their heads in negation, now flying and chirping desperately. Hey, calm down, buddy! What happened?!" Sonic said with worry.
Instead of replying with words (since they couldn't talk), the flicky pointed with their wings at some big capsules in the sky, being carried by more flying robotic bugs. Inside said capsules, many animals from Green Hills were captured, and they seemed desperate, trying to escape their prison.
"What the––" Sonic exclaimed with a frown. "Who's doing this?!" he screamed in anger, also closing his hands in fists.
And then, right in front of the capsules, a floating vehicle came, with a fat man piloting it and laughing sinisterly at his accomplishment. This guy had black pants with two shite buttons a red shirt with long sleeves, white gloves, some yellow scarf, glasses and a big and long mustache.
"Come on, my badniks!" the man said with an evil grin. It is time we took over the world!" he said before flying away from the vehicle. The flying bugs, or as he called them, the badniks, followed, carrying the capsules with the animals.
Sonic saw this with concern. Then, some of the remaining critters who managed to escape from the man's badniks came out of their hideouts and approached Sonic, jumping and making desperate sounds, asking for his help to save the rest of their friends.
"Geez, little guys..." Sonic said with a worried expression, also scratching his neck nervously. "I-I understand you lost your friends, and I wish I could help... I-I do! But I cannot go... Longclaw will kill me if I even think about it––" he tried to point out, but...
All the critters around him made sad puppy eyes and begged him to help. Sonic felt his heart melt at the sad looks of the animals, and now his mind was conflicted...
"Back then, and even if I was just 5, Longclaw only had two rules: never go beyond Green Hills, and never get late for dinner. I was free of doing anything beyond those things," Sonic narrated, while his younger self looked at his hands with conflicted thoughts. "That day, however... some spark ignited inside me. He added a flame I never felt before while the younger Sonic closed his eyes and looked at the guy and his robots in the distance with a smirk. "And so, for the first time in my short life at the time, I did what any kid at that age will do if they're told not to do something: I did the exact opposite!" he ended.
The younger Sonic was positioned to run before boosting through some palm trees and following the mysterious man with a mustache.
As Sonic ran through Green Hills, he found several more of these badniks created by the man.
As he crashed against them, curled into a ball, they all let go of the trapped animals. Sonic frowned as he kept running around Green Hills.
He collected many floating golden rings that he decided to call 'Stamina Rings' for two reasons: first, after he touched them, they turned into golden dust and seemed to enter his body; second, once, he crashed by accident against a badnik without seeing it before. Instead of destroying the robot, he was sent backward, and all the rings he collected fell from his body.
He felt very confused, but before he could even question what had happened, the rings began to glitch as if they were about to disappear. Sonic quickly ran and collected as many rings as he could, but from the 64 rings he originally collected, he only managed to recover 20.
He groaned in frustration, stomped his foot on the ground madly, sighed before looking bored, and then boosted to keep going.
After running through more loop-de-loops, defeating more badniks, collecting more rings, and saving more animals, Sonic reached a point where he made a sign with the mystery guy's face spinning until it stopped. Now, it shows his face smiling, with a hand making the 'peace' symbol.
He smiled, as this meant that, at least for now, the first zone of Green Hills was clear and free of badniks.
However, he heard the sound of something opening above him, and when he looked upwards, he gasped when a golden and giant ring portal opened up.
"A warp ring?!" Sonic exclaimed in amazement. "But I thought Longclaw was the only one capable of doing them! Huh..." he added, looking better at what was on the other side of said portal. "I... never seen that place before... better go and check it out!" he stated with a smirk before jumping through the portal, which closed soon afterward.
Sonic landed on a purple floating platform, and his eyes sparkled at the sight:
Whatever this place was, it was some infinite void that changed colors. A giant pinball machine below him seemed to have something in the middle of it—a blue emerald floating there.
"A Chaos Emerald?!" Sonic said with surprise, excitement, and confusion. "But I thought they could only be recovered by treasure hunting around South Island!" he added with a smile... that faded once he realized something. "Hang on! What if... What if this guy is searching the Chaos Emeralds? Maybe that's why he's kidnapping all those poor animals! He wants to use those badniks to find the Emeralds! And if he's looking for the Chaos Emeralds... he cannot be planning anything good!" he concluded with a frown.
Without thinking about it, Sonic curled into a ball and jumped over the pinball machines, working as the ball began to move around as he tried to reach the Chaos Emerald.
After trying it for a while, he finally managed to reach the Emerald, but once his body made contact with it, the Emerald entered him, and then the entire world started to spin around. The next thing he knew? Everything was covered by a flash of light that blinded him...
Once his vision was restored, he realized he had gotten back to Green Hills, right in front of the end of the first act of Green Hill Zone, since the spinning sign with his face was behind him.
Suddenly, he felt something on his quills, and once he extended his hand to reach them, he took out the Blue Chaos Emerald, which shone brightly on his hand.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed in awe. "It's not the first time I've seen a Chaos Emerald in person, but... even closer, they still look pretty," he said with a smile before shaking his head and focusing back on the task. "Now's not the time, Sonic! You need to save those animals from this guy! And maybe I should also collect the Chaos Emeralds before he can even find one," he stated with a determinate look, then he boosted towards the next act.
After completing the second act and getting the Yellow Chaos Emerald, Sonic passed with no problem through the third and final act of Green Hills.
However, there was no spinning sign at the end of the third act. Instead, he saw two floating platforms at a distance while the mystery guy stood on his flying vehicle, supervising one of the capsules with animals placed by the badniks just a few meters away.
"Hey!" Sonic shouted, carrying the destroyed bodies of two badniks with him.
After hearing Sonic's call, the man could not turn around. The two badniks hit his vehicle because Sonic had decided to throw them.
The man struggled a bit to control his vehicle before finally stopping it from spinning around because of the sudden attack. Once he saw who attacked him, he frowned, and Sonic frowned back at him.
"What the–– Who's this?!" the man said angrily.
"I was going to ask the same damn question!" Sonic replied madly. "Can you explain to me why you are kidnapping animals and messing with the wildlife here?!" he demanded an answer.
"That's none of your business, rodent!" the man replied angrily.
However, something on the vehicle made a bip sound and showed a red light. When the man pressed some buttons to check out what was happening, his eyes widened in panic: all the badniks he had sent around Green Hills were destroyed.
"W-WHAT?! HOW?!" the man shouted in shock and anger.
"That's what happens when you mess with my home's wildlife, old man!" Sonic replied with a confident smirk, also crossing his arms. "Now, there are two ways we can define this: one, you let go of all the animals of Green Hills, leave this place, and never come back! Or two, a 5-year-old hedgehog kicks your butt! Choose a cheap copy of Super Mario wisely!" he warned, smashing his fist against his palm.
"Oh, my God!" the guy laughed. Do you think I'm scared of a kid?! Do you even know who I am?" he asked with an evil grin.
"I don't know. Some dude with a wacky clown costume, glasses, and flying egg?" Sonic mocked up.
"You insolent little mice!" the man said angrily, smashing his flying vehicle with a hand. "I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and soon, the power of the Chaos Emeralds will be mine! And once I have the 7 of them, the entire world will be in the palm of my hand! And everything and everyone will look... like me!" he stated before laughing maniacally.
"You mean, like a bunch of weirdos with an egg-shaped head, a big belly, and a very ugly mustache? Because if that's the case, thank you, but I'm fine like this," Sonic kept mocking up.
"You better watch your mouth, kid, or the consequences of your disrespect will be deadly!" Robotnik warned with a frown.
"Ooh, I am so scared!" Sonic mocked up again before chuckling and placing his fists on his hips. "You're not intimidating at all! You are goofy looking!" he mocked, and Robotnik grew angry. "Speaking of goofy, 'Dr. Robotnik' doesn't suit you at all. I think you need something more proper and fitting... Oh, oh! How about Dr. Eggman? You know, because your head is shaped like an egg, body, and flying machine..." he said.
"UGH! THAT'S IT!" Robotnik shouted angrily before smashing a button on his vehicle with his fist.
Soon enough, the lower part of the vehicle opened, and a massive wrecking ball came down and smashed the floor.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed, surprised and confused at the sudden wrecking ball appearance.
The wrecking ball lifted a bit before stopping, and Robotnik smirked at his vehicle. "Not so brave anymore now, are you?" he asked with an evil grin.
However, Sonic just frowned and positioned to run and fight simultaneously. "Bring it on, Eggman!" he challenged with a determinate look.
Robotnik smirked, and then he started to move his vehicle towards the little hedgehog.
Sonic smirked back, then curled into a ball again before launching his body against the machine, dodging the wrecking ball. After that, Sonic landed on one of the floating platforms, then jumped and made the same move once Robotnik turned his vehicle around.
Sonic and Robotnik kept going with this same 'dance,' although Sonic got punched a few times by the wrecking ball, losing all the rings he collected in the third act, to the point he only got one ring remaining. And yet, he still defeated Robotnik anyway.
"NO!" Robotnik shouted with a frown in anger as the wrecking ball fell from his vehicle and destroyed itself on the ground. "This is impossible! H-How did you defeat my Eggmobile's most recent upgrade?!" he questioned in disbelief and anger.
Sonic, however, busted out laughing, which made Robotnik even madder. "No way! Your flying machine is called Eggmobile!?! Man, you complain that I call you Eggman, but it suits you better than Robotnik if you call you stuff starting with 'egg'!" he pointed out with a mocking smirk.
"You insolent! Who do you think you are?!" Robotnik shouted in anger, smashing his 'Eggmobile' with his fist.
"I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog! And you will leave my home right now and free those animals, or else!" Sonic warned with a dangerous look, even for a kid.
"Ha! Keep dreaming, hedgehog!" Robotnik said with a smirk. "My Empire will rise eventually, and nothing you say or do it is gonna––" he tried to add. Still, his Eggmobile began to get smashed by Sonic, who curled into a ball and moved quickly against the vehicle until he sent Robotnik flying backward.
"That's my first and last warning, Eggman!" Sonic said with a frown. "Leave!" he shouted.
Robotnik groaned in frustration before moving his Eggmobile quickly to elevate and boost away. "This isn't the last time you'll hear of me, rodent!" he shouted angrily before disappearing in the distance.
Sonic nodded with a smile. Then, he destroyed the two badniks around the capsule before standing on the button at the top, freeing all the animals trapped inside.
The animals on the capsule escaped, and once Sonic landed, they surrounded him. The animals hugged and nuzzled him happily and gratefully.
"Hey! That tickles!" Sonic said with a smile. But then he noticed that the animals were not as much as he thought they would be, meaning more animals were still trapped. He also had the bad feeling that Robotnik had probably kidnapped animals from other zones on South Island. He frowned, looked at the path he had already walked, and then looked back in the direction where Robotnik escaped before sighing. "I'm sorry, Longclaw... but I have the power to help these animals, and I won't sit and wait for a miracle to stop this guy!" he stated.
After that, he broke the first of Longclaw's rules and got away from Green Hills.
Now, we have a montage of Sonic passing through the next stages.
First, he moved over Marble Zone, dodging the falling bricks of the temple and almost falling into the lava at one point, but successfully regaining his composure in time before getting past the spinning sign and then getting inside another warp ring that took him back to the 'Void World,' as he decided to name the place with the pinball machine and the Chaos Emeralds.
Then, in the final act of Marble, he defeated Robotnik once again before freeing the animals trapped in the capsule of the said zone.
Sonic moved through Spring Yard Zone now.
Things should be easy with four Emeralds on his quills and 58 rings in his pocket.
Well, not when there's a badnik designed to curl into a ball and try to smash you every time you take a step. He still managed to defeat the machine, losing half of the rings he collected in the process, but details.
At the end of the second act, Sonic enters the Void World and comes out soon afterward with the final Chaos Emerald, having collected the six since the remaining one was with Longclaw back in Green Hills.
Then, he arrived at the third act of Spring Yard Zone and defeated Robotnik again.
As in the previous zones, he freed the animals in the capsule and then boosted toward the next act.
He repeated the process in the Labyrinth Zone, defeating Robotnik's machine and freeing the captured animals.
He did the same in the next place, Star Light Zone, and after defeating Robotnik's robot, he went to free the animals captured.
However, in this place, behind him, a door closed, and while he felt startled at first, he put on a serious expression, looking around him carefully and walking on with his guard up.
"You know, Sonic..." Robotnik's voice was heard... but it didn't come from speakers, meaning he was in the same room as Sonic. "I gotta admit that I'm impressed over you," he confessed.
Sonic snorted as he kept walking while looking around with his guard up. "I'm not surprised about that. People say I'm a wonderful person! To the point, even an egghead like you agrees!" he mocked up.
"Let me explain myself better: I'm impressed... that you have nuts the size of a soccer ball to come here and challenge me!" Robotnik corrected himself.
Sonic stopped moving, placed his fists on his hips, and began to tap the floor, desperately. "Well, I've been told they're pretty big for a child," he replied confidently.
But then, something, some kind of sixth sense, spoke in his head and shouted, 'Look out!'. So, flipped backward, just in time since some kind of crusher almost killed him. The worst part was that he managed to see Robotnik inside of it before he disappeared.
"What's the matter, Sonic? Too fast for you?" Robotnik asked before laughing like a maniac.
Sonic, on the other hand, placed a hand on his chest and breathed heavily since he didn't see that coming, and even worse, he almost died.
Still, he regained his composure and focused: Robotnik wanted to crush him, so he had to wait for him to attack again before moving.
Robotnik tried to crush him again, but Sonic dodged, and as the crusher he was on slowly moved downwards, Sonic attacked as much as he could before it disappeared entirely.
He kept doing this until he finally made the machine smoke, knowing that was the sign to leave.
"Welp, that's pretty much it, Eggman!" Sonic said with a smirk. "Gotta go fast!" he stated before moving away from there.
Robotnik frowned and groaned; he escaped from the destroyed crusher he was on and got on his Eggmobile.
Meanwhile, Sonic freed the last group of animals trapped in capsules. Then he used a warp ring from a bag Longclaw had given him a while ago. Longclaw instructed him only to use warp rings in emergencies, and right now, taking his animal friends back to Green Hills was an emergency.
"You win this time, Sonic!" Robotnik spoke, and Sonic turned in his direction with a frown. "From now on, you are my sworn enemy! Mark my words, hedgehog: this won't be the last you'll ever hear about me!" he stated before boosting away on his Eggmobile.
"Whatever you say, Dr. Eggman," Sonic said with a smirk. "I'll just blow up your plans again," he stated confidently before crossing the warp ring portal, which closed behind him.
Once he returned to Green Hills, he was happy to see all the animals fine.
They were all reunited, jumping happily and celebrating that they were saved.
Sonic smiled at the sight, but then a group of flickies pushed him over to be in the middle, and once all the animals saw him, they cheered loud and clear since he was the one who saved them all.
"H-Hey! N-No need to thank me! I just did what I knew was the right thing!" Sonic smiled nervously at first but then winked confidently at them.
And then, all of a sudden, the six Chaos Emeralds he collected began to glow and surround him. The Emeralds 'danced' around Sonic, and while he felt confused and the animals felt surprised, he suddenly felt the urge to touch one of them.
So, the Emeralds stopped, and he slowly extended his hand to the Green Chaos Emerald.
Once his hand made contact with it, he got some sudden vision...
The vast blue sea extended to an unknown territory.
Towards said place, six of the Chaos Emeralds flew across the sky at high speed... and soon enough, before the Emeralds decided to spread around that territory, the seventh Chaos Emerald joined in and spread along the others...
Once the vision was over, Sonic stepped back, startled.
"W-What the–– W-What was that?!" Sonic questioned, confused.
Then, the six Chaos Emeralds elevated through the sky before stopping and spreading all across South Island again.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed in awe before smirking and passing a thumb over his nose. "Well, little fellas... It's been an honor to save you all. But if you'll excuse me, I need to tell someone I'm fine!" he stated before curling into a ball and bolting away towards his home.
"I might have won an enemy that day... but I was a kid back then," the modern Sonic narrated again. "I didn't know Robotnik/Eggman was serious. Heck, I didn't believe it!" he confessed...
Back to the present, Sonic was finishing narrating his very first adventure ever.
"I just thought it was a silly little adventure where I got to have some action and fun instead of a typical day on Green Hills just running around," Sonic spoke. "I explored my entire home; I saw things I never thought I would see... I even fought against robots! Any five-year-old would've died to be in my place!" he said with a smile. "Without knowing it, that very day, my life actually started... and that's what brought me here today," he finished narrating.
"Dude, I so wished I had your life," Zipp smirked.
"That was... so amazing!" Izzy exclaimed cheerfully.
"Man... I heard this story before, but–– Holy shit! It always gives me chills," Knuckles said in excitement.
"You never mentioned the vision part before... but out of that, it's always a blessing to hear your origins," Tails said with a smile.
"So... you've been dealing with this guy for a loooong time, huh?" Hitch said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"20 years of my life dealing with Dr. 'I always get my butt kicked by a hedgehog' Eggman," Sonic said with a smirk. "Almost 21 years..." he added.
The rest just laughed at him, but Sonic's expression suddenly darkened.
"Oh no..." Pipp muttered with worry.
"Why do I feel like this will take an unexpected turn?" Sunny questioned with concern.
Sonic sighed heavily before looking at his friend seriously. "As I said before, I was just a kid back then... and as I told you at the beginning, Longclaw had only two rules for me... and I broke them both that day..." he said with concern.
We flashback to that very day when Sonic saved the animals of South Island.
"That day, I not only had an adventure beyond Green Hills, but I also arrived 45 minutes late to dinner," Sonic narrated with a concerned tone. "And as you might expect, Longclaw wasn't happy at all... But don't even get me started on her face and reaction after I told her about my whole adventure..." he added, sounding more annoyed than concerned.
"WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING?!" Longclaw shouted angrily and worried while Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I can at least forgive you for coming late, even if it never happened before, because I know that anyone can lose track of time while having fun... BUT YOU EXPLORED THE ENTIRE ISLAND!!!" she shouted again.
"Longclaw, this is the fourth time I say this, but I'm the only one with the will to do something!" Sonic pointed out, confused. "I'm not expecting you to give me a reward for saving all the wildlife of the island, but at least hearing that I did the right thing would be nice!" he said, as his cheeks puffed out and he crossed his arms.
"Sonic, for the love of Chaos! I don't care if no one could have saved the wildlife! I only care that you are fine!" Longclaw said in worry but also frowned. "I gave you two specific rules that you never broke before! What changed?!" she asked desperately.
"Gosh! I'm tired of this place!" Sonic complained. "I always run around the same path, the same places, and see the same palm trees, beaches, and dumb waterfalls! It's been the same since you let me go alone!" he frowned. "I have the power of going through this world in the blink of an eye! But instead of using it to help the ones in need or to have adventures and fun, I need to limit myself to this place! Green Hills is cool, but I know this place better than my name! And I saw so many beautiful things while I was rescuing those critters. Why do I have to limit myself to Green Hills?!" he asked angrily.
"You already know why, Sonic!" Longclaw shouted, now even more mad than before. "Like it or not, you're not some superhero! You're just a kid! A KID! The world out there is dangerous, and if you make one single step wrong, you can get yourself killed! Why is that so hard to understand for you?!" she asked angrily.
"I admit that I'm a kid, Longclaw, but I kicked some fat old man's butt to save the wildlife of the island!" Sonic pointed out as he stood on his chair since they were both at a dinner table. "Even Eggman said I have big guts for being a child! If a guy like him, who's obsessed with himself and his 'badniks,' says that I'm impressive, wouldn't that prove that I can look after myself?" he asked rhetorically and frowning.
"Of course not!" Longclaw replied. "And who's this 'Eggman' guy, anyways?!" she asked.
"That's just a nickname I gave him because his actual name doesn't suit him," Sonic answered with a bored expression. "I mean, what kind of name is Ivo Robotnik? It sounds pretty lame..." he said, rolling his eyes.
However, Longclaw didn't reply this time. Sonic felt confused and turned to her, only to see that she had a panicked expression.
"Uh... Longclaw?" Sonic called out, raising an eyebrow.
"... H-How is he called again?" Longclaw replied, not mad anymore, but instead... scared?
What the heck... Is she... Is she afraid?! Sonic thought in disbelief. "I-Ivo Robotnik?" he replied nervously.
Longclaw replied nothing again... but her breath became heavy, and she started to have horrible flashbacks... robots destroying her home, Hedgehogs and Owls dying before her eyes, Sonic's mother entrusting her child to her, and a massive laser killing them off... she had a panic attack.
"L-Longclaw?" Sonic called out again, but now he was afraid. Longclaw suddenly fell to her knees, heavy breathing in panic. "Longclaw!" Sonic shouted, running to her side and trying to calm her down.
"That wasn't the first time she had a panic attack" modern Sonic narrated. "Before she let me go on my own around Green Hills, she had plenty of those on normal situations... but whenever I got hurt, even if it was a small little scratch that will eventually be gone in a few days, the attacks frequented more..." he explained. "Ever since she let me go, as far as I know, she never had more of those... but that was the first time in a long time that she had a panic attack that bad..." he finished narrating.
"Longclaw..." Sonic called out again once she seemed to calm down. "Mom..." he said this time, genuinely scared that something bad had happened. "Mom, what's wrong?" he asked.
Longclaw turned to see him, and she felt her heart turning into millions of pieces when she saw the fear in his eyes. She swore to protect this child with her life, especially from that guy... the very same guy that killed his parents. But now, said guy tried to do it... and he failed... Sonic won, and he returned intact, alive. He was safe and everything that mattered to her now.
She touched Sonic's head and caressed it softly while Sonic sat at her side and rested his head on her chest. She felt her heart melting, and she softly embraced Sonic in a hug.
"Take care of him. Make sure he becomes a strong man... and if you have to lie about our fate... then do it. Don't let him know about his past until he arrives in Equestria, and don't teach him anything about our people's culture. ... raise him as a normal child... please..." Bernie's voice echoed in Longclaw's mind.
After hearing those words again, she shook her head slightly but looked down at Sonic, whose ears had fallen. Even though she could not see his face, she could tell he was wondering what had happened to her.
Longclaw sighed heavily before finally saying something. "That... guy... Robotnik... he... Sonic, remember that time you asked me about other owls and hedgehogs like us?" she asked him, a bit concerned.
Sonic lifted his head to face her. "Y-Yeah... you said some of them ran away to other places in the world... and that some died when your home was attacked... before my... before I was..." he tried to say, but he couldn't.
"Well... that guy, Robotnik... he is the one that attacked," Longclaw confessed.
Sonic's eyes widened when he heard that, and he looked at her in panic. "W-what?" he asked, confused.
Longclaw tried to say something else, but she felt her eyes wet, and before she realized it, she was crying a lot.
Sonic immediately embraced her in a hug, which seemed to work because her tears stopped briefly. He couldn't believe Robotnik was careless about the wildlife and destroyed his mentor's home.
"... I should have kicked him on his balls..." Sonic muttered suddenly.
Longclaw's eyes widened after hearing that, but she laughed at Sonic's comment.
"What?! I'm serious!" Sonic replied with anger, but Longclaw's laughs became louder. "Oh, come on, Mom! You gotta admit that is the least that guy deserves!" he tried to point out, but Longclaw kept laughing.
"I didn't had the intention of making her laugh, but... it was better than hearing her crying" modern Sonic narrated again....
Back to the present, Sonic was smiling sadly as he kept narrating.
"Ever since I discovered that Eggman is why my parents left me and why Longclaw saved me, my fight against him became personal... because he messed up with the most important person in my life. How was I supposed to let that slip?" Sonic finished narrating.
However, once he saw his friends again, his eyes widened: Hitch was crying a river as he sniffed a lot, Sunny was hugging a pillow as she tried to hide her tears, Knuckles and Izzy were hugging each other as they cried together, Tails' ears were down, and he seemed sad since he already knew this part of the story, Zipp was trying to contain her tears, although she was doing a terrible job, and Pipp was crying a river as she dried her tears with a handkerchief, and her tears ruined her makeup since it was running down her cheeks.
"Oh boy..." Hitch was the first one to speak. "That's enough to make a grown man cry!" he said, using a handkerchief to dry his tears.
"Why do you always have to narrate this part so sadly?!" Knuckles complained.
"Crying wasn't on my plans today!" Izzy complained as well.
"T-This isn't the kind of turn I was expecting..." Sunny confessed, also sobbing a bit.
"I hate you for making me cry..." Zipp said simply, her eyes twitching, although her tears didn't stop falling.
"B-Blue Star!" Pipp cried dramatically, but no one minded because no one thought she was exaggerating—except for Sonic.
"And then?" Tails asked with a smile, knowing the next part could cheer the rest up.
"After that, she finally calmed down," Sonic said with a smile. "We decided to spend a bit of time outside of the house to distract our minds, and it worked pretty well... because we even forgot about the dinner!" he explained with a smirk and a chuckle.
That seemed to lighten up the mood since everyone else also chuckled.
"And then, we took the picture we saw earlier," Sonic added. "We didn't want to remember that day in a bad way, so we did that. We took that picture to remember why we cared so much for each other," he explained, then he took a copy of said picture from his quills. "I always take it with me... In a way, it makes me feel she's still here," he finished.
"Aw, man..." Knuckles said, his tears finally drying. "I always forget that you narrate things well, even for you," he commented.
"I'm just going to ignore that for your good," Sonic said with a bored expression. "Anyway, that's pretty much it! That's the story of my first adventure," he smiled.
"And what a ride!" Sunny said with a smile, drying her tears away. "Though, you could have softened that last part a little to save us the tears," she added mockingly.
"Agreed," Zipp deadpanned.
"Sorry, but if I tell a tale, I tell it exactly as it happened or remembered. Give it or take it!" Sonic replied with a smirk.
"Well, now that we know about your first adventure..." Pipp said as she quickly fixed her makeup. "How about you tell us how you met Tails or Knuckles?"
"Oh yeah! I definitely wanna know that!" Zipp said with a smirk.
"Me too!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"Oh... em..." Sonic said nervously before starting to whistle. He looked around the Brighthouse and suddenly found the ceiling interesting.
"Oh, I see what's going on!" Tails said with a mocking tone before chuckling.
"Well, I don't," Knuckles deadpanned. "Care to explain?" he asked.
"If Sonic wants to tell how he met you, first he needs to tell how he met me!" Tails explained. "BUT, before explaining that...," he added, then turned to see Sonic with a mocking smirk.
"First, I have to tell you about..." Sonic sighed before continuing. "A certain pink hedgehog girl..." he added with a twitchy eye...
Never Lake - 19 Years Ago...
On a rock near Never Lake, a pristine lake area on Mobius, there was a pink hedgehog girl with a set of fortune cards.
She wore a green shirt, a yellow tutu, quills with a red ribbon around them, completely black eyes, and purple shoes.
The girl placed the set of cards and revolved them for a while before finally pulling three from the pile since she wanted to meet her fortune.
The first card showed an owl, representing a wise choice; the second card showed a map and a compass, representing a path to be followed. The final card, however, showed a ghost with a sickle, representing either danger or death.
The girl wasn't satisfied with this result... so she decided to make a cheating move.
She looked around, making sure no one else was there, and then she placed the card back on the pile. With a nervous smile, she revved all the cards again, finally pulling out a new third card.
This one showed a more satisfying result since the card illustrated a knight atop a mountain, representing that someone will find their 'knight in blue armor.'
She squealed at this new result, but suddenly, the wind blew and took the three cards away. She tried to reach them, but her eyes stopped on something else... something coming straight from space.
Ironically, a little planet's Little Planet slowly descended until it was above Never Lake. The girl was so surprised and curious about this place that she immediately ran toward it to investigate.
"Now, hang on a second!" Pipp said suddenly, interrupting Sonic in the process.
"Uh... yeah?" Sonic asked, confused.
"I don't wanna make any bad impression, but... Why does this girl matter?" Pipp questioned with a frown.
"What part of 'I need to tell another story first' did you not understand?" Sonic asked. "Pipp, this girl does matter, and you'll find out why if you please let me keep going," he pointed out.
Pipp huffed madly, crossed her front hooves, and looked away. The rest, except Sonic, chuckled at her attitude, and Zipp even shook her head in disbelief and with a smirk.
"As I was saying..." Sonic kept narrating. "Longclaw told me about a one-time event every year: the appearance of a mystical place known as Little Planet," He began to explain...
In the flashback, we see a little older Sonic running at high speed across a field.
"As the name implies, it is a tiny world filled with beauty and mystery. Appearing over Never Lake for just one month a year, it is a place where the past, present, and future collide, thanks to the mysterious Time Stones that lie hidden deep within the planet," modern Sonic narrated.
Sonic ran across the field and over some rivers, splashing a rainbow. He reached a forest, looping around a group of trees before making parkour on some trees ahead.
After that, he launched into a canyon, looping in the air and launching to the other side. He then curled into a ball and boosted through a group of rocks, which led him towards a trunk.
"Longclaw always told me that Little Planet was a beautiful place full of its wildlife and rules," modern Sonic narrated. "The Time Stones were just a plus; the real attraction was the flora and fauna," he explained.
Sonic began to run even faster, his feet turning into an eight. Then, he jumped over a formation of rocks before standing over one, his hand holding his entire body and feet in the air. He looked at something in the distance, then decided to boost towards the place he saw.
"At the time, I was 7 years old, and although she allowed me to explore the entire island freely after my first adventure, she also said that I was right about limiting myself," modern Sonic kept narrating. "She told me about Little Planet, and for the very first time, she allowed me to leave the island and go beyond the sea to see this place for myself," he added.
He eventually arrived at a lake, but since he didn't know how to swim, he somehow managed to jump in the water; he moved to a wall of rocks on the other side of the lake, where he began to run upwards.
Then, he made more parkour on some pilled rocks before boosting towards the Never Lake.
However, once he arrived there, he stopped and felt both surprised and shocked when he saw Little Planet over the Never Lake... but even if this was his first time seeing the place, he could sense that something was wrong.
"However, once I arrived there, Little Planet wasn't the beautiful place Longclaw told me about..." modern Sonic said with worry.
A giant metallic chain was seen, and its movement caused a small formation of rocks to fall to the ground. As if this weren't enough, the area where the chain was attached was shaped like Robotnik's head.
Sonic frowned, now having a very bad feeling about himself. He used the rocks to jump upwards, but then he saw a giant rock he couldn't resist jumping over. So he jumped, curled into a ball, and traversed the rock, destroying it into smaller rocks.
Then, he began to run around a giant rock until he reached the top and stared at Little Planet with a frown. The place was completely covered by something.
"It was tied to the ground with a giant metallic chain, and the entire planet was covered in some metallic shield as well..." modern Sonic explained. "Something was wrong with this place, and I needed to find out what it was!" he added.
Then, Sonic curled into a ball again and launched towards the giant chain, where he ran over before boosting towards Little Planet.
Sonic discovered several things about this place.
The first one is that some panels could send him to Little Planet's past, so if he wanted to restore Little Planet to its former glory, he needed to do this in every single act of the place.
The second one is that Robotnik is back, and he has done the same thing to the animals of South Island and Little Planet: he has turned them into badniks.
The third and most confusing one, Little Planet, didn't look that good until he traveled to the past and then returned to the future.
He admitted that the place was beautiful, but he still felt like something was wrong with this place. Of course, he was sure that 'something' was Robotnik, but he still needed to investigate further.
So, after completing Palmtree Panic Zone and collecting two of the Time Stones in a strange place where he had to avoid water or else he'd be sent back to reality, he moved towards Collision Chaos Zone.
This place was a bit more futuristic than the previous zone, and he felt like this was because of Robotnik.
However, he didn't expect to be suddenly embraced into a hug by a mysterious pink hedgehog girl he never saw before.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed, startled, while the girl just hugged him tightly.
After a while, Sonic looked around, then put on a bored expression and struggled a bit to free himself from the girl's grip. Finally, he did it but fell backward, and the girl fell to the ground.
Then, Sonic stood up and cleaned the dust off his body before seeing the girl on the ground kneel and shake her head. Sonic felt kad for making her fall, even though she suddenly jumped over him. Still, he shrugged and extended his hand to her with a smile.
The girl noticed that and looked at Sonic, who smiled at her. She smiled brightly back before taking his hand and standing up.
"T-Thanks!" the girl said joyfully.
"Heh... No problem, but... why did you jump over me suddenly and out of nowhere?" Sonic asked her, confused.
"Oh, that... well, I was just reading my fortune cards as usual, and a few days ago, they told me to come here to the Never Lake!" the girl began to explain as she hopped happily around Sonic, who looked at her confused. "And once here, I read my fortune again and was told I will meet my Knight in Blue Armor here!" she squealed happily. "So, I came here to Little Planet to wait for him... and now you are here!" she added, again embracing Sonic in a hug.
Sonic, however, felt his eyes wide and stepped back from the girl's grip again. "The what now?!" he asked, startled and confused. "Let me get this straight: You read fortune cards, they told you you'll meet your 'true love' or something here in the Never Lake, and now you think I am that Knight?!" he questioned in shock.
"Mhm!" the girl replied with a smile.
"Okay, no... No, no, no, no. Sorry, girl, but you got the wrong hedgehog," Sonic said with a bored expression. "First of all, we're just kids. Second, even if we were not, I'm not looking forward to a relationship of that kind. You know, kisses, hugs, hands hold, and yuck," he said, pulling out his tongue and pointing at his open mouth with a finger.
"Aw, don't be shy, handsome stranger I just met!" the girl said as she tried to approach Sonic and hug him again, but he placed his hand on her face to stop her.
"Okay, if you're going to refer to me in some way, please use my name," Sonic said with annoyance. "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog," he said tiredly, desperately crossing his arms and tapping his foot on the ground.
"Oh, right! I forgot to introduce myself!" the girl said before giggling. "My name is Amy Rose!" she said with a smile.
"Uh-huh... Nice to meet you... I guess", Sonic deadpanned.
Suddenly, the two hedgehogs heard something breaking, and soon enough, the sound became louder and louder, as if it were coming for them.
Amy immediately grabbed Sonic's arm in fright, and while Sonic felt annoyed by her, he decided to let her be. After all, whatever was coming for them could hurt them, and even if he didn't know her, he was willing to protect her since it was clear to him that she was an innocent kid, just like him.
And then, a wall of spikes was broken, and a robotic figure boosted towards them.
Sonic tried to escape Amy by instinct, but the robot grabbed her and flew into the air.
That made Sonic fall backward on the floor, but he managed to quickly shake his head and then stand up to face the robot in the sky... and he couldn't believe what he was seeing:
A blue robot with metallic quills, red eyes and shoes, a yellow belly, and claws instead of fingers stared deathly at him while he carried Amy in one of his arms. Amy herself tried to free herself from the robot's grip.
"Let me go!" Amy cried out, but the robot didn't even move.
"Hey, you creep!" Sonic shouted to the machine with a frown. "You better let her go right now! The last time someone messed with me, they got their ass kicked hard! You want to end like them?!" he warned.
"Perhaps you should be careful where you go, Sonic," the robot replied in a deep voice.
"What the––" Sonic said as his eyes widened, but then he frowned again. "How do you know my name?!" he asked.
"I was created to be like you, be better than you, be you," the robot replied. "The doctor gave a code name: Metal Sonic. But you're free to call me however you like, although it doesn't matter. You'll be destroyed eventually, then I'll be the one and true Sonic!" he added, closing his free hand into a fist.
"Metal Sonic? More like Metal Bullshit! You wished you could be half as awesome as I am!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk. "Now, let her go!" he demanded with a frown.
"You wanna save her? They come and get her," Metal Sonic said before boosting away with Amy.
"No, NO! SONIC, HELP ME!" Amy shouted as she was dragged away.
"Amy!" Sonic cried out before frowning and groaning. "You crossed the line now, Robotnik! Messing up with the wildlife and destroying my mother's home is going far, but now kidnap a child?! You are messed up, old man!" he added angrily.
And then, he boosted to follow Metal Sonic.
After collecting all the Time Stones, clearing Collision Chaos Zone, Tidal Tempest Zone, Quartz Quadrant Zone, and Wacky Workbench Zone, and defeating Eggman in all those places, Sonic reached Stardust Speedway Zone.
He boosted like a maniac through the first two acts, using the Time Stones to achieve a good future in both acts since he was in a hurry to free Little Planet from Robotnik and save Amy from Metal Sonic.
Speaking of him, Metal Sonic was in front of a metallic door in the third act, and Sonic stopped beside him as they stared deadly at each other.
"Ah, Sonic!" Robotnik's voice spoke as he flew on his Eggmobile over his recent creation and the real hedgehog. "I see you already met my brilliant masterpiece, Metal Sonic!" he grinned. "Too bad he's gonna be the one that destroys you forever!" he stated, laughing like a maniac.
"Eggman, you've been saying that ever since we met," Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "You could build an entire planet with your face, and I'll still defeat you anyway! Because the bigger your ego gets, the funnier your humiliation is!" he added with a confident smirk.
"Oh, but I know that Metal Sonic will defeat you, little hedgehog," Robotnik assured him with a grin. "He has your speed, skills, and extra upgrades, and he's intelligent enough to destroy you!"
After that, he climbed on his Eggmobile while Sonic and Metal Sonic prepared for a race.
Sonic ran on his place, with his feet forming the shape of an eight, while Metal Sonic charged his rockets, and once the metallic door blocking their way opened, they boosted away.
The race was tight and hard, but since Metal Sonic tried to cheat by hitting Sonic and instead ended up crashing against many electrical devices that damaged his system, Sonic could take the lead. Near the end, Robotnik suddenly appeared on his Eggmobile again, using a laser coming down from it to chase both Sonic and Metal Sonic.
However, Sonic smiled when he saw the finish line. Once he crossed it, a metallic door closed. Metal Sonic crashed against it, feeling dizzy, before Robotnik's Eggmobile laser destroyed it.
"What?! NO!" Robotnik cried out in anger. "THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING AGAIN!" he shouted.
"I told you, Egghead!" Sonic mocked up. "Keep trying everything you want; I still have the high ground!" he added with a confident smirk.
"I admit I love Star Wars movies, but that reference isn't stopping me from killing you, you little piece of shit!" Robotnik shouted with an angry tone.
"Sweet Chaos! You kiss your mom with that mouth?!" Sonic kept mocking with a smirk.
"UGH! THIS ISN'T OVER UNTIL I SAY SO!" Robotnik stated before boosting away on his Eggmobile.
Sonic rolled his eyes, but once he looked even more up, he saw Amy tied up as she struggled and tried to get free.
He jumped high enough, curled into a ball, and then cut the rope with his quills before catching Amy in bridal style in the air and landing on the floor.
"There you go, Ames!" Sonic said with a smirk. However, the girl covered her eyes with her hands and didn't reply. "Uh... Amy? A-Are you okay?" he asked, now worried Metal Sonic might hurt her.
"If I say 'yes,' you put me down," Amy muttered with a smirk.
That was enough to make Sonic put on a bored expression and then let her go, and she fell to the ground again.
"Geez. I didn't know girls were this annoying..." Sonic muttered with annoyance, rolling his eyes and walking away from Amy. "Alright, girl, I'm gonna take charge of Eggman... like the last time, and then I'll pick you up to get out of here. See ya!" he stated before boosting away to defeat Robotnik.
"Be careful, my amore!" Amy shouted as she waved her hand.
"DON'T CALL ME LIKE THAT!" Sonic yelled in anger, and Amy chuckled.
After defeating Robotnik in Metallic Madness Zone, the place began to tear down.
So Sonic returned to Stardust Speedway to pick up Amy and then began to run out of Little Planet.
Once he had jumped out of the planet's atmosphere, he landed on the ground, carefully placed Amy down, stepped back, and then boosted away from her. Amy looked sideways at him for a second before he ran away.
Next, the chain holding Little Planet and the metallic shield exploded, and Little Planet floated into the sky before making a bunch of Fireworks explode, including one that formed the shape of Sonic's head.
Then, Little Planet floated and vanished into space, leaving behind a trail of sparkles.
However, Robotnik managed to escape on the remains of his Eggmobile with a Time Stone. When Sonic noticed this, he threw a rock at him, which caused the Eggmobile to explode, creating a smoke cloud on Robotnik's face.
After that, he backed away and moved towards South Island to discuss his most recent adventure with Longclaw. However, he couldn't help but remember Amy, and he immediately felt awkward.
"Geez, that girl is a weirdo," Sonic said with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, she seems like a good girl and tried to escape Metal Sonic. I can respect that, but sweet Chaos, why is she so obsessed over me?!" he asked with an anxious look. "Hopefully, I'll never see her again..." he added before making a final boost towards his home.
"Let me guess... You did see her again," Zipp guessed with a smirk.
"Like you have no idea," Sonic replied with an annoyed tone and a bored expression. "When Eggman unleashed Chaos, she tried to make me marry her! When I first met Shadow, she confused him with me because she wanted to make me date her! When Eggman created Neo Metal Sonic, her only purpose was finding me to do the same damn thing! And she kept going again, and again, and again, and again..." he kept listing, while the rest's eyes sin Tails' and Knuckles' widened in surprise.
"Sweet ponyfeathers..." Zipp muttered in shock. "That girl... was really into him, huh?" she asked with an awkward smirk.
"Yeah... She's a great cheerer, tho. Even Sonic liked it when she stopped launching at him and thought before acting," Tails said with a smile.
"Talk for yourself," Knuckles said with annoyance. "I see Amy as my sister, but she was so annoying when she talked about Sonic so frequently!" he pointed out, crossing his arms. "Shit, I enjoyed it a lot more when she suddenly stopped talking about him and changed the subject. She could be talking about the most recent pop song I never heard about, and it was still better than hearing 'Sonic this' and 'Sonic that' all the fucking day!" he added.
"... and again, and again, and again... Until... she stopped," Sonic kept narrating.
"Wait, what?" Hitch asked, confused. "She... stopped launching over you?" he questioned.
"Yeah... it was sudden and unexpected," Sonic pointed out. "After defeating Time Eater with my younger self, Amy... she began growing apart. Whenever she saw me, she tried to pull me into a hug I didn't want. But after that thing... she simply stopped," he explained. "It doesn't bug me now, of course, but back then... even if I never liked it, I was used to her being like that and simply stopping... I don't know. I guess I was worried that something bad happened to her..." he added.
"Did you... did you ever ask?" Pipp dared to question.
She was mad, or rather jealous, especially after hearing that Sonic sometimes didn't mind Amy's attitude. However, she still wanted to know why Amy stopped obsessing over Sonic.
"I did, actually," Sonic replied... with a smile. "And I was... pretty surprised, to tell the truth," he added.
Amy's House - 5 Years Ago...
Sonic and Amy recently arrived at her home after hanging out with Tails and Knuckles the whole day.
Surprisingly for everyone, Sonic himself included, he offered to go with Amy to her home. On their way there, they talked about trivial things, so it was just a nice walk... but once at Amy's door, she took a deep breath before turning to face Sonic.
"Hey, um..." Amy began a bit nervous. "Thanks for coming up with me, Sonic. You... rarely do something like this on your own," she said with a smile.
"Yeah, well... I came with you because I need to ask you something that's been bugging me for the past year..." Sonic confessed as she scratched his neck.
"Oh?" Amy said, raising an eyebrow. "And what is it?" she asked.
Now Sonic took a deep breath, placed his hands together, and then looked at Amy with concern. "Amy... You have been... how do I put this? Chasing me? Wanting my love? I don't know, but... you always treated me as if I was your boyfriend, even if I always protested," he explained. "But ever since I defeated Time Eater, you seem... distant... I'm not saying that I don't like this change... I appreciate you a lot more now; I never knew you were such an amazing and caring person, or that you were an incredible chef!" he confessed with a smile.
The compliments made Amy's heart rush, and she felt her cheeks warming up, but she quickly shook her head and focused again on Sonic.
"I discovered all these things after this change... But I can't help but feel that something's wrong..." Sonic said with concern. "Look... I wanna know if everything is okay. You are my friend too, Ames... and I wanna make sure you are fine..." he explained.
Amy took another deep breath, then scratched her hair a bit before facing Sonic again with a sad smile. "To tell the truth... something did happen. But it is nothing you have to worry about!" she assured, but Sonic's frown told her he wasn't convinced with that answer. "Look... I know what I say after you freed me in that Chemical Plant copy on that strange place where Time Eater took us all. But... while I was trapped... I have what you could say is a revelation," she explained.
"A revelation?" Sonic questioned.
"While I was trapped... I saw how I always acted towards you since we met," Amy revealed. "I seemed happy and comfortable in those memories... but you didn't. You... you were always frowning, or annoyed, or even mad! And I was forcing you into something you didn't want!" she pointed out with concern. "Sonic, I... I cheated with those cards... I didn't like my original destiny, so I changed it," she confessed. "I changed it, and then I met you, and I thought you were that Knight my cards told me about... and I dragged you into a fantasy that wasn't even real or written," she added in sadness.
"Amy..." Sonic said in shock.
"I realized that I was being a terrible friend. You were always uncomfortable around me... and I want to change that," Amy added, smiling sadly. "Sonic, I know you don't like me. I've always known... I guess I was just too immature to admit it. That's why I haven't launched against you for this past year," she explained. "I wanna be your friend for sure, Sonic. And I want you to be happy too! After all, you do live by your way, right?" she added with a playful wink.
Sonic smirked at her after hearing all of that. "Look at you, Ames! I never thought you'd say any of that!" he said mockingly, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, well, you're not the only one that can change, Hedgehog," Amy said mockingly.
"You are hanging way too much with Knuckles if you're calling me like that," Sonic said with a smirk.
"Says the guy who keeps nicknaming every living being!" Amy retorted.
After that, they both burst out laughing, unable to contain the laughs behind their smirks anymore.
"She wasn't the same Amy I knew in Little Planet anymore..." Modern Sonic narrated. "And you know what? That's not even bad. Not a single bit," he added cheerfully...
"Yeah, I can tell she still has feelings... just not as strong as before," Knuckles added once Sonic narrated.
"Okay..." Sunny said, confused. "But why do we have to know all this again?" she asked.
"Metal Sonic being defeated, Eggman being humiliated for the second time and getting inspired to make another plan, and my adventure in Little Planet being the main reason Longclaw finally let me go on my own," Sonic explained.
"The what now?" Izzy questioned.
"Um, Blue Star... You didn't mention that..." Pipp pointed out.
"I didn't?" Sonic asked, and the rest shook their heads. Tails facepalmed. "Huh... I was pretty sure I did..." Sonic confessed.
Green Hills - 18 Years Ago...
"Come on, Longclaw!" Sonic complained as he followed his mother, his eyes completely covered and his hand in hers. Just tell me where we are going already!" he begged.
"Be patient, Sonic," Longclaw said with a smirk. "We're almost there," she assured.
Sonic groaned in annoyance but decided not to question further. They kept walking for a few minutes until Longclaw finally stopped.
"Alright, Sonic, you can open your eyes now," Longclaw announced.
Sonic removed the bandage over his eyes to look at something covered by a big white blanket. He looked confused at Longclaw, who instructed him with her hand to take the blanket off.
Sonic hesitated at first but eventually did so. Once he took the blanket off, his eyes sparkled. Down the blanket, a red plane with white stripes at the sides and white wings, a star with wings in the tail, and Sonic's name printed on both sides were hidden.
"No way!" Sonic said excitedly, quickly moving around the plane to see every detail before jumping over the only seat in the plane. "After three years of begging, you're finally giving me a plane?!" he asked excitedly to Longclaw with sparkling eyes.
"Well, you insisted so much on learning to fly one, and you're eight now, so... I guess you earned it," Longclaw replied softly. "Besides, since you know nothing about swimming, I'll be more relaxed if you travel from one place to another in this rather than run across the sea," she added.
"Wait... travel in a plane?" Sonic questioned before gasping in awe. "Are you saying I can leave the island more often now?!" he asked excitedly.
Longclaw nodded with a smile, and Sonic immediately ran around her with excitement, ending up hugging her tightly, with Longclaw hugging him back.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Mom!" Sonic said in excitement while Longclaw giggled at his attitude.
A few days later, Amy returned to Never Lake to give another lecture with her fortune cards.
This time, the first card showed a group of animals dancing around happily, the second one showed two tails and the last one showed a very big emerald.
Amy couldn't understand these cards in particular, but before she could study them further, something flew over her and blew the cards away, and her cheeks puffed in annoyance.
But then, she looked up and saw a red plane flying away, and when she saw that Sonic's name was printed on one side, she smiled and called out Sonic's name.
On the plane, Sonic heard Amy's call, and he looked sideways at the ground, noticing Amy herself waving her hand at him.
Sonic smirked and saluted at her before flying away from there.
After a few hours, he saw an island in the distance and smiled since this was the place he was looking for.
"Next stop: West Side Island!" Sonic shouted in excitement.
"HANG ON!" Tails voice came suddenly...
"You piloted the Tornado for the first time to fly to West Side Island?!" Tails asked out of the flashback in disbelief.
"Yeah!" Sonic replied with a smile. "Of course, everything we lived there wasn't planned, but I'll fly there thousands of times again if I ever get the chance!" he added.
"I'm a bit lost here..." Sunny said, raising her hoof.
"Yeah, me too," Hitch added with a raised eyebrow.
"West Side Island is a place that many consider as 'the perfect vacation destiny,' and its wildlife is even richer than South Island's," Sonic explained. "But most importantly? This place is where the foxes come from..." he added, looking at Tails with a knowing smirk...
West Side Island - 18 Years Ago...
Sonic was looking for a place to land his plane, then he spotted a small island and headed towards the coast. Once on land, he decided to explore the place a bit.
"Alright, time to take a little vacation," Sonic said with a smile.
One day, shortly after his arrival, the hedgehog began to sense that someone was following him. At first, he thought it was nothing, but once, he turned around and found a little two-tailed fox. The fox hid in some bushes when he realized that Sonic saw him. Sonic found that attitude strange, but he shrugged and continued.
The little fox still followed him for a while. Meh, let him do whatever he wants Sonic thought at first, but after a while, he began to feel curious about why that fox was chasing him, so he decided to test him. He boosted away at top speed, but when he thought he had lost him, he was surprised to find the little guy next to him, flying at high speed with his tails spinning like a helicopter propeller.
Sonic was surprised not only by the fact that he could fly but also by the fact that he could keep up with him. He stopped abruptly before the fox, who barely stopped, coming face to face with Sonic.
He looked at him with a serious expression, but he quickly softened as soon as he spoke. "So, you're able to keep up with me, huh?" he asked with a smirk. "Tell me, why are you following me? Not that it bothers me, but I find it strange that you follow me without even knowing me," he pointed out.
The fox didn't know what to do but decided to speak. "S-Sorry…" he said nervously and a little scared. I-It's just that I saw you on the beach the other day, and I liked your plane! But I also saw you running super fast, and I thought it was amazing! Then I thought I could be as cool as you, and, well, I decided to follow you," he explained.
"So you want to be like me, huh? Well, I must say that you don't need to be like me if you're already great," Sonic said with a big smile. "You have two tails that allow you to fly at great speed, and on top of that, you are slippery. It took me a while to discover that you were following me, little buddy. What's your name?"
The boy suddenly felt a little sad. "I-I don't like my name... I'm... Miles Prower..." he replied.
"So your name's Miles... if you say you don't like your name, it must be because someone is messing with you, right?" Sonic asked, and the fox nodded slowly. "Bullies, those good-for-nothings. Well, don't worry about them anymore. I'll teach you some tricks so they don't mess with you again... Tails," he said with a smirk.
The boy looked at Sonic, surprised and excited. "H-How did you call me?" he asked.
"Tails. It suits you pretty well, after all. That way, I don't have to call you something you don't like," Sonic said with a smile, then put an arm around Tails' neck. "Starting today, it's Sonic and Tails against the world!" he yelled joyfully.
Not able to contain his excitement, Tails began to fly happily. Then, he sat on Sonic's shoulder and hugged his head, making Sonic pat his head with a smirk.
A few days later, after getting to know each other better, Sonic and Tails were on the beach, with Tails checking out the plane from everywhere.
"So, Tails..." Sonic called out after a while. "You said that you felt interested in my plane before discovering my speed, right?" he asked curiously.
"Yup!" Tails replied. I spent much time in the library studying various engineering and technologies!"
"Seems like you're pretty busy," Sonic said with a smirk.
"Well, I wanna become an inventor one day, so I must be prepared!" Tails pointed out with a smile.
"An inventor, huh?" Sonic said, climbing onto the plane's wing since Tails was sitting in the pilot's seat. "What do you say if I teach you something about flying?" he asked with a smirk.
"Really? I mean, I barely understand how they spin and lift me off the ground, but––" Tails tried to point out, but his eyes widened in realization. "Y-You're not talking about my tails... are you?" he asked Sonic.
Sonic smirked and refused with his index finger, and Tails' eyes sparkled.
"DO YOU MEAN IT?! YOU'RE GONNA TEACH ME TO FLY A PLANE?!" Tails shouted in excitement.
"Sure thing! I mean, you already showed some amazing places around the island. The least I can do is teach you how to fly using the Tornado!" Sonic replied with a smirk.
Tails couldn't help but launch over Sonic and hug him tightly, while Sonic just chuckled a bit and patted Tails' head again.
A week later, Sonic was resting on the beach at the Tornado's side.
He spent the entire week teaching Tails how to fly the plane, and Tails was learning fast enough. Not only did he learn the basics, but he also quickly learned how to make some loops in the air and other tricks.
The hardest part was teaching him how to land, but he still managed to do so.
Since he learned to pilot the Tornado quickly, Sonic also taught him some moves, like curling into a ball. But he also showed him a new technique Longclaw showed him a few months ago: the Spindash, an attack where Sonic curls into a ball and charges up on his place before boosting against his enemies.
And just as he expected, Tails learned these attacks in the blink of an eye. The little fox was growing on him, and he was starting to consider him like a little brother despite just having met him almost two weeks ago.
He was now resting in the sand as he looked at the sky with a relaxed smile. Still, he saw seven colorful points flying before they spread across the island... and his eyes widened when he remembered that vision of the seven Chaos Emeralds traveling to a mysterious place.
Sonic immediately stood up and moved to the Tornado. He then pulled out a Nokia phone and quickly typed Longclaw's number. However, before he could make the call, Longclaw herself began to call him, and he immediately answered the call.
"Longclaw!" Sonic called out.
"Sonic! The Chaos Emerald is gone!" Longclaw cried out from the other side of the call. "I-it began to glow, and then it floated away!" she explained with worry.
Sonic looked back at the sky and remembered the seven colorful lights he had seen, which made him frown. "I think I have a hint of where it might be," he said to Longclaw with a determined look.
Tails passed through some bushes as he tried to run away from something... or somebody.
However, he reached a dead end, so he lay on the wall and grabbed his tail in fear while two shadows approached him.
It was revealed to be two regular foxes. No, they were seriously regular since they were brown foxes with a single tail, but they also had mean looks towards Tails.
And then, one of them suddenly grabbed both of Tails' tails and began to pull them to mock him off, while the other fox just laughed at him, and Tails covered with his arms in fright, waiting for this to be over soon.
Luckily for him, his prayers were heard. When Tails opened his eyes, he gasped in awe when he saw Sonic smirk in front of the two dizzy bullies, and then Sonic walked over him with a regular smile.
"You okay, little buddy?" Sonic asked him, and Tails nodded.
However, one of the bullies slowly got up and approached Sonic with effort, but then Sonic turned and kicked the bully... on his testicles, making the fox fall to his knees as he grabbed his crotch and fell to the ground.
The other fox struggled to stand up, but before he could react, Sonic approached him, grabbed his arm, and buried one of his quills in his skin.
"Ouch!" the fox complained as he stared in fright at Sonic, despite being younger than him.
"Listen here, good for nothing. We have two possible routes for you and your pathetic friend: One, I get this quill off from your arm, you take your friend with you, then you turn around and never mess with this kid again," Sonic warned with a dangerous frown. "Or two: you mess up with him more, and I will not only keep kicking this idiot's crotch until he has no offspring, but I'll also bury this deeper into you," he added. "So, what would it be?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" the fox shouted hesitantly.
Sonic removed the quill from the fox's skin, grabbed his friend, and ran away.
Sonic frowned and turned to Tails, smiling at him. "What did I tell you? With me around, no one will ever mess with you again!" he said with a wink.
"T-Thanks for that, Sonic... I meant it," Tails replied with a sheepish smile. "Sorry you had to come here and rescue me..." he apologized.
"Hey, don't apologize for needing help," Sonic said with a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder. Everyone needs it at some point. In fact, I am the one who needs your help," he pointed out.
"W-What?!" Tails asked in shock. "Y-You need my help?" he questioned in disbelief.
"Yup!" Sonic assured. "Have you ever heard of the Chaos Emeralds?" he asked.
"Duh! I have read everything that is known about them. I mean, maybe I cannot tell the exact place where they are, but I could try!" Tails replied confidently. "Why?" he asked.
"I'll explain to you all while we move around Emerald Hill," Sonic said. "So, what do you say, little buddy? Are you up to it?" he asked him rhetorically.
"Well then..." Sonic said before boosting away. "Try to keep up!" he shouted.
Tails stared at him in awe before running off to follow him, and then he spun his tails to go a little faster.
Once he almost reached Sonic and noticed it, he boosted away again, making Tails spin his tails even faster. Sonic looked at him sideways with a smirk before winking at him and then boosting at top speed.
Tails smiled and made an extra effort, spinning his tail faster than ever. Once he realized this, he was completely elevated in the air and flying at the same speed as Sonic.
Sonic never expected to find the seven Chaos Emeralds in Emerald Hill Zone, and he never expected to find many badniks, either.
Whenever he had 50 rings and passed over a 'checkpoint' panel, some sparkles appeared at the top and sent him and Tails towards the Void World again... but something changed.
Instead of having the giant pinball machine, it was now a long alley with rings and spike bombs.
The objective in these 'special stages' was to collect a minimum amount of rings and dodge the bombs until a Chaos Emerald dared to appear before the duo. Once they grabbed it, they were sent back to Emerald Hill, and they had to repeat the same process another 6 times to collect the other Chaos Emeralds.
Besides this, every single time Sonic or Tails destroyed one of those machines, animals from West Side Island were set free, and they ran away in fright and relief.
Sonic told Tails about his adventures in South Island and Little Planet and how a guy named Robotnik wants to conquer the world with his machines and create an Empire full of them.
"That sounds horrible!" Tails said with concern.
"This guy is really in love with himself and his stupid machines," Sonic pointed out with a frown. "And this is the zone's third act, right?" he asked, and Tails nodded. "Then that means we're close to confronting Eggman," he pointed out.
"Eggman?" Tails questioned, confused. "I thought you said his name is Robotnik..." he pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"Rule number one of 'heroin': Never acknowledge your enemies by their names; always have a nickname for them. That way, when fighting, they'll be so mad because of the nickname that they'll attack you to attack. Not because of a strategy: just out of anger!" Sonic explained with a smirk.
"Huh... that makes a lot of sense!" Tails said with a smile.
After passing through a final 'checkpoint,' Sonic stopped suddenly and frowned when he saw Robotnik approaching on his new Eggmobile, which had a helicopter propeller on top.
"Well, well, well! But if it isn't Sonic the Hedgehog, my sworn enemy!" Robotnik said with an evil grin, and then he noticed Tails, who was hiding a bit afraid behind Sonic. "And it seems you have found a new friend, too!" he added.
Sonic turned to look sideways at Tails and smiled at him with a nod, while Tails put on a determinate expression and looked at Robotnik with a frown.
"Nice to see you too again, Eggman!" Sonic mocked up. "What are you up to now? First, you destroyed my mother's village, then you tried to turn South Island's animals into your puppets, and then you conquered Little Planet and got the Time Stones. What will it be this time, huh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.
"That doesn't concern you!" Robotnik replied with a frown. "Now that I can finally create my dream Death Egg, I only have to get rid of you, little pest! And it seems like I will need to get rid of your little and pathetic friend as well..." he added with concern.
And then, a red car with a drill in the front appeared, and the Eggmobile landed on it to control it.
Sonic smirked and adjusted his gloves, ready to fight Robotnik. Tails gulped nervously, but he was still willing to fight back anyway.
"Tails..." Sonic called out, and the young fox looked at him. "Breath deeply, and then follow my lead," he instructed.
Tails nodded and took a deep breath before facing Robotnik again, now with a determinate look. Then, the two friends boosted against the Egg Drillster, the machine Robotnik wanted to use to get rid of them.
Sonic and Tails curled into balls and spindashed against Robotnik's Egg Drillster. The drill of the vehicle came off multiple times and hit both Sonic and Tails, making them lose their rings in the process, but they still managed to collect some of them back to keep fighting.
Once they finally smashed the Egg Drillster with a cooperative killer punch, Robotnik flew off the Egg Driller on his Eggmobile and frowned at Sonic and Tails.
"Dang, you, Sonic and Tails!" Robotnik cursed in anger. "This isn't the last you'll hear of me, you got it?!" he stated before backing away. "And keep an eye on those Emeralds, Sonic! Perhaps I'll end up stealing them from you!" he shouted before bursting laughing and disappearing into the next Zone.
"Why can't he simply give up and go home without making me go through a big struggle?!" Sonic complained with a frown, crossing his arms and stomping his foot madly.
"Whoa..." Tails said in awe. "That was... so... cool! Man, I can't believe we defeated that guy! Even if it wasn't permanently..." he said excitedly, making some loops in the air before landing again.
"Glad to see the excitement, buddy. But now we gotta stop this guy before he takes over the entire island," Sonic pointed out with a frown. "And I don't know what's this 'Death Egg' of his... but it sounds like a lot of trouble and copyright struggles with Lucasfilm," he added with concern.
"Uh... what?" Tails questioned, confused.
"One day, I'll explain it to you," Sonic replied with a smirk. So, are you up for an adventure to defeat a walking egg with a mustache with your new best friend?" he asked confidently.
"Are you kidding?! I would have to be crazy not to accompany you!" Tails replied with newfound confidence.
"That's the spirit, little buddy!" Sonic stated with a smile.
They both boosted towards the next zone, but not without freeing the animals Robotnik captured in Emerald Hill on a capsule, just as he had done on South Island.
Sonic and Tails had a blast during their adventure.
They collected rings together, smashed robots together, cleared all the zones from badniks, and freed the animals from capsules.
This adventure alone strengthened their bond every second. Tails' admiration for Sonic grew, but Sonic also admired Tails because, even though he seemed afraid at times, he still decided to go with him on this adventure, and that's something he both admired and respected.
Too bad Tails fell back to the island with the Tornado once he tried to infiltrate Wing Fortress with Sonic.
Sonic was glad his new best friend was okay, but he still frowned as he managed to destroy the fortress before reaching the Death Egg.
Remember that Robotnik mentioned he liked Star Wars movies? From Sonic's point of view, he was probably seeing way too much of them because the Death Egg was just a copy of Star Wars' Death Star, with the only difference being that it had Robotnik's face.
Still, Sonic only cared about fooling his plans again, but he probably made the big mistake of entering the Death Egg with no rings.
And yet, he defeated the first 'boss' of the place easily. Emphasis on the boss being between quotation marks because even Sonic thought this was some kind of bad joke from Robotnik.
The 'boss' in question was a grey robot controlled manually by Robotnik, and it was named Mecha Sonic. It literally could only Spindash and curl into a ball. Unlike Metal Sonic, who at least could strike a punch, this was a piece of cake for Sonic.
However, once he moved to the next place of the Death Egg, he immediately regretted laughing at Robotnik's face: A massive robot with Robotnik's form appeared, with three spikes on its hands and Robotnik's face.
Sonic was having a very hard time fighting against this machine because he couldn't calculate the exact moment to strike since Robotnik always changed his strategy, and the fact that Sonic had no rings with him made things even worse. Still, he could strike some punches, but just one hit from the Death Egg Robot, the machine's name, was enough to send Sonic backward and make him fall to his knees on the floor.
"Well, well, well!" Robotnik mocked up with a grin, approaching Sonic on his Death Egg Robot. "It seems like the tables have turned, little hedgehog!" he pointed out with a big smirk. "I told you that messing up with me was a big mistake, but you refused to listen!" he shouted angrily. "But no more, Sonic. I will finally destroy you right here, right now! And once I'm done with you, I'll kill your little fox friend, that hedgehog girl I kidnapped in Little Planet, and then I'll turn both South Island and West Side Island into my empire! Everyone will be kneeling before me! Your precious Owl mother included!" he stated before laughing like a maniac.
Sonic was panting in effort the whole time, growling and frowning at Robotnik's speech, but when he mentioned Longclaw, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
He felt anger traveling through his body, and the seven Chaos Emeralds suddenly surrounded him.
The Emeralds levitated Sonic in the air, spinning around him as he glared daggers at Robotnik.
"You can mess with me everything you want, Eggman. I don't give a shit," Sonic stated with anger. "But if you mess with my home, with my friends, and with my family, then you better pray up, Egghead, because you'll be making a very. Big. MISTAKE!!!" he shouted.
Then, the seven Emeralds entered him, turning his blue fur into a golden one. An aura of the same color surrounded him.
Robotnik covered his eyes at the sudden golden aura. Still, once he was able to see again, he gasped at the sight of Sonic's body being surrounded by the Chaos Energy of the Emeralds, and he felt scared as fuck for the very first time in ages.
"N-No way..." Robotnik muttered in disbelief.
"Time to scramble some Eggman! SUPER SONIC STYLE!!!" Sonic stated with a confident smirk before charging up a Spindash, fully charged on Chaos Energy, and then boosting towards the Death Egg Robot.
He hit the machine once and was sent backward but remained curled in a ball. Sonic charged another Spindash and boosted back to the machine. Robotnik struggled to find a way to strike back inside the robot, but his efforts were useless.
Then, Sonic began to repeat this exact process and hit the Death Egg Robot repeatedly until he hit the machine at the speed of light, not even giving Robotnik a chance to strike back.
"And mark my words, Eggman!" Sonic announced before blowing the killer punch. "Next time we see each other again, I don't want to see your ugly creations messing up with the wildlife of any place on Mobius. Understood?!" he shouted in anger.
Sonic charged a massive Spindash without waiting for an answer before launching against the Death Egg Robot again. The punch was so strong that it sent him and Robotnik out of the Death Egg and toward Earth. Sonic fell unconscious midair and fell back to West Side Island. In contrast, both Robotnik and his Death Egg fell in a different direction.
Tails managed to fix the Tornado after falling from Wing Fortress.
Suddenly, an explosion in space called both his attention and the animals around him. They all turned to the sky to see the Death Egg falling away to an unknown place, while a golden light also fell towards the island.
However, Tails gasped in shock and worry when he saw the golden light turn into a regular blue guy—or hedgehog.
Quickly enough, Tails got over the Tornado and turned it on, flying toward the unconscious Sonic falling from the sky.
Sonic, however, woke up just in time. He realized he was falling, but before he could scream in fear or ask for help, he saw the Tornado and Tails approaching.
He smiled and spindashed towards the Tornado's plane, landing on it and smiling to Tails with his thumbs up.
"Nicely done, Tails!" Sonic told him with a smirk.
"You are the one who made all the hard work inside of that thing!" Tails pointed out. "But what was that golden aura around you?" he questioned.
"I don't know, but it was awesome!" Sonic said with a smile. "One second, Eggman was about to destroy me, and the next one, I'm some kind of Undefeatable Golden God that kicked Eggman's butt hard!" he explained. "But let's find out why the Chaos Emeralds later helped me defeat Eggman. Now we have to––" he tried to state, but Tails interrupted him.
"What?! The Chaos Emeralds did that?!" Tails questioned in disbelief, but he earned a bored glare from Sonic. "Right! Gotta stay focused! Sorry!" he apologized. "I'm just really intrigued by how the Chaos Emeralds did that, but I guess we'll find out later," he stated.
"That's the spirit, little bro!" Sonic said with a smirk. Tails' eyes sparkled after hearing that, but he shook his head and focused on the task at hand again. "Now, we need to make sure that the Death Egg won't land in another place Eggman can use for his mischievous plans," he pointed out.
"Then I'll put max potency towards the Death Egg's direction!" Tails stated.
And then, he moved the Tornado and boosted toward the Death Egg to ensure Eggman wouldn't try something else...
Once Sonic finished narrating, Knuckles said, confused. "So you met Tails and me almost simultaneously?" he asked.
"With two weeks of difference, but yeah," Sonic replied with a neutral expression.
"This guy titled everything he created starting with Egg, but he hated being called 'Eggman' back then, " Pipp asked,, confused. "What changed?" she asked.
"It's hard to tell when he stopped hating on the name, to tell the truth," Tails replied, placing a hand on his chin. "I think it was a little bit after we defeated Perfect Chaos, but I can't tell exactly. I can only say that one day, he stopped presenting himself as 'Ivo Robotnik' and began to use 'Eggman' as his actual name," he explained.
"According to Eggman himself, he found some beauty behind the name, and so he decided to embrace it," Sonic said with a bored expression. "I still have Baldy McNosehair to mock him up, tho, and a very long list of nicknames I know he hates, so even if 'Eggman' is the way he presents himself now, I don't care as long as I can mess up with him!" he added with a smirk.
"Eggman takes 'loving yourself' to a whole new level..." Hitch pointed out. "A special station and a robot with his face? How obsessed is this guy with his image?" he asked.
"You mean 'how not so self-obsessed is he'?" Knuckles retorted with a bored expression.
"And what was this... um, how you called it... 'Super Sonic' thing you mentioned?" Sunny asked.
"Remember when I used the Chaos Emeralds, we had to stop Eggman's rocket from blowing up the Wishing Star and how my fur turned pink?" Sonic asked, and the Mane 5 nodded. "Well, with the seven of them, instead of pink, my fur goes golden, and just like I mentioned, I turn into some kind of Undefeatable Golden God that I called 'Super Sonic' because it sounded cool in my mind... when I was 8..." he explained with a bored expression.
"So the energy of the Emeralds transfers to your body and causes some kind of boost that makes you, in theory, undefeatable... interesting..." Zipp muttered as she rubbed her chin.
"Hey! You mentioned that you met Knuckle and Tails almost simultaneously!" Izzy pointed out. "But you haven't explained that yet!" she added.
Sonic chuckled at her. "Yeah, I know, Izz. I was getting there. But let's get a bigger picture here before I tell my point of view of this story," he explained with a smile. Then he turned to Knuckles. "So, Knucklehead, care to explain what happened?" he asked with a knowing smirk.
"Oh, you know I'll gladly will!" Knuckles replied with a knowing smirk as well...
Angel Island - 18 Years Ago...
A younger Knuckles was guarding the Master Emerald on Hidden Palace on Angel Island.
" I was only 9 years old and... I was completely alone since I lost my mother," Knuckles narrated. "When I was 6, she contracted mysterious cancer that began to weaken her until, one day, she didn't wake up anymore," he added with sadness.
Knuckles, in the flashback, was frowning and crossing his arms while he just looked all around Hidden Palace in search of possible threats.
"However, I was trained since birth to hide my emotions, and so, I had no time to cry her death. Instead, to keep my mind free of any negative emotion, or any emotion in general, I decided to fulfill my duty as the new guardian of the Master Emerald," he added. "I spent the next three years of my life completely alone, completely emotionless, just watching over a giant rock that no one dared to approach ever since my people was doomed to look after it," he explained.
In the flashback, Knuckles turned around and looked madly at the Master Emerald. It was pretty, but he hated that rock for dooming his entire people and making him look after it even if nobody dared to steal it.
"However, one particular day, I could sense something was wrong," Knuckles narrated again. "That, and because the whole island was shacking for some reason," he added with concern.
"An earthquake?" Knuckles said with a confused expression. "But Lava Reef hasn't shown any eruptions..." he said.
Looking back at the Master Emerald, he groaned and decided to transport towards Sky Sanctuary to check out what was happening, even if that meant he had to leave the Master Emerald for a while.
Once he reached Sky Sanctuary, his eyes widened when he saw some planet with a face that crashed against the 'ceiling' of Hidden Palace.
"So that's why the entire island was shacking..." Knuckles muttered with a frown. "Wait... that's Hidden Pal–– The Emerald!" he shouted with worry before quickly transporting back to Hidden Palace.
Once he returned, he found the 'face' of a robot, and soon enough, a man emerged from it.
I'm not lying when I say that this man was round. His body, at least, was fat—the fattest man Knuckles had ever seen. He was wearing a red suit with black pants and boots. His head was shaped like an egg, and he had a long mustache. He also wore glasses.
The man groaned and complained aloud and threw a tantrum like a baby who did not buy candy.
Knuckles looked at him bored, as the man's attitude was very childish. However, as soon as he saw that the man looked at the Master Emerald and extended his hand as he walked towards it, Knuckles quickly moved towards him and tapped his shoulder.
The man was startled and turned to face him, a bit scared.
"Alright, pal," Knuckles called out angrily, raising his fists against him. "Give me one good reason not to beat your ass out of my island!" he threatened while the man stepped back until he fell to the ground.
However, to Knuckles' surprise, the man kneeled and sobbed loudly.
"P-Please, young man!" the man pled. "D-Don't hurt me! I-Im the victim on all of this!" he said between sobs.
Knuckles raised an eyebrow, and he let his guard down for once. "Elaborate, old man," he said.
"Y-You see..." the man started to explain. "I-I was trying to protect some little animals from a guy called Sonic... He wants to take over the world!" he explained. "H-he has seven powerful little gems and a partner with two tails. T-They want to rule everyone! They attacked me because I was trying to protect the animals, b-but..." he added with sobs.
"7 Powerful gems... but the only powerful gems I know are... the Chaos Emeralds..." Knuckles muttered, placing a hand on his chin. "And if they had the Emeralds and attacked this old man... they must be coming for the Master Emerald!" he yelled in worry and anger.
He looked back at the old man and extended his fist while the man ducked for cover. But then, Knuckles smirked at him and opened his hand.
"I think we haven't introduced ourselves properly, partner," Knuckles said.
The man smiled and took Knuckles' hand, shaking it. "Excuse me, young man. My name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik," he said with a grin.
"I'm Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna" Knuckles presented himself as well. "I usually wouldn't ask this of anyone, but would you mind looking after the Master Emerald? I need to make sure this 'Sonic' guy won't approach the greatest treasure of Angel Island," he stated with a frown and cracked his knuckles.
Robotnik looked at the Master Emerald and grinned sinisterly. "Oh, it will be my pleasure to look after your treasure, Knuckles," he said in a friendly tone.
I will also use it as the new battery for my Death Egg!
Knuckles nodded, blindly trusting Robotnik, and then ran towards Secret Temple's exit.
Once he was out again on Angel Island, Knuckles glided down until he landed near some ruins, then he dug a hole in the ground and hid there for quite a while.
Finally, he heard the sound of someone approaching, and once he felt they were nearby, he jumped out of his hideout and punched whoever was coming by.
Luckily for him, he punched Sonic himself, who was using the 7 Chaos Emeralds until Knuckles punched him. Quickly, Knuckles grabbed the Emeralds and started to juggle them, at least until Sonic slowly stood up and shook his head.
"What the––" Sonic said, confused about who punched him and why.
"If you think you can come to my island and steal the Master Emerald, you're wrong!" Knuckles stated with a chuckle and his arms crossed...
"Hang on, hang on, hang on..." Zipp abruptly interrupted. "You punched the Chaos Emeralds out of his body? Just like that?!" she asked Knuckles in disbelief.
Sonic smirked, "When I said that he punched me when we first met, I wasn't kidding."
"Yeah, well, Super Sonic may be powerful and all, but surprise attacks are one of his weaknesses, and even tho I didn't know that when I punched him, it gave me the upper hand!" Knuckles said with a smirk.
"But don't get too excited, Knucklehead!" Sonic said with a mocking smirk. "Now that we know your side of the story, let me tell mine so our stories can properly connect!" he stated...
Unknown Location - 18 Years Ago...
"After defeating Eggman and damaging his Death Egg, Tails and I approached with the Tornado to the place where the Death Egg landed... and we couldn't believe our eyes: the legendary Angel Island was before our eyes" Sonic narrated. "Back then, we knew little to nothing about this place, just that it was a hidden island floating in the skies," he added.
"Many thought it was just a legend; some even tried to look after it, but had no luck" Tails joined the narration. "Luckily for us, Eggman's Death Egg landed right in this mystical place, and we both knew it was bad news for anyone living there," he added with concern.
"No way... Angel Island..." Tails muttered in awe. "I thought it was just a legend!" he said in excitement.
"Longclaw told me about this place as a bedtime story..." Sonic said. "I always thought it was just that... Guess you learn something new every day!" he added with a smirk.
"But this is bad news!" Tails pointed out with worry. "Eggman crashed there, which means he'll be looking for a way to make that thing fly again! Not to mention, this place has its wildlife for sure as well..." he added with concern.
"Which means that he'll get them to create more badniks!" Sonic finished with a frown, and Tails nodded. "Then we cannot allow that! Do you mind if I went ahead with the Chaos Emeralds? I wanna wrap this up quickly before Eggman tries anything at all," he explained.
"Go ahead! We'll meet on the island after I find a proper spot to land the Tornado," Tails replied with an assuring smirk.
Sonic nodded, then jumped off the plane, curling into a ball midair, summoning the Chaos Emerald to transform into Super Sonic again. Then, he boosted towards Angel Island.
As he flew across the forest, he saw some ruins in the distance and boosted towards them... but once he approached the ruins, something came out of the ground and punched him, not only taking him down but also making him lose all the Chaos Emeralds.
Sonic slowly stood up and shook his head, and then his eyes widened when he saw a red echidna juggling the Chaos Emeralds with a frown.
"What the––" Sonic said, confused about who punched him and why.
"If you think you can come to my island and steal the Master Emerald, then you're wrong!" the echidna stated with a chuckle and his arms crossed.
Soon enough, Tails also arrived, but he hid behind Sonic when he saw the echidna with the Emeralds.
"Who the heck are you supposed to be?" Sonic asked with a frown, standing in a defensive pose to protect Tails and to fight the echidna if necessary.
"Name's Knuckles," the echidna said with a mocking smirk. "And luckily enough, Robotnik warned me about you," he stated, now frowning. "You won't get your dirty hedgehog hands over the Master Emerald! The same goes for your fox buddy behind you!" he warned.
"Dude, I have no idea what Master Emerald you are talking about, but I'm pretty sure Egghead is just tricking you," Sonic replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, sure thing," Knuckles said sarcastically. "If I were you, I'd leave the island immediately. So be wise, you two, and get out of my island!" he warned.
After that, he boosted away with the Chaos Emeralds, startling Sonic and Tails because of his sudden move.
"Whoa!" Tails exclaimed. "Did you see that?! He's as fast as we are!" he said with awe.
"Maybe," Sonic said with a frown before looking back at Tails with a smirk. "But he isn't as cool as we are! Come on, we gotta find the Emeralds and stop Eggman before he does something to that guy or us..." he said with worry.
Tails nodded in agreement, and after that, they both boosted through the island, passing near the ruins.
"We spent the rest of our journey doing the same thing we did on West Side Island: we defeated Badniks and freed' animals, we defeated Eggman every time we crossed paths with him, and of course, we tried to make Knuckles realize that Eggman was using him, but he always refused to listen," Sonic narrated.
"We also recovered all the Chaos Emeralds by entering on hidden warp rings that took us back to the Void World," Tails narrated as well. "But this time, it was a round planet with red and blue spheres. We had to turn the blue ones into red ones, and once that was done, we collected an Emerald before being sent back to reality," he added.
"I'm a bit lost here..." Sunny's voice spoke. "Why this Void World you mention always changes?" she asked.
"We can't tell exactly why, unfortunately" Sonic replied. "I want to believe that the Emeralds were testing the skills of whoever wanted to collect them, so it always changed it's form" he explained.
"Going back to our story, we reached Hidden Palace, where we confronted Knuckles again, and we defeated him!" Tails narrated in excitement. "But... well... let's just say that Knuckles realized his mistake too late..." he added with concern.
Knuckles was on the floor, panting, exhausted as he frowned at Sonic and Tails, who didn't seem to be any tired of the fight.
"You... won't get... the Emerald... I won't... allow it..." Knuckles said tiredly.
"UGH! How many times do I have to tell you? We don't care about your stupid Emerald!" Sonic shouted, tired of Knuckles believing he wanted the Master Emerald.
"If you're not... here for the Emerald... Then why are you guys here?" Knuckles asked, confused.
"We're here to stop Eggman!" Tails replied. "He's the one who wants your Emerald! He just tricked you to keep us busy while he steals it!" he worriedly explained.
"He... He did WHAT?!" Knuckles shouted in anger.
Suddenly, the entire place began to rumble, and when Knuckles turned around, his eyes widened when he saw a mechanic claw taking the Master Emerald away from him.
"Wait!" Knuckles shouted as he ran towards the claw and jumped to grab the Master Emerald. "Robotnik! This wasn't the deal!" he added in anger.
Robotnik laughed at Knuckles' attitude. "You are more foolish than I ever thought, then!" he said mockingly. "A smarter mind would seen this trick a mile away! But you're a knucklehead, after all. Tricking you was so easy that I can't believe you even trusted me so soon to look after your Emerald!" he added with another laugh.
Then, something flew at top speed and hit Knuckles, making him fall to the floor with a small fragment of the Master Emerald.
And just like that, Knuckles realized his mistake: he trusted a total stranger way too quickly, and now the Master Emerald was gone.
"No..." Knuckles muttered with worry and anger. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!" he shouted.
"Hey, Knucklehead!" Sonic called out with concern. "Calm down, man! We'll help you take that Emerald back!" he assured with a smirk.
"No, no, no! You don't understand!" Knuckles said in anger as he stood up and looked at the fragment of the Master Emerald with concern. "The Master Emerald is why Angel Island floats in the air. Without it––" he tried to explain, but then the entire island began to shake violently.
Soon enough, Angel Island began falling towards the sea until it finally landed, causing the entire ground to rumble.
Sonic and Tails ducked down once the island began to fall, while Knuckles tried to keep his balance, but once everything was over, he recomposed himself and looked at the Death Egg with a frown.
"I need to get there and take the Emerald back!" Knuckles said. "If he launches to space with the Emerald, perhaps the island will never float again, and the wildlife around could die," he pointed out in concern.
"Well, luckily, we have defeated Eggman and his robots several times now! The wildlife included. So cheer up, Knucklehead, 'cause we'll help you recover your precious Emerald in no time!" Sonic assured him, slightly bumping his shoulder, and Tails nodded in agreement.
However, Knuckles wasn't convinced. "I was betrayed five minutes ago. How can I trust your word?" he asked, his arms crossed.
"Hmm... how about this: If we're lying and we do take the Emerald away, which won't happen, then you can punch me harder than when we met next time we see each other," Sonic replied with a smirk.
Knuckles found that pretty tentative, and so, he shrugged and raised his thumbs. "Sounds good to me. Now, let's smash that Egghead down!" he stated with a confident smirk, also bumping his fists.
"That's the spirit!" Sonic cheered. "Now, mind to lead the way?" he asked with a smirk.
"Yeah! We don't know this place like you, and we need to reach the Death Egg before it launches into space!" Tails pointed out with concern.
"Luckily, I know a way to get there fast enough! Come on!" Knuckles stated.
Sonic and Tails smirked at each other and decided to follow Knuckles.
In the end, Sonic used the fragment of the Master Emerald to power up the Chaos Emeralds.
If you wonder why Sonic had the fragment, Knuckles gave it to him and said that it was a test: If Sonic returned the fragment in the Master Emerald and the Master Emerald itself, then he'll apologize for everything he made to stop him and Tails from stopping Robotnik's plan.
Fusing the fragment with the Chaos Emeralds caused them to adopt a new form Sonic decided to name Super Emeralds, and with them, he gained a new transformation that he decided to call Hyper Sonic. It was that, or calling the transformation Super Sonic: Phase 2, but this isn't Dragon Ball so that it wouldn't have worked that much.
And with this new transformation, Sonic not only destroyed the Death Egg entirely this time, but he also chased Robotnik across space. At the same time, the doctor tried to escape on his Final Weapon and holding the Master Emerald.
Luckily, Sonic managed to recover the Master Emerald from Robotnik... at least for a while, because he lost the Emerald when he got hit by the very same thing that stopped Knuckles from stopping Robotnik before: a new and more advanced model of Mecha Sonic. This one could move on its own, and it even used the power of the Master Emerald to transform into Super Mecha Sonic.
Unfortunately for the robot, Knuckles found the Chaos Emeralds, which returned to their original form after Sonic lost them because of Mecha Sonic's surprise attack. The echidna used them to transform into Super Knuckles, but unlike Sonic, his fur turned pink instead of gold. Still, he was more powerful now and powerful enough to defeat Super Mecha Sonic, which is exactly what he did.
Once the battle was over, Knuckles let the Chaos Emeralds go, and they lifted to the sky before spreading across the entire world on this occasion. Then, Sonic landed in front of the Master Emerald after being saved by Tails and placed the fragment on the giant jewel, and then he began to walk away.
For some reason, that confused Knuckles. "Hey, wait!" he called out, and Sonic turned to face Knuckles. "Aren't you gonna... take the Emerald away?" he asked, confused.
"Um... no?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "We told you before: we don't want your Emerald, Knucklehead," he said with a smile.
"Yeah, we just wanted to stop Eggman from making any more damage," Tails added, as he landed at Sonic's side.
"I understand why you still don't trust us, though. You were betrayed, and... I guess it's going to take a while for us to earn your trust," Sonic said with a smirk. "Until then, I'm willing to wait, Knuckles," he added, extending his fist to him.
Tails smiled and extended his fist with Sonic's, and Knuckles hesitated at first, but he eventually smirked and joined his fist as well.
"I hope our paths meet again, Sonic. And you too, Tails," Knuckles said with a smile.
"Expect to see us again soon! You cannot get rid of me that easily!" Sonic said as he jumped off, and then Tails launched to catch him and lift him in the air.
"You better stay out of trouble, Hedgehog!" Knuckles shouted mockingly. "I still owe you one, and I don't like it!" he added.
Sonic laughed out loud while Tails rolled his eyes and took him away towards the Tornado...
"And as you might imagine, that first encounter was just the beginning of a bigger adventure," Sonic narrated...
"We still had some clashes, and Eggman still tricked me for a while," Knuckles confessed with a bored expression, now standing with Sonic and Tails after the narration.
"But the past is finally in the past, and now we fool Eggman's plans together!" Sonic said with a smile, placing a hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "Perfect Chaos, The ARK, Neo Metal Sonic, Time Eater. Heck, you even led the resistance against Eggman when he took over!" he added, slightly pushing Knuckles as the echidna chuckled.
"We also used to do a lot of this stuff with Amy... But now it is just the three of us," Tails added with concern.
"She used to?" Zipp questioned.
"What happened?" Pipp asked curiously.
"After taking the world back... she simply quit," Sonic replied with a worried frown.
"We tried to ask her why, assuring her we were just curious, but we are still confused by her answer," Tails added. She simply said that she wanted to explore frontiers she could never reach around us, and that's pretty much it," he explained.
"Oh..." the mares in the room cringed while Team Sonic and Hitch felt confused.
"Uh... girls?" Sonic called out. "You don't happen to know what that means... do you?" he asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"Um... how do we put this without being harsh?" Sunny wondered as she nervously tapped her front hoofs together.
"Well... um..." Izzy said nervously.
"She said that... she was feeling... uncomfortable around you?" Pipp said with a sheepish smile.
"She probably felt like nothing but 'the girl of the group' and quit," Zipp said with concern. "Sorry, girls, but they need to know," she said when the other three glared at her.
"... What the actual fuck?" Sonic said with a very confused face.
"She felt like she was just the girl, and then she left..." Knuckles summarized, and the mares nodded with concern. "Huh... As a feminist, and a guy who feels like he understands women, I'm disappointed I didn't see that coming..." he said with shame.
Sonic's eyes went wide when he heard that. "Wait, you're a feminist?" he asked, confused.
"Just because I'm a meathead doesn't mean I don't understand the true concept behind feminism, Hedgehog," Knuckles replied with a frown and his hand on his hip.
"It's a shame Amy never told us she felt like we left her out..." Tails added, changing the subject before Sonic and Knuckles began to argue.
"Agreed... I don't think we could've convinced her to stay on the team, but at least we could have listened," Sonic added with concern.
"I just hope she's fine back home..." Knuckles said with a worried frown.
In the snowy mountains of Equestria, the blizzard was finally over.
So, Team Dark and Amy decided to move forward and began their search for Team Sonic.
"I'm scanning the area for possible threats," Omega reported as he walked behind the others, his head moving 360 degrees. The scanning has been completed. No threats have been detected. "
"So we're free of enemies?" Amy questioned.
"For now, at least," Shadow nodded. "We don't know if this will be a ride in the mountains. After all, we have no idea what this place full of magic is capable of," he pointed out.
"Oh, come on, Shadow," Rouge said in a mocking tone. "What's the biggest harm a group of cute, talking, colorful ponies could do?" she asked rhetorically.
"Cream and Charmy are cute and adorable as well, yet you know we shouldn't mess with them," Amy pointed out with a bored expression.
"At least someone here gets it." Shadow smirked, and Rouge rolled her eyes.
Suddenly, Omega stopped moving turning his head to scan something in a mountain to the top.
The others stopped and turned to face him, confused. "I'm sorry, what?" Amy questioned, confused.
"I detect Chaos Energy lectures coming from a cave at the very top of that mountain," Omega explained as he turned the rest of his body in the same direction of his sight and then pointed at the top of a very high mountain. "Therefore, a Chaos Emerald must be resting inside the cave," he pointed out.
"A Chaos Emerald..." Shadow muttered before closing his eyes to concentrate on the nearest Chaos Energy sign and then open them with a serious expression. "Omega's right. There is a Chaos Emerald there," he added.
"But why would a Chaos Emerald come to this place?" Rouge questioned, confused.
"The Emeralds are a mystery, no matter how many times we've used them," Amy pointed out. Geez... now I'm conflicted. Should we get that Emerald just in case, or should we keep looking for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles?"
"I hate to admit it, but I'm also conflicted,," Shadow confessed, crossing his arms. The sooner we take those three and Eggman back, the better. Yet, leaving the Chaos Emeralds here isn't an option," he pointed out.
"Then why don't we split up?" Rouges suggested. "Two of us can look after the Emerald while the other two look for Sonic, his friends, and the doctor. "
"Separation is not recommended," Omega said. "Splitting up has a chance of 99.3% to end in our doom. The next instruction will sound cheesy, but staying together is highly recommended in our current situation," he explained.
"So, we do one of our tasks, or we die... how calming, Omega," Amy said, crossing her arms and putting on a bored expression.
"Perhaps..." Shadow said. "I could use Chaos Control with the Chaos Emerald to send a message to those three," he suggested. I'm pretty sure Sonic or Tails always had a bag of Warp Rings with them. If we sent a message..." he began to explain.
"We could tell them that we're here! And we could give them the Emerald so Tails can get us back home!" Amy kept going with a smile while Shadow nodded.
"And with a Warp Ring, will be with them in no time," Rouge finished with a smirk.
"Then it's settled: We'll delay our meeting with Team Sonic to get that Chaos Emerald," Shadow stated. "Omega, how far are we from that cave?" he asked the robot.
Omega scanned all the paths towards the cave before giving a proper response. "If we move right now: 5 days, 2 hours, and 33 minutes," he replied.
"Oh great... more walking," Rouge complained, rolling her eyes.
"If it makes you feel better, you can fly when your feet tire. We have to conform by walking over lots of snow..." Amy pointed out. "Or roller skate, in Shadow's case," she added mockingly, causing Rouge to chuckle.
"You'll never accept they are air shoes, will you?" Shadow asked in annoyance.
"Nope!" Amy replied cheerfully.
And so, they all began to walk towards the cave to collect the Chaos Emerald.
In Opaline's Castle, Opaline was sitting on her throne, staring confusedly at Eggman.
"I simply don't understand, doctor," Opaline said with concern. "You literally threatened me for not appreciating Misty, and now you come here to apologize?" she scoffed. "I don't understand why you apologize right now when that happened months ago! I'm pretty sure we silently agreed not to talk about this," she pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"The way I see it, Opaline: I was showing you that I know my place and that I know what I'm doing," Eggman replied with a frown. "Therefore, I needed to show you that it is not convenient for you to have me as an enem,y" he explained. "However, I'm still a genius. Even I know my limits, and I'm very aware that it is not convenient for me to have you as an enemy, either," he confessed. "If Sunny, with friendship, rainbows, and colors, is capable of killing off my badniks, I don't wanna know what you can do with that fire of yours," he pointed out.
"So you wanna make amends to prevent getting your ass ignited, Ivo?" Opaline asked with a mocking smirk.
Eggman grinned back at her. "I just wanna make sure that no stupid actions get in our way," he pointed out. "After all, we still have Crystals and Emeralds to steal, magic and power to take, and worlds to conquer," he added.
Opaline's grin grew as she exited her throne and walked over to Eggman. "Alright, doctor. I'll let slip your little threat months ago with one condition," she warned.
"Which is?" Eggman questioned.
"Whenever you least expect it, I'll be threatening you as well, Ivo," Opaline said with a glare.
Eggman didn't seem surprised. Instead, he snorted. "Yeah, I expected something like that," he confessed. "Very well, then. Opaline Arcana, I think it is time we talk about... the next level," he stated with a grin.
Green Hills - 21 Years Ago...
Sonic was sleeping peacefully on his bed.
Meanwhile, Longclaw wasn't even at her home... because she was outside, on one of the farthest mountains in Green Hills, recording a message for Sonic in the Blue Chaos Emerald.
"... I know it will take you time to process all of this... but know that, even if I'm not with you anymore, I'll always watch over you. I have to go now, my dear Sonic, but know that we'll see each other again one day..." Longclaw finished narrating her message.
Once everything was said and done, the Blue Chaos Emerald stopped 'scanning' Longclaw, and it slowly descended until it landed in the ground... where the Earth Pony Crystal was located.
Then, Longclaw grabbed the Emerald and the Crystals, and then she closed her eyes, making the other six Chaos Emeralds appear around her.
She concentrated, and the Emeralds danced around her. The one in her hand floated and joined the others, and then the seven of them combined to open a white portal.
On the other side, she saw a lighthouse over a hill, and she nodded to herself before crossing the portal.
She flew down and landed at the top of the lighthouse, and then she whistled a melody quiet enough so only whoever was inside the lighthouse could hear it.
Soon enough, the lighthouse's front door opened, and out of the lighthouse came a blue stallion with purple-ish mane, tail and beard, brown eyes a collar with a six pointed star crafted in the middle and glasses.
The stallion whistled back the melody, and soon enough, Longclaw landed behind him with a silent thud. However, he still heard her, and when he turned around to face her, he smiled warmly.
"I expected you to arrive sooner, Longclaw," the stallion mocked up.
"It took me a while to put Sonic to sleep," Longclaw replied after an eye roll. "And I needed to record the message for him and your daughter to hear."
"Yeah, well. It's still hard to believe that my little Sunny will meet your son and have all kinds of adventures," the stallion said with a sad smile. "Even worse is to know we won't be there for them," he added.
"I know, Argyle... But the sake of our worlds depends on their meeting... And so, we must leave this for them," Longclaw explained.
"I understand," Argyle assured her. "So, you have the message, right?" he asked her.
"Right here," Longclaw replied with a smile, extending the Earth Pony Crystal to Argyle, who carefully took it with his hoof. "You'll make sure it reaches them... right?" she asked him with concern.
"Don't worry about it," Argyle assured me with a smile. "Both Sonic and Sunny will get this message. I'll make sure of that," he said confidently.
Longclaw nodded, relievedly, then tried to hold back her tears. "Argyle, I can't thank you enough for this," she said with a sad smile.
"I should be the one thanking you, Longclaw," Argyle said with a sad smile. "Thanks to you, I know for sure that ponykind in Equestria will reunite not only because of Sunny's efforts but also because she gets help from an amazing friend like Sonic," he added joyfully.
After that, they shared a quick hug... the last one they'll ever share.
Then, they departed ways, with Longclaw flying back to the portal, but not without turning to see Argyle one last time with a sad smile. Argyle smiled back and waved goodbye, while Longclaw nodded with sadness and finally crossed the portal back to Mobius, with the portal closing behind her.
Later, Argyle went back inside the Lighthouse and placed the Earth Pony Crystal over his desk. He needed it to make the lamp for Sunny and ensure that both she and Sonic eventually got Longclaw's message....
The Mane 5, Sparky, Tails, and Knuckles were entering Canterlogic's abandoned factory.
Since magic was brought back a year ago, Phyllis shut down the building, even though it was still under maintenance. This is why some workers are still around—or at least used to be—because the building is abandoned now.
As they walked inside the abandoned building, everyone but Pipp and Knuckles seemed freaked out about the place since it gave a spooky vibe.
"Hey, Pipp?" Sunny called out nervously. "Remind me why we are here again?" she asked, looking around with a scared expression.
"Yeah, not that it isn't cool to be in a freaky empty building, but... It is kinda freaky. And empty!" Izzy added, also with a nervous expression.
However, the word 'empty' echoed across the building, startling Izzy. She gasped and walked several steps back, scared.
"See? I didn't even mean to do that!" Izzy muttered nervously, while the rest seemed as nervous as her.
Except for Pipp and Knuckles, the former was excited to be here, and the latter had a neutral expression. It was clear that he didn't mind this place or enjoyed it, but unlike the rest, he didn't find it spooky.
"But that's why I love it!" Pipp said excitedly as she opened her wings. "It's thrilling! Can't you feel the spooky energy in here?" she asked with a huge smile.
"No! Not at all!" Hitch replied immediately with a nervous expression.
However, as soon as something with static got hit, Hitch, every mare but Zipp in the room, and Tails screamed in fear, with Tails and Sunny hugging each other immediately as a result of their panic.
Zipp, however, just smirked at the rest's attitude, especially Hitch's. At the same time, Knuckles looked at his left foot and frowned: He accidentally stepped over an old radio in the ground, so he grabbed it and growled at it before looking back at Hitch, who smiled sheepishly. Then, Knuckles threw the radio away.
"This is ridiculous..." Hitch muttered with a nervous tone again as he grabbed Sparky, who was sitting on his back. "I've been inside Canterlogic millions of times! There's nothing to be afraid of!" he assured.
Sunny, however, chuckled with a smile at him. "I think Pipp disagrees," she pointed out, looking at her side.
Pipp was checking some boxes around the building until she came up to one of those old 'Pegasi are bad' propaganda posters. Even though Pipp felt scared, she still let out an adorable giggle before flying into the air.
"Well, Pipp has always loved spooky things," Zipp said with a smile. "She once convinced our mom that royal ghosts haunt an entire castle wing. Mom still trots the long way around it," she explained, which made Sunny chuckle.
"She breaks the 'fancy princess that hates scary stuff' stereotype..." Tails commented with a chuckle, even though he was still too attached to Sunny since he hated to be here.
"Imagine what kind of terrors lurk in all these mysterious corners..." Pipp said with a smile from behind a scaffold while lying upside down. She slowly moved her head upwards and looked around.
"Well, at least someone here is having fun..." Knuckles said with a bored expression.
"How are you not scared by all of this, Knuckles?" Izzy asked nervously as she approached her boyfriend and side-hugged him for protection.
Even though he raised an eyebrow, Knuckles still wrapped an arm around Izzy and kept her close to him. "Well, I just find this place... What's the least offensive thing I can say about it?" he thought before looking around and sighed heavily. "This place is boring as fuck..." he ended up saying, causing Pipp to land behind him suddenly with a long and dramatic gasp. "And I'm not apologizing for believing that!" he stated after hearing the young pegasus' gasp.
At this, Pipp growled madly before huffing, offended, and then flying away.
"I can't believe we haven't thought about this old factory since Sprout and his family closed it down..." Sunny pointed out with an amused expression.
"As we should..." Knuckles muttered with a groan and an eye roll before being pushed on his shoulder by Hitch, who glared at him after saying that. "Am I wrong, tho?" he asked with a bored expression.
Meanwhile, Izzy separated from Knuckles and went over to a box. She pulled out an old cassette and gasped with a smile. "There's so much space in this place!" she said happily before repeating the word "place" three times, each time in a lower tone. That time, it was me!" she said proudly.
"It's like we all just forgot it existed..." Hitch pointed out, still hugging Sparky.
"Even though it is pretty big and noticeable..." Tails pointed out with a sheepish smile.
"What if we forgot about it because the ghosts wanted us to!" Pipp said with a smile as she flew around Hitch and mocked him with a spooky 'ooo' before stopping in the air. "I have shivers!" she added, then flew away excitedly.
"here we go again..." Zipp said with an eye roll and a smirk, while Tails got closer to Sunny and let out a scared whimper.
"Oh... Don't worry, Tails," Sunny said with a smile, nuzzling her cheek with his. "This place is not haunted. Pipp's just excited to be here, that's all!" she assured him with a sweet smile.
"That doesn't make it less spooky, though..." Tails pointed out with a gulp.
"Well, I agree with Sunny!" Hitch said nervously as he started to walk away. "This is just an old building made of bricks and concrete. Besides, even if it weren't, I'm not afraid of no ghosts!" he stated with a stomp of his right hind leg.
However, right then, a pega-mouse ran by some boxes behind the sheriff and made some noise, startling him. Then, the pega-mouse ran again and made a louder noise, terrified Hitch, and he hugged Sparky tightly.
"What was that?!" Hitch screamed in panic, while Sparky seemed too uncomfortable with being hugged so tightly.
"Not afraid, huh?" Pipp asked with a mocking smirk after chuckling. She approached him with Izzy, and Hitch looked around in terror.
Meanwhile, Zipp, Sunny, and Tails laughed at him while Knuckles groaned and facepalmed. "I swear to Chaos, if he has no sword that seals the darkness or something like that, he better not be our last line of defense if Eggman ever pulls out his plan..." he muttered with annoyance.
In the snowy mountains of Equestria, Team Dark and Amy began their quest toward the Light Blue Chaos Emerald.
Omega scanned around his place while Rouge sat over one of his shoulders.
"We have cleared the area. We might proceed with our quest," Omega informed them as he started to walk while Amy and Shadow followed behind the robot.
However, Amy seemed concerned. Although she walked quickly over the snow, her expression clearly showed her true emotions.
Shadow noticed that, but so far, he said nothing because he wasn't the best at communicating or comforting someone... And still, a part of him seemed to be bothering and pushing him to the edge so he could talk with her already.
So, the Ultimate Life Form decided to leave aside his 'cold' attitude and, for once, try to be as polite as he could.
"... Is there... something bothering you?" Shadow asked, but it almost sounded like a whisper.
However, Amy still managed to hear it, and she slowly looked at him, a bit confused. "Uh, what?" she asked back.
Shadow did his best not to roll his eyes or groan, annoyed. He needed to remember that he could talk too low sometimes, which would explain why Amy asked what he said.
"I... asked if something is bugging you," Shadow replied, now louder so Amy could hear.
"Oh, um... yeah... There is something bothering me..." Amy replied, looking at the ground once again with concern.
Now what? Shadow didn't expect to get this far.
It was easy for him to communicate with Rouge and Omega since they all understood each other well. However, Shadow was still getting time to talk properly with the rest, especially since he's usually too harsh with them.
"... May I ask what is bugging you?" Shadow asked again loud enough for her to hear, hoping she didn't think he was shouting.
"Well... today, 10 years ago... Sonic lost... her..." Amy replied with a saddened expression.
At first, Shadow again had to resist the urge to roll his eyes when Amy mentioned Sonic. It was normal and true, but that didn't make it less annoying.
However, Shadow knew perfectly who was her, and now he understood why Amy seemed concerned about it far better.
"So... You worried about how's he doing today?" Shadow asked.
"It's more complicated..." Amy replied. "You know how he almost turned into a sociopath that crosses the line without holding back his punches, right?" she asked him, and Shadow nodded. "He says he isolates himself on this day never to do something like that again, but... I don't know if it's healthy... it took him so long to be himself again..." she pointed out with concern.
Shadow glanced at her, and he did feel bad for her.
Since he has known her, or at least since he remembers her, Amy has been completely and utterly in love with Sonic. Of course, this was a secret to nobody, not even Sonic himself, but even so, Amy still seemed hesitant about talking about him so freely, especially since she stopped being so pushy with him.
"Sonic might be a reckless moron that's too soft for my liking..." Shadow said, and Amy looked at him, confused. "However, I'm pretty sure that he'll be fine. Tails and Knuckles are with him by this point, hopefully, so he won't be mourning his loss the same way he usually does. After all, those two won't allow him to be alone even if he told them the worse kind of bullshit they'll ever hear," he pointed out, slightly smirking at the pink hedgehog.
Amy felt slightly surprised that Shadow was trying to cheer her up, especially considering her concern was related to Sonic.
Yet, she still smiled at him. "I guess you are right. Tails and Knuckles will follow wherever he goes, even if he doesn't like it." Amy recognized with a smile before shaking her head and clapping her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Shadow! I know you don't like to hear me talking about Sonic, but I seriously needed to get that off my chest," she apologized with a sheepish smile.
Even though Shadow found it annoying that she always worried about Sonic, he still smiled. "It's fine. If it makes you feel better, I don't mind," he replied.
In Canterlogic's factory, Hitch looked around in fear while still hugging Sparky tightly.
The poor baby dragon was whimpering in pain at this, but no one else seemed to notice because they were looking around for boxes, scaffolds, and other stuff. In other words, they were too busy to notice the poor dragon suffering.
"How are you all so calm?!" Hitch screamed in panic.
"Oh, I'm not!" Izzy said at his side, clearly forcing a smile while her right eye twitched. She tried so hard not to scream. "This is just my nervous smile!" she added with a creepy look. It looks a lot like my happy smile. And also my unhappy smile..." she finished before walking away and chuckling awkwardly.
"Well, after 10 minutes of looking around, even though it still looks creepy... Yeah, I'm with Knuckles now," Tails said with a bored expression. "This place is lame and boring..." he added.
"Oh, come on! That's not true!" Pipp said, now zooming at his side, although Tails didn't seem too bothered nor startled, probably because he's used to Sonic doing the same thing all the time. "This place has some interesting and spoooooky stuff!" she pointed out.
"It's still mid as fuck..." Knuckles said while scratching his belly, making Pipp groan in annoyance.
"So..." Zipp called out, trying to change the subject. "Now that Canterlogic is gone, what's gonna happen to this building?" she asked curiously.
"Wouldn't it be super if it became something so fun-tastic that everypony wanted to hang out here?" Izzy asked with a joyful smile while extending her hoof in the air.
"Izzy's right!" Sunny said with a smile.
"I am!" Izzy said proudly with a smile before opening her eyes wide. "Wait, I am?" she asked confused.
"You're surprised? 70% of the time, your ideas are pretty good on paper, just not in execution..." Knuckles said with a sheepish smile.
"I have no idea what that means, but thanks!" Izzy said with a smile before her eyes went wide again. "Wait, why only 70% of the time?" she asked with a raised brow.
"... I think I made a mistake of some kind, so I refuse to answer that..." Knuckles replied with a frown.
Then, Sunny cleared her throat, and Knuckles and Izzy looked back at her. "As I was saying... Izzy is right. We should turn this old factory into something new for the whole community!" she stated excitedly.
"This can be the biggest unicycling project I've ever done!" Izzy said with a huge smile, just as excited as Sunny, or even more! "And you ponies can help!" she added, trembling a bit as she whimpered with excitement.
"Yeah, it does have potential," Zipp said with a smile.
"Um, are you sure, Izz?" Tails asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, it's one thing to unicycle a vehicle, but a whole building?!" he shouted, as echo sounded all across the abandoned factory. "That's gonna take many months of work..." he pointed out.
"Well, that's exactly why we're gonna do it together!" Sunny stated, wrapping a hoof around Tails' neck while the young fox chuckled.
"Maybe we can turn this place into an indoor skatepark!" Zipp said excitedly as she flew in the air and pointed at the whole building with her hooves.
"Woah!" Izzy exclaimed dramatically.
"Or a theater-slash-concert hall!" Pipp added, also flying around the ceiling with excitement.
"Now we're talking!" Izzy told Pipp with a smile. "Or singing!" she sang.
"Or a community center for official town hall meetings!" Hitch added with a smile.
"Oh... Or that!" Izzy replied, cringing at first but then smiling.
"How about we left the sheriff stuff for the sheriff places like the station, Sheriff?" Knuckles retorted with a bored expression before moving forward with a smirk. "Instead, we could turn this place into some Punch-Out sorta place! With all kinds of punching bags, heavy stuff to be lifted, a TV with motivational stuff, and a boxing ring!" he stated with sparkling eyes, with a red background behind him.
However, Tails suddenly pushed the red background away with no effort and a bored expression, showing the real scenario of Canterlogic again as he approached the echidna. "Sorry to cut it for ya, Knux, but you're describing a gym, and there's already one, not so far from my workshop..." he pointed out.
"Wait... There is?!" Knuckles asked in shock.
"Yeah. It's been there since day one we arrived here, Knucklehead," Tails replied with a bored expression, trying to lay against a box, but since it was open, he almost fell on it, so he quickly twirled his tails around to stay on the air and then landed again, before looking around and clear his throat. "I was thinking more of some museum. I know there's already one in Maretime Bay, but now that magic is back, isn't their story a bit outdated?" he asked with a sheepish smile.
"How outdated?" Pipp asked.
"About a thousand years, considering pretty much everything every tribe believed about each other was nothing but a bunch of lies..." Tails replied. "Which means that it's time for some better education about the actual story of Equestria!" he stated with a huge smile.
"These are all great ideas, and I love them," Sunny stated with a smile before zooming to Tails' side and leaning closer to him. "Specially yours! We should do something with that idea in the future!" she muttered to him, smiling happily. Then, Sunny went back to where she was. "But how about we ask the town's ponies, too?" she suggested. "That way, our new space will be exactly what everypony wants," she stated once again.
"Brill idea, Sunny!" Pipp said with a smile. "And while you three do that, Hitch, Zipp, Sonic, Knuckles, and I will clear the building of all its ghosties and spirits, etcetera. Cleanse the energies, you know?" she added with excitement.
"Perfect!" Sunny said with a smile.
"Almost..." Knuckles said with a cringed expression as he looked away from the earth pony mare.
"What do you mean, Knuckles?" Izzy asked, confused.
"Um, I think he's talking about the part where Sonic's involved," Tails replied with a concerned and saddened expression. "He's not going to be around us the whole day, I think," he added, looking away as well.
"Wait, what?! But why?!" Pipp asked in a panic.
Tails sighed heavily before looking back at the rest. "It's better if you guys ask Sonic himself. It's unfair that Knuckles and I must answer for him whenever he excuses himself... What I will tell you is that today, 10 years ago, something really bad and traumatic happened to him. It took him long to be himself again, even if he's fine nowadays. He always distances himself on this day, every year..." he explained.
"As Tails said, you guys should ask him if you want the full context," Knuckles added with a worried frown. "But for now? Please leave him alone. He... He tends to get grumpier than me when he's mad, and he says things that he regrets later..." he also explained, but it sounded more like a warning.
"So... We should just do all of this without him?" Zipp asked, confused.
"I'm afraid that's our only choice right now..." Tails replied with lower ears and a sad expression. "Just trust us this time around, okay? We know him longer than the rest of you, and we know why we're telling this..." he pointed out.
"I get that he wants space, but... Alone the whole day?" Sunny questioned with a slight frown. "That's crossing a line, if you ask me..." she also pointed out.
"I agree on that aspect," Knuckles said while crossing his arms. "Yet, I quote Tails' recent words here, 'We've known him longer than you.' These aren't warnings made for some bad luck, old legends, or even a chance to get ourselves killed... Is a real-life tale, and we have seen personally the consequences of not leaving him alone..." he warned again.
"Okay, so we just leave Sonic alone, and we hope for him to tell us later today what's gotten into him, or maybe tomorrow when he's in a good mood..." Hitch said with a raised eyebrow. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.
"Nope. That's pretty much the entire situation we're dealing with!" Knuckles replied with a neutral expression.
"Well, if we have that settled down, I think we have work to do!" Sunny said with a smile, even though she was still concerned about Sonic.
The rest nodded in agreement as Sunny, Tails, and Izzy walked towards the factory exit.
"Let's ask Toots! Oh, and Dahlia! Oh, oh, and Windy!" Izzy said happily.
"Izz, we're gonna ask everyone but Sonic?" Tails replied with a chuckle.
"Uh... I don't know if I can help you right now..." Hitch said nervously. "Sparky is fussy," he added with a sheepish smile.
However, Sparky seemed pretty happy now that Hitch had let him go. He didn't even look scared, something the remaining residents could tell.
"Mm-hmm..." Pipp retorted with a mocking smirk while Knuckles facepalmed again.
"He's your boss, don't get mad. He's your boss, don't get mad. He's your boss, don't get mad. He's your boss, don't get mad..." Knuckles repeated to himself as he also rubbed his head.
"And I've got a lot of official Sheriff business to return to... Paperwork, you know!" Hitch added, but he was trying to avoid helping Pipp. Not because he didn't want to but because he hated the spooky aspect of the abandoned place. "But, maybe Zipp––" he tried to say.
Yet, his luck went away as the pegasus spoke. "Sorry! But I'm so close to cracking Twilight Sparkle's message. I've gotta focus my attention on that. Have fun!" Zipp stated with a smirk before flying off the ground and around Hitch with a mocking smirk. "Don't let the ghosties get you!" she added mockingly, and then, she boosted away from the factory at top speed.
"If he gets scared as fuck, I'll send you a video about it!" Knuckles shouted with a mocking smirk.
"Thanks!" Zipp replied as Knuckles chuckled.
Hitch seemed to feel very insecure right now, and Sparky whimpered and was also scared.
"You know, if I had to guess, I'd say that spooky, scary ghosts haunting it up in here is totally against regulation!" Pipp said with a singing voice before looking at Knuckles with a smirk, who smirked back. "Right, Deputy Knuckles?" she asked.
"Pretty much!" Knuckles said as he looked at Hitch with a mocking smirk and crossed arms. "So, is the Sheriff of Maretime Bay going to allow some asshole ghosts to haunt this factory and then leave to haunt everyone in town?" he asked, knowing pretty well that Hitch was going to fall into the trick.
And just like he predicted, it worked because Hitch frowned at both.
"You guys make a good point, " Hitch said, looking at them with a determinate expression. "As Sheriff, I can't allow that!" he assured them before walking away while Sparky climbed on his back and sat there.
Knuckles and Pipp seemed satisfied as he did that, still smirking at what they just did.
"Easy as fuck!" Knuckles said with happiness, opening his hand in front of Pipp.
"You say it!" Pipp replied happily, clapping her hoof on Knuckles' hand before both followed the sheriff.
However, none of the three noticed that some figure was watching them, but Sparky did, and said figure decided to hide after being spotted by the baby dragon.
Zipp flew to the Crystal Brighthouse with her phone on her hoof.
She looked around for a second before pressing the play button on her phone. "Okay, Twilight. Let's hear it again," Zipp stated.
By doing so, she rewatched the message recorded by Twilight on the Unity Crystals. "But the spell is broken! You are exposed to the world once again. You must watch out for Op–– Before she op––" the message played once more.
However, as it did so, Zipp didn't notice that Misty was hearing her from behind a tree, as she gasped at Twilight's voice.
"Is that her?! Twilight Sparkle? From Opaline's stories?" Misty questioned, confused.
Then, she brought out her phone and pointed it at Zipp to record the message. Zipp gave her back but still didn't notice Misty.
"But the spell is broken! You are exposed to the world once again. You must watch out for Op–– Before she op––" Twilight's message played again.
"Before what?! What were you trying to warn us about?!" Zipp asked in rage and confusion. "Ugh! I still can't believe that's all I could record... " she added with disappointment before heading inside the Brighthouse.
As the pegasus did so, Misty stopped recording and hid behind the tree again. "Opaline has to know about this!" she stated before running towards the castle.
In Opaline's Castle, Opaline watched the video Misty recorded with a frown.
"You must watch out for Op–– Before she op––" Twilight's message played once more.
"So, that nasty little Twilight Sparkle enchanted those Crystals with a secret message, did she?" Opaline said angrily as she stomped her left hind hoof loudly on the ground, making Misty flinch behind her. "What else did she reveal?!" she asked, throwing the phone back to Misty.
Misty struggled and tried to catch her phone, but even if it did fall to the floor, it didn't seem to have broken, so she sighed, relieved. "Uh, I don't know. Zipp said that's all she recorded, though. So, maybe there was more?" she suggested with a sheepish smile.
"Of course, there was more!" Opaline stated angrily, turning around and stomping her hooves on the floor, suddenly making a purple flame appear. "Time is running out before that Zipp pony pieces things together!" she pointed out while the flame disappeared and made her groan in annoyance.
"That is if she hasn't pieced it out yet..." Another voice spoke, and Doctor Eggman entered the Throne Room with a frown. "Zephyrina Storm is a problem we should get rid of. However, you told me that it didn't work last time, so that idea is out of the question..." he pointed out with concern.
"Which is exactly why I need the rest of that dragon fire!" Opaline stated with anger.
"What if we didn't steal Sparky?" Misty suggested with a sheepish smile.
At that, Opaline and Eggman's eyes widened, with the former feeling anger running through her veins, while Eggman looked at Misty with a panicked expression, almost shouting, 'You just killed yourself, you fool!' with his face.
"What did you just say?" Opaline asked as she glared daggers at her.
"I-I just mean... I-It's just that... Well, what if..." Misty tried to say nervously.
"Spit it out already..." Eggman said, now bored, while Opaline looked at the unicorn with a frown.
"Ah! Twilight said that she put all of her magic into the Crystals!" Misty pointed out. "What if we just steal those instead?" she suggested with a little smile. "Yeah! Crystals don't run away or burp fire," she muttered in the last line with a smirk.
"Oh, that's a great idea!" Opaline said sarcastically with a mocking tone.
"Really?" Misty asked with an innocent smile.
"No. Not really," Opaline replied, once again in an angry tone. "We can't just steal the Crystals! Now that I know what they truly are: conduits!" she pointed out, reflecting on her boiler in the middle of the room.
"Huh?" Misty said, confused.
"Long ago, Twilight Sparkle channeled all the magic in Equestria into those Crystals and enchanted them," Opaline explained. "Stealing them now, before I'm strong enough, could destroy the Prisbeam, the very source of magic I want to possess!" she added angrily.
"You're kind of missing some crucial points here, Opaline," Eggman pointed out. "Not only getting the Crystals this early can tear them apart but also magic overflow. After all, earth pony magic wasn't a thing until 6 months ago. It is safe to say that containing that much power would tear the crystals apart. After all, they were not made to hold that much power..." he explained.
"Which is why we cannot risk Prisbeam breaking!" Opaline stated before looking back at Misty with a frown. "You were willing to risk that?" she asked angrily.
"No! Of course not!" Misty replied with a nervous chuckle. "It was a terrible idea! But um, uh... What's a 'conduit'?" she asked with a sheepish smile.
"An element!" Opaline replied, but Misty just blinked twice, feeling confused.
"A crystal that's protected by a very complex spell containing..." Eggman tried to say instead, but before he could keep going, he shivered in disgust and even struggled to say the word. "Un... Uni... Unity Magic..." he finished before growling and then shivering again in complete disgust, rubbing his neck with a hand. "Gosh, I'm gonna need to put some soap over my throat after that one..." he said disgustingly.
"The only thing that can drain the Crystals permanently is an equal magical power..." Opaline explained.
"Like an Alicorn's?" Misty asked.
"A Fire Alicorn!" Opaline replied, opening her wings as they and her horn released fire while Opaline smiled.
"But what if a non-magical thing or creature tried to steal the Crystals?" Eggman asked curiously.
"... What?" Opaline asked, confused.
"You said that the Prisbeam might shatter if you steal their magic now, but what if someone with no magic tried to steal them? What would happen?" Eggman questioned.
"... I honestly don't know..." Opaline replied, looking at the floor with a conflicted look. "If I had to guess, whoever grabs the Crystals will prevent them from tearing apart and might be able to use them as a magic container. Although, I'm pretty sure a spell is required for that..." she explained.
"... I see..." Eggman replied, but deep down, this revelation seemed to be what he needed because he wanted to grin and laugh out loud. Thanks for the info, you foolish mare! he thought with glee.
"Now, for my magic to get strong enough so we can actually steal the Crystals, there's only one thing I need," Opaline declared once more, looking at Misty with a frown.
Of course, Misty gulped at this. "A baby dragon?" she asked, but it almost sounded like a whisper, even though Opaline and Eggman did hear her.
"Don't fail me again," Opaline replied, closing her wings and leaving the room.
As she did so, Misty looked on with a conflicted expression...
On one hoof, she knew nothing but Opaline her entire life. She found her as a filly when she got lost and gave her food, a bed, a home... And now, with Eggman thrown into the mix, it was even more of a home since Eggman did care for her, even if he tried to hide it with the excuse of 'needing her on his side to have a spy out there.'
However, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic were on the other hoof. They did nothing but treat her like a friend, and even if Zipp and Knuckles seem to look at her with suspicion, they still consider her a friend. There was also the fact that she's having conflicted feelings about Tails ever since he talked with her in the Community Garden back when they had the unicorn sleepover...
It was a hard decision: She was in a thin line between good and evil and didn't want to disappoint either... But she knew that she'd eventually have to make a choice. If she stays, her new friends will turn their back on her and hate her, which is true, but she'll still have Eggman. But if she stood with her friends, then Eggman would feel betrayed...
As Misty experienced this internal conflict, Eggman looked at her with concern. He saw she had decided to join the bad guys or stick with her new friends.
Perhaps sending her to so many missions with them was a bad idea...
Worse of all? She destroyed the necklace Opaline gave her not so long ago, and Opaline just screamed at her that she should've been more careful. She was punished by staying in the castle for a whole week, but nothing else... And still, Eggman could tell Misty was starting to doubt who to be loyal to...
So, right there, he turned around and gave his back to Misty, but not without saying something. "Misty... I have no idea what's going on in your mind right now..." he started, calling the unicorn's attention. "But I want you to know this: It doesn't matter if we end on opposite sides of this game. I won't hurt you, no matter what. And that's a promise..." he stated before walking away and entering his lab.
Misty stared in shock at what he just said, and with those words, her already conflicted thoughts just got even more conflicted...
Stay with the one bad guy who cares about her and loves her like a daughter, or go with the friends who appreciate her in general? This was a hard decision to make...
Back in Maretime Bay, Sunny, Izzy, and Tails asked ponies around town about what they would like for the new Canterlogic.
They were talking now with Toots, Dahlia, and Windy, just like Izzy had suggested back in the fabric.
"Oh, I know I've got that somewhere!" Izzy said as she researched inside her Unicycling Cart for something while Tails was sitting in the driver's place and Sunny was taking notes of what everypony wanted on her phone. "Did I put it under the macaroni? Ah-ha!" she cheered, taking out a cactus from the cart.
"I've come to a point where I'm just gonna accept Izzy does Izzy because Izzy..." Tails said with a bored expression, while Sunny chuckled at his statement.
"There should be balloons. I love balloons!" Toots said with a smile, while Sunny nodded and wrote it down on her phone.
"Okay!" Izzy declared confidently, then fully inflated about seven to eight balloons and, using her magic, levitated them to show Toots.
"See what I mean?!" Tails pointed at the inflated balloons.
"Oh! And a glitter banner! We've got to have a glitter banner!" Dahlia declared with a smile.
"Yeah, that too!" Windy agreed with the earth pony mare.
"Okay!" Izzy replied with a smile while levitating some salt shaker tubes that had glitter instead of salt. Sunny wrote down what Dahlia suggested on her phone as she did so.
"And an art gallery with a painting of every pony in Maretime Bay!" Toots suggested once again with a smile.
"Okay..." Izzy said doubtfully as she and Sunny looked at each other, while Tails looked at Toots confused.
Still, Sunny shrugged and wrote down what Toots said while Izzy went to her cart and levitated several paint bottles. Then, Toots, Dahlia, and Windy separated each in their directions while Tails sighed in relief and smashed his head on the cart's horn.
"Lots of color, no color, extra space for dancing, and a cool pony statue in every corner..." Sunny started reading the list while Izzy sighed sadly and levitated everything her best friend listed. "Rainbow ribbons, no ribbons, and only blue ribbons," she listed while Izzy struggled to levitate so much stuff; her face was getting messy with all that stuff.
Seeing this, Tails immediately took flight and grabbed several things with his hands, multiplying himself with the watch so his clones could help.
"Balloons, a glitter banner, and a painting of every pony in Maretime Bay. And that's just the decor category!" Sunny pointed out as she finished reading the decor category on the list. "Do we have all that? We do, right?" she asked Izzy, who was struggling less to levitate stuff now that Tails and his clones were helping but still struggling a bit.
"I think so..." Izzy replied unsurely.
"Wow!" Sunny said, now smiling and chuckling a bit. "The town's ponies sure want a lot of different things," she pointed out, removing one sticker from Izzy's hooves.
"Yeah, and they don't always go together..." Izzy pointed out as she stood up from her place and shook her head while her magic deactivated, making all the stuff she levitated fall.
"Maybe there's just too many ideas to––" Tails tried to add, as he and his clones also let go of everything they were lifting while the clones vanished, and Tails landed with a tired expression.
"Make it work?" Sunny finished for the young fox with a concerned expression.
"Yeah..." Tails replied tiredly, falling facewards into the floor.
"But we've got to take everypony's idea into consideration!" Sunny pointed out. "After all, we're all part of the community! Everypony should all have an equal say and be able to enjoy the new space. Right?" she asked, turning to see Izzy, who smiled sheepishly. "Right?!" she asked once again with panic.
Izzy just chuckled awkwardly while nodding. "Right!" she replied, but she wasn't sure about the answer.
Meanwhile, Tails got up and sat on the driver's seat of the cart again, this time with a bored expression. "If someone wasn't mourning, they could use their speed to get this over with..." he muttered with annoyance.
"What was that?" Sunny asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing!" Tails replied with an innocent smile.
Inside the Canterlogic Factory, Hitch, Pipp, Knuckles, and Sparky walked around.
The electricity around the building was crackling since the place had been abandoned for a whole year, which left the building in a terrible state.
Neither Pipp nor Knuckles minded, but Hitch and Sparky were terrified to be here.
Then, Pipp saw something that made her fly and smile, flying close to a scaffold. "Remember when you thought these would protect you from scary brain-melting Unicorn Mind Rays?" she asked mockingly as she grabbed one of those helmets and landed in front of Hitch and Knuckles.
But that statement made Knuckles laugh. He found it hilarious that Hitch used to believe such a thing could protect his brain.
"Man, a part of me regrets not falling along Sonic the first time... That's just hilarious!" Knuckles said with a smirk.
Pipp chuckled at that. "I know! Spooky... Boo!" she jumped suddenly at Hitch.
However, the sheriff didn't flinch and just smirked at her. "Please, Pipp. An adorable 'boo' is not going to make me––" he tried to say confidently.
"Boo," Knuckles spoke in a low tone at his side all of a sudden, and that did scare Hitch because he jumped and moved to the side.
For Hitch's eternal annoyance, this made Knuckles and Pipp chuckle, while Sparky got out of the bags Hitch carried on his back and hugged the sheriff tightly.
"Great! Just what we need... More scary thoughts..." Hitch complained while hugging Sparky back and sitting down.
However, the four of them heard some clattering deep in the fabric. Pipp turned around with a scared expression, Hitch and Sparky leaned to see behind her, and Knuckles frowned slightly at the direction of the sound.
Then, they saw something moving among some cans, which made Hitch hug Sparky even more tightly. Pipp noticed this, and she cringed.
"Maybe you could loosen your grip on the baby dragon?" Pipp suggested to him.
At this, both Hitch and Knuckles noticed that Sparky was running out of air, so Hitch let go of some grip, which made Sparky catch his breath and sigh relieved.
Then, Knuckles frowned and hit Hitch on his head while the sheriff complained. "Auch!" he groaned.
The next thing that happened was that Knuckles used his super speed to remove the bags from Hitch and take Sparky away. He then modified the bags so that there was just one and put it over, placing Sparky in front of him.
"I'm taking him from here..." Knuckles said with a bored expression.
At this, Hitch smiled sheepishly and rubbed his head. "I'm sorry, it's just... I don't want anypony taking Sparky!" he pointed out with concern. "The last time he went missing, it was even scarier than this creepy building..." he stated.
Then, Sparky burped a small flame from an afire dragon, which floated in the air and exploded but didn't hurt anyone.
"Let's keep moving. The sooner we're done with this shit, the sooner we can let Izzy and Tails work their magic. Both figuratively and literally," Knuckles stated as he resumed his walk.
But as he, Pipp, and Hitch kept going, they didn't notice that somepony was watching them from behind a scaffold.
Outside the factory, Sunny, Izzy, and Tails returned on the cart to the build cart.
"Alright, are you ready for the biggest unicycling project ever?" Sunny asked both Izzy and Tails with a huge smile.
"I sure am! I think! I hope so!" Izzy replied, at first hesitant, before smiling confidently. "o, I am! I've decided," she said
"That is if we can go beyond four ideas," Tails pointed out with concern. There's tons of stuff to consider, and we just arrived at the factory. " He added, gulping nervously at the thought of managing so many ideas.
"Sure, there are a ton of ideas, and sure, not all of them go together, and sure, this is a lot., " Sunny said with a panicked expression.
"Of all things you could've said, that truly doesn't help the atmosphere, Sunny..." Tails pointed out with a cringed expression while Izzy nodded in agreement with the same expression.
"But I know we can do it!" Sunny assured, once again smiling normally.
"I think I agree!" Izzy replied nervously
"You're gonna need more than just a speech to convince me this time, Sunny..." Tails stated with a bored expression.
Sunny looked at him, confused at first, but then she sighed. ". I'll give you two full buckets of MMint-Flavored IceCream., she said, smirking.
At this, Tails slowly brought a construction helmet and put it over his head. "You got me a mint!" he also said with a smirk
So, Tails and Izzy exited the cart and prepared to enter the factory. But then, a voice called them out.
"Hey!" Posey's voice was heard, and the three turned around to see Posey approaching them. "I heard you're redesigning the old factory. Can I add my two bits real quick?" she asked smugly.
"Sure. What's one more idea?" Sunny said with a smile, but Izzy didn't seem too excited.
"I refuse to answer that..." Tails muttered with annoyance, but Izzy heard, and she got even more nervous now.
"Perfect!" Posey said with a smile. "So, I was thinking flowers––" she tried to say.
However, right then, Rocky came flying by and landed beside Posey. "Oh, I have an amazing idea, too!" he stated with a smile, and Posey turned to him, actually just confused and not annoyed.
"She's taking those anger-control classes with Knuckles, that's impressive..." Tails muttered with amusement.
However, as he was surprised to see Posey not getting mad at Rocky for being interrupted, Izzy at his side seemed quite nervous because more and more ponies arrived at the factory entrance, surrounding the trio and making them panic.
"A dance studio!" Glory suddenly suggested behind Izzy, startling the unicorn.
"Laser tag arena?!" Peach Fizz suggested as well.
"A science lab could be cool!" Seashell suggested too.
And so, more and more suggestions came by as the three of them walked backward and gulped nervously.
Eggman was in his lab at the castle, trying to find Sonic.
He knew perfectly what day was today, and that only made him want to check on Sonic. Now, why was he worried? Well, he had a really bad experience with Sonic back when he lost someone important to him, and he didn't want to live it ever again.
Suddenly, Opaline entered the lab and stared, confused, at Eggman. "Ivo!" she called out.
Eggman got startled and jumped on his seat before turning around and facing Opaline. "For fucks sake, Arcana!" he complained with a frown. "Has anyone ever taught you about knocking?!" he asked angrily.
"Has anyone ever told you about listening?!" Opaline said back with a frown. "I've been calling you for 10 minutes! What's gotten you so busy now?" she asked with concern.
"I'm trying to look after that Hedgehog," Eggman replied. "Today's the day he tries to stay away from anyone after... something happened," he explained. I must ensure he doesn't lose his senses... Not again..." he muttered the last part with a frown.
"I'm sorry, did you just say 'again'?" Opaline asked with a raised eyebrow. "What happened?" she questioned.
Eggman sighed long before turning around and removing his glasses, showing full concern and... fear in his eyes.
"... I never had experimented a loss that drives me crazy, to tell the truth..." Eggman confessed. "But I learned the hard way what it can do to a man when that someone means everything to them..." he said. "It was a bit less than 10 years ago when it happened... I was doing the usual: Creating machines, planning schemes, hating Sonic... when I suddenly heard the alarms on my base turning on, all simultaneously..." he narrated.
For some reason, Eggman's narration seemed to interest Opaline, like a 5-year-old filly hearing a story.
"I checked on my security cameras and felt completely and utterly terrified when I saw all my best badniks made a junked mess..." Eggman kept telling. "Of course, my instinct was to climb inside my Death Egg Robot and wait for whoever was doing this to approach... And he did. It was Sonic, as I was expecting, and I did why I always do: I mocked him up..." he said with a little smile.
However, that smile faded, and Eggman's appearance seemed duller and darker, sending a shiver down Opaline's spine.
"But he didn't answer. He didn't laugh, he didn't snort, he didn't even joke... He said nothing..." Eggman kept narrating. "He just... stared at me with pure hate. His eyes were like fireballs, waiting to explode over something... or rather, someone. I made the first move. I tried to hit him with everything I had, but... Sonic didn't even flinch. To say I got scared... Heh, it isn't very comfortable, but it's the truth... I was terrified..." he confessed. "I've been fighting Sonic since he was 5, but that day... That day I learned that I rather have him mock me up and get on my nerves, rather than fight without saying a thing... Because there's nothing I fear more than a Sonic that stops talking..." he said.
"But why?" Opaline asked, confused. "Why were you so scared of Sonic that day?" she added.
"Opaline, he didn't even hold back," Eggman replied with an anxious look. "You've seen how insanely fast he is... Now, imagine pissing off a living being that can kill everyone in the blink of an eye. He destroyed my badniks and made sure my Death Egg Robot couldn't defend me back, nor even stand up..." he explained. "And then..." he tried to add, but he instinctively led his hand towards his neck.
This action initially seemed to confuse Opaline, but she opened her eyes wide. "Did he try to—–" she wanted to ask, but Eggman nodded at the statement. My gosh, Ivo... What made him even want to do that?!" she asked, concerned.
"As I said, I learned that day what a loss can do to a man... And not even a man with a will as strong as Sonic's could avoid falling to his most dark thoughts..." Eggman replied. "Sonic tried to kill me that day but snapped just in time and realized what he was doing before running away. Of course, after that, things took quite a while before we returned to being the same enemies we've always been. But I learned to respect him... So, every July 2nd, I always keep my distance from him... I never thought I would say this, but it is for the best that he never falls to the dark side," he pointed out with concern. "We are threats, Opaline... But nothing is more dangerous... Then a good man losing someone he cares for..." he warned with a frown of concern.
Opaline, at this, had no idea what to reply.
Deep down, she was convinced Eggman was just being dramatic. But perhaps it would be better if she didn't question it and played his game.
After all, he's been fighting Sonic for years, just like he said, and that's enough confirmation that he has a good reason to fear Sonic if he ever goes insane...
In the Canterlogic Factory, Knuckles, Hitch, Pipp, and Sparky kept looking around, with Hitch still scared.
"I'm loving this!" Pipp sang happily, grabbing an old and dusty disc from a box before twirling around and then placing the disc back on the box. "It's just like in The Spooky Stable Series when Esmeralda Ghoulington searches for the old Whinny Mansion looking for her great Grandpony's spirit!" she explained excitedly as she looked over a box and removed the dust on it before landing in front of Hitch and Knuckles again, with the former shaking in fear. "It is bone-chilling!" she added with a smirk.
"I must've missed that one..." Hitch replied nervously.
"Neighway! You have to read it!" Pipp said with a smile.
"Wait... The tome you're talking about..." Knuckles said suddenly as he started to think about something. "Isn't that the time when Esmeralda thinks she found her great Grandpony's ghost and then BAM!" he shouted the last thing while smashing his fists together, which startled Hitch and made him jump backward, shaking in fear. "It's her great great Grandpony's ghost?" he asked Pipp.
However, this seemed to awaken something in Pipp because she was staring at Knuckles with utter shock. "You... You read The Spooky Stable Series?!" she asked with disbelief.
"Well, I think the 'Spooky' bit is missing in the first four tomes, but other than that... It's quite a really interesting story! I got shivers with the ninth tome," Knuckles smiled.
Pipp squealed like a filly after hearing that. "I know! Oh, I would never have guessed you liked the spooky stories!" she said with a big smile.
"It's one of the few genders I can enjoy," Knuckles confessed. "So, which is your favorite tome so far?" he asked.
"Oh, definitely tome 16. That twist about Esmeralda's cousin is a ghost of her forgotten life? To this day, I still cannot believe it happened!" Pipp replied.
"Yeah, that was a huge twist... But I still have goosebumps whenever I read tome 12. The plot line of Esmeralda's great Grandpony being immortal and having faked her death? I would kill to live that hype again..." Knuckles said with a huge grin.
Pipp squealed again, and as she and Knuckles kept telling stories, Hitch seemed confused because he couldn't understand at which moment he went to a second plane.
What he did got, however, was a glance at Sparky, who jumped from Knuckles' kangaroo for babies and climbed over some boxes, which made him panic and run towards the baby dragon.
"That's okay, Sparky! I'll keep you safe!" Hitch declared, grabbing Sparky and hugging him tightly, which made the baby dragon complain, while his dad put him on his back again, resuming the walk around the factory.
Knuckles and Pipp followed him, still talking about The Spooky Stable Series, not noticing a figure approaching them from behind.
Outside the factory, Izzy levitated many things with her horn while the ponies surrounded Sunny and Tails.
"Sure, uh..." Sunny spoke nervously, Izzy chuckled awkwardly, and Tails smiled sheepishly. "Of course! No worries..." she tried to assure, but everypony kept talking, and talking, and talking, until the earth pony mare reached her limit. "Okay! Got it, thank you!" she said quickly, closing her eyes.
By doing so, the chanter stopped, and when she opened her eyes again, all the ponies were gone, which made her sigh in relief and wipe some sweat from her forehead while Izzy fell to the ground with a groan, and Tails curled into a ball while embracing himself on the floor, still with a sheepish smile.
"I better hurry up and get to unicycling!" Izzy declared.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Sunny said with an awkward smile.
However, as Izzy and Tails got up, the latter now looked on with a concerned look and lower ears, and they flinched when they heard Mayflower clearing her throat. Turning to the factory entrance, they saw Mayflower and an old unicorn stallion standing in their way.
Izzy didn't seem bothered this time, but Tails smiled sheepishly again with a twitchy eye. Sunny seemed anxious but remained calm. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up!" she instructed with a smile.
"Thanks, Sunny..." Tails replied with a forced smile while his eyes still twitched.
Meanwhile, Hitch, Pipp, and Knuckles kept walking around inside the factory.
"Did it get darker in here? I feel like it got darker in here..." Hitch said nervously, placing Sparky on top of a box. "Where's a unicorn with a glowing horn when you need one?" he asked rhetorically with a sheepish smile.
"Maybe we need to try talking to them!" Pipp suggested with a smile.
"Uh, I'm not sure that's––" Hitch tried to say.
However, Knuckles believed that he could mock Hitch more, so he stepped forward and followed Pipp's game. "Come on out, you spooky spirits!" he shouted with a smile, and Hitch flinched while looking around in fear. "We're only here to help!" he stated, and Pipp smiled with sparkling eyes when he followed her game.
"If you are here, give us a sign!" Pipp added, dramatically shacking her hooves in the air.
However, they didn't expect to hear something loudly falling, and then, somepony screamed in fright and jumped over some boxes.
Hitch immediately screamed in fright, too, as whoever came out of the boxes jumped towards him, while Knuckles got in front of Pipp with a frown and activated his electrical powers.
However, when all that adrenaline was over, Knuckles' powers dissipated, but his frown remained. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." he muttered annoyedly.
Then, Hitch opened his eyes to see that the pony who jumped from the boxes was Sprout, and he landed on his hooves.
"Sprout?!" Hitch asked in disbelief.
"Sprout?!" Pipp asked, shocked as well.
"... Pony Trump..." Knuckles said with a frown.
As for Sparky, he burst laughing at Sprout's sudden appearance.
"What was that?!" Sprout asked in fear.
The noise was made by Izzy, who tripped with some drums that fell over her, and Tails looked on with a smile.
"Oopsies!" Izzy said with a chuckle, using her magic to levitate the cymbals while Tails helped by removing the drums over her. She also wore her crafting glasses on. "Gotta remember to turn this thing on before I trot in the dark, duh!" she pointed out, but still smiled after all and lightened her horn.
"That positive attitude of yours only compares to Sonic's and Sunny's, and you know how positive those two get sometimes!" Tails pointed out with a chuckle while Izzy chuckled as well.
Back with the other visitors inside the fabric, Pipp looked around before answering Sprout's question. "Ghosts?" she said.
Hitch and Sprout looked at each other momentarily before Hitch put on a bored expression and let go of the earth pony stallion. "Sprout, what are you doing here?" he asked with annoyance.
"I saw you guys go into the factory, and I figured, since it was my family business, I should make sure that you don't mess anything up," Sprout replied with a frown.
Pipp, Hitch, and Knuckles rolled their eyes with annoyance as he did so.
"That we don't mess anything up?" Hitch asked with disbelief.
"Yeah! You're the one who crashed a giant robot pony into Sunny's lighthouse!" Pipp pointed out with a frown while Hitch nodded in agreement.
"And it had your exact shape, which leaves you even less in a position to object about not causing trouble," Knuckles added with a bored expression.
At all of this, Sprout chuckled awkwardly. "I thought we all agreed to move past that?" he asked with a sheepish smile.
"You destroyed private property with a giant robot that had your fucking face!" Knuckles pointed out madly. "No one's gonna rest from that 'till the day you kick the bucket, man," he added while crossing his arms.
"Mm-hmm," Pipp said in agreement with Knuckles' words, and Hitch rolled his eyes at Sprout's attitude.
"Plus, I don't think we could mess this place up more than it already is!" Hitch pointed out while Sparky got down from his box and approached Hitch as the Sheriff grabbed his baby dragon on his hoof.
"Yeah, what happened in here?" Sprout questioned, confused, looking around at all the mess across the factory.
"It's... haunted!" Pipp said, while she started to laugh like a maniac, as a weird light turned on below her.
As she did this, Hitch and Sprout looked at each other with concern while Knuckles got in the middle of the two stallions and lowered himself to mutter to them.
"I've been wondering why Sonic liked her in the first place, but after today, I'm convinced he likes her because she's as crazy as him..." Knuckles muttered to the two stallions.
"Yeah..." Hitch said in agreement.
"Agreed..." Sprout muttered as well with a cringed expression.
Then, Pipp stopped laughing like a maniac. "But don't worry, Sunny, Izzy, and Tails have big plans to make this place a-ma-zing!" she stated with her regular smile. "We just have to un-spook it first. Aw, unless it was just you. Aw..." she exclaimed to sprout with disappointment.
"Reality is often disappointing," Knuckles said with a compassionate look before switching to a cheery smile. "Oh well! It is what it is! I'm going to search for a button that turns the lights on already," he said with a smile, whistling happily and walking away.
As for Hitch, he sighed in relief. "Oka,y I'll admit it. For a second there, I thought this place was haunted, but it was just you for this whole time!" he screamed the last word suddenly.
As he did so, Sprout joined him in the scream, and Pipp turned around to see a monster approaching them. This made her scream in fear and cover her face.
Knuckles, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes instead of standing to fight. Suddenly, the lights came back, revealing that the monster was not even that; it was just a bunch of pega-mice holding out stuff around boxes pilled in some scaffolds.
Tails looked up to the ceiling amusedly while his finger was over a button on a panel control.
"Great! The lights work again!" Tails cheered with a smile, cleaning his hands and putting on his construction helmet again before flying back with Izzy.
Back with Sprout, Hitch, Pipp, and Knuckles, they stared confused at the pegamice.
"Huh..." Hitch muttered before walking ahead to talk with the critters.
However, as he was about to do so, the pega-mice threw everything and ran away, leaving everyone confused.
"My factory's been infested with rats?" Sprout asked, confused.
"Pega-mice, but yeah... This is just a rat infestation..." Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression.
"Aww, why couldn't it have been ghosties?" Pipp asked with disappointment.
"Seriously, girl, why do you want to see ghosts so badly?" Knuckles asked, now actually worrying about Pipp.
After all, he has a certain experience with a ghost that he most likely would love to forget about...
In the Crystal Brighthouse, Zipp was still investigating Twilight's full message.
She was in her bedroom, looking at her investigation board as she tried to piece everything together regarding the message.
"I remember Twilight saying that she put all the magic in the Crystals and the blank..." Zipp reminded herself, walking over to Grandma Figgy's book over a chair near her desk. "So there's something else with her magic in it! Right?" she pointed out with wide eyes, but then she groaned since she was guessing there.
Then, she grabbed Grandma Figgy's book and opened it as she looked through the pages for some useful information for her investigation.
However, Zipp found nothing so far, so she brought her phone and recorded a new entry. "Case Update: Been studying Crystals for days... But I'm still confused," she recorded, looking back at the book with concern. "And I can't crack this protection spell thing, either," she added, closing the book and opening her laptop to tap some information. "If I could, maybe I could protect the Crystals and us from this evil force... aka Opaline and Doctor Eggman," she tapped down.
After that, she cleared her throat and took a deep breath.
"Think, Zipp! Think," Zipp told herself, closing her laptop and frowning. "Okay. What I do know is that unicorns now can cast spells. So I..." she stopped, thinking carefully about what to do next, before gasping and jumping slightly in happiness while grabbing her phone again. "Must find a a unicorn who'd be willing to do some scientific experiments on spell casting!" she stated happily, before putting a thoughtful look again. "I'm getting closer! I can feel it! And once I crack the case, nopony will be able to steal anything from us again!" she declared confidently.
Her Cutie Mark started to shine bright as she did so, while Zipp walked out of the bedroom.
In Opaline's Castle, Misty was in her room, as she made a unicorn doll with a tennis ball, two nuts, a crystal, some cotton, and a button.
Misty stared at her creation, confused, even scratching her head awkwardly. "I feel pretty silly talking to a unicorn made of junk, but I just have to have somepony to talk to about Opaline..." she pointed out. "I could always tell Eggman, but... I don't know if I can trust him anymore, especially after how badly he's been wanting to get rid of Sonic and his friends!" she said with concern.
Of course, the doll didn't reply... It's a doll... It has no life...
"You see, Opaline wants me to steal Sparky. And I really, really don't want to..." Misty started to tell the doll. "I tried that already, and it did not go well..." she explained with concern.
Again, the doll said nothing back. What? You expected the doll to talk because of 'reasons'?
"What do you think I should do?" Misty asked the doll directly with a conflicted expression.
Once more, the doll said nothing, which made Misty sigh and shake her head in disappointment. Her internal conflict over whether to remain loyal to Opaline and Eggman or her friends was getting increasingly complicated.
But the worst part of this? Eggman heard everything Misty told the doll, and his fears of losing Misty to the light were growing stronger now...
Once again, he was convinced that sending Misty to so many missions with the Mane 5 and Team Sonic was a terrible idea...
In Canterlogic, Sunny, Izzy, and Tails were already working on everypony's suggestions.
Sunny was checking the list while Izzy and Tails struggled to put everything everypony said in order. Even if Tails brought his clones again, they still couldn't help at all, and this situation made Sunny gasp.
Suddenly, however, the earth pony mare had to duck to dodge something Izzy was levitating since it almost hit her in the head.
Then, Izzy turned around and panted heavily before smiling sheepishly. "Uh... Tah dah..." she said, presenting all the things on the list.
And by all, I mean all... This surprised Sunny since she was speechless about the amount of stuff inside the factory.
Heck, there even was a calendar with Hitch's face on it... Whoever brought that didn't want to check the date while being in the factory.
Sunny chuckled sheepishly at this, while Tails clones disappeared, and Tails fell to the floor with a tired and angry expression. "This could be easier if someone showed up and helped!" he pointed out with concern. "Ugh! Why did Pipp have to choose today of all days to renew this place?!" he complained.
"Are you talking about Sonic?" Sunny asked, confused.
"No, I'm talking about this nice gal I met the other day; she had a bacon-head mane–– YES, I'M TALKING ABOUT SONIC!" Tails replied in anger before burring his face in the floor and groaning while waving his hand and feet like a 5-year-old that was mad over something.
Of course, this was adorable to see, but both Sunny and Izzy were concerned about his attitude, especially since he's been grumpy the whole day.
And Sunny felt that this attitude was because of Sonic's absence, which's been pretty noticeable the whole day.
Meanwhile, Pipp, Hitch, Sprout, and Knuckles chased the pega mice around the factory.
They were trying to get rid of them, but so far, they had no luck because the mice were incredibly fast, to the point that not even Knuckles and his speed could catch them.
"Remember when all the animals were in the Brighthouse?" Pipp asked with concern while ducking and avoiding a mouse that wanted to climb on her.
"Yeah!" Hitch replied as he jumped and tried to grab one of the mouses, but it flew away from him.
"And we couldn't get them to leave?" Pipp reminded again while trapping a mouse in an oven.
"Yeah?" Hitch replied as he tried to grab a mouse that flew away, so he went after them.
With Pipp, however, it was getting worse because she had two mice on her hooves, and she felt disgusted, so she tried to make them fly away while kicking the oven and freeing the mouse she had trapped earlier.
"Are you talking about that day when Sonic and I built the Critter Corner, and now you and Izzy constantly remind us because we didn't help you with the critters?!" Knuckles asked while trying to grab some mouses but failing miserably.
"Yeah!" Pipp replied in anger.
"What about it? Do you know how to get them out of here?!" Hitch asked in a panic, as both he and Knuckles jumped in the air to try and grab some mice, but they crashed and landed one over the other while Pipp looked at them with a sheepish smile.
"Oh, I don't have a solution," Pipp said nervously, while Knuckles and Hitch frowned and rolled their eyes at her. "But this is exactly like that!" she pointed out with concern.
"Great, I'm more glad I helped Sonic instead now..." Knuckles said with a bored expression before his eyes opened wide. "Don't ever tell him I said that!" he angrily warned.
Then, two mouses ran over Hitch's mane and jumped from it before landing on the floor, while Hitch got up from Knuckles and looked at the pega-mice with a frown.
"Okay, that's enough! No more, Mr. Nice Sheriff," Hitch stated, approaching two mice that got over a box. "Listen up, little buddies! You're going to have to leave and go back tome to Zephyr Heights. Please?" he begged to them.
The mice looked at each other as they squeaked while talking, leaving everyone else but Hitch confused since he's the only one who can understand any animal.
"I know, I know!" Hitch said, approaching them even more and sitting on the floor. "It's just that we're trying to turn this into a cool new space for the community, and it's hard to do that with all of you hanging out here," he pointed out.
"Yeah, and you've ratted the place up too!" Sprout interrupted suddenly while approaching the mice with a frown.
Knuckles facepalmed and groaned loudly at this since it was clear that Sprout just screwed everything up.
"How about you scram?" Sprout finished with rage at the mice.
At this, the two moused squeaked and looked offended at the earth pony stallion.
"Was that a yes?" Sprout asked with a smug look.
"It was not..." Hitch replied with a bored expression.
At this, Sprout and Pipp groaned, the former in annoyance and the latter in disappointment.
Then, the mice started to squeak again while Hitch listened carefully. "He says that they were bored in Zephyr Heights. But this place has lots of cool things they can play with," he translated. He. He then got closer to the mice as one flew and twirled in the air. "They... They need entertainment!" he pointed out.
"... So they came from Zephyr Heights to Maretime Bay... because they're bored..." Knuckles said with a bored expression. "... I guess I understand why Eggman calls Sonic 'rodent' since he's as crazy as these mice to do such a thing..." he pointed out with concern.
"That's it!" Sprout said with anger, stomping his hooves on the ground. "This is my building, and you are all getting evicted!" he said before chasing them down to scare them.
After he came back, he smiled proudly, but then, he noticed that the mice were behind him, so he grabbed them all and tried to pull them away, but the mouses flew away.
Yet, as Sprout went back with Pipp, Hitch, and Knuckles, the mice came by and tried to hit Sprout on the head, something the earth pony stallion noticed, so he ducked to avoid getting hit, just for a mouse to pull out his mouth to him in a mocking way, which made Knuckles and Pipp chuckle, while Hitch just smiled.
And, of course, Sprout groaned in annoyance.
Meanwhile, Izzy was using all the salt shakers with glitter over the banner since Dahlia suggested it.
She hummed happily to herself as she did so while Tails used his tails as a fan to make sure the glitter would fall on the banner.
However, as they worked on the banner, Sunny walked back and forth behind them with a concerned expression.
"Too much glitter?" Izzy asked Tails, but he couldn't even reply. "Psh, who am I kidding? There can never be enough glitter!" Izzy replied immediately while still shaking the salt shakers with glitter.
"You sure? I think you're missing a spot or two!" Tails replied with a mocking tone.
"I don't know what to do, guys... Sunny said with concern. "I've made so many promises to the community, but I can't keep them all!" she pointed out, sitting on the floor with concern.
At this point, Izzy stopped shaking the glitter. She looked at Tails, who looked back at her before they both nodded and approached Sunny.
"Whenever I used to feel super duper overwhelmed, I used to go talk to the older pony in Bridlewood, Elder Flower," Izzy explained, making her horn glow bright. "And now I will share with you her wise, sagebrush advice," she stated, removing her glasses and placing a flower crown over her head.
Then, her eyes got a bit... separated, and she started to talk like a 70-year-old mare.
"You can't please everypony, Izzy," the unicorn mare spoke, as she started to walk around Sunny, while Tails looked at her with a confused expression, not getting what was happening. "Sometimes being a leader means making the tough decisions, Izzy. You, Izzy, must take everypony's opinion under your hoof and then make the final call, Izzy..." she finished with a twitchy eye.
Again, tails stared at her with a confused expression, clearly not understanding what happened.
"Just change the Izzy part to a Sunny part!" Izzy spoke again, acting like herself while levitating the flower crown off her head and putting her glasses back.
"I figured!" Sunny replied with a smile.
"That was... something..." Tails said with an awkward smile before approaching Sunny and placing a hand on her shoulder. "But I get where Izzy's getting to. You got into this situation because you care so much. That means you're gonna make the best decision you can, even if it means you must make some sacrifices... But they're part of life. Without sacrifices, maybe we could never get as far as we get!" he said with a smile.
"You guys think so?" Sunny asked both Izzy and Tails.
"Hoof to heart!" both Izzy and Tails replied with smiles.
"You guys are right. And I think I know just how to make this the perfect space for everypony!" she said with a smile.
On the other hand, we have Hitch, Pipp, Sprout, and Knuckles hiding behind some boxes as they stare down at the mice that still don't want to leave, even seeing some playing with Sparky.
"We need to change our strategy..." Pipp pointed out while panting.
"What do you have in mind?" Hitch asked.
"Please don't be a song, please don't be a song, please don't be a song..." Knuckles begged in whispers.
"Oh, I know!" Pipp said as she got over the box she was hiding and started to sing 'All You Need is Your Beat'.
As she did so... the mouses didn't care and kept focusing on their stuff.
Meanwhile, Knuckles had a bored expression and a frown as he lay on the box he was hiding and called Sonic with his watch. "Hedgehog, we seriously need to talk about your tastes..." he said with annoyance.
"I have no idea of how this works... Uh... I'm busy right now, alright? Gotta run!" Sonic's voice replied in a recorded message.
"A generic answer?" Knuckles said, confused, before his eyes widened. "Oh, right... he's still mourning her death; he's not gonna reply..." he remembered looking back at the mice with a bored expression.
It was there when Pipp noticed that the mice didn't care about her song, and she got offended. "Okay, what gives?! Everypony loves that song!" she said angrily, landing near the mice while the rest followed behind.
Then, two mice approached Hitch and squeaked at him while Hitch listened closely. "He says they've heard that song a bajillion times before," he translated.
"What?!" Pipp said with concern.
"Well, they come from the city where you are not only a princess, heiress or not, but also a pop star everyone loves..." Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression. "I'll be tired after hearing the same song over and over and over again..." he pointed out.
"Hey!" Pipp said with an offended look.
However, the mice squeaked at Hitch, and he chuckled nervously. "You're gonna hate this one, Pipp, but... they say that Knuckles is right..." he said nervously.
"Ugh!" Pipp groaned again, clearly annoyed and offended at that statement.
Back in the Brighthouse, Zipp was at the Crystal Room, looking after the Unity Crystals with a frown.
"If the Crystals hold that much magic, then the pony that wants them must be able to handle a lot of magic themselves..." Zipp muttered as she approached the Crystals even more. "That must be. This pony is powerful... With unique powers..." she added.
And then, she gasped suddenly, as she realized something...
The Unity Crystals had lots of magic, and if somepony wanted that power, it could only mean that said pony could only be someone that could handle all the types of magic together... somepony like Sunny... an Alicorn like her.
"Like Sunny! Like an Alicorn!" Zipp realized, opening her wings. Then, she brought out her phone and started to record other messages. "Alicorns must be the key!" she stated happily.
Of course, she knew that Opaline could be pretty much the evil pony Twilight wanted to warn about, but it wasn't until now that she questioned what kind of pony was Opaline.
And if she was an Alicorn, then maybe she was closer to finding the truth...
Back at the factory, Sunny checked her phone to see what to remove.
Meanwhile, Izzy and Tails were removing some things she already told them to quit, even though they still needed to remove a lot.
"Huh... Let's remove that," Sunny said, pointing at a golden statue of an earth pony.
"On it!" Izzy said with a smile, as she immediately levitated the statue and moved it away.
"Hmm..." Sunny muttered as she walked around to see what else she had to take away before stopping in front of a bush with Pipp's head shape. "And definitely that," she stated with a cringed expression.
Tails chuckled at hearing this while he pushed the bush away with his hands.
As he did so, Sunny approached a giant framed picture of Sprout and his mother, Phyllis, in what seemed to be an office inside the factory. "And that!" she said with a smile.
"You got it!" Izzy said happily, levitating the frame away.
"Yeah, this has to be creapiest picture I've ever seen..." Tails said with an awkward smile.
At this, Sunny smiled and looked around, now feeling more comfortable with the way the place was starting to look.
Then, Tails pressed a button on his watch and waited for something. "I have no idea of how this works... Uh... I'm busy right now, alright? Gotta run!" Sonic's voice spoke.
"Generic answer again..." Tails said with sadness as his ears lowered. "I hope he's not so far..." he muttered with concern.
"Are you okay?" Izzy called out to him as Tails looked at her. "Your sparkle seems dull and grey right now..." she said with concern.
"... I'm just worried about Sonic... I haven't heard from him the whole day!" Tails replied. "I know I said we should leave him alone for the day, and I stand to my position! But... I'm still concerned for him..." he confessed with sadness.
Sunny approached too, and she and Izzy shared concerned expressions before looking back at the fox. "Tails... I know you still want to respect Sonic's wish to be alone, but... I need to know what this traumatic event is about," she stated with a determined look. "So, please, if you have any idea of where he is..." she requested with a warm smile.
Tails looked at her for a moment, then at the ground, and then he sighed, looking back at Sunny and smiling back. "... I might have a hunch on where he is..." he replied.
Back with Hitch, Pipp, Sprout, and Knuckles, they were still struggling with catching the mice.
"So, hear me out..." Sprout decided to speak after failing to grab another mouse. "What if we just let the rats stay? Huh?" he asked looking at the others with a smirk.
"What? No way!" Pipp replied immediately with annoyance.
"That's against the code!" Hitch said with a frown.
"It's the biggest piece of dog shit I've ever heard..." Knuckles muttered with a bored expression.
"Okay, then idea number two... I leave! Good luck!" Sprout smiled as he walked away.
"OH, YOU'VE GOTTA ME SHITTING ME!" Knuckles groaned, completely mad.
Meanwhile, Hitch and Pipp groaned, annoyed, but their actions sounded as if they were harmonizing, and the mice harmonized as well.
At this, the two ponies looked at each other with smiles before harmonizing for real this time, and the mouses harmonized along.
"Are you thinking what I am?" Hitch asked Pipp with a smile.
"Oh, no... No, no," No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Knuckles said with a frown. "Please don't tell me you're going... " He tried to beg, but...
Pipp: Making a Plan
Hitch: Lending a hand
Pipp: Helping a friend is...
Hitch and Pipp: Nice!
As they started to sing, Knuckles looked in disbelief, before looking at you, the readers. "I don't get paid enough for this shit..." he groaned with annoyance.
Hitch: Work together
Pipp: Two manes are better
Hitch and Pipp: Finding new ways, to fly!
Knuckles just groaned and lay on a wall, crossing his arms and hoping this would end soon.
Pipp: With a little bit of confidence
Hitch: And a little bit of kindness!
Hitch and Pipp: We can make it fun to do!
As they sang, they threw Sparky in the air, then landed on Knuckles's head and twirled around.
"...Okay, you kinda make it look adorable..." Knuckles confessed with a smile.
Work together Make it better Work smarter With each other
However, Knuckles' jaw dropped when he saw that the song was working because the mice were following Hitch and Pipp out of the building.
"...Seriously?! The pep talk doesn't work, but the song does?!" Knuckles complained with anger. "I'm seriously starting to consider returning to my island..." he muttered with annoyance before following Hitch and Pipp with a bored expression.
Work together Make it better We are stronger With each other
As they sang and left the factory, with the mice and an annoyed Knuckles following behind, Hitch and Pipp's Cutie marks started to glow bright.
Work, work. Let's unite Every pony shining bright Work, work, work it out Every pony shout it loud
After the song was over, the mouses finally left Maretime Bay, with just two of them staying back to talk with Hitch.
"We did it!" Hitch and Pipp cheered with smiles.
Then, the two mice squeaked happily at Hitch.
"He says, 'Thank you for that exciting new song. It invigorated them. And now, they're excited to find fun things to do at home in Zephyr Heights'!" Hitch translated with a smile before the mice squeaked again. "She said, 'They're sorry if they insulted your song. They love it. They just needed something new'" he translated once again.
"Aw, I knew they loved it. Everypony does!" Pipp said with a smile.
"I'm still annoyed that a song got them out of there... But it's better than never getting them out, I guess..." Knuckles said, still with an annoyed look.
The sun was setting on the horizon, and nopony could be seen around the beach.
This could be a beautiful sight in any other circumstances... but for Sonic? It was just the end of the most painful day in his whole life...
He contemplated the empty beach and sighed deeply as he sat on the sand while hugging his legs. He always wanted to be alone on this day because it was when his mind tortured him the most...
He could fight against Eggman, smash his robots, or distract his mind by helping his friends with whatever they needed... But Sonic's case was different.
He mourned on his way, and even if nobody seemed to enjoy it, he preferred to keep doing it this way. He doesn't want to say or do something he'll regret later... Not after what he almost did to Eggman...
He had Longclaw's scarf around his neck, and he used it to feel her closer, especially today.
Soon enough, however, as he was still watching the beach, he heard someone approaching. He didn't want to see who it was or guess who it was, either.
Then, Sunny joined him as she sat at his side looking in the distance as well. She didn't know what to do here now that she finally found him. She only wanted to check on him, but... seeing how lonely he was, she had the impulse to come along... And now, here she is...
"... Hey, Sunny..." Sonic greeted first, much to his and Sunny's surprise.
However, his voice sounded different. Instead of the usual cockiness, Sonic spoke as if he had no value for life anymore... Which wouldn't be so far from the truth...
"... Hey, Sonic..." Sunny greeted back, smiling at him for a moment, before putting a concerned expression. "So... How you doing?" she asked.
At this, Sonic chuckled and sighed again. "I've felt better..." he confessed.
"Yeah... Tails and Knuckles said you wanted to be alone, but you know me!" Sunny said with an awkward chuckle.
"Yeah... I was wondering if you were bribed not to come or something..." Sonic replied with a sad smile.
"... Look... I have no idea why you've been here the entire day..." Sunny started. "But I do know that this isn't like you! You never stop running for a whole day because you're feeling down! I know that something really bad happened today, just years ago. But, please... If you trust me enough, can I know what is bugging you?" she asked.
Sonic's weak smile disappeared, and he looked back at the sand with sadness. "Sunny, I do trust you. That does not mean I've gotta tell you everything I do... Nor everything I did..." he pointed out.
At this, Sunny felt surprised before frowning. "Of course it does! I know there might be things you will never share because you're afraid... But you can always count on me and everyone else to listen, even if we don't understand!" she pointed out.
This made Sonic chuckle, but his voice sounded broken. "Not when you almost did something you always swore you'd never do..." he replied.
"What?" Sunny asked, now even more confused.
So, Sonic sighed, and finally decided to let it out. "... 10 years ago, Longclaw went to a village recently attacked by Eggman to provide resources and lend a hand to anyone in danger..." he started to narrate, now smiling a bit. "She was always willing to help everyone if she could, just like I do... Guess she really was my Mom, even if she didn't bring me into existence..." he said with a chuckle.
Sunny smiled while imagining how Longclaw used to be. If she was just as helpful as Sonic is today, then she did a good job raising him, or that's what Sunny thinks right now.
"But nobody in the said village was aware that one of the badniks wasn't destroyed at all..." Sonic started to narrate, now with complete sadness, while his eyes seemed watering. "The... The badnik was in self-destruction mode, and... By the time one of the residents realized that it was too late... The badnik exploded and caused a massive fire in the main building..." he narrated, his body starting to tremble, and tears ran down his cheeks. "T-The fire was extending too fast to be stopped, a-and..." he tried to say.
However, by this point, he could barely even say another word, and Sunny noticed that, so she embraced Sonic in a tight hug.
Sonic didn't even hesitate and buried his face in Sunny's chest as he sobbed uncontrollably while letting out all his frustration and suffering. All Sunny did in return was caress his back as he kept crying, breaking once again that shell that made him feel like an unstoppable force.
It was clear he felt like anything but unstoppable... He felt weak, scared, and sad, emotions he barely showed to anyone because of fear of what they might think about him.
Only Tails and Pipp have seen him like this, and that time Tails went missing with two Pippsqueaks, he almost lost that shell too in front of everypony, but this was the first time in months he felt this weak...
Yet, he eventually seemed to calm down and sat over the sand again, but Sunny still had her hooves wrapped around him just in case.
"... And then?" Sunny decided to ask.
She hated to see a friend like this, especially a positive force like Sonic, but she also knew that he needed to let it all out.
"... And then... The fire grew until it took the entire town down. It didn't stop until it started to rain the next morning..." Sonic kept going. "By the time Tails and I got the call, we rushed to the place, but it was too late..." he said, tears falling from his eyes. "I... I hoped to see her between the survivors... To see that she was fine... B-But... I-I found her scarf burned between the ashes..." he added, now pointing at the scarf on his neck that was already wet because of his tears. "... I guess you can tell the rest..." he finished, sobbing a bit as he tried to wipe his tears away.
Sunny had no idea how to reply to that, but... what was she supposed to say? Sonic just told her how his mother figure died: Burned down in a town she only wanted to help.
That was a horrible way to die... At least she could have peace knowing that her father died while sleeping... But Sonic? He's been dealing 10 years with his mother's death, and her death was horrible! Her entire body and skin were burned down, and... And Sonic couldn't even say goodbye to her...
"Is this why you always want to be alone on this very day, every year?" Sunny asked, even though the answer was pretty obvious.
"... Yes..." Sonic replied, finally looking back at her in the eyes.
Sunny felt her heart tearing apart: Sonic's expression was painful... Even if it's been 10 years, it's pretty clear that he cannot let her go at 100% percent... Even if he has moved on, he still misses her a lot... And she could understand that pain because that's exactly how she feels about her dad, too.
So, she embraced him again, and Sonic reciprocated, even if he didn't have more tears to cry.
They stood like that for several minutes, with Sonic just needing the embrace, so much more than he would like to admit, before breaking the hug and looking at Sunny.
"I, um... I... Also wanted to be alone because... I don't want to hurt anyone... Not again..." Sonic said with concern.
"Again? What do you mean?" Sunny asked.
"... After she died... I... I needed to blame someone..." Sonic started to tell. "I knew that she just died because of a fire, but... My mind convinced me that Eggman was the one to blame, as usual, so I went to his lab and smashed his machines before I... Before I..." he tried to say, but just the mare thought about it made him feel even worse. "... I tried to stifle him..." he confessed with shame and sadness.
At this, Sunny stared with wide eyes at Sonic while his sight was lost in the horizon.
Did she ever expect him to confess he tried to kill Eggman after his mother figure died? Not...
"... Wow... You seriously need to seek therapy..." Sunny told him with concern.
At this, Sonic chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've heard that one before as well... And honestly? I did... It thankfully did help me to... Not get it over, that's for sure, but... I did learn to deal with the pain..." he stated with a little smile. "But I guess I still have a long way to go..." he pointed out with concern.
"Well... I am glad that you're doing fine, Sonic... But I also think you shouldn't be going through this alone... Not anymore..." Sunny said as she placed a hoof over his shoulder. "Look, I'll be going back to Canterlogic. Me and everypony else been working on something great, and I would love to see you participating in it!" she told him with a smile. "But... only if you want. And, of course, you could also explain yourself to everyone. They are our friends, and they'll understand the situation, you know?" she said with a smile.
At this, Sonic weakly smiled back at her. "Thanks, Sunny... For listening... I never knew how much I needed to talk about her..." he replied with a smile. "As for your offer... I'll think about it..." he added.
Sunny nodded and smiled back before walking again towards Canterlogic while Sonic returned his gaze to the horizon.
Perhaps Sunny was right... He didn't have to mourn this alone, so... Maybe it was time the rest of the Mane 5 knew as well.
At night, Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, Knuckles, and Sprout were waiting outside of Canterlogic.
Meanwhile, Tails, Sunny,, and Izzy were inside, looking around and sighing in relief—not only because they had finished but also because everything seemed perfect.
So, with no more hesitation and with a hoof bump from the trio, they opened the doors and let the rest go inside the factory.
The factory from the inside seemed better than ever: Cameras, stages, lights, and a whole wall painted with Unity Crystals. It even had a living room with a few couches and a stork plushie.
The other seemed amazed by how the place looked, even Sprout, who seemed to have doubts at first.
"Welcome..." Sunny started before floating in the air and turning into an Alicorn. "To Canterlove Studios!" she presented with a smile, landing once again on the floor.
"A place where everypony can come hang out and create cool stuff! Yay!" Izzy said with a smile while throwing some glitter in the air.
"Ooh, we could put on a play!" Pipp said with a smile.
"You could!" Tails said with a smile.
"Or shoot a music video!" Pipp added again, now flying and clapping her hooves happily.
"Why not!" Sunny said with a smile as well.
"Or have a really big community meeting to discuss new rules and guidelines!" Hitch said, strangely, super excited, and with a huge smile.
"Aaaaaand you ruined it..." Knuckles said with a bored expression.
"The sky's the limit!" However, Sunny replied with a smile as she, Tails, and Izzy approached their friends.
"I gotta admit, I like what you did with the plac,e" Sprout confessed with a smile. "It's pretty impressive. And technically... It is still mine! Booyah!" he cheered.
After that, he walked in circles around Sunny, Izzy, and Tails, with the latter getting squeezed by both Sunny and Izzy, since Sprout started to laugh like a maniac, before walking away from the building.
"... Okay, what Eggman got into him?" Tails asked, confused, with a raised eyebrow.
"Is he right? Is the place still his?" Izzy asked, confused.
"No way!" Sunny replied with a smile. "It belongs to all of us now!" she stated pointing at the rest before them.
Zipp was checking over a camera, Knuckles and Sparky approached one of the stages, and both Hitch and Pipp started to sing the same song they used to get the mice out of the building earlier.
"We did make this place shine, didn't we?" Tails asked with a huge smile.
"We sure did!" Izzy said with a smirk. "Booyah!" she cheered, throwing glitter in the air once again.
But as they all seemed to be happy about Canterlove Studios' being complete, the doors opened and a certain blue hedgehog entered the place, still wearing Longclaw's scarf around.
He actually whistled as he looked around, and he felt bad that he didn't help around, but he still smiled at the sight.
Then, he saw his friends and smiled even more before sighing and choosing to approach them.
"Gotta say..." Sonic finally spoke, gaining everyone's attention, especially Sunny's, Tails', and Pipp's, with the three of them gasping and smiling brightly at him. "This place looks cooler than when Phyllis was around!" he smirked.
"Sonic!" Tails cheered, immediately boosting and wrapping his arms around his brother, while Sonic chuckled and hugged him back. "I thought we wouldn't see you until the morning!" he said happily.
"Oh, I just wanted to check how my friends were doing, but I know when I'm not wanted around! So, we can leave the talk for tomorrow and––" Sonic said mockingly, turning around and heading to the exit,
"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Pipp said, immediately flying in front of him and stopping him. "We're glad to see you, Blue Star! It's just... we thought you wanted space..." she pointed out with concern.
"Tails and Knuckles said you didn't want to be bothered today and that you'll explain later..." Zipp added as she and everyone else approached. "So... Are you here to see the place, or...?" she asked.
"Well, kinda..." Sonic replied, unsure as he looked at the ground. Then he looked at Sunny, who smiled and nodded at him, so Sonic smiled and nodded back. "I'm also here to give you that context you guys need,," he stated. "I'm here to talk about the day Longclaw died," he confessed with a determinate expression and a smile.
In Opaline's Castle, Misty was still in her room, still talking with the doll she created.
"And that is why Opaline can't stand strawberry smoothies, even though they're the most delicious smoothies in the world!" Misty said with concern before sighing in defeat and then lying on the ground.
After that, she got up and approached the doll.
"So, Madame Taffytail? What do you say now?" Misty asked Taffytail, the way she decided to name the doll.
"I say you better try again" Taffytail replied... Well, not really. It was still Misty but with a more fake-pitched voice. "Go get that dragon and finally make Opaline proud of you!" Taffytail added.
"Really?" Misty asked.
"You need that Cutie Mark!" Taffytail pointed out.
"Even if it means upsetting Sunny and the others?" Misty asked, but this time around, there was no response, although one of the doll's eyes almost fell from its place. "You're right; they already have each other. And their Cutie Marks..." she said with sadness before turning to see the window in her room. "I'm going to get me that dragon. No games this time," she stated.
Then, Misty moved aside one of her pillows to reveal a drawing of Sparky made by herself... She was going serious this time, and she would get that dragon, one way or another.
Every pony enjoyed their time on the beach, swimming in a pool, eating ice cream, and drinking smoothies from Sunny's stand.
But what about the Mane 5 and Team Sonic? They plan on going to the beach now as they prepare everything they need in the Crystal Brighthouse.
Although not everyone is enthusiastic about the idea...
"Are you sure you want to stay here, Knux?" Tails asked him with a raised eyebrow. "I know your job is important, but even Hitch is leaving it for once and joining us today!" he pointed out.
"Which is exactly why I'm staying," Knuckles remarked. "Is the norm: One of us is absent, and the other gets the full job," he explained.
"Hate to break it to you, Tails, but he's right," Hitch said, approaching them with Sparky on his back as the baby dragon was wearing orange floats on his arms. "Even if I'm going out of service today, that doesn't mean Knuckles will. Is part of the rule book, and you know we're not gonna break the law, right?" he added with a smirk, and Knuckles snorted.
"...Right..." Tails said with an eye roll and a bored expression. "But, the offer remains open, Knux. If you wanna join us and give Hitch the spot back for a moment, you're welcome to do so!" he added, turning around and walking towards the kitchen.
As he did that, Hitch and Knuckles stared, confused at him for what he said about Hitch taking Knuckles' place in case the latter wanted a brake.
"...Did he just use the rules against us?" Hitch asked in disbelief.
"...Yeah... Yeah, he just did that..." Knuckles replied in shock.
Meanwhile, as Tails entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp packed everything in a basket over a blanket with red and white squares.
"I am so glad Hitch can go with us this time!" Sunny said with a smile. "This was a great idea, Pipp!" she added.
"Aw, thanks, Sunny!" Pipp said with a smile as she side-hugged the earth pony. "We all have needed a little trip to the beach in the past few days, especially with how incredibly hot it's been here lately," she pointed out.
"And it's the perfect excuse for me to wear something instead of staying naked the whole day," Tails added with a little smile as he grabbed some mint cans from the fridge.
Then Sonic came downstairs, holding a big yellow block with question marks all around it.
Sunny noticed that and approached Sonic with a hopeful expression and a little smile. "Hey, Sonic!" she greeted him. "What do you get there?" she asked curiously.
"Hi!" Sonic greeted back with a smile. "Just a little thing getting a lot of unnecessary space in my room. I'm taking it to a better place," he explained.
"And what kind of place would that be, huh?" Knuckles asked as he approached Sonic with his arms crossed. "Because letting that thing in a random place could be dangerous," he pointed out with a frown.
"I know I make questionable decisions sometimes, but this isn't one of those times," Sonic assured with a wink to the echidna, who rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm putting this thing in a safe and secret place where nobody would dare to look after it," he explained.
"Where?" Knuckles asked.
"If I tell you, it's not a secret place anymore, Knucklehead!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk.
Knuckles raised a hand and tried to say something, but then he realized Sonic had a point. He sighed and looked bored. "Fair enough..." he confessed.
But as Sonic walked towards the door with the block, Sunny followed him and started to talk with him. "So, when you're done delivering that thing, would you mind joining us for a day on the beach? Pretty pleeeeease?" she begged with sad puppy eyes, still smiling.
However, his eyes widened as Sonic was about to open the door, still with the block down his arm.
He started to have terrible flashbacks, reflected on his mind as a 16-bit scenario, where he was back in Labyrinth Zone, as a familiar and spooky tune played on his mind. Finally, the flashback finished with a 16-bit Sonic drowning at the end of the music.
That made Sonic shake his head, and he chuckled nervously. "W-Well, I would love to, but, uh... After delivering the block, I, um... Already made an appointment with Haven and Alphabittle to have tea! Yes! Too bad I can't come along!" he said nervously, sweating and smiling sheepishly at Sunny.
Of course, she didn't believe him, and as Pipp positioned at her side, they looked at each other with frowns, obviously unconvinced of Sonic's answer.
"Anyways. Better get this block hidden! Gotta go fast!" Sonic stated, now less nervous, before moving away from the Brighthouse and closing the door behind them.
Sunny and Pipp growled madly at this, but after a while, Pipp groaned loudly and stomped her hoof madly. "Ugh! I can't believe he rejected us again!" she yelled in frustration.
"This is the fifth time this week!" Sunny pointed out, also mad. "I understand why Knuckles and Hitch change roles on who stays and can't go both. The law says someone has to look after the Bay, so it's understandable. But Sonic has no excuse!" she added with frustration as well.
"Yeah... And his excuses are pretty lame if we're honest..." Izzy pointed out with a bored expression.
Pipp asked him to go with them to a party at Zephyr Heights' castle's private pool on Monday.
"Yeah, no. Sorry. I have an appointment with Alphabittle about trying out his new tea," Sonic said; although this wasn't an excuse, this was true.
After that, he ran away towards Bridlewood, but even if he wasn't lying, Pipp still tilted her head, confused, since she could swear that there was a hint of horror in his eyes when she suggested the idea of going to the pool.
On Tuesday, Sunny went with him and asked if he would like to join them in a swimming competition near the ocean since he loves to participate in all kinds of competitions.
Yet, her answer wasn't what she expected...
"Oh, um... Wish I could join you, but, um... Gotta make sure Eggman's not around!" Sonic excused himself with a sheepish smile, and then he boosted away.
He had a terrified look when Sunny mentioned the idea of swimming, and that confused her.
On Wednesday, Sunny tried luck by inviting him to play as a lifeguard on the beach along Hitch since Knuckles needed to stay in town.
"No thanks. My quills just got a little makeover on them, and I cannot ruin that!" Sonic stated, once again with a sheepish smile, before running away.
Hitch raised an eyebrow, confused at Sonic's attitude, but then shrugged and went to the beach with Sparky while Sunny looked concerned.
Finally, on Thursday, Pipp invited Sonic to Izzy's party in a lake in Bridlewood. Even Knuckles went to this one despite breaking the protocol for Hitch's annoyance.
Sonic still rejected the invitation.
"Can't! I'm busy already. See ya!" Sonic said nervously before backing away from her.
Pipp felt confused since Sonic never rejected anything. She invited him over but tried to stay positive and thought he was busy with something else.
"And now, he says he has a reunion with Mom and Alphabittle..." Pipp said with frustration and a frown. "Which is a lie because Mom's been updating her feed with pictures of Alphabittle and herself. Today, there's nothing of that!" she pointed out.
"So, Sonic is lying about not joining us..." Hitch said, a bit concerned. "At least he doesn't want to join us whenever we suggest having fun in the water," he pointed out.
"But why?" Sunny questioned, confused. "Why would he run away from us every time we suggest something water-related?" she asked with concern.
As they discussed that, Tails and Zipp finished packing everything they needed for their day on the beach.
"You sure we got everything?" Zipp asked one last time to Tails.
"Zipp, this is the fifth time you ask that..." Tails pointed out with a smirk and an eye roll. "Food, drinks, blanket... And your favorite detective magazine... Everything's ready! Don't worry!" he assured her with a playful wink.
Zipp blushed a bit at that gesture, but she still smirked back. "Okay, okay. I'll trust you... But that magazine better be there, little man," she warned with a playful tone.
"Not so little when I'm a few inches taller than you," Tails mocked up as he grabbed the basket with the blanket on top and walked along Zipp toward the entrance.
"Pff! Yeah, right. Thank your hair for that!" Zipp mocked up as well.
"Oh, come on!" Tails groaned with annoyance while Zipp just chuckled at his side.
Meanwhile, Knuckles adjusted his deputy belt while Izzy used her magic to levitate his cowboy hat and put it over his head.
"There you go!" Izzy smiled as she stood on her hind legs and kissed Knuckles' cheek. "Now you're ready for action, Sheriff Knuckles!" she added with a loving tone and a little wink.
"Izz..." Knuckles said, a bit ashamed, as he smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, come on, Knuckles. Hitch rocks the 'Sheriff' part, but it looks good on you, too!" Izzy stated confidently, nuzzling her cheek with his.
"Still, it feels weird to be acknowledged as a Sheriff," Knuckles pointed out. "Anyways... You have fun out there... And remember..." he tried to remind.
"I know, I know... Don't surprise nor invade ponies' space if they don't like it..." Izzy said, a bit frustrated, as her cheeks puffed madly.
Knuckles still snorted at her attitude, though, and he kissed her cheek lovely, which made Izzy squeal and giggle a bit.
"Have fun there, you guys. I'll make sure Sonic gets a punch in his balls for not explaining himself to you!" Knuckles smiled before adjusting his cowboy hat and then boosting towards the town.
"Uh, what?" Pipp exclaimed, both confused and a bit worried now. "Why would Knuckles punch Sonic? And what does he mean he's not explaining himself better?" she questioned.
"You guys are still wondering why Sonic refuses to go to any place with water?" Zipp asked, confused. "Hitch, with you, is understandable. But, Sunny and Pipp, Sonic mentioned he couldn't swim in our last Portrait Day," she pointed out.
Sunny and Pipp blinked a few times, completely flabbergasted by what Zipp had just said. "What?" Sunny said, confused.
"... Seriously?" Zipp deadpanned. "Sonic explained to us all the things he can't do, even remarking on not to ask about one of them, and you still haven't heard?" she asked in disbelief.
"That's odd coming from you two, girls..." Tails pointed out. "Especially from you, Pipp. Just mentioning Sonic makes you smile for no reason, " he said mockingly, while Pipp blushed, embarrassed, and looked away.
"Wait... So, that's the reason why Sonic's running away from us. Is it because he doesn't know how to swim?" Sunny asked, confused.
"Yeah... I get Knuckles' point on Sonic not explaining himself better..." Tails said with a sheepish smile. "Look: Sonic never learned how to swim, and any time he tries, he ends up sinking with no way to come up for air without a life jacket," he started to explain. "When that happens, either Amy or I have to go and take him out for breath," he added.
"But with the crazy things he can do, you're seriously telling me he cannot swim?" Hitch asked with disbelief.
"Yup. It's his weakness," Tails said. "He can boost over water, but if he stops before reaching land, he sinks as fast as a rock," he explained with concern.
"And why haven't you tried to–– Oh, right... He sinks..." Pipp realized before finishing her sentence.
"So, Sonic cannot swim... but maybe... Maybe we could––!" Sunny tried to say with a smile.
"If you're thinking about teaching him, throw that idea through the window, Sunny. Amy and I tried to teach him for years, and it never worked," Tails explained with a bored expression before snapping his fingers and using his electrical powers to change his look.
Instead of his shoes and socks, he wore blue sandals, an orange swimsuit, and no gloves. After that, he grabbed the basket with the blanket once again.
"Anyways! If we don't get going now, we probably won't find a space!" Tails pointed out with a smile as he started to walk out of the Brighthouse.
"You heard the little guy!" Zipp said with a smile, as she immediately followed along.
Hitch and Izzy only looked at each other and shrugged as they followed Tails and Zipp towards the beach, leaving Sunny and Pipp at the entrance of the Brighthouse.
"Hmm... Tails says she and Amy tried to teach him how to swim, but they always failed..." Pipp muttered before gasping and looking at Sunny with a smirk.
Having the same idea, Sunny smirked back. "But who says that we are gonna fail?" she stated.
After that, both friends giggled and hoof bumped before Sunny made her Alicorn form appear, as both she and Pipp boosted, flying towards Maretime Bay.
Team Dark and Amy were still climbing towards the Light Blue Chaos Emerald.
However, they still had a lot to walk to reach that place, and except for Shadow and, somehow, Amy, they were already exhausted. Worst of all, it was already nighttime, which obligated them to stop and look for a place to stay overnight.
Fortunately, Omega managed to find another hidden cave thanks to his scanner... Too bad they still had to walk a little bit ahead.
Once they finally made it to the cave, Rouge first sat over a trunk and sighed, relieved, as she removed her boots and massaged her feet.
"Okay... I haven't... used my legs in quite a while..." Rouge said with a cringed expression and a dramatic tone.
"I told you that overusing your flight will have consequences," Shadow pointed out, although he also checked the cave inside.
Despite the snow everywhere in the mountain, he could still see some trees with green leaves and some flowers here and there.
Speaking of the trees, Amy approached one and started knocking on several spots over the trunk until she found one that made her smile. So, she took a pen and marked a small X on the spot. Then, she put the pen away and brought her Piko Piko Hammer, which she used to hit the tree on the spot marked with the X.
After that, the tree fell and landed in the snow with a thud while Amy smashed the trunk again to divide it, making firewood.
With that ready, Omega took a flamethrower from his arm and turned on the fire, preparing the camp for the night.
"You never go anywhere without that hammer of yours, do you?" Shadow asked rhetorically with a bored expression.
"A girl is always prepared, honey~," Amy said with a mocking tone and a wink.
"You know it!" Rouge said with a smirk as she and Amy fist-bumped.
Shadow rolled his eyes and kept looking around the cave until his gaze stopped in front of something that called his attention.
He approached something half-hidden in the snow, but when he moved it apart with his hand, he gasped because it was a symbol he'd seen for a while now.
"Girls?" Shadow called out. "Perhaps you want to check this one out," he said.
Amy and Rouge looked at each other, confused, but then Amy threw more firewood into the fire, and Rouge put her boots back as both girls approached Shadow.
Then, as they both saw what he was looking at, they gasped. "A... A six-point star?!" Rouge questioned in disbelief.
"With five sparkles around..." Amy said as well, placing a hand over her chest.
"Just like in the doctor's archives about Equestria..." Shadow pointed out with a frown. "This only confirms that we're in the right place. We've been seeing this symbol for months now," he added with concern and annoyance.
"Hmm..." Rouge muttered, rubbing her chin, a bit confused, before approaching her hand to the symbol. "Is it just me, or does this thing look too—–" she tried to say.
However, once she touched the symbol, it pressed like a button and started to glow, making Rouge take her hand away.
Then, the entire ground started to rumble, and the three anthropomorphic creatures and the robot stepped back from the symbol.
Soon enough, however, the wall where the symbol was located started to show some setoff, as the wall also started to move a bit backward. Before moving upwards, it revealed a secret entrance with stairs leading downwards.
"What the fuck..." Shadow muttered, confused, before he popped his head through the entrance and saw that the stairs were really deep because he couldn't even see the end of them.
"What is this place?" Amy said, confused.
"There's only one way to find out..." Rouge said before turning around. "Omega, watch the entrance while we go down there to find out what's happening," she instructed.
Omega only saluted with a hand. While Amy, Shadow, and Rouge started walking downstairs, the robot stood in front of the entrance, ready to watch over it, just as he had been instructed.
Sonic was coming out of Canterlove Studios as he whistled to himself happily with his arms crossed behind his head.
But then, just as he opened his eyes, he screamed, startled, because Sunny just appeared before him.
"Sunny?! What the heck?!" Sonic asked, a bit mad.
"Sorry!" Sunny apologized with a sheepish smile. "I didn't want to scare you..." she added with a bit of shame.
Sonic took a deep breath and sighed before looking at Sunny with a more normal smile. "Eh, it's fine, Sunny. Just... Don't scare me like that ever again," he begged.
Then, Pipp landed at his other side, which he did notice. "Well, we're glad to see you, Sonic. We want to apologize for being so pushing over the thing about going to places that involve water..." she said nervously.
Sonic's eyes widened, and he realized he'd been too obvious with his rejection. "... Oh... So you guys noticed, huh?" he said with a nervous chuckle, also scratching his head nervously.
"Well, we didn't, exactly..." Sunny confessed with a sheepish smile. "Tails and Zipp explained––" she started to say.
"And reminded us!" Pipp added, also with a sheepish smile.
"–– That you cannot swim, which is why you ran away every time we invited you to a pool or the beach," Sunny continued.
"Yeah... I'm sorry for that, by the way, but I seriously cannot swim, and the idea does bother me... a lot..." Sonic confessed. "It's just... drowning like a rock isn't fun? Wish I could have told you, but... I don't know... I expected not only that you would forget I can't swim but also that you would make fun of me..." he added with a nervous smile.
"Sonic, we would never make fun of you!" Pipp assured him with a smile, side-hugging him as well. "You are our friend, and we respect you, no matter your beliefs or fears," she pointed out.
"But you're right that you should have said something instead of just running away from us," Sunny said with a smirk. "If you had said something before, we would have gladly offered to teach you how to swim!" She smiled.
That made Sonic's eyes widen again, and his quills raised.
"... I'm sorry, you would what now?" Sonic asked, confused.
"Sonic, we know that Tails and that Amy gal you mention sometimes already tried to teach you and that they failed..." Pipp pointed out.
"Yeah, because I sink," Sonic pointed out as well.
"However, you're a guy who never gives up on any of us, so now we want to return the favor!" Sunny said with a smile.
"... Hang on... You two want to teach me how to swim?!" Sonic asked, now panicking a lot.
"Yup!" Sunny said happily. "We can swim with all our four hooves, but with you only having to use your hands, it should be a lot easier," she pointed out.
"Now, now, Sunny..." Sonic said nervously as he stepped a few steps back. "I appreciate that you wanna teach me, but every time I get into the water, my body sinks, a-and I cannot even walk underwater and back to the surface, a-and––" he tried to add, even more, nervous now.
However, Pipp stopped him, placing a hoof over his mouth and looking him in the eyes.
"I know what you're thinking, Sonic..." Pipp said as she moved a hoof to his chest and made some circles around it, which made Sonic blush a bit embarrassed. "But... we promise you that if this idea has no results, then we will stop, and we won't bug you with this idea ever again," she assured him with an honest smile.
Sonic's blush decreased, but it didn't leave at all. Still, Pipp's words stuck to him, and he even smiled brightly at her.
Then Sonic sighed and looked at the two ponies. "Alright, fine. I'll let you teach me how to swim. However, I don't promise this will work," he warned with a smirk.
"Just knowing you're in is more than enough, Sonic!" Sunny assured with a smile.
"Now, come on!" Pipp said, grabbing Sonic's hand with her hooves. "We have the whole day ahead and cannot waste a minute!"
Sonic chuckled as Pipp started to drag him towards the beach, with Sunny just following them with a smile. "Okay, okay! I'm going, I'm going!" Sonic said with a laugh.
What they didn't know, however, was that Eggman and Opaline were watching the entire thing from Eggman's underground lab, hidden in Opaline's Castle.
Eggman's robotic bird was still out there, and of course, it was recording everything he saw, like Pipp dragging Sonic towards the beach and Sunny following them.
"Hahahahaha! Do those fools think they can teach Sonic how to swim? Now that is hilarious!" Eggman laughed with a huge grin.
"A hedgehog that can't swim... Guess you do learn something new every day," Opaline said with a little smile. "However, why haven't you used Sonic's weakness against him, Ivo?" she questioned, a bit confused.
"I have tried, Opaline," Eggman confessed with a frown. "Yet, the idea of sinking him to the bottom of the sea has never been successful. Either his friends rescue him, my machine runs out of energy, or Sonic finds a weird power-up that protects him from drowning..." he annoyedly explained. "That rodent has some lucky charm that never allows him to die..." he pointed out angrily.
"Tch. It's like trying to smash a cockroach... No matter how often you do it, they still come back!" Opaline pointed out, now annoyed as well.
"Still, I see this as the perfect chance to not only have fun with these idiots but also to get the Crystals and Emeralds!" Eggman pointed out, once again grinning.
Opaline's ears perked up, but then she smirked back at Eggman. "Oh! Now you're talking, Ivo!" she stated with a grin as well before remembering something. "Wait, what? I get why go and take those Emeralds, but why the Unity Crystals also? Have you forgotten that we cannot steal them just yet with my current power state?!" she angrily reminded him.
"Opaline, Opaline, Opaline... You never see the bigger picture!" Eggman said. "If we steal the Crystals now, without draining their magic, those fools will follow the trial here," he explained. "And if they come here, who are they gonna bring with them?" he asked with a sinister grin.
Opaline's eyes widened, and she smiled brightly. "That baby dragon and his dragon fire!" she stated with glee. "If that happens, I can take the dragon while you held those fools hostage, and then I can drain the dragon's magic fire... And restore my power to steal all magic right in front of those fools!" she screamed joyfully.
"That's the spirit!" Eggman grinned, too, so he pressed several buttons on his computer.
That made a wall in the lab open, and it showed the Big Arms and the Octopus Egg Robot, which made Opaline raise an eyebrow, confused.
"I'll be using my Octopus Egg Robot to disturb the ponies, Sonic, and Tails on the beach," Eggman explained. "In the meantime, you will use my Big Arms to disturb the deputy and get rid of him, or at least make sure he's not able to fight back for a while so you can steal the Unity Crystals," he added.
"And why can't I just go and take the Crystals?" Opaline questioned with a slight frown. "For my power to get restored, wouldn't it be logical to use this robot of yours so I can get my magic back?" she pointed out.
"Opaline, Opaline, Opaline... My dear, dear Opaline... You seriously have to learn to see the bigger picture!" Eggman stated, annoyed and mockingly, making Opaline stare daggers at him. "If you go after the Crystals, even if I have the rest busy, Knuckles will present before you and won't ask questions. He will attack, and that's it. You have to take charge of him first. Once he's not a problem anymore, you can go and get the Crystals," he explained.
"So we get rid of all the pests that live there, and both the Unity Crystals and Chaos Emeralds will be ours..." Opaline summarized, now grinning once again. "Sounds good enough... But I still wonder... How do you expect me to control your machine when I cannot leave my Castle without causing unnecessary panic around the town, and worst of all, I cannot control how that machine of yours even works?" she pointed out.
At that, Eggman grinned again before pulling out a small metallic diamond from his pocket and then attached it to Opaline's 'Royal' bracelet on her left hoof and turned it on.
The diamond turned red to green, and the Big Arms turned on independently.
"Whatever action you order from the machine, it will do it," Eggman instructed with a smirk. "Also, you'll be able to communicate with Knuckles, even though he would be hearing my voice," he added. "After all, we still want your location and true aspect to be a secret, right?" he asked with a grin.
Opaline grinned back and even chuckled a bit. "Well, Ivo. Seems like we're gonna have a blast today!" she stated, extending her hoof to the doctor.
Eggman's grin grew, so he extended his hand and stretched it with Opaline's hoof.
Tails, Izzy, Zipp, and Hitch, placed everything in the blanket back on the beach.
Zipp placed an umbrella near the blanket while lacing the food over it. Hitch ensured that Sparky wouldn't eat everything.
As for Tails, he brought over some chairs in case anyone wanted to enjoy the sun on their skin, as he was just lying over a chair with sunglasses and suncream applied over his body.
Soon enough, however, Sunny and Pipp arrived with the rest. They both landed near the blanket, and Sunny made her Alicorn form leave.
"Oh, there you are, girls!" Hitch said with a smile. "We were wondering where you go after you didn't arrive with us," he confessed.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for not telling anything," Sunny said nervously. "We had to deal with a little something first," she explained.
"What kind of something?" Zipp asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You'll see!" Pipp said with an innocent smile, which only made Zipp feel more suspicious. "By the way, I hope he won't escape at the last minute..." Pipp said with concern.
"No, not happening this time..." Sonic spoke behind her.
Everyone but Sunny and Pipp felt startled when they heard Sonic's voice, and Tails even removed his sunglasses in disbelief.
Sonic was right there with them, wearing yellow sandals, a light blue swimsuit, and no gloves and sunglasses over his face.
The rest were completely shocked upon his arrival. Sunny was glad he had come, and Pipp was as red as a tomato with sparkling eyes. Her jaw dropped, which Sunny closed with a giggle.
However, Sonic himself still seemed uncomfortable because he was frowning and had a serious expression.
"... Sonic?!" Tails asked with disbelief. "B-But I thought that you––" he tried to say.
"I know, I know... It's weird to see me around... But Sunny and Pipp convinced me to take some swimming classes, so... Here I am... Yay..." Sonic said with fake enthusiasm.
"Cheer up, Blue Star!" Pipp smiled. "I promise you won't regret this!" she assured him confidently.
"And again, if it doesn't work, we won't bother you again with this," Sunny smiled. "Hey, Hitch! We're gonna need a bunch of floats!" she said as Pipp walked towards the sheriff.
While the two mares talked with Hitch, with Izzy joining them, Zipp and Tails approached Sonic and looked at him with concern.
"You know you can say no to my sister if you're uncomfortable with this idea, right?" Zipp said with a slight frown, but she wasn't mad at Sonic; she was mad at Pipp.
"Not to mention, Amy and I already tried to teach you, and... well... You already know how that went..." Tails pointed out with concern.
"I know I can, but I don't mind them trying it out," Sonic said with a smile. "As they said, if this doesn't work, I won't be bothered with the idea anymore. Everyone wins!" he pointed out.
"Except that you still won't be with us whenever it comes to fun in the water..." Tails pointed out again, but this time with a bored expression.
"Um... I'll find a solution to that later," Sonic said with a nervous tone and a chuckle.
"Hey, Sonic!" Sunny called out. "We're ready to start the lessons!" she stated with a smile.
Sonic gulped and laughed nervously. "Yay..." he said with fear and regret, his nerves increasing by the minute.
Sonic was now scared as fuck.
Sunny, Izzy and Pipp were dragging himhe water while Hitch stood on the coast.. Zipp and Tails stood over their area with the blanket and the food, tanning themselves as they wore sunglasses. They completely ignore Sonic's situation so he and the girls can learn their lesson.
They also cared for Sparky, who was also tanning himself at Tails' side.
Meanwhile, the girls were grabbing Sonic by the arm since he was panicking because he couldn't feel the sand on his feet anymore.
However, Pipp and Sunny could calm him down until they decided to release him to start teaching him how to swim because Sonic immediately sank like a rock.
Both mares panicked, and Sunny quickly used her Alicorn magic to get Sonic out of the water he coughed some water and put on a bored expression.
Sunny and Pipp looked at each other with cringed expressions, now understanding how hard this would be.
While they prepared for another attempt, Tails and Zipp watched everything from their chairs.
"This is gonna be one of those times where they learn their lesson too late, isn't it?" Zipp questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup!" Tails replied while Sparky made gibberish sounds at his side. He also nodded in agreement with Zipp's statement.
Hitch brought a diving table and placed it over an improved edge near the ocean, inviting Sonic to get over it with a hoof.
At first, Sonic was hesitant as he approached and stood over the table's edge, ready to jump. But even if the water wasn't so high, the table suddenly got too high in his mind, and the water was too far away.
Of course, this panic made him freeze in place, which Hitch noticed. He groaned and expressed boredom before getting over the table, and then he pushed Sonic to the water.
Sonic screamed, terrified, as he fell towards the water, falling facewards and then slowly sinking in the water.
The rest cringed at this, even Hitch himself, but then he groaned in pain and rubbed his head because Sunny smacked him with a hoof and glared daggers at him, which made Hitch sweat nervously and smile sheepishly.
Meanwhile, as the rest were getting Sonic out of the water again, Zipp and Tails were playing chess over the blanket while Sparky was playing with the sand.
"Check Mate!" Zipp declared with a smile, winning the game.
"Again?! Come on!" Tails groaned with frustration while Zipp just giggled at his attitude.
Later, Izzy proved lucky by making Sonic wear orange floats on his arms.
With this, she dragged Sonic back to the sea, but thanks to the floats, he didn't sink once she let him go.
For once, Sonic was kind of glad to be in the water. He made a few normal moves in it, not swimming at all but staying above the surface, which was already some progress.
So, Sonic asked Izzy to remove his floats so he could try to swim alone.
Izzy hesitated initially about the idea, but seeing that they were already making progress, she smiled and decided to use her magic to remove the floats.
As you might have expected, Sonic sank again, but unlike in other situations, when he just accepts his destiny, he tries to swim back to the surface on his own. It doesn't work, but at least he tried.
So, Izzy used her magic and levitated him back to the surface, while Sonic didn't cough this time but still looked bored.
As this happened, Zipp and Tails built a life-size sand castle, and Sparky was very impressed with its size.
"Ha! Told ya we could build it in no time!" Tails said with a smirk.
"You know? I'm impressed with how this turned out!" Zipp confessed with a smile.
Finally, Pipp tries to teach him by directly leading Sonic across the water.
Maybe when he was younger, he would have felt embarrassed that a young adult mare was helping a guy who considers himself cool to learn to swim, but he has matured since.
He's grateful that Sunny and Pipp spend time each day teaching him how to swim, despite his many failed attempts in the past.
However, whenever Pipp softened her grip on his hands, Sonic sank a bit. This made Pipp panic and try to take him back, but she just tightened her grip, which did the job.
She gets worried for Sonic whenever this happens, but he smiles at her, trying to assure her with that smile that he's fine.
Yet when she smiles back and nods before looking away from him, Sonic's smile disappears. He looks at the water in shame because he feels like he's failing, and he hates that feeling.
Eventually, they decided to end the lessons for the day, but there has been little progress.
It seemed like Sonic could only stay above the surface of the water if he used floats, but beyond that, there was no real progress.
Sonic seemed disappointed, so he walked towards the blanket with Zipp and Tails. The latter was sitting on the sand with his legs crossed, where Sparky was resting.
"So, how did it go?" Zipp asked him with a raised eyebrow.
Sonic only groaned with annoyance and fell facewards to the blanket, clearly saying it didn't go well.
"... Well, it went better than I expected..." Tails confessed with a sheepish smile.
As this happened, the rest of the Mane 5 watched Sonic's frustration from the water with sadness.
"I, uh... I didn't want to say this, but can we agree that teaching Sonic how to swim is too complicated?" Hitch asked with concern.
"I didn't want to say anything, either, but... I've seen 5-year-olds swim better than him... and without floats..." Izzy said as well with shame.
"He seemed kind of desperate whenever I was going to let him swim alone..." Pipp pointed out with concern. "He also seemed... disappointed..." she added with worry.
"You saw it, too?" Sunny asked with concern, and Pipp nodded. "Then we must keep trying, " she said determinedly.
"Uh... Didn't you say you would stop if this didn't work?" Izzy asked, confused.
"And we will. However, he already showed that he can at least float with floats," Sunny pointed out. "There has to be a way for him to swim without them," she muttered, rubbing her chin as she tried to think.
What they didn't know, however, was that Eggman saw the entire thing from the Octopus Egg Robot.
The machine was underwater, and thanks to the robot's visor, he could witness Sunny and Pipp's failed attempts to teach Sonic how to swim.
"Hahahahaha! Oh my gosh, that was hilarious!" Eggman laughed with a huge grin. "Those ponies are foolish! Sonic's weakness can't be defeated without power-ups!" he stated joyfully before having an idea that seemed wonderful. "Right! Opaline has a point... He would expect a battle near the ocean... But he would never dare to go on a battle on the ocean!" he said with joy.
Then, he pressed a button on his Eggmobile that started to call over Opaline, whose face appeared projected on the Eggmobile's screen.
"Opaline, go take care of the echidna. It is time to put the plan into action!" Eggman instructed with a grin.
"About time!" Opaline grinned, before hanging up the call.
With that, Eggman closed the Eggmobile's Capsule, and then, he opened the Octopus Egg Robot's one before boosting through the water and towards the beach.
After walking downstairs for about 20 minutes, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge finally reached the bottom.
They crossed paths with a closed giant door bearing the same symbol as the six-point star and the five sparkles around it. Shadow frowned with concern while Amy raised an eyebrow, confused.
Rouge, however, had to lay over a wall as she panted heavily and tried to catch her breath. This made both Amy and Shadow look bored, which Rouge noticed.
"Oh, don't look at me like that!" Rouge snapped madly but still panting for some air. "I literally begged both of you to carry me for a while, like, fifteen times, and you still ignored me!" she pointed with anger. "Why did you ignore it?!" she asked.
"Because you have wings, genius," Shadow pointed out, still bored, while Amy at his side only nodded in agreement.
Rouge realized what they meant. Then she looked at her wings, smiled, and chuckled sheepishly.
Shadow and Amy rolled their eyes in annoyance before approaching the door before them. Shadow cracked his knuckles before pushing the door all for himself until it slowly started to move open.
When the door was fully open, the three animals entered the place, which was a giant library hidden deep inside the cave they entered.
"Huh..." Shadow muttered, more confused than disappointed. "It's just a library..." he pointed out.
"No way. What told you that? The amount of books around this place?" Rouge asked sarcastically with a smirk while Amy just snorted.
Shadow rolled his eyes and decided to walk deep into the library while Amy and Rouge separated each other in their directions.
Amy grabbed a random book. Despite having some dust on it from blowing, she opened the book, surprised by the clear and understandable sentences inside.
"I have no idea why there's a library of all things hidden here, but it seems like the books are in good state..." Amy pointed out.
"Yeah..." Shadow agreed as he grabbed one book from a table, blew some dust, and opened it, feeling curious about why he could understand the letters despite the dusty books. "They only seem to have dust..." he also pointed out.
Then, Rouge grabbed a book thatd in so much dusdust, whichough. She even had to use the book to move the dust away. "A lot of dust, if you ask me..." she pointed out with a cringed expression.
"But why a library of all things?" Shadow questioned, confused. "I could have expected a hidden base from a menace original from this world, but... I never could have expected a library," he pointed out.
"As I said, I have no idea why this place of all things is hidden..." Amy repeated. "But I do know that maybe we can find some answers in this place," she said with a smile.
"Answers?" Rouge asked, confused. "Amy, we just discovered that this place exists. Why would there be any secrets hidden here?"
"Well... Considering we're in an unknown world, maybe we should, I don't know... Look for a way to orientate ourselves without getting lost?" Amy said with a bored expression.
"... So you're suggesting we stay here and look for a map? In the middle of the night?" Shadow asked with his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow.
"No, I'm saying we should look over a page or paper with a demographic illustration of where we–– Yes, I'm suggesting to look after a map!" Amy groaned with annoyance before grabbing a bunch of random books and putting them on a table.
After that, she sat down at the table and grabbed one of the books, starting to mumble to herself in rage as she read what was inside.
As she did this, Rouge approached Shadow, and they both stared with wide eyes at Amy's sudden outburst.
"... Is it just me, or is she getting crankier the more time we spend in this world?" Rouge pointed out with concern.
"She's worried for the boys. This is not only for Sonic but also for Tails and Knuckles. They were teammates, after all," Shadow pointed out. "It's normal for her to worry about them, even if she's not with them anymore," he added, sighing and shaking his head. "Anyways. We should follow her example and look after a map. She does have a point on having a reference to where we are, you know," he pointed out again as he also started to grab a bunch of random books.
Rouge only nodded at him, but she also looked at Amy with concern, especially because she hadn't explained to anyone why she even left Team Sonic in the first place.
Knuckles walked around Maretime Bay and whistled happily to himself.
He was picking up litter, helping the citizens, and ensuring the law was respected around the town. And thanks to his climbing abilities, speed, and strength, he could reach places Hitch would last minutes in seconds.
And, so far, there was no real problem around the bay. The fact that Hitch hasn't called in all day is also a good sign because everything on the beach is fine right now.
"Yup! It's been a pretty good day in the Bay!" Knuckles said with a smile. "Hey! That rhyme was pretty neat! I'll make sure you rub it on Hitch's face later!" he chuckled.
However, when he turned around and prepared to return to the station, an earth pony stallion rushed towards him.
"Sheriff!" the pony said with a panicked expression, but when Knuckles glared daggers at him for calling him 'Sheriff,' he gulped and smiled sheepishly. "I-I mean, K-Knuckles!" he corrected himself, and Knuckles smiled, satisfied, also nodding at the stallion. "There's an emergency at Canterlove Studios!" he stated with concern.
"What kind of emergency?" Knuckles asked with a worried frown.
"A weird laugh and some big stomps are coming from everywhere!" the stallion worriedly explained. "My friends and I've been trying to find the origin, but we can't!" he added with concern.
Knuckles' frown grew after hearing that, and he even growled madly. "Lead the way!" he instructed to the stallion.
The stallion just nodded and led the echidna towards Canterlove Studios, where the sound came from originally.
They found several more ponies of all races as they entered the building. Yet, they were nervous because of the laugh and the stomps, especially Sprout, who was also with them and seemed trembling and mumbling to himself.
"Sprout can give you a better context of the situation. He... Let's say he was the first to hear everything, which is why he's so scared right now," the stallion explained.
"Right..." Knuckles said with a certain annoyed tone, especially since Sprout and he don't have a good relationship because Knuckles now has Sprout's old job.
Still, the echidna put over a serious face and walked towards the earth pony stallion, stopping behind him and clearing his throat.
At this, Sprout let out a scream and turned around in fear. His expression shifted from surprise to anger when he saw Knuckles.
"Ah, great... Hitch sent his good-for-nothing deputy instead of coming himself..." Sprout said madly.
"You're talking about you, Sprout. I never heard a single soul saying that about me... beyond you, that is..." Knuckles said with his arms crossed and a bored expression.
This only made Sprout growl in annoyance. "What do you want, Knuckles?!" the earth pony asked with rage.
"Calm down, Sprout. I'm here doing my job, not to fight," Knuckles said. "I just want to know about the laughs and stomps you have heard around," he explained.
Sprout seemed to calm down a bit, although he was still frowning, but he also nodded to him. "It started 30 minutes ago. I was giving my new friends a maybe not so legal nor authorized tour around the new Canterlove Studios, and then––" he was explaining.
However, everyone inside the building heard a maniac laugh, and some big stomps came from outside.
Sprout immediately screamed again once he heard that, but Knuckles recognized the laugh, and he frowned with rage.
"Eggman..." Knuckles muttered madly. "Everypony, get out of here. Now!" he instructed.
Without hesitation, everypony in Canterlove Studios immediately rushed towards the exit... Everypony except for Sprout.
"And why should I listen to you?!" Sprout asked madly.
However, one glare from Knuckles,, with his electrical powers turned on and his eyes red instead of pink,, was enough to make Sprout flinch, gulp nervously, and then smile sheepishly.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Sprout said before rushing away from the building as well.
With everypony out, Knuckles let his powers go, but then he started to look around the factory. "Come on, Eggman! Show yourself!" he dared with anger.
And just like he asked, Eggman traversed the ceiling of the building with the Big Arms, startling Knuckles for a second, who had to make a backflip to dodge being crushed by the machine.
"Well, well, well!" Eggman spoke from inside the robot with a mocking tone...
But of course, this wasn't Eggman: It was actually Opaline controlling the machine, but just like Eggman told her, all Knuckles could hear was Eggman, so no matter what she said to him, Knuckles would believe it was Eggman talking.
"Looks like I found an ugly echidna getting in my way!" Opaline said joyfully, although all Knuckles could hear was Eggman's voice again.
"How low can you go, Eggman?!" Knuckles asked with rage. "Why disturb this ponies now of all times when you had plenty of opportunities to do it?!" he added madly.
"That is none of your business, you stinky Knucklehead!" Opaline said madly.
"Oh, it is, Eggman... If you mess with my citizens, it is my fucking problem!" Knuckles stated with rage.
After that, the echidna jumped from his place and launched towards the Big Arms with a raised fist charged with electricity.
However, the Big Arms not only blocked the attack with one arm but also moved the other and punched Knuckles in the face. This launched him through the factory's entrance and made him land in front of it. He slowly stood up and shook his head, a bit confused.
His cowboy hat flew away during this process, but he didn't seem to care about the moment.
Then, the Big Arms smashed the entrance and prepared to punch Knuckles again, but the echidna was fast enough to dodge the attack and slide down the machine since it didn't have feet.
With that, Knuckles jumped in the air and launched another punch that sent the machine backward and into town, startling ponies as they all started to run away.
"Everypony out of the way!" Knuckles screamed from where he was, charging his electrical powers as his eyes turned red. "Things are gonna get no magic-level ugly!" he stated angrily before jumping to the air and gliding towards the Big Arms, ready to keep the fight going.
As Sonic, Tails, Zipp, Izzy, and Hitch started to prepare everything to get back to the Brighthouse, since the sun was setting, Sunny and Pipp were still near the coast with concerned expressions.
"There must be a way for Sonic to swim without needing anything that allows him to float..." Sunny said with a concerned look as she walked back and forth on her place while Pipp checked something on her phone.
"Well, he has a really heavy body..." Pipp pointed out. "He sinks as fast as a rock whenever he enters the water. I don't think he can swim, Sunny..." she worriedly said.
"But everypony can!" Sunny pointed out. "I know there must be a way..." she said, still convinced about helping Sonic learn how to swim.
However, neither she nor Pipp noticed something approaching them from the water.
"Sunny, we promised Sonic that we'd stop trying if there was no luck, and there's been no luck so far!" Pipp pointed out with a frown. "Worst of all, Sonic has even more doubts about himself than before we started!" she added with anger, pointing at Sonic over their area, who once again had his gloves and normal shoes, but he was lying over a wall and looking down to the ground with sadness.
Sunny noticed that and felt bad for him, but she still looked back at Pipp with a frown. "He may be more insecure, but that doesn't mean we cannot help him!" she pointed out, too.
"Ugh!" Pipp groaned, annoyed. "Sunny, I get that you want to help him, but he's feeling uncomfortable, and you're breaking your promise of leaving him alone!" she pointed out.
That last thing made Sunny's eyes widen, and her ears lowered down as well. "T-That's not––" she tried to say.
However, just before she could talk, the ground started to tremble, and both Pipp and she looked down at it with confused expressions.
Yet, those confused expressions turned into panicked ones when Eggman's Eggmobile came out of the water right in front of them, but the vehicle had some upgrades that allowed the doctor to be underwater.
Then, the Eggmobile's capsule opened up, and Eggman revealed himself with a maniac laugh.
"Good morning, good afternoon, good night: You're all gonna die!" Eggman presented himself with a grin.
Thankfully, nobody else was on the beach except the Mane 5, Sonic and Tails, although only Sunny and Pipp seemed to notice Eggman's presence so far.
"Seriously?!" Pipp groaned, more annoyed than scared of Eggman's presence, while Sunny made her Alicorn form appear. "What do you want?!" Pipp asked in rage.
"Oh, I just wanna take some sun on the beach..." Eggman replied with sarcasm and a bored expression. "What do you think I want, majesty? I wanna see you in your graves!" he smirked sinisterly. "FIRE!" he shouted.
After that, a bunch of missiles and badniks came out of the water, pretty much from the Octopus Egg Robot, and while the badniks landed in front of Sunny and Pipp, the missiles headed fast toward them.
Thankfully, Sunny noticed, so she used her magic to blast a laser at the missiles that exploded in the air before she turned around and frowned at the badniks.
So, both she and Pipp launched themselves towards the machines, with Sunny using the combined magic of all ponykind to smash the badniks with plants or blast them with lasers, while Pipp used her hind legs to kick some in the air, as well as her front legs to smash some in the ground.
The noise finally caught everyone else's attention. They noticed Sunny and Pipp fighting the badniks and Eggman preparing to launch something from his Eggmobile towards the two mares.
So, they all immediately ran to help, with Sonic and Tails getting the the most ahead.
Then, Sonic jumped in the air and curled into a ball, while Tails came over and wrapped Sonic with his tails before spinning in the air several times and then launching Sonic towards the badniks, as he booted over them like a pinball machine.
Then, Tails himself used his powers to create two giant metallic and yellow gloves, which he used to fly downwards and crush some badniks.
As the fight kept going, Izzy, Hitch, and Zipp also joined: Izzy using her levitation magic to smash some badniks to the ground or even against each other; Hitch used his earth pony magic to make vines grow that grabbed badniks and crushed them as well, while Sparky helped a bit by using his dragon fire to burn the badniks either just or transform them.
Zipp was also helping by quickly flying over the robots and tricking them to crash against each other, as well as using her hind legs like her sister to kick the shit out of some badniks.
After a few seconds, they finally managed to destroy all the badniks, with Eggman and his upgraded Eggmobile being everything left.
So, Sonic stood before his enemy, with everyone else gathering around Sonic to watch his back.
"I have no idea how I didn't notice you, Egghead, but you better get the fuck out of here!" Sonic warned with anger.
"You think I'm afraid of you, hedgehog? We've been dancing to this for years now!" Eggman pointed out with a grin. "If anything, you should be glad I haven't destroyed you just yet!" he stated.
"And why should I feel glad, huh? As far as I know, I'm still the undefeatable numero uno against you!" Sonic said with a confident smirk. "What's gonna change this time around?" he asked with a mocking tone.
"Act as annoying as you want, hedgehog... But I know your weakness, and you know you cannot defeat that!" Eggman stated with a grin as he closed the capsule of his Eggmobile and then got inside of water.
Everyone felt confused when Eggman did that, but then the water started to rumble before Eggman came back, this time inside his Octopus Egg Robot.
The machine was pretty big, having the classic capsule that held Eggman inside, but around the machine, Eggman's logo and eight gigantic metallic octopus arms were attached.
"You can fight me pretty well above water... but you don't have the guts to fight me under water!" Eggman stated with a grin and a maniac laugh.
Sonic felt panicked at the idea of having to fight Eggman underwater. Still, he had done it before and won, so he put on a determined look and charged his electrical powers, ready to fight Eggman alone if necessary.
Meanwhile, Knuckles and the Big Arms were still fighting near Canterlove Studios.
Opaline was controlling the Big Arms pretty well so far because even if she couldn't always strike a punch to the echidna, she could block many of his attacks at fast paste, which already startled Knuckles, but he wasn't going to give up.
Then, Knuckles charged a punch with electricity towards the robot's chest since Eggman's Eggmobile and Eggman himself were always located there.
However, before he could even approach and make the punch, the Big Arms grabbed the Echidna and smashed him to the ground.
Then, the robot raised the same arm it used to grab Knuckles and prepared to crush him. Still, then, the echidna rolled to the ground and then used his feet to kick the Big Arms backward, before charging his fist again and then punching him towards the inside of the building, making another hole in Canterlove Studios.
"Hey!" Sprout's voice called out from behind, and Knuckles turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "I have no idea who is inside that thing, nor why you seem to know them, but you better not make more damage to private property!" he warned with anger.
"I'm doing you a favor by saving your flank, Sprout!" Knuckles groaned with rage. "How could you worry about––" he tried to add.
However, he was about to get hit by a box, but he grabbed it just in time, although he was pushed a bit backward.
Still, Knuckles frowned with anger before putting the box aside and charging his electrical powers, ready to jump inside the building and keep the fight going.
However, before he could do that, he saw that several more objects—even pretty heavy ones—were being launched toward the town and, therefore, toward the citizens who were still around.
Frowning, Knuckles jumped in the air and quickly glided from one object to the next, sending them far away to ensure they wouldn't hurt anyone.
When everypony was safe, Knuckles boosted towards Canterlove Studios, ready to strike a punch against the Big Arms... just to be grabbed by one of the arms of the machine, then being smashed against the ground several times, and then thrown inside the building, landing on his back against a metallic structure.
After that, the echidna fell facewards to the floor, where he lay in pain and tried to stand up but failed miserably.
"Now that'll teach you a lesson!" Opaline spoke with anger, but Knuckles still only heard Eggman. "Never mess with me again, pathetic mortal..." she stated.
And so, she turned the robot to the city, as the town's citizens saw the machine in fear... But Opaline wasn't even looking at them. She was looking at the rainbow light coming from the Crystal Brighthouse in the distance.
"Finally... all the magic will belong to me!" Opaline stated with joy.
Meanwhile, Knuckles opened his eyes and looked around, but he could only see a bunch of boxes, metallic structures, materials, and... some yellow thing with a white zone hidden behind a blue blanket.
And then, Knuckles' eyes widened at that last thing...
Sonic came downstairs, holding a big yellow block with question marks all around it.
Sunny noticed that and approached Sonic with a hopeful expression and a little smile. "Hey, Sonic!" she greeted him. "What do you got there?" she asked curiously.
"Hi!" Sonic greeted back with a smile. "Just a little thing getting a lot of unnecessary space in my room. I'm taking it to a better place," he explained.
"And what kind of place would that be?" Knuckles asked as he approached Sonic with his arms crossed. "Because letting that thing in a random place could be dangerous," he pointed out with a frown.
"I know I make questionable decisions sometimes, but this isn't one of those times," Sonic assured with a wink to the echidna, who rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm putting this thing in a safe and secret place where nobody would dare to look after it," he explained.
"Where?" Knuckles asked.
"If I tell you, it's not a secret place anymore, Knucklehead!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk.
Knuckles raised a hand and tried to say something, but then he realized Sonic had a point, so he sighed and put over a bored expression. "Fair enough..." he confessed.
Knuckles smiled, slowly stood up, then walked towards the blanket and removed it.
His smile grew bigger when he saw the same big yellow block with question marks all around it. For once, he was glad Sonic had not tell him anything.
"Hedgehog... Whether I like it or not... You're a genius!" Knuckles said with a smirk.
Then, he hit the box from above, and it turned into a brown box, while a red mushroom with white circles and black eyes came out from the top.
"A Super Mushroom..." Knuckles muttered, kind of confused... before smirking with glee. "Now this is gonna be fun!" he stated.
Meanwhile, outside the building, Opaline approached the Big Arms to the town, and every pony started to run away frightened.
"Yes... run away, little ponies. Run as much as you can... You still will bow to me!" Opaline declared confidently, even though everypony could only hear Eggman's voice.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Eggman!" Knuckles' voice declared from behind the robot.
The Big Arms turned around, and Opaline groaned angrily when she saw the echidna still standing, hiding something behind his back. "Didn't I just throw you and leave you weak?! How's that you're still standing?!" she asked with rage.
"Oh, but I'm not weakened at all..." Knuckles stated before revealing his left hand to the Super Mushroom. "I'm just hungry!" he declared before swallowing the mushroom in one bite.
As Knuckles gulped the mushroom, his entire body started to glow white...
After that, his left hand grew bigger, which startled not only Opaline but also everypony else watching. Next, Knuckles' legs grew bigger, followed by his chest, then his right arm, and finally, his whole body was at least 5 inches bigger, completing the transformation of the Super Mushroom with a strange sound.
Once Knuckles was fully grown, he smirked mischievously at the Big Arms, smashing his fists and charging his electrical powers, ready to take down the Big Arms, before jumping with a warrior cry towards the machine.
Opaline managed to move the Big Arms and dodge the attack just in time. But then Knuckles tried to strike another punch, then another, and so he started launching several, trying to hit the machine with just one.
As the Big Arms moved backward and dodged Knuckles' attacks, both Opaline and everypony noticed how freaking big Knuckles was now, all thanks to the Super Mushroom.
"WHY. DON'T. YOU. STAND. STILL. AND DIE. WITH. HONOR?!" Knuckles shouted with rage, still trying to hit the Big Arms.
Opaline just laughed at him, though, clearly not taking him seriously. "For a guy named Knuckles, your aim at punching is terrible!" she mocked up, even if Knuckles could only hear Eggman.
Yet, that mockery was the last straw on Knuckles' patience, and so he charged a massive, massive punch that send the Big Arms backward, making Opaline eat her own words.
With the Big Arms finally down in the ground, Knuckles boosted right in front of it, and then, he ripped both arms with his giant hands, throwing them to the sides and then grabbing what remained of the robot.
However, as he opened the zone where Eggman should be, not only did he find a decoy Eggman, but he also saw a countdown for self-destruction in 10 seconds.
Panicking, Knuckles quickly jumped in the air with the body, throwing him a bit away.
Yet, when the countdown reached zero and made the machine explode, the explosion reached Knuckles, sending him back to the ground and losing the effect of the Super Mushroom with another strange sound.
Knuckles groaned in pain, but then he sat down and shook his head, just for his eyes to widen when he saw that everypony in town was looking at him.
"... Um... Everypony, okay?" Knuckles asked with a sheepish smile.
However, that only made everypony cheer at him, which just confused him at first, but he still stood up and smiled a bit shyly at the citizens of Maretime Bay.
He was surprised to see that even Sprout seemed happy that he did what he did. The earth pony nodded at Knuckles, who smiled and nodded back at him. Knuckles put his cowboy hat back on and walked away with a smirk.
Eggman raised the arms of the Octopus Egg Robot and prepared to hit each one in the group with seven of them.
First, he tried to hit Hitch, who used his earth pony magic to make some vines grow, and he made the vines grab his hind legs and then launch him and Sparky backward as they landed in a hill of sand.
Next, Eggman tried to hit Zipp and Pipp together. Still, the two sisters managed to dodge the water coming along the octopus arms from the robot, and they even flew around just to mess with Eggman, although he seemed happy that they dodged.
Now,, Eggman tried to hit Izzy, who simply teleported away from him. Again, Eggman grinned as if he wanted her to do that.
So, the doctor tried to hit Sunny next. With her horn, Sunny blasted a laser at the robot, but it was protected by a shield that reflected the attack. Seeing that she was about to get hit by herself Sunny dodged the attack and landed near Hitch and Izzy.
Moving on, Eggman tried to hit Tails, who twirled his tails around and flew away from Eggman, but then, he noticed that something was off: Eggman only had seven tentacles visible, and he already used 6 of them, which meant that the remaining one should hit Sonic.
Yet, Tails perfectly remembers seeing the robot with 8 arms.
"Something's not adding up here..." Tails muttered with concern and a frown as he rubbed his chin.
Finally, Eggman moved the remaining arm towards Sonic, but unlike everyone else, Sonic jumped right in the arm and ran towards the middle, where he prepared to charge against Eggman.
However, just when Sonic jumped in the air and charged a Spindash, the remaining arm of the Octopus Egg Robot appeared and hit Sonic, sending him backward and towards a rock.
"Sonic!" both Tails and Pipp shouted in panic from the air, as Pipp covered her mouth with her hooves.
Sonic crashed on his back against the rock and then fell to the sand with a grunt.
But before he could get up, the same arm Eggman used to hit him grabbed the hedgehog and dragged him towards the robot, holding Sonic tightly and making sure he wouldn't escape.
"Gotcha!" Eggman said with a grin.
"Hng! Not for too long, Egghead!" Sonic said confidently, although deep down, he wasn't longer sure about himself.
"Oh?!" Eggman snorted before smashing a button with his fist. "FIRE!" he shouted confidently.
After that, two lasers were shot, one towards Sunny, Izzy, Hitch, and Sparky, while the other was shot against Tails and the sisters.
At this, Sunny stood between Izzy and Hitch, activating a magic shield with her magic to protect the four of them, while Tails pressed a button on his watch and created a yellow shield to protect himself, Zipp, and Pipp from the laser.
Yet, this was nothing but a distraction because once they deactivated the shields, they gasped in horror because Eggman moved away on the Octopus Egg Robot, still having sonic on the tentacles' grip.
"This rodent's been nothing but a piece of shit that messes with my plans..." Eggman said with anger from his place. "Today, this would finally end!" he declared with a sinister grin.
"What are you even–– WHOA!" Sonic exclaimed suddenly as he was dragged underwater along the robot.
"SONIC!" Pipp screamed with even more panic now.
At this, Tails frowned and quickly used his electrical powers to change his clothes into a scuba diving one, as he braced towards the water quickly.
"Tails!" Zipp screamed in fear as well.
Sunny also frowned, and she quickly lightened her horn up, surrounding her body in a golden aura that didn't leave even when her horn wasn't lighting up anymore.
Then, she boosted towards the air in just one jump before diving towards the sea to help Tails to rescue Sonic.
"Sunny!" Hitch called out in panic as well.
In the ocean, both Sunny and Tails were quickly scuba diving in search of Eggman and Sonic.
"Do you see him?!" Sunny asked in panic and worry.
And then, as he kept looking around, Tails finally saw them: Eggman was inside of his machine still, and he had Sonic grabbed very tightly with the robot's tentacle while the hedgehog was trying to get free from the robot's grip.
"There!" Tails pointed at them, and once Sunny saw them, she immediately flapped her wings and swam towards them, with Tails spinning his tails and following her.
Meanwhile, Sonic was desperately moving around the tentacle's grip, trying to get free from Eggman, but failing miserably. Worst of all, he was starting to run out of air, but thankfully, a bubble was passing by, so he managed to approach his face and slurp the bubble to preserve some air.
With that, he got back to try and get free from Eggman's grip, but the doctor himself laughed at Sonic's attempts.
"Ohohohoho! Keep trying everything you want, rodent! You won't be free from there anytime soon!" Eggman stated with confidence.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" Tails' voice spoke, getting Eggman and Sonic's attention.
Then, Eggman's Octopus Egg Robot got hit by an orange ball that sent him a bit backward, and in the process, he let go of Sonic.
The ball was Sunny, who tried to do a Spindash like Team Sonic despite failing miserably. Still, she managed to make Sonic free from Eggman's grip, which was her intention since the beginning.
"Alright, Sonic!" Tails said with a smile as he grabbed Sonic from his hands. "Let's get you out of––" he tried to add.
"NO!" Eggman shouted with rage hitting both Sonic and Tails, sending Tails in one direction and Sonic into another.
Tails flipped several times in the ocean, while Sonic got sent towards a rock, where he crashed on his back. This made him open his mouth by mistake, and therefore, he let go of the bubble he was holding for air.
With this, Sonic panicked, because he was starting to sink in the water slowly. So, he tried to remember his swimming lessons with the girls and Hitch today, but it didn't mattered where he moved, he was still sinking.
Tails noticed that, and Sunny as well, so they both tried to rescue him, just to be stopped by two tentacles of Eggman's Octopus Egg Robot that grabbed them by their feet.
Then, they both tried to escape his grip while that spooky and familiar tune started to play again.
And yet, Sunny and Tails didn't manage to get free from Eggman's grip because Sonic let go of another bubble and then started to slowly close his eyes, as his life started to drown away from him.
His body kept slowly sinking, but now he wasn't moving.
Seeing this, Tails' attempts to get free from Eggman's grip became more desperate, as he used his electrical powers and turned the tentacle into just a million small screws.
Then, Tails quickly grabbed Sonic and boosted towards the surface, while Sunny herself blasted a laser towards the beginning of the tentacle that grabbed her.
Next, she frowned at Eggman and surrounded his Octopus Egg Robot before crushing all the tentacles away, leaving only the capsule where Eggman was located.
After that, she decided to leave him there, and she quickly swam back to the surface while Eggman growled in frustration.
Tails carefully placed Sonic in the sand back in the surface as the hedgehog started to cough water desperately.
He even shook his head for a second before sighing and then just lay over the sand, panting heavily after he almost died by the very thing he feared the most: Drowning in water.
"Man... I hate water..." Sonic said, both frustrated and exhausted.
Then, he decided to sit over the sand, just to be dragged into a hug by Tails and Pipp, a hug where Izzy suddenly joined as well, and even if Sonic did feel a bit overwhelmed, he was still happy to know how much they cared about him.
Then, Sunny came out of the water, spreading her wings widely and showing all her might as an Alicorn, as she shone bright in the air for a few seconds, a few seconds where her friends watched her in awe, and in Hitch's case, with sparkling eyes and a huge blush over his cheeks.
Then, Sunny shook her head and landed in front of Sonic, with the golden aura protecting her before the water was already gone.
"Sonic! Are you okay?!" Sunny asked him with concern.
"I am now..." Sonic said with a little smile. "Although, a few seconds more, and I have died... Thanks for that, little bro!" he told Tails with a wink.
Tails only chuckled and smiled sheepishly as he made his scuba diving suit leave.
However, when things were starting to calm down, Eggman came out of the water with his Eggmobile.
He was ready to shoot again, but, his Eggmobile was freeze in the air, thanks to bunny and Izzy's magic, while Tails grabbed Sonic from one hand and tpun him around before launching him in the air.
There, Sonic looked at Eggman and smirked. "Mata aimashō, egguheddo!" he said mockingly, saying 'See ya later, Egghead!' in Japanese.
And then, he charged a Spindash with electrical powers included before boosting towards the Eggmobile and then throwing Eggman far away from the beach.
"CURSE YOU, LITTLE PESTS!" Eggman shouted in rage and fear to the Mane 5, Sparky, Sonic, and Tails.
Then, Sonic landed in the sand and cleaned his hands, while Tails landed at his side and looked at him with a smile.
"Nicely done, little bro!" Sonic told him as they fist-bumped together.
Then, Knuckles arrived with the rest, and he stopped running and looked at the rest with a frown. "I heard something here! What happened?!" he asked with concern.
"Eggman..." Zipp muttered with annoyance. "He came out of nowhere..." she started to explain.
"We fought his robots, and then he tried to draw Sonic into the sea," Pipp kept telling him.
"And Sonic literally just sent him flying after Izzy, and I hold him still," Sunny added with a little smile.
"Huh... So you guys fought with the real Eggman?" Knuckles asked.
"Yup..." Sonic replied with a bored expression before his eyes widened. "Wait! What do you mean the real one?!" he asked, confused.
"The Big Arms with a decoy caught me by surprise in town..." Knuckles said with a frown, which made everyone else gasp in worry. "I already dealt with him, don't worry..." he assured with an eye roll, and the rest sighed in relief, especially Hitch. "However, I do feel concerned now... He attacked you for real, but he also used a decoy to attack me... why?" he questioned.
"Coming here for real and using a false Eggman..." Zipp muttered with concern. "He's definitely up to something else, something bigger. And considering how his attacks have been random lately, it cannot be good..." she pointed out.
"Hmm... Maybe we should discuss this in the Brighthouse, where no eyes can hear us," Tails also suggested, looking around cautiously. "And by that, I mean Eggman and Opaline!" he muttered to the rest with a frown.
The others nodded in agreement and started heading back to the Brighthouse.
However, Sunny and Pipp stood behind and wanted to talk with Sonic. "Sonic!" Pipp called out as the hedgehog turned to his crush and earth pony friend. "Can we talk for a second here?" she asked.
"Sure thing!" Sonic said with a smirk as he walked to them and looked at the two mares expectantly.
"I, um... We want to apologize for pushing you over with the whole thing of swimming..." Sunny started with a little smile.
"Yeah... We promised to stop insisting, and we still did..." Pipp pointed out with a bit of shame. "We hope you can forgive us..." she added with a sad smile.
"Hey, there's nothing to forgive here. I'm not mad in the first place!" Sonic said with an assuring smile to the mares. "If anything, I should be apologizing for not speaking and running away whenever you invited me to a place with water... After today, my fear of drowning just grew... But that's no excuse to reject your invitations," he explained.
"Wait... are you implying that..." Sunny started with a smile, and Pipp smiled at her side.
"As long as you bring over a life jacket for me because floats are too childish, I don't see why I shouldn't join you, guys!" Sonic replied with a smile, also opening his arms to them.
The two mares immediately got the message, so they smiled and wrapped him into a hug while he hugged them back with joy and a chuckle.
After everything was said and done, they broke the hug and headed towards the Crystal Brighthouse with everyone else.
Eggman kept screaming in fright until he landed right in front of Opaline's castle.
He then got out of his Eggmobile desperate and quickly fixed his suit, even cleaning some dust from his body, before entering the castle with rage.
He walked down the corridor as he mumbled curses for Sonic, Sunny, and their friends, hoping that he would be victorious the next time he faced them.
Then, once he opened the Throne Room's doors, he felt surprised to see that Opaline was beating up a chair with a picture of Knuckles' head on it.
As he kept watching this, Misty sneaked to his side with a cringed expression. "She's been doing that for 40 minutes now..." she explained with concern, cringing again when Opaline made a grunting sound. "S-Should we––" she tried to ask.
However, Eggman only carefully placed a hand over her mane. "No, no..." he stated with concern for Opaline. "Let's just... go..." he added.
With that, Misty nodded, and both she and Eggman slowly stepped back, carefully and silently closing the Throne Room's doors, while Opaline just kept beating the shit out of the chair with Knuckles' picture.
"So, I'm gonna guess she's letting out her frustration because she lost against the Knucklehead..." Eggman said with a frown as he finished fixing his mustache, while Misty just nodded with a sheepish smile. "Hmm... seems like he's not such a Knucklehead after all..." he stated with concern.
"And... you... lost... too?" Misty asked with a sheepish smile.
Even though Eggman frowned at her, he still sighed in defeat and nodded. "Sadly, yes. I was defeated once again. Even if Sonic didn't overcome his weakness, he still fought me back... Once Opaline calms down, we'll have to change our game plan," he stated.
"And what plan is that?" Misty questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Eggman looked back at her and grinned. "You, Misty!" he said with confidence.
At that, Misty felt startled and got a few steps back, gulping and smiling nervously at Eggman because she had a, really, really bad feeling about this.
Amy, Shadow, and Rouge spent the whole night awake, trying to look for a map of Equestria.
Outside, at the entrance to the hidden library, Omega decided to enter in resting mode, but he kept his camera on just to record anything that seemed suspicious or out of place. Yet, he got nothing, so everything was safe for now.
But what about Amy, Shadow, and Rouge? Well, they eventually fell asleep at some point, and now, Amy was snoring and babbling over the pages of a book while Rouge covered herself with her wings, but she was also snoring loudly, and she even had a book over her face.
Shadow, on the other hand, fell asleep sat down, with a fist over his cheek, but unlike Amy and Rouge, he wasn't snoring at all, he breathe in and out.
Yeah, he even sleeps cooler than you; cry about it.
Then, Shadow himself was the first one to start and wake up from his sleep, as he slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched his arms, shaking his head and then looking at his surroundings, confused at first, before remembering how he ended up here.
"Seems like we fell asleep at some point..." Shadow pointed to himself, even rubbing one eye with a hand.
Then, Rouge made a weird snoring nose before opening her eyes and also stretched with a yawn, as she scratched her belly tiredly.
Finally, Amy was the last one to wake up. She was even self-aware that she was babbling over the book because she wiped it away with her coat's sleeve.
"... Did any of you find anything?" Amy asked with tiredness, followed by a yawn.
"Not in my case, Pink..." Rouge replied, rubbing her eyes and stretching her wings a bit. "None of these books have any demographic illustration..." she explained, grabbing another book and checking what it said inside.
"I didn't have luck, either..." Shadow said as well with a slight frown.
"Well... It seems like I was wrong after all..." Amy said with disappointment, closing the book she slept over and putting it aside. "Maybe we don't even need it, but... It would have been nice to know where in Equestria we are exactly..." she pointed out with concern.
Shadow frowned even more when Amy seemed so pessimistic, but just when he was about to say something, Rouge suddenly gasped dramatically, her eyes wide, and she stared at the book she had grabbed before.
"What?" Shadow asked with concern and curiosity.
"Did you find a map?!" Amy asked with a little bit of hope.
"N-No..." Rouge replied, also denying it with her head, which disappointed Amy again. "B-But this... This cannot be true... Can it?!" she said with shock and disbelief.
"What? What cannot be true?" Shadow asked her, confused and a bit startled.
Instead of replying with words, Rouge only turned the book around and let Shadow read it.
As he did so, he had a neutral expression, but as he kept reading, his eyes started to widen. He even snatched the book from Rouge's hands to read what it said closely, blinking a few times to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating.
"What?!" Amy asked,, confused and now a bit scared. "What's so hard to believe?! " she asked with concern.
Shadow only frowned and gave her the book before looking back to the ground with an expression that combined surprise, concern, confusion, and anger.
"It's hard to tell how veridic this information is, but our witness says that their people were startled when they saw ships arriving from space..." Amy started to read out loud what the book said. "From these ships, some strange creatures with white eyes, rocks with faces inside of them, and water-like bodies came out..." she kept reading.
Before she read the next part, Rouge and Shadow looked at each other because they were kind of afraid of how Amy would react to what she was going to read next.
"When they did so, they approached our witness tribe with six identical gems that our witness tribe's Gem of Miracles..." Amy kept reading. However, the strange creatures from the ships had a strange name for them since they referred to the seven jewels as... THE CHAOS EMERALDS?!" she shouted in shock once she reached that part of the book.
Amy kept reading that part one time, then another, and then another, but no matter how many times she read it, the text said the same thing it said when she read it out loud.
"T-This is not possible..." Amy muttered, now looking ahead with her gaze lost and thousands of questions forming in her head.
"The Chaos Emeralds are from our world!" Rouge pointed out as she took the book back from Amy's hands and read a few paragraphs ahead. However, nothing was interesting in them. "Why would these books say anything about them if they never had them before?!" she questioned,, confused.
"This doesn't make any sense," Shadow muttered with a frown. "Why does this world have a historical record of artifacts that don't even originate here?" He questioned, confused.
"The only logical explanation I can think of right now is that it's just a coincidence..." Amy said, but Shadow looked at her bored, while Rouge raised an eyebrow at her. "Yet, it would be too much of a coincidence..." she corrected herself with a nervous chuckle.
"... Well... If you think about it... We never questioned where the Emeralds come from..." Rouge pointed out suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Shadow questioned.
"It doesn't matter how many times we have used the Emeralds... We still know barely about their origins..." Rouge explained. "I'm not saying that the book tells the absolute truth, but... with the amount of crazy stuff we have seen, the idea of the Emeralds coming from a parallel world with magic doesn't sound so weird," she pointed out again.
"... You know? She has a point," Amy confessed. "There's still no guarantee about the veracity of this book, but... Maybe it isn't so far from reality..." she pointed out.
"... Right..." Shadow muttered with a nod. "Let's take the book with us. It might be useful later on," he stated, while Amy and Rouge only nodded.
Sonic was moving desperately from one side of the room to the other.
Usually, he would just run around Equestria to clear his mind and put his thoughts together, but the thing bugging him right now couldn't be solved just like that.
Tails, Zipp, and Hitch, were staring at him, with the latter guys worried while Zipp was mostly annoyed.
"Sonic... For my sanity's sake, can you stop moving back and forth and tell us what's bugging you already?" Zipp begged with a bored expression.
"I could, if I ever find a solution... or a mint that isn't Tails' property..." Sonic replied with concern.
"Come on, Sonic. It can't be that serious," Tails tried to assure him with a smile.
Big mistake.
Sonic stared daggers at him, and his electrical powers turned on, making him look even more intimidating.
Tails gulped and hid behind Zipp by instinct with a sheepish smile, while Sonic took a deep breath and launched himself to lay on the edge of his bed.
"I'm just... really, really concerned about... something, I guess..." Sonic replied with concern.
"And that 'something' is?" Hitch asked, confused.
"... My... relationship... with Pipp," Sonic answered, and a slight red painted his cheeks for a second before disappearing.
"The what now?" Zipp questioned, confused.
Sonic finally sighed and sat on the bed, not facing the others because he didn't know how to explain himself. "For the past few weeks, I've been wondering what kind of relationship I have with her. I don't even know if we're regular friends or something else. We flirt a lot with each other, but I don't know if she does it because she feels the same or wants to mess with me," he explained with concern.
Zipp smiled awkwardly and felt her eye twitching. She couldn't believe Sonic was this oblivious to Pipp's signs. Yet, Tails's hand on her shoulder helped her calm down and think carefully before doing something stupid.
"So, you're thinking of taking the big step?" Tails asked. You know... ask her to be your lover instead of keeping up the show between you two," he snorted in a mocking tone.
"WHAT?! NO!" Sonic suddenly shouted with a worried frown before walking back and forth again. "I'm not gonna do that! Not when I'm not ready..." he said with concern, now hugging himself nervously.
Now, this was new for Tails. He had never seen him this nervous or unsure before... Maybe it's because Pipp is the first girl Sonic likes back, even if he doesn't know it yet.
"Now, why do you say abruptly that you cannot date my sister?" Zipp asked with a frown, trying hard to hide her evident anger.
"First of all, Our stay here isn't permanent. Eventually, we'll leave this world... and I don't wanna break a relationship if it ever happens because I know I won't leave then," Sonic explained. "Second, my experience with romance is terrible. I may act all chill and cool when she's around, but I know that I'll screw every single date without even trying..." he added with an anxious look.
"I hate to bring this up, but he's right on that second part," Tails said with a sheepish smile. "He actually kind of liked someone that wasn't Amy back home, but they never went anywhere because Sonic doesn't know how to deal with emotions, and so, he eventually forgot her," he said with a bored expression.
"And finally, I'm not mature enough to hold a relationship," Sonic added worryingly. "I-I want to be with her, I do, but... Gosh, I know I would mess it up instantly... I've never been good with open emotions beyond being happy and cocky..." he pointed out. "Love is still new to me... Pipp is probably the first girl I like like... and it scares me. Not because of 'losing my freedom' or bullshit like that. She told me long ago that she never wanted me to stop doing what I love because of someone..." he explained.
"You mean when you two kissed~?" Tails mocked up, forming the shape of a heart with his tails.
Sonic blushed after hearing that, but he quickly shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Tails. Thank you for bringing it up when I'm being open about my emotions for once," he said sarcastically.
Tails gulped nervously and blushed in shame. "Sorry..." he apologized with a sheepish smile.
Sonic sighed heavily before speaking up again. "Anyways... I'm not afraid of losing anything... but her..." he confessed, now lying on the crystal that took him to the elevator. "I'm afraid my entire fight against Eggman hurts her... or worse... I'm not risking that. If I have to leave this place without ever saying what I feel so that I can protect her... then so be it," he finished with a sad look.
Tails understood better than anyone. Sonic loved Pipp so much that he wanted her to stay quiet so that she would be off Eggman's radar. Obviously, she would become a target if she started dating Sonic.
Hitch could understand, too, mainly because he always put himself in everyone else's place whenever they had a problem. And he knew that if he ever had a dangerous enemy like Eggman, he wouldn't dare to date Sunny if that meant she would be in danger.
Zipp, however, was more concerned about Sonic being such a coward. Sonic fears Eggman as she sees things, so he doesn't want Pipp to get hurt. She understood that perfectly; they were talking about her sister. But she wouldn't allow Sonic to be this cowardly. According to everything he has told about his adventures, he tricked death and fought gods in the past, so confessing his feelings to Pipp wasn't difficult.
"Look at me, partner," Zipp said, approaching Sonic.
He did so but instantly rubbed his left cheek after Zipp slapped him with a hoof.
"OW!" Sonic complained. "Zipp! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he asked with concern.
"Nothing," Zipp replied with a smirk. "You are the one that's wrong," she added.
"What?" Sonic asked in concern and anger.
"Dude, you're just being a chicken," Zipp said, and Sonic's frown grew. "You confront death every other day like a pro, but you step back when it comes to telling my sister you like her? That's pretty lame and stupid coming from you," she added.
"I explained my reasons! As I said, I'm not afraid of a relationship; I'm afraid it could kill her!" Sonic reminded with anger.
"Yeah... the thing is... Knuckles is aware of that, yet he's willing to make it work," Tails pointed out.
"... The what now?" Sonic questioned, raising an eyebrow
"Knuckles and Izzy are together, Sonic," Hitch also pointed out. "They know they'll eventually say goodbye, probably forever, and yet they want to spend all the time they can together! It's a very risky move, yet Knuckles did it," he explained.
"And so far, it has worked!" Zipp said as well. "Sonic, I get that you don't wanna say goodbye to her once you have to leave back to your dimension, but... isn't it better to spend time with her as lovers and see how that relationship evolves rather than leave without ever saying a thing and wonder for the rest of your life what could have it been?" he questioned.
It was that last thing that managed to pass through Sonic's head. He hated to admit it, but Zipp was right on the last part. Would he rather leave without telling Pipp how he felt and hate himself for the rest of his life, or take the risky move and try to make their relationship work?
For the past few weeks, he was sure the answer was simple: as much as he loved Pipp, he wanted her to be safe, and if that meant keeping his feelings hidden, it would be. But now, he wondered if making that big step was a better choice. He had never felt like this with anyone before... and there was no guarantee that he ever felt this way with someone again, so... maybe it was time to go forward.
"I guess you guys are right, but it still scares me," Sonic confessed. "Like, what should I do? Where do I even start? I have never done any of this before. I don't want to bother Pipp, either," he added with concern.
"Dude, trust me, you won't be bothering her a single bit," Zipp assured with a smirk.
"As for what to do... We could help you with that," Tails said with a smile.
"Okay, but are you sure I should go ahead? Again, I'm unsure if she feels the same way about me," Sonic said, unsure.
As Zipp took another deep breath, Hitch smirked and bumped Sonic's shoulder slightly. "Trust us, she's going to say the same thing," he assured her.
"How can you be sure?" Sonic asked suspiciously, looking at his friends with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say we have a hunch," Zipp replied with an awkward smile and a twitchy eye.
"OH MY GOSH!" Pipp shouted suddenly. "OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!" she cried out loud, flying around nervously.
She was in Mane Melody as usual but panicked as she flew around nervously.
Sunny, Izzy, and Knuckles were there with her, as well as Jazz and Rocky, and while the ponies looked at her, concerned and confused, Knuckles looked at her with a bored expression because he could feel what was bothering her.
"Why is she so nervous now?" Jazz asked with worry.
"I don't know..." Rocky confessed. "Did we get that new mane dryer?" he asked.
"They arrived this morning," Jazz replied.
"How about that new product you were doing together, Izz?" Sunny asked the unicorn.
"It's still an early 'prototype,' and she said we'll check that on the weekend," Izzy replied concernedly.
"Guess we'll never know until she calms herself down," Jazz supposed with a worried frown.
Suddenly, Pipp stopped and landed on the floor, but she was now looking all around for something.
"Phone... My phone... Where's my phone? Where the hell is my phone?!" Pipp cried out in panic.
"Have you tried checking under your wing, princess?" Knuckles asked with a bored expression and tone.
"My wings?! WHY WOULD IT BE UNDER MY—–" Pipp tried to shout, but her eyes went wide once she reached down her right wing. She slowly removed her phone from it, sighed tiredly, and said, "It was under my wing..." she muttered with shame and concern.
Jazz approached her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Pipp, what's the matter? This is the most nervous I've seen you in a while," she said with concern.
"Sorry, Jazzy-babe," Pipp apologized. "It's just... Something's been bugging me recently..." she said as she walked towards one of the dressers in the salon and rested her front hooves and her face there.
"Which is?" Sunny asked, concerned as well.
Pipp sighed, and thanks to the dresser's mirror, everyone noticed her cheeks turning red. "My relationship... with... S-Sonic," she confessed, making circles on the dresser with her right hoof.
"Predictable," Knuckles said with a bored tone and expression.
"I... I'm just wondering what kind of relationship we have..." Pipp began to explain. "I don't know if we're regular friends or something else anymore... We like to flirt with each other, but I don't know if he does it because he feels the same way I feel for him or just because he's Sonic!" she said, concerned.
"Is this what's been bothering you the past few weeks?" Izzy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Kinda––" Pipp tried to reply, but her eyes widened when Izzy asked. "Wait! Have you been noticing it?!" she asked back in disbelief.
"It's kinda hard to ignore, to tell the truth," Knuckles said with a bored expression. "You always seem like a blushing mess near Sonic," he pointed out.
"And your wings just open widely," Izzy added. "Also, your sparkle gets shy and nervous around him, and that's weird on you," she revealed.
"Your eyes make contact with Sonic's, and curiously, you both look away nervously..." Knuckles kept saying.
"You tremble whenever you're nervous, and it's been happening for a while now..." Izzy added as well.
"And your heartbeat can be heard from the other side of the room. At least for me," Knuckles finished.
"And many of these patterns have been happening with Sonic too, but he's better at hiding it, tho..." Izzy finished as well.
The room went silent, and everyone else stared in shock and surprise at Knuckles and Izzy.
"We might not be the smartest seeds in the group, but we're not stupid," Knuckles pointed out after noticing everyone else's looks.
"Yeah, we might not always understand everything, but we know about corporal language. We're dating, after all." Izzy also pointed out this with a bored expression, and Knuckles nodded in agreement.
"Right.,.." Pipp said, confused. "Hang out without saying that Sonic's going through the same as me?!" she asked in shock, getting her face close to Izzy's.
"Uh... yes?" Izzy replied.
"I could say he's even worse than you," Knuckles interfered. "He usually goes to take a run, and then he comes back like it never happened... but it isn't working lately for reasons I do not desire to understand," he explained.
"However, I think you two should just quit your show and go for it already," Sunny added with a smile.
"Show?" Pipp questioned. "What show are you talking about?" she asked confused.
"Girl, you unconsciously involve Sonic whenever we chit-chat, one way or another," Jazz said with a smirk as she placed a hoof around Pipp's neck.
"And Sonic himself has shown signs of being nervous around you. Have you ever noticed?" Rocky added with a teasing smirk.
"Y-Yes, but..." Pipp said with a blush.
"Pipp, I'm pretty sure that Sonic likes you the same way that you like him," Knuckles decided to say with his arms crossed but also with a smirk. "However, I'm afraid that you'll have to make a move because he's just as oblivious as I was with Izzy's signs..." he pointed out while rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Nah, he's even more oblivious..." he added.
"Knuckles is right, Pipp," Sunny interfered with a smile. "Sonic is smart when it comes to having fun. When it comes to romance? Not so much..." she pointed out. "And this is what I mean by quitting the show: I know you two like each other the same way, so why not go for it already?" she added.
"Why are you guys so sure he likes me back?" Pipp asked, genuinely confused.
She gained blank stares and bored looks from everyone else, Jazz and Rocky included.
"It seems like Sonic isn't the only oblivious one here..." Knuckles said. "Pipp, this guy's been DYING for you! Haven't you ever noticed how he looks at you when you sing? He's so focused on you that I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know what you are singing until he listens to the song on his own," he pointed out.
"He blushes whenever you kiss his cheek, too," Izzy added.
"Not to mention, he wrote a song for you, remember?" Sunny said in a teasing tone.
Pipp was about to reply to everything they said, justifying it as simple things that a friend or admirer would do... but the more she thought about it, the more she realized how right the others were, and it made her cheeks turn red again.
But if that wasn't enough, she suddenly remembered the lyrics of Sonic's song, and her blush became bigger when she remembered that he said it was for her. She never realized until now that Sonic feels the same things she feels for him, and she's realizing this five months later.
"Oh, my gosh! " Pipp shouted in shock. "Oh, my gosh!!! He likes me back!?! And everyone but me noticed!!"
"Yeah, she's reacting exactly how I expected her to," Knuckles muttered with a smirk.
"How's that? I'm realizing it now. Why didn't you tell me?! Why didn't he tell me?!" Pipp asked in a panic, starting to hyperventilate, but Jazz managed to place a hoof on her shoulder and tell her to breathe deeply.
Pipp did so, and she slowly began to calm herself down.
"Better?" Jazz asked with a smile.
"Yeah..." Pipp replied. "I'm sorry for that, guys. It's just... I can't believe Sonic also likes me. Thinking about it, the signs were clear, but... like Knuckles said, I was oblivious..." she said with shame.
"Hey, I said it before, but I didn't know Izzy liked me too. And look how far we've come ever since!" Knuckles pointed out with a smirk.
"And I firmly believe that Sunny's right, Pipp!" Izzy said cheerfully. "It's time to stop being teasy around him and go for it, girl!" she confidently stated.
Pipp smiled a bit, then placed a hoof on her chin as she thought for a second, looking back at the rest with a confident smile. "You know what? You guys are right! It's time to stop this play and dive into the water! I need to find out how..." she pointed out, placing a hoof on her chin again.
"Well, what are your friends for in that case?" Sunny said with a smirk.
"Yeah, you just need some extra hooves to help you!" Izzy added with a cheerful tone.
"And if you need any crucial info regarding Sonic, I'm your guy!" Knuckles stated.
"Okay, okay, okay! Thank you so much for your help!" Pipp exclaimed, exiting and side-hugging Sunny and Izzy.
Suddenly, Knuckles' watch made a beep sound, and Tails' voice came out. "Knux! Knux! We have a 'love bird' code in progress!" the young fox said.
Knuckles gasped after hearing that and covered the watch before anyone could hear it.
"Ladies and gentle colt. If you'll excuse me, I need to pick up something on Tails Workshop for him," Knuckles said with a sheepish smile. "It'll be quick, promise!" he assured, and then he immediately ran away from Mane Melody.
Once, he was far from the salon, so he called Tails again on his watch.
"Great to see you are back, Knux" Tails greeted. "Look, I know this is gonna sound weird, but Sonic plans to confess to Pipp finally!" he said cheerfully.
"The what now?!" Knuckles exclaimed in disbelief. "This complicates things a bit, then..." he said with concern.
"What?" Tails asked confused. "What do you mean?" he questioned.
"Pipp is planning on confessing to Sonic as well, Tails," Knuckles explained.
"WHAT?!" Tails shouted. "S-Sorry, shouldn't have... Sweet Chaos, this is complicating a lot..." he said with concern.
"I know, little guy. What do we do?" Knuckles asked.
"Hmm..." Tails said before replying something that he knew Knuckles would like to hear. "I say... we should make the most fun from this!" Tails stated. "You know, if this ends up being a disaster, it doesn't matter to us. I mean, they're the ones confessing, after all," he pointed out.
"You know what? You're right! Let's just shut our mouths and enjoy these two struggling!" Knuckles replied with a smirk.
Sonic moved to Zephyr Heights' Castle with Tails, Floppy, Zipp, Hitch, and Sparky.
Yeah, Floppy is still here; I didn't forget about him.
They were all in a spacious room, where Zipp assured them they stored all the formal clothes for special guests. Now, why did they move to Pegasi City? Zipp wants to give Sonic some 'clothing advice,' which is both rare and hypocritical of her. But hey, I'm just the writer. My job is to tell you what's happening in the setting, and that's it.
"So, if you want to declare to my sister, first you must look presentable," Zipp said smugly.
Sonic snorted a bit, gaining a deadly glare from Zipp. "Okay, no. Sorry, Zippster, but I can barely believe you know about being elegant and formal when you're avoiding that stuff half the time," he said with a playful smirk.
"Dude, I'm a princess, first of all. And second, you might love her, but I'm her sister after all, which means I know her better than anyone," Zipp replied with a proud smirk while Sonic rolled his eyes. "And I know she'll love it if you confess to her in a proper costume," she said.
Then, she walked over to a closet and kicked it, causing black and white suits to appear in three rows.
Tails eyes went wide, Hitch and Sparky tilted their heads, confused, and Sonic crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"The best suits in town, with the best fabric as well!" Zipp said with a smirk.
"I've got two questions..." Sonic decided to speak. "First of all, Isn't this a bit too much for a declaration? I thought I was confessing my feelings, not asking her to marry me without being a couple yet. And second: Aren't those suits for ponies? I'm a hedgehog, and I doubt I can put those," he pointed out.
"As I said before, Pipp's gonna love your declaration even more if you go dressed as I say," Zipp explained. "As for your other question: We have your measures, and Pipp herself ordered them to be created for you," she added.
"Wait, what?" Sonic asked, his eyes widening in shock. "How does she have my measurements, exactly?" he asked.
Tails started to sweat and chuckle nervously as he looked around the room. "Who knows! But I can assure you that it didn't come from a magazine that I didn't give to Pipp months ago!" he said, and then he laughed awkwardly before curling into a ball with shame.
Soon enough, Sparky got down from Hitch's back and hugged Tails while Floppy nuzzled against him.
"... Okay..." Sonic said, looking around confused, before focusing back on Zipp. "So, Zipp. What suits I'm gonna try today?" he asked.
Zipp's eyes widened, but then she grinned sinisterly, although it didn't bother Sonic.
First, he tried out a fully white suit with a black tie, conserving his regular shoes since he refused to change them.
"It looks good, but... I feel like something's missing," Tails said.
"Yeah, I would say it's way too formal, and even if we need you to be elegant, this is extreme," Hitch agreed with the fox.
"Okay, okay. I guess you guys are right; you're way too dressed up," Zipp admitted.
"The mere fact that I'm dressing up is already way too much," Sonic said with a bored expression.
"Let's try something else," Zipp stated, and Sonic groaned in annoyance.
After that, Sonic tried out a grey smoking with a white tie, but the others shook their heads. Sonic proved this with a black suit and a grey tie, but the others were still unconvinced. Finally, he put on a simple black smoking with a blue tie, and the rest seemed convinced over the look.
"Now THAT is something she's gonna love!" Tails assured with a smirk.
"Yeah, it works!" Hitch said.
"Seems like the suit-up is ready and done, partner!" Zipp stated with a smile, placing a wing around Sonic's back.
"Thank Chaos!" Sonic exclaimed, for once, with a smile. "So, what's next?" he questioned. "I mean, the quicker we're done with this 'preparation' of yours, the sooner I get to say, Pipp, I like her," he pointed out, once again with a bored expression.
Back in Mane Melody, Pipp was humming a melody of a new song she's been working on.
Curiously enough, she said the song was dedicated to Sonic, so she tried to ensure she could still remember the lyrics perfectly.
She didn't want her declaration to be perfect; she only wanted it to be honest, but at least the song couldn't go wrong... or—she hoped.
However, she realized that the pages for the song were not nearby, so she began to look for them.
"Pipp?" Sunny called out. "What are you looking for?" she asked.
"Has anypony seen many pages with the title saying 'Rewrite the Stars' on it?" Pipp asked back, but then she saw a bunch of pages over the stage and smiled. "Never mind! Found them!" she said cheerfully.
"What's that?" Izzy asked with curiosity as she approached the young pegasus along with Sunny and Knuckles.
"The truth is that my thoughts on my relationship with Sonic aren't the only thing keeping me busy for the past few weeks," Pipp confessed. "If I'm being honest, I began to work on a song for Sonic to tell him what I feel, and... well, let's just say I didn't think of finishing it until now," she explained.
"Oooooh~!" the others replied with mocking tones and smirks, which caused Pipp to blush and roll her eyes at her friend's attitude.
"I know you usually don't do this, but could we check it out? You know, to give you a second opinion," Sunny suggested.
"Yeah, let's see!" Knuckles said with a smile.
"Well... I think a second opinion could help me out, so... Okay! Here you go!" Pipp said cheerfully, extending the papers to Knuckles.
He carefully grabbed the papers so his hands wouldn't tear them apart. Then he took out his reading glasses and began to read the song lyrics, with Sunny and Izzy joining him from his side.
After a few minutes of humming and Knuckles raising an eyebrow at times, he finally returned the papers to Pipp and removed the reading glasses.
"So? Whatcha think?" Pipp asked in curiosity.
"I think it's good... but..." Sunny began with a sheepish smile.
"It's missing... something..." Izzy said, also smiling sheepishly.
"Something?" Pipp questioned, confused. "Like what?" she asked.
"You ever heard about 'a song's special touch'?" Knuckles asked back.
"Duh! It's what I always want to transmit in my songs!" Pipp replied with a smile.
"Well... I don't know if we're missing it, but the special touch isn't in this song," Knuckles said with a bored expression.
"I'm sorry, what?!" Pipp said, a bit mad. "Of course it is! You probably didn't see it because the song isn't dedicated to you, guys," she pointed out.
"Maybe..." Sunny said, a little hesitant. "Oh, oh, oh! Maybe if you sing it, we can find that touch! There's a big difference between reading the lyrics and properly listening to the song!" she pointed out in excitement.
"Oh, yeah! That could give us a different picture!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"It's worth a shot. But only if you want, Pipp," Knuckles said, crossing his arms with a smirk. "If you want this song to be only for Sonic, we'll respect that decision," he assured, and Sunny and Izzy nodded in agreement.
"Hmm..." Pipp said, rubbing her chin as she thought about the offer before smiling back at the others. "I think a little practice won't hurt!" she confidently stated.
Back at Zephyr Heights, the gang was in the throne room with Queen Haven.
According to Zipp, practicing a speech is the next step on his 'road to confession.' Of course, he's not surprised by this; he was planning on doing it anyway, but having people around to give him a second opinion could help him.
What won't help him is that he didn't expect Haven to show interest in helping him out. She's Pipp's mother, and she's been clear that she'll support a relationship between them if it ever happens. Yet he was still scared because she was a Queen besides a Mom.
"So... You wanna confess to my daughter," Haven said with a tone that sent chills down Sonic's spine.
"Y-Yeah..." Sonic replied with a nervous tone and smile, also sweating a bit.
Haven glared at him for a few seconds before bursting out laughing, which confused everyone except Zipp, who smirked at Sonic's pale and confused expression.
"Oh, I'm messing with you, Sonic," Haven assured me with a smile. "I was wondering when any of you would take the first step. I'm quite surprised you decided to proceed, though," she confessed.
Sonic sighed in relief and looked at Haven with a smile. "I'm glad to hear that, actually," he confessed. "But just for the record: In case the stupid idea of ever hurting Pipp crossed my mind, Tails, and Knuckles are allowed to use violent methods to make me recover some common sense," he added with a neutral expression, also pointing at Tails, who created a bat with his powers and smack it on his palm with a bored expression.
"He's also really in love with her, so I'm sure this won't be necessary," Tails said. "Still, you can never be too careful..." he added, glaring at Sonic.
Sonic rolled his eyes and glanced back at Haven. "Look, I'm very thankful that you want to help me out, but I'm serious when I say that it's unnecessary," he pointed out nervously.
"Oh, no, no. I insist!" Haven assured with a smile. "Besides, I need to make sure my future son-in-law isn't going to screw up his declaration," she added in a teasy tone.
"Excuse me, future son in––" Sonic wanted to ask in disbelief while blushing, but he immediately slapped himself and focused back. "Again, I appreciate the offer, but I'm serious when I say I can handle it––" he wanted to point out, stepping back nervously but being stopped by Hitch.
"First of all, we wanna hear that speech," Hitch said, stopping Sonic from moving forward.
Sonic groaned in annoyance, feeling this was a big waste of time.
Back in Mane Melody, Pipp finished the final part of her song... for the third time.
Sunny, Izzy, and Knuckles didn't get the message the first two times when Pipp sang the song, and it didn't change a single bit with the third attempt.
"Sweet ponyfeathers!" Pipp exclaimed, mad. "What's so difficult to get?! The message is right there!" she pointed out with concern.
"Perhaps I overestimated my intelligence," Knuckles said with his arms crossed and an anxious expression.
"Yeah, I'm lost in here," Izzy added, tilting her head in confusion.
"Well... I don't get it either, but I believe it doesn't matter," Sunny said with a smile. "As long as Sonic gets the message, that's everything that matters, right?" she said cheerfully.
Pipp's frown seemed to soften slightly, but she still seemed mad. "I... I guess that's a good point," she confessed.
"Well, if your song is ready, let me ask: How are you planning on declaring it, exactly?" Knuckles asked in curiosity.
"Thanks for asking!" Pipp said, now giving off an honest and joyful smile. "Follow me!" she stated before flying off from Mane Melody.
"Whatever she's up to, we should catch up!" Sunny said with a smirk. "We don't wanna ruin the surprise for Sonic!" she said before running off from Mane Melody.
"Wait for me, Sunny!" Izzy shouted, and then she turned to face Knuckles. "Are you coming too, Knuckie?" she asked to her boyfriend.
"Sure thing! I'm just making a quick call, and then I'll catch up, okay?" Knuckles replied with a smile.
Izzy nodded and kissed Knuckles shortly before running off from the salon. Knuckles smiled, and then he pressed the middle button of his watch to call Tails.
"Little man, Pipp wants to show us something, and I feel we're going to ZH..." Knuckles informed.
"Good timing! We're already here," Tails replied.
"Oh, good! Then we'll meet each other there," Knuckles stated.
Then, he ended the call before boosting out of Mane Melody to follow the girls.
After 'practicing' his declaration with the rest, Sonic managed to sneak away.
The others began to discuss how to improve his speech, but unfortunately, the discussion excluded him, so he decided to sneak away to think on his own.
He went to a balcony and watched the sunset on the horizon, smiling slightly at the sight. This always helped him think carefully instead of doing something stupid.
He appreciated all his friends' efforts to help him but felt a bit overwhelmed. He wanted to confess, but all this was ridiculous: practicing a speech? Man, he just needed to confess his feelings, not motivate some scared people to go to war.
He might not be an expert, but he's pretty sure it doesn't matter how much you practice a speech to confess; you'll end up saying something completely different. And the clothes were also stupid: Again, he's confessing, not asking her hoof in marriage... yet.
"Man... this all feels like a waste of time..." Sonic muttered in annoyance and concern.
"Sonic?" Tails' voice called out, and Sonic turned to see him with a worried expression. "Sorry if I interrupted anything, but... You just disappeared, and we are worried. Is everything okay?" he asked with concern.
Sonic sighed heavily before shaking his head in negatidenialeel like nothing of this is preparing me. We're making a whole drama just for confessing my feelings!" he pointed out. Man, I may not like to open up in public, but I have have hy opened up with her many times! Confessing my feelings for her might be hard, true, but... I w I can still do it," he said with worry.
"Yeah... I realized how dumb the suit and the whole 'practice your speech' thing is after the third time you were saying the same words in a different tone," Tails confessed with a sheepish smile, also scratching his head. "If it makes you feel better, I commented this to the rest, and they agree that this is pretty stupid. So, you're free to do whatever you wanted to do in the first place!" he announced cheerfully.
Sonic couldn't help but smile at that. "Are you serious?!" he asked in excitement.
"Yup!" Tails replied.
"Oh, fuck yeah!" Sonic shouted excitedly, ripping the suit away and stretching around with newfound energy. "I can now go for the original plan: Just go to her and tell her how I feel. If she feels the same––" he began to say.
"And she does," Tails assured me with a smirk.
"Then great! We all win... Except for the fans that like her platonically, but out of that, everyone wins!" Sonic stated with confidence. "And if she doesn't, that's okay, too! I can still look after her as his friend," he added, although his tone was saddened a bit.
"Hey, I can assure you, Sonic. Pipp likes you the same way you like her!" Tails assured confidently. "Now, go get her, tiger!" he stated.
Sonic nodded with a confident smirk, and then he ran off. Deep down, he was still afraid of how this could turn out... but it was worth the shot.
Pipp is worth the shot.
Pipp was walking back and forth, feeling nervous.
She dragged Sunny, Izzy, and Knuckles to a salon in Zephyr Heights, where she planned to give her little performance to confess her feelings to Sonic.
However, she now regretted the idea because her insecurities were winning her over—that and the fact that Zipp came over to her and asked what was going on.
"What do you mean you wanna confess?!" Zipp asked, confused.
Of course, she wasn't against the idea, but if Pipp made the first move, everything they told Sonic to do would be in vain, and for some reason, she wanted Sonic to make the first move instead of her sister.
"I've been thinking about it for the past few weeks, Zipp," Pipp replied with a frown. "I'm not standing here, daydreaming about him anymore! Why are you so mad suddenly, anyways?!" she asked with concern.
"I'm not mad, Pipp!" Zipp replied. "I'm just making sure you're sure that you want to do this," she added with concern. "What if he rejects you, which I doubt will happen because he panics?" she asked, still concerned.
"Well, if that happens, I'm pretty sure he'll be mature enough to tell me why he did that instead of waiting for me to bring it up," Pipp replied with a frown towards her sister.
"Um, girls?" Haven called out with worry.
"And what if he even avoids you then?!" Zipp shouted, now not only panicking at the idea of Pipp confessing before Sonic but also the the very small possibility of him chickening and not confessing, or worse, rejecting her out of panic.
"And what if that doesn't happen?!" Pipp shouted back at her. "Again, why do you care so much?! Being my sister doesn't give you any right to treat me this bad!" she pointed out with concern and worry.
"Oh boy..." Knuckles muttered with worry.
"I don't like this..." Izzy muttered as well while she side-hugged Knuckles for protection, and Knuckles wrapped an arm around her.
"I just don't want him to hurt you!" Zipp said again, now genuinely getting mad.
"If I end up hurt, it'll be because he doesn't feel the same! Does that make him a bad person? NO!" Pipp shouted, even more mad with her sister than before.
While the sisters began to fight, Haven tried to interfere and stop them, but they decided to ignore her. Everyone else, sins Sonic and Tails because they were not there at the moment, gulped nervously at the sister's attitude.
Sparky, who got more nervous than usual, stepped back but accidentally tripped with Floppy, and his fall made his stomach hurt, causing him to burp out a massive fireball.
What happened next? You should expect it: The place's decorations burned completely, not only the ones settled by Pipp but also the 'default' ones; the chandelier began to hang around and destroyed pretty much all the stereo Pipp was going to use for her declaration. Then, the chandelier itself fell to the floor.
So, in a little bit of a slump, Sparky's little trip ruined the entire thing for Pipp.
Hitch immediately grabbed Sparky and smiled sheepishly at what happened. "S-Sorry... for that..." he said, gulping nervously.
At that moment, Sonic and Tails entered the place, and their eyes widened as they saw all the disaster that had been caused.
"Uh... what happened here, exactly?" Tails asked. "We left for five minutes!" he pointed out.
However, before anyone could say anything, a door was opened suddenly. Everyone only managed to see a purple tail run away, but since Sonic always had a weird effect where he could stop time unconsciously, and it happened just now, he also saw the Cutie Mark of whoever ran away... and he panicked for some reason.
"Okay, seriously, now! What happened here?!" Sonic asked, now looking at everyone else. "And please, be honest. I wanna hear what's going on!" he instructed with a frown.
While the rest seemed to hesitate, Tails and Knuckles looked at each other and nodded. "I... I told Knuckles that you wanted to confess to Pipp," he confessed with shame, walking away from him and standing at Knuckles' side.
"He wanted to what?!" both Sunny and Izzy shouted, confused.
"And I told Tails that Pipp wanted to confess her feelings to you as well," Knuckles replied honestly
"Huh?!" Hitch exclaimed.
"Oh dear..." Haven muttered, placing a hoof on her mouth.
"Oh..." Zipp said with shame. "I screw it big time, huh..." she muttered with concern.
Sonic, however, seemed completely shocked at what he heard. "Pipp... s-she... she likes me?" he asked in disbelief.
"FUCK DAMMIT, SONIC, YOU CANNOT BE THAT STUPID!" Knuckles shouted, both in anger and tired of this. "This is very hypocritical coming from me since I was like this with Izzy, but EVERYONE in Equestria, even Eggman, knows that you two like each other... EXCEPT FOR YOU TWO!" he pointed out in annoyance.
"I'll usually tell him to calm down, but I won't this time," Tails said. "He is spitting facts, after all," he added.
"Look, Sonic. We all had a blast messing with you two, but this has gone too far!" Knuckles kept saying. "You two like each other, but you struggle for nothing! There's nothing and no one who can stop you two from being together BUT you two!" he pointed out, then he sighed in defeat and grabbed a paper from the ground before extending it to Sonic. "Just read what she wanted to sing for you, and you'll get the point," he said with frustration.
Hesitantly, Sonic grabbed the paper and read the lyrics in just a few seconds. His eyes widened after reading the lyrics, and he finally understood why Knuckles was mad.
He turned to see the door where Pipp had left and frowned before boosting away to find her. He was done with the show,, too, and he was going to find her to open up once and for all.
"I think we should have started with this instead of staying quiet..." Tails pointed out with a sheepish smile, and Knuckles nodded with a frown.
"You think?!" Sunny said angrily, while she and everyone else were frowning at Tails and Knuckles.
"Yeah, yeah, we know. We screw it big time..." Knuckles said with a bored expression. "Let's just hope those two don't screw it as well..." he added with concern.
Sonic boosted desperately through the castle's landing track.
After reading the lyrics of the song that Pipp has been writing for him, it became so clear now.
He felt like a complete idiot for not getting the signs sooner. She not only flirted with him but also cared for him. She listened when he needed to feel open, comforted him when he broke down multiple times, and even kissed him on her own that time Sparky went missing!
She has always felt the same way, and now she feels that all her preparation is worth nothing.
But he was going to change that. He needed to find her first, of course, but he was changing that anyway.
Luckily, he stopped running around the landing track and began to look around for her.
"Pipp?" Sonic called out. Pipp! Where are you?!" he asked, concerned and worried.
However, soon enough, he felt his ear twitching when he heard sobs coming from a certain direction.
Concerned, he ran toward the cry's origin. Once he approached, his eyes widened, and he felt his heart sink: Pipp was sitting at the edge of the track, sobbing as she trembled and lowered her head.
Sonic hated this sight. He hated seeing her sad in general, but this was even worse. That's why he decided to approach slowly, but he just stood behind her, conserving some distance, since he didn't want to bother her.
"Pipp?" Sonic called out with worry, but she didn't reply anything. "Pipp... a-are you––" he tried to ask, but she suddenly cut him off.
"I was stupid for making all of this..." Pipp said as she tried to dry her tears with no success.
"What? You mean the little stage you settled to tell me something?" Sonic asked, but he was not joking this time; he was concerned.
"I mean everything!" Pipp snapped, turning to see Sonic with sadness. Sonic felt his heart sink more when he saw the broken expression on her face. "I didn't care if this was super fancy or something casual! I didn't want it to be perfect; I only wanted it to be honest!" she cried, tears running down her cheeks. "But it doesn't matter now..." she added in defeat.
"Pipp, that's not––" Sonic tried to say, but she cut him off again.
"I was so stupid thinking that someone so amazing like you could like a pop star princess like me, anyway..." Pipp interrupted, and whatever Sonic was going to add immediately died as he felt his face blushing, his heart racing, and a smile unconsciously drawing on his face. However, the smile faded away once Pipp spoke again. "I mean, everything I do is sing and dance and be cheerful on livestreams... and you saved the world so many times that not even you can count them... It was dumb to think I ever had a chance..." she sniffed.
Sonic was now speechless. Hearing directly from her that she liked him was a bit unexpected, and he could not describe how much joy he felt when she said that... But he couldn't believe Pipp could undervalue herself like that. Does she really think this way? Sonic couldn't believe it and wouldn't allow it either.
"Pipp, that's just a lot of nonsense!" Sonic finally spoke without being interrupted. "I saved the world several times, but you? Pipp, you are the actual savior of magic! Has anyone ever told you that?" he said with a smile.
Pipp frowned, confused, and simply shook her head in negation instead of using words.
"Pipp, your attention to detail allowed us to follow Reginald to find Discord; your streams made the rest realize Reginald followed the stream towards Fluttershy's Cottage, even when I ran away. And thanks to your desire to find Discord, we got a hint on how to find him in that mysterious lighthouse that disappeared," Sonic began to explain. "But that's not all! Before magic returned for the very first time, your intervention with Sunny is what allowed her to win against Alphabittle and, therefore, the Unicorn Crystal. And when Sparky went missing, the song you wrote for him helped us find him!" he added with a joyful smile.
Pipp's eyes widened a bit, and she looked sideways at Sonic. "I... I did all of that?" she asked in disbelief.
"Absolutely!" Sonic replied confidently. "You are as capable as I am when it comes to 'life or death' situations, Little Pipp. I thought you already knew that..." he added, feeling a bit sad.
Pipp smiled weakly, and Sonic noticed that, but her smile faded away as she looked at the floor with sadness. "I... I want to believe you, Blue Star... I-I do, b-but..." she said with sadness tears falling from her eyes again.
How much Sonic hated that sound. Pipp's crying makes his heart sink and break into pieces whenever it happens. He was in love with her, and he wanted to walk forward to give her comfort... but she was in a delicate situation, and he was afraid that she would turn him apart.
Perhaps it was time to tell her how he felt. She already did so, and maybe, just maybe, his words could make her feel better...
Suddenly, his eyes widened when something came to his mind—something he knew could perfectly express how he felt toward her. So he smiled softly and closed his eyes.
Pipp's eyes widened after recognizing the lyrics, but not so much the voice.
"I-Is that... my..." Pipp tried to ask, slowly turning around and gasping when she saw Sonic with his eyes closed.
I know you want me So don't keep sayin' our hands are tied
Sonic opened his eyes and smiled at Pipp, who was surprised to hear him sing what she'd been working on so hard for the past few weeks. This caused her cheeks to turn a bit red.
You claim it's not in the cards And fate is pullin' you miles away And out of reach from me
Sonic walked slowly toward Pipp, extending his hand to her as he kept singing. Pipp hesitantly placed her hoof on his hand, and Sonic carefully grabbed it to help her stand up.
As he kept singing, he also caressed Pipp's mane gently while Pipp closed her eyes and unconsciously smiled at Sonic's delicate touch over her.
But you're here in my heart So who can stop me if I decide That you're my destiny?
Sonic carefully lifted Pipp's chin so she could open her eyes and see him. Everything Pipp found in Sonic's green emerald eyes was... the same thing Sonic saw in hers: love. Genuine love for each other.
What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine Nothing could keep us apart You'd be the one I was meant to find
Sonic and Pipp began to walk in circles as Sonic kept singing while Pipp finally smiled brightly at him. She still couldn't believe he actually learned the song, but right now? She didn't care either, because she understood now: her message and his were the same.
If she stopped to think about it, she could realize that Sonic loves her the same way she loves him, because the hints have been pretty obvious all this time, although she realized just a few hours ago. Still, she was grateful that Sonic came into her life and that he was doing this to cheer her up.
And maybe, just maybe, it was time to return the favor...
It's up to you, and it's up to me No one can say what we get to be So why don't we rewrite the stars? Maybe the world could be ours Tonight
After Sonic finishes this part, Pipp suddenly opens her wings and is boosted to the air, completely taking Sonic off guard.
He started to look around in the sky, looking for her, but everything he could see and sense, because of the wind, was something moving in the air.
Then, the light of the moon shone brightly over him, blurring his vision for a second. When he opened his eyes, his cheeks turned red, and his eyes sparkled at the sight.
Pipp: You think it's easy You think I don't wanna run to you
Pipp's voice began to sing as well.
The light of the moon reflected on her mane and fur, and even though her eyes were closed, he already knew how beautiful they were.
Her Cutie Mark was also shining bright, but that was the last of his concerns: the image of Pipp slowly flying down as she sang was living freely in his mind now.
'Sweet Chili Dogs... Is this what an angel looks like?' Sonic wondered mentally
But there are mountains And there are doors that we can't walk through
It wasn't until this point that he realized that everything she was singing wasn't scripted. No, this isn't a broken fourth-wall joke: Sonic doesn't remember this part of the song on the paper Knuckles gave him.
And yet, he wasn't mad at the lyrics: Pipp was a pop star, so improvising something in the middle of a situation like this one was her thing, and that just made his love and admiration and love towards her grow more and more.
I know you're wondering why because we're able to be Just you and me within these walls But when we go outside, you're gonna wake up and see That it was hopeless after all
As Pipp seemed to approach Sonic, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him seductively, which increased Sonic's blush and caused him to gulp nervously.
Pipp began to fly around as she kept singing, but the way Sonic saw it, she was not only flying but also dancing in the air.
No one can rewrite the stars How can you say you'll be mine? Everything keeps us apart And I'm not the one you were meant to find
Sonic saw that Pipp was singing with her heart because she was way into the song. Who was he kidding? He was way into her, because even if the lyrics were supposed to be sad and dramatic, he didn't cared about them, he only cared about Pipp.
It's not up to you It's not up to me When everyone tells us what we can be How can we rewrite the stars? Say that the world can be ours Tonight
Once Pipp was singing this part, Sonic smirked because he was pretty sure the next part was scripted.
So, he made the only Chaos Emeralds he had to transform into Pink Super Sonic. Then, he flew towards her, startling her a bit at first when he grabbed her from her hips, but once she saw his smile, she felt her heart melt and her cheeks blushing, as well as a smile being formed by her lips, and after she finished her part, they both began to sing together.
Sonic & Pipp: All I want is to fly with you All I want is to fall with you So just give me all of you
Sonic grabbed Pipp's hips as they flew, while Pipp directly hugged Sonic as they flew in circles and sang together happily.
Pipp: It feels impossible
Sonic: It's not impossible
Pipp: Is it impossible?
Sonic & Pipp: Say that it's possible
Pipp's Cutie Mark began to glow even brighter now, but Sonic and Pipp were so busy lost on each other's eyes as they sang together that none noticed it.
That, or they did notice but didn't give a shit right now.
How do we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine? Nothing can keep us apart 'Cause you are the one I was meant to find
Pipp broke the hug and flew over Sonic with a smile, while Sonic himself smiled back at her as they both kept singing together in synchrony and harmony.
It's up to you And it's up to me No one can say what we get to be And why don't we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours
They finished singing together and hugged, with Pipp nuzzlingd lovely Sonic's ches and Sonic nuzzling his head over Pipp's mane.
They slowly landed on the track, with Sonic letting go of the remaining Chaos Emeralds that returned on their own to the chest in Tails' room in the Brighthouse, while Pipp just stood on her hind legs and never broke the hug with Sonic.
"Pipp... I like you in ways I still cannot understand..." Sonic told her with a smile. Pipp lifted her head to face him. she could still see his love for her in his eyes, which made her smile. "If anything, I'm the one who thought you wouldn't feel that way for me," he confessed. "An amazing singer, a beautiful woman, a gorgeous pegasus... and an incredible being that cares for everyone around her. I thought that, because of my life and recklessness, you wouldn't want me, Pipp," he explained.
"Oh, Blue Star..." Pipp said with a smile. I love everything about you, including your flaws. You aren't perfect, yet you always bring out the best in everyone," she added. "I just... I thought you didn't like me because you always seemed so centered on returning to your home, even if the signs you gave me said otherwise, now that I think about it." She chuckled a bit.
"I was scared not only of you not liking me, but also that Eggman will try to hurt you if we take that step," Sonic confessed with concern. "Yet... Knuckles knows that, too, and he still managed to make things work between him and Izzy, so... I guess we should do the same," he added with a smile and a slight blush.
Pipp felt her heart race like a marathon suddenly. Her cheeks got red again, her wings opened, and her eyes sparkled after hearing that. "A-Am I dreaming? D-Do you mean it?!" she asked Sonic in disbelief.
"To tell the truth, I... I'm still afraid that Eggman could do anything to you... a-and I don't want to ever say goodbye to you, Pipp..." Sonic confessed before looking back at her with a warm smile. "But... Gosh, I love you, Pipp Petals," he said, now caressing one of her cheeks softly. "I love you so much that I don't care if I have to fight Eggman a million times just to keep you safe. He added that I will if necessary, and I promise I'll never leave you alone," he added.
Pipp smiled brightly, squealing like a little filly, embracing Sonic in another hug as she laughed and cried in happiness. Sonic smirked, wrapped his arms around her, and twirled her in the air, causing the mare to yell in surprise, but she still laughed and never broke her hug on him.
An entire year of daydreaming with him, of supporting him, of knowing him, but most importantly, of loving him, all came to this: him loving her as well. And Sonic was happy too, of course: Pipp was finally his girlfriend. Even if he was afraid, he always daydreamed about such a possibility, but it happened now, and he was so glad he went for it.
Sonic finally stopped and put Pipp down, but once they faced each other, they knew what they wanted to do now... No. They knew what they needed to do now.
And so, Sonic broke the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers in a soft and lovely kiss. Their third one is true, but the longest one so far as well. This time, they were sealing their union as a couple and wanted to enjoy it. No tongue involved, nasty desires, or dirty intentions: Just a hedgehog and a pegasus sealing their love in a kiss they wanted to remember for the rest of their lives, if not more.
After a while, they separated from their kiss to catch their breath, and and then stared at each other and smiled.
"I could get used to this~," Sonic said in a flirty tone.
"Oh, you better get used to it, handsome," Pipp replied in the same tone, making circles with her hoof on Sonic's chest. "Because I'm planning to do this more often from now on," she added playfully. I love you, Sonic," she finished with an honest and caring smile.
"And I love you too, Pipp," Sonic replied with a smirk and a blush.
Pipp leaned to kiss him again, wrapping her hooves around his neck, while Sonic wrapped an arm around her back and caressed her cheek carefully with his free hand.
Perhaps this wasn't exactly how they imagined their declaration to go. But honestly? They wouldn't change anything, either.
Knuckles, Zipp and Haven were hugging each other like a crying mess.
Thanks to a little drone, Tails, that was sent in the air, everyone else managed to watch the confession, including the dance and song. Knuckles, Zipp, and Haven felt their hearts touched after witnessing this moment. Haven was trying so hard not to mess up her makeup, but just knowing that one of her daughters was already in a relationship melted her heart.
Zipp was feeling the same, and just knowing her sister was growing up so fast made her break her chill and cool attitude for once. Also, she wears makeup on her eyes as well because her eyeliner was running down her cheeks thanks to her tears. However, either nobody noticed because of the moment between Sonic and Pipp, or they did but didn't care.
As for Knuckles... he was just a emotional guy, so he started to cry soon after Zipp and Haven did so.
The others just smiled and felt happy (as well as relieved) that those two were finally together.
"Well, I sure love happy endings!" Sunny said with a smile.
"I'm glad Sonic didn't screw things... And I'm sorry for not saying a thing about this earlier," Tails said with shame, as his ears fell flat.
"Aww, don't you worry, little guy!" Izzy said cheerfully, side-hugging Tails. "We all make mistakes! Besides, I'm pretty sure we all would follow you two on your game anyways," she pointed out.
"Yeah, Izzy is right. Messing with those two being together was fun," Hitch confessed. "Too bad they're a couple now. It means no more mocking u,p" he pointed out with a sad smile.
"Eh, I wouldn't be so sure..." Sunny said with a smirk, now looking at Tails.
Soon enough, both Hitch and Izzy realized what she meant and smirked at Tails.
"... You guys are gonna mock me with Zipp, aren't you?" Tails asked with a bored expression while his cheeks puffed in frustration.
Hitch, Izzy, and Sunny only nodded at his question, and Tails groaned in annoyance while they started to chuckle, and Knuckles, Haven, and Zipp kept crying a river.
"They grow up so fast!" Zipp said sadly.
"My daughter is a little woman now!" Haven said dramatically.
"I love happy endings so much!" Knuckles said, although he still kept crying.
The others chuckled at their attitudes and smiled, but Tails' eyes widened.
"Wait! Zipp uses eyeliner?!" Tails asked in shock as he noticed Zipp's eyeliner.
It's been three days since Sonic and Pipp became a couple.
Ever since the two love birds couldn't be apart, they were so lost in each other to the point they even considered sleeping together... An idea that they immediately scrapped because of reasons... including Zipp's glares and the fact that their relationship was still pretty new.
This last fact had Pipp flying all over Mane Melody from one side to the other, again panicked, which caught Jazz and Rocky's attention, even though they had bored expressions.
"Okay, what is it this time?" Jazz asked, but her bored expression remained.
"She said something about preparing a big thing for an announcement..." Sonic replied instead of Pipp.
The blue hedgehog was sitting over one of the salon's chairs, adjusting some strings on an electric guitar. He's been around the salon too much lately, but Jazz and Rocky didn't mind. After all, they were among the few ponies who knew about Sonic and Pipp being together as a couple.
"Oh, so this is an 'I need to get everything done ASAP' kind of panic attack?" Rocky asked, returning his gaze to the flying pegasus, now with an amused expression.
"Yup!" Sonic replied.
"But what can it be... WHAT CAN IT BE?!" Pipp screamed dramatically while slowly descending and landing on Sonic's head.
Sonic looked up at her, a bit annoyed, before rolling his eyes with a smile and putting his guitar aside. He then picked up his girlfriend in bridal style. "Pipp, honey, I understand this is important to you, but we cannot help if we do not understand your plan. You get me?" he pointed out to her with a smirk.
Pipp's concerned expression shifted to a surprised one as she covered her mouth with her hooves, and her eyes widened. "Oh, my. Glitter... You're right! I forgot to give the context again!" she realized, groaning annoyedly and burrowing her face into Sonic's chest.
Sonic snorted, but he still nuzzled his head over hers. "There, there... It's not a big deal, Little Pipp," he said with a smile before kissing her forehead. "Everyone forgets things occasionally, you know?" he pointed out.
"That still doesn't help the fact that I still panic without explaining why I panic!" Pipp pointed out dramatically, once again groaning.
Still, she shook her head and stood up from his boyfriend's arms; she took a few deep breaths and looked back at Sonic, Jazz, and Rocky with a smile.
"Well. Now that Blue Star and I are finally together, I've been thinking about how to tell it to all of Equestria the news... But I got nothing so far!" Pipp explained with concern.
"... Ooooh!" Sonic, Jazz, and Rocky all said it together, and now they understand the situation.
"Then why didn't you say it earlier?" Jazz asked with a smile.
"You should have started from there when you entered the salon!" Rocky pointed out with a smirk.
"Wait, you wanna make a big deal out of our thing?" Sonic asked, confused. "Not that I mind, you could publish it on a boring blog or something, and I wouldn't complain. Yet, why do you want to make something big?" he questioned.
However, Jazz, Rocky, and Pipp gasped in horror at that question, which caused Sonic to look at them with an even more confused expression.
"... Okay, be frank: What did I say wrong?" Sonic asked with a bored expression, also crossing his arms.
"Nothing, nothing!" Pipp said with a nervous chuckle. "Um, I think I should've explained myself even better... Look, sweaty. We, royal pegasi, have a tradition that's been passed down the line in our family ever since Zephyr Heights was founded many moons ago," she explained. "We gotta make our relationships a big deal, no matter how recent or ancient it is," she added.
"So... That means... That we're gonna have to reveal that we're together... On a stage?" Sonic asked, confused.
"It's just one of the many ways we can reveal it!" Rocky said with a smile. "Many royals have revealed their status with a dance, an improved video-slash-movie-slash-play, or even during a very important meeting or announcement just to make more hype!" he explained.
"And these things can be presented anytime, as long as the royal in question makes their relationship status public," Jazz finished.
"Okay... Okay... So, you're saying that we need to plan something big and attractive to reveal we're together," Sonic summarized, rubbing his chin and raising an eyebrow.
"Yup!" Pipp replied with her innocent and cheery smile.
"Well, you have weird traditions, but Izzy's yarn balls tradition already won that spot..." Sonic replied, a bit confused, before smirking at his girlfriend. "So, what are you gonna do, honey?" he asked her.
At this, Pipp squealed and launched herself to hug Sonic tightly while the hedgehog chuckled and hugged her back.
"I'm telling you, Blue Star! This is gonna be the biggest revelation in history!" Pipp stated confidently.
"Even better than your 23rd birthday?" Sonic asked her in a flirting tone while wrapping his arms around Pipp's back.
"Oh, you bet~" Pipp replied seductively before locking lips with the blue hedgehog.
"Aww!" Jazz and Ricky said with smiles at the scene. They were excited to help make this announcement what Pipp expected it to be.
There was a firewall in Opaline's Castle right before her.
"Sparks of fire! Explosions of annihilation!" Opaline declared, traversing the fire and starting to laugh like a maniac.
However, she couldn't go so far on that last aspect because she started coughing uncontrollably and rubbing her neck with a hoof. Misty, also in the Throne Room, cringed at her action while Eggman facepalmed and rubbed his face in annoyance.
"We're finally steps away from our plan of total pony takedown!" Opaline stated with a huge grin.
"But, we just need one more thing..." Eggman stated, too, as he approached Misty with a frown, which already made Misty nervous since Eggman never frowned at her before. "Can you explain to me, Misty... what is this?" he asked calmly.
After doing so, he rolled out a paper with a big picture of Misty with the Mane 5, Sparky, and Team Sonic in the Crystal Brighthouse's living room. Sunny, Zipp and Pipp's Cutie Marks were also shining bright.
This picture made Misty panic since she got it from Tails a while ago. He gave a copy to her not so long after taking it, and she didn't have the heart to burn said picture or rip it apart, so neither Opaline nor Eggman would found about it. Instead, she hid it under her bed... But Eggman still found the picture, which was no good.
"W-Where'd you get..." Misty tried to ask before gulping and looking around nervously. "I, uh... I can explain!" she assured.
"It's good Ivo found your photo because it brought my attention to something big: Their Cutie Marks," Opaline stated, pointing at Sunny, Zipp, and Pipp's glowing Cutie Marks in the picture. "That is the evolved magic that's powering their silly Prisbeam. That's our ticket into taking over!" she stated confidently.
"If we can steal their Cutie Marks, then we're not just powerful..." Eggman started, slapping the picture in Misty's face. Then he turned away and looked at the ceiling with a sinister smile. "We're all powerful!" he stated confidently.
Then Eggman and Opaline started laughing maniacally while Misty removed the picture from her face and looked at it with concern. Her conflicted thoughts were getting worse again.
However, she had to stop staring at the picture because Opaline started coughing uncontrollably. This made Eggman stop laughing and look at her with boredom. At the same time, Misty cringed again and put the picture away.
"You should take a pill with water or get a chamomile tea, at least..." Eggman said with a frown. "If you're gonna be a Queen, at least have a healthy throat, you know?" he pointed out.
"Right..." Opaline said with an eye roll before looking back at Misty. "Anyway, I think I'm getting ahead of myself. First, I need to find a way to boost my power. Then, I'll cast a transformation spell to capture those Cutie Marks! Then..." she tried to say but then started coughing again. I'll follow Ivo's advice for once and book a throat detox," she confessed.
"Hallelujah! She's finally listening to me!" Eggman cheered with a grin while Opaline rolled her eyes.
"And after that, as they say, Misty, 'the rest is history'!" Opaline stated with a smirk, turning around and preparing to leave the room.
"But do we have to steal their Cutie Marks? They're nice ponies..." Misty said with a sheepish smile.
At this, Eggman's eyes opened wide, and one even twitched a bit, while his mustache got a bit messed up after hearing Misty saying that...
His worst fears were getting real, and he hated it.
As for Opaline, she frowned with wide eyes while her horn lightened up with fire. "Nice ponies?!" she yelled in rage before looking at Misty again angrily. "Don't tell me you were having fun with those ponies?" she said while glaring daggers at the unicorn mare.
"No! Not at all! I'm just still as bad as I've always been!" Misty assured while trying to put on a sinister face...
Yeah, you're failing here, honey, 'cause you only look adorable.
"When we were together, they complimented me on my mane, but I did not compliment them back! Ha!" Misty added proudly.
Eggman turned around and facepalmed, clearly seeing that Misty was starting to feel compassion and appreciation towards his enemies... And if things kept going as they were right now, he'll lose what he has the closest as a daughter, even if he'll never accept that statement out loud.
"Well, that's good," Opaline said. "Because now that we have the dragon fire, there's no going back. "
Today must be Misty's bad luck day because she didn't have Dragon Fire or Sparky with her.
She tried to catch him a few days ago, but the place was empty when she arrived at the Brighthouse to 'spend time' with the others. She then hid her real intentions.
There was nopony home, so she went to the town to ask about them. She heard from Dahlia that they were all in Zephyr Heights for something important.
Long story short, the previous episode ruined Misty's mission, and now she is without dragon fire for Opaline.
"Oh, ah..." Misty spoke nervously. "Well, that's the other thing I wanted to tell you, um... I kind of, um, maybe didn't get it again..." she confessed with a saddened expression.
At this, Eggman groaned out loud and facepalmed again. "Misty, sometimes I swear that you're getting yourself into suicide missions instead of simple tasks..." he said with concern and a frown.
Opaline, however, frowned, yeah... But she did not yell at Misty. She seemed disappointed, but not that much, and both Eggman and Misty noticed that.
"Wow, Opaline. You're taking this surprisingly well..." Misty pointed out with a smile.
"Kid, you just signed your death sentence..." Eggman said with a bored expression.
"TAKING IT WELL?!" Opaline screamed in rage. "I WAS BUILDING UP MY BREATH TO TELL AT YOU! You..." she tried to keep going but then started to cough again, grabbing her neck with a hoof. "See what you've done to me, Misty? Ugh! This is a failure worthy of my worst punishment yet!" she angrily stated.
Misty gulped nervously after hearing this, looking up at Opaline in fear.
"And not only do I not have the dragon fire, but I wasted all my magic showing off my cool plan?! Ugh!" Opaline groaned with anger.
"You could always, you know... Wait for your fucking powers to replenish or something?" Eggman pointed out with a bored expression, also crossing his arms.
"Yeah, I could do that..." Opaline admitted before turning to see Misty with rage once more. "Need a little 'refresher' on why this is so important, huh?" she said with a frown.
Then, the Alicorn turned to face her boiler, with both Eggman and Misty joining her at her sides. Then, Opaline used her magic to make the boiler work and show a flashback of her childhood...
"Growing up in Skyros, they were the 'golden ponies.' The favorites," Opaline narrated, while her boiler showed an image of Princesses Celestia and Luna when they were fillies, clapping their hooves together with smiles. "Everypony loved them, but I saw right through their act..." Opaline added with anger.
As the two sisters nuzzled their cheeks together, they felt surprised when they sensed another presence, so they separated and looked behind them to find Opaline when she was a filly, waving her hoof at them with a nervous smile.
"They thought they were so great 'cause they had the whole 'sun and moon' thing going... Please!" Opaline kept narrating with anger
As she said this, the image showed Celestia and Luna looking away from Opaline with an air of superiority, which left the younger Opaline shocked and heartbroken.
"I had something much better. I was an Alicorn of fire, of power, of strength!" Opaline narrated with pride, while her younger self frowned as Celestia and Luna walked away before opening her wings and lighting her horn to create a fire circle in the air. "And because of that, I had to prove I was not to be underestimated. They'd learn I was not only the wrong pony to push around, but I would be so much more!" she confidently stated.
Finally, the boiler showed Celestia and Luna laughing as they walked away while Opaline was sad. However, her expression shifted to anger, and her horn lightened up with fire again, creating a massive firewall.
Once said wall dissipated, the present Opaline appeared with a frown. "I would live up to my elemental duty!" she stated with anger and open wings.
"Huh..." Eggman said suddenly, calling Opaline and Misty's attention. "You're doing this to prove yourself to those who doubted you. We have more in common than I ever imagined," he confessed.
"What do you mean by that?" Opaline asked, confused.
"Is this related to why you do what you do, too?" Misty asked as well.
"Indeed..." Eggman replied with a nod.
After that, he cringed for a second before ripping a string of hair from his mustache, which made him groan a bit in pain, while Misty and Opaline cringed at what he did.
Then, Eggman frowned again before letting go of the hair string as it slowly descended until it fell in the boiler, switching the image once more, but this time, to show Eggman's flashback.
"Ever since I was a kid, I was immensely attracted to inventions and robotics..." Eggman narrated, while several images of Eggman were shown as he grew from a 5-year-old to a 10-year-old. "My mind was a lot more developed than anyone around me. My grades? Impeccable. My score? Perfect! My mind? I graduated from High School at 8!" he stated with pride.
However, even though the younger Eggman seemed happy, he suddenly frowned as new figures appeared in his memory: a bunch of people behind the doctor and a blonde girl in a long blue dress.
"Yet, despite my blesses, my family had eyes for someone else... My cousin, Maria Robotnik..." Eggman spitted with rage.
The memory showed Maria talking happily with the rest of the family while the younger Eggman couldn't care less as he worked on what seemed to be his prototype of a Moto Bug.
"When Maria died, the entire family mourned her loss... Everyone but me, that is," Eggman kept telling. "They all felt so lost for her death when I was. Right. THERE!" he shouted with anger. "Worse of all, even before she died, nobody ever paid attention to my inventions... They all said I was a fool... An outcast... A mistake..." he added while grinding his teeth.
The memory showed Eggman growing even more until he reached his mid-30s when he finally became a scientist and had the chance to create his machines on a much bigger scale.
"But I was going to show them... I would show them I'm not a man they should've ever messed with!" Eggman stated with rage. "Once I had grown enough, I could finally prove myself... Show them all what Ivo Robotnik is made of!" he finished narrating, now frowning on his present. "And when we finally get those Crystals from those stupid ponies... Nobody, and nopony, will underestimate us ever again!" he declared with a sinister grin.
"It seems like our paths were destined to encounter, Ivo... So we could both show everyone who we truly are!" Opaline stated with glee, while Eggman nodded in agreement.
"And you two will!" Misty declared with a smile. "I'm sorry I failed you, Opaline... I promise I won't ever do that again!" she assured.
Opaline and Eggman looked at each other before nodding and looking back at Misty with sinister grins.
"Oh, we know..." Opaline started. "Because you won't have a chance to," she said as she and Eggman stood before Misty, who got scared at them.
"I do not want to say this, Misty... But I think Opaline should use her last bit of magic to make sure you really think about your failure... And also as a reminder of your position," Eggman stated with a frown.
"W-What?" Misty asked, staring scared at both Opaline and Eggman.
"From this moment on..." Opaline started while lightening her horn with fire.
"Consider yourself..." Eggman kept raising his right hand and putting together his middle finger and thumb.
"GROUNDED!," both villains said with frowns while Opaline's magic did its work.
Then, Misty's hooves were surrounded by a purple aura, and the unicorn mare suddenly got dragged from the Throne Room and through a hallway, as Misty screamed in fear.
Then, at the end of the hallway, her room was located. There, she finally stopped being dragged, and Misty sighed in relief, even though she was panting because of the adrenaline of the moment.
Meanwhile, Opaline sighed, relieved that Misty wouldn't be a problem, at least not now.
"Ugh. How lovely. I've been dying to get out of the lair!" Opaline said with a huge smirk as she started to walk towards the exit.
"About time!" Eggman cheered. "I can finally be the one that stays in the Castle for once!" he added with a chuckle, walking towards his lab.
In Maretime Bay, The Mane 5 and Team Sonic were having the big opening for Canterlove Studios.
They're doing this big opening now because they needed to adjust some final details, and Sonic helped this time.
Now that everything is said and done, the big opening is here, with Hitch at the podium again, holding the big scissors and making another speech. This is going to be good.
"Thanks, everypony!" Hitch greeted with a smile while Knuckles stood at his side with his arms crossed since, well, he's the deputy and all of that. "Big day in Maretime Bay. A day we'll remember forever. A day where we all come together, a day where we all say––" he tried to add.
"The same thing we said the last time we had a grand opening..." Zipp pointed out with a mocking smirk.
"Thank Chaos, there are no critters around this time," Sonic commented, and both Pipp and Tails giggled at that statement.
"Sheriff, wrap this up before some magical or critter incident happens out of nowhere, for Chaos' sake..." Knuckles told Hitch with a frown.
"Or rather, cut it up!" Tails said with a laugh.
At this, Hitch turned back to the crowd and started to talk at a fast paste. "And for the first time in this building's history, this will be a place for everypony! Welcome to Canterlove Studios!" he said with a smile before sighing. "Okay, I'm done... Woo!" he said before turning to see the red ribbon at the building's entrance.
Then, Hitch cut the ribbon with the big scissors, declaring Canterlove Studios officially open.
The ponies that assisted cheered, but unlike with the Community Garden, they turned around this time and then ran away.
"Wait, where are they going?" Hitch questioned, confused, while Knuckles facepalmed and frustratedly shook his head. "I just said this is for everypony!" he pointed out.
"Maybe inspiration doesn't come that quickly?" Pipp suggested.
"Maybe something was confusing about your messaging?" Zipp suggested, too, with a mocking smirk.
"Maybe you should have made a different speech instead of reusing the Community Garden one?" Knuckles said with a bored expression.
"Maybe they came by just to be polite?" Sonic commented with a neutral expression.
"Oh, oh! Maybe they realized they left their ovens on at home!" Izzy said happily as she hopped up and down.
"All of them?" Tails questioned with a bored expression and a raised eyebrow.
"You're right, too far-fetched. It was probably their microwave ovens!" Izzy said, still with a smile.
"Izzy, you're too pure for this world... Let's keep it that way," Knuckles told his girlfriend with a smirk.
"Or maybe they just need an example of how to use the studio first," Sunny said with a smile. Oh, we should get a show-up and running to show the possibilities!" she excitedly suggested.
At this, Pipp also squealed excitedly, clapping her hooves together. "That's a great idea, Sunny! I see my two stars now!" she added, looking over at two of her friends.
Since Izzy approached her, Zipp thought that her sister meant her and Izzy, which made her panic. However, she felt relieved when Pipp looked at Sunny and Hitch instead.
"You and Hitch will be the co-hosts of a smoothie-making cooking show!" Pipp stated excitedly.
At this, Tails' eyes widened, and he slowly looked at Sunny and Hitch before placing his fingers together to make the shape of a frame and staring at the two earth ponies. His mind started to work up a thousand ideas on how to make this work, and his excitement for this show was rising to the point he seemed to be more excited with this idea than Pipp.
"What? Uh, no thanks, Pipp," Sunny replied nervously. "I-I didn't mean me," she added.
"Hmm. We need a show title first..." Pipp realized.
"Thank you," Sunny said, normally smiling again. "I was hoping we could brainstorm it up––" she tried to add.
"I'VE GOT SOMETHING!" Tails exclaimed excitedly as he stood over the podium and startled the rest of Sonic. "How about we call this show... 'Sunny Side Up'! Featuring Hitch!" he said the last part by flying upside down and pointing his left finger at the earth pony stallion. "Just two lifelong besties that clearly like each other sharing their recipes for yummy food!" he shouted excitedly.
"And friendship!" Hitch said with a frown, while Sunny blushed because of what Tails said about clearly liking each other.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever you said, Hitch," Tails said with a mocking smirk, patting the stallion's head. "What do you say, Pipp?" he asked her with a smile.
At this, Pipp squealed excitedly again. "I love this concept, Tails!" she said with a smile.
"I'm not an 'in the spotlight' pony..." Hitch tried to point out.
"Oh, oh, oh! We could bring over a bunch of random challenges for them to complete!" Tails started to yell suddenly. "Oh, and maybe even bring over ingredients no sane being will ever put on a smoothie!" he said, flying around happily before landing at Sonic's side. "Oh, I have so many ideas... I need to write them all!" he stated, shaking Sonic violently.
And then, he boosted inside the building at top speed, leaving his friends behind, as they all stared at the entrance of Canterlove Studios with wide eyes.
"I think someone's excited!" Zipp said with a chuckle. "He seemed more happy with this idea than you, sis!" she pointed out to her with a smile.
"I know! He just zoomed into the building with no warning or hesitation! I like how dedicated he seems to be!" Pipp said with a smile.
"He did go too fast inside, though..." Sunny pointed out with a nervous smile.
"Well, he learned from the best!" Sonic said with a proud smile, fixing his quills after Tails gave him the shake.
"So... we're doing this, huh?" Hitch told Sunny with a smile.
"Yeah... I guess we are..." Sunny replied, still feeling nervous.
"Well, as much as I would like to see how this develops, I'm afraid Little Pipp and I must go," Sonic said. "We need to prepare for that big thing, remember?" he pointed out to her.
"Wait, what?!" Pipp said with wide eyes. "But I... But I thought that..." she tried to say, looking back and forth between Canterlove Studios' entrance and her boyfriend.
"Wait, you're preparing the Big Relationship Announcement?" Zipp asked while Pipp gulped and nodded sheepishly. "Then why are you two here?! Go on and prepare that thing! We'll handle the show, and seeing how excited Tails seemed to be, I think everything will be fine!" She smiled.
"But we'll be too busy even to watch a stream on how the show is going!" Pipp complained.
"Hey, I promise to send you constant updates on how things are going so you don't miss any details!" Zipp said with a smile.
"Hoof to heart?" Pipp asked, extending her hoof.
"Hoof to heart," Zipp assured her, touching her hoof with Pipp. Then, both sisters placed the hoof over their chests.
"Okay... Then I'll leave that to you," Pipp said, smiling normally. "Come on, Blue Star! We have a job to do!" she said as she flew around Sonic before landing on his arms in bridal style.
"Go meirei-dōri, okusama~" Sonic replied with a smirk, saying 'At your command, ma'am~' in Japanese, before boosting towards Mane Melody with her girlfriend in his arms.
As they did that, Knuckles looked at Zipp confusedly. "Hang on... What is a Big Relationship Announcement?" he asked her.
At this, Zipp groaned and face-hoofed herself.
An hour later, inside Canterlove Studios, the rest were preparing everything for the show.
As Zipp pushed some cameras towards the stage, Izzy and Knuckles helped Sunny and Hitch prepare for the show while Tails walked around them with a clipboard.
"So, how are my stars feeling today? Nervous?" Tails asked with a smirk.
"Extremely!" Hitch replied anxiously while Knuckles finished perfuming him and walked away.
"Not really," Sunny replied, smiling as Izzy finished and walked away with her boyfriend.
"There's no reason to be!" Tails said with a smile. "As the S.B.S.A. co-founder with Izzy––" he started to say.
"StarBlazer Shipping Association" Knuckles came by and translated the acronym before walking away again.
"My job is to ensure you two are prepared for the show!" Tails continued with a smile as he started to walk to the stage. Sunny and Hitch got up from their seats and followed behind. "I'll teach you everything you need to know: How to smile, how to stand, how to sit and 'smize' when you can't stand or smile..." he explained while reading everything he wrote on his clipboard.
"Two questions: One, what does StarBlazer mean? Two, what is 'smize'?" Hitch asked, confused.
"I refuse to answer the first one, even though I would love to see you two flustered with the answer..." Tails replied with a mischievous grin while Hitch and Sunny looked at each other, confused. "As for your second question, 'smize' is smiling with your eyes!" he explained while his eyes opened wide and sparkled. "Come on, try it!" he said with a smile.
Hitch tried to do something similar, but all he did was make some weird noises and then show his teeth, which made Tails flinch and cringe.
"Oh... Or maybe, just try to work on standing still so you don't look that nervous..." Tails said with a nervous smile and chuckle.
Sunny giggled after hearing that. "Me? Nervous? I'm a smoothie-maker master! This is easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!" she stated confidently with a smile, standing behind the counter where she and Hitch would be doing the show.
However, Hitch placed his hoof over a bowl of lemons and accidentally pushed it. This caused one of the lemons to fly into the air and land on Tails' head, as the fox looked bored.
"Sorry, Tails!" Hitch apologized. "Maybe that's a sign Sunny should just host the show by herself?" he suggested, while his ears lowered and he tapped the counter nervously. "I mean, remember how bad it was when I ran the smoothie cart?" he pointed out with concern.
"Hitch, I'm going to be frank with you..." Tails started lying on the counter. "Saying that it went bad is the best compliment you have ever given that disastrous day..." he said with a bored expression, removing the lemon from his head.
"I know! And that was without anypony watching on TV!" Hitch pointed out with worry.
"Oh, shh. You'll be great, Hitch!" Sunny assured him with a smile. "Just pretend you're giving a Sheriff's speech and follow my lead," she instructed him.
However, that only made Hitch look on with a panicked expression and a twitchy eye as he watched the rest of his friends get everything ready.
Zipp had the camera, Knuckles had the lights, Tails controlled everything else from a laptop, and Izzy was eating donuts since she was going to watch and nothing else.
Hitch chuckled awkwardly and rested a hoof over the counter. Still, he slipped and crashed with the bowl of lemons, as both he and the lemons fell to the ground with clattering sounds. Sunny looked at him with concern before looking on with a nervous and confused expression.
"This is gonna be a loooong day..." Knuckles muttered with a bored expression.
Team Dark and Amy continued their journey in the mountains.
However, they still seemed shocked by their recent discovery that the Emeralds were from Equestria's universe, not theirs.
As Rouge said, the idea was not that unbelievable, considering all the things they'd seen over the years, but that didn't change the fact that it was quite a shocking revelation.
This time, Shadow led the group, with Rouge following by flight. Amy sat on Omega's shoulder and read a few more passages from the book they had borrowed from that hidden library.
"Huh, this is an interesting one..." Amy said as she read the book. "According to this passage, the tribe of the Owls had a seer who got a vision about an alien civilization running away from a very powerful enemy, and that said the enemy would be defeated by a powerful being surrounded with the golden power of 7 powerful jewels..." she informed.
"A powerful being with seven jewels? That's... oddly specific..." Shadow pointed out.
"And kind of poetic!" Rouge added. "I still have no idea how true this book's info is, but we can say for sure that whoever wrote it has a massive imagination!" she stated with a grin.
"But it still does not explain why the Chaos Emeralds are mentioned..." Amy pointed out. "I mean, anthropomorphic Owls and Hedgehogs? That's not weird, but seven gems that these weirdos called 'Chaos Emeralds'? It cannot be a coincidence at this point..." she said with concern.
"Let's suppose for a second that the Chaos Emeralds are from this Equestria place..." Shadow spoke. "If they truly belong here, how did they end up on our world?" he questioned.
Amy seemed to understand what he meant with that question, so she quickly flipped several pages of the book on her hands... But then she frowned and groaned. "Darn it!" she said.
"What?" Rouge asked.
"Ugh, we should have looked at this back in the cave... There are several pages ripped apart!" Amy said with concern.
"Huh?!/The what now?!" Rouge and Shadow said with surprise and anger in the latter's case.
So, Shadow approached Amy and helped her get down from Omega before carefully taking the book from her and flipping several pages, only to discover that she was right: Several pages were ripped from the book.
The last entry about the Chaos Emeralds mentioned that the ancient civilization used them to create four giant beasts as a defense mechanism, but that was it. The next page, which was not ripped, was about Princesses Celestia and Luna and their coronation as rulers of Equestria, which meant that the ripped pages removed a big part of the story.
At this, Shadow frowned before returning the book to Amy. "Whatever, or whoever, ripped those pages knew that someone was going to arrive at the library and tried to hide something away..." he theorized.
"But who would do that, what would they want to hide?" Amy asked, confused.
"And most importantly, why?" Rouge asked, too. "Unless there was something big and dangerous in those pages that nobody should ever read, I can't think of any reason..." she pointed out.
"Mmm... perhaps our answer can be in the previous pages," Shadow suggested. "Or it can confuse us more than we already are," he pointed out.
"I'll keep checking the pages to see if there's anything," Amy replied with a determined look.
Shadow and Rouge nodded and resumed their walk/flight while Omega ducked down and Amy sat on his shoulder again. The robot stood up and followed his teammates while the pink hedgehog started to read other pages in the book.
In Mane Melody, Pipp, and Sonic were over the stage, with the former laying on her belly in the ground as she looked for something on her phone, while the latter sat at the edge and played background music with his guitar.
"Okay... So, according to historical records of my family, the most popular way princes and princesses have shared their relationships is by royal decrees..." Pipp said with a cringed expression. "Ugh! Why did my family have to be so boring in the past?!" she complained.
"Well, on the bright side, that only means we can make the difference!" Sonic said with a smile.
"That's true..." Pipp said with a smile before getting a concerned look again. "But the same question I was making this morning remains... What do we do to make the big announcement?" she questioned. "It has to be special, memorable, and in a really visible place so everypony in Equestria can see it!" she stated.
"Well, then, why not do a livestream? Not only is it common for you to make them, but you also get everypony's attention when you do so," Sonic suggested with a smirk.
"Well, that idea has a problem, Blue Star..." Pipp said with a sheepish smile. "While in theory it is good, in execution, it is terrible because, just like you said, I do streams all the time! It wouldn't feel special at all!" she pointed out. "We need this to be crowded and to respect the family's tradition! UGH, BUT HOW?!" she groaned before resting entirely on the floor.
"Aww, come here, you chubby cutie~" Sonic said to his girlfriend with a smile as he put his guitar aside and opened his arms.
At this, Pipp wrapped her hooves around Sonic and buried her face in his chest, smiling softly as she felt his arms wrapping around her and caressing her back.
Pipp sighed happily before looking up and giving Sonic a small peek on his lips. "You are a huggable dork under that 'cool guy' attitude, you know?" she told him with a loving gaze and a mocking smirk.
"Oh! Getting cheesy so soon, Ms. Petals?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "Perhaps I should give that cute little face of yours a bunch of kisses as a punishment if you keep this attitude up~" he warned seductively.
Pipp blushed like mad after hearing that, but she still smirked again at him. "Mmm, I see... But what if I don't mind it, huh? What if I want you to punish me, hedgehog?" she asked him with an intoxicating tone that made Sonic blush as well.
Still, he chuckled and kissed her nose lovely. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Little Pipp. First things first: If not a stream nor decree, what does Pipp Petals want to tell the world that she has a handsome hedgehog as her boyfriend?" he asked her with a smirk.
Pipp rolled her eyes at this statement but still smiled back at him. "Well... Let's think... What can call enough attention? What can be so memorable that nopony would stop talking about it, even if weeks pass?" she questioned while rubbing her chin.
Sonic did the same for a second, but as soon as he glanced over the stage, they were over, as was the microphone. Then, he glanced back at his girlfriend, who was still thinking.
"Well... If your ancestors used decrees, why not use something as big and crowdy but more exciting?" Sonic implied with a smile.
After he said that, Pipp looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"Alright... Picture this..." Sonic started as he gently let go of Pipp's grip before boosting to the salon's entrance and then framing with his fingers at Pipp and the stage. "You, a very big stage in Zephyr Heights, a bunch of your songs, a massive crowd of ponies, as well as cameras for those who cannot be there live, and me as a secret and special guest!" he explained with a smile, before boosting in front of her once again. "Call it a 'Big Concert for the sake of making one', when in reality, it'll be just a facade to what we really wanna share!" he finished.
"... So... You suggest we should make our declaration by a concert, but to keep the surprise, promote it as a normal concert, and then have you as a final and unexpected number to reveal we are a couple by kissing at the end of a song and so everypony can see it?!" Pipp asked with wide eyes.
"... Well, when you put it like that, it does sound like a really––" Sonic tried to say with an ashamed expression, also scratching his head and lowering his ears.
"AMAZING IDEA!" Pipp screamed in joy as she hugged Sonic tightly and started to kiss his cheek out of control.
Of course, Sonic flinched when she screamed suddenly, but as soon as she started to kiss him, he chuckled.
"Oh, my glitter! Blue Star, what you just suggested is perfect! Exactly what we need!" Pipp said happily. "I can picture it! Princess Pipp Petals' Concert of Unity, a show where I can sing my most iconic songs, and for the big finale, say the real reason why I made the concert, and then you and I can sing together and kiss at the very end! Eee! This is perfect!" she stated with a huge smile, once again kissing Sonic's lips.
Sonic smiled and kissed back before looking at her with a smirk. "Well, now that we settled what to do, I think we must move forward to our next concern," he declared.
"Wait, what?! What else should we worry about?!" Pipp asked in a panic.
"The song we're gonna sing?" Sonic replied with a raised eyebrow and a mocking smirk.
"... Oh... right..." Pipp realized while chuckling nervously.
In Opaline's Castle, Misty struggled to free herself from the purple aura around her hooves.
She's been like this for a few hours now and started worrying that she wouldn't be moving from here.
"'Worst punishment yet'..." Misty said with a frown. "This is nothing. I'll get out of this!" she stated confidently.
After saying this, she struggled a bit but still couldn't move. Looking up at a shelf, she saw her phone and gasped.
Realizing she could grab it to entertain herself while still being grounded, she grabbed a straw from the ground with her mouth and approached it to the phone on the shelf, but the straw fell from her mouth and landed on her face.
Misty shook it to move it away,, then moved closer to try to take her phone down with her horn. However, her horn only pushed the phone a bit farther, making Misty groan and look at the floor in disappointment. "Oh! If only I had my Cutie Mark, I could use Unicorn Powers... Right?" she questioned with concern.
So she went back to grunt and move, but as she did so, her horn actually started to glow, and it sent a very small spark of magic that landed on her right front hoof, freeing it from Opaline's magic and surprising Misty.
"Ha! Well, better than nothing," Misty said with a smile.
After that, she tried to extend her hoof towards her phone but couldn't reach it.
Opaline was panting, exhausted, as she walked towards an unknown location.
Since she used her last spark of magic to ground Misty, she couldn't fly, levitate, or transport herself with magic toward her destiny. Thus, she had to walk. She was so exhausted because she saw herself as obligated to walk.
"Oh, I must be getting close!" Opaline said as she looked at her surroundings. Then, she tried to fly but couldn't without feeling exhausted. "Ugh! All that sitting around and scheming in the castle has got me out of shape!" she said with concern before laughing. "I really should have Misty or Ivo set up a home gym. Hmm," she finished.
Then, she walked a bit forward until she climbed over a rock and saw her reflection over a lake.
"No dragon fire yet?" Opaline said with a frown before smiling mischievously. "No problem! For now, I'll find the one item that will harness its powers even better," she stated confidently. "Sure, this plan has a high chance of wiping out all of the pony magic in Equestria forever, but, as the fillies say today, NMP. Not my problem!" she sang with a laugh.
After that, she jumped from the rock and walked towards her destination.
Back in the castle, Misty sighed in defeat.
She tried to free herself from her current state with her free hoof but was already tired. Trying to catch her phone to fight boredom didn't work, and freeing herself wasn't unsuccessful.
Or it wouldn't have if it wasn't because of her magic, which worked again and freed the rest of her hooves.
At this, Misty cheered happily and smiled as she grabbed her phone. "Opaline thinks she's so powerful and magical..." she mocked up, making bored expressions. But she's no match for my hooves!" she stated confidently while doing neat tricks with her phone.
However, she jumped, startled, and screamed as she heard squeaking noises, hiding behind her bed and throwing the phone.
But then, she saw that pega-mouse Opaline made back when she wanted to steal Sunny's magic, passing and stopping in front of her room. The mouse looked at her, shrugged with more squeaks, and then ran away again, leaving Misty confused.
Yet, the unicorn shrugged and smiled as she remembered something. "And speaking of magic, let's see what those ponies are up to..." Misty stated, climbing down from her bed and grabbing her phone.
Then, she sat on the ground and turned on her phone before putting on a stream performed by Tails.
Her screen showed a banner with fruits and an image of Sunny smiling while wearing a chef hat, with cheerful music playing in the background.
In Canterlove Studios, everything was ready for the show to get started.
Well, everything except Hitch. While Sunny seemed super chill and ready to host the show, Hitch looked anxious and could barely focus.
"Alright, everybody! We're live in three, two, one..." Tails instructed, sitting over a chair at Zipp's side since she was holding the camera, also wearing a headphone on his left ear, while Izzy came by with a clapperboard and clapped it with her magic before moving away. "And... we're on!" Tails announced, pointing at Sunny and Hitch to get the show started.
Pop music played in the background while the camera pointed at the two earth ponies, with Sunny smiling cheerfully and Hitch gulping nervously.
"Welcome to Sunny Side Up!" Sunny greeted with a smile. "I'm Sunny, and this is Hitch, coming to you live from Canterlove Studios. And we're gonna tell you what's up with making delicious food from home!" she confidently stated. "Isn't that right, Hitch?" she asked him cheerfully.
However, as the camera moved to the earth pony stallion, he babbled in panic and looked around nervously.
"Uh yeah... you said it..." Sunny said with an awkward smile as she looked at Hitch at her side, confused.
"I stand to my position, please never make him our last line of defense during an actual attack..." Knuckles muttered with a frown.
"Today, we're going to be making Pearnana Delights!" Sunny smiled as she brought a pearnana to the audience. Then, she looked at Hitch at her side, who was still panicked. "Remember what we talked about, Hitch? Just follow me!" she muttered to him,, bringing out two plates: one with ice and one with kiwis.
Hitch still seemed unsure, but he was already in this, so it was better to go to the end.
"First, we're going to grab as many chopped Pearnanas as you believe will delight your morning!" Sunny started to explain with a smile. She brought a plate with chopped Pearnanas and twirled around, then opened her blender and put some Pearnanas inside.
Then, Hitch looked closer at Sunny's blender to see how many Pearnanas she put in there. "Wait, is that one hoof-full or two? The recipe says––" he tried to say.
However, Sunny cut him off as she instructed him. "Then, add enough ice to your heart's desire!" she muttered with a smile, placing some ice in the blender.
On the other hoof, Hitch struggled with this. As he approached the blender, he held two cups of ice in one hand and one cup in the other. "Wait, how much is that?" he asked Sunny with panic.
But Sunny kept doing her thing, not even noticing how much Hitch struggled. "Then swirl in a secret ingredient with your eyes closed, so it's a surprise, especially to you!" she said, closing her eyes. She grabbed a random bowl with cookies and tossed some inside without even knowing it.
And, of course, this made Hitch panic even more since he understood nothing about what Sunny was talking about. "What?!" he said, confused, now staring at his blender, not knowing what to do anymore.
"Now, chop up your favorite fruit!" Sunny said with a smile. She chopped some kiwis with one eye open and then closed it again to put the fruit in the blender, as she still wanted the secret ingredient to remain secret.
"Sunny, slow down!" Hitch begged with panic, grabbing strawberries and kiwis with his hooves.
Then, Sunny opened her blender and put an apple inside, still with her eyes closed. As Hitch tried to replicate this, he juggled several apples and screamed in panic before putting three of them in the blender and sighing in relief.
Next, Sunny put some chopped mushrooms inside the blender, still with her eyes closed, making Hitch panic as he belted some salt and pepper on his blender. "Sunny, stop closing your eyes while you're operating a blender!" he told her in a panic.
As he did so, he threw more random stuff into the blender until he tripped on an apple on the floor and accidentally headed towards her while holding a bawl of kiwis.
"Wah! Sunny, watch out!" Hitch tried to warn her in panic as Sunny opened her blended smoothie.
But once she heard Hitch's cry, she opened her eyes to panic at seeing her crush heading towards her.
So, Hitch's head crashed with Sunny's blender, which made some of the smoothie contents drop out and land on Sunny's face and chest, which made the earth pony mare cover her face with her hooves.
At this, Hitch gasped in panic, as did Zipp and Tails.
"Ah, shit..." Knuckles muttered with a cringed expression.
"Woah..." Izzy said with concern.
"Hitch!" Sunny cried out. "That pearnana juice went right into my eye!" she muttered in pain, covering her eye with one hoof.
"Aw, Sunny... I'm so sorry..." Hitch said with shame as he grabbed her face carefully while trying to wipe away the content that got into her eye.
This made Sunny blush slightly, but even if Hitch noticed, he didn't care. He had done this to his foalhood friend and crush, and he would fix it.
Well, he tried. As he was about to approach her even more, he tripped on something on the ground. This caused Sunny and Hitch to trip and fall to the ground, and Hitch lay on top of Sunny.
Tails cringed at this and gulped nervously. "Okay, you two! Get it together!" he instructed them with panic.
However, when he checked on the stream's progress, he was surprised that it had received an incredibly good reception after Hitch tripped.
Not only that but as Hitch tried to get up since he fell on top of Sunny's back, he fell again and landed over her, which made Sunny grunt in pain since Hitch was too heavy for her. This made the reception of the stream get even higher, as hearts and laughing faces.
This made Tails blink a few times before shrugging. "Never mind, I said nothing. Keep it up, you two! This is doing numbers!" he said with a huge smile and a chuckle.
"Hey!" Zipp called out to Knuckles at her side. "Would you mind recording what happens next and then sending it to my sister?" she muttered , extending her phone to him.
"And make fun out of those two?! With pleasure!" Knuckles replied with a smirk. He grabbed the phone and pointed it at Sunny and Hitch with a mocking smirk while hitting the 'record' button.
Meanwhile, Sunny and Hitch groaned in pain. Still, as soon as Sunny remembered that this was being recorded live, she stood up with wide eyes while lifting Hitch in the process, as he stood on his hind legs before losing his balance and then falling backward again.
"Uh, that's okay!" Sunny declared with a nervous smile, raising a hoof in the air. "Um, falling is a part of the recipe!" she added with a giggle, standing in front of the counter again.
But as Hitch was walking behind her with a disappointed expression, he tripped with some kiwis on the ground and fell again.
"Mind if I sent this to myself, too?" Knuckles muttered to Zipp with a smirk.
Hitch groaned in pain and then looked confused at the kiwis in front of him and the ones that fell on his face while he heard Sunny giggling at what happened to him.
However, as soon as Hitch looked at the kiwis again, he looked back at Sunny and grinned mischievously, gathering all the kiwis he could with his hooves.
When Sunny realized what he would do, her eyes widened, and she stopped giggling. "You wouldn't dare," she told him with a frown.
Oh, guess what? He dared!
Hitch began to launch kiwis at Sunny, and she screamed and ran away but eventually started to laugh. She also joined the food fight by throwing some fruits at him.
Then, Hitch found a spray frosting, shook it, and smirked over his shoulder at Sunny.
In Maretime Bay, everypony watched this and laughed at the scene between the two earth ponies.
Back in the studio, the food fight continued between Sunny and Hitch.
However, just when Sunny was about to hit Hitch with more food, she slipped, spreading the contents of her smoothie on the ground. In panic, she slid towards a wall, where she crashed into it before falling on her back.
At this, Tails and Izzy laughed while Knuckles laughed loudly in the background.
In the castle, Misty watched the stream in her room.
After watching Sunny crash into the wall, she busted out laughing. But then, she realized something that made her gasp.
"If they're there, then that means they aren't paying attention to Sparky, and I can grab the dragon fire after all! And then neither Opaline nor Eggman won't doubt my loyalty!" Misty stated with a smile.
Then, she grabbed a pen from a corner of her room and drew the fake butterfly Cutie Mark on her flank.
"Just in case I'm spotted!" Misty smiled and giggled. "Ooh, this is going to be great!" she said.
After that, she tried to leave her room, but suddenly, a blue barrier formed at the entrance, and Misty was sent back. She slid to the ground and stopped when her back hit her bed.
She looked at the barrier that just appeared confused, but Eggman came into vision, and she panicked since she was not trapped on her hooves anymore, and Eggman knew about it.
"In case you forgot, young lady, You are grounded, which means that you cannot leave!" Eggman reminded her with a frown.
The barrier appeared because Eggman himself installed it at Opaline's request. So, if Misty did get out of the grip on her hooves, she would still not leave her room.
"Seriously? Now you too?!" Misty groaned with annoyance.
"I'm not happy with this either, Misty, but you got plenty of opportunities, and failed," Eggman pointed out. "If punishing you is the only way you'll learn to take your tasks seriously, then so be it!" he stated before walking away. "Don't worry, though. I won't tell her you got free from her magical gap," he assured her.
Misty sighed and lay on her bed. "I should've expected that it couldn't be that easy," she complained sadly.
Opaline kept walking for a good while, not panting anymore.
Eventually, she reached a mountain with many crystals coming from the ground. Between the two tallest crystals, there seemed to be some horn with holes.
When she saw this, Opaline gasped with a smile. Dragonstone! Just as I remembered," she said with an evil grin. And the magic's return has begun to activate it, just as I hoped," she added excitedly.
Just like Opaline said, the Dragonstone seemed to be glowing bright and floating, all because of the magic's return.
"Once I add dragon fire to it, it will be unstoppable, and so will I!" Opaline stated, laughing maniacally at this.
Sonic and Pipp decided to go to the Brighthouse to plan everything for their concert.
They had to move because many clients were arriving at Mane Melody. Since they still needed their things to be private and a surprise for the concert, they had to leave immediately.
Thankfully, Jazz and Rocky promised to cover Pipp as she and Sonic prepared so she could focus entirely on the concert.
The couple was in the bedroom. Pipp sat on her desk while Sonic sat at the edge of her bed with his legs crossed.
"Alright. Now that we have decided to go to a concert, we all need to find a song we can sing together!" Pipp said with a smile.
"Well, if the song is everything we're missing, how about we sing the same song we had for our confession?" Sonic suggested. "What was it called again... 'Rewrite the Stars', right?" he asked with a smile.
"Well, the song is good, yes, but... I was hoping we could use something more original. Maybe a song nopony in Equestria has ever heard!" Pipp replied.
"Huh... So, it's a song that nopony has ever heard, and we haven't sung together before, either..." Sonic muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Well, I have two options in mind right now: We can either make a completely new song from scratch on such short notice or..." he started before bringing out his phone with a smirk. "We could use a song from my world! Nobody has ever heard them. And don't worry, I'm not suggesting any song used in my games. None of them would fit the atmosphere we wanna give, anyways," he assured with a smirk and a wink.
"Blue Star, when I think I can't love you even more, you prove me wrong!" Pipp said with a huge smile as she flew to her bed and kissed Sonic's cheek.
"Oh, I could say the same about you, Ms. Petals~" Sonic replied with a flirty tone, and Pipp blushed a bit and looked away.
Then, Sonic turned on his phone and looked through his playlist, ready to show Pipp some songs from his world that they could use for their duet at the concert.
Back in Canterlove Studios, the food fight was finally over.
Food was spread throughout the studio on Sunny and Hitch's bodies and in the kitchen.
Izzy was sweeping the food from the floor, and she hummed happily when she saw Sparky eating food from the floor. "Oh! Found some food floor? Yum!" she said happily while Sparky wagged his tail and nodded at her question.
Then, Izzy and Sparky were about to eat food from the floor until Knuckles' voice spoke. "Sparky, Izzy! Don't eat food off the floor!" he scolded them both.
"Aww..." Izzy said sadly as both she and Sparky whimpered in sadness.
Noticing this, Knuckles rolled his eyes and approached them both. He grabbed Sparky and put him over his head, softly patting Izzy's back. "There, there, hon. It's not the end of the world," he told her with a little smile.
"I'm still sad, though," Izzy said, looking up at Knuckles with sad puppy eyes.
Knuckles resisted the urge to give her what she wanted, even if he wanted to. "Say: What if I take you out to a nice place with food prepared by your favorite echidna, huh? To make up for this," he told her with a smirk.
At this, Izzy's attitude immediately shifted to her cheerful one again. She hugged Knuckles tightly and kissed his cheek. "Deal!" she said happily.
Meanwhile, Tails checked how the stream was going. Now that the food fight was over, there were no more reactions, which made him gasp dramatically. "We're losing them. It's time to mix this up!" he said confidently.
After that, he backed away from the studio, returning a few seconds later with two bags containing food.
"Okay, you two. It's time to spice this up!" Tails said with a smirk. "Do a recipe with these bags of mystery ingredients!" He whispered the last two words, but his eyes widened as he had another idea. "Oh, oh! And the winner becomes cooking royalty!" he said, launching a golden scepter and a purple crown at Sunny and Hitch.
Sunny grabbed the scepter and looked at it, confused. The crown crashed on Hitch's face, and he saw the crown and Tails with a frown.
Then, the young fox got in the middle of them and smiled even more with another idea. "And maybe, Sunny instructs Hitch blindly as he cooks! Ooh, I like it!" he said with a huge grin.
Then, he slapped a blue sleeping mask on Hitch's face, which confused the stallion, as he started to walk around completely blinded.
"What?" Sunny said in a panic. "I don't think this is a good idea," she said with concern, especially for her crush.
Hitch, however, waved a hoof in front of him, but of course, he could not see anything because of the sleeping mask, which weirdly made him smile. "Well, I'm starting to get the hang of this whole hosting thing, and I think it's a great idea," he stated happily before turning and trying to walk back with Sunny. "But if you wanna sit this one out, Sunny, I'm happy to host solo," he assured with a smile, passing right in front of the earth pony mare.
Of course, Sunny still saw this as a terrible idea, but she also found a mistake in Hitch's suggestion. "But the show is called 'Sunny Side Up'!" she pointed out.
"And pretty soon, it'll be called, 'THIS SHIT IS FUCKING OVER'!" Tails shouted in panic with a twitchy eye while shaking Sunny violently. "Guys, we need to recapture the magic and do it fast!" he pointed out with concern.
Then, they heard Hitch falling from the stage and landing on the floor since he was still fully blinded. "Ow," Hitch complained.
"Ugh!" Tails groaned and facepalmed.
Back at Opaline's Castle, Misty sighed, disappointed.
Since she couldn't leave her room because she was grounded, she picked up her phone again and continued watching the stream.
"Welcome back to 'Sunny Side Up,' where my co-chef Hitch will be baking Cinnamon-Raisin Fruity Cutie Cookies!" Sunny presented with a panicked expression, while Hitch behind her still felt lost because of the sleeping mask on his face.
"He'll be cooking blindly while I... instruct him?" Sunny asked, confused.
As she did so, Tails raised his thumbs from the computer with a nervous smile while Hitch tapped his hooves on the counter and tried to grab anything at this point.
"You know what? I can't," Sunny said with concern.
At this, everyone else looked at each other before looking back at Sunny with worry for her.
"Sunny?" Hitch called out in shock as he removed the sleeping mask from his face. "What are you doing?" he asked her.
"I'll tell you what we're not doing: a cooking show!" Sunny said with concern. "Look at this place. Look at us! How did we become such a mess?" she complained with sadness. "Ever since we just started trying to follow likes, I lost track of what's most important. You wanna know what I love about being a chef? What I thought this show would be about?" she asked with a smile.
"It's a way to let loose and break free of expectations!" Sunny said in a cheerful tone.
Misty heard this from her room with a saddened expression since Sunny described how Misty felt.
"Cooking is great to get you out of a rut!" Sunny kept telling from the studio. "Like if you've lost your way or stuck. Especially if you're stuck because somepony's keeping you there against your will and pushing you to do something you don't think is right!" she added with a frown.
At this statement, Misty panicked and looked around her room before looking at the phone with concern.
Back in the studio, Tails chuckles awkwardly at this statement, too.
"Sunny, that not only was utterly specific, but you also seem to be foreshadowing something..." Knuckles said with a bored expression. "I can feel it!" he muttered, looking around suspiciously.
"Yeah, okay. Maybe that was a little over-dramatic," Sunny confessed with a smile, while Hitch nodded at her side, also smiling. "But, if you're going through something like that, well, cooking is a great way for you to reclaim your power," she assured with a smile.
"Guaranteed!" Knuckles said with a smile as he popped from behind the counter. "Cooking is an art that must be respected like any other art. It calms your made, breaks your chains, and sets you free! It makes you feel like yourself!" he stated confidently.
"Exactly!" Sunny said with a smile, and as Knuckles ducked to get off the camera's vision, Sunny grabbed some leaves on the counter. "Quit doing things you don't want to do just to make everypony else happy, and simply be yourself!" she declared, putting some smoothie contents inside of a purple cup and putting the leaves she grabbed, then closing the smoothie entirely.
Misty kept watching this, now feeling sad because of everything Sunny had said.
"So, to everypony watching, it's time to start believing in yourself," Sunny said with a cheerful tone.
Misty smiled warmly after hearing this, now understanding what to do and who to choose.
"And every dish, dessert, or Pearnana Delight you make, whether you followed the recipe or improvised your own, has the power to be delicious and unique. Just like you!" Sunny assured the watchers with a smile and a wink.
Yet, she made the terrible mistake of sipping from the smoothie, and Hitch noticed that. "Sunny, wait! No!" he tried to warn her.
But Sunny herself realized her mistake. Her eyes widened, and she spit the smoothie contents from her mouth. It all fell on Hitch's face, and she coughed in disgust. Hitch cringed at what had happened.
"Oh my..." Sunny said with regret.
"Draaamaaa!" Tails muttered with wide eyes, while Izzy at his side only shook a hoof with concern.
"Except when it's a cup full of sour ingredients your co-host threw at you earlier..." Sunny said sheepishly as she pointed at Hitch, who smiled awkwardly and waved his hoof.
Still, Hitch extended a towel to her while Sunny smiled warmly at him and grabbed the towel.
Back in her room, Misty smiled as she stared at her phone.
Everything Sunny said went straight into her head, and she was starting to wake up and realize her situation.
"She... she's right..." Misty realized as she put her phone aside. "I've been failing my missions for Opaline lately because I... I don't want to succeed..." she finally confessed. "I... I don't want to take away the ponies' power. I focused so much on trying to please her and follow her every order that I never once asked myself what I wanted. I never once thought of believing in myself," she added with concern.
Even though she gets compliments from Eggman more often than from Opaline, he's been acting distant lately. Ever since she broke the amulet, Eggman seems harsher toward her. Even though he told her a week ago that he'd never hurt her, even if she chooses her new friends over him and Opaline, he's only been disappointing her.
And now, Misty prefers her friends over two villains who are too focused on getting power and becoming stronger even to consider her feelings.
"I've got to find a way out of this!" Misty stated confidently as she looked around her room.
Opaline started climbing the mountain, which led to the Dragonstone at the top.
However, as she did so, she found a rock in the middle of the path that made her outrageous. Grinning, she launched a fire laser from her horn at the rock, which split it in two.
Then, as Opaline kept walking, she almost tripped on a rock, which she pushed with a frown. "Ugh, this hike is atrocious!" she complained before almost sliding off the mountain. However, she recovered her balance quickly and kept moving. "Why does every magical thing have to be precariously perched on a hill with stuff in the way?" she complained again.
After that, she launched another blast of fire against some more rocks, which made her feel weak as she panted.
Still, Opaline recovered her senses and noticed that her hooves were dirty. "Here's an idea! Bury your magic things within hoof's reach!" she groaned angrily.
Back in the castle, Misty walked in circles with a concerned expression.
"Opaline has been lying to me from the moment we met!" Misty finally realized. Thank God! I was tired of writing stuff about that bitch being rude with Misty. "I knew something was off when I discovered earth ponies didn't have laser eyes!" she pointed out.
Then, she took a chest from the shelf in her room, opened it, and turned it around to leave it empty. Then, she looked at her stuff: a fake horn from Izzy's Unicorn Sleepover, sunglasses, a small golden hat, a cactus, and a purple feather.
Misty then took the picture Tails gave her and looked at it with concern. "All they've ever treated me with is kindness—the kindness I deserve," she said.
But so does Eggman, a voice that spoke deep inside Misty's mind.
"No... he used to... but not anymore..." Misty said with sadness and disappointment.
Then, she grabbed a bag and packed all her things, including the pencil, since she still had no Cutie Mark.
However, as she turned to see Taffytail near her bed, she grabbed the doll and lowered her ears with doubt. "But is this the right move, Madame Taffytail? This is the only life I've ever known..." she pointed out with concern. When she looked back at the doll, it seemed to have made a node gesture. "But maybe that's even more reason to go outside and experience more of it," she stated with a confident smile.
Once again, Eggman seemed to have heard everything, just a few meters away from her room.
It was hard to tell how he was feeling, but... Happy was not one of those emotions.
In the past few months, he has grown to care for Misty like he never did for anyone else, but now... Now Misty wanted to leave with his enemies...
Does this count as treason? Does this count as her turning her back on him and Opaline? Was she... a traitor now, joining Perfect Chaos, the Deadly Six, Neo Metal Sonic, and the ongoing list of traitors he had?
He didn't know, and he didn't want to know. He walked away from her room and back to the Throne Room, but as he did so, he had to wipe something falling from his cheek with a hand.
Tears? This was new for him... Why was he crying?
Back in the studio, Zipp smiled as she turned off the camera.
"And that's a cut to commercial!" Tails announced as Izzy came by with the clapperboard and clapped it again with her magic while Zipp laughed a bit.
"And maybe when we're back, can we have you guys make some food?" Zipp told the earth ponies with a smile.
"Please! You guys haven't made anything so far!" Knuckles pointed with a concerned expression.
Hitch smiled and nodded at this, but Sunny didn't seem happy or cheerful anymore.
Even though they had already cleaned the food off their bodies, the studio was still a mess, but Sunny was not concerned.
"Hitch, I think we need to talk," Sunny told him sadly as she walked off the kitchen stage. "All I wanted was to be a great chef and an inspiration. But everything just got out of control," she pointed out with concern while Hitch followed behind. "When I made that big speech about needing to be myself, I realized you must be yourself, too. You were so nervous and, instead of encouraging you to do things your way, I let us both get caught in all this chaos..." she explained while Hitch looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry... can you forgive me?" she asked him.
"Sunny, I'm shocked..." Hitch replied with surprise.
"Listen, I already said sorry, Hitch. You don't have to rub it in," Sunny said with a frown.
"No, no. 'Forgive you'? Sunny, this has been an awesome day!" Hitch declared with a smile, which left Sunny a bit confused. "Sure, I didn't learn how to cook from the master, and I'm pretty sure nopony at home did, either," he added, slightly pushing Sunny as she giggled. "But I had a great time! It reminded me of how we used to play as kids in Grandma Figgy's kitchen. Remember our food fights were epic?" he reminded her with a smile.
At this, Sunny smirked at him before laughing. "How could I forget?" she said as she and Hitch laughed.
"And besides, you are a great chef and an inspiration!" Hitch assured her as he walked towards Tails' computer and turned it so they could see a video that Hitch played.
It showed Hitch launching lemons at Sunny during their food fight, as Sunny escaped from him while laughing.
"You certainly inspired me to overcome my stage fright!" Hitch assured her. The food fight helped with that, too," he added, shaking a spot of smoothie content from his hoof. "Maybe if we met in the middle, we'd create a show we both wanted to make," he suggested with a smile.
"One that celebrates both of our strengths!" Sunny stated with a smile as Hitch nodded in agreement.
Back in the Brighthouse, Pipp fixed her mane in front of her mirror while Sonic adjusted his gloves.
After that, he quickly cleaned Pipp's bed and fixed it back to normal. Then, he looked over at Pipp, fixing her mane, and smirked as he sneaked behind her and hugged her from her back.
"You know? You always look cute to me, no matter what we do or how we do it, " Sonic said with a smirk, nuzzling her cheek.
Pipp smiled and kissed his cheek, down the comb she used to fix her mane. "And you have quite a dominant side I never thought I'd see, handsome," she replied mischievously.
"Yeah, maybe I got a bit carried away," Sonic confessed with an eye roll and a smile. "Anyway, after that 'break,' I think we should focus back on our remaining problem," he said, breaking the hug and facing his girlfriend with a concerned expression.
"I know..." Pipp said, now frowning with worry. "But we have looked at your playlist for hours! Some songs might sound good for a duet and a closure, I admit it, but..." she tried to add.
"But they don't have the message we wanna share... Yeah, I know..." Sonic finished for her, taking out his phone again. "Well, I just got three more options: 'Gone Gone Gone,' 'True Colors,' and 'Heart Attack'..." he suggested. "But the first of those options is more a 'I can't forget you despite you died/broke with me', and the second one only works when you wanna cheer somebody..." he pointed out with concern, then groaned.
"And what about the third option?" Pipp asked.
"Well... It has many meanings, you know? For some, it's a song about being scared to open your heart to someone after being heartbroken several times in the past..." Sonic explained, and he could relate to that... But he wasn't ready to talk about it yet. "For others, however, it's a song about falling in love for the best time and getting all the scares that imply: Would they love me back? Am I good enough for them? What if I'm not ready for a relationship? Should I even flirt with them? You know... Things you normally think when you're afraid about being in love..." he pointed out.
But when he saw Pipp again, she had sparkling eyes and covered her mouth with her hooves.
"... Uh... Little Pipp? You okay?" Sonic asked, a bit concerned.
"Sonic... I think this song might be what we were looking for!" Pipp said as she squeezed Sonic's cheeks with her hooves.
"Uh... You mean 'Heart Attack'?" Sonic asked, confused. "I mean, it's a good song, but... Wouldn't it work better if we sang that before we even became a thing?" he pointed out.
"Sonic, you said that this song also means that someone fell in love for the first time, and it's scary!" Pipp pointed out. "I was afraid that you wouldn't like me back, remember? And yes, also the fact that you said you wanted to go home, but mostly what scared me was... Not being good enough for you... And I'm really glad you proved me wrong," she told him with a smile and a loving gaze.
Sonic blushed, but he still smiled at her and caressed her cheek. "Well... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid, too... And I'm also glad you proved me wrong, too," he assured her.
Then, they both locked their lips again before separating and staring at each other with loving gazes.
"So... What do you say, Blue Star? Should we sing it?" Pipp asked him with a smile.
"Well, since we ran out of options..." Sonic said jokingly before looking back at Pipp with a smirk. "Nah, just kidding. Let's do it!" he declared with confidence.
It took her a while, but she finally made it.
Opaline reached the top of the mountain, and therefore, she reached the Dragonstone.
She smirked mischievously as she had the stone before her, and she extended her hoof, but...
"But Opaline, are you sure?" Opaline asked herself. "Do you want to seize the most powerful crystal in all of Equestria for your won selfishness?" she said with sad puppy eyes.
Yeah, this was all an act because she started laughing after saying this.
"Oh, that was a good one..." Opaline said with a smile. "Why am I so funny when nopony's around?" she asked smugly.
However, as she extended her hoof to grab the stone, it stopped floating and fell several meters to the ground. It then got stuck between some rocks, which made Opaline scream in rage.
"Magic, seize it!" Opaline said as she tried to light up her horn, but it didn't work. She groaned, frustrated, but then she gasped when she realized the sun was setting on the horizon, so she frowned and looked back at the Dragonstone. "I'll be back," she stated.
After that, she turned around and headed back towards her castle.
Speaking of her castle, Misty was still in her room, talking with Taffytail.
"And another thing! Other unicorns aren't trying to trick me, though there was that one time where Izzy blindfolded me and forced me to hit a weird thing called a 'pine-a-tah'..." Misty said, then she looked at the ground and her hooves before sitting down with a conflicted look. "Oh, I'm so confused!" she groaned.
Then, she sat on her bed and took a deep breath before continuing.
"Okay, think. As Eggman says, let's focus on the facts..." Misty stated as she calmed down. "Opaline lied to me, and I still don't have a Cutie Mark. Maybe I never will..." she realized. "On the other hand, Eggman has treated me with as much respect as he can share ever since we met. Sure, he's been a bit less friendly lately, but he's still friendly... Yet, maybe it's all an act to keep me here and not leave with my new friends..." she muttered with concern.
She never thought about it until now, but it made sense: Eggman was as bad as Opaline, if not worse than her, so his acting so friendly with her might be just a strategy, another simple scheme to keep her around them to spy on her friends.
Of course, this was half-true since Eggman did care for her, but as of how he's been lately, she's convinced that he doesn't care for her...
"Okay, then it's settled! I'm finally leaving Opaline and Eggman for good," Misty said with a confident smile that faded as she looked at the entrance to her room. "Now I just have to figure out how..." she realized.
Team Dark and Amy spent almost the whole day climbing the mountain.
Amy kept reading the book's entire story up to the ripped pages. She read it over and over again at least 6 times, but when nighttime arrived, and they all had to look for a place to spend the night, she sighed, frustrated, because there was no answer on how the Emeralds went from Equestria to Mobius.
Since they didn't find a cave, they had to sleep outdoors this time. The advantage was that there was no snowstorm, but that didn't make the conditions to sleep any warmer.
Also, since they had a tree nearby, Rouge decided to sleep upside down, with her wings working as a huge blanket that wrapped her around.
Once again, Omega turned into resting mode and shut down while Amy fell asleep on Shadow's shoulder, who was reading the book instead of her.
He was intrigued and concerned about the possibility of the Emeralds coming from this world. They were magical and miraculous gems, true, but every other object back home was, too. The Master Emerald, for example...
Did that mean the Master Emerald was also from another world? That much of the stuff they always thought and believed was wrong?
Supposing it was, how did they travel to another world, then? And why did nobody know about this up until now? This had no sense at all to him...
"... But the Ancients couldn't allow another tragedy to happen after what happened with their planet..." Shadow read quietly so he wouldn't wake up Amy at his side. "So, with no hesitation, they started to plan up what to do along Owls and Hedgehogs," he read with a frown.
He then rubbed his eyes and shook his head, wanting to stay awake as long as possible so he could keep reading.
"They prepared battle canyons, Soldiers, Azuras, Ninjas, and every other warrior they built to protect the islands..." Shadow kept reading. "However, their most significant invention has to be their last line of defense in case everything else fails: Four giant, mechanized robots called Titans, all powered up by the Chaos Emeralds. Hopefully, they'll defeat him––" he read.
However, that's where the book ended because whatever was next seemed part of the ripped-apart pages, and Shadow's frown grew.
But then he had a weird idea, so he tapped his finger on the spot where the ripped pages used to be and closed his eyes.
"Chaos Control," Shadow muttered, and some slight orange sparkles came out of his hands as he tried to activate his ability with his power.
But after two minutes, he had to stop, because it was draining too much energy from him... And yet, his eyes widened when he saw that the trick worked because a small fraction of the ripped pages was back.
Of course, he couldn't be so stupid as to do the trick again and waste more energy, but Shadow grinned, knowing Chaos Control could bring those pages back.
"Perhaps the Chaos Emerald might be the key to restoring these pages..." Shadow muttered confidently.
Back in Canterlove Studios, everyone was ready to get the show back.
"Three, two, one..." Zipp counted down. Once she reached one, Izzy used the clapperboard and clapped. "And we're back!" she announced with a smile.
"Welcome back to 'Sunny Side Up'! I'm Sunny!" Sunny greeted with a smile.
"And I'm Hitch!" Hitch added with a smile and a salute.
"And we're finally gonna tell you what's up with today's Pearnana Delights recipe," Sunny stated happily, as Hitch brought out the ingredients while Sunny herself grabbed a plate with Pearnanas. "Now, before, I mentioned grabbing as many chomped Pearnanas as you believe will delight your morning, but to be more specific, that's about a cup and a half," she said with a sheepish smile.
"And before, I started slinging fruit when I got frustrated," Hitch confessed sheepishly, putting chopped Pearnanas and strawberries in his blender. "When really, I should've been more patient and clear with my follow-up questions," he stated as he and Sunny shared a side hug.
However, this change of direction didn't seem to increase views. Rarely did anyone react to the stream, which made Tails flinch and bite his lower lip nervously.
"Guys, this is wholesome as fuck, but our viewership is plummeting!" Tails said with panic and wide eyes. "I love it when you two get along just fine, but the viewers do not agree! What should we do?!" he asked.
"First, stop swearing," Knuckles begged as he approached his side. Not only does it not suit you at all, but we can barely take you seriously when you do so," he said with a bored expression.
"Yeah, it's like giving a whole arsenal of guns to a bunch of puppies," Izzy compared with a concerned expression, and Tails deadpanned at her.
"Also, I don't think we should do anything at all, Tails," Zipp added with a smirk before looking back at Sunny and Hitch with a smile. "This is the real 'Sunny Side Up'!" she pointed out as the two earth ponies put salt on their blenders. "Sure, the numbers aren't as high as when they were hurling whipped cream at each other..." she said with a smirk.
At this point, Izzy came by with spray frosting and ate some cream from it. "But it's sweeter! Simpler!" she pointed out, talking about the show, not the cream. I just wanted to clarify that.
"The way it should've been from the very beginning..." Tails realized with an ashamed expression. He facepalmed and lowered his ears in sadness.
Meanwhile, Sunny and Hitch finished their smoothies, sipping them with smiles.
"Mm! This is delicious!" Hitch said with a happy smile.
"Thanks so much for tuning in, everypony!" Sunny said with a smile. "But before we go, we want to say something," she added.
"This would be our first and last 'Sunny Side Up' broadcast," Hitch announced. "Thank you all for tuning in today. The ups, the downs..." he pointed out with a smile.
"The Pearnanas that we'll be cleaning up for weeks!" Sunny added as well with a smile.
Just then, a pearnana fell from the ceiling and landed behind them, which made the two earth ponies look at each other before laughing about it.
"But we hope it inspired everypony to come down to Canterlove Studios and join in on the fun!" Hitch added as he and Sunny made a toast with their smoothies.
"And cut!" Zipp announced with a smile.
Then, Knuckles, Izzy, and Zipp stood right in front of the two earth ponies with smiles, while Tails stood behind the rest with conflicted thoughts.
"That was brilliant!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"That was very educational!" Zipp added with a smile.
"You two did something very mature today! I like it!" Knuckles said with a smirk and a wink.
"Yeah... It was... It was the right call to make..." Tails spoke from behind, flying above the rest. He then landed at Sunny and Hitch's side with an ashamed expression, sighing, and looked at the earth ponies. "Guys, I'm sorry if I pushed you two too much earlier..." he apologized to them.
"Het, Tails, it's okay––" Sunny tried to say.
"No, it's not!" Tails snapped before realizing he had said that too loud. "Um, sorry... What I mean is that I was too focused on the idea of getting this entire show together because you two were the stars! I honestly forgot that the entire point of this show was to inspire others to come, but I got so invested in who was doing it, and... And I'm sorry... I shouldn't have pushed you two that much when you didn't enjoy it..." he pointed out with concern.
"Hey, we all make mistakes!" Hitch smiled and pointed out to him. "Yeah, maybe you went too far with the idea of me baking cookies blinded, but the important thing is that you realized your mistake!"
"I know... It's just... There's this weird sparkle around you two whenever you're together!" Tails pointed out. "When you two are in the same room or place, things either go wrong or right, or even both! You two grow as people, learn lessons, and laugh about it... together..." he explained. "It's some weird pattern that convinced me this show would blow! But instead, it turned out a lot more chaotic... I let myself get this entire S.B.S.A. thing in my head, and... I'm sorry..." he apologized once again with shame.
"Tails, I still don't know what StarBlazer is, honestly? I think it's better like that..." Sunny said with a little smile before dragging him into a hug. "But we're not mad at you! Sure, you might have got a little carried away..." she said with an eye roll.
However, as she did so, Knuckles took Tails' clipboard and sipped from his smoothie. His eyes suddenly widened. "You were planning to launch merch if this kept going?!" he asked Tails, confused.
"What? Let me see that!" Zipp said as she snatched the clipboard from Knuckles and read what it said, with her eyes also widening. "... I think he got more carried away than just a little..." she commented anxiously.
Tails chuckled awkwardly at this, bringing his tails to cover his face from the embarrassment.
"My point is that if you apologize, it's because you know you did something wrong." Sunny kept talking with a smile. "And honestly? The fact that you had the will to accept that you did something wrong says miles about yourself! And I think that's better than fine!" she stated with a smile as she hugged him again.
Tails smiled and hugged her back, and soon enough, Hitch joined as well, although he got dragged by Tails' tails into it.
But then, as Izzy checked her phone, she gasped at something, so she levitated it and approached it to her friends. "Whoa, whoa, hold everything! Everypony in Maretime Bat just signed up!"
She approached the phone into Sunny, Hitch, and Tails' faces as they all stared confused at it.
"Huh..." Knuckles said as he looked at the same information on his phone. "Would you please look at that? It seems like the studio is fully blocked for the next six months!" he pointed out.
"Huh, probably for the best," Zipp said with a smirk as Sunny, Hitch, and Tails looked at her. "You two wouldn't be able to top that episode, anyway," she pointed out, and Sunny and Hitch smiled at that.
"Especially considering their manager kind of didn't give them the script I didn't write before the show, hehehe..." Tails said with a sheepish smile while tapping his index fingers together.
At this, Hitch's eyes widened, and he frowned as he looked at Tails. "THERE WAS AN SCRIPT?!" he shouted in rage, and Tails covered his ears while ducking down.
Sunny had some 'big sister' instinct when he did that, so she looked at Hitch with a frown and moved Tails apart. "Yeah, Zipp's right... It's for the best that this is over..." she said with a bored expression.
Back in Opaline's Castle, Misty walked back and forth to her room.
"From this moment on, I make my own choices!" Misty said decisively. From this moment on, I make my friends! From this moment on, I—–" she tried to add.
However, as she heard Opaline coughing, she panicked and stood very still in her place.
"Make sure Opaline doesn't find out. I just said all that!" Misty declared with panic.
So, Misty hid Taffytail under her pillow and put her bag with her things behind her chest on the shelf before standing up and then getting back to where she was originally when she had her hooves tied with Opaline's magic.
Speaking of Opaline, both she and Eggman were walking toward Misty's room. Opaline cleared her throat and tried to make her evil laugh, but then she coughed again, which made Eggman cringe.
"Come on!" Opaline complained with a frown. "My cackle used to be my greatest quality!" she said with concern.
"Is that even a thing? I doubt it..." Eggman said with a bored expression, and Eggman glared daggers at him.
"Ivo, that's a lie!" Opaline said with an eye roll as they both stopped before Misty's room. "Every quality is my greatest quality!" she stated with a confident smirk.
"Uh-huh. You should get off that egotistical cloud of yours..." Eggman deadpanned at her.
"Says the guy who built a whole-ass station with his face..." Opaline countered.
Eggman just shook his head and brought out a remote, then pressed a button that made the barrier on Misty's room disappear as both villains entered her room.
"Misty," Opaline kind of greeted her as she walked by her. Something's different..." she stated, and Misty panicked as she looked up at Eggman since he knew she had escaped Opaline's grip. Yet, all Eggman did was show a hand and count from three to one, then point at Opaline as she stopped before a window and looked at her reflection. "I've somehow become more enchanting in the last 12 hours!" she said with pride.
"Phew..." Misty sighed, relieved.
"And she still thinks I'm the egotistical one here," Eggman muttered with annoyance.
"I hope you've thought hard about your failure while I was gone," Opaline warned Misty with a slight frown.
"I have, and I will... I mean! I won't fail you again!" Misty replied nervously.
"Okay, okay. It's easy," Opaline said to Misty with a cringed expression. "You don't have to spit on me while you grovel," she said, as Misty looked at the floor with sadness.
But then, Opaline lifted Misty's face with a hoof and made her look at her.
"Misty, dear. I hope you know that I'm so hard on you because I believe in you," Opaline assured her with what I suppose is a sweet smile as she also caressed Misty's mane. "I see so much of the young pony I once was: Strong. Determined. Destined for greatness. But that doesn't come easy!" she pointed out.
However, as she said all of this and looked at the ceiling, Misty looked back at Eggman with a confused expression. Eggman deadpanned at Opaline's hypocrisy. Looking at Misty, he just shrugged, unsure what to say about what Opaline was doing.
"You understand, right?" Opaline asked the unicorn while grabbing her cheek with a hoof.
Misty looked at the ground with doubt but then looked back at Opaline. "I do."
"Good," Opaline said with a grin.
After that, she used her magic to 'free' Misty, as the purple auras around her hooves appeared again but then disappeared immediately.
"Woo! Oh, thank you, Opaline!" Misty said with an awkward smile as she stretched her hooves and pretended that she was just free from the spell. "I am now free!" she added while Opaline left the room. "Oh, it is great to be free!" she finished, getting out of her room, with Eggman following behind.
However, he stopped Misty, and even if the unicorn felt startled when Eggman cleaned off her fake Cutie Mark, she sighed in relief and smiled at him thankfully.
Then, they all entered the Throne Room, and Opaline showed them an image of the Dragonstone from her boiler.
"And I've been busy as well. Very busy," Opaline stated, pointing at the image of the Dragonstone in front of them. "I've located it."
"It's beautiful!" Misty said with a smile.
"It's immaculate! But also, terribly stuck," Opaline said, at first with a grin, but then with a bored expression. "Get plenty of rest tonight, Misty, because in the morning, we galop."
At this, Misty just nodded before leaving the Throne Room entirely, leaving both Eggman and Opaline alone.
"So... Did you check on her constantly?" Opaline asked Eggman as she made the image of the Dragonstone disappear.
Eggman said nothing; he simply nodded at her. After a while, he said, "I think you might want to keep her inside, Opaline."
"What?!" Opaline shouted. "Why would I do that?!"
"Because if she goes out there and interacts just one more time with those fools... Perhaps we'll lose her..." Eggman replied with a frown.
Two days later, everything was ready for the concert.
Now that Sonic and Pipp had defined which song to sing, everything else was easier: performing on the stage with their friends in Zephyr Heights, promoting the concert like maniacs, and rehearsing their duet song until none of them could tolerate it anymore.
Pipp was extremely nervous when the big day arrived, while Sonic seemed pretty chill about it.
Pipp wasn't nervous because of the concert: It wasn't her first, and it definitely wouldn't be her last. But the fact that the final number is not only a song nopony in Equestria never heard before, but also a duet to present Sonic as her official boyfriend.
The fact that the crowd of ponies was so large and insane, to the point it almost seemed like a bunch of blurry faces that popped up out of nowhere, didn't help to calm her nerves.
Still, she reminded herself to keep her composure, and so she started the show.
She sang many of her most iconic songs, including 'Glowin Up', 'All You Need is Your Beat', 'Let's Make Our Mark Together', 'Every New Day', and many others.
But once the crowd cheered loudly during her last song, Pipp landed on the stage. Since she was flying, her heart started to beat insanely fast because of how nervous she was.
"Um... Thank you, everypony!" Pipp said with a nervous smile. "I, um... I'm so glad to see so many ponies tonight. Now, as much as I would love for this to go forever, time is wrapping up, and... The next number will be the last one," she announced.
As expected, the crowd shared a collective "Aww..." of disappointment, and Pipp giggled as she looked down at them.
"Oh, I know. I don't want this to end either, but everything good must come to an end," Pipp pointed out. "But... Also... I... Um..." she tried to add, but her nerves were getting her.
However, as she looked at one side of the stage, where Sonic was standing while wearing a black jacket and a guitar, he smiled at her and nodded confirming that she must get this going.
Pipp smiled back at him and nodded back before looking at the crowd with a smile, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves a bit. "You know? I stated that this concert was made so we all, ponykind, could spend time together... But there's another reason behind this concert, one very special that must be shared tonight..."
Multiple whispers among the crowd could be heard at this, all trying to guess what this could be about.
However, when the lights suddenly turned off, everypony gasped, and the whispers became louder until the screens on the stage started to show a countdown from 10 to 1.
Sonic: So I'm putting my defenses up 'Cause I don't wanna fall in love If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack
The crowd felt confused when a male voice started to sing, but as soon as they saw Pipp flying down with a reflector over her, they started to cheer loudly.
Pipp: Never put my love out on the line Never said yes to the right guy Never had trouble getting what I want But when it comes to you, I'm never good enough
Sonic: When I don't care, I can play 'em like a Ken doll Won't wash my hair, then make 'em bounce like a basketball
Once Sonic started to sing along to Pipp as he slowly descended from the ceiling on a platform while playing the guitar, the crowd felt amazed by his sudden arrival, but they still cheered loudly at him.
Sonic and Pipp: But you make me wanna act like a girl
Pipp: Paint my nails and wear high heels Yes, you make me so nervous...
Sonic and Pipp: That I just can't hold your hand
Sonic: You make me glow But I cover up, won't let it show So I'm putting my defenses up 'Cause I don't wanna fall in love If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack I think I'd have a heart attack I think I'd have a heart attack
Never break a sweat for the other guys When you come around, I get paralyzed And every time I try to be myself It comes out wrong like a cry for help
Pipp: It's just not fair, pain's more trouble than love is worth I gasp for air, it feels so good, but you know it hurts
Sonic and Pipp: But you make me wanna act like a girl
Sonic: Paint my nails and wear perfume for you Make me so nervous...
Sonic and Pipp: That I just can't hold your hand
Pipp: You make me glow But I cover up, won't let it show So I'm putting my defenses up 'Cause I don't wanna fall in love If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack I think I'd have a heart attack I think I'd have a heart attack
The feelings got lost in my lungs They're burning, I'd rather be numb (rather be numb) And there's no one else to blame (no one else to blame)
Sonic: So scared, I take off, and I run I'm flying too close to the sun
Sonic and Pipp: And I burst into fla-fla-flames
At this part of the song, they looked at each other in the eyes happily and lovingly while singing at the top of their lungs for all Equestria to hear them.
Sonic: You make me glow
Sonic and Pipp: But I cover up, won't let it show
Pipp: So I'm putting my defenses up 'Cause I don't wanna fall in love If I ever did that...
Sonic and Pipp: I think I'd have a heart attack I think I'd have a heart attack (heart attack) I think I'd have a heart attack-tack I think I'd have a heart attack (oh, I think I'd have a heart attack) I think I'd have a heart attack
Once they finished singing, they both panted heavily. Sonic put his guitar on his back, catching Pipp in bridal style. The entire audience cheered happily, and the couple smiled at each other.
And, of course, they knew what had to be done here, so they nodded and locked their lips right there in front of all the crows of ponies.
Said action made everypony watching gasp in shock and amusement at what they just did since nopony was expecting them to do that.
Once they separated, Pipp landed on the ground, but Sonic still held one of her hooves with a hand as he smiled lovingly at her. "Everypony, you all know him, but I wanna introduce you all to Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the bravest and most kind souls I've ever met and, well, he's now my boyfriend!" she announced with a huge smile.
At first, the crowd was silent, but then, one by one, they started to cheer louder than ever at the recent reveal.
"Finally!" "You two are so cute together!" "I used to pray for times like this!" and " It took you long enough!" were just a few of the crowd's replies. Of course, this filled the couple with joy because it meant they approved of their union.
Of course, they'll still have challenges to overcome now that they're together, but now that all Equestria knows, they don't care. Because, as long as they're together, what should they fear about the world?
In Mane Melody, the Mane 5 were styled by Jazz and Rocky.
Pipp had a golden strike on her mane, a mix of purple and golden glitter on her legs, yellow eye shadows, a golden stripe on her wings, and a purple musical note painted on her hooves.
Sunny wore light blue eyeshadow, had a mix of light blue and yellow glitter on her legs, and had sun rays painted on her hooves.
Izzy had purple strikes and sparkles on her mane, green eye shadows, pink and green glittered legs, and three Bridlewood crystals painted on her hooves.
Zipp wore a mix of pink and aquamarine eye shadows, the same glitter colors on her legs, more light blue stripes on her mane than usual, light blue fully painted hooves, a pink stripe on her wings, and white lightning painted over them.
Finally, Hitch wore pink eye shadows, had a pink stripe on his mane, had a fully pink-painted tail, and had green and pink glittered legs. He also planned to put purple stars on his hooves.
"Okay, I saw this one look in the magic mirror that screamed, 'Sheriff on the Town'!" Hitch told Jazz with a smile as he approached her. "Can you do the hoof stars?" he asked her.
"Only if you plan on showing them off on the dancefloor tonight!" Jazz replied with a smirk.
"This is going to be the best Manesquerade Ball ever!" Pipp stated with a smile.
"I can't bel-izzle we're invited to the most glamouriffic event in Zephyr Heights!" Izzy cheered with a smile, holding some letters on her hoof.
"Just wait until everypony at the ball sees the Unity Dance I choreographed for us!" Sunny told Zipp with a smile, even though the pegasus didn't seem too excited about this.
"Um, excuse me, Jazz?" Izzy called out as she sat on a chair while Jazz gave Hitch the stars he requested. "Can you do a glitter topcoat on my horn?!" Izzy asked with excitement.
"You know how we do!" Jazz replied with a smile as she went over and grabbed a purple bottle with spray.
Then, she sprayed Izzy's horn with green glitter as she hummed to herself, and once she was done, Rocky came by and gasped at her work.
"My hoofness, Jazz. You've done it again!" Rocky said with a smile.
Then Jazz gave Izzy a mirror so she could see her horn, now glowing with green stripes. This made Izzy gasp. "It's everything!" she cheered with glee.
Just then, Team Sonic entered the salon, but they all looked terrible: The three of them seemed to have dust and dirt around their bodies; Tails had a tail covered with bandages, Sonic had a small burn on his left arm, and Knuckles' longest quills were now short.
"We made it!" Sonic said with an awkward smile and a twitchy eye. "It took us ten minutes, a fight with Eggman, and waste the Fire Flower power-up... But we made it!" he added, while Tails groaned and fell facewards to the ground.
Everyone else gasped in horror at how they were looking, and both Pipp and Izzy immediately rushed to check on their boyfriends. Sunny came by and helped Tails get up, and the young fox shook and grabbed his head.
"For the love of... What happened to you?!" Izzy asked with concern looking terrified at what happened to Knuckles' quills.
"Is this a burn?!" Pipp asked in a panic, looking at the small burn on Sonic's left arm, and all he could do was chuckle sheepishly.
"How did you guys end up like this?" Hitch asked with concern as he approached Knuckles.
"Well, it's a long story..." Knuckles said with a frown as he put his fists on his hips and looked at the ceiling.
Team Sonic was fighting against Eggman's Egg Emperor inside a volcano. The fight started near Maretime Bay, but they all eventually started to lead the fight so far that they ended up inside the volcano.
Suddenly, we see Sonic and Knuckles constantly Spindashing against the machine while Tails keeps it in place with several clones using electrical yellow lassos from their watches.
Suddenly, we see the Egg Emperor bouncing Sonic like a basketball, which made the hedgehog groan in pain as he constantly booted a ball between the ground and the Egg Emperor's sword.
We see Knuckles constantly punching the Egg Emperor while the machine tries to protect it with the shield.
Next, we see the Eggbeater on the floor, covering its face, while Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are all kicking it all around with multiple clones of themselves.
Finally, with the machine defeated, they discovered it was just another decoy, making them all deadpan. Then, Tails brought out the Fire Flower and used it, turning his yellow fur into red, while his shoes turned fully white with a yellow zone, and then he made a fireball appear from his hand.
The next thing we know? Team Sonic was screaming as they flew in the air because Tails used the fireball to burn down the Egg Emperor, making it explode.
The trio landed facewards on Maretime Bay's beach, and the crash made Tails lose the power-up since his fur and shoes returned to normal. Then, the three stood up with groans of pain and looked ahead with bored expressions.
Back in the present, Team Sonic still had bored expressions, standing in the same positions as when they stood on the beach.
"... Maybe not so long..." Knuckles said with a tired tone.
"Aww, you poor thing!" Izzy said sadly while hugging and nuzzling her cheek with his boyfriend's. "I can't believe that Eggman guy did this to you!" she said with a frown before kissing Knuckles' nose.
"Well, I would say it was Tails' fault..." Sonic tried to say, but then Tails looked at him in disbelief while raising his hands, confused. "... But I was the one who suggested using the Fire Flower, so... Yeah, this is kind of my fault..." he confessed with his arms crossed and a bored expression while Pipp came by and applied a towel on his face.
"Well, he finally admits it!" Tails said with a frown before Sunny grabbed his face with a hoof and cleaned him up.
Meanwhile, Jazz and Rocky were finishing fixing Zipp's mane, much for her eternal disgrace and annoyance. "Uh, you don't have to," she said with an awkward smile.
"Of course we have to!" Rocky said with a smile.
"You are going to the Zephyr Heights Manesquerade Ball!" Jazz pointed out excitedly, and Rocky nodded in agreement. "Everypony who attends always looks beyond," she added with a smile.
"True..." Zipp recognized as she waved her hoof so Jazz and Rocky would stop fixing her mane. "But shouldn't you two be getting ready, then?" she asked them with a smirk.
"Us?" both Jazz and Rocky asked, confused.
"Yes, you!" Pipp said happily as she approached them and pulled out two invitation cards. "You're invited!" she sang with a smile.
"Huh, I didn't know we were invited!" Rocky said, both excited and panicking.
"Neither did I!" Jazz said, also excited and panicking.
"What are we gonna wear?!" Rocky asked.
"I don't know, but it's gotta be beyond!" Jazz stated while placing her hooves on Rocky's shoulders.
"Beyond, beyond!" Rocky said as he and Jazz grabbed their hooves and squealed excitedly before entering the backstage.
As they did so, Sunny checked herself in the mirror before smiling and looking at her friends. "Alright, selfie time!" she declared excitedly as she gathered with Izzy, Pipp, Hitch, and Sparky.
At this point, Team Sonic left the way while Zipp took a selfie with her phone.
"Does this feel like too much?" Izzy asked Pipp with a sheepish smile.
"'Too much'? Izz, Izz, Izz, it's a big deal to be invited!" Pipp pointed out with a smile.
"Wow, I guess we're gonna need more glitter then!" Izzy stated with a confident look.
Then, Jazz and Rocky returned, with Jazz holding many things on her hoof. "How do we choose our looks?!" Jazz asked in a panic.
"Easy! The only dress code is to wear what makes you feel fancy!" Pipp replied as she grabbed a tiara from the stuff Jazz brought and put it on.
"And you have to wear a mask!" Zipp added as she pulled out a one-eye mask resembling her Cutie Mark but with a wing on the left side.
"Why?" Hitch asked, confused.
"The Manesquerade is the place to see and be seen by ponies you can't recognize who don't know who they are seeing!" Pipp explained to him with a smile.
"Because everypony loves a mystery!" Zipp stated with a smirk.
However, it didn't take long for Sunny to notice that Team Sonic was not only not ready but also didn't even try to prepare. Sonic gave Tails an apple and put it in his mouth while Knuckle removed Tails' bandages from his tail.
"Guys, aren't you preparing for tonight?!" Sunny asked them with concern.
"One second, Sunny-Bunny..." Sonic replied, hugging Tails while Knuckles checked the fox's tail, which seemed a bit broken.
"Alright, here I go..." Knuckles announced, sharing a quick look with Sonic. The hedgehog nodded at him. "One, two..." he started.
After that, he fixed Tails' tail back to its position, which caused Tails to scream in agony and pain because of the apple. Everyone watching cringed, and Zipp and Sunny even covered their hooves, feeling concerned about him.
After a few minutes, Tails let go of the apple and sighed in relief, carefully touching the tail Knuckles, which had just been fixed.
"Man... Last time it broke, it didn't hurt like this..." Tails said with sadness, wiping some tears he let out because of the pain.
"Because last time, your powers awakened and fixed it for you," Sonic pointed out to him with an awkward smile. "But don't worry—next time we see Eggman, we'll kick him on the eggs!" he assured him with a smile and wink, and Tails smiled back at him for saying that. "Anyways, what did you ask, Sunny?" he asked her.
"That if you guys are not preparing for the Manesquerade Ball?" Sunny asked again, this time calm.
"Oh, that..." Sonic said with a cringed expression. "Yeah, heheheh... Look, um... The boys and I were talking, and..." he started hesitantly.
"The entire concept of the Ball gets fucked up because of us..." Knuckles said with a bored expression while pointing at Sonic and Tails.
"... There were a thousand other ways you could have phrased that, but... Yeah, we don't know if we should go..." Tails said with a sheepish smile. "I mean... Look at us! We're the only anthropomorphic creatures in Equestria!" he pointed out.
"Wait, hang on... You guys think you shouldn't go because the point of using masks gets lost with you three?" Zipp asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah... It's not that we don't want to go, but this..." Sonic said, pointing at himself with his hands. "T-This doesn't work," he pointed out.
"Pfft! You guys are babbling!" Pipp said as she flew closer to them. "I already have sooo many ideas on how to style you! I have it all under control, don't worry! And, even if it's true that everypony will still know who you three are, that doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun!" she pointed out.
"It still doesn't change that we're not ponies, you know?" Knuckles pointed out. "And besides, the entire thing is called 'Manesquerade' because you have manes... We don't!" he added with a frown.
However, they all suddenly heard a maniac laugh. Turning around, they saw Tails sitting on a chair, turning around with a mischievous grin and his hands together.
"But what if we had them?" Tails questioned sinisterly.
"What? Manes?" Knuckles asked, confused.
"Tails... You're not planning on making one of your experiments on us, right?" Sonic questioned with a frown and a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, I'm not planning to... because I already did!" Tails declared with a huge smile. "Well, kinda... Technically, it's still a prototype, but not simultaneously..." he said confusedly. "Ugh, you know what? Just follow me! I'd rather show you all!" he said, walking towards the exit.
"Oh, this better be good..." Knuckles said with a frown as he and everyone but Jazz and Rocky followed Tails out of the salon.
In Opaline's Castle, Eggman entered the Throne Room with a huge smirk as he hummed himself a tune.
"You seem quite happy today, Ivo..." Opaline pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "May I ask why?" she questioned.
"Oh, I'm feeling wonderful today, Opaline!" Eggman replied with a grin. "While my Egg Emperor had Sonic and his stupid friends busy, I sneaked in my robotic Flicky to the Crystal Brighthouse... And I got some sweet and delicious info! Of course, there's still the fact that Zephyrina is still a pain in the ass, BUT! Trust me when I say that this might be the best news we have heard in a while!" he stated confidently.
"I'm listening," Opaline said curiously while Misty entered the Throne Room.
Eggman then whistled, and the robotic Flicky entered through the window. It landed on Eggman's shoulder and projected Zipp's Investigation Board in front of Opaline and Misty.
"While it's true that this damn pegasus hit the jackpot in some aspects, she still has no idea of what you are, not where we are!" Eggman said with a grin. "But even better than that: This means she has no idea on how dangerous you are, nor how to locate us!" he stated.
"They'll be vulnerable if we get the Crystals from them!" Opaline said with a huge grin. "Oh, Ivo. You have made me happier today! And because of that..." she stated before turning to see Misty. "I'm feeling rather generous today. So, you are no longer grounded," she told the unicorn.
"Seriously? Thank you so much," Misty said with a smile, bowing before her.
"Yes... I should be thanked," Opaline grinned as she passed her. "It's very impressive of me to trust you again," she said as she started walking in circles around Misty.
"It is!" Misty replied nervously.
"But I also need to teach you a lesson," Opaline declared, and Misty gulped after hearing that. "You're not coming with me. You need to stay here and watch the lair while I go back and snag that slippery Dragon Stone," she stated with an evil smirk.
"This feels like a test," Misty muttered with concern.
"Because it is, Misty," Eggman stated with a frown. "While Opaline gets her Stone, I'll be busy on my lab for the day. Got some... research to do about the last Emerald's location..." he stated, as he turned around and grinned mischievously. "You'll be in charge of watching this place while she's out and I work. Understood?" he asked her, and Misty gulped before nodding with a sheepish smile. "Good," Eggman stated, then retired to his lab.
In reality, he wasn't going to research the place where his Metals found the last Chaos Emerald, but neither Opaline nor Misty had to know that.
"And maybe I trust you to keep an eye on the lair, Misty," Opaline told the unicorn before heading towards the exit. "The fact that you need to think about it should inform how you act, " she said, leaving the castle.
As she did so, Misty looked at the ground with concern. "So this is a test, huh? Well, I should stay..." she told herself, walking towards the throne. Then, an idea popped into her mind. "Even though Opaline probably wouldn't know if I went to see my new friends... Now, Eggman could, but he said he'd be in his lab the whole day!" she said happily, heading towards the exit as well.
However, when she was going to leave, she turned back to see both Eggman's lab's door and Opaline's throne, which made her ears lower and her mind doubt.
"But Opaline would say mean things to me if she found out, and Eggman would be disappointed, too," Misty pointed out to herself. Then again, my friends don't say mean things to me," she pointed out again before groaning, frustrated. "Why is every decision so hard?!" she complained aloud before sitting down and sighing. "I wonder what fun thing they're all doing right now," she said with concern and curiosity.
At Electronic Tails, Tails himself seemed to be looking for something inside the cabinets he had there.
"Come on, come on!" Tails said with concern. "I know I put it in here somewhere!" he assured with concern.
As he looked through his cabinets, the rest seemed to be waiting for him, with Sonic and Knuckles having bored expressions while the rest were curious about what Tails was looking for.
"'Chinchilla,' 'bunny,' 'cat,' 'mouse'..." Tails read as he took out some small tubes and carefully placed them on the table. "Where's the pony one?! Those are the most recent ones, and I know I put them here!" he complained with concern.
"Uh, what are those things?" Pipp asked, confused.
"Whatever you do, don't drink them!" Knuckles warned with a frown. "Sonic and I made the mistake of doing so, and... Well..." he tried to explain, but he blushed, embarrassed.
"He transformed into a bunny for one month, and I became a chinchilla for a whole week..." Sonic replied with a frown. "It was the worst week of my life... I couldn't go and run as I always do! It was torture..." he complained with an anxious expression.
"Well, as you said, it was your mistake," Tails pointed out as he kept researching. "I told you to not grab those tubes, but you still did! You should be thankful it didn't last that much. My original prototype had a gap of 6 months," he said with a frown.
"If you're saying that, waiting for us to apologize, keep waiting," Sonic said with a bored expression.
Tails rolled his eyes and kept looking until he finally found what he was looking for. "Bingo!" he cheered, getting out of the cabinet and putting six tubes with a weird substance on the counter: Two were purple, two were turquoise, and two were silver.
"Ooh! What do these turn you into?!" Izzy asked as she tried to grab one.
However, Tails immediately dragged the tubes away from her. "Into something you already are, Izz: A pony!" he said with a smile.
"Huh/What?!/No way!" Hitch, Sunny, and Zipp said, respectively, not believing what Tails said.
"Wait... You're telling me that these tubes... can turn us into ponies?!" Sonic asked in shock, his eyes widening.
"Mm-hmm!" Tails replied with a nod. "Now, to avoid all the mistakes that happened when you and Knuckles turned, I made sure that they're ready! Experimented with them, tested them on a few subjects, and even added something that will ensure that the time we stay as ponies isn't too long!" he explained with a smile.
"W-Whoa! So, if you guys drink this and actually turn into ponies, does that mean that––" Pipp tried to ask.
"You could come to the Manesquerade Ball and not be recognized at all!" Izzy finished instead with a huge smile.
"That's exactly the plan here!" Tails replied happily. "The best part? All the effects are completely natural! Our transition to ponies will be natural, and we'll get the cool things you guys can do! Of course, depending on which kind of pony we become..." he explained.
"Man, if this works, I might share a few words with you, and not only for encouragement," Zipp told Tails with a smirk and a wink, which made Tails blush slightly and chuckle.
But then, the young fox shook his head and looked back at Sonic and Knuckles. "A-Anyways! So, which pony do you guys want to become?" he asked them with a smile.
"Wait... We can choose?!" Knuckles shouted in shock.
"Duh! If we're gonna become ponies, we gotta choose for sure!" Tails declared. "The silver tubes are for earth ponies, the turquoise ones for pegasi, and the purple ones turn you into a unicorn!" he explained.
Sunny approached and gasped. "You based the substances in the Unity Crystals?!" she asked excitedly.
"Yup! Not only have those Crystals got style, but they're also easier to remember," Tails pointed out with a smile before looking back at Sonic and Knuckles. "Come on, guys! Pick it up!" he said with a smirk.
At this, Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other before grinning at each other and nodding.
"Well, if we're free to choose, I'm gonna go with a pegasus!" Sonic stated as he grabbed one of the turquoise tubes. "I'm already the fastest thing alive in the ground. I think it's time to reach new horizons!" he smirked.
"I always felt curious about how strong earth ponies are..." Knuckles said with a grin while grabbing one of the silver tubes. "Guess I can finally get my answer!" he stated happily.
"Well, I'll go with the pegasus. In all honesty? I wanna keep flying, but It would be cool to levitate stuff, tho!" Tails said, grabbing the remaining turquoise tube and putting the rest aside.
With this, Tails stood in the middle of Sonic and Knuckles while three hesitated to drink this. Even if Tails made sure it could work, doubts were still among the team.
"So, um... Just to be aware: When does the effect end?" Sonic asked.
"Well, I used this weird ingredient with a pink color called 'Happily Ever After Drop'..." Tails replied while rubbing his chin. "It said that applying this would make any effect disappear by midnight. Does that say anything?" he asked.
"Yeah, it does..." Sonic said with a smirk.
"Well..." Knuckles started as he removed the top of his tube, and Sonic and Tails did the same. "To the bottom!" he stated with a grin.
And so, by hesitating for a second, Team Sonic gulped down to the last drop of their respective tubes while the Mane 5 looked at them nervously, especially Izzy and Pipp, who hugged each other while they felt nervous for their boyfriends.
Once the trio of anthropomorphic animals had finished drinking, they looked at each other, expecting something. But nothing happened.
"... I feel the same..." Knuckles said with a bored expression.
"Yeah, I expected to feel the effects as soon as we drank it, like the last time... All I feel is a sipped a cheap copy of Sunny's smoothies..." Sonic said with a confused look. "But it does taste nice, though... What did you put in these?" he asked Tails with a smile.
"Um... some Strawberries?" Tails replied, confused.
But then, before anyone could say anything else, the three of them got surrounded by a glowing aura of their respective skin colors, and everyone in the room panicked, with Izzy and Pipp now hugging even tighter.
"Uh... Tails?" Sonic called out. "This is normal... Right?!" he asked in panic.
"Um... kinda?! I honestly don't know!" Tails replied with wide eyes and concern.
"Please don't explode, please don't explode, please don't explode..." Knuckles begged out loud as he put his hooves together.
Then, their glow became so bright that everyone closed their eyes, and the Mane 5 covered their faces with their hooves.
After a while, they thought the glow was finally over. However, when they opened their eyes, they could only see dust where Team Sonic used to be.
"Uh... guys?" Sunny called out with panic.
For a few seconds, there was only silence filling the room until the three members of Team Sonic all collectively groaned.
This made the Mane 5 sigh in relief, and both Izzy and Pipp let go of each other with heavy sighs, glad that their boyfriends and Tails were fine.
"Ugh... Tails, what the heck was that?" Sonic asked as the dust started to fade away.
"What should I know? I don't recall this being part of the 'transformation' effect..." Tails replied with a loud groan.
But then, when the dust faded away, the Mane 5 and Sparky all shared a loud gasp, while Izzy and the sisters' faces got completely and bright red.
This was because Tails' experiment worked: Team Sonic were ponies now!
Sonic turned into a blue pegasus with green eyes, a dark blue mane and tail, blue wings with light blue and red feathers, a white zone on his legs, red hooves, and a blue flame with lightning around as a Cutie Mark.
Tails became a yellow pegasus with an orange mane and tail, blue eyes, brown hooves, yellow wings with white feathers, still two tails, and a box of tools with yellow lightning as a Cutie Mark.
Finally, Knuckles turned into a red earth pony with a darker red mane and tail, pink eyes, brown hooves, and his boxing gloves with bigger knuckles surrounded by red electricity as his Cutie Mark. He was also taller than Sonic and Tails and seemed to have really strong and well-built hooves.
Team Sonic, now turned into ponies, stood up and shook their heads with dizzy expressions, but once they heard the Mane 5's gasps, they looked at them confused.
"Uh, guys? Everything okay?" Sonic asked, confused, as he extended a hoof to point at them. "You seem confused... about... something..." he said slowly and shocked because he realized now that he had a hoof instead of a hand.
Tails and Knuckles looked at him and gasped once they noticed his transformation.
But then, they looked at each other and gasped again as they started to look all over their bodies to confirm that they had all successfully turned into ponies.
"This... This is something else!" Sonic said with a huge smile as he checked all over his wings and body. "Tails, you absolute mad lad, this worked!" he said, grabbing Tails from his shoulders and shaking him a lot.
"Hohoho! Just look at these!" Knuckles cheered with a grin as he flexed one muscle from his hooves, making Izzy gulp and wave a hoof to herself while her face reddened. "Earth pony stallion, and I still have my beloveds!" he said confidently while smirking.
That pushed Izzy to the limit, and she fainted while Pipp caught her in time and flapped a wing on her, but she wasn't any better: Just seeing her boyfriend as a handsome pegasus stallion was driving her crazy as well.
"You have to live to believe..." Hitch said as he approached his friends, who had now become stallions like him. "This worked! Now you are all ponies like us and stallions like me!" he cheered with a smile.
"Oh, you bet!" Knuckles stated with a smirk as he hoof-bumped with Hitch.
"We still have to ensure everything's in order, though..." Tails pointed out with an awkward smile.
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, we gotta check that our wings do work, that our respective magic does, that we do have Cutie Mark magic, and check if our unique qualities from before being ponies are still there..." Tails explained.
"Like our Super Speed?" Knuckles asked.
"Or our cool and pretty neat electric powers?" Sonic asked with a smirk as he opened his eyes, and a slight spark of electricity went through his wings and eyes.
That was what pushed Pipp to the edge, as she also fainted dramatically, with Izzy ending on top of her.
"Okay... It's sure to say that our powers are still there... I think..." Tails said, raising a hoof and focusing. Yellow sparkles got around him, and he created a mug with his powers, which made his eyes widen. "Yeah, we still have them," he said amusedly. What about you, Knuckles?" he wanted to ask him.
However, Knuckles had already exited the workshop, startling every pony.
"Well, our speed is intact, too!" Sonic pointed out with a smirk.
But then, the entire ground rumbled, startling everyone in the workshop and causing Pipp and Izzy to wake up.
"What was that?!" Izzy asked in a panic.
Deciding it was best to investigate, Sunny and Sonic rushed to the exit, with everypony else following behind.
Soon enough, they all arrived at the Crystal Brighthouse, where they found Knuckles stomping his hooves hard enough on the ground that his electrical powers showed. His Cutie Mark glowed as the floor rumbled and cracked, leaving big holes.
"Knuckles! What the fuck are you doing?!" Sonic asked him with a concerned frown.
But then, Knuckles softly stomped a hoof forward, which glowed green. This caused the ground to repair itself, as the cracks closed and the grass grew back and even left a few flowers around.
At this, Knuckles smirked while Sunny and Tails approached him and stared at the ground in awe.
"Is that all the checking you needed?" Knuckles asked Tails with a confident smirk.
"I... Actually, yes, it is!" Tails said with a surprised look. "Regarding earth pony transformation, at least... Pegasi? That's still a work in progress!" he stated, turning around and walking towards Sonic.
"B-But I don't get it!" Sunny said, confused. "You have earth pony magic, but you can also crack holes?! I have never seen any earth pony do that before! How can you do it?!" she asked Knuckles with panic.
However, all Knuckles did was look at her with a bored expression while his eyes turned red and showed electrical sparks for a second, which made Sunny's eyes widen in realization.
"Oh... right... You have super strength by nature... I forgot..." Sunny said nervously and smilingly while Knuckles smirked and rolled his eyes.
"Dude, it's hard to believe you became a pony! It's gonna take me a while to get used to this..." Hitch pointed out as he and Izzy arrived, even though the latter was still blushing like mad.
"W-Well, I-I think..." Izzy tried to say nervously, but she couldn't stop feeling nervous about her boyfriend's new look.
Knuckles noticed this, so he smiled sweetly and lifted her face with one hoof, increasing Izzy's blush. "Now, now, Ms. Moonbow. I get you feel flustered, but behind this new aspect, I'm still the same Knuckles at the end of the day," he assured her.
Izzy felt her heart melt when she saw how he looked at her, but she still smiled back. So, she nuzzled against his chest with a loving smile while Knuckles nuzzled over her head, smiling.
Meanwhile, Tails approached Sonic, hoping they could experiment with their new pegasi forms.
"So, you just want me to fly here and there and test if the pegasi magic works on me and if I can use my super speed in mid-flight?" Sonic asked Tails with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup!" Tails replied with a smile. "It's just a test to see if your powers work, so don't get too excited––" he tried to add.
However, Sonic already smirked and opened his wings, and as soon as he flapped them, he boosted at top speed towards the air, which made Tails, Zipp, and Pipp cover their eyes because of the dust he left behind.
After that, Sonic had already flown above the clouds, much to his surprise. "... Okay, maybe I got too excited..." he told himself with amusement.
Still, he smirked. Then, he dived towards the floor at top speed with his wings closed, opening them again and flapping them once. This allowed him to use his boost ability and flail in the air at top speed.
Sonic felt amazing by flying this fast: It was almost like running, but now that he had wings, the sky was literally the limit, and he could make so many tricks and twists in the air that went from hard to impossible by running.
"And Pipp said levitating stuff was better than flying! HA!" Sonic cheered with a huge smirk, then exhaled into the air again.
All the time he flew at fast paste, he left a blue aura behind him, all because of his super speed.
Then, Sonic smirked and boosted towards the air, moving at top speed and starting to make shapes with the clouds at such a fast paste that no pegasus should normally achieve.
He did a perfect pony shape with the cloud before diving in again, this time towards the ocean. However, he didn't hesitate and just grinned even more because when he was about to hit the water, he flapped his wings right on top of it and boosted towards the Crystal Brighthouse.
But his last move was also making the water above him splash, and once he noticed that, he looked at his reflection in the water, smiling at his new form, before starting to flap his wings even faster.
By doing so, his Cutie Mark glowed bright, as electrical blue sparks appeared around his wings, making him flap them even faster. And once his eyes shifted from green to blue, he braked the sound barrier and boosted even faster towards the Brighthouse, as the water above him reacted as if he made an explosion.
Then, Sonic elevated himself and finally dived to the ground, landing there and forcing his hooves to stop him. Sonic cheered loudly after doing all of this and shook a bit because he had gotten wet.
"Man! That's exactly the kind of sensation I was waiting for!" Sonic cheered happily as he rose again while flying back with his friends. "The insane adrenaline I just felt cannot be compared with anything! I love being a pegasus! Tails, why didn't you think of making us ponies before?!" he questioned jokingly.
However, looking back at his friends, he was startled to see their shocked expressions. Their jaws dropped. Pipp's face was so red that it could almost be compared to Sprout's fur.
"... Uh... You guys doing good?" Sonic asked with an awkward smile.
"Man... It was just making a demonstration... Not doing a whole fucking and raw show on how to fly!" Knuckles said with a huge grin.
"I cannot bel-izzle that you just did that!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"Wow, Sonic! I think you're adapting to your pony form quickly! Which is good, 'cause now you'll be natural in the Manesquerade Ball!" Sunny cheered with a smile.
"You have dominated the pegasus inside you!" Hitch said with a wink.
"I... I cannot even believe you did all that on your first day as a pegasus..." Zipp said with utter shock. "It took pegasi weeks to learn how to fly, and you just flew as if you've been doing it your whole life!" she pointed out with amusement. "I don't know if I'm jealous, confused, excited, or all of them... But that was incredible!" she cheered, now smiling at him.
"I think I like sides of you I never even knew existed..." Pipp said with a gulp, still incredibly red.
At this, Sonic smirked before boosting in front of her and lifting her chin with a hoof as Pipp's ears lowered and her heart beat incredibly fast. "I think you might be falling for me again, Princess~" he flirted with her, winking.
Pipp's ears let out some smoke because of the heat, and she started to laugh awkwardly while looking around nervously before looking back at her changed boyfriend with a loving gaze.
But then, Tails got in the middle of them with a sheepish smile. "I hate to break this out, but I gotta say that you did put on a show, Sonic!" he told the blue pegasus with a smile. "Still, that left me to prove my new form, honestly? I don't know if I want to..." he confessed nervously while his ears lowered.
"Hey, buddy!" Zipp called out as she placed a hoof on Tails' shoulder. "I get why you feel insecure: You got your new form just 10 minutes ago, and you're still trying to get used to it... But I think you'll never learn how to adapt to it if you never try out your new abilities," she pointed out.
"Zipp is right, Tails," Sunny agreed as she approached him and wrapped a hoof around his neck. "It's okay to be afraid of your new form, but it wouldn't hurt to try it out a bit, don't you think?" she said with a smile.
"That still doesn't make me any less nervous..." Tails replied. "I mean, when it comes to fly, I'm just used to spinning my tails around and––" he tried to point out as he looked back at his tails, just for his eyes to widen when he noticed that he still has two tails, even as a pony. "Holy crap! I didn't know I still have them!" he said with surprise.
A few minutes later, Zipp grabbed Tails from his hooves as they were both in the sky.
Of course, Tails was still really nervous about this, but Zipp, Sunny, and even Sonic encouraged him to at least try it out, so he accepted as long as somepony would help.
Zipp immediately offered to help him out, and here they are now, with Tails holding Zipp's hooves a bit tighter than either of them would like to, as the younger pegasus gulped while flapping his wings.
"Hey, Tails, look at me," Zipp called out, but he was just too nervous because he was looking at the ground, which made Zipp carefully lift his chin so he would face her. "Listen. All you gotta do is focus on flapping your wings. Not so hard, but not so soft, either. You gotta find a balance so they can lift you in the air, you know?" she explained to him with a smile.
Tails blushed slightly when she grabbed his chin, but his blush decreased slightly when she let go. "Well... I used to do that with my tails... Spin them hard and long enough to stay on air... I guess with pegasi, it's the same?" he asked.
"Yeah! With wings, of course, but it's the same science!" Zipp replied with a smile. "And most importantly, you just have to believe in yourself," she winked.
Tails didn't blush this time, but he did find her wink adorable. Still, he focused back and took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and let go of Zipp's grip as he flapped his wings at a moderate speed to stay in the air.
As he opened one eye to check if he was still flying, he felt surprised to see he was still in the air, and even if he still could look how high he was now, he wasn't panicking.
It was like Zipp said: Flying but with wings instead of tails.
"I... I'm flying..." Tails said with a little smile. "It... It's true! Hohoho! I'm flying for real!" He cheered as he happily made some loops around Zipp.
"See? It wasn't so hard now, was it?" Zipp said, smirking as she started to fly backward. "Now, let's see how good you are at flying with your new pegasus form," she said mockingly.
"Uh, Zipp? What are you––" Tails tried to ask. However, it didn't take him long to understand what she was up to, so he smirked and opened his wings. "Oh, I'm gonna catch you!" he stated, flapping his wings and shooting at her.
At this, Zipp smirked even more, and she started to fly across the sky at top speed, with Tails getting behind her and flapping his wings hard enough to reach her.
Despite Zipp being the superior flier as a pegasus, Tails still managed to reach her, as he looked at her with a mocking smirk. But of course, this only made Zipp roll her eyes at his attitude, so she started flapping her wings faster, moving away from Tails and startling him.
Still, the young pegasus tried to catch up by flapping his wings faster, but it wasn't working... And yet, he had an idea, one that made him smirk.
Meanwhile, Zipp seemed confident that she was ahead of Tails, but when she looked at her side and saw that Tails was not only at her side but also starting to fly ahead of her, she felt surprised.
"H-How are you––" Zipp tried to ask with shock.
But then, she noticed Tails spinning his tails quickly and flapping his wings hard. Thanks to his unique quality, this gave her a boost, and even though she knew she was losing, she still felt happy to see how fast he had adapted to fly as a pegasus.
Suddenly, Tails' Cutie Mark started to glow, while his tails and wings got yellow sparkles of lightning. Then, his eyes turned yellow with some electric sparkles, and once he flapped his wings again, he boosted at the speed of sound, breaking the sound barrier just like Sonic did earlier.
At this, Zipp stopped in her place and looked amazed at Tails. Her eyes sparkled a bit, and her cheeks reddened.
Meanwhile, Tails made some loops in the air while leaving a yellow trial, as he cheered loudly now that he could properly fly.
Now that Team Sonic were ponies and adapted to their new forms perfectly, Pipp and Izzy quickly applied a makeover over them for the Manesquerade Ball.
Sonic now had green and silver glittered legs, green eye shadows, a green stripe on his wings, mane, and tail, and blue lightning painted on his hooves.
Tails had red and blue glittered legs, red and blue stripes on his tails, mane, and wings, a mix of red and blue eye shadows, and a yellow engine painted on his hooves.
Finally, Knuckles had purple and pink glittered legs, pink and purple stripes on his mane and tail, a mix of pink and purple eye shadows, and red crystals on his hooves to match Izzy's blue ones.
With Team Sonic ready, the group, minus Zipp, gathered outside the Brighthouse and prepared to depart towards the Manesquerade Ball in the Marestream since the Tornado IV was designed exclusively for finger use. Right now, Tails had no fingers.
As Hitch emerged from the Brighthouse and approached the group, Sparky put on a brown tie with yellow circles and excitedly babbled.
"Don't forget your masks, everypony!" Izzy told the rest with a smile as she gave Sunny her mask, which was half purple to represent the night and half golden to represent the day.
She also gave Hitch his mask, which was purple with slightly green decorations, as both Sunny and Hitch put on their masks and laughed.
Then, Izzy went over with Team Sonic and brought them their masks. Sonic's mask was blue with certain pink and golden details, Tails' was yellow with slight pink, white, and light blue decorations, and Knuckles' was red with some purple and green details.
The trio put on their masks, as they fit perfectly on them, even as ponies. "Guess the body transformation couldn't change or head measures!" Sonic pointed out with a smirk.
Then Izzy gave Pipp her golden mask with purple details. The pegasus smiled and grabbed it but then chose to put it away.
Soon enough, Zipp also emerged from the Brighthouse, holding a basket with food in her mouth and humming a little melody. This was weird to her, and Pipp noticed that.
"What's your deal?" Pipp asked her, confused.
"I'm bringing some snacks onboard! Why?" Zipp asked back while putting the basket down and raising an eyebrow.
"You're happy," Pipp pointed out, concerned. "You're never happy when you're forced to do something. And you're usually especially unhappy about going to the Manesquerade Ball," she smirked.
"That's because... I'm planning to research Alicorn magic in the Palace library archives," Zipp whispered with a smile. "In the secret section!" she added, bringing out her mask and putting it on.
When she heard this, Pipp gasped in shock. "But that's off-limits!" she pointed out with concern.
"Yeah... Can't you do this any other day?" Sonic asked with a bored expression as he and Tails approached the sisters. "I get that you wanna prevent Opaline from stealing all the magic and all, but why choose something made specifically to not work to do your detective stuff?" he questioned with a sarcastic tone.
"Also, Sunny's been bugging us about her Unity Dance for weeks!" Tails whispered at her with an anxious expression. "And I got the feeling she's gonna be even more unbearable with that today, so I don't think you're gonna be so lucky with your investigation..." he pointed out. "Also, if I hear one more time about that dance, I'm gonna be insane!" he complained while falling sideways to the right.
"Aaaaand he's broken..." Sonic deadpanned while Pipp giggled at his attitude, and Zipp helped him to stand up out of concern for him.
"Who's broken?" Misty's voice spoke.
Everyone turned to see that Misty had arrived with them, and it's sure to say that she escaped from the Castle without Eggman's permission.
With her arrival, Izzy turned around and smiled. "Whoa, Misty!" she exclaimed happily, launching to the unicorn and hugging her tightly. This startled Misty for a second. "What a fun surprise!" Izzy said excitedly, while Misty chuckled a bit.
"Where have you been? We missed you," Sunny added with a smile as she approached the two unicorn mares.
"Yeah! We haven't seen you in forever!" Tails added as he approached her with a smile.
However, Misty looked confused at him and smiled awkwardly. "U-Um... Sorry... I don't wanna be disrespectful, but... Do I know you?" she asked, a bit nervous.
Tails raised an eyebrow and blinked a few times before realizing why she was so confused. "Oh, right! Sorry, my stupid lack of thinking twice sometimes and me... I'm Tails! As a pony, but Tails all the same!" he told her with a smile as he removed his mask.
Misty's eyes widened after he said that. "What?!" she asked in disbelief.
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true!" Sonic added with a smirk as he and Knuckles approached and removed their masks. "Tails here made a pretty cool thing that turned us into ponies until midnight!" he explained.
"Sonic? Knuckles?!" Misty questioned, and both of them nodded with smirks. "Whoa, okay... This is not what I expected after getting out of the lair––" she tried to say, but then her eyes widened at what she was about to say. "Of-of home!" she corrected herself with a nervous chuckle. "I-I couldn't come before because I had stuff at home! I live at home in a house," she assured nervously.
At this, everypony else looked at her confused, with Knuckles almost pulling out a 'The Rock Eyebrow' expression.
"You know how it is when you're trapped at home doing chores, and it feels like you're grounded in a lair?" Misty said quickly with a nervous chuckle. "Me neither... Hey, look at that. Are you getting ready to go to a place?" she asked, quickly changing the subject and noticing Zipp's mask on her hoof.
"Not just any place," Sunny pointed out with a smile. "We're going to the Manesquerade Ball!" she stated excitedly.
"The most glam night for Zephyr Heights!" Pipp said as she and Sonic walked around before bowing to each other.
"But this year, we're invited!" Sonic stated with a chuckle.
"Wow, that sounds like a big deal!" Misty said with an amused expression.
"Well, it's a really important thing, where there's food, music, strangers who don't know you that you don't know either... Do I have to keep going?" Tails told Misty with a smirk and a wink, slightly pushing her shoulder while Misty blushed and chuckled awkwardly.
"Oh! Oh! Oh, I have an idea!" Izzy exclaimed all of a sudden. "Misty should come with us!" she suggested with a smile while wrapping a hoof around Misty's neck.
"Now you're talking!" Tails said with a chuckle, placing a hoof over Misty's shoulder.
"Yass!" Pipp agreed as she approached the unicorn mare. "Misty, you will love it! It's just a total thing," she assured me with a smile.
"You want me to go with you? To a thing?" Misty asked with a smile.
"Yass!" Pipp replied with a smile.
"Yeah!" Zipp, Team Sonic, and Hitch said with smiles as well.
"Come with us!" Izzy said happily.
"Wow. I've never been invited to a thing before," Misty confessed with a sweet and warm smile. "It sounds fancy... and full of ponies who don't know me," she said with panic, her front hooves trembling slightly because of her nerves.
"Nopony will know who anypony is!" Pipp assured her with a smile.
"True! Because we all wear masks!" Tails assured, putting on his mask again and smiling sweetly at Misty.
"Oh. I don't have one of those. And I don't feel very fancy..." Misty said with sadness and disappointment.
At this, Izzy and Pipp smiled at each other before placing their hooves on Misty's shoulder and guiding her inside the Brighthouse. "Leave that to us!" they said with smiles.
After a few minutes, Izzy and Pipp came back.
Misty walked behind them, now wearing golden eye shadows, pink and yellow glitter on her legs, yellow glitter on her horn, and yellow butterflies on her hooves.
"Ta-da!" both Izzy and Pipp said with smiles as they presented Misty's new look.
At this, everypony else cheered at her new look, while Pipp gave her a mirror so Misty herself could see her new look, and when she did so, she smiled.
Then, Izzy extended her a mask that looked like the left wing of a peacock. Misty grabbed it and put it on with a smile.
"So, are you in?" Zipp asked her with a smirk.
"I'm in!" Misty declared with a smile.
And with this, everyone cheered once again before heading towards the Marestream.
Once inside, Zipp sat on the pilot's seat and turned on the Marestream as the vehicle lifted the ground and then boosted in the air, heading towards Zephyr Heights.
Inside the Marestream, Izzy, Misty, and Tails all sat on the couches in the passenger room.
Just then, Sparky came by and sat at Misty's side.
"Ahh... Isn't flying great?!" Izzy asked Misty cheerfully, but then she gasped and pulled out some goggles. "Watch this!" she exclaimed, then put on the goggles and stuck her head out the window. "I can taste the wind!" she managed to say as her face pushed back from the wind while screaming.
"That's quite a weird way to experience flying... Then again, she's the same pony that once made a glider to fly along with Zipp and me, so I shouldn't be surprised," Tails said with a smirk while Misty giggled at his comment.
But then, Misty saw Sparky at her side, and she felt uncomfortable as he looked at her with suspicion, so she gave him a sheepish smile. "Hey there, Sparky…" she said to him before making sure that Tails nor Izzy were paying her attention so she could whisper to the baby dragon. "It's okay. I won’t try to take you," she muttered nervously.
Sparky babbled and looked confused at Misty while both Izzy and Tails looked at her strangely, with Izzy taking off her goggles after taking her head out of the window.
"Are you two okay?" Izzy asked, concerned.
Misty stood in silence for a while until she started to panic. "I didn't do anything! I swear!" she assured nervously.
"But we didn't blame you for anything..." Tails pointed out with a raised eyebrow. However, once he and Izzy shared a look, they both smiled and nodded.
"Can you give us a minute, bud?" Izzy asked Sparky with a smile.
Sparky nodded at her, then went to the driver's cabin with a giggle.
"It's okay, Misty!" Izzy started with a smile.
"We know what's going on with you!" Tails added as he sat on Misty's other side.
"You do?!" Misty asked in a panic.
"It's as obvious as the horn of your head!" Izzy pointed out her own horn while Misty looked worried.
"You… are nervous!" Tails said cheerfully.
Misty felt surprised when she heard this, but she still exhaled, relieved, and smiled. "Oh. Yeah. You got me. I'm nervous!" she admitted.
"Well, you don't need to be! You need to be you!" Izzy stated with a smile.
"Not exactly sure that ponies like it when I'm just being me…" Misty said with worry as she jumped off the couch.
"The what now?!" Tails asked playfully with a raised eyebrow. "That's just blasphemy! Of course, they like the real you, Misty! I know we do!" he assured her.
Misty blushed after hearing that, but her blush disappeared as her concern returned. "What if I do something awkward?" she asked concerned.
"You won't," Izzy assured her. "But even if you do, nopony will know it's you. Because of masks!" she added cheerfully as she put on her mask. "Oh, have you seen Izzy?" she acted playfully with a fancy tone.
Tails chuckled at her before putting on his mask to follow her game and look at Misty. "Now you try!" she said to Misty.
Misty also decided to play along, so she put on her mask and blinked a few times, still confused.
"Hmm…" Izzy looked around, acting as if she couldn't see Misty. "Hello, there, stranger!" she playfully told Misty. "If you see Misty, can you give her this charm bracelet I made for her?" she said while bringing out the bracelet.
The bracelet had the icons of the Mane 5's Cutie Marks and Team Sonic's logos she had seen on their stuff, with Misty's fake Cutie Mark on it with crystals on each side.
"It has the Cutie Marks of her new friends on it!" Izzy said with a smile.
"And our logotypes as well!" Tails added cheerfully.
Misty felt surprised by this, looking at the bracelet with amusement. "For me? I… Thank you..." she said with a smile, accepting the bracelet and putting it on her left hoof.
Izzy smiled back at Misty and gave her a wink, while Tails removed his mask and gave her a warm smile.
"Eee!" Sunny squealed excitedly as she approached Misty, Izzy, and Tails. "Okay, everypony! I know you've all been waiting for me to teach you the moves for the Unity Dance I choreographed for us!" she exclaimed joyfully while Sonic and Knuckles followed behind.
"What's a Unity Dance?" Misty and Izzy asked, confused, while Tails put on a bored expression as the three ponies removed their masks and looked at Sunny.
"Seriously?" Sunny deadpanned as she brought out her phone. "It’s on the group text," she pointed out with a smile, showing a video from her phone.
The video showed Sunny making the moves for the dance.
"Canter skip, double clip…" Sunny said in the video.
"Well, I guess we'll learn the steps along the way because I rarely check the messages on the group," Sonic said with a bored expression.
"I barely check my phone at all," Knuckles said with a slight frown.
"Lucky bastards..." Tails groaned in silence with a twitchy eye.
"Just imagine it…" Sunny said with a thoughtful smile. "All three pony-kinds, dancing together in perfect unison at the grand hall of Zephyr Heights Palace!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"I’m sorry, Sunny," Misty said with doubt. "But, um… I don’t think I can perform in front of other ponies," she worriedly.
"Aww, there's no reason to be shy, Mist!" Tails told her with a smile as he playfully nuzzled against her, but that made Misty blush even more, and her heart beat hard. "You don't mind if I call you Mist, right?" Tails asked her, a bit concerned.
Misty smiled at him and denied with her head, which made Tails smile back at her.
"This dance is about everypony working together and supporting each other," Sunny told Misty, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "And it's fun! Once we practice, you'll be fine," she assured her with a smile, and Misty smiled back.
"That is if we even have time to practice..." Sonic pointed out with a bored expression.
"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked, confused.
Just then, the Marestream shook violently, startling them. They looked out and saw it had landed on the palace's landing pad.
"Oh..." it's all Knuckles said with amusement, while Sonic looked at him mockingly.
Then, Hitch exited the pilot's cabin with Sparky on his back. "We're here! Let's go!" he said excitedly, and Sparky babbled excitedly.
"You ready to rock this red carpet?" Pipp asked her friends with a smile as they all cheered in agreement. "Mask up, everypony!" she instructed as everypony put their masks on and exited the vehicle, except for Sunny.
"Wait!" Sunny called out. "We need to rehearse! I can't do a unity dance alone!" she pointed out with concern.
"We'll dance it when we'll dance it, Sunny-Bunny," Sonic said with a smirk. "You cannot force this kind of stuff," he pointed out.
Skye and Dazzle were next to the red carpet at the Zephyr Heights Castle.
"Skye Silver here at the grandest and glitziest Manesquerade Ball red carpet Zephyr Heights has ever seen," Skye Silver announced as he and Dazzle were at the red carpet of the Royal Palace for their live news coverage. "Isn't that right, Dazzle?" he asked her with a smile.
"Yes, Skye! The first ZH Ball to include all ponykinds of Equestria," Dazzle replied, and the Pippsqueaks (Seashell, Glor,y and Peach Fizz) whistled happily while the cameras flashed as ponies kept arriving.
"What a historical event!" Skye nodded as ponies around were taking pictures of the ponies walking by with them wearing masks.
Just then, Jazz and Rocky appeared next to Skye and Dazzle.
"Hi, Dazzle Feather, ZBS Tonight," Dazzle greeted the two ponies. "What are you wearing, and who are you really?" she asked them.
"Only the best!" Jazz said through the mic with a smile.
"And wouldn't you like to know?" Rocky asked playfully, smiling, as he and Jazz continued walking.
"So true! I would like to know!" Dazzle answered with a smile.
Meanwhile, the Mane 5, Misty, Sparky, and Team Sonic had come up in the elevator to the red carpet entrance to the ball.
"Wow!" they all cheered in awe. Sonic whistled in amazement, and Pipp took a selfie with her phone.
After that, everypony headed towards the red carpet.
But then Queen Haven, Cloudpuff, Zoom, and Thunder landed in front of them, each wearing masks as they walked down the red carpet.
"How amazing is this, Cloudpuff?" Haven asked with a smirk. "Thanks to the masks, nopony knows who I am! Heehee!" she giggled gleefully.
But Queen Haven spoke too soon once she approached Skye and Dazzle.
"Excuse us, Your Majesty," Skye said as he and Dazzle bowed before Haven, which made her frown. "May we ask a few questions for the red carpet?" Skye asked.
"Why are you bowing and calling me 'Your Majesty'?" Haven asked, trying to act like she didn’t knoww them. Skye and Dazzle looked confused. "I’m sorry, but I don’t appreciate your assuming," she added.
"Oh, I’m so sorry, Queen," Dazzle apologized.
And then, Cloudpuff barked at them and shook his head, telling them to play along.
"I mean, whoever you are," Dazzle quickly corrected, now understanding. "It's just so hard to tell who is who with everypony wearing masks!" she added.
"You said it, Dazzle!" Skye agreed with a smirk. "I’m sure everypony at the ball will be asking: 'Who is this mysterious stunning mare'?" he added with a laugh.
"Whew!” Haven sighed in relief as she, Cloudpuff, Zoom, and Thunder continued walking down the walkway.
The Mane 5, Misty, Sparky, and Team Sonic saw this, looking at Haven confused.
"What is she doing?" Sunny asked first.
"I don't wanna be that guy, but she does know she's not fooling anypony here, right?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ugh, Mom does this at the ball every year…" Pipp explained with a sigh, but then she smiled at her friends. "Okay, team. Showtime!" she announced.
After that, she walked down the carpet while striking poses as the ponies cheered and took pictures of her.
"Over here! Over here!" one of the ponies in the crowd called out.
"Oh yeah!" Pipp exclaimed with a smile as she kept posing.
"Who are you wearing?" another pony asked.
"Princess Pipp, you look iconic!" another another pony called out.
They look pretty much the same, just with masks and a makeover. Their Cutie Marks are also visible, so it's pretty easy to tell it's them.
Then, Pipp came closer to the Pippsqueaks and took a selfie with them.
Next, Sunny and Izzy stood together and posed at the cameras as pictures of them were taken.
Now, Hitch and Sparky stood next to the pictures as Sparky grumbled excitedly and jumped off Hitch's back, walking on the red carpet and winking at the camera.
"A baby dragon on the red carpet?!" Shutter asked excitedly as she kept taking pictures of Sparky. "I can't even. Too cute!" she exclaimed.
Then, Team Sonic also walked down the carpet, with Sonic looking over at the cameras with his iconic smirk and wink. At the same time, Tails smiled at the cameras and waved his hoof, and Knuckles stroked some poses, even smirking confidently at the cameras.
Nopony could imagine this was Team Sonic with pony bodies, and they honestly wanted to keep it like that.
Next, Misty walked across the carpet just when a picture of her face was taken. "Ahh!" she cried out, startled, as other ponies took more pictures. Misty backed up a bit and then walked next to Zipp. "You mind if I trot back here with you so I’m not in any pictures?” she asked nervously.
"Why don't you want to be photographed?" Zipp asked, confused.
"Uh… The same reason as you?" Misty replied with a nervous smile.
"Hmm, can't argue with that!" Zipp said with a smile.
They entered the castle once the entire group passed through the red carpet.
The Mane 5, Misty, and Team Sonic entered the Throne Room.
They all felt amazed at the layout of the ball and the ponies dancing around with masks on, with both Sonic and Knuckles whistling at the sight.
"Hay-Fever-Happy Berries, this is beautiful!" Izzy beamed happily after a gasp.
"It is!" Misty agreed with a huge smile.
"I said it last season, and I'll say it again: I love Equestria!" Sonic exclaimed with a smile.
Then, Pipp brought them to the small buffet table. "We have chocolate fountains, whipped cream waterfalls, peanut butter puddles, and my personal favorite: cookie towers!" she beamed, gesturing to each sweet item they were serving for the night.
At this, Hitch grinned before grabbing a circular cookie, dipping it in fudge, and eating it.
"Hitch! You did not just do that!" Izzy barked, earning a surprised look from Hitch.
"Did I do something wrong?" Hitch asked.
"Uh, yes!" Izzy smiled, turning to the Whipped Cream Mountain and putting some on her horn. "You forgot the whipped cream, duh!" she flicked it onto Hitch's cookie, and he ate it but got the whipped cream on his nose completely.
"I've never been so happy to be wrong!" Hitch grinned.
"Well, there's a first time for everything!" Knuckles stated with a mocking smirk. "Like the fact that I don't know how I'm gonna grab food with these..." he pointed out, looking at his hooves with concern.
"It's pretty sticky!" Sonic said with a smile as he grabbed a cookie and topped it with chocolate and whipped cream. "It's like the 'stick to walls' thingy that Spider-Man has, but it doesn't look gross," he said, eating his cookie happily.
"Huh..." Knuckles replied, grabbing a cookie with his hoof and looking closely at it. "For once, you might be right, Hed—I mean! Sonic. Sorry, old habits die hard..." he pointed out with a sheepish smile.
Everypony else chuckled at that, but just then, Misty and Tails saw Zipp trotting off, which made them both raise their eyebrows.
"Huh?" Misty asked, confused, as Tails and she followed Zipp while hiding behind a pillar. "What are you up to?" she asked with suspicion.
"Zipp, please don't do this tonight," Tails muttered, concerned. "Why does she always put her job over her friends?! I get it; she's worried about Opaline and Eggman," he pointed out with a frown. Misty panicked a bit when he mentioned their names. "But that's no reason to be so bold and leave her friends behind! Ugh..." he groaned.
Misty could tell that Tails was tired of Zipp doing this, and in all honesty, she was tired too because Zipp kept messing with Opaline and Eggman's plans... And yet, she also agreed with Tails' point that she's leaving her friends behind way too much.
"Um... And what if we go and tell her that?" Misty suggested him with a smile. "I mean, it is tiring that she messes everything you guys wanna do because she's worried," she pointed out.
"I don't know... It does make me mad, but maybe we shouldn't stop her... I don't wanna mess with her job..." Tails said with a conflicted look while his ears lowered.
"I'm not saying we should let her stop; I'm saying we should maybe, you know, tell her to do this on a not-so-inconvenient occasion that involves our friends?" Misty pointed out with a nervous smile.
Tails' ears perked up at this. He looked back at Misty before smiling confidently. "Well, when you put it like that, I guess we can try!"
And so, both nodded before carefully following Zipp without anyone noticing, not even their friends.
Speaking of them, Sunny gathered those who were at the time so they could rehearse their Unity Dance.
"One more time!" Sunny called out to her friends. "It's canter, skip, double click. Hoof it up! A twirly shift!" She danced a demonstration for them.
The others tried to follow Sunny's dance moves, but while Hitch was struggling, Hitch and Sonic had a weird time making sure they could even move their hooves a bit to dance, so nopony but Pipp seemed to execute the moves right.
"Canter, skip, and…" Pipp spoke, but then, she and Hitch fell to the floor with a yelp.
"Click! Yes!" Izzy cheered as she just moved freely with a cheery smile, while Knuckles had no idea what was going on anymore, and Sonic could barely move right now.
"Suddenly, having hooves became difficult..." Sonic muttered with annoyance.
Sunny raised an eyebrow at what had happened. "Seriously?! Ugh! That is nothing like what I said!" she pointed out, frustrated, before sighing in defeat. "Let me show you again," she said with a bored expression.
Meanwhile, somewhere across the ballroom, Alphabittle, who's wearing a mask, was levitating two cups of drinks as he walked to the throne, where Queen Haven and Cloudpuff are.
"A glass of punch for the palace queen," Alphabittle said to Haven with a smile.
At this, Haven gave a fake gasp. "Who, me?" she asked playfully, smirking Alphabittle. "Shh…" she shushed him with a smile. "You recognize me when nopony else does," she stated, walking off her throne and to Alphabittle.
"Wait, you think that––?" Alphabittle tried to ask, confused, since Haven still believed nopony could recognize her.
"Absolute!" Haven answered with a smile. "Only my closest friends and family ever know it’s me while I’m masquerading," she added with a twirl.
Alphabittle laughed at this. "Really?" he asked with a smirk.
"Mm-hmm!" Haven nodded.
At this moment, Alphabittle knew she wasn't joking. "Oh, you're serious!" he said, surprised. "Oh, I'm so sorry for blowing your cover," he apologized in a whisper.
Haven smiled at him, then turned and walked off with Alphabittle following her to the other side of the throne. "No apologies needed, Alphie. Nopony heard," she assured him. "But since we share a secret, could I ask you a friendly favor?" she asked him.
"Mm-hmm, of course," Alphabittle nodded with a smile.
"Don’t tell anypony who I am," Haven whispered with a smile.
"Yes, indeed, your maj--" Alphabittle stopped himself quickly. "I mean, yes… whoever you are, mysterious young mare," he corrected himself while Have smiled at him as he tapped his cup with hers.
"And I will cheer to that," Haven said with a smile as she and Alphabittle tapped their drinks together. "Aw!" she said as she and Alphabittle laughed together.
And yet, none of them knew that the door behind the throne room was slightly open.
Meanwhile, Zipp, unknowingly followed by Misty and Tails, went down one hall to where the Zephyr Heights Royal Archives Secret Section was.
"Huh? 'Royal Library Archives: Authorized Ponies Only’?" Zipp read before snorting a bit. "Who's more authorized than a princess?" she asked with a smirk.
Then, she looked around to ensure she was alone before pressing the hoof scanner, which accepted her and opened the door, so she entered the library.
Of course, she didn't notice that Misty and Tails peeked around the corner and quickly ran in, with Misty getting caught in the closed doors by her hips for a moment before entering.
Inside, Zipp put on her Z-Googles and hovered up to one shelf. "That's what I'm talking about. Enhance!" she said confidently while her Z-Googles zoomed in as she read some titles. "Magic for Ponies... History of Zephyr Heights, 10th Edition…" she read, pulling out one book and then putting it back before taking another. "The Unexpurgated Book of Unicorns and Their Diets… Huh? Well, that's weirdly specific..." she commented.
Meanwhile, Misty and Tails walked around nearby, looking at all the books.
"Wow. I didn't even know Equestria had this many books," Misty said, surprised, as she pulled out one book with dust on it.
"Nopony else did either..." Tails pointed out with a cringed expression. "Why are there so many books, anyway? And who's crazy enough to read all of them?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"No idea..." Misty replied as she blew dust from the book she grabbed, which made both Tails and her sneeze, sending Misty to fall back into another bookshelf while several books fell on her. "Ow!" she cringed in pain.
"You okay, Mist?" Tails asked her with concern, flapping his wings to fly and check on her head since he was now almost the same height as Pipp in his pony form.
But as he did so, Misty blushed, embarrassed. She suddenly gasped as she grabbed a book that fell in front of her, one with the image of an alicorn on it. "Alicorns of the Ancient World," she read before gasping again and removing her mask.
I bet Opaline would reward me for something like this.
"Huh..." Tails said as he looked at the book cover she grabbed. "This seems to be the kind of stuff that Zipp's looking for..." he pointed out, landing at Misty's side and rubbing his chin.
But then, Zipp landed, and Misty and Tails screamed cutely. "Misty? Tails?!" Zipp asked in surprise as Misty yelped and covered the book while both Tails gave Zipp a sheepish grin. "Did you guys follow me?" Zipp asked, confused, as she took off her Z-Googles.
"Uh, us?" Misty asked innocently. "W-We're not followers," she said with a nervous chuckle. "Just because we're in the same place doesn't mean we followed you," she quickly said.
"But… you did follow me," Zipp pointed out as she frowned at Misty.
Feeling the tension rising, Tails immediately frowned and stepped before Misty. He was not in the mood to hear Zipp's nonsensical suspicions about Misty again.
"Yes, we did follow you, Zipp," Tails said with a frown. "Misty only did it because she wanted an excuse not to be around big crowds. You know you didn't have to come with me, right?" he turned to Misty with a smile.
Misty blushed again at him, smiling, but she still got herself together. "I-I know..." she replied. "Massive herds of ponies just freak me out, so I thought I could follow the other ponies' friends I know that don't also dig crowds?" she said, looking at the two ponies nervously.
"Hmm…" Zipp thought for a moment before shrugging. "True. We do have that in common," she admitted.
"As for me? I came here because... I AM TIRED OF YOU!" Tails snapped suddenly, opening his wings, and yellow electric sparks appeared in his eyes and wings for a second.
That sudden scream made Zipp take several steps back from him while Misty's eyes widened since he had never seen Tails being mad before.
"Y-You... What?" Zipp managed to ask, even though she was scared about the answer she could get.
"Zipp, when was the last time that you actually helped out on something that doesn't involve you sneaking away suddenly just to research about our enemy?" Tails asked with a frown while closing his wings. "I get that stopping Opaline and Eggman is important, I really do... But that does not give you any right to sneak away and do whole-ass research to get back to square one anyways!" he pointed out.
"Hey, I helped with the 'Sunny Side Up' show the other day, remember?" Zipp replied with a frown.
"And beyond that?" Tails asked with a bored expression and raised an eyebrow.
Zipp raised her hoof and tried to reply... But no words came out of her mouth. Instead, her eyes widened in shock as she realized that Tails was right: She was becoming obsessed with her investigation.
"You see what I mean?!" Tails said with rage. "Zipp, everypony around you is moving on, growing, learning... Loving! But you? Your entire investigation will destroy your life if you keep going. What if the key to defeating Eggman and Opaline cannot be investigated until after they make their move? What then?!" he questioned.
After pretty much shouting at her, Tails finally started to calm down while Zipp sat down and looked down at the floor with lower ears and a lost expression.
On the one hoof, this was very important: The entire magic of Equestria was at stake, and she couldn't just sit around and wait for a miracle to happen because that's not what a detective does... But on the other hoof, Tails had a point: Her obsession with discovering Twilight's message and Opaline's actual race consumed her.
Now, it was just her interactions with her friends... But what would it be tomorrow? Her family? Her royal duties? Her entire life?
Misty, however, couldn't believe that Tails did all of that so easily. if she ever had that much pressure from Opaline and/or Eggman and snapped, she'd probably be dead... But Tails just stood up and straightly told Zipp what was concerning him.
She admired that and smiled at the young pegasus's sigh.
"... Y-You... Tails, you're right..." Zipp said with an anxious look. "Ponyfeathers, I'm so concerned about losing my magic again... I didn't realize how it made you all feel..." she said regretfully.
Tails felt bad for yelling at her, but now that he was telling her his concerns, he decided to keep going.
"I'm not done..." Tails said conflictedly while Zipp's and Misty's eyes widened. "Zipp... I've been feeling concerned about you for a while. Ever since the Unicorn Sleepover, to be precise," he confessed.
Zipp and Misty gulped: Zipp because she could tell what was coming and Misty because she felt she would be involved.
"Ever since we met Misty that day, all you do is look and talk about her as she was the walking representation of the line, 'Mystery at sigh! Please come seek me!'" Tails said sarcastically while opening his hooves. "Whenever something off happens, your first target is her! Sunny's lantern, Sparky's disappearance, the thief that tried to take away the Crystals for the second time... Is like if you painted an invisible target on her back!" he pointed out with a frown.
"Well, she does tend to act weird sometimes..." Zipp pointed out.
"Oh, wow! A pony that lacks social skills and is very shy among many ponies is suspicious!" Tails said with a sarcastic smile and tone. "You act as if she were the only pony in Equestria who's shy and barely talks to anyone," he said with a frown. His eyes widened, and he looked back at Misty with a sheepish smile. "No offense, Mist!" he told her.
"Um... None taken!" Misty replied nervously.
"Look, Zipp. She has done things that might not be normal, but if we're going down that logic, you should have suspicions about Izzy, too," Tails said with a frown. "After all, she tends to do things that we do not see as normal, and I don't see you trash-talking about her because of that!" he pointed out angrily.
Now, this was something else...
First, he stands up and says with no fear what he hates about Zipp, but now he's defending her from Zipp's shenanigans. Misty was surprised by Tails' action, which made her smile her cheeks also turned red.
Wait... Why is she blushing at seeing him again? And why is her heart beating so fast? This makes no sense to her...
"Okay, okay, okay!" Zipp's voice spoke with panic, bringing Misty back to reality. "I get it! You don't like that. I'm blaming Misty for things we already know she didn't make... But why are you so protective over her?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.
She would lie if she said that she wasn't a bit jealous of how Tails defended Misty from her all the time, but she couldn't let her feelings for Tails get the best of her right now.
"Because I can sympathize with her," Tails replied, not with a frown anymore, but still upset. "She... She's never had friends before us, so she acts like she does. There's no bigger meaning behind her actions, Zipp. Is just like with Izzy: She's never interacted with so many ponies before, which is why she's still adapting to the concept of friendship to this very day!" he pointed out.
"Wait..." Zipp said, but now looking at Misty. "Is that true? You act awkward and nervous around us because you never interacted with ponies that much?" she asked.
"I... Um, I... Yes..." Misty replied with a sad expression. "I never had friends as a kid, and... I'm honestly scared to lose the ones I already made... And not only because of my lack of social skills..." she confessed with concern. "Tails, remember what you asked me that night? Besides never having friends before?" she asked him.
"Uh, yeah?" Tails replied, at first confused, but then his eyes widened. "W-Wait... You're gonna tell her about––" he tried to ask with concern, but Misty covered his mouth with a hoof.
Then, the unicorn mare sighed and got in front of Zipp with a conflicted expression. "Zipp, you were suspicious about me not being from Bridlewood that night... And you're right! I am not from Bridlewood. I didn't even grow there!" she confessed with sadness.
"W-What?!" Zipp screamed in shock, while Tails' eyes widened in surprise that she said it. "I-I was right?! You don't come from Bridlewood?!" she asked, still trying to process it.
Misty nodded and then gulped nervously. "B-But that's not all... I… I... I don't have a Cutie Mark!" she also admitted, wiping her fake Cutie Mark off her flank.
Zipp and Tails gasped in shock, especially because not even he saw that one coming.
"I know. It's shocking," Misty said, looking down at the floor. "And the truth is… I never had one..." she added with concern.
"I read about kids not getting theirs until they're 10, but a grown mare... This is both interesting, surprising, and concerning..." Tails said with worry.
"I knew it!" Zipp exclaimed suddenly, with Tails glaring at her. "Well, I didn't know that. But I knew there was something different about you!" she smiled.
"But different's not bad… right?" Misty asked.
"Of course not!" Tails told her with a smile. "Just because you're different doesn't mean that is bad!" he pointed out.
"But, ahh… I was right!" Zipp kept cheering with a smile.
"Yep. Your instincts were spot on," Misty said.
"Boom-zippity. Detective skills on point!" Zipp broasted to get a smack on the head by Tails. "Ow!" she yelped.
"Not helping, Zipp!" Tails said firmly.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to rub it in," Zipp apologized to Misty and Tails before turning to the unicorn mare. "But why didn't you just tell us?" she asked with concern.
"Maybe we would have freaked out, and besides Zipp, Sunny would also bomb you with questions—let's be real—" Tails pointed out. "But we would have understood! Why did you not tell anyone?" he asked, concerned.
"Well… I figured you wouldn't want to be my friend if you all knew!" Misty cried out, sobbing and then running to the door in tears.
"Wait!" Zipp called out.
"Misty!" Tails shouted as he and Zipp trotted after Misty.
"It's okay. You don't have to say it," Misty cried. "I'll just leave and then--" she tried to add.
"You can't! We need you," Zipp called out, and Misty stopped with surprise.
"You do?" Misty asked in surprise as she turned to the two ponies.
"Of course we do!" Tails assured with a smile. "We need you to stay because we like you, Misty, Cutie Mark or not," he added.
Misty felt surprised by hearing this, but she still smiled at them.
"And you know what? We're all different in our ways, but our differences make us who we are. How boring would that be if we were all the same?" Zipp joked as she flew forward a bit before landing.
"Take me as an example. We wanted to try out how it feels to be ponies for the ball, but... In all honesty? I think I prefer to be the little fox I've always been. It's just who I am!" Tails said with a smile. "And being different makes friendship so cool!" he added.
"Really?" Misty asked with a smile.
"Super, really," Zipp answered, also smiling.
"But let's cut back on keeping big secrets, okay?" Tails said with a chuckle. "We don't want detective Zipp going on another quest for truth that might hurt anypony!" he added, slightly pushing Zipp's shoulder, as the pegasus blushed and laughed a bit.
"That is something I could do," Misty said with a smile.
"And I'll work on the whole 'being suspicious of you' thing," Zipp assured the mare with a smile.
Then, Zipp and Misty touched their hooves, promising to work better for themselves.
"Good, 'cause you seriously need to work on that," Tails said with a smirk. "Also, sorry for snapping like that before... I was just concerned that you'll get too much into your investigation, leading you to get yourself hurt... I cannot allow that..." he said with a slight blush, and Zipp immediately blushed.
Misty raised an eyebrow as they both blushed at each other, and she couldn't help but frown a bit. Why did she do it, though? She didn't know, but she didn't like to see this either.
Still, she shook her head and laughed awkwardly. "So if we aren't keeping secrets anymore, then I think I should show you this," she stated as she trotted off, grabbed the Alicorn book, and gave it to Zipp.
Zipp gasped as she looked at the book. "Alicorns of the Ancient World?!" she asked in shock. "Where did you find this?" she requested Misty.
"Uh, it sort of found me!" Misty admitted.
"It fell on you," Tails corrected with a smile as they chuckled happily.
Zipp frowned a bit when Tails and Misty laughed together, but before she could even question anything, the door to the library opened suddenly, and Pipp popped her head.
"There you three are!" Pipp called out, startling Zipp as she put the book away. "What are you doing?! Come on! Sunny is trying to teach us––" she explained as she flew in.
"The dance!" Misty said in realization.
"Yes!" Pipp confirmed. "And she's freaking out because we are running out of time to rehearse!" she pointed out as she held out her phone but then looked at a bookshelf. "Aw, look. All of my old Spooky Stables books, aww!" she flew up and took pictures of the books. "Anyway, are you guys coming or what?!" Pipp asked the others as she flew to the door.
"What d'ya say, Misty? Are you down to a dance we don't know?" Zipp asked Misty with a smile.
"In front of everypony?" Misty asked in a panic. "I'll make a fool of myself!" she pointed out nervously.
"Not if we do it together!" Tails pointed out with a smirk and a wink.
"But I don't know any of the moves," Misty pointed out.
"Let us tell you a little secret," Zipp said as she approached her ear. "None of us do," she whispered with a chuckle, removing her mask and putting it on.
"Let's just make it up as we go!" Tails stated, also putting his mask back and giving Misty hers with a giggle.
Misty giggled and put on her mask while Zipp returned for the Alicorn book. "Whoops! Can't forget this!" Zipp said as she picked up the book.
After that, the three of them left the library with smiles.
Misty, Zipp, and Tails returned to the throne room as they approached their friends.
Sunny was worried at the snack table while Hitch and Knuckles tried to cheer her up, and Sonic seemed to be complaining about something.
"Now, come on, Sunny. It's not that bad," Hitch smiled, trying to reassure her.
"You're right. Ha! It's fine," Sunny said in a panicked tone. "We're just about to perform a unity dance that will be completely un-unified!" she cried out in panic.
"I guess when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound ideal…" Hitch said with a sheepish smile.
"Worst-case scenario? Ponies make fun of us for a whole week before something even more stupid happens that calls their attention," Knuckles pointed out.
"Yeah... Rule of the internet: It evolves quickly so we won't be laughed at for so long..." Sonic agreed, closing one of his wings with a hoof, only for his other wing to open again. He groaned and did the same, but with his other wing closed, the other one opened again. "Ugh, come on! It's been doing that for the past hour! Having wings is fun, but not when I can't close them!" he groaned.
"Shouldn't they close like some kind of reflex?" Sunny asked, confused. "That's how my wings, Zipp's, and Pipp's work," she pointed out.
"Well, they've been opening for no reason for the past hour, like I said!" Sonic complained with a frown to try and close his wings again, miserably failing in the process. "Ugh, I give up..." he deadpanned.
"Thank Chaos. My only existential crisis so far is that my name has no sense anymore now that I have no knuckles," Knuckles said with a relaxed smile.
"Huh... You're taking it too well," Hitch pointed out amusedly.
"Oh, I'm not. I'm just good at hiding my pain," Knuckles replied, as one of his eyes twitched, which made Sunny and Hitch cringe, while Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance.
With Jazz and Rocky, Izzy showed them her homemade DJ player. "Ta-da!" Izzy cheered.
"Now that's what I call a DJ Deck!" Jazz complimented with a smile.
"Me too!" Rocky agreed.
"Really?!" Izzy asked excitedly. "I call it a disco platter. Huh! It must be a Unicorn thing," she commented.
"So what do you want us to do?" Rocky asked curiously.
"Simple!" Izzy said with her usual cheery smile. "You two bring the grooves, and we'll bring the moves. Ooh!" she danced a bit before getting close to them. "That means to play our song, and we'll dance to it!" she whispered loudly.
"Ready, Izzy?" Sunny called out as Izzy turned and saw Sunny waving at her.
"Ooh! That must be your cue!" Izzy said excitedly to the two stylists, thinking that Sunny was telling her it was time before she trotted off to Sunny.
At this, Jazz and Rocky smile. "Hit it, Rocky!" Jazz said with a smile.
"You got it, Jazz!" Rocky answered with a smile.
Then, Rocky started the DJ player while Jazz pointed to Thunder and Zoom. Zoom pressed a button that brought out a bright disco ball.
"Wait! It's starting?!" Sunny asked in a panic once she heard the music and saw the disco ball. "No, no, no! We're not ready! We don't have everypony!" she called out in panic.
"Oh… Was that not the cue?" Izzy asked nervously.
"No! It's not time yet!" Sunny snapped.
"Well, I guess we'll have to improvise," Sonic stated with a smirk. "Give me that mic, Izz!" he called out to the unicorn mare.
Izzy nodded and gave Sonic a microphone while he boosted his wings to the center of the ball. Even though he struggled to keep his wings closed, he shrugged it off and decided to leave them open.
"What up, what up, Manesquerade Ball?!" Sonic called out, then mimicking a party horn sound. "Everypony clear the dance floor for something that will blow you away! Away…" he added with a smile.
As he spoke, Sunny approached him. "Sonic, this is a bad idea!" she whispered, concerned.
"Too late, it's happening! Take it or leave!" Sonic whispered back before using the mic again. "And now, a special performance of the Electric Unity Shuffle!" he announced.
However, Sunny looked nervous and backed away while Hitch and Knuckles arrived. "What do we do?! This isn't the message of unity I wanted to send!" she pointed out in worry.
"Don't worry, Sunny. They'll follow your lead. They always do," Hitch assured me with a smile.
"What is the first move again?" Izzy asked Sunny in a whisper.
At this, Sunny took a deep breath before walking up to the dance floor. "It goes like this…" she said as she stood in the middle of the dance floor.
As a light turned on over her, she started to dance. Pipp appeared before her, and Izzy came from behind as the three ponies danced in sync.
Sunny: Somepony give me a shimmy Somepony give me a shake Give me a twist and shout And just feel the bass
Sonic appeared from behind Pipp, Hitch appeared in front of Sunny, and Knuckles in front of Izzy, with the six ponies dancing in sync.
Sunny and Pipp: Hey, hey!
Pipp: Come on and let your mane down Yeah, pony, play
Pipp sang as she danced back before flying around happily.
Izzy: You gotta show me How you work it today
Izzy sang next as she danced around and turned her back and head with a smile.
Mane 5 & Team Sonic: Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-ahhh
Hitch: Shake it, shake it, shake it
Hitch sang as he shook his body. Then, Misty, Zipp, and Tails approached their friends. Zipp encouraged Misty to join in, and Misty excitedly joined the others as she and Sunny touched hooves and twirled around.
Sunny: Shake loose, bust a hoof Show me your pony moves
Sonic: You gotta let your mane down Yeah, let it sway
Pipp: Let it sway!)
The girls danced together in sync, with Misty joining them.
Knuckles: You gotta show me How you're slayin' today
Knuckles sang as Izzy while the couple danced together with smiles on their faces.
Pipp: Dance, feel the rhythm
Pipp sang as Sonic came next to her.
Sonic: Everypony move your hooves
Tails: Ow!
Izzy sang as the Mane 6 and Misty then started singing together as they danced while the ponies at the Ball watched them dance and sing.
Mane 5, Misty & Team Sonic: Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-ahhh
Tails and Misty: Shake it, shake it, shake it
Izzy sings as she and Misty dance together. The ponies start moving the song, and Zoom and Thunder move their heads to the beat.
Mane 5, Misty & Team Sonic: Shake loose, bust a hoof Show me your pony moves Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-ahhh Shake it, shake it, shake it
Jazz and Rocky moved to the music while Sparky made some break dance, and Cloudpuff moved to the music next to him.
Haven and Alphabittle watched the performance as well. "You know what this reminds me of?" Haven asked Alphabittle.
"My amazing dance skills on Just Prance?" Alphabittle guessed as he hopped up a bit before smiling at Haven.
Haven laughed and tapped Alphabittle's hoof. "No! It reminds me of my Pipp and Zipp," she sighed. "The palace just feels so empty without them," she added with sadness.
"Isn't that them?" Alphabittle asked with a smile, pointing to the dancefloor while the crowd cheered.
Haven looked to where Alphabittle pointed, and her eyes widened with surprise. "My hoofness, you're right!" she said with a wide smile, seeing her daughters circling together in the air. "You go, girls!" she cheered happily to her daughters.
But then, Alphabittle narrowed his eyes as he saw Misty dancing next to Izzy, not recognizing her since he knew almost all the Unicorns from Bridlewood, but before he could get a closer look, a pony blocked his view. Alphabittle decided to shrug it as he turned and saw Haven smiling at him, and he smiled back while the two ponies walked closer to the dance floor.
The Mane 5 and Misty then posed as Misty took a selfie with a smile.
Dance, feel the rhythm Everypony's got the moves
Pipp: Ohhhh, yeah!
Mane 5, Misty & Team Sonic: Dance, feel the rhythm Everypony move your hooves
Sunny: Ooo!
At the song's end, the Mane 5, Misty, and Team Sonic struck a pose as the crowd cheered at them for the performance.
Later, after the ball, the group returned to Brighthouse, where they watched the video of their Unity Dance on Pipp's phone, which was recorded during their performance.
"This video is ridiculous," Hitch commented with a smile.
"Ridiculously awesome!" Izzy cheered.
Pipp gave laughed at that. "Just like us," she said.
"At least it ended well!" Sonic pointed out with a smirk before looking at Sunny at his side. "And you were so worried for nothing!" he joked, pushing her shoulder slightly while Sunny giggled.
Misty looked down a bit as she got up from the chair and sighed, then looked at her friends with a smile. "Well, I should probably be getting back home. Thank you all so much for inviting me," she said happily.
"No sweat," Pipp replied with a smile. "We had a total ball with you, Misty!" she joked, which made her and Sparky laugh. "'Cause literally..." she added with a sheepish smile.
Misty chuckled at that while the Mane 5 and Team Sonic gave Misty a group hug.
"Aw, group hug!" Pipp called out happily.
Misty smiled and sighed happily as they all broke the hug. Then, she turned to Zipp and Tails and said, "Thanks, guys, for saying I was your friend."
"Well, you are!" Zipp answered with a smile.
"And no matter what, you'll always have us," Tails assured with a wink.
"Come visit any time," Zipp continued. "Maybe we can even research Alicorns together?" she suggested.
"I'd like that!" Misty agreed with a smile as she walked out the door. Zipp and Tails smiled at her.
But as Misty left and everypony else headed to the kitchen for a midnight snack, Team Sonic started to glow brightly again.
"Oh boy, here we go again..." Sonic muttered with annoyance.
Then, their bodies glowed bright once more as they were lifted in the air for a few seconds before shining even brighter.
Once the light disappeared, the Mane 5 stopped covering their faces. They saw that Team Sonic had returned to their Mobian forms, even with their shoes and gloves on.
Team Sonic opened their eyes and gasped when they saw the change. They all checked that everything was in order, with Sonic checking his quills, Knuckles closing his fists and smashing them together, and Tails checking his fluffy tails and hugging them.
"Ugh, thank Chaos!" Sonic cheered with a smile. "Being a pegasus and flying around was cool and all, but once I lost control over my wings and they did whatever they wanted, the fun was over," he pointed out with a bored expression.
"Existential crisis over!" Knuckles cheered and made some fighting moves in the air with his arms. "My name has sense again, and my fists are back, too!" he said aloud, while Sonic also rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"Oh, I wouldn't have minded staying as a pony longer, but these fluffy fellas are too good never to have again," Tails said with a smile, still hugging his tails.
"So, how would you describe your one-day experience as ponies?" Hitch asked with a smile.
"Well, after today, I genuinely have more respect for you guys and the insane amount of things you can do without fingers," Sonic said with a smile. "I know it looked like I could do it just fine, but I struggled for ten minutes, so I respect you guys even more now," he said with a bored expression.
"I was at least two times close to starting and walking around in my hind legs because a part of me kept forgetting that I turned into a pony now..." Knuckles said with an amused expression. "And I felt like I needed another name because... What's the point of being named 'Knuckles' when you have none?!" he asked with panic.
"Like I said, I wouldn't have minded staying as a pony longer... I liked it!" Tails said with a smile. "But, also... I did miss many things I could do as myself."
"Yeah, we respect you more for how incredibly skilled you guys are as ponies," Sonic said as the Mane 5 smiled at them. "But we also learned to appreciate ourselves even more. I don't think I can survive with a wing spreading the whole time!" he said with a bored expression once again.
"Yeah, that usually happens when your wings are used excessively," Zipp smirked.
At this, Sonic slowly frowned. "Are. You. SHITTING ME?!" he complained out loud with a groan, while everyone else bursted out laughing. "Oh, ha-ha-ha, very funny..." Sonic said sarcastically, using an eye roll and crossing his arms.
In Opaline's Castle, Misty returned to the castle before Opaline, sitting alone in the Throne Room.
It also seemed that Eggman didn't notice that she left. He never left his lab, making Misty think he had been there the whole day.
Then, the door to the Throne Room opened, and Misty stood up and saw Opaline coming in. "Well, well, well. You followed my instructions. I'm impressed," Opaline said with a smile as she approached Misty.
"You are?" Misty asked, surprised.
"But not as impressed as you will be when you see what I've acquired," Opaline stated as she brought out the Dragon Stone. "Behold! The Dragon Stone!" she announced, holding the stone up. "Bask in its glory!" she added.
Misty gasped at the Stone. "Woo! Wow!" She said with a smile.
At this, Opaline looked at Misty with a bored expression. "Okay, calm down. That’s too much basking. Don’t get too excited," she told Misty as she walked off, holding the Dragon Stone. "We still need to charge it, so we still need dragon fire," she explained.
"Fire?" Misty asked in panic before realizing what she meant. "Oh... yeah. I'm sorry. I haven't seen that baby dragon again recently," she lied nervously. "I'm so sorry," she apologized again.
"Not as sorry as I am," Opaline retorted as she left the Throne Room and closed the door.
Misty sat down again and pulled out her phone, giggling as she saw the selfie she had taken with her friends during their Unity Dance as the song played again.
Zipp was in the bedroom before her Investigation Board at the Crystal Brighthouse.
Sitting on Zipp's chair, Sparky also chomped on the Alicorn book.
"Hey, buddy! That’s mine!" Zipp lectured Sparky as she got her book back from him, and Sparky whimpered in disappointment.
After that, Zipp opened the book and gasped at what she saw.
"Now we’re getting somewhere," Zipp smirked as she read the book. As she turned the pages, she saw something that caught her attention, so she brought out her magnifying glass to get a closer look. "Pages ripped out?" she asked in surprise. "Looks fresh..." she pointed out before looking at Sparky with a raised eyebrow, thinking he had ripped out the pages or eaten them.
Sparky made happy, burbling noises, shrugged, and shook his head, telling her it wasn't him.
"It's almost like somepony didn’t want me to find what was on them..." Zipp theorized thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her magnifying glass.
Back at Opaline’s Castle, Misty sat in her room alone, looking sad.
Just then, she heard something and gasped because she saw Opaline's shadow coming close to her, so she quickly placed some paper under her pillows and hid them while Opaline came in.
"My evilness, Misty!" Opaline called out, brushing her hoof on Misty's doorway, with some dust flying off. "It’s a pig sty in here. Clean it up!" she yelled, making Misty flinch while Opaline left the room.
Misty stood quiet as she lifted her pillow again, seeing the pages from the Alicorn book she ripped as she read them, feeling guilty that she had to do so... But a part of her felt that she needed to keep the mystery going for Zipp.
Then, she looked at the selfie she had taken with her friends on her phone and the bracelet Izzy had given her on her left hoof, and she sighed in guilt and regret for doing this to her friends.
Eggman groaned as he threw another book away.
He spent the entire day searching for something in a bunch of books he took from Opaline's library, but so far, he had nothing. He was so invested in his research that he forgot about Misty, so she could go out of the Castle with no trouble.
"No..." Eggman said with anger, throwing another book backward and grabbing another one. "No!" he groaned again, launching the book backward as well and then grabbing the other book. "Ugh, this one has empty pages! What kind of stupid would leave white pages on their book?!" he questioned with rage.
However, he knew a trick or two about this kind of book because that made his eyes widen, so he quickly grabbed an ultraviolet light and applied it over the pages, to grin sinisterly when he saw invisible draws of the Unity Crystals and some text around it hidden with invisible tint, just what he was looking for.
"Please bring me what I seek..." Eggman begged as he started to read the text quickly. And then, his eyes stopped in one paragraph. "Hmm... 'Magic Absorber Spell'... 'This spell can revert the effect on the Unity Crystals to steal magic instead of give'..."
And then, his grin grew bigger at the next part.
"Hahaha... 'Even no magical beings can use it'!" Eggman read and cheered out loud. "Opaline, you better watch your back. Because I'm keeping my friends close... And my enemies even closer!" he declared, as he started to laugh loudly like a maniac.
Team Sonic had moved the couches away in the Crystal Brighthouse's living room.
In the middle, Knuckles was sitting with a black drum set in front of him, Tails held a blue bass, and Sonic held his red guitar. They all agreed to help Pipp with her livestream today, which was about a new song.
Why were they in the Brighthouse and not in Mane Melody? Pipp's stage in the salon doesn't have enough space to perform live with her, so they will play from the Brighthouse while a camera records them and projects them in Pipp's stream.
The team spent the whole week in Electronic Tails rehearsing the melody since Pipp was the only one going to sing. They were both relieved to know the instrumental backward and forward, but they were fed up with this fact because it was stuck in their minds now.
Thankfully, Pipp still needed 15 minutes to prepare herself for Mane Melody, so Team Sonic could chill for the time being as they waited for the pop star princess to be ready.
"Hey guys!" Sunny's voice spoke as she and the Mane 5, but Pipp approached the rest.
"Sup!" Sonic greeted with a smile.
"Hi!" Tails waved his hand happily.
"Yo!" Knuckles replied with a nod.
"Huh, you guys are ready to help Pipp with her stream?" Zipp commented with a smirk.
"Oh, we sure are!" Sonic stated with a confident smirk. "We've been practicing the instrumental the whole week," he pointed out.
"And I seriously went from like it to hate it in just two days..." Knuckles said with a bored expression. "I can't take it off my head now!" he complained while placing his hands on his head.
"On the bright side, once we finally perform it, we'll forget the tune... Right?" Tails asked with an awkward smile and a twitchy eye.
"I think you two are being really dramatic over this," Sonic said with a mocking smirk. "Is a really good tune! I don't see why to complain?" he pointed out.
"Sonic, Pipp could lead a revolution to take down a whole square in Zephyr Heights for no reason, and you'll still cheer her for that..." Knuckles pointed out with a frown.
"The same way you cheer everything Izzy does with her unicycling stuff?" Sonic countered with the same bored expression.
This made Izzy and Knuckles blush like mad while everyone else chuckled, and Sonic smirked mockingly at the echidna.
"Why don't you guys play something to ensure you're ready for the livestream?" Hitch suggested with a smile.
"Yeah!" Izzy agreed, with her blush leaving, and then she gasped excitedly. "Oh! Oh! What about one of those songs from your games?! Maybe that could help to forget about the instrumental you gotta play for a second," she pointed out.'
"Well, not forget it, but at least it would be something different than what's playing in your minds, right?" Sunny pointed out with a smile.
"Huh... We could try..." Tails admitted, scratching his head a bit. "The question is... What do we play?" he asked, while Knuckles just shrugged at the question.
On the other hand, Sonic initially felt as confused as his friends until he smiled and knew which song to play.
Then Sonic started to play a melody on his guitar. Tails and Knuckles looked at him, surprised, while Sonic looked back at them with a smirk. "Come on, guys! I know you want to do it!" he said confidently.
Tails and Knuckles looked at each other for a second before smirking, and then they started to play along with Sonic.
Sonic: What goes up must come down Yet my feet don't touch the ground See the world spinning upside down A mighty crash without a sound
Sonic and Tails: I can feel your every rage Step aside, I'll turn the page Breaking through your crazy maze
Tails: Like a laser beam, my eyes on you
Sonic and Tails: Watch me rule the night away Watch me save the day Feel my storm is getting close
Sonic: Headed your way
Team Sonic: Sonic heroes, Sonic heroes
Sonic: Bind you, confine you Defying your reign
Team Sonic: Sonic heroes, Sonic heroes
Knuckles: Setting the stage For a heroes parade
Sonic: You can bet there ain't no doubt As the words spill from the mouth Of a hero
Team Sonic: I can chase another day Fight you all the way
Knuckles: Like a hero
Team Sonic: And together we stand tall No matter how
Tails: No one can bring us down
Team Sonic: Sonic heroes, Sonic heroes
Sonic: Bind you, confine you Defying your reign
Team Sonic: Sonic heroes, Sonic heroes
Knuckles: Setting the stage For a heroes parade
Team Sonic: Sonic heroes
Sonic: Give us a reason And we're on our way
Once Team Sonic was done singing, their friends cheered loudly at their performance while Team Sonic smirked at each other.
"Ah, shit!" Knuckles complained suddenly. "The fucking instrumental we gotta play for Pipp, it's still stuck in my head!" he shouted in rage.
Team Dark and Amy were closer to reaching the Emerald at the top of the mountain.
"At long last, we're finally reaching the top!" Rouge said with a relieved tone, walking to rest her wings since she'd been using them to fly for days.
"It took us a week... maybe two, but we're finally making it," Shadow said. "Omega, how long would it take to reach the top from here?" he asked the robot.
Omega stopped moving and rotated his head 360 degrees, scanning the entire area to arrive at the best-calculated answer. "Scanning complete. Our arrival at the top of this mountain is calculated to be in one exact day," he said.
"Well, it's just one more day..." Amy pointed out. "Come on, now! The sooner we get the Chaos Emerald, the sooner we'll reunite with those three. Fortunately, they're not in so much trouble without me..." she added concerned.
Shadow and Rouge looked at each other with frowns but nodded and followed Amy while Omega walked behind them.
"Say, Amy..." Rouge called out. "You seem worried about those three, but... You still quitted from their little group a while ago. If I recall correctly, you––" she tried to say.
"I never explained why... I know..." Amy immediately replied, but she kept walking and didn't look back at Rouge or Shadow. "Honestly? I never wanted to quit... But I wasn't too comfortable the last months I was with them..." she confessed, hugging herself and looking down but still walking.
Rouge raised an eyebrow, confused, and Shadow scratched his head. Then, Rouge pushed Shadow slightly, confusing the hedgehog, and the bat made a sign with her head, telling him to continue the conversation.
With an eye roll, Shadow decided to obey. "And... Can we ask why?" he went on.
"Well... Those three have always been reckless. Or rather, Sonic and Knuckles are, at least; Tails follows their game because he doesn't want to feel left out..." Amy explained with a sad smile. "Maybe I should've followed his example because... That's exactly how I felt. Left out... Suddenly I wasn't part of them anymore, I was just 'Amy, the girl in the group' and... I hated it..." she added with a frustrated look.
"Wait... Sonic, a guy who always makes sure everyone feels included, no matter how he feels about them, made you feel excluded?" Rouge asked in disbelief.
"Are we sure you're talking about Sonic and not a clone Dr. Eggman created?" Shadow asked with a concerned frown.
"I know, it's pretty hard to believe... But it's true," Amy said with a fully sad expression. "They all made me feel like I was being there with them because they didn't want to be rude, but... I didn't feel like part of them. Just 'a girl with them,' and that's it..." she explained. "I needed to make my name out of them, make sure people would look at me and say, 'Hey, it's Amy Rose'! Instead of some bullshit like 'Hey, it's the girl from Team Sonic'!" she pointed out.
"And? How did it go?" Rouge asked curiously.
"Well... It was hard and took a while to do it, but... I did it," Amy replied, now smiling. "I mean, I was still defeating Eggman as those three would do together, or alone in Sonic's case, but I was doing it alone. No help from anyone; it was just me and my hammer against Eggman to protect innocents," she pointed out. "People were asking for my help, not only Sonic's," she added confidently.
"That would explain why there was a time he felt so bored because there was no Eggman attack... Guess you leave him with no job for quite a while, huh?" Shadow said with a mocking smirk.
"Well, he likes to steal others' fun sometimes. Karma was going to hit him anyway!" Amy pointed out with a mocking smirk as both Rouge and Shadow chuckled at her statement.
In Bridlewood, a unicorn filly trotted past some other ponies as she went up to two of her friends, with one of them holding her phone out while it started buffering.
In Zephyr Heights, the big screens were also buffering while everypony around looked expectantly.
At Maretime Bay, the Pippsqueaks huddled together and looked at their phones, which were also buffering.
"Only one more minute until another live update from Princess Pipp!" Seashell said in excitement.
"I wonder what she’s going to do?!" Peach Fizz asked excitedly. "A big announcement? A song? A big announcement about a song?" she added with a twirl as she squealed in excitement.
But then, Glory looked at her phone and widened her eyes. "Low battery? No, no, no, no," she cried out as she started to look around. "Where’s my charger? Where’s my charger?!" she panicked, not wanting to miss Pipp's stream.
At Mane Melody, Pipp was getting ready for her live video.
She looked in the mirror to ensure she looked great, then flew to the stage and tossed the microphone away, replacing it with her lucky microphone, which she kissed before putting down. Next, she flew to her laptop and brought it in front of the stage, pressing a button that made Team Sonic appear on the screen.
"Alright, Little Pipp!" Sonic spoke with a smile. "We're ready when you are!" he stated, as Knuckles twirled the drumsticks excitedly while Tails nodded in agreement to Sonic's Statement.
With this, Pipp pressed a button on her laptop, turning her camera on and flying in front of it with a smile. "Hey everyone––" she tried to say, but then, she suddenly started coughing, which surprised and worried Team Sonic, especially Sonic, while Pipp tried to talk again. "Hey. Hey, hey, everyp––" she tried to say again, but she started coughing even more, as her voice began to rasp. "Hey…" she tried to speak again, only to make a raspy sound.
With the Pippsqueaks, they were taken back by Pipp's coughing and raspy voice.
"Is this some performance art thing? If so, genius!" Seashell cheered to her friends before suddenly becoming sad. "If not, I'm pretty disappointed," she added, while Peach Fizz nodded in agreement.
"Yeah!" Glory agreed. "If her new song is just coughing and silence, then I have noted," she added as they looked back at the phone.
Back at Mane Melody, Pipp quickly grabbed a smoothie cup and took a quick sip before returning to the stage and grabbing her microphone.
"Technical difficulties!" Pipp said in a raspy tone as she spoke through the mic. "Gonna reschedule until tonight," she said, giving a small smile to her viewers and not noticing that Sonic behind put his guitar down and then boosted off camera. "Stay tuned, and thanks for watching--" she tried to say but didn’t get to finish because she started to cough again, which made her viewers gasp in worry.
Then, Pipp closed her laptop and turned to the screen, which turned off before she realized Sonic was gone.
But it didn't take her long to find out her boyfriend was coming, anyway...
"Pipp!" Sonic's voice rang as he rushed through the salon's entrance, jumped onto the stage,, and carefully placed his hands on her cheeks. Honey, what happened? You just kinda started to cough out of nowhere," he pointed out with concern.
"I don't know..." Pipp replied with concern before coughing again. "Everything was fine one minute, and then I just—–" she tried to add, only to cough again.
"We were watching the stream!" Hitch's voice called out suddenly as he and the rest of the Mane 5, Tails, and Knuckles rushed into Mane Melody.
"We were all watching when you started to cough a storm!" Izzy said with concern. "What happened?" she asked.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Pipp assured her friends and boyfriend in her raspy tone with a smile as she flew over her laptop. She landed in front of the rest, with Sonic walking at her side and looking at her with a frown. "Really! I think I just ate a weird apple or something," she insisted, then gagged a bit and covered her mouth.
Zipp saw that and gasped. "Oh no," she said, flying before her sister while Pipp coughed. "You’re… sick!" she called out.
"Yeah, I was having the feeling that would be the case," Sonic said with his arms crossed and a frown.
"Fair warning," Zipp called out, zooming in on the others with a smirk. "She’s about to become very high maintenance,," she pointed out.
"No! No, I am not!" Pipp denied. "I'm…" she tried to say, but before she could finish, she started sneezing like crazy, as she sat on her hind legs and sneezed again.
"Deny, it is just gonna make things worse, hun," Sonic pointed out as he kneeled and placed a hand over her mane. "You are sick, like it or not," he added with a concerned frown.
"It’s okay, Pipp," Sunny assured her with a smile. "Let us help you! You need to rest," she added.
"I promise! I’m fine," Pipp raspy assured her friends as she stood up. "I’m probably just allergic to exciting collaborations with amazing bands," she insisted before she started sneezing so hard that she flew back and landed on a mane dryer chair, she spun around and finally stopped while Sunny walked up to Pipp and took off the mane dryer helmet. "Okay. I guess I'm sick," she admitted.
"By the way, we're a team, not a band," Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression.
"Same meaning, different words, Knuckles," Tails pointed out with a bored expression and crossed arms. "Also, we can wait until you're better to perform with you, Pipp," he told her, now smiling.
"Yeah, your health is more important," Hitch said with a smile. "Now, let’s get you better!" he added, and Sparky nodded in agreement.
"But, but, but, but…" Pipp started stammering as she looked at her friends, who were smiling or frowning at her, while Sparky gave her a firm look and placed his hands on his hips.
"Young lady, you are resting to get better, and that's final," Sonic told her with a glare.
Pipp started to sob after being scolded by her boyfriend, even if she knew he was right. "Okay, fine," she said to her friends, then suddenly flew to the stage. "But I’m taking this," she added as she grabbed her lucky microphone. Then, Zipp flew to her and smirked with a raised eyebrow. "What? It’s my lucky microphone!" Pipp said in defense with a small smile. "I’ll just sing a little teensy tiny bit…" she tried to say.
"You will not!" Zipp said firmly, which made Pipp flinch a bit. Then Zipp took her microphone. "Two words, Pipp: vocal rest," she advised.
Pipp whimpered after hearing that, clearly not on board with the idea.
In the Brighthouse, Pipp was typing on her computer happily.
She was supposed to be resting, which she wasn't doing right now, but then she heard Zipp's voice.
"How's my little patient?" Zipp asked.
Pipp gasped and quickly flew back into bed, holding a thermometer in her mouth. She covered herself before her elder sister came in, and she sobbed. "Being sick is the worst feeling in the world!" she exclaimed while Zipp felt her head and took the thermometer out to check her temperature. "I just want to feel normal!" Pipp cried out.
"Hey, come on. Tough it out!" Zipp reassured her sister. "We all get sick sometimes. It's a part of life!"
"Yeah, I guess," Pipp sighed before she coughed.
"Aww, you poor thing. I'm sorry for the tough love," Zipp apologized. "It’s what works on me but not on you," she realized.
"Yeah, did you just come here to be mean to me until I feel better?" Pipp asked, sounding a bit stuffed up.
"No, not totally," Zipp said, shaking her head with a smile. "I prepared a backup plan to help you recover. "
"A miracle cure?" Pipp asked hopefully.
"Kinda," Zipp replied before she hovered in the air.
"What is it?" Pipp asked curiously.
"An escape from your nasty cold," Zipp began as she vanished from sight for a bit before returning with a huge bookshelf filled with books. "... and entrance into another world!"
"Is that what I think it is?" Pipp asked.
"Yep, my favorite books!" Zipp confirmed as she pulled herself in front of her sister's bed. "Aka, every volume of the greatest fantasy series of all time: The Chronicle of Chevalia! Including expanded universe, official canonical side adventures novellas, and..." Zipp pulled out one book and took it to Pipp. "The Official Chevalipedia!" she exclaimed excitedly before opening said book. "Every term defined, every creature species classified, and every map you'll need to find your bearing in this expensive and amazing universe!" she declared. At the same time, Pipp smiled sheepishly before getting out of bed and hovering a bit near her sister.
"Well, that is a lot," Pipp replied, looking at the books. "Thank you, Zipp, but how long do you expect me to be sick?" she asked nervously.
"Whether it's two days or two moons, there's always time to throw yourself back into Chevalia!" Zipp said with a fond smile while looking at the bookshelf.
"I do love reading. But for the record, let's hope it's two days," Pipp replied, taking a book before frowning. "I can't take two moons of this!" She fluttered onto her bed and sat down sadly.
"Enjoy the journey, and tell me when you get to the 'Tree of Fortunica'!" Zipp said with excitement. "Don't worry. It's not a spoiler. Oh no, saying it is a spoiler is sort of a spoiler, but not really," she quipped as she left. "Oops... Uh, you'll see," she finished before finally leaving the room.
Pipp sighed and prepared to open the book, but then Sunny appeared.
"Hey, hey!" Sunny called out, startling Pipp. She gasped and fondled the book, then started sneezing. "How’s my friend feeling?" she asked with a small smile, catching the book with her hoof and placing it on the bed.
Pipp recomposed herself and turned to Sunny with a smile. "Sunny! I’ve--" she cleared her throat. "I’ve been better. It’s just a quick little cold, though. I’ll be fine in no time!" she assured, now giving a sad expression. "I just have so much I want to do," she whimpered.
"Oh, I know you're reeling, but try to relax," Sunny said with a smile. "Is there anything I can do? Is there any food you like when you’re sick? Are there any home remedies that help?"
"No, not that I can remember..." Pipp answered, rubbing her chin with a hoof, until she gasped as she remembered something...
When Pipp was a filly, she was lying in bed sick. Queen Haven approached her daughter with a bowl of soup and spoon-fed Filly Pipp some, which made her smile at the taste.
Back in the present, Pipp had the same smile as she spoke. "Actually! There is something," she said as she looked at Sunny. "Whenever I got sick, Mom would make this amazing soup. That stuff was a miracle!" she said fondly at the memory.
"Say no more!" Sunny said with a smile as she held out her phone. "I’m on it, in it, and around it!" she stated as she twirled around and tossed her phone in the air before catching it with a smile and giving a small chuckle. "That means I’ll get it. So, what was in this magic soup?" she asked since she was about to write it down.
"Oh, there was... Um…" Pipp tried to say but then stopped. "Uh… I don’t remember! It was just this, um, this soup," she said, spreading her wings while Sunny listened with a small smile. "You know, good soup! The yummiest, like a warm hug for your taste buds," she stated as she lay on her bed and hugged a pillow with a smile. "Oh! Wow, I feel better just talking about it!" she commented happily before looking at Sunny. "Thank you so much, Sunny," she finished.
Sunny looked at her phone, confused. "A warm hug… uh-huh. For your taste buds," she said, making Pipp lay on her bed again and joyfully hug her pillow. "Okay. I'll get that, then," she assured Pipp as she left the room.
As she did so, Sonic entered, looked around, saw his girlfriend on her bed, and smiled.
"Heya, Pippsy," Sonic said with a smile, kissing her cheek, which made Pipp chuckle. "I won't bother to ask how you feel 'cause I already see it is everything but good..." he pointed out concernedly as he sat at her bedside.
"Yeah... I hate this!" Pipp said with sadness as she tapped her hooves on her pillow in such a cute way that Sonic smiled like an idiot. "I just wished I could feel better in such a short notice!" she cried out.
Yet Sonic could only chuckle at her attitude. "Heh, if being extremely cute was a crime, you'd get the life sentence, Miss Petals," he said with a loving look, caressing her cheek.
Pipp blushed like mad after hearing that and chuckled a bit sheepishly. "Blue Star, you've been too cheesy lately?" she pointed out. Not that I complain, but—–" she coughed a bit before continuing. "It's still kind of weird that you act so lovely with me," she confessed.
"Aw, are you flustered 'cause I love you too much?" Sonic asked her with a smirk, kissing her forehead, which made Pipp giggle.
"Aww, thank you, Blue Star..." Pipp said with a smile. "I would kiss you back, but I don't want you to fall sick, too," she giggled.
"It's okay, Little Pipp. You rest that voice and don't. Try. To sing, or you could lose your voice forever?" Sonic pointed out to her, which made her gasp and place a hoof over her throat. "I'll be back in an hour or two. First, I need to do something quickly, okay?" he assured her before kissing her forehead again and the boost away.
Pipp sighed, but she was feeling better now that Sonic had visited. So she grabbed the book again, hoping she could start reading it this time.
Sunny went downstairs while some critters were flying around the Brighthouse. "I have no idea how to make this soup, but that's never stopped me from doing something before," she added, rushing downstairs. "Oh, it is on, Hitch!" she suddenly called out with a determined look as she trotted past Hitch, Knuckles and Sparky.
"What is?" Hitch asked, confused.
"The soup!" Sunny called out as she made her way out of the Brighthouse.
Hitch and Knuckles looked at each other and smiled as they walked upstairs along the critters.
In the bedroom, Pipp sighed again and opened the book, but then, Hitch's critters came before her.
"Huh?" Pipp asked in surprise as she saw Hitch and Knuckles coming in while Sparky jumped on Pip'’s bed and jumped on her for a hug. "Oh, oh wow..." she said in surprise, smiling sheepishly at them. "Hi, everycritter! What’s going on?" she asked, confused by Hitch and Knuckles.
"Well, pal. We thought you might be bored in here all by yourself!" Hitch started as he placed Curtle on the bed. "So…" he tried to continue with a small smile.
"I haven’t been by myself yet," Pipp answered with a bored expression.
"That's why the critters, Hitch, and I thought we'd cheer you up!" Knuckles announced while the critters chirped, and Hitch nodded in agreement.
"Oh, that’s so sweet!" Pipp said with a small smile as she petted Sparky. But nothing would cheer me up like being outside on this beautiful day," she said, looking at the window with a fond smile.
"Hey! Is outside more interesting than some fascinating nature facts?" Hitch asked with a smirk, taking some charts from the squirrel.
Pipp giggled at this. "Um, I guess not," she answered.
It was. It was a lot more interesting.
Right now? Pipp felt very bored because Hitch and Knuckles had been reading all the charts about nature, making her sleepy.
“And that's why they're called, say it with me, pine cones!" Knuckles announced while Hitch and the critters chattered.
"Oh, wow..." Pipp said tiredly, thanking deep inside that this was finally over.
"Aha!" Izzy cheered as she appeared from the stairs while the rest looked at her. "Thanks for stopping by, cuties! But now it's time for the holistic healing helping hoof, Izzy!" she announced cheerfully with a wave of her hoof as she hopped next to them. "Izzy! Izzy! Izzy!" she mimicked an echo around the critters.
"Don’t worry, Pipp. We have many more nature facts to share," Hitch assured them with a smile as the critters jumped off the bed.
"We'll be back later," Knuckles stated, then shared a quick kiss with Izzy, and after that, he left the room along with Hitch, Sparky, and the critters.
"Oh, Pipper!" Izzy called out with a smile as Pipp turned to her. "Once I work my magic, you'll be back to your old chipper, sparkly, singing self in no time!" she assured cheerfully.
"Uh, okay, Izzy, but––" Pipp tried to explain but was cut off while Izzy hopped out of the room.
"My crystals reminded me of the ultimate tea potion for your flu!" Izzy called out, rummaging through some stuff downstairs, while Pipp looked confused before Izzy came back up while levitating a giant teapot and a tea cup. "Here it is, my Unicorn Remedy Tea: guaranteed to cure what ails your tail! And the rest of ya," she assured, pouring some in the tea cup and giving it to Pipp.
Pipp smiled and held the teacup, taking a sip. She smiled at the taste. "Wow. I was skeptical, but it’s delicious!" she said while Izzy smiled at her. "Thank you so much. And it's a magic cure?" she asked, taking another sip. "I can feel it working!" she cheered, but she just sneezed again. "Okay, maybe not," she said after the sneeze.
Izzy looked closely at the tea, soon realizing what she had done wrong. "Oh yeah, oh no, I forgot to add the magic!" she said cheerfully, laughing at her mistake. "Yeah, I just made a tasty tea. But I can fix it," she assured, levitating the tea cup and kettle again. I'll be right back! Keep resting! No moving!" she added, walking out of the room.
Pipp sighed, disappointed at this outcome, sadly resting her head on her hoof.
In the living room, Zipp was flying around. At the same time, Sunny was sitting with stacks of books around her and looking at her phone. Tails was helping her around by reading one of the books.
"'Magic get-well soup,'" Sunny typed in her phone, but it gave a beep. "Nope. 'Magic get-well soup, Zephyr Heights'?" she typed again, but she got another beep. "Nothing. Uh, 'Princess Pipp's perfect magic soup recipe for when Pipp is sick soup,'" she typed again with a smile.
At this, Tails looked up from the book and raised an eyebrow at her. "That's oddly specific to even be on the internet," he pointed out. When Sunny's phone gave another beep, Sunny groaned in frustration and leaned back. "Told ya!" Tails said, returning to read the book.
"Sunny? Something on the stove smells strange…" Zipp called out from the kitchen.
At this, Sunny gasped in realization. "My test soup!" she called out in panic, rushing to the kitchen.
Zipp saw the pot with the soup burned up. Smoke smog exploded out of it, covering everything. Sunny rushed to it with a gasp and turned off the stove.
"I'll take that," Sunny said with a sheepish smile, taking the spoon from Zipp.
The two ponies looked at the pot, and Sunny tapped the spoon on it, but the liquid was hardened now. Soon, Tails arrived as well, and he looked with disgust at the pot.
"Yikes, I think I'll make other lunch plans," Zipp cringed.
"I'm ordering pizza today, I guess..." Tails said with a disgusted expression.
"No, this isn’t for us," Sunny said with a smile. "I’m trying to make your mom's special soup for Pipp, Zipp!" she explained, walking off. "I should just go to Zephyr Heights and ask her––" she tried to finish.
But Zipp flew up and stopped her when she mentioned talking to Haven. "Oh… Maybe don’t do that," she suggested.
"Why not?" Tails asked, confused.
"Mom only made that soup when we were sick," Zipp pointed out.
"So?" both Sunny and Tails asked in curiosity.
"If she knows one of us is sick, she'll freak out and fly here!" Zipp explained as she landed on the ground. "Be cool about it, Sunny?" she asked nervously.
"Cool? I can be cool!" Sunny said with a wide smile. "I can be very cool," she assured, trying to act cool.
Both Zipp and Tails gave Sunny bored expressions. "Yeah... No... No, this is not gonna work. Sorry, Sunny. When it comes to motivational and inspiring stuff? You and Sonic outdo everyone else, no doubt!" Tails said with a smile. "But when it comes to lying? Only Sonic can be in that department... You still need work to do," he pointed out with a bored expression. "Which is why I'm going with you!" he smirked.
"Um... I don't think it's necessary, but okay!" Sunny said with a smile.
Then Zipp sniffed the air and cringed. "But maybe you should take care of that first…" she said, pointing to the burnt soup pot.
The three friends looked over the pot, sniffed it, and gagged.
"I don't think I'll eat soup in a while..." Tails said with a cringed expression.
Sunny covered her mouth to avoid vomiting right there because of the smell. "Blech! No, good call," she said to her friends as she closed the pot.
Sonic opened The Sacred Gate of The Ancients and popped his head.
As expected, Canterlot was still this abandoned city that nopony would dare to visit. Was it because of Discord? Well, kinda, but also... This place is creepy as fuck. Why would anyone come here, anyway? It is part of an age that disappeared long ago when that mysterious unicorn mare made the three pony tribes split up with their respective Unity Crystal.
Sonic stepped into the City and looked around, not noticing Eggman's robotic flicky that also entered and flew away, following the Hedgehog from the shadows. Despite this being his fourth-fifth time here, he still got goosebumps whenever he saw the place around.
"I get this place is abandoned, but man... I seriously feel like there are some hobbyist jobbies around here, " Sonic said.
Still, he nodded with a determinate look and then accelerated toward the Castle. He remembered how excited Sunny was to be in the same place as her childhood heroines, while the rest... well... either were amazed to be here or wanted to go home as soon as they recovered the Pegasus Crystal.
But that was months ago. They were on good terms with Crystal's thief—or at least, he believes. The last time he talked with Crystal, he said he needed time to reflect on his actions.
That was two months ago, and he still hasn't shown up in Maretime Bay.
Yet, it wasn't stopping Sonic from talking to him. After all, he still had to answer him something. So, Sonic reached the Throne Room in Canterlot's Castle and stared down at the one hole left, which he entered curled into a ball.
Once again, he didn't notice Eggman's robotic Flicky, which followed Sonic closely.
Landing at the bottom on a comfy chair with a table in front, Sonic smiled: This was the same place where he met him, the so-called 'Lord of Chaos' himself.
"Yeah, 'self-called' is rude. I am the Lord of Chaos," a voice spoke suddenly, startling Sonic a bit.
He calmed down quickly since he already knew who was talking. "I thought we were done with the surprise games?" he pointed out mockingly.
"Oh, but what fun could I ever get if there weren't surprises?" a flying book spoke behind, and when Sonic turned around, he smirked playfully.
"You get being chaotic to a whole new level, Discord..." Sonic pointed out with an amused tone.
Then, a snap was heard, and the book Sonic was talking with turned into a strange creature with a lion's arm, an eagle's arm, a dragon's leg and tail, a horse's leg, a serpent's body, and a pony's head. This was Discord, and as he said earlier after interrupting me, he's the Lord of Chaos.
"That's what makes me charming!" Discord exclaimed as he snapped again, making him and Sonic appear seated on the table from earlier. "So, my unexpected spiky-head friend. What do I owe the pleasure to my humble abode?" Discord asked with a smirk as he grabbed a cup of tea and drank the cup instead of the tea.
"First, your 'humble abode' needs serious supervision from Izzy... Like, for real," Sonic pointed out, looking around the cave.
"Aw, come on! This place isn't so bad!" Discord said while a bird flying upside down passed above them. "How badly could it be, anyways?" he asked rhetorically.
"How bad could it be? Man, you would make Izzy and Rainbow Violette run out of money if they decided to unicycle this place..." Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "Second, do you always have to be surrounded by chaos? It doesn't bother me, is not weird considering all the crazy stuff I've seen before..." he confessed, while Discord made a plate with donuts appear, then he grabbed one donut and opened his mouth, only for a smaller discord to come out of it, grab the donut and get back inside Discord. "... Okay, I'll take that back..." Sonic corrected himself after seeing that.
"Chaos is just a part of what I am!" Discord said happily as another Discord suddenly came by and took out a needle, which he used to make the other Discord explode in confetti. "Is part of who I am! If I didn't have chaos, it would almost be like if you didn't have your speed, you get me?" he pointed out.
"Uh-huh..." Sonic said with a raised eyebrow. "And third, my presence here... I think you can tell," he pointed out with a bored expression.
"... Yeah... I can," Discord said with an eye roll as he snapped his fingers and appeared lying on a massage bed. Another Discord - with a mustache - massaged him. "You still want that info on the last floating gem with chaos magic, don't you?" he asked Sonic with a relaxed look.
"Yeah... Also, is Chaos Energy, not Chaos magic..." Sonic pointed out.
"Same thing to me––" Discord replied before letting out a cry of pain when the other him started to flex and stretch his back in ways that could kill anyone else. "Ow! Yes! Right there!" he said with half a painful look and half a smile.
"... Dude, you freak me out sometimes..." Sonic confessed with a cringed expression.
Then, the other Discord let go of the main one, whose back immediately got as good as new, as the other Discord bowed and disappeared. "Oh, yes! That's much better!" Discord cheered with a smirk. "Look, Sonic... I know I said that you should leave and all of that, but seeing how much you care about protecting everypony in Equestria, and not to mention your brand new relationship with Pipp, maybe you should reconsider––" he tried to point out.
"Discord, I'm not leaving this time," Sonic said firmly. "I want to know where the fuck is that last Emerald and I'm not leaving until you give me that info!" he stated with a frown.
"Perhaps your memory is not that smart..." Discord mocked up with a bored expression. "If you don't remember, I said––" he tried to remind, but...
"The remaining Emerald is here in Equestria, but not at the same time," Sonic said instead of Discord. "Yes, I know. I've been day and night since you told me that bullshit, trying to understand its meaning... I still have nothing," he pointed out with a frown.
"Gosh, Sonic... You cannot be that stupid..." Discord said with a glare.
"Says the guy that wanted to destroy all magic just because he refused to listen," Sonic countered.
"Ugh! You're as unbearable as the first day we met!" Discord declared with a frown.
"Cool, we can agree on one thing at least, Mr. 'I can't move on, so I'm gonna fuck my best friend's last wish by destroying all magic'..." Sonic mocked back with a smirk.
And that, that was the straw that broke the camel's back for the Lord of Chaos, because he screamed in rage, and both his eyes and hair turned into actual fire, while he glared down at Sonic...
Yet he could not do anything because he started coughing violently and quickly returned to his old self.
"Man, getting on your nerves is so easy!" Sonic chuckled with a smirk.
Discord coughed some more before finally stopping, then he got up and looked at Sonic bored. "... You are an annoying Hedgehog..." Discord said with a bored expression himself.
"What can I say? Is part of my charm!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk.
Discord rolled his eyes again, but he still smirked. "Alright, Sonic. You win. I'll tell you what I know," he said.
Meanwhile, Pipp was still in the room...
However, instead of resting as she should, she was trying to practice singing.
"What's that sound? It's the sound of the…," Pipp coughed. "... thundercloud. Crash, you gotta believe in the…" she coughed some more, just when Zipp came in and saw her on her phone, trying to sing.
"Hmm…" Zipp said with a frown. "Hey!" she called out, spooking Pipp as she fumbled her phone into Zipp's hooves. "You're supposed to be resting. Vocal Resting!" she pointed out with a frown.
"No! Not Bestie! Give her back!" Pipp frowned, hovering up, but Zipp blocked her with her hoof as she tried to reach her phone, waving her hooves around and screaming until she stopped.
"No more secret singing! No more ClipTrots! No more livestreams! You can have this back later. Give yourself a break for now! Sheesh," Zipp stated before flying off.
Pipp sighed, frustrated, and grabbed a Chronicles of Chevalia book, opening it up.
In Zephyr Heights Castle, Queen Haven was leaning on her throne with a wide smile. She was playing a game on her phone and laughing at it.
Haven didn't notice Sunny and Tails entering the throne room while being escorted by Thunder and Zoom.
"Hi, Queen Haven!" Sunny quickly called out as Thunder and Zoom walked off. "Your Majesty!" she quickly corrected herself, bowing.
Tails also bowed, but he was facepalming internally at Sunny's nerves getting the best of her.
Haven heard Sunny and was surprised that Tails and she were here. Not wanting them to see her playing on her phone, she tossed it away and stood up.
"Oh, please, Sunny," Haven said with a small smile and wave, acting like nothing happened. "Call me Your Majesty Queen Haven," she said as she flew up with her wings spread and did a pose. "To what I owe the pleasure? And where are my girls? Are they here?" she asked, looking around for her daughters.
"Play it cool…" Tails whispered to Sunny, smiling and giving her thumbs up. She smiled at him and nodded.
"Well, Zipp has some sleuthing to do, and Pipp is sick…" Sunny tried to say, but she stopped mid-sentence as Haven's eyes widened in surprise, and Tails' eyes widened in panic. "... at skateboarding!" Sunny quickly corrected herself. "She's so sick at it. Sick means good. She's skating," she added, giving an awkward chuckle.
"Y-Yeah! Sonic's been teaching her lately, and she still needs practice, but she's good at it!" Tails added with a nervous smile.
Still, Haven believed it and calmed down, flying down to her throne. "This is a satisfying answer," She said with a calm smile.
Sunny and Tails sighed in relief at this outcome. "I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you that, that…" Sunny trailed off. Tails forced a smile and glared at Sunny while Haven looked at them confused and raised an eyebrow. "We've entered a cooking competition!" she quickly said. "Yup, we did, and we need to bring some elevated flavors from Zephyr Heights to Maretime Bay," she added.
"Yeah! We think it'll be the height of sophistication!" Tails added with a laugh. "Get it?" he asked.
"Oh, how lovely!" Haven cheered as she flew towards Sunny and Tails. "And you're right about that. Our cuisine is second to none. I love to help," she said, which made Sunny and Tails smile at the answer.
"I'm surprised she doesn't suspect, considering we had that cooking show with the mixed recipes a week ago," Tails muttered to Sunny with a smile.
"Well, considering there's a lot of stuff happening in ZH, she might think another cooking competition so soon isn't that odd," Sunny muttered back with a giggle.
In the Brighthouse, Hitch and Knuckles were back in the room with the critters while Pipp watched what they were doing.
"Okay, guys," Pipp said, placing down the book she was reading. "Whatcha got for me, now?" she asked with a small smile.
"My incredibly talented critters and I have prepared a play for you!" Hitch revealed with a smile while the critters got on the desk, and Sparky clapped his hands, turning off the lights.
"And I am gonna play some background music cause I don't talk bird," Knuckles said with a smirk, as he brought some bongos and sat in front of the desk so Pipp could focus on the play and not on him.
Speaking of Pipp, she looked at her friends and the critters confused.
"Our story starts in a humble wooded thicket in Maretime Bay…" Hitch started as he translated and pointed a flashlight at Kenneth, while Pipp watched interested, and Kenneth made some moves. "Hark! To what do mine eyes see but a spotted owl?" Hitch continued, now making hooting sounds.
Pipp giggled at this, got a pillow and watched the play with a smile.
The play continued one critter at a time, with Kenneth chirping as he held onto Curtle with an old Anti-Unicorn mind-reading helmet on his shell.
Then, the next scene shows Sparky growling while wearing his mask from the Manesquerade Ball. Then, McSnips jumped on with a pen, acting like it was a sword and poking Sparky, who pretended to be stabbed as he lay down and his mask came off, playing dead.
Finally, Kenneth posed as Hitch translated. "And there was never a war between the spotted owls and the striped lemurs again!" he finished as the critters waved and the squirrel released streamers.
Knuckles also stopped playing the bongs, and he sighed in relief that the play was over.
Pipp clapped with a smile at the play. "That was so cute!" she cheered, rubbing her nose. "Oh, one question, though. Did the winged gopher learn to fly because it was inside him all along or because the Breezie fairy granted him a wish?" she asked. "I'm sorry, it's just a little unclear. Feels like a first draft," she pointed out.
Kenneth grew frustrated and threw his can hat down, chirping off mad.
"He says…" Hitch tried to translate but stopped himself. "You know what? I… won’t share that one," he stated nervously.
"I don't speak animal, but I think that's probably just the bird's way of calling you a b––" Knuckles tried to say as he stood up, but Hitch immediately covered his mouth with a hoof, which widened the echidna's eyes.
"Knux, I'm serious. Let's not tell her..." Hitch begged with an anxious expression.
Back with Sunny and Tails, they were still walking with Haven through the hall past some large clear windows.
"So, do you have any special soup that might heal? I mean, wow, the judges?" Sunny asked with a small smile.
"Oh, do I? I do!" Haven grinned. "There's Cream of Marshmallow, Egg Cloud Bisque, and Pegasus Wedding Soup. My personal favorite," she said with a fond smile.
Sunny and Tails looked at each other as Haven named the soups. "Not exactly what we're looking for. But they all sound great, anyways!" Tails said with a smile while Sunny looked down in thought.
Back at the Crystal Brighthouse, Izzy came into the room again.
"Okay!" Izzy called out cheerfully as Pipp lay on her bed and saw Izzy coming. "Pipperoni and Cheese, this time, I think I’ve got it," she said happily, bringing out the tea kettle again. "The magic potion tea to cure your bug and bring you back to maximum sparkle!" she announced.
Pipp smiled with her wings flapping as she stood up. "Ooh, I'll try it! The last one was delicious," she commented. "Notes of cinnamon, and ginger, and…" she listed out, stopping for a second and rubbing her nose. "Cotton candy?" she finished with a small smile.
"Oh, you noticed, aw!" Izzy smiled. Now, she was pouring tea into the cup and giving it to Pipp. "Okay, here you go! Bottoms up!" she cheered.
Pipp smiled and happily took a sip of the tea. "Again, delicious," she said, but now she said it in Izzy's voice instead of hers, greatly shocking her. "Wait, why do I sound like this?! I'm you, Izzy! I mean–– I'm not you, but I have your voice! Oh no!" she cried out in panic and with Izzy's voice.
"What?" Izzy asked, confused since she didn't expect that either. "Let me try!" she said, taking a sip of the tea and tasting it before smiling. "Mmm, tasty!" she said cheerfully, and then she felt the aftertaste. "Huh? That was new! Must have been the bumbleroot," she stated before suddenly gasping. "How’s your voice now?" she asked Pipp.
"Fa la laa––" Pipp tried to sing, with her normal voice returning despite still being raspy. "Still the same.." she answered with a sad expression.
"Oh, flying rats!" Izzy called out. But I’m not giving up yet. Potion tea magic is real!" she said with a determined look. "I’ll be right back!" she said, giving Pipp back the cup and walking off with the kettle.
Pipp glanced at her cup of tea momentarily before putting it aside. She didn't want to talk like Izzy again.
"Look who came to see you, Pipp," Zipp called out as she entered the room.
Misty slid into the room next to Zipp with a smile just then.
"Misty?!" Pipp called out with surprise. "Haven't seen you since the Manesquerade Ball!" she said with a smile while Zipp and Misty approached her.
"I know, I've been busy," Misty said with a sheepish smile. "But I saw you on the livestream and wanted to check up on you," she explained.
"Aw! Aren't you sweet?" Pipp asked with a smile at Misty.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, very sweet," Zipp quickly said, now getting closer to her sister. "Okay, sis, it's time we talk turkey," she said seriously.
"Oh, I don't know any talking turkeys," Pipp said, tilting her head a bit before gasping. "You should ask Hitch!" she suggested.
"No! 'Talk turkey' is detective speak for 'get down to business'!" Zipp said with a smirk, but Pipp looked at her confused. "I want to take you through my ongoing case against the nefarious evil pony who wants to steal magic!" she explained. "Aka Opaline, aka Dr. Eggman's partner," she added.
Misty gasped in panic after hearing this.
"Oh, ooh!" Pipp said excitedly with a clap of her hooves. "Okay. You mean the dirt. The goss. The tea?" she asked eagerly.
"No! It's not ready yet!" Izzy's voice called out from the living room.
"The facts!" Zipp answered.
"I love it; let's get into it," Pipp said eagerly.
"Or uh…" Misty called out, looking very nervous. "We could play a game instead!" she suggested.
"Nah, I like my idea better," Zipp said, which left Misty even more nervous. "So after hours and hours of digging through everything, including the book Misty helped me find… I've determined that Opaline is an alicorn!” she declared. "And she's been around since the days of Twilight Sparkle!" she added. "But maybe even way before that!" she finished.
After hearing that, Pipp gasped dramatically. "I love this theory! Keep going!" she said eagerly, then started coughing again.
As she did so, Misty looked on with worry. Of course, they knew about Eggman; he hadn't tried to stay hidden, but how did they know about Opaline?
Back at Zephyr Heights, Sunny and Tails still listen to Haven's different kinds of soups.
"Apple Bisque, Tomato Bisque and Biscuit Bisque..." Haven continued to give Sunny and Tails the list of her winning soup recipes. "But that one's not very popular," she confessed.
"Your Majesty, I'm just going to say it..." Sunny replied. "What was that soup you would make for Pipp? She made it sound so great, the way she talked it up," she pointed out.
Haven gave a soft smile after hearing that. "You mean the Special Sick Day Soup?" she asked. "For days when she was sick? Why? Is she sick? My baby!" She panicked and went into mother-overdrive mode.
"No, no, no, no, no,! I am," Tails quickly excused as he gave a fake cough.
"Oh, you poor dear. But please, for the love of Cloudpuff, don't pass it on to me," Haven said. "I have places to go and ponies to see! I'm meeting Alphabittle for tea later," she said with a smile as she walked off.
Sunny and Tails chuckled awkwardly, which turned into a grimace when Haven was gone after hearing that.
"You owe me one!" Tails whispered to Sunny with half a frown.
In Canterlot, Discord leads Sonic to the library.
Of course, Eggman's Flicky was still following from behind. Still, even if he was far away, neither Sonic nor Discord could find him; it had a sound amplifier, so Eggman could still perfectly hear whatever Sonic and Discord were gonna talk about, just as if he was there with them instead of far away.
The draconequus snapped his fingers and made a big blue book with Celestia and Luna's Cute Marks on the cover. Then, he opened the book and started projecting something as an illusion. It seemed to be a mountain full of snow, but Discord zoomed in to the top, where a cave could be seen.
"Uh... What is this?" Sonic asked, confused.
"This is where the last Chaos Emerald should be..." Discord replied. "But! Don't get excited; this isn't a matter of where it is, but rather a matter of when it is," he pointed out.
"... What?" Sonic asked, confused.
"'The remaining Emerald is here in Equestria, but not at the same time. ' My riddle isn't a duality of being there and not simultaneously, Sonic: Is a matter of being in the right place, at the wrong time!" Discord explained.
At this, Sonic blinked a few times, confused and gaining a bored expression from Discord. Before finally realizing what he meant. "The Emerald... It is not lost in a specific location... It is lost in time?!" he shouted in shock.
"Well, there it is!" Discord said with a bored expression. "It took eight issues, 8 Tell Your Tale episodes, and six chapters this season to discover. Happy now?" he asked rhetorically, also crossing his arms.
"Happy now?! You are telling me that I've been looking until the last fucking corner in Equestria for that Emerald... And you casually tell me that it's been stuck in the past this whole time?!" Sonic shouted in rage.
"My riddle was pretty easy to understand, Sonic," Discord pointed out. "It was common sense! If it's not a matter of simultaneity, it's a matter of a thing being in the wrong time!" he explained.
"I consider myself to have an average IQ, but did you think anyone was as crazy as you to find out what your message was about?" Sonic asked with a frown.
Discord looked at him with a blank expression and blinked a few times. "Okay, maybe I should've been more specific..." he confessed.
"OH, YOU THINK?!" Sonic shouted angrily, which made Discord snap his fingers and bring some noise-blocking headphones he put on while Sonic groaned and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "Chaos, bring me peace... Alright, if the Emerald is really in the past, how did it end up there?" he asked, confused.
"Thanks for asking that politely!" Discord said with a smile.
After that, he snapped his fingers again, and Sonic and he sat down on chairs surrounded by multiple Discords also sitting on other chairs.
A TV appeared before them, which turned on and started to show something. This was the very same day that he fell into Eggman's trap and arrived in Equestria.
"While you were busy talking with your friends, the Emeralds traveled here first," Discord explained. "However, on the way, the Light Blue One strayed away from the others and entered a different time branch. Now, even if it did end up in Equestria anyway, it had traveled around a hundred or two hundred years before our present day. And once it arrived at the top of that mountain, due to the distortion in time it experimented, the Emerald created that cave to protect itself and wait for you!" he added.
"That... Has some sense, I think. I mean, it's pretty much a coincidence just one Emerald out of 7 strayed from the way, but things happen for a reason," Sonic said with a raised eyebrow. "But that raises another question: The other 6 Emeralds weren't restored until Tails and Eggman broke the Bridlewood Crystals over them and got a bit recharged by my new powers. Wouldn't that mean it would be completely dead if the Emerald is still there today?" he questioned.
"Oh, it is. That Eggman guy has it," Discord replied, extremely calm.
"... You've gotta be kidding me..." Sonic said with a glare.
"Hey, it is fully dead, which means you're still in time to retrieve the non-dead one... In the past!" Discord said with a smile, trying to sound positive.
"That just makes it worse..." Sonic muttered with an anxious expression. "I'm gonna guess that the Emerald in the past does have energy because it recovered by itself before losing its power after years of not being used... right?" he asked.
"It's a theory but a plausible one!" Discord replied.
"Gosh... This is... A lot to process..." Sonic muttered with a confused look.
"Thanks, Celestia. He's not finding out about them being from Equestria until the next episode," Discord muttered to you, reader, with a smirk.
"Did you say something?" Sonic asked him, confused, since he thought he heard the draconequus talking.
"I think you're hearing stuff, Hedgehog," Discord said mockingly.
"Uh-huh..." Sonic replied with a glare before shaking his head. "Well... I have what I wanted now... And I don't know what to do with this info..." he confessed.
"Hence why I didn't want to tell! It is a lot to process and hard to believe!" Discord pointed out. "Yet, when I tell you that I'm not lying, it is because I'm not," he assured with a serious look.
"Well, you know a lot about chaos, and honestly? After a whole year of not knowing where that last Emerald is, I'm going to trust your word this time," Sonic said with a smile. I hope, for your good, that you didn't lie to me..." he warned Discord with a bored expression.
"It would be fun, not gonna lie... But I'm a force of goodness now," Discord assured with a relaxed expression, floating in the air and waving his legs happily like a schoolgirl. "I'm not lying to you, Sonic. And that is a promise," he stated.
"You sure?" Sonic asked with crossed arms and a mocking smirk, raising an eyebrow.
Discord got immediately what Sonic wanted him to do, and even if he rolled his eyes again, he still smirked. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" he declared.
Sonic laughed after he did that, but he still raised his thumbs and smirked. "Thanks for the help, Discord. I should go back with my girl now. She's not gonna heal in loneliness, you know!" he stated with a determinate expression.
After that, he waved his hand at Discord and then returned to the Crystal Brighthouse at top speed.
"Say hi to everyone else in my name!" Discord screamed while waving a handkerchief and then sorbing on it.
However, Discord never noticed that the Flicky recorded it all, and Eggman heard everything about the conversation... Even the part where Discord mentioned that the Chaos Emeralds are from Equestria...
In his lab, Eggman stared with no glasses and fully wide eyes at his screen.
He couldn't believe what the Flicky recorded... The thing about the Emerald being in the past with power had no sense until Sonic and Discord discussed it... But the Emeralds being from Equestria?!
"N-No way... I can't believe this!" Eggman exclaimed in shock. "I-I mean... Looking back, it makes sense... It would explain why the magic of Bridlewood's crystals restored them or why one of Sage's analyses showed a coincidence pattern that established the crystals and Emeralds with the same energy! B-But that doesn't explain Sonic's powers helping as well... Unless there's something about that hedgehog that nobody knows... Not even himself..." he declared.
Then, he grabbed his glasses and returned them, staring again at his computer's screen.
"I never actually wondered where the Chaos Emeralds come from... Guess it's time to do some research!" Eggman stated with a determinate look.
After that, he clapped his hands, and soon enough, a Moto Bug arrived, pushing a shelf with wheels that had several books from Opaline's library.
Back in the Brighthouse, Pipp was reading a book when Zipp suddenly flew in.
"Sis! I forgot to share a key detail!" Zipp called out as she and Misty came in. "The book says Alicorns can harness other types of magic," she explained while Misty panicked again.
"I’m not following this turkey talk," Pipp said, confused, as she placed the book down and wiped her nose. "If an Alicorn already has Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony magic, what other kind of magic is there?" she questioned.
"Dragon magi––" Zipp tried to answer but was cut off when Misty started to fake coughing.
The sisters turned to her, confused. "Oh!" Misty said with a nervous chuckle, clearing her throat. "Ahem, I must be coming down with what you have, Pipp," she lied nervously, giving another fake cough. "Anyway, uh, I just came here to bring this get-well gift," she said, holding out a newspaper-wrapped present with some ribbons. "It’s a mane brush. 'Cause a pony never has too many mane brushes!" she added with a laugh while Pipp smiled both at the present and at Misty. "Am I right?" she asked with a smile.
Pipp gasped happily. "How thoughtful!" she said with a sniff. "Thank you so much!" she thanked.
"Hey Misty, tell us that story you shared at the unicorn sleepover again, would you?" Zipp asked while Misty panicked for the millionth time today.
"Uh… Uh, uh..." Misty said nervously, giving a nervous smile. "Sure, I… I just... I just… I gotta get some water first," she stated, fake coughing again, trotting out of the room as she headed downstairs.
"What’s stuck in her mane?" Pipp asked, confused, as she pointed a wing to where Misty trotted off.
"Hmm, hmm," Zipp shrugged. "Remember that one time I got a candy apple stuck in mine?" she asked Pipp with an amusing smile.
"No, that was me," Pipp deadpanned as she placed Misty's gift present down. You put it there. At the carnival," she pointed out. It took Mom an hour to get it out," she reminded her.
"Oh yeah!" Zipp said with a chuckle. "Classic..." She smiled fondly at the memory, but Pipp gave her a bored expression. "I mean, sorry about that," she quickly apologized with a sheepish smile.
Meanwhile, Sunny and Tails were still trying to get the soup from Haven.
Tails was getting too much into the act because he was coughing like a maniac, while Sunny smiled sheepishly at his act. "So, can I get that recipe or––" Sunny asked, as Tails coughed again while Haven checked on her phone.
"My, aren't you a persistent one?" Haven suddenly frowned, throwing away her phone and sighing. "Okay, fine! You don't have to keep twisting my hoof! I admit it! The soup is not homemade! It's from the Souper Ladle Food Cart!" she yelled out while Sunny and Tails looked at each other, both surprised and confused. "It's the number 12, add carrots. I've been ordering it and passing it off as my own for the girls' whole lives. I'm embarrassed! I'm a good mother but a terrible chef," Haven admitted as she sat down.
"Oh no, I don't judge you!" Sunny replied quickly. "I'm sure it's delicious either way!" she assured her.
Haven wiped her tears and clapped her hooves as Zoom came to them, holding a bowl. "At least take the official Royal Ponyware for authenticity," she said as Zoom gave Sunny the bow and guided Tails and her out the door. "I did always serve it in this. Good luck and feel better, dear Tails!" she called out.
Zoom guided Sunny and Tails out the door and then closed it. "Wait, where's the Souper Ladle Food Cart?" Sunny called out.
"So... Good mother, terrible chef... For Sonic's sake, let's hope we don't have to add 'Paranoid mother-in-law' to the list!" Tails joked with a mocking smirk while Sunny covered her mouth in an attempt not to burst out laughing.
Back at the Brighthouse, Pipp is trying to suit her makeup supplies, moving them around.
Just then, Zipp entered the room. "Sis, you won't be better for days if you’re not––" she tried to say, but...
"Don't say resting," Pipp cut her off. She pointed a makeup bottle at her sister, and Zipp felt startled at Pipp's snap. "Please. Please don't say resting! I'm so sick of resting," she cried as she flew to bed. "I've been resting for hours. I'm done!" she pointed out, then sighed in defeat. "I feel crummy, but doing nothing is making it worse!" she added.
"I'm sorry! I just…" Zipp tried to explain with a guilty expression but stopped herself. "Never mind. I'll go," she said while looking down.
"I'm just so over being treated like a patient," Pipp answered, lowering herself to her bed and kicking a tissue away. "It's not you. I'm sorry!" She apologized, now sitting on her bed.
Just then, Sonic got into the room, but before saying anything, he saw that Pipp and Zipp were having some discussion. "Oh, sorry. Is this bad timing? I can leave and let you two sort this out––" he tried to say, smiling sheepishly and stepping back.
"It's okay," Zipp said suddenly, which made Sonic stop moving. "I'll give you your space…" she added. As she walked out of the room, Pipp groaned stressfully.
Sonic noticed that and raised an eyebrow, so he approached his girlfriend and sat at her side on the bed. At this, Pipp lay her head on his shoulder by instinct, and Sonic wrapped his arm around her.
"Mind to explain what happened while I was out?" Sonic asked her.
"I'm just... Everypony's been treating me like a patient, and I know is just because they're worried, but... I don't wanna be here doing nothing anymore..." Pipp explained as her ears lowered and she sniffed from sadness and sickness.
"Well, I cannot provide a magic cure even if I wanted, but I can keep you company until you feel better," Sonic told her with a smile. "What do you say about that, Princess?" he asked her with a mocking tone and smirk.
Pipp giggled at hearing that and sniffed again. "I think that'll be perfect," she declared with a smile.
Later, Pipp read the book again with a small smile while Sonic returned his old ukulele and played some music.
"Hey, Pipper-status!" Izzy called out while Pipp and Sonic turned to see Izzy coming in with a new tea cut and wearing protective goggles.
"Where are you doing a tea or a science project?" Sonic asked sarcastically.
"Ugh, Izzy, I know you're trying here, but––" Pipp tried to say as she closed the book and sat on her bed.
"Just taste it, silly," Izzy said with a smile. "I promise I got it right this time," she assured.
Pipp took a sip of the cup and... smiled. "I love it! What is it?" she asked happily.
Izzy took a deep breath before smiling and replying, "It's just chamomile tea. I finally stopped looking for a cure and settled on something that would make you feel nice."
"Aw, that's exactly what I needed!" Pipp cheered with a smile. "Thanks, Izzy, you're the best!" she said, taking a closer look at her tea. "You're sure this won't mess with my voice?" she asked.
"This one is just 100% chamomile flowers, honey, and water," Izzy assured her. "Oh, and love," she whispered with a smile.
"Now, this is some magic I can get behind!" Pipp said happily.
"Mess with your voice? What exactly happened while I was out?" Sonic asked, confused.
Pipp sorbed by her nose before replying. "I'll explain to you later, sweetie," she assured him with a smile.
Meanwhile, Sunny and Tails went to the Souper Ladle Food Carry to get Pipp her soup.
"Number 12, add carrots," Sunny asked with a smile.
"Ooh, so sorry, we just ran out," the sales pony replied.
"No! Poor Pipp is never going to get better," Tails said with worry, but the sales pony's face lit up by hearing Pipp's name.
"This is for the Princess?! Well, why didn’t you say so?" The sales pony called out. "I need an extra number 12 with carrots for the Princess!" he ordered.
Then, the Chef appeared before them. "For the Princess?! Coming right up!" he stated, then worked on the soup.
"And don't keep royalty waiting!" the sales pony added before winking at Sunny and Tails, which smiled back.
Zipp and Misty returned to the Brighthouse with a board. Pipp and Sonic saw them arrive, so Pipp put the book away, and Sonic sat at her side.
"First of all, I want to say I'm sorry for getting on your case all day, sis," Zipp apologized. "I just care about you, okay?" she pointed out.
"I know," Pipp said, now looking down. "I'm sorry for being Little Miss Cranky Hooves," she apologized before sobbing. "I'm just stir-crazy from being inside today," she added.
"You should thank I'm not the one that fell sick... I'll be twice as upset of being inside than her," Sonic said with a bored expression.
"Well, then, let me knock your stir-crazy sock off," Zipp joked as she flipped her board to show the clues and hints of Opaline and Eggman.
Misty gasped in shock while Pipp stared in awe, and Sonic raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, what is this?" Sonic asked, confused.
"This, my spiky-head brother-in-law, is how all my theories connect!" Zipp started. "On Alicorns, on dragon magic, on glowing Cutie Marks…" she said with a smile.
Misty squeaked nervously while Pipp watched uninterestedly. Sonic grabbed a notebook, pencil, and reading glasses to look more intelligent.
On the other hand, Zipp started explaining her theories, connecting the clues while replaying Twilight's message. She explained every detail and every clue she had researched and gathered, which made Misty even more nervous. Pipp seemed amazed by this, and Sonic kept taking notes.
She also explained why Opaline needed Eggman's help and how it was safe to say that one of them was going to backstab the other one as soon as any of them got their hands or hooves on the Unity Crystals and/or Chaos Emeralds.
After a few minutes of explaining, Zipp revealed that Opaline was an Alicorn, which left Pipp speechless. Sonic stared at his notes thoughtfully.
"Amazing! I love it," Pipp said with a smile while Zipp smiled back at her. "I mean, I don't love that we have to stop this evil Alicorn, Opaline, nor that creepy Eggman dude, but excellent work," she added.
"An evil genius that can build machines as an army, and an Alicorn that has the power of three different types of magic, joining forces..." Sonic muttered. "As if finding a way to retrieve the last Emerald from the past to our present wasn't enough pain in the ass..." he said with concern.
"Wait, what?!" Zipp asked in shock. "The last Chaos Emerald is in the past?!" she exclaimed.
"That's what Discord said, at least..." Sonic replied, removing his reading glasses. "I know I should take his word carefully, but is everything I have so far..." he pointed out. "Say, Misty... You're quiet," he commented.
But once he and the sisters turned, they saw Misty was gone.
"Oh no, I hope she's not getting sick too," Zipp said with concern.
In the Castle, Eggman spent hours reviewing all the books he got from Opaline's library.
Finding out that the last Chaos Emerald was stuck around a hundred or two hundred years in the past was one thing, but finding out that the Chaos Emeralds are from Equestria? This was a huge discovery, and he had to dig deeper into the subject.
After reading all the books about the Starfall Islands he had, the three volumes on 'History of Equestria: Before and After Celestia', and hearing from the Lord of Chaos himself that the Emeralds were created in Equestria, Eggman's suspicions stopped being that...
"So it's official now... The Chaos Emeralds are from Equestria..." Eggman said with a slight frown. "I still cannot believe this... My whole life, I've been seeking their power... And it turns out that they're from a completely different world?! Guess my interest in Equestria and its magic wasn't born out of a coincidence..." he pointed out. "However, that doesn't help to find out how I'm going to retrieve the last Emerald from the past... Nor what to do with its dead counterpart," he added with concern.
However, before he could question this further, he heard Opaline screaming in anger...
"What do you mean 'they know'?" Opaline questioned in anger.
Eggman raised an eyebrow at hearing her yells, so he stood up and left his lab. He then entered the study room and saw Opaline completely mad, while Misty felt nervous.
"Who is 'they,' and what do they know?" Opaline asked with rage.
"Zipp, Pipp,, and Sonic——they know everything!" Misty answered. "Well, not everything, but a lot. They know who you are, well, almost," she added.
"Ugh, almost?" Opaline scoffed. "They had never heard of moi? The great and powerful Opaline?" she questioned, as her horn lit up in flames and she spread her wings out.
Misty backed up nervously while Eggman raised an eyebrow.
Then, Opaline retracted her wings, and her horn died out. "What are they teaching these ponies in history classes? Nonsense? Gibberish?" she asked while looking at Misty, who stood silently, unsure what to say. "Well?" she questioned, which made Misty flinch.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Misty quickly apologized. "Uh, I, I don't know. I thought it was one of those questions you're not supposed to answer," she confessed.
Opaline groaned, annoyed at that.
"I'm sorry, ladies, but I'm afraid I'm lost here..." Eggman confessed. "What is going on?" he asked.
"Sonic, Zipp, and Pipp is going on!" Misty said with a panicked expression. "They know almost everything! The hideout is still a secret to them, and our full plans too, but they know everything else!" she explained.
Eggman groaned and frowned after hearing this. "I should've made sure those stupid princesses died inside that cave after Misty trapped them!" he shouted in rage.
"Or she should've made sure that they actually stayed trapped!" Opaline shouted with rage as well, which made Misty flinch.
"UGH, WHATEVER!" Eggman shouted, stomping his foot hard enough to make Opaline and Misty flinch. "I'm tired of this dance. I've been hearing the same fucking song for 21 years, and I'm STILL on square one!" he pointed out with anger. "But not anymore..." he stated with a frown.
Back at the Brighthouse, Pipp was watching the critters and Sparky, playing instruments since they started a band together to entertain Pipp, while Hitch listened to the music in the background with a smile.
As for Sonic and Knuckles, they decided to move aside to talk about the last Chaos Emerald being trapped in the past.
"So Discord did know where it was, but he didn't tell 'cause it would been hard to believe..." Knuckles muttered.
"Pretty much," Sonic replied with a worried frown. "Now we know when it is, but... How are we gonna get it?" he asked confused.
"Maybe once Pipp feels better, we could gather all the crew and discuss that?" Knuckles suggested. "We can even involve Misty and everything," he pointed out.
"Eh, I don't know, Knux... I don't wanna drag them to this problem..." Sonic confessed with concern. "I know they can handle weird stuff and care for Eggman, but they have enough by knowing he's around. Time travel? You think they could handle that?" he asked with a frown.
"Hmm... I guess I see your point. Still, you are underestimating them," Knuckles pointed out. "They can deal with Eggman; you say it yourself. I think they'll be fine with some time travel stuff," he smirked.
"I hope you're right, Knux..." Sonic said with concern, looking at Pipp and Hitch. "For their sake and ours..." he added with worry.
On the other hand, the critter finished playing the instruments, and Pipp started to clap lightly to them. "Oh, wow…" she said with an uncertain smile. "Yay, uh… That was great," she said with a sheepish smile. "Hitch, I appreciate you trying to keep me entertained all day, but what I could use is somepony to hang out with," she said with a small smile. "Sonic is the best example of that, and I really would like just to chill, you know?" she pointed out.
At this, Hitch sighed relievedly and smiled. "Boy, wow. Thank you. Yes! I must admit, we were running out of stuff to show you, weren't we?" he asked his critter friends and Sparky with a smile. Sparky gurgled in agreement as he took off his sunglasses.
At this, Pipp smiled and hugged her pillow with sparkling eyes.
A little later, Sunny and Tails returned from Zephyr Heights in the Tornado IV.
They had to land it on Electronic Tails' heliport, which meant they had to come to the Brighthouse running, with Tails carrying the soup.
Sonic, Pipp, Knuckles, and Hitch played UNO inside the bedroom while Sparky slept with a pacifier and a pillow. Then Sunny and Tails came into the room, and Tails placed the bowl of soup down.
Sunny sighed tiredly. "Wow, that took all day!" she said with a smile. "Pipp, we got it! We did it!" she cheered, pushing the soup closer to Pipp.
"We have your magical soup... And it took a lot of jobs to get it..." Tails added with an anxious look and a twitchy eye.
"Sunny, this is so nice!" Pipp smiled. "But I should tell you, there's nothing magical about it," she revealed.
Sunny was surprised by that, and Tails' eyes widened, with one of them twitching even more now. "There… isn’t?" Sunny asked.
"It's special because of my mom's effort to get it and her stubbornness in insisting it was homemade!" Pipp explained with a smile.
"You knew?!" Tails asked/shouted in shock, with his eye twitching even more now.
"But I love it!" Pipp cheered. "It always made me feel good when I was sick, and this is the nicest thing. You guys are the best," she added, smiling at Sunny and Tails for their effort.
"I think I'm gonna get sick for real now..." Tails muttered with an angry tone, and his eyes still twitched.
"Hmm," Sunny said as she was about to return the soup.
"Hey!" Pipp suddenly called out, making Sunny stop taking the soup. "I know I said it was the thought that counts, but it's also really delicious soup," she explained. "Give it, please?" she asked politely.
Sunny smiled and gave her the soup to Pipp while she accepted it.
"Thank you!" Pipp said happily as she drank down the soup.
In the Castle, Opaline and Eggman were pacing back and forth while Misty sat on the floor.
"So, what do you want me to do?" Misty asked uncertainly.
"What do you think?" Opaline questioned firmly as she turned Misty in a slight panic. "That little detective girl is getting too smart. We must act," she declared.
"Indeed..." Eggman agreed. "But this time, we cannot allow ourselves to fail. It isn't an option anymore," he declared, and Opaline nodded in agreement while the doctor turned to face Misty. "You will get that winged lizard from those fools once and for all!" he instructed with anger.
Misty felt surprised that Eggman was yelling at her, but she still nodded at him with a nervous smile.
"Once she brings you the fire, power up and get those Crystals!" Eggman instructed Opaline now. "As for me? I have plans for tomorrow..." he declared with a sinister grin, turning around and heading back to his lab.
"What kind of plans?" Opaline asked.
"I'm gonna get myself a Roasted Hedgehog," Eggman replied. "I've gotta remind him... What. I'm. Made of," he declared, followed by a maniac laugh as thunder roared outside the castle.
Night hit Equestria almost out of nowhere.
Team Dark and Amy were just an hour or two away from getting the Chaos Emerald at the top of the mountain. However, even if they knew they were close, they still chose to stay behind and sleep tonight to have full energy tomorrow while taking the Emerald back.
However, only Amy and Omega were sleeping. Shadow and Rouge were staring at the night sky, with Shadow's expression somewhat conflicted. At the same time, Rouge hugged her legs and wrapped herself with her wings, sitting at Shadow's side.
Soon enough, though, Rouge turned at her side and noticed Shadow's expression. "Something on your mind?" she asked.
"... Kinda..." Shadow replied. "I guess my mind's conflicted... The Emeralds are from this Equestria world we're in now... As weird as the idea sounds, it also seems... logical to some point," he said, sighing. "I guess... I'm concerned that everything we thought we knew about the Chaos Emeralds was a lie..." he confessed.
"Well, we technically never knew that much about them, anyways," Rouge pointed out with a smirk. "But I get where you are coming from. After all, you have Chaos Energy in your veins, so you can use Chaos Control with no Emerald, even if it takes your energy, right?" she asked.
Shadow nodded at that statement before sighing again. "Finding those three is not urgent. With Eggman causing trouble in this universe instead of ours, their job remains the same," he pointed out with a slight smirk. But we have no idea what kind of consequences their stay here could bring to Mobius," he added with concern.
"Do we know if there's any consequences at all?" Rouge questioned with a raised eyebrow. "We have left our world for several months before. Remember the Olympics with the Mushroom Kingdom people?" she pointed out.
"That's the thing, Rouge. It was several months, not a whole-ass year," Shadow pointed out as well with a concerned frown. "Maybe I'm trying to look for the cat's fifth leg, but it's concerning anyway. Despite my attitude, I do care for our world, for people. Despite their downs, I get why Maria wanted me to protect them... I'm afraid that staying far from our home might destroy it in the process..." he confessed.
Rouge only nodded at that statement in understanding and sighed. "Well. You should share that with Sonic once we find him and the other two," she suggested.
At this, Shadow looked at her with a bored expression and a raised eyebrow, but Rouge looked at him with an expression that shouted, "I'm being serious."
"Rouge, you ask me to be open with that hedgehog?" Shadow pointed out, still with a bored expression.
"Oh, but I mean it, Shadow," Rouge said seriously. "Telling him why we're even looking for them might make him enter to reason," she pointed out.
"Reason? Why would he need to be convinced to go back?" Shadow asked, confused.
"I just have a feeling he might have established a new leaf here this past year..." Rouge replied, looking back at the sky with a serious expression.
Shadow still felt confused but decided to let the subject die and looked back at the sky.
Meanwhile, Amy heard everything they just said but decided not to reveal that she wasn't sleeping. Still, she also felt that making Sonic back home might be difficult, especially considering he's been in Equestria for a year.
In the Brighthouse, the Mane 5 sins, Pipp, Tails, and Knuckles, were in the living room.
After looking after Pipp the whole day, they were all tired, so Sonic decided to keep his girlfriend company and let the others rest. Now, Izzy was sleeping over Knuckles, who was also asleep, while the others were tired on the couch.
"Hey, ponies!" Pipp called out, sounding like herself again, as she arrived along Sonic and made the rest wake up. "Listen to this," she said, landing on the table and clearing her throat. "Hey Pippsqueaks, it's ya girl, Pipp! Please welcome my guests, Team Sonic!" she called out with a smile as her wings spread.
"She's back!" Hitch cheered while the others smiled at her.
"See?" Zipp asked with a smirk as she flew next to her sister. "All you needed was a little rest!" she winked.
"A little tea!" Izzy added with a smile, coming next to her friends.
"Some yummy soup!" Sunny added next.
"And a good hangout!" Hitch finished, as he placed his hoof on Sparky, while the baby dragon cheered and Knuckles came to pat the baby dragon's head.
"Yeah!" Pipp said in agreement. "I'm sorry if I was a difficult patient," she apologized. "You all worked so hard to entertain me, keep me preoccupied, and even get my health back, but all I needed was to know my friends care about me," she finished with a smile, and her friends smiled back.
"Ah!" Izzy called out with a wave and a smile. "If I knew that's what you needed, I wouldn't have tried so hard!" she said cheerfully.
Everyone else laughed at her. "Izzy, please never change," Tails told her with a smile.
"Ugh... I don't want to turn the whole mood down, and I'm the last person to say this, considering I'm always late even though I'm the fastest thing alive..." Sonic started to say. "But!" he added, taking out his phone and showing the time to Pipp. "We're already late for your stream!" he pointed out with panic. "You're still in time to go to Mane Melody and prepare everything while Tails, Knuckles, and I––" he tried to add.
But Pipp giggled and cut him off. "You know what? I think I'd like to do it here, with you guys," she said, while her friends smiled at her. "You're the reason I feel good enough to stream, after all!" she added.
"I think we can help with that!" Sunny said to Pipp with a wink and a smile.
And so, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic settled things up for Pipp's livestream: With Hitch rolling out Pipp's laptop and Sparky opening it up, Izzy levitating the microphone holder and Pipp placing her lucky microphone in place, and both Zipp and Sunny helped Team Sonic set up the entire set to play the instrumental and let Pipp sing the song.
However, as Pipp prepared to sing and Team Sonic prepared to play, the Brighthouse's room started to glow blue.
That's because, below Sonic's bedroom, where the box with the Chaos Emeralds is hidden, the blue Chaos Emerald is shining bright...
"Sonic..." Longclaw's voice came out of the box and echoed around the room.
Knuckles was making breakfast for everypony in the kitchen.
He wore a chef's hat and regular gloves instead of boxing gloves. He professionally cut some fruits and vegetables, which he later piled on a plate to make a salad. Next, he grabbed a knife and cut several bread slices before putting the roasted eggs he had just made on the stove in a pan.
Next, he poured pancake mix into the pan while he placed the salad on the table. He also placed several plates with bread, eggs, empty small bowls, a box of cereals, milk, orange juice, and several cups around the seats. His friends just smiled.
Next, he went to the oven and put some pudding in. Then, he just waited for the pudding to be ready while drinking coffee and sighing happily after taking a long sip.
A few minutes later, though, the oven made a beep sound, indicating that the pudding was ready. So Knuckles quickly took out the pudding with chef's gloves and placed it in the middle of the table, throwing his chef's hat and kissing the air.
"¡El desayuno está listo!" Knuckles announced with a proud smile.
"Thank Chaos Knuckles bakes on Saturdays!" Sonic said with a smile as he rubbed his hands and licked his lips at the delicious breakfast the echidna had made.
Soon enough, everyone started eating Knuckles's breakfast, and Knuckles joined them, wearing his regular gloves again.
"Mmm!" Hitch exclaimed happily. "Look, Sunny bakes amazingly, no doubt... But Knuckles makes these meals so delicious that I still feel like it's the first time tasting them again!" Hitch exclaimed happily.
"Yeah, well. As much of a Knucklehead as he is, nobody can make Knuckles compete in cooking!" Sonic said with a smile. "And that's all the compliment and praise I'm ever giving to him," he added with a mocking smirk.
"Eh, I can live with it," Knuckles said with a bored expression, pouring milk and cereal into his bowl.
"Seriously, though. How's it that you always make this stuff so delicious every time? I know I'm eating the same thing you usually do, and it tastes like the first time!" Zipp pointed out with a smirk, chomping one scrambled egg.
"I could tell, but I won't," Knuckles replied with a smirk. "The best chefs never share their secrets. Besides, all the magic behind my skills will be lost, and we don't want that," he added confidently.
"Wowie! I didn't know you used magic to cook, Knuckle!" Izzy said with a smile, kissing Knuckles' cheek for a second.
Tails raised a finger and prepared to say something, but Sonny covered his mouth with a hoof. "Let her be, Tails. Let her be," she said with a little smile.
Suddenly, however, they all heard a loud clunk, which startled everyone as they looked around the kitchen and the living room.
"Uh... I'm not hearing things, right?" Pipp asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No... That... That was very laudable..." Tails pointed out, looking around confused.
Then, the clunk repeated, this time even louder than before.
"Okay, it was louder, and I don't like it," Sonic said with a frown.
"It seems to come from––" Sunny tried to say, just for the clunk sound to interrupt her.
Everyone turned their heads upstairs, hearing the clunking noise again coming from the bedroom. It came once more, louder than before.
"Our bedroom!" Sunny exclaimed with wide eyes.
Everyone quickly went upstairs, hearing the clunking noise a lot louder.
They all looked through the room for the origin, but when Tails approached his side of the room, he gasped when the sound became even louder.
"Guys! I found it!" Tails announced.
He ducked down and looked down at his bed, finding a blue light coming out of the box with the Chaos Emeralds they had so far.
He raised an eyebrow, confused, and grabbed the box, slowly taking it out of the hideout. However, as soon as he did so, the box moved on its own, startling the young fox as he let go of it, which fell to the ground.
Then, the box moved again before it opened, thanks to the Blue Chaos Emerald boosting out of the box.
The Chaos Emerald was shining brightly, showing off its bright Blue color. Then, it started to move around the entire room wildly, like a ball in a pinball machine, trying to get the highest score, which made everyone duck down for cover, with Knuckles protectively grabbing Izzy. At the same time, Sonic and Zipp did the same with Pipp, leaving Sunny to protect Tails and Hitch to protect Sunny.
Finally, however, the Emerald stopped moving and stood floating in the middle of the room, between Zipp and Pipp's beds and right behind Sonic.
With the Emerald stopping, everyone stopped covering and slowly looked at the glowing Emerald, floating in the air and still showing off its color, but not with the same intensity as before.
"Uh, should the Emerald be doing that?" Zipp decided to ask as she stood protectively before Pipp.
"Honestly? I have no idea..." Sonic confessed with a confused look at the Emerald.
But before anyone could say or do anything, another glow appeared behind the Emerald and shone brightly in a flash.
Once the flash was gone, the Unity Crystals floated right behind the Emerald, which caused everyone to gasp in shock and surprise.
"T-The Unity Crystals?!" Sunny exclaimed. "W-What are they doing here?!" she asked with panic.
"Dudes, are you sure this is not normal or anything?!" Zipp asked Team Sonic with a frown, even if she was also panicking.
"Zipp, we're serious here!" Tails exclaimed. "We don't know what's––" he tried to add.
However, once again, before anyone could say anything, the Emerald turned around and let out a Chaos Energy trail towards the Crystals.
"Oh fuck! This shit went from 0 to 50 to beyond 100 to fucking quickly!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"What is it doing to the Crystals?!" Sunny asked in a panic.
"Does anypony feel their magic glitching or weakening?!" Hitch asked, also panicking.
Izzy lightened her horn to levitate a mug nearby, and it floated normally, which meant her magic was fine. Then, both Zipp and Pipp flapped their wings, elevating in the air, indicating their magic still worked. Next was Hitch, who softly stomped his right hoof on the ground, making a small vine grow for a moment, before lifting his hoof, which vanished the vine, but it pointed out that his magic was still working.
Finally, Sunny focused on helping her friends out in any random situation to test if her Alicorn powers were working, and they did because her ethereal wings and horn appeared normally.
"Okay... Our magic is intact, so whatever that thing's doing is not affecting us..." Pipp pointed out, looking back at the Chaos Emerald, which was still doing something to the Unity Crystals.
"But then what is it doing?" Izzy asked, confused.
Soon enough, however, the Earth Pony Crystal started changing from silver to blue. Once completely blue, it separated from the other Crystals, even though the three Crystals were still floating in the air.
Then, the Earth Pony Crystal, still shining in blue, and the Chaos Emerald danced around briefly before the Emerald finally stopped. The Crystal got over it and then turned a bit to fit over the Emerald, which made both gems shine bright. The electricity in the entire building went out.
Everyone started to step back, with Sonic and Sunny standing in the middle of everyone else to protect them.
However, the Emerald and Crystal combined let out what seemed to be a scanner. It scanned the whole room at a 360-degree angle until it stopped on Sonic and Sunny, scanning both of them and their exact shapes with such detail that it scared them and their friends.
Once the scanning was done, Emerald and Crystal combined started to project an image, which glitched a lot at first. As soon as it came clear, Tails and Knuckles gasped, while Sonic stared at the projection with wide eyes and a great desire to cry.
"... Longclaw?" Sonic said with shock, confusion, happiness... All these emotions hit him at once
The projection of his mother figure was fully blue, but even then, he could still recognize her eyes, her clothes... her scarf... It was as if Longclaw was here, even if she wasn't.
"Hello, Sonic..." Longclaw's projection spoke with a warm smile. "If you're watching this, then it means that something happened to me and that now you're navigating the roads of this life alone... Just as it was written..." she said with a sad tone and smile.
Sonic could swear that someone said something, but who or what didn't matter to him. He didn't listen... He was too busy staring at his mother figure's projection with wide eyes.
"I pray that you're not watching this alone... And that Argyle's daughter is with you watching along." Longclaw's projection kept talking.
That... That snapped Sonic back to reality... Did she mention Sunny's father?!
"What?" Sonic muttered, confused.
"... She... She knew my dad?" Sunny asked in disbelief.
"What the fuck's going on..." Knuckles muttered, probably the one who's lost the most, along with Izzy.
"There's a truth I never told you... About your past. Your parents... Your origins..." Longclaw's projection confessed while she looked down with sadness and shame. "You might have been born in Mobius... But your ancestors? The Chaos Emeralds? They're from the land you have arrived in, Sonic. They're from Equestria," she explained with half a serious look and half a concern.
This made everyone but Sonic gasp once again. Did he hear right? Did Longclaw confess that his ancestors come from Equestria?!
"Long time ago, way before Equestria was even founded, a skilled Hedgehog warrior saw nothing but chaos and distrust in the world he lived in..." Longclaw started to narrate as the projection switched from her to a live recreation of the events she was telling. "The world he lived in was an eternal war between his people, allied with mine, the Owls; and the three pony tribes, which, despite hating each other, hated us even more..." she kept narrating.
Soon enough, the projection showed the Hedgehog frowning, followed by him placing his hands together and awakening his power. Electricity surrounded him, and his eyes started to glow. Then, the hedgehog raised his hand in the air, which made a glowing light blue gem appear.
" Determined to stop this war, the warrior focused all his energy into a glowing Emerald, known back then as the Gem of Miracles..." Longclaw continued her narration. "A powerful gem that would contain all the chaos in the world for a limited time and embrace such chaos as their nature... An Emerald filled with Chaos..." she added.
The projection showed the Hedgehog using his power to contain the chaos of the ongoing war in the Gem of Miracles. This caused everyone to suddenly stop what they were doing and look around, confused, not understanding how they got there or why they all had weapons.
"This solution, while not the best, seemed to work for a while..." Longclaw continued. "But after 30 years, the achieved peace was broken when the pony tribes split up again, and things only got worse when the unicorns declared war on both Hedgehogs and Owls..." she added with concern.
The projection showed the horrors of a war between Unicorns, Hedgehogs, and Owls, with the latter group allied to defeat the former.
"Seeing that containing all that Chaos in the Gem of Miracles wasn't enough, he had to make an unfortunate sacrifice..." Longclaw narrated, while the projection showed the Hedgehog warrior with a guilty expression that soon shifted into a determined one. "He gave the Gem to the current leader of his tribe and begged him to take their people, as well as the owls, far away, where the ponies would never dare to find them" she explained.
The projection showed the leader of the Hedgehogs frowning with concern for the warrior, but then they nodded and grabbed the Gem of Miracles. After that, the leader reunited both Hedgehogs and Owls equally in a big circle, with the leader using the power of the Gem to make a wish: Take them to the last place anyone would ever dare to look for them.
With a flash, the Hedgehogs and Owls left while the Hedgehog warrior stood behind and grabbed a spear from the ground, glaring daggers at the Unicorns.
"The warrior knew he was going to die, but he didn't care ," Longclaw kept narrating. "He sacrificed himself to save his people, even though he also felt he had to stay behind to amend his mistake of believing chaos could be stopped with just a wish..." she added.
And then, the Hedgehog warrior let out a battle cry, jumping in the air with his spear and getting ready to take down as many unicorns as he could with him.
But as soon as the Hedgehog seemed to be about to kill a unicorn, the projection switched again, now showing the Hedgehogs and Owls living peacefully in their newfound home.
"A hundred years later, while the pony tribes came together and founded Equestria, our tribes lived in peace and harmony on their new home: A set of 5 islands located far away from Equestria, known as the Starfall Islands..." Longclaw started to narrate again. "However, one peaceful day, many ships from space arrived at one of the islands, where the leaders of both tribes awaited, ready to defend their land if necessary," she explained.
The projection showed the ships' arrival. Then, two creatures with liquid-like bodies and stones inside that seemed to have faces emerged from one of the ships.
"These creatures belonged to a long-lost civilization that came to this planet with six identical jewels to our tribes' Gem of Miracles..." Longclaw narrated. "However, they referred to all of the seven as 'Chaos Emeralds,' due to their chaotic nature to do things beyond imagination and control..." she explained.
Then, one of the creatures approached the Hedgehog and Owl leader, bowing to them while placing a hand on their chest.
After the creature did that, the leaders looked at each other before smiling and nodding. Looking back at the creature, they also kneeled with their hands on their chests, showing respect for this new creature.
"With this new alliance formed with the new creatures, they spent the next 20 years learning about the other Chaos Emeralds and all kinds of stuff from the new civilization..." Longclaw continued. "But this new civilization's arrival hid another meaning..." she added, her voice sounded more serious now.
The projection showed the new civilization boarding their ships with the Chaos Emeralds and then flying away just seconds before some external force launched a massive laser at their planet, splitting it in two and destroying it entirely.
Everyone gasped in horror, and Sonic closed his eyes while frowning and pressing his fists strongly.
"They came to this planet to escape from their sworn enemy..." Longclaw kept saying. "But their enemy still found them and followed them to the Starfall Islands, anyway..." she added.
The projection reflected the civilization and some Hedgehogs and Owls, who were preparing the Island's defenses to protect it from its enemy but failed in the process.
" To keep everyone safe, or as many as possible at last, the new creatures used the Emeralds' power to look for a new home all across the multiverse..." Longclaw continued. "And they found it: A habitable world in a neighboring universe, where rested an emerald much larger and more powerful than the 7 Chaos Emeralds put together... A Master Emerald," she revealed.
"This is getting both interesting and confusing..." Knuckles muttered.
"With their escape route ready, our ancestors had no choice but to abandon their home for their safety a second time..." Longclaw narrated. "The Hedgehogs' Leader's daughter and his wife escaped... But he died defending the islands. The Owls' leader promised to watch after them, a tradition that went down through generations" she added.
The projection shows the passing of time, with the Hedgehogs and Owls growing and moving forward on their new home... Green Hills.
"Our ancestors found a new home in Mobius, guarding the Chaos Emeralds and protecting each other..." Longclaw narrated. "But... Things didn't last peacefully forever..." she confessed with a broken voice.
What is next shown? Bernie and Jules are running away from robots, with Bernie carrying Baby Sonic on her arm. The three hedgehogs are protected by other hedgehogs and are followed by Longclaw from the sky.
"Sonic... There's something else I never told you..." Longclaw confessed again as the projection switched to her figure. "Your parents never got rid of you... They were not ditched because they were afraid of Robotnik's machines... They ran away because they wanted to save you," she revealed.
Sonic's world suddenly stopped with that revelation. Whatever his friends were saying, or however they were reacting to this, he didn't care... This was a hit harder than getting his crotch smashed.
All his life... He believed his parents never wanted him, so Longclaw found him and took him over as her son... Now, that same mother figure is telling him that she lied to him, that his parents did care but gave their lives to save him... From Eggman?!
"Your father... He jumped straight to his death to save you and your mother..." Longclaw said as the projection switched again and replayed the scene of Jules ordering Longclaw to save Bernie and Sonic.
Sonic's heart raced madly as he watched his father jump into a fight with Eggman's badniks while Bernie and Longclaw stood behind him.
In the projection, Bernie frowned, and she turned to Longclaw. "I won't run away from this fight. Not anymore," she stated with a determined look.
"You two are meant for each other... You are equally crazy!" Longclaw shouted in anger and worry.
"Don't think I'm happy with this... but it is what must be done," Bernie replied. "Longclaw... the Chaos Emeralds choose him. You saw it with your own eyes! He's destined for greater things... I know it!" she explained proudly as he looked at her sleeping son in her arms. "I've had visions... dreams where he's all grown up. He overcomes many tasks and defeats bigger foes. He's been chosen to be a real hero," she smiled.
Even if the shock of knowing that his parents did care about him was hard to process, seeing his biological mother talk about him that way... It made him smile as a lonely tear ran down his cheek without him noticing.
Then, the projection showed Bernie giving his baby self to Longclaw, who smiled at the sight of the infant.
"Please..." Bernie spoke before Longclaw even could. "Take care of him. Make sure he becomes a strong man... and if you have to lie about our fate... then do it. Don't let him know about his past until he arrives in Equestria, and don't teach him anything about our people's culture. ... raise him as a normal child... please..." she begged with sad tears.
Sonic's smile disappeared, but so did the hate he felt for his parents for so long.
The truth was out now... They didn't hate him. They loved him, especially his birth mother. But they sacrificed, fighting badniks... Did Eggman kill his parents? Was that why his mother didn't want Longclaw to tell him they died saving him? Because she didn't want him to find out about his biggest enemy, is the same reason he even does what he does?
The projection switched again, with Longclaw looking down in shame and then looking forward. "Sonic... I never told you this before because your mother asked me to. And I know that you might be mad at me..." She spoke with a hurt look.
Was he, though? Could he blame her for not telling him the truth? It was hard to tell, but whatever he was feeling... It wasn't hate. It could never be hate for her.
"You have a hidden power as well, you know? The ability to control electricity with your bare hands..." Longclaw spoke again, and Sonic looked at his hand, which he closed into a fist with small electrical sparks. "That power... has been inherited by your ancestors since before you came to Mobius," she explained. "If I recall correctly, I think the most ancient of the echidnas and some foxes among that planet also inherited similar abilities... But it's up to you to discover the veracity of that information," she pointed out.
"Well, we know the answer... But the context is still hard to process..." Tails pointed out with an anxious expression.
"You know? I never knew Equestria until the Emeralds presented us that place." Longclaw kept talking. "We were greeted by a young couple of earth ponies... Argyle Starshine and Shining Star..." she added.
Sunny gasped after hearing that. "S-She knew my parents..." she said with shock.
"The young pair told us about a blanket Argyle's family passed down for generations, as well as showing us the Earth Pony Crystal..." Longclaw kept talking. "We kept contact with them for a good while, but after your parents died and Star passed away giving birth to her daughter... The Emeralds gave Argyle and me a vision..." she confessed.
Sonic and Sunny looked at each other before looking back at the projection.
"We saw you and his daughter, Sunny, joining forces, meeting each other, years in the future..." Longclaw revealed. "We were so confused and scared then, but eventually... We realized that it was written. You and Sunny were destined to meet each other... And I think it has been accomplished if you are watching this..." she added with a sad smile.
"You could say..." Sonic commented as he and Sunny smiled at each other.
Then, Longclaw's projection sighed. "Sonic... I don't ask you to forgive me for never telling you. I'm asking you to understand. Understand all of this, your life, your actions, your destiny! It was all meant to happen..." she explained.
Even though Sonic felt hurt that she lied to him and never told the truth, he understood this wasn't something made with bad intentions.
It was destiny, something he refused to believe in for so long... And now? Now, he believed it was real after all.
"Robotnik... He... He's the reason you and I are the last of our tribes... Of course, we're not the last Hedgehog or Owl in the world... But we are everything that remains from what our ancestors used to be..." Longclaw continued. "Yet telling you that might have driven you to become something you are not. I understand if you hate him now more than ever, now that the truth is out... But I also know who you are..." she added, now smiling warmly ahead.
Sonic couldn't help but feel his ears lowering, his heart racing, and his emotions mixing.
"My dear, dear Sonic... You're not just some guy, as you might believe..." Longclaw started to speak. "You dare to launch into battle to protect others, regardless of what it means to you. You have overcome challenges that many call impossible. You've become a bigger hero than you could ever imagine..." she added with a proud smile.
As she did so, the projection switched to show several events from Sonic's life: the first time Sonic became Super Sonic and defeated Eggman on the Death Egg; when he took down Chaos, when he confronted Metal Overlord along with Tails and Knuckles; when he defeated Solaris and erased time along Elise; and the last event that Longclaw witnessed before dying... the defeat of Dark Gaia.
While everypony watched, amazed at the live recreation of these stories, despite having heard them before from Team Sonic, the latter group only watched on with smiles. Sonic even felt a bit of nostalgia by seeing these events again.
"You were chosen by the Chaos Emeralds to do greater things..." Longclaw talked again as the projection switched to her again. "My dear Sonic, you have a heart like no creature I've ever known. Always willing to help, no matter how hard the circumstances might seem..." she added with pride while Sonic fought the urge to cry. "I'm so proud of you, even if I'm not Bernie... I'm so glad I could be your mother. Because I love you as such..." she stated with a warm smile.
Sonic was tearing up now, but his smile didn't fade away. Hearing his mother figure say she was proud of him after so long was definitely touching, and he was proud to say he was her son.
"I know it will take you time to process all of this... but know that, even if I'm not with you anymore, I'll always watch over you. I have to go now, my dear Sonic, but know that we'll see each other again one day..." Longclaw added. "I must go now... Stay strong, my dear Sonic... And never stop being who you are... Goodbye..." she finished with a sad smile.
With this, Longclaw's projection finally dissipated. The Earth Pony Crystal then separated from the Blue Chaos Emerald and returned with the other two Unity Crystals, joining them in a perfect fit. Then, a light flashed again, and the Crystals disappeared and returned to the Crystal Room.
Meanwhile, the Chaos Emerald floated back to the box while the electricity in the Crystal Brighthouse returned.
For quite a while, nobody said anything. But what was there to be said? They just got a whole ass of information dropped to them out of nowhere... It was normal for nobody to know what to say right now.
"... So... That just happened..." Zipp was the first to speak after a while.
"Our parents met before we were even born... They knew we would meet before us!" Sunny exclaimed as she looked at Sonic.
"The Chaos Emeralds are from Equestria..." Knuckles muttered, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful look. "Nobody has ever tried to dig into their origin. With the amount of power they have, it never seemed necessary... But knowing they're from another world? This is... quite a twist..." he pointed out.
"Our powers are inherited?!" Tails exclaimed as well. "Huh... That would explain why they only awakened in this world... Maybe this world's magic had something to do with their awakening..." he theorized.
"There's a lot of info to process in here!" Pipp pointed out with wide eyes. "Like, a lot. The Emeralds are from Equestria? If so, who created them? And why was there just one here in Equis before that lost civilization arrived with the rest?" she questioned, confused.
"Or why did the ponies hate the Hedgehogs and the Owls so much?" Zipp added with a frown. "Why did this civilization get lost in time? Why did they run away when their enemy returned?" she added with concern.
"Dad never talked to me about any of this..." Sunny spoke as she walked to her side of the room and grabbed the framed picture she had with her dad. "I knew he never told me everything he wanted, but... Hearing at least something of all of this from him would've been nice..." she pointed out.
"Ugh... My head hurts just about thinking of so much new and confusing info..." Izzy said with a cringed expression, grabbing her head with her hooves.
"I think we're all confused on this, hun..." Knuckles stated as he wrapped his arm around her.
But as the rest seemed to discuss what happened, Sonic was lost in his little world.
His parents died because Eggman killed them, along with all the other hedgehogs and owls of his tribe and Longclaw's... They died protecting him... And he always hated them for nothing.
More shocking, even, is that the Chaos Emeralds are from Equestria. Or, at least, from this same universe...
Also, Longclaw said that the Emeralds chose him for greater stuff... Did that mean his destiny was already written? He hoped not, of course. But if it was... Did that mean all his life was... Already decided? All his adventures, all the people he met, all the battles he won... Was all of that established before he was born?
"Sonic?" Tails called out, and Sonic perked his ears, then turned around to face his little adopted brother. "How, um... How are you feeling?" he asked while the rest looked at him expectantly.
"... Conflicted?" Sonic replied, unsure. "I... I don't know how to explain it... Am I hurt that she lied about what happened to my parents? Absolutely, but... I don't hate her... And the thing with Eggman leaving me homeless and almost orphan, the Emeralds originating from this universe... Is a lot to take in..." he pointed out.
"Yeah, I know where you're getting..." Sunny said with concern. "My dad never actually told me about the family blanket until we found it with the projector, and he never told me he met non-pony creatures, either..." she pointed out.
"Well, I still don't get one thing..." Tails said. "If the Chaos Emeralds are from this world, then who or what created them?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know what to answer to that..." Sonic replied with concern.
However, he suddenly remembered that he had visited Discord a few days ago, and he told him about the last Chaos Emerald's location... There was a cave that the Chaos Emerald created after arriving, and even if he glanced at the cave's hologram for short notice, he could swear he saw drawings in the cave walls... Or rather, glyphs.
Was this why Discord didn't talk about the Emeralds before? He knew about them being from Equestria all this time and said nothing?
Well, right now, it didn't matter... If that cave was where the Chaos Emerald was located, even in the past, it had to be there for a reason... And he was going to find the reason for it.
"However... I might know where to look," Sonic stated with a smirk.
Unknown Location - 100 years ago
Shadow climbed to the top of the mountain with little to no effort.
Then, he turned around and extended his hand while Amy grabbed it and climbed. She sighed in relief and smiled thankfully at Shadow. As for Rouge and Omega, they flew to the top, but Rouge was panting and exhausted after flapping her wings to reach the top of the 98-foot-tall mountain.
So, the bat sat on Omega's shoulder and sighed. "At last! I thought we would never arrive here!" she exclaimed dramatically.
"You had to flap your wings, which will be fine in 10 minutes or less..." Shadow pointed out with a bored expression. "We had to climb the whole fucking mountain with our bare hands..." he added with an eye roll.
"And you were doing fine until 2 minutes ago, so stop being a drama queen..." Amy added, also with an eye roll and a bored expression. "Not to mention the book fell once we were 10 feet away from reaching the top," she pointed out with annoyance.
After Rouge groaned, annoyed, the group approached their destination: a cave with a really big entrance and a light blue glow inside. The archway at the entrance had seven huge emeralds marked on it, as well as two gigantic owl statues on the sides.
"So, here it is..." Amy said, placing her hands on her hips. "The Chaos Emerald is in there, right?" she asked, looking at Omega.
Omega used his scanner to examine the inside of the cave. Once he had finished, he looked down at Amy. "Affirmative," the robot replied.
"Well, we lost the book, but at least we're gonna get the Emerald," Shadow pointed out as he stepped inside the cave, while Amy, Rouge, and Omega followed behind, with Rouge getting off the robot's shoulder and walking as well.
"Let's just hope we're not too late!" Amy declared with a determinate look.
As they entered the cave, they could see several glyphs. The cave was pretty empty, or at least that was their first impression. More than a cave, it felt more like a large corridor full of glyphs and Owl statues, for some reason that none of them understood.
Now, even if the glyphs were more of a huge distraction, that didn't stop from calling the group's attention. It was hard to ignore, anyway, but it didn't make them less interesting...
Suddenly, however, Omega stopped moving and stared at one specific glyph: Six ponies were glowing and floating while some light surrounded their bodies, and at the same time, they were being shot at an equine figure with wings and a horn. The figure also had a glowing mane. It was hard to tell, to be honest.
"Omega?" Rouge called out as she, Shadow, and Amy approached the robot. "What are you looking at?" she asked him.
But as soon as she looked at the same glyph Omega was staring at, her eyes widened slightly. She wasn't looking at the same glyph as Omega, but at the one beside it.
It showed a giant face she could recognize anywhere... Eggman's face. However, the fact that it was big, or even there, didn't surprise her that much... Now, could she see Team Sonic, Shadow, and herself below? That was weird and confusing.
The glyph also showed all of them with the same light surrounding them and being shot at Eggman's giant face.
"Uh... Why are these drawings showing us? And where is Omega?" Amy asked since Shadow had also noticed the glyphs.
"This is confusing. First, we discover that the Chaos Emeralds are not even from our home, and now we have found a cave with glyphs of us," Shadow said with concern. This world gets interesting and confusing simultaneously," he pointed out.
"Um... I say we should grab the Emerald and send the message to those three already," Rouge said, pushing Shadow and Amy away from the glyphs. This place is giving me the creeps," she added with a frown.
Omega kept staring at the glyph for a while, however. Even if he was a robot and couldn't feel emotions, he was intrigued about why the others were on the glyphs, even Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman, but not him.
"Omega! Are you coming or what?" Rouge called out.
Omega turned his body around to follow up, but he glanced at the glyphs one last time before finally following the others deep inside the cave.
Once he caught up and reached the rest, they all arrived at the deepest zone in the cave, and they didn't know if feel fascinated by how it looked or even more confused: This zone of the cave had three giant Owl statues, with a round platform in front of each of the statues.
Also, above each statue, there was a giant glyph of one specific animal for each: A hedgehog with electricity around them, a two-tailed fox floating in a meditation position, and an echidna with big fists and knuckles.
Finally, the Light Blue Chaos Emerald was shining bright and floating in the middle of the room.
"Now giant glyphs of those three?!" Rouge exclaimed, but confused and almost panicking. "I'm starting to hate this place..." she confessed.
"At last, the Emerald is there," Shadow pointed out. "Now, let's get it before more weird things happen," he added. "Chaos Control!" he shouted, extending his hand to the Chaos Emerald.
However, as soon as he stepped into the room, not only did the Chaos Emerald start to glow brightly, but the platforms in the room began to glow in blue, yellow, and red colors, respectively, with the glyphs glowing in the same color, as well as lightning from the same colors running around.
"Shadow, what the fuck did you just do?!" Rouge screamed in panic while Any took out her Piko PIko hammer, and Omega pointed his guns to all the places around, just in case something popped out of nowhere.
"I did no shit!" Shadow replied with a frown.
However, before anyone could say anything, the lightning reached the Chaos Emerald, which started to shine so brightly that it blurred everyone's faces...
Once the light was gone, however, Team Dark and Amy opened their eyes... just to stare at Team Sonic, who stared back at them with wide eyes.
Unknown Location - Present Day
A warp ring portal appeared right at the top of a mountain in Equestria.
From said portal, Team Sonic came out, all of them wearing their winter gear from Wishday.
"Are you sure you don't want us to tag along?" Sunny asked from the other side of the portal as the Mane 5 all stared at Team Sonic.
"Discord mentioned that this cave was created by the Emerald after arriving 100 years ago," Sonic replied. "I know you guys are getting used to crazy stuff, but time travel? I don't want you all to live with the sequels for the next couple of weeks," he pointed out with a frown.
"I'm with Sonic on this one..." Tails said with a sheepish smile. "We would appreciate your help, no doubt, but we can handle time travel, and you guys cannot..." he also pointed out.
"Also, we need you all to keep an eye on the Chaos Emeralds," Knuckles agreed. "You know, in case there's another recorded secret message we don't know about..." he added with a bored expression.
"We'll be back once we have found what I think we're gonna find..." Sonic stated with a smirk. "And if we don't return for tomorrow, we're just history!" he added, weirdly enough, with a cheery tone.
At this, Knuckles frowned and smacked his head. "Don't say it like that, idiot!" he scolded.
"What Sonic meant is that you guys can come for us if we're not back in two hours," Tails said with a smile. "We'll try to be as quick as possible, okay?" he added.
"But just in case we do have a problem..." Sonic said as he brought out a warp ring and then tossed it to Sunny with a smirk.
Sunny caught the ring on her hoof just in time so it wouldn't open a portal, and she smiled back at Sonic before putting the ring on her saddle bag and then looking back at Team Sonic.
"Just be careful..." Sunny said with concern.
"Please call, text, or just send a picture to know you guys are fine, okay?!" Pipp said with panic.
"You better be back in one piece, guys!" Izzy said with a slight frown, but she was looking only at Knuckles.
"Take care of yourselves!" Hitch said with a smile, while Sparky made a babbling sound in his head.
"Have fun!" Zipp added with a smirk.
Team Sonic smiled at them, Tails waved his hand, Knuckles just nodded, and Sonic saluted, before the three of them turned around and approached the cave, while the warp ring closed behind.
The Team stared at a cave with a really big entrance. The archway at the entrance had seven huge emeralds marked on it, as well as two gigantic owl statues on the sides, which called the trio's attention.
"Okay... There's giant Owl statues in the entrance... It looks promising!" Sonic commented with a smirk, as the trio entered the cave.
More than a cave, it seemed to be a large corridor, with Tails staring at everything amazed, while he took out his Miles Electric and scanned all the place with it.
"Whoa... What is this place?" Tails questioned amazed, still scanning his surroundings.
"This cave was created by the Chaos Emerald a hundred years ago?" Knuckles asked confused. "How odd..." he added with a frown.
"Not as odd as being dragged by a machine that can manipulate time nor getting turned into some kind of half werewolf, half hedgehog..." Sonic pointed out, but he was frowning as well.
Soon enough, however, and as Tails kept scanning around, he suddenly stopped to stare at a specific glyph, one that made him put his Miles Electric away.
Six ponies were glowing and floating on this glyph, ponies that looked exactly like the Mane 5 and Misty. Their bodies were surrounded by some kind of light, which at the same time was being shot at an Alicorn, one that seemed to have a glowing mane. And, if Zipp's theories are correct, it's safe to say that Opaline is the Alicorn in this glyph.
However, just when he though that this day couldn't be more shocking, he turned to see the glyph at the side, which did made him gasp loudly, calling Sonic and Knuckles' attention: This glyph showed Eggman's giant face with a sinister smile. Now, this was shocking, true, but the fact that there was glyphs of them, Amy, Shadow and Rouge as well? Now that was a big shock.
"What in the name of Chaos is this?" Sonic asked with a mixed expression that showed anger and confusion.
Knuckles approached as well and stared at both glyphs, feeling both surprised and confused. However, unlike Sonic and Tails, he could kind of tell what this glyphs meant. "It's some kind of... prophecy..." he replied.
"A prophecy?" Sonic asked with a raised brow. "For what?" he added confused.
"I cannot tell exactly..." Knuckles confessed. "But, considering we are in this glyphs, as well as Eggman, Opaline, friends and allies that aren't even here... Maybe this walls are trying to warn us about something.
However, before Sonic could say anything about what he though about Knuckles' theory, they hard another gasp from Tails, who was back at the beginning of the corridor, but staring at the glyphs that were in the walls more closely.
"G-Guys! Quick! You have to see this!" Tails called put with a shocked, yet excited tone.
Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other confused, before walking up to Tails and see at the same wall than him.
Yeah, they gasped as well, because these glyphs in particular were a real shock. "Are those... us?!" Sonic asked in shock, as he narrowed his eyes and looked closer to the glyphs.
Apparently, all these new glyphs were not things that were gonna happen, but instead events that already happened...
Eggman tricking Sonic into his machine, Sonic's arrival to Equestria and meeting Izzy, the escape from Maretime Bay along Sunny, meeting the royal family in Zephyr Heights, escaping to Bridlewood, getting the Crystals together, Opaline helping Eggman come to Equestria, Tails and Knuckles arrival, the awaken of each of their powers, Sonic saving the Wishing Star...
All of these and more were printed in the walls.
"... Knux... I-I think you're right..." Sonic said with shock and surprise. "This place... All these glyphs are a prophecy..." he realized. "Of events that already happened, of events that will happen..." he added.
"I don't know how to feel about the fact that I'm right on something important..." Knuckles said with shock.
"All this time we thought we were here by coincidence... It seems we are here because of destiny..." Sonic pointed out.
"Our powers, the Emeralds, everything..." Tails added with surprise, as he scanned the glyphs with his Miles Electric.
"It was written in the sacred books of this land, long before we were born..." Knuckles commented. "Well, maybe not ion their books, but... You know what I mean..." he corrected himself, and Sonic and Tails only nodded.
The shock of seeing this was big for sure, but they knew they needed to keep going.
So, with one last look, the trio decided to speed up ahead, going deep into the large corridor once again, and once they reached the end of said corridor, Tails gasped amazed, while Sonic whistled in awe at the sight: This section was a big room with 3 giant Owl statues, each having a round platform in front of them.
Also, above each statue, there was a giant glyph of one specific animals for each: A hedgehog with electricity around them; a two-tailed fox, floating on a meditation position; and an echidna with big fists and knuckles.
"Okay, can we agree that those drawings in the walls are way to prophetical? There's no way that's just a coincidence..." Tails pointed out with concern.
"Yeah, this is surprising and strange..." Knuckles agreed with a frown.
"I found out that the Chaos Emeralds are from Equestria, that Eggman killed my parents, who let themselves get killed just so I could survive, and that my ancestors are actually from Equestria... All of that was 30 minutes ago..." Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "It's clear to me that destiny exists, and that we were gonna find this place eventually. So, no, this isn't surprising at all" he added with a tired tone.
"I think you're gonna need plenty of therapy after we're done here..." Tails said with a bored expression as well.
Yet, Sonic only rolled his eyes and approached to the platform in front if the statue that had the hedgehog glyph above. He looked closely to the weird symbol in the platform, just to gasp surprised: The symbol was a blue flame with lightning around, the exact same drawing that became his Cutie Mark when he turned into a pegasus for the Manesquerade Ball.
Tails approached to the platform in front if the statue that had the two-tailed fox glyph above, and he also gasped when he saw the symbol in the platform was a box of tools with yellow lightning, the same symbol he had as a Cutie Mark when he became a pony.
Finally, Knuckles approached to the last pedestal, the one in front of the Owl statue with the echidna glyph above. He stared confused with a raised eyebrow at the symbol in the platform. This drawing were boxing gloves with bigger knuckles surrounded by red electricity, the same symbol he had for Cutie Mark as an earth pony stallion.
"Well, this is getting ridiculous..." Sonic said with a bored expression.
"This is a story were we interact with talking ponies, Sonic... What did you expect?!" Knuckles pointed out with sarcasm.
Sonic rolled his eyes, and he looked back at the pedestal with a frown. "So what we got for Cutie Marks are here as well. What does it mean, anyways?" he questioned.
"I don't know..." Tails confessed. "Should we... Should we step on them or something?" he asked confused.
"Worth a shot. But if we die, I'm gonna be upset!" Knuckles stated with a frown.
"Like if you were never upset..." Sonic said with a bored expression, once again rolling his eyes.
Next, he decided to step over the platform with what was once his Cutie Mark, while Tails and Knuckles did the same.
With this... nothing happened.
"Huh... That was pretty anticlimactic..." Sonic pointed out. "Maybe if we..." he was about to add, but then, he turned on his electrical powers.
With this, the platform he was over glowed in a blue light, as well as the hedgehog glyph above the statue.
"Okay... That did something..." Sonic pointed out with a smirk.
"I think our powers are the key to find out what this thing is about!" Tails pointed out. "Knuckles, put those gloves to shine!" he told the echidna with a smirk, while he turned on his own powers, as both the platform he was over and the glyph above the statue behind him started to shine in yellow lights as well.
"You don't have to tell me twice, little man!" Knuckles said with a smirks, smashing his knuckles together to turn his powers on, while the glyph and the platform he was over also shone in red lights.
Soon enough, and with the three platforms shining, the room started to be filled with electricity, all coming out of Team Sonic's bodies.
As this happened, a series of events came into Sonic's mind with the blink of an eye: a giant robot, the Chaos Emeralds gathering around him, some Islands with giant creatures, even some kind of metallic goo extending over Sonic's arm.
But then, when the vision finished for him, a light blue glow started to shine bright all of a sudden, calling the attention of the trio. So, without hesitation, they all gathered together in one corner of the room and activated their shields to be protected, while the light blue glow filled the entire room.
After some seconds, the light disappeared, and Team Sonic deactivated their shields. They stared at the last Chaos Emerald, shining bright and floating in the middle of the room, surprised that their powers just did that.
"Holy shit! Now that was unexpected!" Knuckles said with a smile.
"How did we brought the Emerald here?!" Sonic questioned confused.
"Hmm... I think the platforms were some kind of space-time distorters..." Tails suggested. "In simple words, they were created to bring something stuck in the past to our present!" he added.
"So our powers, being half-magic and half-chaos energy, brought the Emerald back to us?" Knuckles asked.
"It's weird, but it's also the best we got..." Sonic pointed out.
However, they heard groans and coughs, and when they turned to see where they came from... their eyes widened: Team Dark and Amy Rose were right there, at the other side of the same room Team Sonic were in right now.
When Team Dark and Amy opened their eyes, they stared back at Team Sonic with wide eyes as well, not getting how they got there... and vice versa.
"Shadow?!" Sonic screamed in shock and panic.
"Hedgehog!" Shadow screamed back with wide eyes.
"Amy?!" Tails called out with surprise.
"Tails!" Amy said back with shock.
"Rouge!" Knuckles said, with a mix of surprise, confusion and anger.
"Dork" Rouge said back with wide eyes, just not as expressive as the other two.
As for Omega? The poor robot simply looked down in disappointment, since nobody named him.
"What the actual fuck is going on today?!" Sonic shouted with shock and surprise.
In Opaline's Castle, Eggman was the one who gathered both Opaline and Misty this time around.
"This better be good, Ivo" Opaline spoke with a frown.
"Oh it is..." Eggman said, turning to face her with a frown. "My Robo-Flicky has been collecting crucial info from the Sonic Underground" he explained.
"Ever since when those idiots hang out underground?" Opaline asked confused.
Eggman deadpanned at her and sighed deeply. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't heard that... For both of our sakes..." he said with a tired tone.
After that, he whistled with his fingers, while the robotic Flicky entered through the window and landed on Eggman's shoulder, before looking at Opaline and Misty, and then project some images of the latest events it has witnessed.
It first showed Discord, as he was talking with Sonic on Canterlot's library. "While you were busy talking with your friends, the Emeralds travelled all the way here first. However, on the way, the Light Blue One strayed away from the others and entered a different time branch. Now, even if it did ended up in Equestria anyways, it had travelled around a hundred or two hundred years prior our present day. And once it arrived to the top of that mountain, due to the distortion in time it experimented, the Emerald created that cave to protect itself and wait for you!" the video played.
Both Opaline and Misty gasped at this, with Misty even covering her mouth with a hoof.
"That message is from two days ago..." Eggman said, as the Flicky switched the image and showed Longclaw's projection from the Blue Chaos Emerald and the Earth Pony Crystal. "This one is from today!" he added.
"You might have born in Mobius... But your ancestors? The Chaos Emeralds? They're from the land you have arrived, Sonic. They're from Equestria" Longclaw's projection said with a serious look.
This made the mares gasp once again. "W-What?! T-Those rocks you've been trying to collect are from this world?!" Opaline asked in disbelief.
"I know. Shocking. I mean, not as shocking as a later revelation she made that made me gulp a little, but still. Shocking" Eggman agreed with a frown. "Now that I know they come from a magical world, we must get them for real!" he stated.
"After so long, I finally have a reason to agreed on the urgency of getting these Emeralds" Opaline agreed with a frown. "We must take the ones those silly ponies and company have!" she stated.
"Oh, and we will!" Eggman assured. "I will go to the same place Discord mentioned to that Hedgehog. I'll take my badniks with me in case he's there. As for you two..." he was about to add, before just looking at Misty and frown. "Maybe it is time you get us a dragon, Misty. Bring that fire to Opaline, and not only we will rule two worlds with the power of the Chaos Emeralds and the Unity Crystals... but you will get your Cutie Mark!" he added with a grin.
Well, this was it... Misty was now convinced that Eggman has become Opaline 2.0.
At first, it seemed like he genuinely wanted her to succeed in order to make Opaline happy so she could earn her Cutie Mark... But after Winter Wishday, he's been so stubborn and cruel with her, to the point it feels like if he's just trying to manipulate her to stay... just like Opaline...
Was this a sign? Did she had to leave them already? Was she being stubborn to stay with them? Was trusting Eggman despite his recent attitude still good?
"It doesn't matter if we end on opposite sides of this game. I won't hurt you, no matter what. And that's a promise..." Eggman's voice echoed on her mind.
Why?! Why was that damn promise still haunting her? Why couldn't she take those words off her mind?! Why... Why did she still looked at him like a father despite everything he has done? Why did she felt so safe with him, even if she knew his true intentions?
Why was she so worthless without him?
"... Right..." Misty spoke. "I... I will get that dragon. And this time? I'm not coming back without him!" Misty declared with a determinate look.
Eggman smirked, satisfied with the answer. "Attagirl!" he replied confidently.
Back in the cave, Team Sonic, Amy and Team Dark had to talk things out.
For the next 30 minutes or so, each part explained around 15/16 minutes what happened to them.
Team Dark and Amy explained their whole ass adventure from the beginning: Tails and Knuckles sudden disappearance, Amy's urge to fin the three of them, their missions around Eggman's bases on mobius to collect info and make his machine work again, their arrival to Equestria, their discovery about the Chaos Emeralds true origins, and what happened in the cave before even getting the Chaos Emerald.
As for Team Sonic, they had to tell a really vague version of their story, skipping many details that could make some tension: Sonic's adventure with the Mane 5, Tails and Knuckles arrival along Eggman, their many battles with him, Opaline being Eggman's ally, finding out the Emeralds being from Equestria as well through Longclaw's message, finding out the truth about Sonic's parents and bloodline in the same message, and what the did on the cave.
"Okay, so... You four spent 6 months fixing Eggman's trap to reach us, but instead got trapped in it as well, and you spent the last week trying to reach the Emerald without knowing that both you and the Emerald were in the past?" Sonic questioned.
"Sounds about right to me!" Amy replied with a smirk. "And you three have been doing pretty much the same ever since you arrived, right? Just stop Eggman from his current scheme––" she tried to point out.
However, the strange attitude of Team Sonic clearly said otherwise: Sonic started to whistle 'innocently', Knuckles scratched his head while looking away, and Tails coughed, as he just looked at a random wall in the room.
"... You guys haven't stopped him, have you?" Shadow asked with his arms crossed and a bored expression, as he held the Light Blue Chaos Emerald on his hand.
"To be honest, we still don't know what's his deal..." Knuckles spoke. "We have stopped him from trying to hurt our new pony friends, but he's being silent about his intentions" he explained.
"We only know that whatever he has on store, it involves the magical Crystals Sonic helped them to put together" Tails pointed out. "Well, that, and the Chaos Emeralds" he added with a bored expression.
"So what have you been up to if you haven't defeated Eggman?" Shadow questioned with a glare.
"Well, we've been trying to get the Emeralds he managed to get before us, but he never uses them" Sonic explained. "Instead, he uses my quill and Knuckles' he collected... I still don't know how, though..." he pointed out.
"Why would Eggman use your quills as a source of energy?" Amy asked confused.
"Well, I don't know if we mentioned it, but Longclaw's message said something about echidnas, foxes and hedgehogs having cool electrical powers by inherence..." Knuckles said with a smirk. "And we didn't... Well... KNOW WE DID!" he shouted happily, as he smashed his fists together and made his electrical powers show up, with his eyes turning red as well.
This made Amy and Rouge step back surprised, while Shadow's eyes widened as his arms dropped, and Omega just looked at Shadow at his side confused.
"W-What the... H-How... When... WHY...?!" Amy asked in shock, while one of her eyes twitched.
"Oh, this?" Sonic asked with a mocking smirk, as his eyes turned blue and his quills lightened in neon blue, as blue electricity ran through his body. "Just a permanent power-up we had since birth that didn't woke up until we arrived here!" he explained.
"Well, they actually awakened on a serious situation..." Tails pointed out. "Mine wake up because I was tired of Eggman messing with me; Knuckles' wake up because he was given a duty and he didn't wanted to fail; and Sonic's awakened out of rage" he explained.
"Wait... You born with those powers... but they didn't awakened until now?" Shadow questioned with half a glare and a confused look.
"Let's just say: It happened, now here we are. Don't go around the matter so much" Sonic replied with a bored expression.
"Well, then..." Amy stated, before quickly pull the three of them into a big hug, which actually started to leave all of them with no oxygen... Even Knuckles. "I'm so glad to see you three are fine!" she cheered with a smile.
"Ugh... Its... Good to see you too, Ames..." Sonic said with an awkward smile, while his eyes widened as his lungs begged for breath. "But... could you let us go so we can breath? Please?!" he begged.
Amy's eyes widened after hearing that, and she decided to let go of them with a sheepish smile. "Sorry!" she apologized. "But I'm serious! I'm happy to see that you're all fine!" she assured, then she looked only at Tails and Knuckles. "And I'm glad that you two seem to have cleared things up after––" she tried to add.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Knuckles stopped her, but he still smiled. "It's fine now, Ames. We talked about it before finding Sonic. Everything's in the past now. As it should" he stated.
"Oh!" Amy said, a bit surprised by this response, but really glad to hear it all the same. "Well... I guess I was worrying a lot more than I probably should had..." she added with a sheepish smile.
"Didn't I told you? These three are too though for Eggman to kill them" Shadow pointed out with a mocking smirk.
"I still find hard to believe that we ended up in the past when we crossed the portal..." Rouge pointed out, before looking over at Omega with a frown. "Yet, if someone didn't pulled the lever, we could have done the proper tests and appear right here instead!" she said with rage.
"I recognize my rash decision brought difficult circumstances to the mission..." Omega recognized. "However, I should point out that if not by my decision, maybe we wouldn't had found the Chaos Emerald" he pointed out.
"Hmm. He got you there!" Shadow told Rouge with a smirk, while Rouge rolled her eyes.
"So, this magic Crystals... How powerful are they?" Amy questioned.
"Powerful enough to gain Eggman's interest" Knuckles replied with a frown. "We should go back so our friend Zipp can fill you up with the matter. She knows almost everything about what's going on" he explained.
"Wait... Zipp's a 'she'? I don't know why I thought she would be a man..." Shadow confessed a bit surprised.
"I don't blame you for that, Shads" Sonic told him with a smirk. "She does looks like a guy the first time you see her. Then she opens her mouth, and you look like an absolute stupid..." he added with a bored expression.
Tails raised a finger and frowned, ready to defend Zipp even if they were not offending her at all, but then he remembered that he also thought she was a stallion until she approached him and talked about his tails, so he regretted the idea.
"Um... Sonic..." Knuckles called out, as he suddenly dragged the hedgehog away, leaving the rest confused. "Should we tell them that we lost our tickets to singleness?" he whispered and asked him with concern.
"What?" Sonic muttered confused, but just a glare from Knuckles made him realize what he meant. "Oh... Well... I don't know... I can tolerate Rouge's and Shadow's mocking, but what about Amy?" he asked with concern.
"Well, even if you don't tell her now, she's still gonna find out once we go back to Maretime Bay..." Knuckles pointed out with a frown. "Better take it out now, don't you think?" he questioned.
"Guys?" Amy called out, and both Sonic and Knuckles turned to see her, with Sonic panicking for some reason. "What's the matter with you two?" she asked confused.'
"Yeah, guys! Tell the gossip to the class!" Rouge said in a mocking tone.
"Just spill the beans already" Shadow said with a bored expression. "The worse we can hear is that one of you has joined the mafia or something" he pointed out.
"Man, I know we can make stupid decisions sometimes, but how far you think can we go?" Sonic asked with a bored expression.
"Do not make me answer, hedgehog..." Shadow replied with the same bored expression.
"Alright, cut the act!" Amy said with a frown. "What is it that you two want to share?" she asked confused.
"Um... Y-You see..." Sonic tried to say, as he chuckled awkwardly.
"We got... Involved with something..." Knuckles said nervously, while he blushed a bit embarrassed. "Or rather somepony..." he muttered
Amy, Shadow and Rouge only looked at them confused, while Omega tried to process the information. "Error: Data not processed" the robot informed.
Tails chuckled at Sonic and Knuckles attitude, as he lay on the wall and looked at the others with a smirk. "Well, the single train left a while ago, and these two couldn't catch me!" he said playfully.
At first, none of the others, not even Sonic and Knuckles, got what he meant... But as soon as Amy and Shadow's eyes widened and their jaws dropped, Sonic and Knuckles' did as well, and they got incredibly red on their faces, while Rouge let out a loud gasp.
"*Gasp*" Omega said, trying to reflect the shock as well.
"No way!" Rouge said, as she slowly smirked in a mocking way. "You two are––" she tried to add, but she simply chuckled at the idea of Sonic and Knuckles being in a relationship.
"... So you two didn't wasted any second here, huh?" Shadow mocked up as well. "I could had expected it from Knuckles, but you, Sonic? What a surprise..." he added with a slight chuckle.
"Great, now he's gonna mock me for the rest of our stay here..." Sonic said with a bored expression and a twitchy eye.
"Oh, you bet I will" Shadow stated with a smirk.
Sonic rolled his eyes, but then, he looked over at Amy, who's gaze seemed to be completely lost. "Um... Ames?" Sonic called out with concern, much more than panic or fear. "You okay?" he asked her.
Amy snapped back to reality when Sonic called her out, shacking her head and looking confused at him. "Huh? O-Oh! Um... I... Honestly, I don't know what to do with this information..." she confessed, feeling really conflicted.
She still loved Sonic, a lot, but she was aware that Sonic does not liked her back. And yet... It was still shocking to find out like this that he was already with some... body? Somepony? What was even this gal he was with, anyways?
"Well, I do know!" Eggman's voice spoke suddenly, dragging Amy out of her mind again.
Suddenly, the entire cave rumbled, and then, several badniks entered the room. Buzz Bombers, Moto Bugs, Crabmeat, Buzzers, Egg Pawns, and even Caterkillers arrived, all of them pointing their weapons at the Mobians in the place.
With this, the entire group stood back to back, protecting each other from whatever Eggman and his badniks were going to do. Amy brought out her Piko Piko Hammer and Omega prepared his weapons, while Team Sonic charged their powers and prepared for Eggman's arrival.
And so, Dr. Eggman himself entered the cave on his Eggmobile, making a big whole at the top of the cave with its missiles, while being escorted by two Buzz Bombers.
"Oh-de-lay-hee, Oh-de-lay-hee, Oh-de-lay-hee-hooo!" Eggman exclaimed with a grin.
"Well, look at that! A rotten egg just splashed through the ceiling!" Sonic said with a mocking tone.
Yeah, even if he did hated Eggman more now that he knew about him being his parents killer, he wouldn't let that get into his head and would treat him the same way he has so far.
"Heads up, my little stalagmites. Someone call an Uber?" Eggman greeted mockingly. "I see that you not only found the Last Emerald restored, but also you have brought some ugly friends! Wonderful!" he added with a sinister grin, staring down at Amy and Team Dark, while they frowned back at him.
In Maretime Bay, while Sunny attended her Smoothie stand, the rest of the Mane 5 sat on a table nearby with smoothies. However, Pipp could barely concentrate on anything that wasn't staring at her phone, which was resting on the table, as she was waiting for a message, call, picture, anything from Sonic that indicated Tails, Knuckles, and him were fine.
But as she did so, and the others chit-chatted between them, Misty observed from a faraway alley, trying to devise a plan to get Sparky once and for all.
She was serious when she said that she wouldn't go back until she finally caught Sparky, so even if she failed this time, she wouldn't return to the castle until she gave Opaline her Dragon Fire.
However, she had no idea how to do this...
"Alright, Misty... This is no time to panic. It's time to think!" Misty told herself with a determined look. "Instead of planning out something I haven't done yet, maybe I should think about everything I already did, and see what I did wrong so I can capture him for real this time!" she stated confidently.
So, checking that nopony had seen her in the alley, she got deeper into it and then sat on the floor, bringing out a notepad and a pencil.
"Let's see... The first time I tried to get him, I trapped him in Izzy's supply closet... That didn't work because of Pipp's lullaby..." Misty started to list. "Then, I tried to get to him with food... several times... And it didn't work either. The one time I almost got him... Ugh... No, I don't wanna remember that. Sometimes I can still smell it over me..." she said with a cringed expression.
After that, she looked back at Sparky, who happily sipped his smoothie on Hitch's back, while the Sheriff laughed along with Zipp after Izzy said something.
"Maybe I have been failing because I try so hard to capture him..." Misty pointed out to herself. "Hmm... Maybe a friendly approach could do the job?" she asked with a little smile, before groaning in conflict. "Why is capturing one dragon so hard?!" she shouted tiredly.
Back in the cave, Eggman laughed maniacally at the Mobian group.
"What a beautiful family reunion this is!" Eggman said with a sinister grin. "I could never decipher the meaning behind those glyphs, but looking back at everything that has happened so far, I think I finally understand... This is a sign! You are all gonna fall before me and Opaline!" he stated with confidence.
"Too bad your celebration party's gonna get interrupted, Egghead!" Sonic mocked up. "We have the upper hand here, you know? Three powerful Crystals well protected, and 5 Chaos Emeralds against two!" he added.
"Oh, but that's where you are wrong, Hedgehog!" Eggman grinned again. "Wasn't your tribe outnumbered by my robots, and then killed afterwards?!" he reminded with a sinister laugh.
"Yeah, well, you did a terrible job getting rid of them? I'm still alive!" Sonic pointed out with a mocking smirk.
"Wait, what?!" Rouge exclaimed, confused. "Eggman killed his parents?" she muttered to Shadow, while he shrugged, since he didn't know what to answer.
Eggman's eyes widened at this, and he then growled in anger. "Fine. Laugh it up now, Hedgehog. But the one that laughs last, laughs better!" he stated, throwing the dead counterpart of the Light Blue Chaos Emerald towards them.
The dead Emerald landed in front of Sonic, and he grabbed it, looking at it confused.
Soon enough, however, the powered Light Blue Emerald moved away from Shadow's hand on its own, and when it touched the one Sonic was holding, both Chaos Emeralds danced around until they combined as one once more, restoring things to the normal order as it should be.
"Okay... That was weird," Sonic said before snatching the Emerald and putting it away. "What was that for, anyway?" he asked Eggman, confused.
"Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting..." Eggman confessed, before frowning again. "But it doesn't matter! Once I get rid of all of you with my badniks, I'll take your Emeralds, the Crystals... And when Opaline restores her Alicorn powers with Dragon Fire, we will take over Equestria and Mobius once and for all!" he stated confidently.
"Dragon Fire?" Knuckles questioned, both confused and mad. "But that sounds a lot like... Sparky..." he muttered, realizing what Eggman meant with the Dragon Fire.
"Isn't that the name of a baby dragon you guys––" Amy tried to ask, before gasping in horror, as she also realized what Eggman meant. "Eggman, you've gotta be kidding!" she shouted angrily.
"That is low and sick, even for you, doctor..." Shadow agreed, glaring daggers at Eggman.
"Just give me the order and I'll shoot," Omega stated, pointing his weapons at Eggman, while the badniks around them got closer to them.
"Unfortunately for you, it's a line I've crossed before," Eggman reminded with a frown. "I'm willing to go as far as possible to bring the Eggman Empire into a reality!" he stated with a grin.
"And I am willing to go as far as possible to shut your mouth and kick your ass, Eggman!" Sonic reminded as well, but with a frown. "I don't give a damn if I die fighting! I'll follow you up to the very end of the line to make sure that you fail as always!" he declared confidently. "I will fight for my friends, for their safety... Even if it costs my life. That's what I always do!" he added with a smirk.
"Besides, he won't be doing it alone!" Tails stated confidently. "We are a team!" he added with a serious and determined look.
"And we stick together, 'till the very end!" Knuckles stated as well. "So stop the fucking 'villain monologue' already, and get lost, Egghead!" he added with a frown.
"Then you'll all die as fools!" Eggman declared. "By the way, it's kind of cold in here, don't you think?" he asked, excitedly for his next move. "Let's turn up the heat!" he stated.
Then, Eggman pressed a button on his Eggmobile, which opened the lower part of the vehicle and fired a missile directly at Sonic.
"Sonic!" Tails asked in panic.
Sonic grabbed the missile out of the air and sent it flying towards Eggman. He barely dodged the missile by moving aside, but it hit one of the Owl statues, knocking it over and causing it to lean into a wall, which opened a hole, a perfect exit for the Mobian group.
"Oh well, I bet that wasn't important, anyway!" Eggman said with a mocking smirk.
It was then that Sonic noticed the hole that the Owl statue made and how it served as a path to it.
"Guys, that's our exit. Let's roll!" Sonic declared with a smirk.
The rest nodded, and then, Sonic charged up his Spindash, while Shadow stood at his side and did the same.
Soon enough, both Sonic and Shadow boosted through the room, as they Spindashed against the badniks, destroying them in the process.
Once many of them were out, everyone but Tails, Rouge, and Omega grabbed a piece of one of the robots and headed to the exit.
"What are you all doing there?!" Eggman shouted in rage at the remaining badniks. "Get back into your program, AND KILL. THAT. HEDGEHOG!" he ordered.
But as Eggman did this with his machines, the others found themselves with a problem: A massive snow cliff was everything they could see once they stepped out of the cave, and Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow couldn't run on it. Even so, and incredible as it may seem, Sonic had a plan involving the pieces of badniks they just grabbed.
"Okay..." Sonic muttered to himself, then looked at Tails, Rouge, and Omega with determination. Let's split up! You three go high, we go low!" he instructed with a smirk.
"Roger that!" Tails replied with a smile as he boosted through the air along Rouge and Omega.
"You sure about this?!" Amy asked in slight panic.
"No, but we have no choice if we wanna get away from Egghead right now!" Sonic pointed out. "Quick little stretch, and here we go!" he declared, stretching a bit and diving into the snowdrift below.
"Well, any kind of protest is over..." Knuckles said with a bored expression, before making a sick, little trick with his piece of badnik and diving into the snowdrift.
"Ugh, why do I always get myself involved in this?!" Amy said with concern.
"I don't wanna be that guy, but we came to look after them because you insisted on doing so..." Shadow reminded Amy with a bored expression. "Now we found them, and now we gotta go!" he pointed out, as he also made a trick on the air with his piece of badnik and dove into the snowdrift.
Amy sighed in defeat, then placed the piece of the badnik on the floor and stood on it, pushing herself over the piece and diving as well towards the snowdrift.
With Sonic, he passed his hand through a wall of snow and cheered loudly, before placing the piece of badnik he grabbed on his feet and using it as a snowboard.
Soon enough, Knuckles, Shadow, and Amy landed far from him, doing the same thing, while Tails, Rouge, and Omega followed by flight.
But then, as they all headed down the mountain on their improved snowboards, Eggman's badniks began to chase them down, since Eggman was clear with his order of killing Sonic.
"Oh, so you want to play?" Sonic snorted with a mocking tone. "Let's rock and roll!" he declared confidently.
Suddenly, however, some Buzz Bombers quickly approached, took out their laser stingers, and started shooting at Sonic like crazy.
"That's new..." Sonic said, somewhat worried.
Then, the stingers began to shoot with more power and madness, forcing Sonic to deviate from the main path to try to lose sight of them, while he screamed in terror.
Tails noticed this and also panicked. "Sonic!" he yelled, terrified, trying to get closer.
Sadly, an explosion stopped him, and he was forced to abandon his plan to help Sonic, because a Buzzer drone and Eggman were chasing him while firing lasers.
Rouge and Omega noticed that, and the latter immediately fired at Eggman. Rouge chased the Buzzer and took it down with a single kick, and the badnik exploded in the snow.
However, neither her nor Tails could cheer, because a group of many Buzz Bombers and Buzzers reached them, so they split up in the air: Rouge twirled around, kicked with her heels and even used her bare hands to destroys some Buzzers, while Tails used his powers to create a boomerang and crossbow, which he used to shot at the badniks as well.
Meanwhile, Sonic kept dodging the lasers fired at him by the flying badniks, also trying to find a quick solution.
"Sonic!" Knuckles' voice called out suddenly.
He came snowboarding from another entrance and twirled in the air with his fists charged with electricity and extended, as he punched several Buzzers out of the way with them. Next, he jumped from his board and started to ride a Buzz Bomber, which he redirected to use his laser against other Buzz Bombers, before jumping away from it and landing on his board.
After that, Amy jumped behind the Buzz Bomber. Knuckles just let go and smashed it with her Hammer. At the same time, she landed on her board as well, before passing by Knuckles and then being impulsed by him with his hands, as Amy extended her Hammer and twirled in the air as if she was making a Spindash, but crushing down Buzzers and Buzz Bombers with her hammer instead of her own body.
Now, Shadow approached as well to join the fight, but unlike Knuckles and Amy, he used his own snowboard to fight as well, either jumping in the air with it and then using it as a punching bag against Buzz Bombers or as a holder to use Chaos Spear and Spin Attack against the Buzzers.
When Shadow landed, he looked at Sonic with a mocking smirk.
"Pff, show off!" Sonic said with an eye roll, but also smirking back.
Then, he looked back at the flying badniks still following, as well as some Moto Bugs approaching by sliding through the snow, so he smirked even more and quickly created a pile of snowballs with his super speed, which he started to throw towards Eggman's robots.
"Snowball fight!" Sonic said mockingly as he launched the balls at a fast pace.
With the snowballs, he managed to hit all the badniks who followed him, even the Moto Bugs that were getting closer. They all fell to the ground and exploded into a million pieces.
"Ha ha ha! It's too easy!" Sonic kept mocking confidently.
"Our luck will run out if you keep talking, Hedgehog!" Knuckles pointed out with a frown.
"I thought you said something about improving, Sonic!" Amy also pointed with a frown, using her hammer to smash down a Buzzer that almost shot her.
"You know you're asking for too much with that, right?!" Rouge pointed out from the sky, as he tricked a pair of Buzzers to shoot at each other and destroy each other.
"Aw, come on! You gotta admit that this is a piece of cake!" Sonic pointed out with a smirk.
"That's no excuse to let our guard down!" Tails pointed out, as he flew in the air and quickly dodged a laser from a Buzz Bomber with a twirl, followed by him launching a boomerang and approaching the badnik to smash it with a giant metallic glove.
"Your ego will end up being your doom, Sonic..." Shadow muttered with a frown.
"You guys are being so dramatic!" Sonic said with an eye roll, still smirking confidently. "Hey, Eggman! Is that all you've got?! I'm not even sweating over here. Come on, challenge me!" he requested mockingly.
But, for speaking ahead of time, Sonic was met by a herd of Buzzers and Buzz Bombers, eagerly waiting to finish him off once he jumped off a ravine.
"Oh, me and my stupid mouth..." Sonic deadpanned.
"Told ya!" everyone else but Omega said with anger.
To make matters worse, the Buzz Bombers activated their lasers, while the Buzzers also launched missiles.
"No, we're not..." Shadow said with an eye roll and a bored expression.
And then, just as Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow jumped from the ravine, Sonic smiled victoriously and stopped time. Then he jumped off his board and started jumping over lasers, dodging missiles, and standing on Buzzers as he danced ballet.
"We are talking style and pizzazz!" Sonic taunted with a smirk.
Then, the hedgehog mounted one of the Buzz Bombers and began using its laser to destroy several badniks, as others destroyed each other while trying to finish off Sonic.
Upon this, he jumped back onto his board and landed on the snow with a smile, while Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow landed at his side. Knuckles and Amy looked back at the explosions in the air, confused.
"Yeah! I make this look good!" Sonic cheered, crossing his arms.
"See?" Shadow said, looking at Knuckles but still with a bored expression. "I told you we were not going to die," he reminded, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
But then, as they all headed near a cliff, a Caterkiller suddenly popped out of the snow, startling the four Mobians on their snowboards.
Shadow and Knuckles immediately move to the sides, but Sonic and Amy can't move in time because they have tripped over the caterpillar's body and rolled on the snow.
Well, Amy did because Sonic stopped after a while. However, once he lifted his head and shook the snow away, he gasped in panic since Amy was now hanging from a cliff.
So Sonic stood up and rolled towards her, grabbing her hand just when she was about to fall. He also hung over the cliff on the other side.
"Hang on, Amy!" Sonic called out as he tried to get both himself and Amy back to the surface, struggling a lot as he did so. "Dang it... Ames, are you okay?!" he asked her with worry.
"Define 'okay', Sonic!" Amy shouted in panic, closing her eyes and holding tightly onto Sonic's arm with her hands. "Are you concerned if I'm okay physically, emotionally, or mentally?!" she asked.
"Um... the first one?" Sonic said sarcastically, but then he grunted as he tried to get to the surface. "Why would you be emotionally hurt, by the way? If you don't mind me asking..." he added, a bit concerned.
Just then, Knuckles came by and grabbed Sonic, lifting him and Amy back up, with Shadow soon arriving and helping as well.
"Seriously?!" Amy shouted in rage. "Tails just casually said that Knuckles and you have girlfriends now, and you still don't get why I'm feeling upset?!" she screamed.
"Wait, what?!" Sonic said, confused. "But I thought you said you didn't know what to do with that information!" he pointed out.
"There's this thing called 'sarcasm', Sonic!" Amy pointed out, but now looked at him with a frown.
"So what? Are you mad with me and my girl because it's not you?!" Sonic asked with a frown, but he wasn't mad, just concerned for her.
"No!" Amy shouted. "I... I just... I'm heartbroken, okay?" she confessed, now looking away from him but still holding tight to his hand.
At this, Knuckles and Shadow stopped moving, looking at each other with conflicted looks, not knowing whether to save them now or wait.
"I've been obsessed with you my whole life..." Amy said with sadness, while Sonic paid attention to her, as his frown faded. "I meant what I said years ago... About wanting you to be happy... But you just disappeared one day last year, and now that I finally got to see you again... How did you expect me to react to the fact that you have a girlfriend now?!" she pointed out.
Sonic felt ashamed. Even if Tails had shared the news, Sonic knew he should have told them. He approached her slowly and calmly, not just dropping the bomb out of nowhere like Tails did.
"Amy... I didn't expect you to arrive here along with Shadow and co... At all," Sonic confessed, while his ears lowered. "But I guess I should've expected you to find out one way or another... And I wished I had shared that instead of Tails..." he added with shame.
"I would've liked that too..." Amy confessed. "But... But I don't want you to think I hate you, nor whoever is the lucky gal that got into your heart," he added suddenly with a small smile, now looking him in the eyes.
That made Sonic's ears perk up again, as he smiled back at her. "Really?" he asked, surprised.
"I admit that it's gonna take me a while to get used to you being with someone else..." Amy admitted again, and yet, she still smiled. "But if that someone is making you happy, if she's worthy of your love... Then I'm happy for you, Sonic. I mean it. You deserve it!" she added cheerfully, surprisingly for Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow.
"Wow... She has matured a lot more than I give her credit for..." Shadow said with an amusing expression, but as soon as he heard sobs, he slowly looked to his side, just to stare confused at Knuckles. "... Are you... crying?" he asked him, confused.
Knuckles sobbed from his nose and quickly tried to wipe away his tears. "No! S-Something got in my eye, that's all!" he said dramatically, as he resumed pulling Sonic and Amy back, with Shadow doing the same.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Ames..." Sonic said. "But you are worthy of my love as well. Maybe not the kind of love you want, but you matter to me," he pointed out to her with a wink.
Amy blushed slightly and looked away while rolling her eyes. "S-Shut it!" she said a bit flustered.
Sonic chuckled, but he still looked at her. "In all seriousness, though... I think you and she will get along just fine!" he assured her.
"As long as she doesn't get jealous of me, I hope so!" Amy said with a mocking smirk.
And just then, Knuckles and Shadow managed to pull the two hedgehogs back to the surface, with Knuckles immediately pulling Amy away and then almost crushing her in a hug.
"Gah! K-Knuckles! W-What are you––" Amy tried to ask, but Knuckles hugged her tightly and sobbed.
"You have grown up so much!" Knuckles exclaimed dramatically. "It feels like yesterday when you tagged along on the Northstar Islands, still crushing hard on that Hedgehog, and now here you are! Mature enough to let him be with someone else! I'm so, so proud of you!" he exclaimed dramatically.
But as he did so and Amy still begged for air, the Caterkiller from before appeared suddenly... Just to be smashed down by Omega, who traversed the badnik and split it in half.
"Guys! Are you okay?!" Tails asked with concern, as he and Rouge arrived by flight.
"We are now, but we don't know for how long!" Shadow pointed out, before looking at Sonic. "Can't we just go to this Maretime Bay place already?! You said in the cave that you guys have Warp Rings!" he reminded with a frown.
"We cannot go now! We still have to deflect Eggman to anywhere else but our backs!" Sonic pointed out, before turning to Tails in the air. "Tails! Take the Emerald and go back to the Brighthouse!" he instructed, as he tossed the Light Blue Chaos Emerald to him.
Unfortunately, just as Tails was about to grab it, Eggman, thanks to his Eggmobile, got in the way and took it instead.
Thereupon, he took out two missiles from his vehicle and fired them.
"Later, haters!" Eggman exclaimed in victory.
The missiles went straight up to Tails and Rouge, but Omega quickly propelled himself towards Rouge, pushing her away and getting the impact of one of the missiles on his place.
As for Tails? The remaining missile exploded behind the young fox, hitting him in the head and causing him to fall unconscious on the snow, while several pieces of what used to be Omega fell.
Seeing that, Sonic felt terror, panic, anguish, and anxiety all at the same time, while Rouge shook her head in confusion, before gasping at seeing Omega's body destroyed.
"Tails!" Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy all exclaimed, scared.
"NO!" Rouge shouted with horror as he flew to the snow.
Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy ran directly with the fox. Sonic verified that he was alive, placing his fingers on his neck to check his pulse, and sighing a little with relief when he found that he was still alive.
Knuckles and Amy did the same, but on the other hand, Rouge stared with wide eyes and her mouth covered Omega's head, with the robot's eyes shut down, clearly indicating that he was dead.
Shadow approached Rouge and placed a hand on her shoulder, while Rouge immediately turned and buried her face on Shadow's shoulder. Of course, he felt slightly startled, but he still wrapped an arm around her and caressed her back.
"Tails, please wake up..." Sonic begged with panic and sadness as he shook the young fox slightly.
Then, Eggman came by on his Eggmobile, holding the last Chaos Emerald in his hand with a smirk, then looking down at the mobians. "It seems like none of you are ever gonna change. New world, same pathetic weakness!" he mocked up.
At this, all the conscious Mobians but Rouge glared at Eggman, with Shadow even preparing a Chaos Spear to launch at him, when suddenly, the ground began to shake.
Everyone turned their heads to the top of the mountain to witness that an avalanche was taking place and heading straight towards them.
"Oh no... No, no, no!" Sonic exclaimed with pure terror. "Now we are in trouble! Quick Tails, wake up already! We gotta get out of here ASAP!" he pointed out with panic.
However, as Sonic panicked, Eggman just snorted. "See ya, kids. Enjoy the fresh powder!" he mocked again, before boosting out of there on his Eggmobile.
At this, Sonic groaned and cursed Eggman silently, before grabbing Tails and carrying him on his shoulder, then getting over his improved snowboard again and sliding down the mountain to try and get as far away from the avalanche as possible.
Knuckles and Amy followed his example, while Shadow prepared his snowboard and carried Rouge in a bridal style, sliding down the mountain with the others to escape the avalanche.
Back in Maretime Bay, Izzy, Sparky, and Pipp were on the table, while Hitch and Zipp went over with Sunny to the stand.
Pipp was still staring at her phone and getting really worried. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had not sent anything that indicated they were fine, and it had been an hour already.
Zipp noticed this as she returned along with Sunny and Hitch to the table, and she groaned in annoyance. "Pipp! For the love of Cloudpuff, could you please stop staring at your phone?!" she said with anger.
"I've tried, but I can't!" Pipp exclaimed dramatically. "It's been an hour, and they haven't said anything!" she pointed out.
"Maybe they're just too focused?" Hitch suggested. "I mean, Sonic seemed desperate to find answers about everything we heard from that message of his mentor," he pointed out. "And I cannot blame him. I mean, we spent our whole lives fearing each other for no reason, and coming together was a shock," he added.
"Besides, I'm pretty sure they're fine," Sunny said with a smile. "I mean, we're talking about those three! They're always fine!" she pointed out.
"Hmm... I don't know..." Izzy said with concern. "I know those three can be fine, but this... This feels different for some reason..." she confessed.
"Right?!" Pipp said with wide eyes, while Zipp rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Suddenly, Pipp's phone started to ring, startling everypony.
She quickly grabbed her phone and gasped happily when she saw Sonic's name on the screen. But before answering the call, she quickly cleared her throat and fixed her mane a bit, and once she felt ready, she answered the call.
"Hello?" Pipp called out happily, also turning on the speakers.
Spoiler: She regrets it.
"PIPP!" Sonic's voice shouted in panic.
At this, everypony and Sparky covered their ears, startled by Sonic's sudden scream.
"Uh... Blue Star?" Pipp called out, but then she heard the wind blowing by. "Are you okay? I think we can hear you running..." she pointed out, confused.
"Snowboarding, actually..." Sonic said smugly, before panicking again. "But we need your help now!" he stated.
In the mountain, the Mobians were still sliding down the mountain to get away from the avalanche.
"We're in a life-or-death situation this very second!" Sonic said with panic and a frown. "We need you guys to clear the road in Maretime Bay so we can open a Warp Ring, like right now!" he instructed with concern.
Back in Maretime Bay, the Mane 5 looked at each other, confused.
"Uh, but why do you need the road clear?!" Hitch asked, confused.
Since Sonic had the speakers on too, Knuckles' voice came in instead. "There's a fucking avalanche chasing us and threatening us with dead!" he replied with panic.
That was enough to make the Mane 5's eyes widen in panic.
"... Yeah, let's clear up the path!" Sunny stated in panic as she and the rest quickly rushed towards the main town.
However, they did not notice that they left Sparky behind on a table, sipping his smoothie happily.
Soon enough, though, Misty arrived with the baby dragon, wearing a purple cloak, and taking advantage of the fact that the Mane 5 ran away carelessly.
"Hey there, Sparky!" Misty said with a smile as she approached the baby dragon a bit nervously. "I, um..." she tried to add, but a glance at the others running towards the town gave her an idea of how to trick Sparky. "Hitch wants me to drag you today!" she lied with a nervous smile.
Sparky looked at her and, surprisingly for Misty, he cheered and jumped to her hooves, as the unicorn mare barely trapped him... Her plan worked... She approached him a bit friendly, and he actually trusted her...
Misty smiled happily, thinking of how satisfied Eggman and Opaline would be with her success... But then, she looked to the Mane 5 over her shoulder, and felt bad for doing this... And she was still going to do it, anyway.
"I'm sorry, everypony..." Misty muttered before putting Sparky down her cloak, and then ran as fast as she could towards Opaline's Castle.
Back with the Mane 5, Hitch stood in the middle of Mane Street and took out his megaphone. "Everypony take cover! Now, now, now! This is not a drill!" he instructed with a slight frown.
Soon enough, everypony started to move away from the roads, leaving them empty since the Mane 5 told them to do so, even if they just did it because Hitch, being the Sheriff, ordered it.
"Okay, Sonic! The coast is clear!" Pipp said to her boyfriend through the call.
But as soon as she told him this, Sonic ended the call, which confused her and made her panic.
However, before she could call back, a warp ring portal opened up, just for the Mane 5 and everypony else to see how Team Sonic, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge were heading towards them... with the avalanche still following up.
"Snow my hoofness..." Sunny exclaimed with wide eyes and panic.
"Oh man..." Zipp muttered with a bored expression.
Then, the Mane 5 immediately moved aside to avoid the avalanche, while the anthropomorphic animals arrived. As they got covered by the snow, Sonic hugged Tails to try to cover him.
"INCOMING!" Sonic shouted in panic.
Yet, the snow was stronger than him because he lost grip on Tails anyway, as he and the other Mobians got covered in snow in the streets of Maretime Bay, and the warp ring closed and left a snowy mess behind.
At this, the Mane 5 quickly climbed the snow mountain, looking for their friends.
"Guys!?!" Hitch called out, then turned to help Sunny get into the mountain as well. "Are you okay?!" he asked the others again.
After asking this, Sonic came out of the snow, lay on it, and felt incredibly dizzy. "Ugh... Yatta..." he said tiredly, saying 'Yay' with no emotion in Japanese.
"Sonic!" Pipp exclaimed, quickly rushing to him and dragging him into a big hug. Sonic felt dizzy, but he still wrapped an arm around her.
"Are you okay?!" Zipp asked with concern.
Then, Knuckles popped his head out of the snow and shook it with a bored expression. "As okay as we can be..." he said, only to be taken out of the snow by Izzy's magic and then wrapped in a big bear hug by her.
"What happened?!" Sunny asked with worry. "You guys haven't said anything since you left an hour ago!" she pointed out.
"I thought you were killed or something!" Pipp said dramatically, placing her hooves on Sonic's cheeks.
"Okay, the quick version? Eggman's planning something bigger than we thought!" Sonic replied with concern. "It involves Dragon Fire, the Unity Crystals, and the Chaos Emeralds!" he explained. "And Zipp, you were right: Opaline is an Alicorn. Eggman himself said it!" he revealed.
"But things get worse: Somehow, he knows about being Sonic's parents' killer." Knuckles kept going. "We gotta stop him, or Equestria is doomed!" he added with concern, while the Mane 5 looked at each other with worry... And then, Knuckles gasped loudly. "AMY!" he shouted in panic.
Then, he jumped and dug a hole in the snow before coming out four seconds later and taking Amy out of the snow, while Amy herself coughed some snow out of her mouth with a cringed expression.
Soon enough, Rouge and Shadow came out as well, coughing up a lot of snow from their systems while Shadow helped Rouge to stand up.
However, a loud gasp from all the ponies around, the Mane 5 included, caught the attention of the three new Mobians present, with Toots among the crowd even fainting in shock, while a pegasus mare took a picture of them with her phone.
"Sweet lord, there's more of them now..." Posey commented with a panicked expression, while one of her eyes twitched.
"Uh... Guys?" As she broke the hug with Sonic, Pipp called out and stared in shock at Amy, Shadow, and Rouge. "Can you give us the context, please?" she requested.
"Yeah, yeah..." Sonic said a bit nervously, now walking to them and standing at Amy's side. Guys, these are Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Rouge the Bat!" he introduced them with a sheepish smile. Amy smiled nervously and waved her hand, while Shadow crossed his arms and nodded. Rouge just made a peace sign and smirked a little, even if she was still upset because of what happened to Omega.
"They're from Mobius like us, in case it isn't obvious..." Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression.
"Hi, new friends!" Izzy said cheerfully, but she tilted her head as she stared at Sonic and Shadow closely. "Huh... Is it just me, or do you two look alike?" she pointed out.
Sonic and Shadow looked at each other for a second after Izzy compared them, and suddenly, Sonic burst laughing while Shadow snorted and smiled in disbelief. The Mane 5 stared at them, confused, and the rest looked at Shadow in shock.
"He wished..." Shadow said with a smirk.
"I love good jokes like that one..." Sonic said with a huge grin.
However, his grin faded once he remembered something... or rather, someone.
"TAILS!" Sonic screamed in panic, kneeling in the snow and digging in it like a maniac, until he managed to find his little buddy buried in the snow. So, he quickly took him out of there and then got down off the mountain, carefully placing his unconscious adopted brother on the floor. "Tails, can you hear me?!" he asked in panic, shaking him a bit.
"Whoa, what happened?!" Zipp asked in panic, as she and Sunny kneeled on Tails' sides and looked at him with concern.
"Eggman shot a missile, i-it exploded on his head!" Sonic replied, and Sunny gasped in horror. "Come on, man! Don't do this to me!" he begged the unconscious fox.
"Is he okay?!" Sunny begged for an answer. "S-Should we take him to a doctor?! Maybe bring some first aid supplies?!" she started to suggest.
However, the moment she started to talk and act worried for Tails, Shadow stared at her with wide eyes. His heart started to race like a maniac, and his mind replayed a memory.
Years ago, when Shadow was still just some infant-minded, he cried as he sat on the floor.
He just tripped with something as he played tag with Maria, and since back then he still had a childish-like attitude because of having 3 months of creation, he couldn't help but cry a bit when he looked at his knee and saw a scratch with some blood.
Maria rushed to him once she noticed he not only came after her anymore, but also that he was crying a bit.
"Shadow! Are you okay?!" Maria asked him a bit panicked, before noticing his scratch and cringing a bit. "S-Should I take you to a doctor?! Maybe bring some first aid supplies?!" she started to suggest.
Shadow could only sob a bit more, while Maria looked around a bit panicked, and then looked down at the scratch on Shadow's knee, which she quickly tried to cover with her hands...
Once Shadow returned to reality, he still stared at Sunny in shock... Because she sounded and acted exactly like Maria used to... And she was just being concerned for Tails right now...
So, why did she remind her of Maria so soon if she had just met her?
"Shadow?" Rouge called out, noticing how panicked he seemed to be. "You okay?" she asked, confused.
Shadow took a while to reply, but he still did so. "... Yeah... I just... had a dejà vu..." he replied with a frown of concern.
Soon, he and Rouge approached the rest, who gathered around Tails to see if they could help. Every pony around looked at the group, confused and not understanding what was happening.
But then, Hitch noticed something... that someone was missing, because he felt his back empty. "Guys?" he called out, a bit panicked. "W-Where... Where's Sparky?"
Misty was running through the forest, heading back to Opaline's Castle.
"I can't believe I finally got you!" Misty said in disbelief, as she held up Sparky, who was wrapped in the cloak. "Opaline is going to be so happy! You're all she thinks about!" she said happily, as she held up Sparky out of the blanket.
Sparky just smiled at her and gurgled a bit, trying to reach her face.
Misty looked around to make sure that she wasn't followed and sighed. "I'm sorry! But if you knew what it was like, you'd understand..." she said with a guilty expression to the baby dragon.
Sparky gurgled again and reached out to her, grabbing Misty's muzzle happily, as she nuzzled him with a smile, while Sparky clapped.
Misty smiled sweetly at Sparky, but then she sighed again and hid the baby dragon under her cloak, as she resumed her run to Opaline's Castle.
Sonic carefully placed the unconscious Tails over a couch in the Brighthouse.
He still couldn't forgive himself for letting Eggman launch those missiles that impacted Tails' head and left him on his current state.
Even if Knuckles, Amy, Sunny and Pipp have already assured him that it wasn't his fault, he still couldn't forgive himself. He was convinced that he could have done something to stop Eggman, but it didn't mattered anymore... At least Tails was save, alive, and that's what matters the most to him.
However... there was still something to deal with... Eggman.
He tried to blow Tails from the sky, knowing perfectly that he would affect Sonic by doing so. Worst of all, Eggman was the responsible of his actual parents death, the same parents that sacrificed themselves in order to save Sonic and Longclaw...
As you can see, Sonic doesn't want to think about him... not after what he did to Tails. Yet, not hearing anything about his enemy was asking for too much, because his friends were only talking about that while he watched over Tails.
"So let me guess this straight: You went to the cave, found out about some prophecy were the five of us, Misty, and you six fight against Opaline and Eggman, got ambushed by the latter, Tails got knocked out, and then you had to run away from an avalanche..." Sunny said with a raised eyebrow.
"Skipping very important details, but that's the best way to describe it" Shadow replied with his arms crossed and eyes closed, giving his back to everyone else.
"Is he always like this?" Hitch asked with a bored expression.
"Get used to it, honey" Rouge replied with an eye roll. "He never acts other way unless necessary" she added.
"Getting back on track..." Sunny called out. "Now that Eggman has the last Emerald you guys were looking for, what's next?" she asked concerned.
"Eggman's planning on something big" Knuckles repeated Sonic's words from an hour ago. "As Sonic said, Opaline and him need Sparky's fire, the Chaos Emeralds and the Unity Crystals!" he explained.
"Of course he wants the Crystals..." Zipp deadpanned, also facepalming. "Can't this guy just give up once and call it a day?" she asked rhetorically.
"Pff! Its Eggman we're talking about. You're being delusional if you think he's going to give up that easily" Amy pointed out with a bored expression.
"Still, perhaps it's time we do something instead of just stand here and wait for something to actually happen!" Hitch pointed out with concern. "Sparky disappeared after Sonic called Pipp. We have searched all around the bay, even in Izzy's supply closet, and he's not there! He's not even replying to his lullaby song! We have to act now!" he stated with a frown.
"Yeah! You guys are always dealing with the 'big guns' stuff" Pipp pointed out with a slight frown as well. "Perhaps we should return the favor!" she stated.
"Then what are waiting for?!" Zipp asked, as she flew in the air with a slight smirk. "The more time we waste talking, the more time Opaline and Eggman try to get Sparky, the Emeralds and the Crystals!" she pointed out.
"Now hold on a second!" Knuckles stopped them, raising his big hands to prevent them of keep going. "Look, I agree that you guys should give us a hand on this. It would be appreciated" he confessed.
"As much as I hate to say it, I agree" Rouge replied, although looking at her nails instead of the Mane 5. "We know nothing about this world, and considering we were in the snow, in the mountains, in a different period of time, some guidance around would be phenomenal" she explained with a slight frown.
"Also, we have heard all the amazing things you guys can do with your magic" Amy added with a smile. "And, while I do have some judgement towards one of you, based on something that doesn't matter right now..." she said, looking at Pipp with a slight frown, while Pipp rolled her eyes a bit annoyed. "... We do need your help, guys... Er... ponies? Ugh... I'm never getting used to this..." she confessed.
Shadow, on the other hand, only nodded in agreement at Rouge's and Amy's words, but he said nothing and still gave his back to the ponies.
"However, before you leave, I do think you should plan ahead any tactic" Knuckles pointed out with concern.
"Tactic?!" Zipp asked in disbelief. "Dude, our enemies are planning on putting their hands and hooves over our Unity Crystals, Hitch's son and your magic Emeralds! if we don't leave now, they might have a tactic themselves ready!" she pointed out with a slight frown.
"Just like he could have a tactic ready to wipe you all out approaching him" Shadow replied for once. "No plan on how to take down the doctor means you pretty much will get crushed down" he added.
"Also, we still have no idea of where the heck Eggman and Opaline are hiding!" Knuckles pointed out with a frown. "We've been looking after Opaline's Castle for months, and we still have nothing!" he added with anger.
"... Oh... right..." Zipp realized with a frown, landing in the floor again. "I guess we do have to plan something out, then..." she confessed.
"But what exactly?" Sunny asked with concern. "We not only know where the castle is, but we don't know how it looks like, either! How can we plan something out if we know practically nothing?!" she pointed out worried.
Maybe it was the tension already formed before, or maybe it was the desperate attempt to find a solution on how to find Eggman and Opaline, but it was clear that Sunny's question was the straw that broke the camel's back, because everyone but Sonic, Tails (he's still knocked out), Rouge and Shadow started to discuss on what to do.
Zipp kept insisting that they should leave now, even if they don't know where to go or what to do, since it was better than stand here to do nothing, while Knuckles and Amy were still convinced that they needed to think this carefully. As for Hitch, he only wanted to find Sparky before thinking it was too late.
Sunny, Izzy and Pipp were trying to give solutions to the problem as well, but so far, they were going nowhere with so much discussion.
Rouge only rolled her eyes at their, what she considered, childish behavior over the problem at stake, while Shadow was trying to think on a solution himself, even though he didn't wanted to say out loud yet, but he couldn't think straight, either, because of the discussion behind him.
However, the moment Rouge's eyes flashed into something, they widened, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Oh-oh..." Rouge muttered with a bit of concern, but there was also a playful aspect in her tone. "Blue is not in the mood!" she added, now smirking playfully.
Shadow heard that, and he opened his eyes confused. "What are you talking––" he tried to ask.
However, as soon as he saw what Rouge herself was looking at, his eyes also widened a bit, because he saw Sonic's left hand twitching and releasing electrical sparkles.
"... Shit..." Shadow said with a bit of concern, because even if he wasn't best buddies with Sonic, he knew him enough to understand that it was never a good sign if he was pissed off.
And worst of all? Sonic was really trying to stay calmed, but the fight between the Mane 5, Knuckles and Amy wasn't helping.
He really wanted to cooperate, and he really wanted things to get better... but after what Eggman did to Tails, the last thing he wanted to hear was Eggman's name.
And yet, his friends were there, naming him constantly since they had to stop him... as always...
Electricity got out of his hand at this point, but even if his anger and his powers showing up was visible, his friends couldn't see it still.
"I'm not the kind of gal that likes to bet, but––" Rouge tried to whisper to Shadow.
"15 Bucks he yells at them" Shadow replied immediately with a slight smirk.
"Deal!" Rouge accepted, also with a smirk.
And so, Sonic finally reached his limit when the fight kept going, so he turned around and stared daggers at his friends, with his eyes burning in bright blue and with electricity coming out of his body.
"Everybody! SHUT UP!" Sonic yelled out with anger.
That finally brought some silence, as the Mane 5, Knuckles and Amy stared back at Sonic, who's eyes were filled with anger and thousands of words he wanted to say.
However, even if this story allows him to swear as much as he wants, and he has done it before, I'm still not gonna make him, because swearing only suits Zipp, Knuckles and Shadow.
"Just shut up. For 5 FUCKING SECONDS, shut up!" Sonic begged this time.
I truly fooled you guys, didn't I?
"He's swearing. He's either killing someone today, or destroying them mentally..." Shadow muttered with a bit of concern. "Also, you own me 15 bucks now" he told Rouge with a slight smirk.
"I have NO idea on how to find Eggman. And I honestly DON'T care, either!" Sonic kept talking. "You guys want to find him and stop him? Fine! But don't invite me to that party. For what concerns me, he's not worth my time. Not anymore, at least" he announced with anger.
After saying that, he make his powers go away, then he gave one last concerned look at Tails, before frowning entirely, and then, he walked out of the Brighthouse, but before stepping out...
"Sonic, wait!" Sunny called. "Maybe we can––" she tried to say, but...
"Sunny, please don't" Sonic begged, not daring to look at her. "I'm not in the mood of talking. And I don't want to say nor do something I'll regret later. So... please leave me alone... I really need some time for myself..." he stated.
With that being said, Sonic walked out of the Brighthouse... but he didn't ran away. He just... he kept walking, as some sparkles of electricity still came out of his body while he walked away.
Sins Shadow and Rouge, and of course Tails who's still knocked out, the rest stared in disbelief at how Sonic simply said that and left without explaining anything.
Pipp frowned a bit and tried to follow, but Knuckles stopped her with an arm and shook his head, clearly saying with no words that he really needed to be alone right now.
Pipp felt more concerned for her boyfriend at that, but she sighed in defeat and, just this time, she decided to let him go and clear his thoughts on his own.
However, there was one of them that wasn't happy with this reaction, and honestly, it came out of the last hedgehog you could expect...
Sonic kept walking away from Maretime Bay, since he really wanted to put his thoughts together.
He really was ashamed of the way he yelled at his friends, but... he also really needs time to think. And with that nonsense fight in the Brighthouse, he had everything but peace and patience right now.
His other problem was Eggman. What he did to Tails was unforgivable. What could guarantee that he wouldn't try it again with any of the Mane 5? With Pipp?
"Shit! This is not helping... All I need is to clear my thoughts, but that mustache fat man keeps invading my mind!" Sonic yelled out with anger. "I just want to be 5 minutes without thinking of him... Am I asking for too much?!" he yelled again.
"You are if you keep acting like a 5 year old" a voice spoke behind him.
Sonic stopped walking, but his frown remained, and when he turned around, it just became bigger, because he was seeing Shadow, who slowly approached him with his arms crossed.
"In case that you got deaf or something, faker, I'm seriously not in the mood for anything, not even dealing with your shit" Sonic remarked with a frown, as he kept walking away from him. "Now leave me alone" he begged once again.
"This has to be both the dumbest and most cowardly thing you have done so far, Sonic" Shadow kept talking, still following Sonic. "Like, I can understand that you are mad with Eggman for what he did to Tails. But ditching away your kindness out of rage? That's pretty weird for your standards" he pointed out with a bit of concern.
"Shadow, please... I'm seriously not in the mood..." Sonic said once again, with some sparkles showing up again around his body.
"The worst of all out of this? Is that you not only yelled at your friends for trying to find a solution, but you also yelled at Pipp, your little, brand-new girlfriend..." Shadow kept saying.
Just so you know, what Shadow's about to do isn't out of hate nor because he wants to fight Sonic, is because he wants to help... in his own weird way, but still.
"Shadow... please, shut up, or I swear I'm gonna––" Sonic warned, not looking at Shadow with rage as his eyes changed from green to blue.
"If you really want to get your frustration out, you would be solving the problem, faker" Shadow continued. "But here you are, walking away and acting like a coward, running away from the problem instead of running towards it!" he finished.
And once again, as if Sonic's patience wasn't lacking already, it left his body completely again, because he yelled in rage and launched himself towards Shadow.
Smirking victoriously, Shadow teleported and Sonic stroke his punch against a tree, but as he pulled out, Shadow appeared a few meters away from him.
"Just as I predicted, you're still a weakling" Shadow said with a smirk.
At this, Sonic growled in anger, and so, he charged up a Spindash combined with his powers, while Shadow himself charged a Spindash combined with Chaos Energy.
Then, both hedgehogs started to Spindash against each other, clashing and booting over trees while trying to defeat the other one.
Hey, if Shadow's gonna make Sonic release all his anger and stress, at least he's gonna enjoy it, alright?
However, Shadow didn't counted with the move that Sonic pulled next: When it seemed like they were going to Spindash against each other again, Sonic uncurled, then turned his watch on, lead some electricity over there, and then created a hammer, which he used to slam Shadow to the ground.
Because of this, Shadow uncurled and almost landed on his back, if it wasn't because of Sonic, who grabbed him from his neck and punched him in the chest with a leg.
Then, Sonic started to multiply himself thanks to his super speed, and so, he started to punch Shadow multiple times at the same time, which startled Shadow a bit, since he didn't expected Sonic to went all out with him.
However, he decided to play along, because he charged his Chaos Blast and let out a big amount of energy, which sent Sonic backwards, but the blue blur rolled in the ground as a ball and uncurled, showing himself again with his electrical powers fully charged, before he used them to create a bigger hand and charge against Shadow again.
Shadow, who shook his head after that Chaos Blast, saw that Sonic was heading towards him, so he managed to dodge the attack and started to run away, using his air shoes to run away from him.
Sonic made the electrical hand disappear, but he frowned and growled, before boosting to follow Shadow along, since their fight was just getting started.
In Opaline's Castle, Misty brought Sparky to the Throne Room.
As Misty sneaked inside the Throne Room, Sparky babbled curiously at the interior of Opaline's home.
"Is it just me or have you gotten way cuter all of a sudden?" Misty asked, as she looked at Sparky on her back, while the baby dragon babbled and nudged Misty a little to her cheeks. "Oh, you're making this so hard! I don't know what to do" she said with a conflicted expression. "Take you back or give you to Opaline? Take you back or give you to Opaline?" she asked herself, as she paced back and forth.
Suddenly, Sparky burped out a small green bubble, calling Misty's attention.
"Aww, that was cute" Misty said with a smile. "And kind of gross... Okay that does it!" she declared, turning around to return Sparky back with Hitch. "I can't do this! I can't! I'm taking you back" she stated.
"Misty!" Opaline's voice called out from above as she appeared, much to Misty's horror, as the Fire Alicorn came down to her. "What have you been doing all morning? You've been gone forever!" she scolded, but when Sparky revealed himself in front of her, she gasped. "Oh! You've secured the dragon! I can't believe it!" she said with a smile, as she took Sparky in her magic. "And what a fine specimen he is! I must admit Misty, I didn't think you had it in you" she admitted with a smirk.
"Oh. I guess I did though" Misty said, clearly not proud of herself.
"Look at you, little dragon. You're even better than I imagined!" Opaline 'cooed', before grinning sinisterly. "I have the most lovely place for you to play. Would you like to see it?" she asked him with a 'innocent' smile.
Sparky doubted a bit, despite showing himself happy to Opaline so far, but one look at Misty and a nod from her made Sparky cheer at Opaline's idea.
So, Opaline took him upstairs, and Misty followed glumly with a sigh. In the tower, Opaline had set up her own working station with the most powerful crystal in Equestria, Dragonstone, on the table. Sparky saw the Dragonstone and babbled at it with fascinated, while Opaline took Sparky in her magic again.
"Wow, you really like him, don't you?" Misty asked.
"Like him?" Opaline laughed. "I adore him!" she assured, closing the bubble around Sparky and putting him outside of the window, leaving him hanging in his bubble cage connected to a chain outside.
Misty gasped after seeing this. "That's where you're going to keep him?! Um... uh... couldn't we find somewhere more uh... comfortable?" she asked nervously. "That bubble cage looks a little um.... dangerous..." she pointed out with concern.
"Not to worry! I'll only keep him there until he's done being drained. And then.... we'll let's just say. He'll be useless..." Opaline sneered.
Then, she brought the Dragonstone closer to Sparky, which activated its powers, as Sparky's Dragon Fire began to be drained and taken into the stone, making it glow.
"My... that's a long drop..." Opaline acknowledged at the edge of the castle, as Sparky began to turn a dark grayish green, while Misty looked on with worry and guilt.
Soon enough, however, Eggman arrived to the studio, and then he whistled with wide eyes at the sight of Sparky not only being encaged in a bubble that would drag him to his death if the bubble ever pops, but also to his Dragon Fire being absorbed by the Dragon Stone.
"Well, well, well!" Eggman said with a grin, while Misty and Opaline turned to him, with the former gulping nervously and the latter smirking. "It seems like this fucking lizard finally arrived!" he said with a mocking tone. "Today must be our very lucky day!" he stated.
"Oh? Don't tell me you did got rid of those biped fools?" Opaline remarked.
"Nah. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that sudden avalanche won't kill them..." Eggman said with a frown, before grinning again. "But I did got myself a souvenir!" he added, as he showed the Light Blue Chaos Emerald to her allies.
Both mares gasped loudly at the sight of the shining gem, with Opaline still smirking all the time, while Misty got even more worried now.
"I finally got the last Chaos Emerald... And even better, I lowered the self stem of those fools right before the avalanche happened!" Eggman said with a smirk. "If you wonder what I did? Well... Let's just say that Tails won't wake up for quite a while after I blow him from the sky!" he added with a laugh.
However, as Opaline laughed along, Misty's eyes widened in absolute horror.
Did... Did Eggman just said that he blow Tails from the sky?! No... No, it couldn't be real... Eggman was a villain, and even if he does wants to get rid of Sonic and company, he would never cross that line... Right...?
For the sun and moon... What have I done?! Misty panicked internally, as millions of thoughts on Tails' current state ran on her mind...
Back in the Crystal Brighthouse, Sunny was at Tails' side, waiting for him to wake up.
Meanwhile, Zipp and Hitch went over through the entire place, looking after Sparky, while Pipp and Amy were having a... Let's call it 'know your enemy talk' kind of thing, since Amy just wanted to make sure that Pipp is a good partner for Sonic, even if she knows that's not her thing to decide.
"So... you are a pretty popular girl that has lots of followers, can sing, can dance, runs a salon alone, AND has the guts to tear Eggman's plans down too..." Amy told Pipp, with what seemed to be a combination between a glare and a suspicious look.
"And you are the girl that stalked Sonic for years, to the point he even had to run away from you..." Pipp replied back with the same kind of look.
Both girls stared into each other's eyes deadly, while Amy was sipping some tea made by Izzy.
"You are... more smaller than I thought..." Amy said mockingly.
"Your style definitely needs a change" Pipp replied with the same mocking tone.
"Your hooves could use a little work on them..." Amy kept mocking her.
"Your hair definitely needs to improve..." Pipp mocked as well.
Both of them kept glaring intensely at each other for a while... but then, Amy snorted, and then, Pipp snorted too, before both of them started to laugh loudly, not being able to keep up the act against the other one.
"Gosh, girl! Sonic said you could be a bit annoyed, but I guess he's just traumatized with mistakes!" Pipp said with a bright smile.
"Yeah, it is kind of my fault that he still runs away from me sometimes, BUT nobody's perfect!" Amy pointed out. "Also, I was just kidding, your hooves are so beautiful that I don't know how I'm feeling jealous of a little pony's pedicure!" she added with a squeal.
"Aww, thank you so much!" Pipp said, as she gave Amy a side hug, even if she just met her. "I was also exaggerating. Your style is gorgeous!" she sang the last word with a smile. "I seriously don't know why Sonic didn't talked about you often! You are a really great hedgehog!" she confessed.
"I guess he didn't wanted to make you feel jealous, even if he never felt the same thing for me" Amy pointed out, slightly disappointed. "I... I want you to know that I'm not mad. Neither with you, nor with Sonic. You guys don't need my 'bless' to be together, or something..." she stated.
"Oh, thank hoofness..." Pipp said, as she sighed relieved.
"I... I guess I am kind of hurt with him being with someone else, but... I really love him. Maybe as much as you do, even, which is why I'll be polite and say that you guys have my support!" Amy stated with a smile, side hugging Pipp back. "But you better not brake his heart, though. I won't stand by that!" she warned with a playful wink.
"Pff! I would rip my wings before doing that!" Pipp said with a relaxed tone. "Well, not literally, but... you get it!" she added with a nervous chuckle.
On the other hand, Rouge was looking at Izzy's collection of gems, which she had to say... they were prettier than anything she has seen back in Mobius.
Rouge whistled impressed, as she stared at a gem that looked like the shape of a heart, while also shining bright, just like all the magical crystals in Equestria. "Gotta say... these look very impressive, red" she told to Knuckles, since both him and Izzy were with her as well, although Knuckles was more watching over her and making sure she won't steal anything from his girlfriend. "And you say they are magical? Literally? Perhaps this world is more interesting than I give it credit for~" she said with a smirk.
"You better watch her close, Izz" Knuckles muttered to her, as he glared at Rouge. "She might be chill now, but I know she's planning something to steal the gems from you" he stated with anger and a frown.
"Don't be so defensive, pretty boy" Rouge told Knuckles with a smug look. "Just because I would love to steal the Master Emerald from you doesn't mean I would do it with anyone that has gems" she said.
"Oh, but there's no need to be so defensive, Knuckie!" Izzy said with a smile. "In fact, you can conserve all those gems, Miss Rouge!" she added with a cheery tone.
Knuckles, who started to sip some tea, had to spill it away, because now he stared at Izzy in shock, and Rouge looked at the unicorn in disbelief as well.
"Seriously?!" both Knuckles and Rouge asked in disbelief.
"Of course! I have plenty of crystals, anyways. In fact..." Izzy started with a smile.
Then, she used her magic to levitate several boxes with crystals and placed them in front of Rouge, before opening them and showing thousands of crystals.
"You can keep all of these!" Izzy stated happily. "It's not like I can do anything with them, anyways" she added with a smug look.
Rouge's jaw dropped into the floor once she saw so many crystals, shining bright right in front of her.
The one she was holding fell from her hands, and her eyes sparkled at the sight of so many jewels. Izzy literally just gave them to her, that easily, without asking anything in return.
"... Girl... you are my favorite one... no doubt..." Rouge told Izzy, although she still was staring at the crystals in the boxes.
Izzy only gave her usual cheerful smile, while Knuckles at her side looked in disbelief at how fast she simply gave up on those crystals.
"Izzy, honey, are you sure you won't need them?" Knuckles asked her a bit concerned.
"Oh, don't worry, Knux. I have plenty of them! And I can always get more if I need" Izzy pointed out, still with her cheerful smile.
"If you say so..." Knuckles replied a bit uncertain.
On the other other hand, Hitch and Zipp kept searching for Sparky around the Brighthouse.
"Sparky?" Zipp called out, as she looked inside a drawer.
"Sparky?" Hitch called out next.
"Sparky? Come on out!" Zipp called out again.
"Here's Sparky!" Hitch called out as well.
"Sparky?" Zipp called again.
"Sparky! Come out! I got snacks for you!" Hitch called out once more, as he held out an apple and chuckled nervously, right before he started to panic again.
Sunny noticed this, so she took a last look at Tails before approaching Hitch with a calming smile. "Don't worry, Hitch. We'll find him" she assured him, as she placed a hoof on his back.
"Uh-huh. Absolutely" Hitch said nervously. "I've learned my lesson from last time. Sparky will be just fine. I know it. Huh..." he stated, still worried for the baby dragon, while Sunny and Zipp looked at him in concern.
Back in Opaline's Castle, Opaline is still sucking Sparky's magic out of him, while Sparky grows weaker.
"Finally, I will possess my full enhanced fire powers! I've been waiting for this moment for so long! Hundreds of Moons!" Opaline announced.
"Ohohoho! Your power gets restored, then we tear down that stupid Brighthouse, then we get the Crystals and remaining Emeralds!" Eggman grinned sinisterly, while rubbing his hands "And then... Well..." he started with a smirk.
"The rest is history!" both Eggman and Opaline said with huge grins, as they both laughed maniacally.
"That's great, guys!" Misty smiled, while sneaking peeks at Sparky.
Opaline groaned at her, and Eggman raised and eyebrow confused, while Misty looked at Sparky, who was getting weaker by the second, and Misty knew what would happen if the draining was completed.
"It's not great... I'm the worst pony in the world..." Misty thought to herself.
"What did you just say?" Opaline questioned, which made Misty flinch as she turned to her. "Seriously, Misty, I've told you a thousand times I can't understand you when you mumble!" she pointed out.
"Oh!" Misty said with a nervous smile. "I just said, you two must be so excited for tonight!" she quickly lied to the villains with a nod.
"Of course we are" Opaline said, as she shook her head. "Now I have to do my pre-ceremony magic cleansing" she quipped, looking at her hooves. "And decorate the lair for the event. Don't disturb me until I'm finished! Understood?" she instructed to the unicorn mare, then went off to prepare.
"And I have to polish my Death Egg Robot!" Eggman declared as well. "If we're gonna make everyone's lives miserable, we gotta look presentable!" he added with a smirk, as he hummed happily to himself while leaving the room.
With this, Misty turned to the window and tried to grab the cage, but it was out of her reach. "I'm sorry, Sparky. I've made a horrible mistake..." she apologized to Sparky, while the baby dragon cried out a bit, but then, Misty looked at her bracelet, and she knew exactly what she had to do. "I'm going to get your family. I promise!" she assured.
And so, Misty ran out the door towards Maretime Bay to get Hitch and the others.
Back in the Brighthouse, Knuckles and Amy kept watching over the unconscious Tails.
Meanwhile, the Mane 5 were upstairs, in the bedroom, still looking after Sparky.
"Ooh! Look what I found!" Izzy said cheerfully, looking at her bed, while Sunny and Hitch came to her.
"Sparky!" Hitch called out hopefully.
"Oh, sorry" Izzy apologized. "Yeah, he's not here either. But I was looking for this!" she said, as she brought out a party horn and blew it out in triumph.
Hitch and Sunny looked at Izzy with cringed expression, while Hitch sighed disappointed and began to panic again.
"Now I'm not saying I'm nervous…" Hitch started with a nervous chuckle. "But we've looked everywhere!" he called out.
"Maybe Sparky got hungry and went out looking for a treat in town?" Pipp suggested.
"No way!" Hitch called out, as he held out a cereal box with a drawing of Sparky on it. "I keep one of these in every room Sparky might go in, and they're all full" he pointed out.
"Maybe Sparky's at the magic tree again?" Sunny suggested.
"That's right!" Zipp said with a smirk. "You did say he's been spending a lot of time there lately. He's very drawn to it..." she pointed out.
"Of course!" Hitch said, sounding a bit disappointed on not having thought about that before. "Let's go check the tree!" he stated, now smiling a bit.
With this, the Mane 5 went downstairs, ready to head out of the Brighthouse.
"Any sign of the little fella?" Knuckles asked, as he saw the ponies passing by.
"No, but we're gonna check the magic tree to see if he went there" Sunny replied with a smile.
However, before anyone else could say anything, Misty bursted through the doors, rolling across the floor with a grunt and falling on her back, while the Mane 5 and Knuckles circled her.
"Misty! We're about to go look for Sparky" Sunny said, smiling down at her. "Do you wanna help?" she asked.
"I saw him!" Misty called out, waving her hooves, which surprised the group as she got up with a pant. "I saw somepony dragon-nap him!" she called out.
"What?!" Hitch called out in panic.
"It's the evil Alicorn, Opaline!" Zipp called out. "I knew it! I warned you ponies that we were in danger!" she pointed out.
"How did she find Sparky?!" Pipp asked with concern.
"It wasn't her! It was that weird guy with the glasses, and the red suit..." Misty quickly corrected herself.
"Eggman?!" Knuckles said confused, before realizing something. "He left right before the avalanche got to us..." he pointed out, and then he groaned in anger, while his powers showed off. "That son of a bitch tricked us! He knew we would ask for help to clear Maretime Bay for our arrival... He probably took him with all the rampage in town without you guys noticing!" he suggested, while punching a wall with anger to let some frustration out.
"What do they want with Sparky?!" Hitch asked with concern and panic.
"I know…" Misty suddenly said, while the Mane 5 and Knuckles looked at her surprised. "I mean… I… saw where they went. I can take you there. To Sparky. But we'll have to hurry!" she quickly said, now walking out the door.
Knuckles grumbled and muttered something to himself with anger, before looking at the Mane 5. "You guys go. I won't let my anger fool me this time" he instructed. "If we leave the Brighthouse unprotected, we leave the Chaos Emeralds and Unity Crystals as well" he pointed out with a frown. "Besides, we gotta check on Tails until he wakes up" he added.
"Are you sure?!" Izzy asked with panic. "I know you can take care of yourself, and judging by what you've told us, Amy and Rouge can as well... But I still don't want any of you to get hurt!" she pointed out with concern. "Specially you..." she muttered, looking away with low ears.
"I'm as hard as a rock in terms of strength and resistance!" Knuckles said with a proud smile. "Rouge can fight with high heels, and Amy has a hammer that's as heavy as a car. The Crystals and Emeralds will be just fine!" he assured with a smile.
"We'll make sure Tails does fine when he wakes up!" Amy assured, as she stood at Knuckles' side with a confident look.
"Count on us to look after the powerful gems as well" Rouge assured too with a smirk.
"Also, if Eggman, or that Opaline gal, come around to try and steal them..." she started, before pulling out her Piko Piko Hammer. "We're gonna be very polite with them!" she stated, while smirking and fist bumping with Knuckles.
"Girl, seriously, Sonic makes no justice to how cool you are" Pipp stated again. "Oh, speaking of him, could you check and lecture him when he's back?" she requested with a little blush.
"I got your back, girl!" Amy stated with a wink and her thumbs up.
"Well, if you guys can look after the Brighthouse, I guess we can go save Sparky without worrying for the Crystals" Sunny said.
"Leave it to us!" Knuckles reassured, placing a hand on his chest.
With this, the Mane 5 nodded at the Mobians, then followed Misty out of the Brighthouse and raced to the Marestream.
"You're sure you know which way to go, Misty?" Hitch asked in concern.
"Positive" Misty said determinate.
"How are you so positive?" Zipp asked, while giving Misty a questionable look.
"I, uh…" Misty said, as she looked around nervously. "I just… saw them!" she stated with a sheepish smile.
"You saw Eggman kidnap Sparky?" Zipp asked again. "And we know somepony must've told him where Sparky is in the first place?" she added.
"Well, we know it wasn't Misty. It wasn't any of us" Sunny pointed out. "We would never do that to each other. Right?" she asked her friends with a smile.
"Right" Hitch agreed with Sunny with a smile.
"Right" both Pipp and Izzy agreed as well.
"Right" Misty nodded with a smile.
Zipp stood quiet for a second before replying. "Right" she agrees, even though she does not sounds to convinced.
"Now let's stay focused. Sparky needs us!" Sunny declared, while the others nodded in agreement.
"It's that way!" Misty called out, as she pointed to a direction.
Zipp smiled and pressed a button, which made the Marestream spread its wings out and take fly into a storm cloud, leaving a rainbow trail behind.
Sonic and Shadow were running at top speed all across Equestria.
They were constantly clashing against one another, all in order to defeat the other one. However, and as strange as it might sound, Shadow was having some trouble dealing with Sonic's new electrical powers, since he never had to face something like that before.
Still, he was the ultimate life form for a reason, which is why the black hedgehog wasn't planning on falling so easily.
Even if he was doing this to help Sonic relieve his anger, he still was going all out on him. So, Shadow charged several Chaos Spears, which Sonic dodged like they were nothing.
Then, Sonic tried to kick Shadow, but the latter jumped and tried to assert a punch on Sonic's face, which he failed because Sonic jumped backwards and tried to punch him.
Shadow was getting tired of this fight, so he started to teleport constantly around as he spoke.
"Come on, hedgehog! You are better than this!" Shadow said, while teleporting around and tiring Sonic out so he could talk to him more politely.
"Just. Stand. STILL!!" Sonic shouted with anger, as he tried to punch Shadow, but clearly couldn't.
"Sonic, don't you realize yet?" Shadow asked confused. "I'm not fighting for the sake of fighting! I'm fighting for your fucking sanity's sake!" he stated with anger.
"Oh yeah?!" Sonic snorted, finally stopping moving, but staring daggers at Shadow. "If you are doing this to help me, then why the hell are you insulting me?!" he asked with rage.
"For fuck's sake, Sonic! You yelled at your own friends and at your girlfriend because you were incredibly mad with Eggman!" Shadow pointed out with a frown. "I may not be a big fan of how you do stuff, but I do know that if you, of all people, acts like their moral doesn't matter anymore, then it's time to take proper action!" he stated.
"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked confused.
"You are more than just a hedgehog that gets his frustration out with his own friends" Shadow said, still frowning. "You have saved the world so many times despite difficult circumstances. Tails got hurt this time, true... but he's all grown up now, Sonic" he pointed out. "He can take care of himself, and you know it. You never told him to follow you around. He did that by himself... I'm not saying that I'm fine with what Eggman did to him. But I know you are better than me when it comes to morality" he finished.
Sonic's frown slowly turned into a surprised expression, and he stared genuinely shocked at Shadow after he said all of that.
"If you really are still the same Sonic the Hedgehog that disappeared the last year, then prove it by showing Eggman who you truly are!" Shadow decided to add with a smirk.
Okay, he was either drunk, or Shadow was being open for a greater cause. Either way, Sonic couldn't help but smirk back at Shadow.
"Well, look at you, faker! Never thought I would feel goosebumps with a speech from you!" Sonic said with a playful tone, also winking at him.
"Hmph. I'm just doing this because that Sunny girl has faith in you" Shadow said with a slight frown. "Her cheerfulness reminds me of Maria, to tell the truth... But I guess it's just a coincidence..." he added.
"Right... a coincidence..." Sonic said with a playful smirk.
Suddenly, both of them heard a roaring engine, and when they turned to the sky, they saw the Marestream flying though the sky at top speed, leaving the rainbow trial behind.
"What in the name of Chaos?" Sonic muttered confused.
"Is this related to that dragon Eggman mentioned in the mountain?" Shadow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No clue..." Sonic said with a slight frown. "I know you hate when I do this, but could you get the rest while I––" he tried to ask him, but...
"You're right, I don't like it..." Shadow said with an eye roll. "But, I'll allow you to get away with this one. After all, you seem like you could go and find out what's going on" he pointed out. "Just don't get yourself killed" he warned.
"And you try to not be late!" Sonic mocked back with another wink. "Also, don't worry about your wholesome speech. I won't tell anyone you're a softy that likes to act like an emo!" he shouted, before boosting towards the barrier.
"Ugh... I should have shut my mouth..." Shadow complained with a frown, before boosting to the other side and towards the Brighthouse.
Meanwhile, Sonic stared at the sky, and he was kinda surprised to notice that the Marestream was actually going too far ahead from him, but he decided to shrug it off for now.
"I guess this is about Sparky..." Sonic told himself with concern. "You better not be dragging yourselves into trouble guys... Even if I know I'm asking for too much..." he added with a frown.
After that, he boosted once again towards the same direction the Marestream went.
The Marestream flew through the storm, while Zipp did her best to dodge some lightning strikes.
"Are you sure this is the way?" Sunny asked with concern.
"It's down there" Misty answered, while Zipp flew the Marestream down, passing through the storm.
The Mane 5 felt uneasy about the place they were in, and Zipp was still very skeptical about Misty and how she knew Eggman stoled Sparky while they went to move everypony aside to have the path clear for Team Sonic and company.
"This is the spookiest place I've ever seen" Izzy said, and she wasn't being as cheerful as usual.
Soon enough, the Marestream made some twirls in the air, before landing on the ground, as the Mane 5 and Misty walked out, while Izzy hummed happily to herself.
Then, Pipp gasped as she saw something in the distance: Right there, they witnessed a dark castle with a few towers; vines growing around it, since a tree was getting out of one of the highest towers; and a bridge that lead straight to that castle.
They all knew who were in there, and they kind of recognized it as well, but Zipp was the one that got it faster than anypony else, since she frowned: It was Opaline's Castle.
"I take it back..." Izzy said with a small smile. "This is the spookiest place I've ever seen!" she stated cheerfully.
"Sparky's in there?!" Hitch asked in shock, gulping nervously.
At this, Misty looked down worried. She was hoping that neither Eggman nor Opaline would notice her arrival along the Mane 5, or they all would be in very big trouble...
Sonic was still running at top speed to follow the rainbow trial of the Marestream.
But at some point, not only did he lost the track, despite still knowing in which direction to go, but he also reached a different path than them, because he found himself involved in a problem... And what's the problem, you may wonder?
Well... He had to cross the sea, and of course, Sonic doesn't even know how to swim...
"Ugh... Water..." Sonic groaned, looking at the sea with concern. "Why did it have to be water?" he added in frustration.
The hedgehog looked up again to face the endless sea...
He knew that he had to cross in order to find out what the heck are his friends doing, but... He was kinda afraid to fall into the water.
Still, he had the feeling that he needed to reach them. He didn't knew if it was some kind of 'soulmate instinct' or something like that, but he could feel that Pipp was in trouble. And, if Pipp was in trouble, then the rest of his friends were in trouble as well.
For once, he decided to face his fear to water, then warmed his feet a bit and sighed.
"Okay... You can do this!" Sonic told himself confidently, or as confidently as he could sound.
Immediately afterwards, he positioned his hands on the floor, and put his feet in a runner's stance, ready to do something completely crazy.
Then, he began to charge electrical energy from him, which surrounded his entire body and lit up his quills.
"I've gotta go fast!" Sonic declared, as his eyes changed from green to neon blue.
And then, after charging his powers a while longer, he boosted away and began to run across the water.
As he ran, he began to zig zag across the water to keep his balance and hold steady.
Suddenly, the waves of the sea became more violent, so Sonic had to start maneuvering evasively, or else he would end up sinking. But just then, a gigantic wave appeared, and Sonic was forced to force his feet to run on the wave.
The hedgehog scaled the tidal wave, then leaped into the air with a panicked cry, while lightning struck in the distance, adding more drama to the atmosphere.
However, Sonic panicked when he saw that he was heading for the water again, and upon touching it, he slipped a bit and rolled on the water, but luckily, he managed to regain his composure and keep running.
Soon enough, he reached dry land once again, so he smirked confidently and boosted ahed, as he reached a hill in the top of a cliff, where he found the Marestream parked.
"They definitely are here, but––" Sonic tried to say.
However, he suddenly gasped when he stared into the distance: Opaline's Castle, with lightning thundering behind it.
"Opaline's Castle!" Sonic said with awe. "So that's why I never found it... It was far away from Maretime Bay, in a place that nobody would dare to approach..." he pointed out, before smirking confidently. "Nobody without the guts to do so, anyways!" he declared.
After that, he boosted towards the castle, ready to help his friends out, in case they were in danger...
After heading to the front door, the Mane 5 and Misty entered the castle.
The Mane 5 felt very shocked at the sight, specially considering they've been trying to locate this place for months along Team Sonic.
"I can't believe this was here the whole time..." Sunny breathed, looking at Opaline Castle's interior.
"She's got great style" Pipp quipped, looking at the layout, including the tapestries with Opaline's Cutie Mark on it, earning and angry look from her sister, which made Pipp clear her throat nervously. "G-Great evil style" she corrected herself.
"Misty, what is going on? And how do you know your way around so well?!" Zipp interrogated with a frown.
"There's no time to explain!" Misty said
"Where's Sparky?!" Hitch barked.
"We have to get him before Opaline comes––" Misty tried to add, but she got cut off.
"Oh, I'm right here!" Opaline sneered from on top of the tree staircase.
After saying that, she used her magic and entrapped the gang in a magic bubble, while Eggman came walking downstairs, as he stared at the Mane 5 with a sinister grin.
Misty gasped, and placed her hooves on the bubble with concern, before looking at Eggman and Opaline with panic.
"Splendid job, Misty!" Eggman said with a smirk, as he approached to the bubble with the Mane 5 encaged. "It is one thing to bring that lizard, but the entire pony gang?! This truly is our lucky day!" he stated happily.
"Indeed!" Opaline smirked, as she hovered in the air and descended downward. "As soon as I'm done draining that little lizard of every ounce of his precious magic, I'll be able to steal the source of theirs, too... Their Cutie Marks!" she declared with a sinister laugh.
Sunny was glaring at both villains at first, but her glare turned into a worried and kind of scared expression, considering she's currently trapped in a bubble.
"Such a lovely bonus!" Eggman said with a grin, as he took out the Light Blue Chaos Emerald. "I guess getting this away and then blowing Tails' head without killing him was a really downer for Sonic if he sent his pathetic friends instead of coming himself. HA!" he mocked up, walking towards his lab once again. "By the way: I really hope you ponies enjoyed your time with Sparky. His inevitable fate is to die for!" he commented, laughing maniacally, and then disappearing inside of his lab.
"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Opaline quipped, turning around and flying back to her studio "Come Misty" she instructed, while Misty looked back at the Mane 5 with guilt, before following Opaline.
"No! It can't be true!" Sunny called out in shock.
"No…" Zipp said with rage. "She's been helping her this whole time! Haven't you?" she questioned.
Misty stopped, turning to face them with a guilty and hurt expression. "I'm sorry" she apologized.
Sunny felt her heart breaking after hearing that. "Uh, you betrayed us..." she said hurtfully.
"I didn't… I didn't mean…" Misty tried to say, but she couldn’t find the words, while the rest but Izzy turned their backs to her.
"I thought we were your friends..." Izzy said hurtfully, as she turned her back from Misty as well.
"No..." Misty said hurtfully, looking down in sadness because of her unexpected betrayal.
In the study room with Opaline, Misty was feeling very conflicted...
Everything the Mane 5 did for her was offering their friendship, but Opaline's sudden arrival turned everything upside down, and now they hated her, all because she couldn't be faster...
What was Team Sonic going to say now? What was Tails going to think of her? He clearly was as kind with her as the Mane 5 were, and now the latter group hates her... Will Tails hate her as well? Was he going to be so upset with her just like the Mane 5 are right now? It was hard to tell.
She looked at the Dragon Stone, and then at Sparky, who is more gray than he was before she left to get the Mane 5. Then, Misty turned to Opaline, who was looking in a mirror as she hummed to herself.
"I am so proud of you, Misty" Opaline said suddenly.
"You are?" Misty asked, more confused than shocked.
"Yes!" Opaline answered. "And you've worked so hard to earn your Cutie Mark. You must be so excited!" she said, aiming her mirror to look at Misty.
"I… I am…" Misty managed to say. "I did work really hard. I just… wanted to make you happy for so long. Like forever, practically..." she realized, looking down in guilt for betraying her friends.
"And you've finally done it!" Opaline said with a smile, as she placed a hoof under Misty's chin. "You'll get your Cutie Mark as soon as I'm done draining the dragon of his Dragon Fire" she assure, gesturing to Sparky. "Isn't that exciting?" she asked.
Sparky gurgled weakly, extending his arms to Misty, basically pleading for help.
"I-I better go check on the others" Misty said quickly. "To, um… make sure they're not causing any trouble" she added, as she walked out the door, leaving Opaline alone.
Back in the Throne Room, the Mane 5 were trying to find their way out of the magical bubble.
Izzy was trying to poke her horn at it, but she kept being pushed back. Still, she poked it again, but then she fell to the floor.
"Whew! The first forty tries were fun, but this is getting tiring" Izzy said to her friends with a sigh.
"I just can't believe Misty would do that to us..." Sunny said, still in shock that Misty betrayed them. "We're her friends..." she pointed out.
"She's not our friend, Sunny!" Zipp snapped bitterly. "She was just pretending... I knew it! I should have just followed my instincts" she said to herself.
"She fooled us all..." Pipp said, as she placed a hoof on her sister for comfort.
"And now, Sparky is... gone..." Hitch said with sadness, looking down at the floor and trying to hold back tears.
Izzy grunted again as she fell on her back from poking the shield. "Oh… My horn is dizzy..." she said.
Sunny looked at her friends, all looking defeated and betrayed, while she frowned determinate. "We can't just sit here and let them win!" she called out, as the others turned to her. "We can fix this. I can fix this!" she assured, sighing and closing her eyes. "I just need to change…" she started, grunting a bit while her Alicorn form started flickering. "... into…" she continued, trying to bring out her Alicorn form. "... an Alicorn!" she called out once more.
However, her Alicorn magic stopped, and she sighed in defeat.
"But, uh… but I'm trying to help somepony! Why won't it work!?" Sunny asked sadly, looking down in concern. "Maybe I can't do it. Maybe I'm not true Alicorn material after all..." she doubted.
"What?! How can you say that?" Pipp asked in shock. "Of course you are!" she added.
"But I trusted Misty so much and I was completely wrong..." Sunny said, as she laid down.
"Wait a second…" Zipp said, then she tried to fly, but couldn't even get airborne with a flap of her wings, while Izzy tried to use her magic as well, but her horn faded. "It's not you, Sunny. Our magic doesn't work in here!" she pointed out.
At this, Izzy gasped with a smile. "That's why you can't turn into an Alicorn!" she pointed out, which just made Sunny feel worse.
Then, Pipp touched the shield again, while some glitter like sparkle got stuck on her hooves. "Ugh! We've got to get out of this sticky thing!" she cried out.
"I can help" Misty called out, as she arrived with them.
"Like you helped us get into this situation?" Zipp sarcastically asked, as she and the others but Sunny turned her backs on her again.
"This wasn't the plan! I didn't meant to get you all trapped!" Misty said desperately. "I brought you here to help get Sparky out. Honest..." she assured with sadness.
"You haven't been honest with us! Ever!" Zipp snapped with anger.
"Yeah. How did Sparky get in here to begin with?" Hitch asked with a frown. "I bet you lied when you said Eggman did it" he added with rage.
"You betrayed us, Misty. How could you?" Sunny said with anger.
"Is not like that!" Misty assured desperately again.
However, before she could explain herself, they all suddenly heard a loud thud on the ceiling, so they all looked upwards and stared confused at the ceiling.
"Out of context, but are Eggman or Opaline doing something up there?" Pipp asked confused.
"Uh, not that I'm aware off..." Misty replied honestly.
"Subete ushinatte mo kimi wa mada. Soko ni iru to shinjitakatta. Come and leave your mark. Vandalize my he–– Ow!" a male voice spoke suddenly in the ceiling. "Okay, it wasn't to the left... Maybe to the right?" he asked himself, before crashing against another wall and groan in pain. "Nope... Maybe sneaking through the vent wasn't a good idea... I'm feeling like an impostor of some kind!" he pointed out.
"Wait a second, isn't that...?" Hitch tried to ask, but judging by Pipp's wide smile and flapping wings, the answer was pretty clear.
And then, a small access to the vent in the ceiling opened, and Sonic fell from it screaming, as he landed on his back in front of Opaline's Throne, which made him groan in pain and the others cringe.
"Ugh... Okay... That was a terrible idea..." Sonic muttered to himself, shaking his head and then standing up a bit dizzy. "Next time, I'm using the door..." he added with a bored expression.
However, it shifted into an amazed one when he looked around at the Throne Room, whistling impressed as he weirdly enough smiled a bit.
"Now this is a villain's lair! Take notes, Egghead!" Sonic exclaimed with a smirk. "Whatever that New York 2099 esthetic is, it's not villainy enough!" he added with a mocking tone.
"Sonic!" Sunny called out from the bubble with a smile.
Sonic's ear twitched, and when he turned around, he gasped in panic when he saw the Mane 5 inside the bubble.
"Guys!" Sonic exclaimed in panic, rushing towards the bubble and placing his hand on it. "Everyone okay here?!" he asked them with concern. "What happened while I was re-thinking on my life choices?!" he added confused.
"Yes, we're fine, Blue Star" Pipp replied with a smile and a loving gaze.
"As for what happened, well... Misty brought us here to 'Save Sparky', but Opaline ended trapping us..." Sunny replied, looking at Misty behind Sonic with a frown. "She's been working with Eggman and Opaline this whole time" she added coldly.
Sonic raised an eyebrow at that last statement, so he turned to see Misty behind him. "Misty?" he called out. "Care to explain what's going on here? 'Cause I'm getting nothing out of all this bullshit..." he said with a bored expression, pointing at his friends and girlfriend trapped in the bubble.
"It... It's true..." Misty replied. "Ever since we met, I... I've been working with them..." Misty admitted with a saddened expression.
"See? She said it!" Zipp snapped again. "She's a traitor!" she added with rage.
However, Sonic just stared at Misty confused, even boosting in front of her and looking closely, moving at fast paste around her to analyze her, which made Misty feel a bit nervous, while the Mane 5 looked at him confused.
"I'm not following this whole betrayal thing..." Sonic said, as he walked back to the rest with a bored expression. "All I see is Misty, being as Misty as she can be! Where's this traitor you guys are talking about?" he asked confused.
The Mane 5 and Misty stared at him in disbelief, specially Misty, since she never expected Sonic to stand for her, despite the lack of interactions they had before.
"Sonic, are you deaf or something?" Pipp asked, both concerned and confused. "Misty is the whole reason why Sparky ended up here! And why we are trapped in here as well!" she pointed out.
"And?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow and shrugging it off like if it was nothing.
"'And'?! Misty lied to us, pretended to be our friend, and then trapped us here, and all you can say about it is 'And'?!" Zipp shouted in rage.
"You've had hard feelings for Misty since the very beginning, Zipp" Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "I cannot take your word serious based on that. As for the rest of you, jumping straight to conclusions without having the full picture is becoming a trope on you guys that I cannot stand" he added with a frown, before turning to see Misty. "So, care to explain the full picture here?" he asked her.
Misty sighed and looked down to the ground in sadness. "Opaline found me a long time ago when I was just a lost filly and I couldn't remember where home was..." she started to explain. "And she... she took me in and I... She promised me a Cutie Mark and..." she tried to add, but not only she couldn't finish her sentence, but also the Mane 5 looked away from her, with Zipp still frowning in rage. "I'm so sorry... You didn't deserve this..." she added with sadness.
Sonic, however, and unlike the rest, looked at Misty with sympathy. While he never knew what it was like to be raised by someone that never actually cared for you, he could tell that Misty was good hearted, she was just misguided by Opaline, and probably by Eggman as well.
"Well... On one hand, it makes sense that you were working with them, considering your sometimes strange attitude..." Sonic confessed, then he looked at Misty and smiled, approaching her and kneeling, while placing a hand on her shoulder. "But on the other hand, a traitor would've never enjoy themselves with the ones they're suppose to betray, nor feel sorry about it" he pointed out to her with a smirk.
Misty looked at Sonic with disbelief. Why was he defending her so much? Why wasn't he as upset as the Mane 5 were? She couldn't understand...
"I don't care what these guys think of you. In my book, you're still a friend" Sonic assured her with a smile, which made both the Mane 5 and Misty gasp at what he said. "Now, what to do about it? It depends on you, Mist. If you truly are our friend, which I know you are, then prove it!" he declared with a smirk.
Again, Misty couldn't understand why Sonic was being so kind and polite with her... But she still smiled back at him, and pulled him into a hug, which Sonic returned despite being startled at first.
"MISTY! GET UP HERE!" Opaline's voice called out suddenly, which made Misty gasp and brake the hug, as she looked upstairs in panic.
Sonic also looked upstairs with a frown, but then he looked at Misty and smirked. "Better go with her and avoid any scolding, just to keep the facade going" he told her, winking at her playfully.
Misty smiled at this and nodded, before looking back at the Mane 5. "I'm gonna fix this!" she assured to them with a determinate look.
After that, she quickly went upstairs with Opaline, while Sonic sighed and smiled, before turning back to his friends, who were staring confused at him, except for Zipp, who looked at him with a frown.
"What do you think are you doing?!" Zipp asked angrily. "She has been working for them since we met her, and you still see her as a friend?!" she pointed out madly.
"Blue Star, I can understand some of the things you do... But this makes no sense!" Pipp pointed out. "Why forgive her after what she has done?" she asked confused.
"I just did what I believe is the right thing to do. Like I always do!" Sonic replied with a smile, as he approached the bubble, kneeling in front of it. "Anyways, better get you guys out of there! We can talk about my life decisions later" he stated with a smirk.
After that, he started to charge his Spin Dash, which made the Mane 5 split apart, with the sisters going in one direction, and the rest going in the other, leaving the middle space free so Sonic could pass through the bubble and not hurt them.
However, the bubble was too resistant, because even if Sonic did managed to push it a bit, he still got sent backwards, and he landed sat down on Opaline's Throne with a dizzy expression.
He shook his head, and then looked back at the bubble, before frowning and then go to it again. He charged his left fist with his electrical powers and then punched the bubble, just to be sent backwards and land in the ground on his back.
Sonic stood up and looked at the bubble with a frown, also tapping his foot in the ground desperately. "This is gonna require the heavier weapons, I guess!" he stated, smirking and cracking his fingers.
After that, he placed some protective googles over his eyes and brought out a saw, not knowing that Eggman slightly opened the door of his lab and stared with a frown at the Blue Hedgehog.
"Oh, you think you can get Misty away from me, Sonic?" Eggman muttered to himself with anger. "We'll see about that..." he stated, closing the door entirely.
Misty quickly went upstairs and approached the window, looking at Sparky with concern.
Opaline, who was behind her, smirked and looked at her over her shoulder. "You, my dear, are only moments away from getting your gorgeous new Cutie Mark" Opaline charmed, before she came over to the window. "I just want to watch this stinky little dragon fall first" she added with a cold expression.
"Uh, do we really have to drop Sparky into the water, Opaline?" Misty asked, earning a dangerous and angry glare from Opaline that made her flinch. "I mean, he's just a baby dragon and now he'll be powerless so... He's... harmless..." she pointed out.
"This harmless baby dragon has given me one headache too many!" Opaline snapped her wings open at Misty, advancing towards her. "And now that he'll be without Dragon Fire, I'll have no use for him. Ta-ta, dragon baby" she sneered, while waving her hoof to the weakened Sparky in a mocking way.
To this, Sparky let out a small bubble that popped in front Opaline's hoof, which made her cringe, while Misty covered her mouth with a hoof, trying not to laugh.
"Agh! Disgusting! I have to go wash my hooves in case he got spit on me" Opaline said, walking off and cringing in disgust at what Sparky did. "Revolting..." she added with annoyance.
Seeing that this might be the perfect chance to get Sparky out of his cage, Misty quickly ran downstairs once again.
Back with Sonic and the Mane 5, Sonic has tried it all.
He used the saw, an axe, a sword he took from a pile with stuff on the corner of the room that had Eggman's logo on it, and even made several stomp attacks that ended sending him up to the ceiling, just to fall facewards to the ground.
In other words, he still couldn't take the Mane 5 out of their bubble prison.
"My gosh! What is this bubble made of?! I get it repulses your magic from the inside, but why do I feel like it also repulses it from the outside?" Sonic said confused, walking around the bubble.
"This is proof that Opaline's magic is powerful... Very powerful!" Zipp pointed out with concern.
"It may be, but it won't stop me from getting you out of there!" Sonic stated with a determinate look. "I just need to figure out what kind of weakness an Alicorn's magic can have..." he pointed out with a concerned frown.
But then, his ear twitched when he heard heavy breathing behind, so he turned to see Misty arriving, as she trotted downstairs and approached him.
"Well, took you long enough!" Sonic said with a smile.
"Don't bother apologizing again, Misty. We don't want to hear it!" Sunny said with anger.
"Yeah, we're too busy trying to get out of this mess!" Hitch added with a frown.
"The one you put us in." Pipp frowned.
"Guys, I swear I'm just a straw away to get out of here, leave you on your own, and fight with Shadow for no reason again..." Sonic told the rest with a bored expression.
"Sonic, why are you still defending her?!" Izzy asked confused.
"You guys are being really defensive with Misty, but all she has done is follow Opaline's orders as far as I know and care" Sonic started to speak with a frown. "Besides, you all act like if you were free of sins here!" he added with anger.
"What do you mean?!" Zipp asked with a frown.
Sonic putted on a bored expression, but still decided to keep going. "Well, for starters: You told your best friend from a lifetime that you would stop being her friend if she didn't stopped being herself, 2 minutes before Izzy and I arrived..." he told Hitch with a frown, which made the earth pony stallion's eyes widened, as he looked away embarrassed. "You avoided the conflict with the Unity Crystals when Zipp told you that something was wrong" he told Sunny, who also looked down with a cringed expression at the reminder. "Your family lied to your people for centuries, way before you even born!" he told the sisters, and they both looked down in embarrassment at the memory. "And you..." he looked at Izzy, but he actually had nothing to say. "Actually, you're the only one who's anger towards Misty is justified..." he pointed out.
Still, Izzy also looked down in sadness, because she didn't wanted to feel this anger towards Misty.
"And I'm not free of sins, either. I tried to kill my own enemy after Longclaw died..." Sonic reminded as well, looking down to the floor with shame on himself, while Misty gasped behind him. "And I hid the thing with Eggman and the Chaos Emeralds from you for a while..." he added as well. "As you can see, we all make mistakes... We all have done something that kind of betrays who we are... But we can choose to hold tight into that betrayal..." he started, then he looked back at Misty and smiled. "Or we can choose friendship. We can choose love. That is the true magic here... Right?" he asked, looking back at the Mane 5 once again, but this time with a smile.
The Mane 5 looked all surprised at him, specially Sunny, because that's exactly what she said when Sprout destroyed her old lighthouse, right before the Unity Crystals finally brought magic back to Equestria.
Still, it made Sunny smile back to him. "Longclaw was right, Sonic. You have a heart like no creature else..." she told him.
"Maybe... But I did learned a lot about friendship from the best!" Sonic replied with a smirk, also winking at Sunny.
"Me too..." Misty muttered, before letting out a long sigh. "Listen... You guys have been nothing but good to me. You treated me better than anypony ever has. You treated me like a friend... And it's my turn to do the same!" she declared.
After that, she turned and saw the flames on the wood near the throne, then she ran over to it and leaped onto the throne.
"I'd rather be a pony without a Cutie Mark forever than live one more day as a pony that does the wrong thing!" Misty declared with confidence.
Then, she knocked over the wood and the flame became infused with it. Misty grabbed the wood in her mouth and ran full speed at the bubble, slashing it and freeing everyone, but it sent her flying backwards.
Thankfully, Sonic caught her just in time and put her back in the floor.
"You freed us?" Sunny gasped at Misty.
"I had to..." Misty stated.
"What did I told you?" Sonic told her with a smirk and a friendly push on her shoulder. "You only had to prove you were our friend!" he added with a wink, while Misty smiled back at him.
Suddenly, Misty's hooves and legs began to glow bright blue, before she was lifted up into the air, as a sphere of blue light appeared around Misty. "What's happening?" Misty asked a bit panicked, before the sphere touched her right flank... where her own cutie mark finally appeared.
It was a Butterfly with blue and pink spots on top and blue and pink spots on the bottom.
"At last! A Cutie Mark!" Misty gasped in awe.
"About time!" Sonic said with a smile
"Helping us gave you your Cutie Mark!" Sunny breathed.
"I just couldn't bear to see my friends in trouble" Misty pointed out, as she staggered to her hooves. "It... unlocked something in me. What if... that something was me? The real me" she added with a smile.
After hearing this, Sonic's eyes widened. "Huh... That might we what we're gonna need, after all..." he muttered to himself, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin.
"What do you mean?" Pipp asked Sonic confused.
"First things first: Let's get that baby dragon back!" Sonic declared with a smirk, as he took the stick Misty used from the ground and tossed it to Hitch, who caught it with his mouth. "And Misty?" he kept talking, looking at her with a smile. "Once Sparky is safe, you will come with us!" he declared confidently.
In the studio, the Dragonstone was almost done draining Sparky's magic.
At this, Opaline grinned sinisterly and began to absorb the dragon fire, laughing like a maniac as she did so, as she started to glow bright, while her magic began to grow stronger.
However, just when she was enjoying her new magic the most, she heard a loud bang coming from downstairs
"Ugh, what now?!" Opaline groaned in anger, as she started walking out of the room. "I hope neither Misty or Ivo made something stupid... but that's just foolish wishing..." she added, as she walked downstairs.
What she didn't know, however, is that Zipp is carrying Hitch, as they flew over Opaline without her knowing and get into the room, seeing Sparky.
Hitch gasped when he looked Sparky so grey and dull. "Sparky!" he cried out.
Zipp flew out of the window and under Sparky. "Don't worry, Sparky, we are here to rescue you!" she assured, while Hitch stuck his head out of the window and used the flame stick to pop the bubble, as Sparky fell and Zipp caught him. "Gotcha!" she cheered, flying back to the castle and giving Sparky back to Hitch.
Hitch hugged Sparky and laughed in relief. "I'm never letting you go again!" he said, while Sparky gurgled happily and hugged Hitch back.
Opaline managed to reach the Throne Room again.
Once she did so, her eyes widened when she saw that the bubble where she trapped the Mane 5 earlier was gone, as well as the ponies, and Misty wasn't anywhere to be seen, either.
With a frown, she flew to the place where they used to be and groaned. "Misty! Where are you? Where are those fools?!" she shouted, both in rage and worry.
"Perhaps you should reconsider who you trust on, Ma'am" Sonic's voice spoke behind her.
Opaline felt a bit startled, so she turned around and frowned when she saw Sonic sitting down on her throne, while a sword rested on the right arm of the throne.
"Let me guess... You are the blue pest Ivo's been dealing for years now, aren't you?" Opaline asked with anger.
"And you are the evil Alicorn that's been a pain the ass for everypony in Equestria for quite a while" Sonic replied with a snort. "Or should I say, Queen Opaline?" he added with a mocking tone, as he stood up from the throne and grabbed the sword with his hand.
At hearing this, Opaline's eyes widened, but she still smirked sinisterly at Sonic. "Oh! So you have heard about me... How charming!" she said with a really egotistical smile.
"It's hard not to. After all, Twilight Sparkle left a message warning us about you" Sonic replied with a frown, as he started to walk in one direction, around the pool in front of the Throne, while Opaline began to walk on the other direction. "Discord also told us about you, although he said you were a unicorn, not an Alicorn" he pointed out.
"Ugh! Please" Opaline snorted. "That old draconequus knows everything about true power, and he still can't get a thing as simple as shapeshifting? He has done it before himself" she pointed out with a mocking tone.
"Oh, so you fucked up Equestria with a unicorn cosplay? Wow..." Sonic said with a bored expression, as he stopped right in front of the Throne Room's door, with Opaline stopping in front of her throne.
"It might not have been what you expected, rodent. But it was effective" Opaline said, before opening her wings and then fly in the air. "And now that my power is restored..." she started, as her horn and wings ignited in fire. "I will recover what's rightfully mine! And nobody, not even you, your master, or whoever you fight for, will stop me!" she declared with a maniac laugh.
At this, Sonic frowned, then twirled his sword a bit and pointed it at Opaline. "Listen here, 'Your majesty': If you're gonna refer to me in some way, you'll do it right!" he stated with anger. "I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog! I have no master except the wind that blows free! I fight for what I know is the right thing, and I'm here to stop you! Or die in the attempt!" he declared, now grabbing the sword with both hands and glaring daggers at Opaline.
Opaline's eyes widened, and she stared at Sonic for a second, before properly smile. "Very well, Sonic, Knight of the Wind. Prepare to die!" she declared, as she launched a massive fire blast towards Sonic.
At this, Sonic immediately moved away and ran over the wall, before jumping in the air with a spin and then swing the sword towards Opaline.
She noticed this with wide eyes, so she managed to create a shield just in time to block the attack, and then, she sent Sonic backwards, while the hedgehog landed on his feet, and then putted he sword on his back before charging a Spin Dash against Opaline, launching at her and hitting her face.
Opaline shook her head and then growled, creating with her magic some fire balls that materialized into sticks, and then she launched them against Sonic, who quickly dodged all of them, before charging his electrical powers and redirect them to the sword, then jumped in the air and made a Homing Attack against the Alicorn.
However, in the air, he uncurled and aimed the sword to her horn, something she noticed, so she quickly launched a fire blast against him. Sonic noticed this with wide eyes, so he quickly cancelled his Homing Attack by making a Stomp Attack to the ground, where he landed and then looked at Opaline again with a frown.
Next, he putted the sword aside and then started to run across the wall in the room, then he jumped once he was above Opaline and launched the sword to her. At this, Opaline grinned and used her magic to launch the sword away, but as she did so, she didn't noticed Sonic coming to her, so she got her face punched by him, who then jumped backwards and landed in the floor again, while Opaline fell to the floor with a painful grunt.
"Ugh..." Opaline groaned, before standing up and shook her head, then stare daggers at Sonic. "How dare you?! You not only punched the future ruler of Equestria, you punched a lady!" she shouted in rage.
"Get tuned, 'your majesty'..." Sonic mocked up with a smirk. "The fist of justice is unisex!" he declared.
Opaline growled at this, then she started to fly and chase down Sonic across the Throne Room, while Sonic himself just ran away from her with a smirk, clearly enjoying this despite being aware of the dangers in the situation he's in.
At some point, one of her fire blasts hit the stuff on the corner with Eggman's logo, which made the boxes explode, while some stamina rings got spread across the room.
Sonic noticed this, so he smirked and quickly charged his Spin Dash, then boosted across the room to collect as many rings as he could. Once he had at least 25 or 30, he stopped rolling around and then started to run backwards to mock Opaline.
"You know? I've only met two Alicorns in my life and, for the supposed to be big menace for Equestria, I'm kind of disappointed..." Sonic said with a mocking smirk.
"Shut up!" Opaline screamed in rage, launching another blast that Sonic dodged by moving behind the fire Alicorn.
"Starting with your looks... What kind of wear is that? Are you stuck in the 1500's or something?" Sonic said with a bored expression, dodging another fire as he now stood at back of Opaline's Throne. "Also, why is your horn curved? It not only looks weird, it looks gross..." he added, dodging another blast as he sat on the ceiling while waving his feet. "And don't get me even started on your aim. Even a five year old can hit me way faster than you!" he added with a slight frown.
Then, he dodged the next blast by boosting right behind Opaline and try to punch her, but Opaline quickly turned around and fired another blast that almost hit Sonic, if he didn't used a Stomp Attack to dodge it.
"UGH!!!" Opaline roared in anger, as she started to shot her fire blasts more wildly. "Do you ever shut up?!" she shouted, tired to hear Sonic's mockery.
"Nope! That's Because I'm good!" Sonic replied proudly, before jumping over a blast and the slide a bit on the ground, while he collected 3 stamina rings and then grabbed the fourth one with a hand. "And powerful, apparently! Jealous?" he asked with a mocking tone and smirk, before boosting away to dodge another attack.
However, he did a bad turn, because he tripped with something in the floor, and when Opaline noticed that, she grinned and fired a blast of magic against Sonic. He flew backwards because of this, and he crashed against a wall, loosing several rings in the process.
Izzy, Pipp and Misty, who were all hiding behind the throne this whole time, saw the entire battle so far, and Pipp was blushing like mad at Sonic's fighting skills. But the moment the blast hit him and he crashed in the wall, the three mares gasped quietly in shock, and Pipp's eyes widened in panic.
"Son––" Pipp tried to say, but Izzy quickly covered her mouth, since they didn't wanted to be discovered by Opaline yet.
The Alicorn did turned to face her throne a bit confused, but she shrugged and looked back at Sonic with a smirk.
Sonic managed to kneel in the ground and shake his head, as he looked back at Opaline with a frown.
"I've been watching you over the past year, Hedgehog... and honestly? I got things to say about you..." Opaline said with a cold stare. "You are not impressive..." she started.
At hearing that, Sonic chuckled and stood up slowly, cleaning some blood that came out from his mouth, then getting up and collecting all the rings he lost, as they entered to his body once again.
"You are not powerful!" Opaline kept saying, as her horn lightened up one more time.
Meanwhile, Sonic was now cracking his neck and his knuckles, as well as jumping a bit on his place, like mocking up the Alicorn while he stretched out and prepared to beat the shit out of her.
"And... YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!" Opaline shouted in rage, now spreading his wings wide open.
With his warm ups ready, Sonic looked at Opaline with a mocking smirk. "You forgot one..." he stated, as he positioned to run against her, with his eyes and quills turning neon blue. "I'm unstoppable!" he declared confidently.
And then, Sonic charged up a Spin Dash that combined his electrical powers, then launched against Opaline, who created a magic shield to protect herself from the attack...
However, Sonic's Spin Dash was boosted by his electrical powers, which started to push the barrier, and therefore Opaline, a bit backwards, something the Alicorn herself noticed, so she growled in anger and did her best to push Sonic back... failing miserably, because Sonic's Spin Dash broke the shield and hit Opaline hard enough in the face.
They were both sent backwards, with both of them landing in the floor, panting a bit exhausted.
But then, Opaline groaned and tried to fly away, heading towards her studio... A plan that failed, because Sunny stepped in and blocked her way.
"So, you're the evil Alicorn!" Sunny frowned.
"Oh. Is that what they're calling me?" Opaline retorted, before turning on her wings and horn on fire. "Better make it evil fire Alicorn! OPALINE ARCANA!" she declared
"Uh-oh/Oh dear..." Izzy and Pipp winced, while Misty gulped nervously.
"And I thought my ego was big..." Sonic said with a bored expression.
"Twilight warned us about you! You're the one who tried to steal magic and divided Equestria all those moons ago!" Sunny frowned.
"And now that I have the dragon's power, I'll do it again right now!" Opaline roared, then she fired a magic beam at Sunny, who dodged it and slid on the wooden ramp to get away of the fire, before running around the pool in front of the throne.
To this, Opaline simply kept shooting magic blasts at her, while Sunny simply ran around the pool.
"Oh, whoa!" Sunny called out, as she ran around. "Ha-ha! Missed!" she mocked up with a smirk.
"Argh!" Opaline roared, as she fired another beam that reached the tree bark wall where Sunny was passing by.
"Sunny, move!" Sonic called out, as he boosted to her.
Sunny gasped as she saw the wall piece going to her, and Sonic tried to move her aside, but instead, it fell on both Sonic and Sunny, while their friends gasped.
"Sunny!" Izzy called out with worry.
"Sonic!" Pipp cried out in panic.
Thankfully, Sunny and Sonic were fine, just stuck in the wall piece, as they tried to get free from it, but they were stuck underneath the pile.
"Man, this sucks!" Sonic said with a frown.
"Look at me!" Opaline said with a sinister grin. "Do you really think you could stop a Fire Alicorn?" she asked sarcastically, but as she was about to laugh again, something hit her in the face. "Ah! Ugh!" she yelped in pain, as she turned and saw Izzy throwing things to her with her magic.
"Leave. Them. Alone!" Izzy called out in anger, as she kept throwing stuff at Opaline.
Opaline shook off and glared at Izzy, but then, something was thrown to her head from the back, so she turned and saw Pipp, throwing things at her as well.
"Dah! Yes! Leave them alone!" Pipp yelled at Opaline as well.
"You pests!" Opaline yelled out, but as she was about to use her magic, something else hit her from the back.
When she turned around, however... She didn't expected to see what she saw: Misty, levitating stuff as well, showing off her Cutie Mark and frowning at Opaline.
"Leave my friends alone!" Misty shouted in rage, as she also started to throw stuff at Opaline.
The Alicorn was so stunned and shocked to see her protege not only with a Cutie Mark, but also using her new gained magic against her.
Sunny and Sonic were surprised as well, while Izzy, Pipp and Misty kept throwing stuff at the stunned Alicorn.
"Now this is a pretty hardcore redemption arc..." Sonic said with a smile, which made Sunny put a bored expression and hit his shoulder with a hoof, while Sonic looked at her confused and she raised an eyebrow to him. "Am I wrong?" he asked.
However, Opaline snapped and frowned with anger, then used her magic not only to trap Izzy and Pipp in a bubble again, but also trap Misty in one as well.
Sunny and Sonic gasped at this, so they tried to lift the wall piece off them, while Opaline fused Izzy, Misty and Pipp's bubbles together.
"I'm disappointed on you Misty" Opaline spitted with rage and a frown. "Not only it seems that you helped this ponies to escape, but you also got your Cutie Mark by the actual method..." she added with anger.
"You lied to me my whole life!" Misty pointed out with a frown. "I got my Cutie Mark thanks to my real friends!" she added. "And I won't rest until we defeat you and Eggman!" she stated confidently.
"Too bad you will rest, then" Opaline mocked up. "You weak little ponies can't stop Opaline Arcana!" she declared. "Not even with that blue rat on your side!" she added with a maniac laugh.
Izzy, Pipp and Misty gasped, while Sunny and Sonic kept grunting as they seemed to finally get free from the piece of wall.
Opaline fired her horn at the three mares, but Sunny and Sonic jumped in front of them and activated their shields to create a more powerful and resistant one: Sunny used her magic, and Sonic used the digital shield of his watch.
Misty, Pipp and Izzy cheered to them, while Opaline got startled. "Uh-oh..." she said, but she still tried to seem intimidating.
"Maybe alone, we can't!" Sunny said with a frown. "But together, we can do anything!" she declared.
After that, Sunny sent the shield she made back to Opaline, sending her backwards, while Sonic turned off his digital shield.
"Wanna play co-op?" Sunny asked Sonic with a smirk.
"You know it, Sunny-Bunny! Let's show this Alicorn what. We're. Made of!" Sonic smirked back, also cracking his fingers.
Thereupon, Sunny took flight and launched to Opaline, while Sonic charged his Spin Dash and started to roll around the walls in the room.
Opaline fired at the Alicorn and Hedgehog, as Sunny used her shield up whenever Opaline shot at her, while Sonic went straight up to attack with Homing Attacks and Spin Dashes, and Opaline chased after them with a warrior cry.
"Yes, you can do it, guys!" Izzy cheered.
"Way to glow, you two!" Pipp cheered next.
Opaline kept screaming in rage, blasting at Sunny and Sonic as much as she could, but Sunny was keeping her shield up, and Sonic still hit her successfully. Just then, Zipp and Hitch came into the room.
"Yeah! We have your backs!" Zipp encouraged them with a smirk.
"Get her!" Hitch called out as well.
Then, both him and Zipp ran downstairs, while Hitch used the stick to pop the prison bubble their friends were in.
Opaline screamed in rage as she charged another blast towards Sunny, while the younger Alicorn protected herself with another shield. The two Alicorns started to fly around the room, while the other ponies but Misty started to cheer at them, not noticing that their Cutie Marks were glowing.
Meanwhile, Sonic began to jump around the room, going around Opaline without hitting her at top speed, but don't worry, this is completely planned. He knows what he's doing.
Then, Misty looked at her friends, then at Sunny and Opaline still fighting, and then she remembered Sonic's words from earlier...
"If you truly are our friend, which I know you are, then prove it!" Sonic's voice echoed on her mind.
Misty opened her eyes and smiled determinate, as she looked back at Sunny. "You can do it, Sunny!" she started to cheer loudly as well.
After all, Opaline was already aware of her Cutie Mark, and Sonic told her earlier that she was leaving with them once this was over, so what else could she do?
With this, Misty's Cutie Mark started to glow as well, which seemed to be enough to feed Sunny's magic, because trials of magic came out of the five ponies' Cutie Marks, as they reached Sunny's and gave her more power, something that made Opaline gasp in panic.
Meanwhile, Sonic finally stopped moving and uncurled from his ball form, landing behind Opaline with a frown. "You might wanna go back to kindergarten, bitch!" he said with anger, as his electrical powers turned on. "Because... I am not a rat!" he added.
After that, he pressed a button on his watch, and then, an electrical lasso came out of it, as it automatically followed Sonic's previous path he made around Opaline... Sonic's plan was to tie her up this whole time, he just needed to be specific with his moves while Sunny kept her busy.
Once the lasso stopped moving, Sonic smirked. "I'm a hedgehog!" he shouted, pulling the lasso and trapping Opaline on a perfect fit thanks to the moves the lasso made.
With Opaline tied up, and with Sunny's powers charged up thanks to her friends' magic, the latter shot her magic to the Fire Alicorn, who got sent backwards. Then, Sonic pulled the lasso a bit, still with Opaline trapped on it, and he started to twirl it around the room at fast paste.
Opaline groaned and panicked as she was being twirled around, until Sonic finally let her go towards her Throne, which she destroyed with her own body, as she fell to the ground with a loud grunt of pain, while the Mane 5 and Misty cringed, as Sonic let go her body from the lasso, and Sunny even created a golden bubble around her.
With Opaline trapped, Sunny landed in the ground and Sonic cleaned his hands with a confident smirk, while Sunny walked towards Hitch, who was carrying Sparky on his hooves.
"Sparky!" Sunny said with a warm smile "Aw, I'm so glad you're okay!" she added relieved, as she nuzzled Sparky's face, while the baby dragon gurgled softly at her.
Meanwhile, Sonic grabbed the sword from the ground and approached to Opaline's bubble with a frown. Once he stopped in front of the bubble, he rested the sword over his right shoulder, while Opaline shook her head inside the bubble as she got up, then noticed that she was trapped, and then she frowned back at Sonic.
"Let's make ourselves clear, Opaline..." Sonic started with anger, while the Mane 5 and Misty approached with frowns as well. "Today you got pretty lucky, you know? If I arrived as mad as I was back in the Brighthouse, I would've crossed a line I swore I'd never cross" he explained coldly.
"What are you doing? Threatening me?" Opaline snorted with a grin.
"Maybe I am" Sonic replied, and Opaline's grin faded away, but her frown remained. "If you ever try to get close to Sparky, to hurt any of my friends, to manipulate Misty again... I will come straight up to this liar of yours, and I won't kill you, but I won't hold back my punches either. So you better stay away from us" he warned with anger.
After that, he sticked the sword on the ground, then turned around and walked towards the exit, while everyone else followed behind, Misty included.
Opaline growled in anger and then shot a fire beam to the bubble, but it didn't exploded. "You can't keep me here forever!" she shouted in rage.
"No. But we can keep you away from our friends!" Sunny said, looking at Opaline over her shoulder.
Opaline growled again, but then, she remembered something, so she smirked again. "Well... I don't mind to rebuild the place, anyways..." she said, now suddenly sounding confident.
"What is she talking about?" Pipp asked confused.
"Don't know... It's not like there's a big disaster here..." Zipp pointed out confused.
However, Sonic immediately realized what Opaline meant, and he quickly pushed everyone else back.
He did that just in time, because a really long robotic arm with three giant spikes came out of the door that leads to Eggman's lab in the castle.
Sonic quickly checked that his friends were right, then he went and helped Pipp to stand up, and then he looked to Eggman's lab's door with a frown, while the robotic arms started to grow to its regular size again. And then, the door was completely traversed by the original Death Egg Robot, as it stared down at the Mane 5, Misty and Sonic, while its blue eyes changed to red.
"Leaving the party so soon?" Eggman asked on a very sadistic tone, followed by a maniac laugh. "But if we're just getting started!" he stated, now launching the left arm against the group.
The ponies and Sonic quickly split up, while the Death Egg Robot's head started to spin in 360 degrees to scan the entire room, and therefore, his enemies.
Finally, once he had all of them scanned, Eggman got down to business: First, he attacked Hitch by shooting some purple splats that got the Sheriff stuck to the ground. Next, he launched a pair of nets to Zipp and Pipp that not only trapped them together and around their wings, but the second one also trapped them a second time as they fell to the floor.
Now, he let go a small jar with glitter, as it rolled on the floor and stopped near Izzy. "Ooh, glitter!" she said with a smile.
However, as she was about to pick the jar with her magic, the jar itself exploded and covered Izzy on glitter. Of course, this wouldn't been a problem... if it wasn't because of the fact that she was completely freeze'd up on place, with her face being the only spot not covered on glitter.
"That's 4. Three to go" Eggman said, as he turned around and faced Sunny, Sonic... and Misty...
Eggman quickly extended the right arm of the Death Egg Robot and aimed to them, as they split up again, with Sunny now launching a magic beam to the machine, but Eggman moved away and tried to punch her. Next, Sonic charged up his Spin Dash and launched against the machine.
As both Sunny and Sonic dealt with Eggman, Misty sneaked and approached Hitch, trying to free him with her magic, but whatever the splats were made off seemed to be immune to magic, because it wasn't even being surrounded by Misty's.
"I cannot move it!" Misty whispered with concern. "It's very stuck!" she added with a grunt, still trying to free Hitch.
Back with Sonic and Sunny, Eggman was starting to get tired of the two of them, since they were flying and running around him as mosquitos. So, he quickly made a jump in the air with the Death Egg Robot, and then he stomped in the ground with a very loud thud.
This made Sonic loose his balance as he ran over a wall, and as he started to fall towards the ground, Eggman quickly moved the left arm of the Robot and hit Sonic, sending him towards a wall, as the hedgehog crashed on his back on the wall really hard, loosing all his rings this time around. Then, he fell to the floor weakened, even if he was trying to get up.
"Sonic!" Sunny exclaimed in panic when she noticed that, and she quickly flew towards Eggman with a frown.
However, the Death Egg Robot turned to her, and just when she was about to blast another laser from her horn, Eggman moved the left arm of the machine and grabbed Sunny's body, then smashed it to the ground and kept her steady right there.
"Sunny!" Izzy and Hitch screamed in panic, while the sisters, Sparky and Misty gasped in horror.
In just a few minutes, Eggman finished the job that Opaline started, with a weakened Sonic and a terrified Misty being the only ones left that could do something.
"You truly are naive, Starscout" Eggman said with anger, even though the smiling face of the Death Egg Robot said otherwise. "Did you really thought that you were going to get away that easily? That you would just get in here and save Sparky? That's hilarious!" he mocked up. "I've been studying all of you for months! I know everything about you: Dreams, fears, strengths, weaknesses... You've lost this battle before it even started!" he pointed out.
Then, Sonic finally stood up and chuckled. "That's ironic coming from you, Egghead..." he pointed out with a smirk. "In all honesty, I forgot you even existed as we fought Opaline..." he confessed.
"You forgot about me?" Eggman said on a very bad acted sad tone. "I thought that we had something special!" he added with a dramatic and sarcastic tone.
"I fight a lot of bad guys, Egghead. But I can always make time for you!" Sonic said with a mocking smirk, before suddenly frowning. "Let's start with the payback for knocking Tails out!" he shouted in rage, as his electrical powers awakened.
Then, he charged up a Spin Dash and launched against the Death Egg Robot, attack that Eggman received without even trying to avoid it, because the attack only sent Sonic backwards. He crashed on the wall again and then feel to the floor facewards, but this time around, he could barely stand on his knees.
As this happened, Hitch gulped, but then, he got an idea, so he looked at Sparky on his back, then at Misty, who was concerned about Sonic and Sunny, and the Sheriff nodded to himself.
"Misty..." Hitch whispered to her, as the mare turned to him. "Take Sparky, get in the Marestream and fly away from here!" he told her.
"What?!" Misty whispered back in panic.
"We need backup, and Maybe Tails have woke up already!" Hitch pointed out. "Please, Sunny is immobilized, and Sonic is knocked out! We need help!" he added with concern.
Misty was conflicted after hearing this, but... Hitch had a point. She was the only one that could help right now... And she was going to do so!
"... I'll bring the help!" Misty said, as she grabbed Sparky from Hitch's back and sat him on hers, then quickly sneaked away as she headed towards the exit...
But then...
"MISTY!" Eggman's voice spoke, and the mare immediately panicked, as she looked back and saw Eggman pointing the right arm of the Death Egg Robot at her.
Eggman was heartbroken at this point, not only because he clearly knew that Misty was helping Sonic and the Mane 5, but also because she got her Cutie Mark by doing so... She betrayed him, he knew that...
But he also promised to not attack her if she ever went to the opposite band, which is why he hasn't fired at her.
Taking advantage of this, Misty shook her head and ran away from the castle with Sparky, while Eggman sighed in concern and disappointment inside the Death Egg Robot.
"What are you doing?!" Opaline screamed in rage. "She's running away with the dragon!" she pointed out.
"Your powers are restored, Opaline. We don't need the lizard anymore" Eggman pointed out, then he looked down at Sunny, still trapped down the Death Egg Robot's arm. "And we don't need Misty, either!" he stated.
Then, from the arm he had Sunny trapped, he let out a green gas that made Sunny cough a lot, as he finally let her go, while Sunny herself stopped coughing and fell unconscious, with her Alicorn form even disappearing.
"Sunny!" Hitch yelled in panic.
Yet, that only made Eggman turn around and spread the gas to him, Izzy and the sisters as well, as they all started to cough after inhaling it.
Finally, Eggman pointed the same gas at Sonic, as he laughed maniacally by doing so. "Nighty night, hedgehog!" he mocked up happily, and then, he walked away.
Sonic tried to follow him, but the gas he inhaled weakened him even more, so he fell completely in the ground, slowly falling unconscious.
The last thing he saw was his friends falling unconscious too, and then, he saw nothing...
In the Brighthouse, Tails suddenly woke up with a gasp.
"Sonic!" Tails shouted in panic, before falling facewards to the ground.
Amy and Knuckles, who were playing cards on the table, heard that the young fox woke up and gasped.
"Tails!" they both said, before approaching to him.
Rouge, who was still kind of lost on her new gems, also heard Tails' cry, and decided to check on him as well, since very, very, very deep down, she was also concerned for him.
"Easy, little guy..." Knuckles said. "You're still beaten up" he pointed out.
"S-Sonic..." Tails said with concern. "H-He's in danger... W-We gotta help him out!" he exclaimed with panic.
"What?!" Amy asked, now concerned as well. "Tails, you just woke up. You're just saying gibberish, and––" she tried to add.
"NO!" Tails shouted concerned, slowly getting up. "H-He's in danger! I can feel it!" he repeated himself.
"Yellow, how can you tell that?" Rouge asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"I-Is something we have..." Tails explained. "S-Some kind of... brotherhood instinct... we know when the other is in danger..." he stated.
And then, Shadow entered the place at top speed.
"I calmed Sonic down, but he went to chase down a flying vehicle that spills rainbows..." Shadow explained with a frown. "Tails? Knuckles? Care to provide some context?" he requested.
"The Marestream?" Knuckles said confused. "Oh, Sonic probably went to help the ponies find Sparky" he pointed out.
"What?!" Tails shouted in panic. "What do you mean the ponies went to look for Sparky? What happened to him?!" he asked confused.
However, just when Knuckles was about to explain himself, they all heard the engine from the Marestream near by, and so, said vehicle landed outside of the Brighthouse.
But instead of the Mane 5 and Sonic rushing in with the saved Sparky, Misty rushed inside alone, even though she did had Sparky on her hooves, while the unicorn mare panted exhausted.
"Misty?" Tails asked confused.
"Tails!" Misty exclaimed, as she gave the weakened Sparky to Knuckles and then hugged Tails tightly. "I'm so glad to see that you're okay!" she said with a little smile.
Tails hugged her back despite still feeling a bit dizzy and weak, while Knuckles stared at Sparky with a worried frown, because he was all grey and weak as well.
"Misty, what the fuck happened?" Knuckles asked with concern, then he looked at her flank and gasped. "And when did you got your Cutie Mark?!" he added with shock.
"Wait, she what?!" Tails asked, as he saw the butterfly Cutie Mark on her flank as well and smiled.
"Can I please explain myself?!" Misty shouted desperate, and everyone else just shut up immediately.
"Kid, you were not even explaining shit–– Oh... Yeah, I see where you were getting..." Shadow said with a bored expression.
Misty groaned and facehoofed, before looking just a Tails with concern. "Tails... There's a lot I gotta tell... And you're not gonna like most of it..." she confessed with concern.
Sunny could see absolutely nothing for quite a while.
The last thing she remembers was that Sonic and Misty helped to defeat Opaline, but then Eggman came by and defeated all of them, before he pulled out a weird green gas that he used to knock her and her friends out.
She also remembers that he let go Misty and Sparky, but nothing else.
What happened to them? What happened to her? Where was Sonic? Was he okay? Was he even alive? She couldn't tell, because she couldn't see anything at all right now...
Or at least, she couldn't for a while, because in the middle of her darkness, a light flashed and startled her a bit.
And then, she started to open her eyes. She did it slowly, because she still needed to get used to the light in the room.
However, once her eyes did got used to the light, they opened wide, because she was on some kind of laboratory.
She looked around confused: computers with Eggman's logo, control panels, some of Eggman's machines she could recognize, some she couldn't, the three Chaos Emeralds he obtained in a capsule... And then, she gasped terrified when she saw five big capsules, with her friends trapped in four of them.
The capsules were as big as a cell, and at the top, there was a digital screen that showed the last name of whoever was trapped inside, that being 'Moonbow', 'Storm', 'Trailblazer' and 'Petals' respectively, with the capsule in the middle being completely empty.
"G-Guys?!" Sunny called out.
It seemed that her friends woke up before her, because they all turned to her and smiled.
"Sunny!" the four of them said.
"Are you okay?!" Hitch asked with concern.
"I think I am..." Sunny said, checking all over her body, but then, she noticed that she didn't had her bag, although it didn't mattered right now. "Where are we?" she asked, looking around.
"I think it's some kind of lab" Zipp pointed out with concern. "Or rather I said, Eggman's lab..." she added with a small frown.
"Sunny, do you see Sonic anywhere close?" Pipp asked with worry. "I've been trying to call him out from here, but I get no response!" she pointed out.
"Haven't you tried to text him?" Sunny asked.
"Apparently, Eggman took all our stuff" Izzy pointed out with concern, showing that she wasn't wearing her bracelets on her mane, tail nor hoof.
"He even took my Sheriff belt and badge!" Hitch pointed out with concern. "I feel naked without them... and I'm always naked!" he pointed out with a panicked expression.
"Okay, everypony, calm down!" Sunny told them. "First, I have to find out how to take you guys out of here... Is your magic still working?" she asked.
"Yeah, but..." Izzy said, as she lightened up her horn and tried to grab the capsule with her magic, but it din't worked. "It doesn't works outside of this capsule..." she pointed out with a sad expression.
"It's like being trapped in our own bodies!" Zipp said, as she flew quickly in circles around her cage with a frown, before landing and groaning frustrated. "Before magic, there was no point in having wings if I couldn't fly... Now? There's no point on having wings at all if I can't fly freely!" she pointed out with anger.
"And that's what makes this spectacle the more enjoyable!" Eggman's voice spoke suddenly.
The Mane 5 felt startled by hearing him, and so, they all looked upwards, were they saw Eggman looking down at them with a huge grin from a balcony.
"I'm glad to see that all of you are finally awake!" Eggman said happily. "Now, let's get this party started!" he stated, before jumping from the balcony and land in the same platform that Sunny was standing over.
"You think you can defeat an Alicorn without your machines, Eggman?" Sunny asked with a frown, but also smirking mockingly. "Because right now, I got plenty of advantage!" she stated.
"Go get him, Sunny!" Zipp cheered.
"Kick him in the balls!" Hitch said with a slight sinister smile.
"Woo!" both Izzy and Pipp cheered as well.
"You really are confident, aren't you, Starscout?" Eggman mocked up... however, there was no grin this time around. He was showing a rather very serious expression. "Too bad that confidence of yours is your biggest weakness..." he added.
Sunny only snorted and activated her Alicorn form. Then, she boosted against Eggman... but that wasn't a smart idea...
Eggman growled, and just when Sunny was about to punch him, Eggman raised the Yellow Chaos Emerald in front of him.
"Chaos Control!" Eggman shouted.
With this, the Chaos Emerald's power stopped Sunny in her place. And then? Eggman did something nobody ever though he could be able to: He raised a fist, and stroke a punch straight into Sunny's face, canceling the 'Chaos Control' effect in the process and sending her backwards.
Sunny crashed against the crystal of the empty capsule and fell to the ground, with her alicorn form glitching a bit in the process.
"It's time to make my own hands dirty!" Eggman stated with a grin, also cracking his knuckles.
Meanwhile, Sunny's friends looked with horror at what Eggman just did, specially because Sunny's nose started to bleed a bit.
However Eggman wasn't done with her, because he approached Sunny, grabbed her, and then launched her towards a panel control, that she of course broke with the impact, but it also caused her wings and horn to disappear.
Eggman growled in anger and started to walk towards her, while Hitch snapped from his shock state of seeing Sunny crashing with the crystal.
"Sunny!" Hitch shouted desperate. "Run!" he begged.
Sunny shook her head a bit dizzy, then noticed that her nose was bleeding and panicked, but then, she noticed Eggman approaching, and she immediately ran away, as Eggman smashed what was left of the panel control with his bare fists.
"I'm really sick of you, Sunny!" Eggman said in anger, grabbing part of the panel control and launching it towards Sunny, who barely dodged the attack. "8 months. I've been watching you for 8 fucking months... And you are not doing anything useful!" he shouted in rage, as he grabbed a chair near by and launched it to Sunny.
This time, however, Sunny's hind legs got hit, and she fell to the ground.
She quickly tried to get up, but Eggman approached her and grabbed her from her tail, quickly smashing her against the floor.
"Stop it!" Zipp begged as well, hitting herself against the crystal, in a desperate attempt to get out, but she was just hurting herself by doing so.
"You have the power to stop hunger..." Eggman continued, as he stomped on Sunny's tail and made her groan in pain, since she tried to get away from him. "You have the power to stop corruption!" he added, now stomping on Sunny's back and pressing over her bones, while Sunny screamed in pure agony and pain.
"Eggman, stop it!" Izzy begged as well, tears running down her cheeks.
However, Eggman only retired his feet from her back and tail, just to grab her mane and smash her face against the floor. "You can even cure fucking cancer!" he pointed out. "But NOOOOOOOO! You chose to waste your power on stupid marches and causes NOBODY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT!" he added, as he grabbed Sunny again and launched her against a wall.
Sunny fell to the floor and coughed a bit of blood, also feeling her eyes watering because of how painful she was feeling right now.
"You were given a fucking bless, and you waste it in a dream that isn't even yours!" Eggman kept telling. "Worst of all, you literally are nothing without your wings, horn and friends!" he added with anger.
"Doctor, stop it!" Pipp begged. "You're gonna kill her at this rate!" she pointed out, also letting out tears of agony.
"Kill her?! I would have done that the moment she disappointed me!" Eggman declared with a frown, before looking back at Sunny with pure rage. "No... I'm not gonna kill her... I'm gonna make sure she understands why I'm not a guy she should underestimate!" he stated.
After that, he grabbed her from her tail and dragged her to the center, so her friends could see what he was about to do.
However, he first removed his glasses, showing his black sclera and red ires to the Mane 5 sins Sunny.
"Take this as a lesson on why you shouldn't mess with me..." Eggman declared with anger, before starting to smash Sunny in the floor from one side to the other, for the Mane 5's horror. "I am a MENACE!" he stated, smashing Sunny again. "I have the MASTER PLAN!" he said again, also smashing Sunny to the ground one more time. "I. Am. THE EGGMAN!" he screamed, smashing Sunny one last time, before finally leaving her there in the ground.
The rest of the Mane 5 couldn't believe what they witnessed. Izzy's tears were falling nonstop, Zipp had her nose a bit broken by trying to smash the crystal to help Sunny, but seeing her friend like that broke her composure, as she feel to the floor and started to tear up. Pipp was crying uncontrollably as well, and Hitch's expression was anxious, panicked, shocked...
Broken...
He just saw not only his childhood friend, but also his crush, his love being crushed down to the ground just like a bag.
Sunny herself wasn't any better: Her mane was all messy now, her right eye was purple, her nose and mouth were bleeding a lot, her back felt incredibly painful, and she could swear that one of her hooves broke because of Eggman's smashes.
"Y-You..." Hitch managed to say, now with tears rolling down his eyes, then he looked up at Eggman, who's sinister grin only made the sheriff frown. "You... MOTHERFUCKING MONSTER!!!" he yelled out in rage.
"Pff. I've been called worse" Eggman said with a cold stare towards Hitch. "Besides, she's not dead. Killing doesn't suits my brand unless I see it necessary" he added, like if what he just did wasn't a big deal.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Zipp asked with concern. "You just beat the shit out of our friend almost to death! How can you be so relaxed after that?!" she questioned in disbelief.
"Emphasis on almost, Zephyrina" Eggman said with a smirk.
"You... You did all of that and enjoyed it... Y-You are even worse than just a bad guy..." Izzy said with concern, as tears kept falling from her eyes.
"Why, thank you, Isabela!" Eggman said with pure joy. "Is such a great compliment!" he added.
"What do you get from all of this?!" Pipp asked desperate.
However, Eggman only laughed at their attitude, and he looked at them with a sinister grin. "I knew it! I was right all along! HAHAHAHAHA!" he cheered.
"What are you talking about, you piece of shit?!" Hitch yelled in rage.
"Uh! You kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh, wait! I forgot you have no mom!" Eggman said happily, before burst laughing like a maniac.
Hitch felt his anger only increasing by the second thanks to that declaration.
"I knew all along that Sunny was the Sonic of your group!" Eggman stated with joy.
"What does that even mean?!" Zipp asked in rage.
"You put your hopes, dreams and aspirations in the hooves of a broken pony that got a power that she doesn't deserves" Eggman started to explain. "She just opens her mouth, and all of a sudden, you feel inspired and hopeful. But then, she fails, and you all feel like there's no point on living anymore. But the most hysterical part of all of this?! She found a group of broken ponies that claim to be fixed together, when they couldn't be far from the truth!" he added, as he laughed again.
"Broken ponies?!" Pipp asked with an offended look. "How on earth could any of us be broken?!" she questioned with anger.
Eggman grinned even more sinisterly, as he approached to her capsule, while Pipp stepped a bit back as Eggman kneeled to face her, still with his eyes penetrating on her soul.
"You aren't just a generic influencer that needs the approval of thousands of strangers to feel like her life is wroth something..." Eggman told her with glee. "You are all of that, as well as the little sister. The second place. Your sister's shadow... an outcast. A burden. You know that being the second in line for the throne means that you are nothing, so you became an influencer! You gain easy money by just existing. You have talent, I won't deny that, but it doesn't changes the fact that you are just a pegasus princess with low steam that needs constant approval so her worthless life can have a purpose!" he explained.
Pipp's rage and confidence all faded away once Eggman said all of that. If she had her phone close, she could just distract herself to ignore him... But it was that urge to check on her phone to see her fans approval what made her realize that Eggman was right... she did needed constant approval... and right now? She needed said approval...
"What's the matter?" Eggman asked sinisterly. "Looking for this?" he added, now showing Pipp's phone on his hand.
Pipp felt desperate to grab it from his hand, but the crystal in the middle didn't allowed her to do so, and she let out some desperate squeaks to reach her phone, as some tears also fell from her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry, little pony..." Eggman said with a fake sad expression, throwing the phone away. "But I'm afraid your fans have better things to do than waste their time on you" he added coldly.
That only made Pipp feel worst, as she fell to the ground in defeat, while sobbing a bit before covering her face with her hooves.
"Leave her alone, you fucking bastard!" Zipp said. "My sister is worth a million more than you'll ever be!" she stated with a confident tone.
"Hmm... You know what? She's still worthless. BUT, she DOES have a lot more worth than you, Zephyrina" Eggman said, now walking to stand in front of Zipp. "After all, it is your fault you are all encaged here in the first place" he added with a cold stare towards the pegasus.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Zipp asked with a frown.
"Let's see: You are the heiress to the throne of Zephyr heights. Yet, you spent all the time running away from any Royal responsibilities, flying around town and trying to find a so called 'mystery' in order to feel that you're not disappointing anyone" Eggman stated. "But guess what? You failed!" he added with a sinister grin, now looking straight into Zipp's eyes.
Zipp genuinely felt scared and stepped back, even though she was still frowning at Eggman.
"You spent 6 months trying to find my location, 6 months trying to prove your worth by helping others with nonsense little mysteries, 6 months avoiding the fact that you are not a worthy heiress to your mother's throne" Eggman added, with his grin just growing and growing, which made Zipp feel uncomfortable.
"I-I don't know what are you––" Zipp tried to say confidently, but the look in Eggman's eyes didn't allowed her to finish.
"What kind of heiress runs away from her duty with her kingdom? You claim to be a detective, but there's not a single case you have solved so far" Eggman pointed out. "And the funniest part? I am the reason of many of them! Sunny's lantern? I buried in that garden! Sparky's disappearance? I hide him on that closet! The one who broke the window to steal the Crystals?! It was me as well!" he lied.
Okay, yeah, Misty did all of those, but since he still considered her his friend, he decided to lie to Mane 5 and say that he did all of that.
"... Y-You... You did all of that?" Zipp asked in such a lower voice that it almost sounded like someone else.
"Duh!" Eggman said like it was obvious. "Now you solve it, Zephyrina. You know who made all of those crimes, you found my location... And you still failed!" he added, now laughing like a maniac even more, as Zipp's ears lowered and she looked at Eggman with a broken expression. "You found the place of your enemies, and still lost against them!" he stated. "What a joke of a heiress you are!" he mocked up, before moving away.
However, the damage was done, and Zipp couldn't help but feel incredibly bad and worthless. Either Eggman was a good manipulator, or he was right... Because she couldn't help but cry even more than when she saw Sunny a few minutes ago.
Eggman, on the other hand, approached to Izzy's capsule, and saw that the unicorn had stepped backwards and was trying to hide her face from Eggman with her own tail.
"... You are already broken, as I can see" Eggman recognized. "I'll have mercy on you... but remember, Isabella: If you lose your friends, you're worth nothing" he muttered to her, before walking towards Hitch's capsule, as Izzy only covered her ears with her hooves, trying to convince herself that Eggman wasn't telling the truth.
Finally, the doctor was right in front of Hitch's capsule, who's cold expression hasn't changed at all.
"Go on, Doctor. Try to get in me. You won't brake me" Hitch stated with a determinate look.
"Sherif Trailblazer..." Eggman started. "Kind, loyal and respectful. All the qualities a good sheriff requires. Yet, down below that shell, you're just a broken little colt that lost mommy and daddy, and his only way to make sure no one ends like him is to be as a good of a Sheriff as he can be" he added with a cold stare.
Hitch did flinched a bit, but his expression never changed.
Meanwhile, Sunny was hearing all of Eggman's words, and as she let out tears of pain and sadness, as well as coughing more blood, she was also praying that Eggman wouldn't cross the line with Hitch that much...
But it was just a delusional wish.
"However, you feel anxiety, insomnia, headaches and, worst of all, useless... Because the only thing you actually did that helped was bring magic back. Out of that? Pff. You haven't done anything that makes you worthy of the tittle of 'Sheriff', Hitch" Eggman stated.
"T-That's... n-not true..." Sunny spoke weakly, coughing a bit of blood as she looked up at Eggman.
"You're still here? How impressive..." Eggman recognized. "However, even if I already destroyed you physically, your mind's still intact..." he pointed out, grabbing Sunny from her neck and raising her in the air, as Sunny looked weakly at the doctor. "You are the worst of the five. Your father dies and, instead of forging your own path, you decided to follow his dumbass steps instead of thinking carefully. Your dream is delusional, Starscout. A stupid, childish desire that stays on that line: a desire" he stated.
Sunny tried to say something to prove him wrong, but she couldn't come up with anything.
"I'll tell you what's wrong with your dream, Sunny: Even if Opaline and I are defeated, once your pathetic, miserable existence is buried 20 meters underground, someone will undo everything again, separate the ponies, making everything your daddy's work has been in vain!" Eggman said with anger. "So keep crying, fighting and bleeding, My Little Pony, because everything you've done up to this day has been for nothing, and I cannot wait to see your reaction when your home burns down into ashes, as I stand in the top as the ruler of everything!" he stated, smashing Sunny to the ground again.
Then, he took out a small remote and pressed a button, which opened the empty capsule. Then, Eggman kicked Sunny inside of it and pressed the button again to close it, as the word 'Starscout' appeared on the digital screen of the capsule.
The rest of the Mane 5, despite of how they were feeling, saw Sunny with concern, and Hitch's heart was braking at the sight of his crush all beaten up.
Sunny, on the other hand, slowly stood up and coughed a bit more of blood, before passing a hoof over her mouth and blood, looking at the ground with sadness, since Eggman's words did got into her.
Then, Eggman pulled out his glasses again and cleaned them, before putting them back into his face. After that, he pressed another button on the remote, which made a capsule similar to the one Shadow was sent to Earth from the ARK come out of the ground and show Sonic, who was still unconscious and tied from wrists and ankles with metallic claws.
"Sonic!" Pipp cried out with worry. "What are you gonna do with him?!" she asked to Eggman with anger.
"I saw that you met Shadow... Wanna hear a tragic story?" Eggman asked with a grin. "He spent 50 years asleep in ice, right after watching his best friend, and my cousin, Maria, DIE right in front of him!" he explained.
The Mane 5 gasped after hearing that, and Pipp could only fear the worst for her boyfriend.
"So, I'm gonna put this hedgehog to sleep for 50 years as well. However, the realization of knowing he's all alone when he wakes up would be even worse! Because all the people he cared for will be gone by the time he's awake!" Eggman explained with a huge grin. "And I'll gladly receive him when he does!" he added, before laughing like a maniac and turn around to leave the Mane 5.
"... D-Doctor..." Sunny called out suddenly, and Eggman stopped walking, then turned around and looked at Sunny with a raised eyebrow. "... Y-You... Y-You have the potential t-to do incredible things... but you waste it on ridiculous and dangerous schemes that do more damage than they repair..." she pointed out.
Eggman felt a massive dejà vu by hearing those words, and he groaned in annoyance, also rubbing his forehead to try to avoid a massive headache.
"W-Why?" Sunny asked with pain. "W-Why did you wasted your life like that?" she added.
Eggman sighed and walked towards Sunny, standing right in front of her capsule, although Sunny didn't stepped back, she just stared Eggman face to face.
"... If I have to be real, I not always enjoyed doing all of this..." Eggman confessed. "I tried for years to reach to anyone through my machines by the pacifist way, just like you" he started to explain. "And, just like you, I was either not listened, marked as a crazy idiot... or straight made fun of..." he added.
Sunny understood the feeling, since she always felt so little before meeting her friends.
"So, one day, I reached my limit" Eggman kept going. "If the world wasn't going to listen to me... Then I'll make the listen!" he stated. "I started by searching the location of the legendary Chaos Emeralds... And once I found it, I decided to make clear why I have to be feared!" he added with a smirk. "Of course, I didn't knew Sonic's parents would be killed by my hand, nor that their son was going to be such a pain in the ass, but it didn't mattered. Even if I met him years later, he was only delaying the inevitable: MY victory!" he cheered.
"... But... but you'll be alone..." Sunny pointed out with concern.
"Eh. I wouldn't be so sure. Opaline will be there!" Eggman pointed out. "And today, after 8 months of careful planning, I finally have you and your friends exactly where I want you!" he stated confidently. "I will say, however: If neither Sonic or Izzy arrived that day to Maretime Bay... I'm pretty sure you would have ended like me one day... So consider yourself lucky, because you would never have to be stressed over building an Empire" he added with a frown.
"... D-Do you really changed... b-because nobody else payed you attention?" Sunny asked curiously and weak.
"... It was more a process, to tell the truth..." Eggman confessed once again. "Let's just say that I realized how society works: You either die being nobody, or you Make Your Mark in the world!" he stated with a grin.
With that being said, Eggman turned around and approached to the capsule where Sonic was encaged and tied up.
"As for you... I can finally said that you were too slow to stop me, Sonic!" Eggman said with glee, before burst laughing like a maniac, as he started to leave the room.
Doing so, he left behind mentally broken mares, a physically and mentally damaged Sunny, and a completely angry Hitch, who wanted so bad to brake that crystal with his bare hooves and give Eggman a lesson.
However, at the capsule on his right side, Sunny just lied in the floor and rested her head on her hooves, looking at the ground and sighing defeated.
Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge and Sparky were heading towards the same zone that Sonic and the Mane 5 went.
Misty came out clean and explained everything: That she was working with Eggman and Opaline all along, that she tried to get Sparky out of the castle when Opaline captured the Mane 5, how she redeemed herself and gained her Cutie Mark by saving the Mane 5, how Sonic and Sunny defeated Opaline, and how Eggman turned the tables by capturing them and letting Misty escape with Sparky.
Once Misty revealed the truth, Tails felt hurt and devastated by the revelation. He spent months treating Misty like a friend, defending her from Zipp, protecting her from her accusations... And in the end, he was the stupid one, because Zipp was right, and Misty was a traitor.
She used them for months, she worked with Opaline and their sworn enemy, she lied about many stuff for so long...
And yet, all anger he felt towards Misty vanished when she mentioned everything she did to help save Sparky, despite the failed first attempt. Of course, Tails was conscious that everything Misty did for months was wrong, and he did felt hurt and used by her... But she was trying to redeem herself, and that was a very good start on his eyes.
So, he and the rest instructed her to stay in the Brighthouse and watch over anything going wrong, which she agreed to do so. Knuckles also said that this could be a test to put her loyalty at stake, which made her agree to stay even more now, specially because Knuckles did exploded on her after she revealed her betrayal, which made Amy and Shadow to hold him and calm him down so he wouldn't do anything stupid.
After that, Tails quickly turned on the Tornado IV, with Amy and Knuckles seating on the passenger seats, while Rouge went flying, Shadow stood in the wing of the plane, and Sparky was with Amy.
"I didn't wanted to bring this up so soon and suddenly, but what if Eggman is expecting us to arrive?" Rouge questioned. "The doctor might make questionable decisions sometimes, but I know very well that he isn't dumb enough to let us in just like that" she pointed out.
"6 months in Equestria haven't been in vain, Rouge!" Tails said with a confident smirk. "If he does has a surprise for us, I have plenty of surprises for him myself!" he stated.
Rouge only nodded at that.
Meanwhile, Knuckles had something bothering him as he looked at Amy in the front seat. "Um... Ames?" he called out.
"Hmm?" Amy asked, not looking at him.
Knuckles took a deep breath and sighed. "Look... I know we promised to never bring this up ever again, but... I really wanna say that we're sorry..." he apologized.
Amy felt a bit strange at hearing that, so she turned around and looked at him. "You're sorry? For what?" she asked.
"Because we made you feel less and excluded back when you were part of team..." Knuckles pointed out. "We didn't knew you felt like just 'the girl of the group', and... we're very sorry for that..." he apologized once again.
Tails heard the conversation as well, so he putted the plane on auto-pilot and turned around to face Amy. "Yeah... We kind of always needed to be in line whenever we had a bad idea..." he pointed out as well.
"I wouldn't use 'bad' to remark your ideas, guys. Is way too much of a compliment" Amy replied with a mocking smirk.
Knuckles bursted out laughing and Tails rolled his eyes with a smile. "The point is... that you were pretty much what kept us in the ground, Ames" Tails kept saying with a smile.
"Yeah... There's no point on being a team if the heart is missing" Knuckles added with a little smile.
Amy turned to look at him a bit surprised, but then she smiled warmly at him.
"Also, we kind of miss having you around" Tails confessed with a smile, and Knuckles nodded in agreement. "And yes, Sonic has missed you too, even if he will never admitted openly" he added with a smirk and a wink.
"Yeah, because––" Amy started.
"He's too cool to openly show feelings!" Tails, Knuckles and Amy all said in unison.
The three of them laughed at that, and Shadow snorted a bit by hearing the talk, even if he didn't showed emotions openly either.
However, the plane's screen made a beep sound, and Tails checked on it once again. He saw that they were close to the location Sonic went, so he turned around.
"Alright, everyone!" Tails stated. "Brace yourselves, 'cause we're gonna crash this party!" he stated with a smirk.
And so, after putting the Tornado IV at top speed, the group crossed some stormy clouds and saw Opaline's Castle in the distance.
"Opaline's Castle!" Tails said. "Its been hiding behind these clouds this whole time?! Now I feel stupid..." he pointed out to himself with a bored expression.
"Too bad Eggman's not hiding from attacking us, though!" Shadow said with anger.
And he said that because several flying badniks were heading towards them, charging their lasers and guns to shot at them.
"Time to take out the trash!" Tails stated, as he pressed a button on the plane.
This made the vehicle to turn on the auto-pilot again, while Tails seat was lowered down with a new panel control, this one connected to a pair of guns. So, Tails started to shot all the badniks he could, while Shadow teleported in the air to hit some badniks as well, and Rouge decided to join her partner.
"Whoa, Tails!" Amy cheered with a smile, impressed by what Tails just pulled out. "That's a very neat trick!" she complimented.
"Press the button at your side, and you guys can join me!" Tails shouted with a smile, still shooting at the badniks.
"Oh, fuck yeah!" Knuckles cheered, pressing said button with no hesitation.
Then, his seat was moved towards the right wing, that took out a missile launcher that made Knuckles grin sinisterly.
"EAT THIS, MOTHERFUCKERS!" Knuckles announced, as he started to blast missiles towards the badniks, and his voice was vibrating with his tongue out as he did so.
Amy, on the other hand, hesitated at first, specially since she was holding Sparky, but then, she nodded determinate and decided to join them, so she pressed the button as well.
Her chair was moved to the left wing, which got out a mechanism similar to the Splat-a-pults Phylis used to make, except this ones launched bombs.
Amy smiled and started to launch the bombs to more badniks as well, exploding them out of the sky in the process, but neither she, Knuckles nor Tails didn't noticed that several badniks sneaked behind the plane and were ready to shot.
Seeing this, Sparky frowned and climbed off from Amy's grip. "Hey, Sparky! Come back!" she said with worry.
However, Sparky kept climbing, and once he reached the tail of the plane, he took a deep breath, before blasting out a powerful flame of his magical dragon fire towards the badniks, immediately turning the machines into a bunch of cupcakes.
You might be wondering how the baby dragon did that despite getting his magic drained... Well, he had some rest on the Brighthouse while Misty explained her story, and it seemed to be enough for him to recover enough for his fire to be as powerful as usual.
Seeing that the badniks were gone, Sparky nodded with pride and carefully moved back with Amy, as he sat down on her knees, while Amy stared at the baby dragon wide eyed, since she did heard that Sparky was powerful, but she didn't expected him to be that powerful, specially since he's a Baby Dragon.
"... You... are a very powerful little fella..." Amy said with a nervous smile, but Sparky only smiled cutely at her, and Amy couldn't help but coo at him for being a baby.
However, more badniks appeared near the bridge that lead to the entrance of the castle, and Tails frowned, so pressing a button, he made the three seats go back to the plane.
"Hey! What's the matter, Tails?!" Knuckles asked with a frown.
"More badniks down there!" Tails replied. "Take Amy and Sparky by glide, Knux! I will take care of those things!" he stated.
"Are you sure?!" Amy asked with concern.
"As I said, Amy... I also have tons of surprises!" Tails replied confidently, also winking at her.
Amy smiled and nodded, and once she saw Knuckles preparing to glide down, she hold Sparky tightly and climbed on Knuckles' back, while the echidna launched himself from the plane and started to glide down.
As Rouge took Shadow's hand and got to Knuckles' side, Tails pressed a button in the plane, switching the vehicle to the robot he first created when he unlocked his powers, as he raised the hands of the robot and blasted lasers from the palms, destroying several badniks from the bridge.
Then, the robot landed in the bridge itself and started to blast lasers towards all the badniks incoming, while everyone else landed behind Tails and the robot.
"... When he said he had tricks of his own... I wasn't expecting a robot with his face..." Shadow confessed with a raised eyebrow.
"If Eggman did taught us something, is that it works!" Knuckles pointed out.
Sonic was slowly waking up from his unconscious state.
He opened his eyes slowly, trying to remember what happened. Then, it hit him: The fight with Opaline and Eggman's unexpected ambush. Worst of all, even in an unconscious state, he heard everything Eggman did to Sunny and told all of the Mane 5.
He already was mad with the doctor because of what happened to Tails and to his parents after finding out the truth, but now he crossed the line with his friends. He was determinate to put Eggman on his place next time he face him, but first, he needed to wake up.
So, with some effort, Sonic opened his eyes better and shook his head, looking around confused. He saw part of his reflection in a crystal, but he could also see some kind of lab at the other side by narrowing his eyes.
The only thing he could recognize were the Silver, Yellow and Light Blue lights from the Chaos Emeralds that Eggman had, but other than that, it was kind of hard to tell.
Then, he tried to move a hand, but it was right there when he realized that he was tied up from wrists and ankles. However, instead of panicking, he took a deep breath and carefully tried to find something that could get him free from his prison, but even moving his wrists and ankles at fast paste didn't worked.
Sighing frustrated and defeated, he looked through the crystal again, and his eyes widened when he saw the Mane 5 on capsules, with the mares feeling saddened and Hitch kicking the crystal of his capsule like a maniac, desperate to find an exit.
"What the..." Sonic muttered confused.
"Hitch... please stop..." Sunny begged weakly to her crush, but Hitch either ignored her or didn't heard her. "Hitch! Are you deaf or something?! I said stop!" she said again, now yelling it loud and clear.
Hitch did stopped for a second, but just to look at Sunny confused. "Why? So we can let him steal the Crystals and take over our home?! No way!" he stated, before trying to kick the crystal again.
"You really are delusional if you think we can defeat him now, Sheriff..." Zipp said with a broken snort, as her cheeks were already ruined because of her eyeliner running down from the tears.
"You say it like if we already lost..." Hitch said, and he was about to kick the crystal when...
"Because we did, Hitch!" Pipp told him, and Hitch stared confused at the young pegasus. "We already fucking lost this shit!" she added with anger.
Sonic felt a bit surprised that Pipp sweared. Is not like she never did, at least not in public because he has heard her swearing when they're doing... stuff, but it was still weird for him to hear her swearing.
"He... He really is a monster with no turn back..." Izzy said sadly, looking to the floor with shame. "What's the point of having restored magic if we're not able to face the only two threats to it?" she asked in defeat.
"You girls can't be serious..." Hitch said with disbelief. "Are you seriously going to let that guy defeat you with a bunch of words?! Come on! We're better than that!" he stated.
"But are we?" Sunny asked suddenly.
Okay, that shocked Sonic, because if Sunny of all people was loosing hope, then it was time to start and pray.
It seemed that Hitch had the same reaction, because he stared in disbelief at her. "What?" he questioned with concern.
"Are we actually better than what he said?" Sunny asked, sobbing a bit as she cleaned some blood that still was coming out of her nose with a sad expression. "Look at us, Hitch... we tried to rescue Sparky, and we failed. Then Sonic arrived, and we still lost because of Eggman. I tried to fight him, but ended up like this!" she stated, showing her current state with a very sad expression.
Hitch really wanted to say something to stay positive, but... seeing Sunny's point, he actually started to think that there was no hope.
"And the worst part? Is that he's right... My dad's dream won't remain forever, anyways..." Sunny added as well.
Well, this was getting out of hand, because even the other girls turned to Sunny and looked at her with disbelief.
"S-Sunny!" Zipp said concerned.
"I wanted so bad for everypony to be together... But what would be the point? Twilight couldn't stop Opaline from spreading the rumors between ponies... And even if we manage to find successors, who says that they will keep everything the same way we did? Or who says we won't screw it, either?" Sunny questioned, as tears rolled down her cheeks, while she also spit some blood. "Eggman's right... Keeping everypony together is just a delusional dream that will brake eventually, no matter how hard we try to fulfill it..." she added in defeat, as she gave her back to Hitch and just lied on her capsule.
Hitch stared speechless at Sunny, one of the most positive forces he's ever met, if not the, just being followed by Sonic and Izzy.
But here she was, feeling useless and hopeless, with her usual shining aura only he could see not shining anymore... It was like if a part of her was lost.
But Hitch wasn't the only one who noticed that: Everyone in the room could see that. Pipp was heartbroken to see her friend like that, and she so wished she could say something to cheer her up, but she wasn't feeling happy, either. Zipp was also devastated at Sunny's attitude. She hasn't seen her this sad since the incident with her Alicorn form.
And Izzy? She could see on her sparkle that she was incredibly sad and defeated, because it was grey and dull, just like Sunny seemed to be and feel.
Finally, Sonic couldn't believe that Sunny has lost all hope already. Eggman did a very good job destroying her moral if she's feeling this defeated, and that only made him feel more anger towards his enemy. However, he wouldn't allow Eggman to just take away from Sunny what exactly give her her name.
"Well, I think Eggman is being the delusional one" Sonic said with his usual cheery tone.
That made the Mane 5 sins Sunny turn towards his capsule, and Pipp smiled happily when she saw her boyfriend awake. "Blue Star!" she cheered with joy.
"Oh, yes!" Zipp said with a slight smirk, as a bit of hope and confidence returned to her.
Izzy only smiled weakly, and Hitch nodded with a happy look.
However, Sunny took her time to turn and see that Sonic was awake, and he felt terrified when he saw Sunny's purple eye and bloody nose and mouth.
"Holy shit, Sunny... What did Eggman did to you?" Sonic asked with concern.
"He took away my hope, I guess..." Sunny said with a broken and hurt smile.
"Yeah... I heard everything you said... And you couldn't be more wrong..." Sonic stated with a smug look.
However, Sunny only snorted and shook her head with sadness. "Sonic... don't be as delusional as Hitch was a few seconds ago... We cannot win this..." she said with defeat.
"Who says that?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow and a mocking tone.
"Eggman says so..." Sunny replied.
"Exactly. Who says that?" Sonic repeated himself with a confident smirk.
Sunny actually allowed herself to laugh a bit after she got what Sonic meant, and the others ended up joining eventually, even Sonic himself, since the laughter was contagious.
"Okay... I might have needed that..." Sunny confessed.
"And you know what else we need? To get the hell outta here!" Sonic stated confidently. "Of course, I'm still tied and have no idea on how the heck I'm gonna get out of this capsule... But it won't stop me from trying!" he assured with a smile.
Sunny sighed and looked at him weakly. "Sonic... I really appreciate that you're trying to be positive here... but I think it's time to face the fact that we lost..." she said with a sad tone and expression.
"Sunny, Eggman was right only in one thing: You either die being nobody, or you Make Your Mark in the world" Sonic confessed. "And honestly? You already did the latter. So why don't you stop mourning like if we just got killed and show Eggman and Opaline how you made your mark in Equestria, huh?" he asked rhetorically with a smirk.
Sunny looked back at him for a moment and raised an eyebrow confused.
However, before she could ask him on what he meant, Eggman arrived on his Eggmobile, and this time, Opaline came as well.
Thankfully, none of the villains noticed that Sonic was awake, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be unconscious. Pipp noticed that, and Sonic winked and smirked at her, before going back to pretend he was unconscious.
Pipp smiled and nodded, before looking back at Opaline and Eggman with a frown.
"The time of planning has come to an end" Eggman stated with a grin, as Opaline landed in the ground with the same grin, while Eggman got down of his Eggmobile. "It is now the time for my Empire to rise! And Equestria will bow before us!" he stated, as he grinned at Opaline, who grinned back at him.
"Well, maybe we cannot stop you..." Sunny confessed. "But, if there's any hope left, then the rest in the Brighthouse are gonna stop you..." she added, even though she actually didn't believed on her own words.
At that, Opaline and Eggman looked at each other, before bursting out laughing at her.
"What's so funny?" Zipp asked with a bored expression.
"Those incompetents left the Brighthouse unprotected!" Opaline said with glee.
"They are outside fighting my badniks!" Eggman added with a smile. "But don't cheer nor feel confident: While they are winning, even if they get inside, it's going to take them hours to find you. By the time they arrive... Let's just say we won't be here!" he added with an evil grin.
"Oh, and I want to thank you personally, Sunny!" Opaline said with a mocking tone, as she approached to Sunny's capsule with an evil grin. "Because of you, we have quick access to the Unity Crystals now!" she stated happily.
Sunny only raised an eyebrow, not even feeling concerned about the possibility of her enemies getting the Crystals. "You do? How?" she asked calmly.
"Well, I was checking on the stuff in your bag..." Eggman started with a mocking tone, as he brought out Sunny's saddle bag and throw it away. "And look what I found!" he added.
What he was showing was a warp ring, the one that Sonic gave her in case of an emergency... the one she putted on her bag.
For the first time in a good while, her eyes widened, even the purple one, and she stared in pure shock and fear at the warp ring in Eggman's hand.
Sonic opened an eye just to check on how things were going, but then he panicked at the sight of the warp ring in Eggman's hand. Yet, he literally couldn't do anything to stop him, as much as he wanted, so he just closed his eyes and prayed for the best.
"Now that we have this with us... the Crystals, and all the magic in Equestria, will be ours!" Opaline stated happily.
Then, Eggman threw the warp ring away, as it opened into a portal. At the other side of said portal, he could see the Unity Crystals floating in the Crystal Room on the Brighthouse. The Crystals were reflecting in both Opaline's eyes and Eggman's glasses, as they both grinned sinisterly at the sight.
"Care to do the honors, Ivo?" Opaline requested.
"It'll be my pleasure!" Eggman stated, as he walked through the ring.
He could hear from behind the desperate screams of the Mane 5, clearly trying to convince him on stopping this, but of course, he wasn't going to listen. His price was right in front of him, and he couldn't be any happier.
So, he extended his hand and grabbed the Unity Crystals, as they shone bright and let go a massive expansion wave of power, but Eggman only raised an eyebrow confused at that action.
"Well, that was very anti-climatic..." Eggman said with a bored expression, before grinning again and move the Crystals away from the rainbow light.
That caused both the light and the Crystals to glitch a little, but Eggman couldn't care less.... he finally had the power source of ALL the magic of Equestria in his hand.
With a huge and happy grin, Eggman traversed the portal and returned to the Castle, as the ring closed behind him.
"The magic of Equestria... in the palm of my hand..." Eggman cheered with a grin.
Sonic was still pretending to be unconscious, but even then, he still frowned a bit more, feeling anger at Eggman's accomplishment.
As if Eggman having the Crystals wasn't bad enough, the magic of the ponies in the room was also glitching, and Sunny's alicorn form appeared just to show that.
Zipp, Pipp, Opaline and Sunny's wings were all glitching, Izzy, Sunny and Opaline's horns too, and Hitch and Sunny's hooves were glitching as well.
"Seems like keeping away the Crystals from its source affects all magic" Opaline pointed out, but she didn't cared. After all, she was planning to have all that magic for herself. "Not like it matters, anyway. Soon, all that magic will belong to me!" she stated confidently, once again walking towards Sunny's capsule. "And once I have all the magic, you and your pathetic besties will answer to me for the rest of your lives!" she assured with a maniac laugh.
Sunny felt terrified at the idea of having to serve Opaline, but looking at how things were going, it seemed like it was going to happen...
Or that would have been her final impression, if it wasn't because of the fact that Opaline got hit by an electroshock from her back, that made her scream in agony, before falling into the ground in pain.
The Mane 5 looked confused at Opaline agonizing in the floor, and even Sonic opened an eye confused, until they all looked that Eggman had a stunner on his hand, while looking down at Opaline with a sinister grin.
"Honestly, Opaline... I'm impressed that you actually fell for the trick..." Eggman said, as he stepped backwards and raised the Unity Crystals in the air. "Niamer lliw cigam on, desimorpmoc steg ynomrah fi. Liaverp lliw cigam, DNIKYNOP GNOMA ECAEP S'EREHT SA GNOL SA!!!" he casted.
With that being said, the Unity Crystals let out small sparkles and started to shine bright in purple, while now floating in the air on their own.
Eggman's grin grew bigger, Sonic started to sweat nervously with his eyes closed, and the Mane 5 were scared of what might happen now.
Then, the Unity Crystals kept glowing in purple and slowly descended, while Eggman just putted his hands around the Crystals so he could guide them.
The next thing he did? Well: He pointed the Unity Crystals at Opaline, and since they detected that she had a lot of magic, they started to absorb it all away from her.
"N-No..." Opaline muttered weakly, as she felt all of her magic leaving her body.
However, this time it was worse than when Twilight sealed the magic away, because even her wings and Cutie Mark disappeared, leaving her as a regular unicorn.
As if that wasn't enough, she was also magicless now, because the Crystals took away all signs of magic she ever had, even taking the dragon fire magic that she stoled from Sparky earlier.
"YES!" Eggman cheered. "The spell worked! Now, the Unity Crystals remove magic and contains it instead of giving it! This is a massive success!" he celebrated.
"I-Ivo..." Opaline called out, trying to stand up, but falling into the floor eventually. "W-What did you do?" she asked.
"Oh, dear Opaline... You really are oblivious, aren't you?" Eggman said with a mocking tone. "There's no 'us' in any of this! There never was, and there never will!" he stated with a frown. "I wanted the power of the Crystals all along, but in order for my master plan to be completed, I had to play the long game!" he added, grinning sinisterly. "In order to succeed, I just had to keep my friends close... and my enemies even closer!" he declared with glee.
"B-But you are... m-my––" Opaline tried to say, but just thinking on saying the word was difficult for her.
"Friend?" Eggman snorted, before burst out laughing right in her face, enjoying all of this a lot, while the Mane 5 stared at Eggman on disbelief, specially Sunny, because he used friendship as a double edged sword to trick Opaline. "Dear, dear Opaline... Friends are... open... honest... and vulnerable between each other. It means that 'X' squared times the hypotenuse of 'Y' divided by the absolute value of friendship equals... A BIG. PIECE. OF SHIT!!!" he stated angrily.
After that, Eggman grabbed the Unity Crystals with his right hand, and so, the power of the Crystals entered his body, changing his clothes entirely: Now he was wearing a larger black coat with purple stripes, green googles instead of the original ones on his forehead, gloves that had buttons on them, and the Crystals were shining bright on his hand.
With his new look ready, Eggman grinned and moved over the Crystals to point at the Mane 5, as he started to steal their magic as well.
As before, Pipp and Zipp's wings glitched out, and Zipp desperately flapped her wings to try and fly away, but since her magic was being stollen, her wings were just flapping, because she wasn't elevating from the ground.
"No, no, no, no!" Zipp cried out with so much concern... but it was too late.
Both her magic and Pipp's was stolen, and their Cutie Marks disappeared as well. Pipp also flapped her wings, but she wasn't going anywhere.
The next one was Izzy, who's horn was lightened up against her will, and she tried very hard to do something with her magic, but just like with Zipp and Pipp, it was stolen, and her Cutie Mark also disappeared.
Next one was Hitch, who's hooves were glowing bright as well, but he was more confused than concerned, so his magic disappeared almost as a natural effect, and so, his Cutie Mark also left his flank.
And finally, Sunny was trying so hard to hide her Alicorn form, even if she knew it was useless. And yet, the inevitable happened, so her horn and wings disappeared entirely... But it wasn't over, because her Rainbow Streak on her mane also disappeared, followed by her Cutie Mark as well.
And just like that, Eggman stoled the Mane 5's magic thanks to the Crystals, while the doctor laughed like a maniac.
Sonic opened his eyes fully and growled in anger, not caring of blowing his cover anymore.
Eggman noticed that, and so, he smirked at him. "Hedgehog... Now that the Crystals are under my full control, it's time to say goodbye to these stupid little ponies!" he stated happily.
After saying that, he lifted his left hand and pointed at Opaline, surrounding her on magic thanks to the power of the Crystals, and then launching her towards a wall.
Opaline groaned in pain, before falling to the ground weakly, while Eggman's grin grew bigger.
"Eggman! When I get out of here, I'm wiping the floor with your ass!" Sonic stated with rage.
However, Eggman only laughed more and snapped his fingers.
That turned on a 5 minute countdown on Sonic's capsule, as some ice started to show up on it, which startled both Sonic and the Mane 5.
"Too bad you won't even have the chance!" Eggman stated with a happy smile.
Then, he putted the Unity Crystals over the frontal part of his Eggmobile, climbing on it, while the Crystals finished stealing the magic from the Mane 5.
And then, a massive purple blast came out of the Eggmobile and pointed at the sky, traversing the ceiling of the lab, and therefore, showing up to outside of the Castle.
"MAGIC. IS. POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!" Eggman screamed in joy.
And then, just in a flash, both Eggman, the Chaos Emeralds he had capsuled, and the purple blast disappeared, leaving the Mane 5 still encaged, and Sonic about to be freeze'd on his capsule.
Outside of the Castle, just a few seconds ago, Tails smashed down the door to Opaline's Throne Room with the Tornado VI, still transformed into a robot.
However, as he and the rest approached inside, with Amy holding her Piko Piko Hammer, and Knuckles having Sparky on his arms; a massive purple blast traversed the ground and the ceiling, startling the rest.
"Holy shit!" Knuckles exclaimed surprised.
"What is that?!" Amy questioned confused, standing ready to fight if necessary.
"MAGIC. IS. POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!" Eggman screamed in joy.
The others looked at each other confused, but then, the blast disappeared as soon as it came, and now nobody understood what the hell was going on.
"That was definitely Eggman!" Rouge said with a frown.
"Then don't waste your time, ladies and gentlemen. We got work to do!" Shadow stated, before jumping towards the hole.
Rouge, Amy, Knuckles and Sparky immediately followed, while Tails turned off the Tornado IV, leaving it like a robot, and then jumping to the hole as well.
The Mane 5, except for Sunny, were now trying to find a way to get out of there, while Sonic checked all around his capsule to find a mistake that could save him from this situation.
Besides, he had 4 minutes left before being freeze'd, so he must get out of here quickly.
Fortunately, he didn't had to do anything, at least not for himself, because Rouge and Shadow landed in the lab through the hole that Eggman created with the Crystals, and then, Amy, Knuckles, Sparky and Tails also arrived.
"Knuckles!" Izzy cried out happily.
"Izz!" Knuckles said, as he rushed to her cage and immediately charged his fists with electricity. "Stand behind, honey. I'm tearing this shit down!" he stated.
Izzy only nodded and obeyed, stepping back and covering herself just in case.
Then, Knuckles let out a warrior cry and made a massive clap with his hands, sending al the electricity he charged towards the crystal and finally braking it apart.
With the crystal gone, Izzy stoped covering herself, and seeing that her exit was finally open, she immediately rushed and hugged her boyfriend, burring her face on his chest as she sobbed softly.
The moment Izzy hugged Knuckles, he lifted her a bit and twirled her in the air, before putting her down and caress her mane, as he tried to calm her down because of her sobs.
"It's okay now, Izz... It's over... I'm here with you..." Knuckles muttered to calm her down, but it only increased her sobs a lot as she hugged him tightly, which only concerned Knuckles. "For Chaos... what did Eggman did to you?" he asked with worry.
"Let's just say that he tortured us mentally..." Zipp replied with a bored expression, trying her best not to brake like Izzy did, while Tails hacked on the panel control at the side of Zipp's capsule.
Then, said capsule opened up, and Zipp got out of there, just to immediately wrap Tails into a hug, which startled the fox a bit as he blushed embarrassed.
"U-Uh... Z-Zipp?" Tails called out confused.
"Just... give me a second, okay?" Zipp begged, and Tails's embarrassment faded away to let concern get over his body. "I had a rough time... I need this..." she added.
Tails only nodded, and turned around properly to hug her back.
Meanwhile, Knuckles made another powerful clap that teared down the crystal of Sunny's capsule, but only shattered the crystal of Hitch and Pipp's capsules.
Still, Hitch and Pipp used their hind legs to kick the crystals and finally get out of their prisons. With that, Pipp immediately rushed over Zipp and hugged her tightly, while her sister hugged her back just as desperate.
"Are you okay?!" Zipp asked with concern.
"Yes!" Pipp replied, before looking at Zipp in her eyes. "You?" she asked with worry.
"I am!" Zipp assured, as tears actually rolled down her eyes, while she just kept hugging her sister.
Hitch, on the other hand, approached to Sunny, who didn't even flinched when Knuckles destroyed the crystal of her capsule. "Sunny!" he said with concern, now checking on her and feeling his heart broking at the sight of her purple eye and her bloody nose.
Sunny slowly looked at him, and she bursted down crying again, hugging him tightly and burring her face on his chest, while Hitch wrapped his hoof around her and rubbed her back, in order to try and make her feel better.
Tails approached as well, and gasped with horror at how badly she was hurt. "Sunny! What the heck happened?!" he asked with concern.
"Eggman literally smashed the ground with her body..." Hitch replied with anger.
"That son of a bitch did what?!" Amy screamed in rage, also covering Sparky's ears so he won't hear the swearing.
"Wow, Amy!" Sonic's voice finally spoke. "I didn't knew you had such a dirty mouth!" he added with a snort.
"What the fuck..." Shadow muttered, confused on why Sonic was in a situation that brought him terrible flashbacks.
"Took you guys long enough!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk, since he was still trapped on his capsule.
"Sonic?!" Tails asked confused, as he approached to him on the capsule.
"Hey, little bro!" Sonic greeted with a smile. "Glad to see you're awake and ready to kick tail!" he added.
"How did you get in there?" Knuckles asked confused.
"Well... Long story short: Opaline had trapped the Mane 5, Misty free'd them, I fought her, Sunny helped me after a while, then Eggman arrived, put us to sleep with a gas, and the next thing I know is that he was planing to do a Shadow on me..." Sonic said with a bored expression. "No offense, though!" he added with a mocking smirk and a wink to Shadow, who rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Also, you got, like, 2 minutes to get me out of here before this thing freezes me for the next 50 years" he added.
"Then why didn't you said so, you idiot?!" Knuckles asked with concern, charging his fist with electricity and preparing to smash the crystal of the capsule.
"Knux... I know you are a knucklehead, but haven't you considered that smashing the crystal with Sonic in the middle is gonna kill him because of the crystals?" Tails asked with a bored expression.
Knuckles' eyes widened in realization, and the electricity on his fist faded away. "Huh... Well, is not like the lost will be so big, anyways!" he said with a mocking tone and smirk. However, he only gained a triple smack from Tails, Amy and Pipp. "Ow!" Knuckles complained with a frown.
"That's for being an idiot!" Amy scolded him.
Then, Tails approached to the capsule and entered a various series of different codes he knows Eggman would use, but none of the codifications he was using were working. "Darn it!" he complained with a frown. "I don't think I can hack on this one as easily as with the Mane 5... If I had time, I could try to figure it out, but––" he tried to add.
"But we have no time... Yes, I know..." Sonic said with a slight frown, looking up and then panicking. "The clock in here literally says that there's just... 1 FUCKING MINUTE BEFORE BEING FREEZE'D!" he shouted in panic, as he stared to moved his arms at fast paste again, trying to get free from the capsule.
"Can someone here please do something before he gets freeze'd?!" Pipp shouted in panic.
Immediately, Amy brought her Piko Piko Hammer and began to smash one side of the capsule, but it wasn't working, because the crystal didn't shattered a single bit.
Tails kept trying codifications, and Sonic even tried to use his electrical powers, but they weren't working either.
"... Hang on, Tails" Shadow called out suddenly, as Tails, Amy and Sonic stopped doing what they were doing. "I think I might have something..." he stated.
So, Shadow approached to the capsule and introduced a new code, one he deep inside it didn't worked because of the meaning behind said code...
Unfortunately for him, but luckily for Sonic, the code did worked, and so, the countdown of the capsule stopped right in 10 seconds.
Sonic sighed relieved, and then, the capsule opened up, followed by the claws holding Sonic releasing him.
The hedgehog smirked and jumped out of the capsule, rubbing his wrists and ankles as he also brake danced a bit, just to make sure that everything was in order.
"Yup! Everything seems in order!" Sonic said with a smirk and his thumbs up, while both Tails and Pipp immediately hugged him, and Sonic hugged them back, also rubbing Tails' hair and kissing Pipp's cheek. Then, when they broke the hug, he looked over at Shadow with a mocking smirk. "Thanks for the help, faker!" he mocked up.
Shadow, however, wasn't in the mood and turned around, walking away from the rest.
"Hey, Shadow!" Tails called out. "What combination did you––" he tried to ask, but...
"Maria's death day" was all Shadow replied with anger. "Eggman clearly has gone insane this time" he pointed out with a frown.
"Yeah... Eggman's been more menacing than he's ever been..." Sonic confessed with concern. "But that won't stop us from defeating him!" he stated. "Besides, it's not the first time he has the upper hand and still loses. What's gonna change this time?" he pointed out with a smirk.
"Glad to have you back, hedgehog!" Knuckles said, patting his head carefully with a smirk.
"Glad to be back!" Sonic said with a wink.
"Sonic..." Sunny called out, and Sonic looked at her confused, while Hitch cleaned the remaining blood from her nose with a towel and Sunny hold a bag with ice over her purple eye. "I-I know you still want to help... But you should stop already..." she begged again with sadness.
"Seriously? You're still mourning?" Sonic asked with disbelief and a bored expression, also looking at Sunny more annoyed than concerned at this point.
"Eggman stole our magic... you saw it!" Sunny pointed out, even showing her flank with no Cutie Mark.
"Shit... This is really that bad, huh?" Knuckles asked with concern.
"He has the Unity Crystals... he even has three Chaos Emeralds!" Sunny kept telling with rage, even though she was also crying. "Why are you insisting on solving something with no solution? On winning something we already lost?!" she shouted to him, but Sonic's bored expression remained. "Please... just... please, for the sake of everyone... stop..." she begged one last time.
The rest, even Shadow, couldn't believe how badly Eggman left Sunny's steam and hope. In fact, it seemed like there was no hope left in her, since she was showing nothing but sadness and anger to Sonic.
Speaking of him, Sonic just snorted at Sunny, crossed his arms and booped her nose. "Nope!" he replied to her.
Sunny felt confused at that reply. "... No?" she asked confused.
"Do you really think a depressing speech from 2002's gonna make me give up on my quest to stop Eggman from taking over Equestria?" Sonic asked her with a mocking tone and smirk. "Well, think again, because I will not!" he stated confidently.
"Uh... what?" Sunny asked confused. "A-Are you seriously going to keep trying? Even after we failed?!" she added with disbelief.
"Stopping is not what I do, Sunny" Sonic assured, this time with a serious expression. "We will stop Eggman and recover the Crystals, and we will save Equestria!" he stated confidently. "And there is no way you, or Eggman, is gonna talk me out of it" he added, as he gave his back to her. "Besides… A knight never flees his foe" he stated once again with a smirk.
Sunny, however, still couldn't believe he was willing to keep going, so she shook her head on disbelief and looked at the floor with a thoughtful expression.
Meanwhile, Tails went to the upper floor and took the Mane 5' stuff back, as he gave back her detective gear to Zipp, her phone to Pipp, his sheriff belt to Hitch, and her bracelets to Izzy.
He also gave Sunny her saddle bag, and she smiled weakly at him, but then returned to see the floor with sadness.
Then, once Tails was done returning their things to the Mane 5, Sonic made everyone but Sunny gather around in a circle. "Alright, guys. Eggman kicked my ass, he stoled Opaline and the Mane 5's magic, stored it on the Unity Crystals, and now he'll take over Equestria. We might not have the upper hand, but we're not giving up so easily, either!" he stated.
"What's the plan, big blue?" Rouge asked curiously.
"Eggman must have something here that tell us what's he gonna do with the Crystals now that he has them..." Sonic said. "Tails, use that brain of yours and look for something in Eggman's data base that allows us to see what's this master plan he can't stop bragging about" he instructed.
"On it!" Tails replied, as he flew towards a computer on the top of the lab.
"Knux, take care of Opaline and encage her on the only capsule that is available" Sonic told Knuckles.
"With pleasure!" Knuckles said with a smirk.
Then, he went towards Opaline, who was still unconscious, and grabbed her, before throwing her like a bag inside the capsule, which he closed afterwards.
"Uh... shouldn't we do something about her?" Zipp questioned. "Even if she has no magic, she is still evil after all" she pointed out.
"As you just said, she's magicless, and even if she wakes up, she'll be encaged on that capsule. She's not a threat, and not worth our time either" Sonic explained with a frown.
"If you say so..." Zipp said with an eye roll.
"Shadow, Rouge. You take the Mane 5 back to Maretime Bay, and find a way to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds from whatever Eggman's gonna build or use to take over Equestria" Sonic instructed them.
"A haunting mission? Sounds fun!" Rouge said with a smirk.
Shadow only nodded in agreement, and then, he pulled out a warp ring from below his glove, before launching it to a certain direction, as a portal opened and showed the Crystal Brighthouse on the other side, then he and Rouge immediately went through it.
"Wait... Why are we going to Maretime Bay?" Hitch asked confused.
"Eggman's probably heading there first because of the Emeralds on the Brighthouse" Sonic pointed out. "If that's the case, he's also stealing the magic of everypony in there. Since you five are, let's call it 'the Guardians of the Magic', then you should go and put everypony safe from Eggman. It could be either Canterlove, or even getting everypony out of Maretime Bay... I don't know, you guys try to come up with something. Just put everypony away from Eggman if he steals their magic" he begged.
"Put everypony safe from Eggman? I think we can do that!" Izzy said with a determinate look, and Zipp and Pipp nodded in agreement.
With that being said, Izzy kissed Knuckles for luck, and Pipp did the same with Sonic. Then, Izzy, Pipp and Zipp crossed the portal immediately, but just when Hitch was going to, Amy stopped him.
"Hitch!" Amy called out, and Hitch stopped on his place. "Here! Your son should be with you just to be safe!" she stated, as she nuzzled her cheek with Sparky's head, before extending him to the sheriff.
Sparky cheered once he saw Hitch, and the earth pony smiled widely. "Sparky!" he cheered happily, grabbing the baby dragon and nuzzling his head with his. "Thanks for taking care of him, Amy. And you too Knux!" he told them putting Sparky on hi back and extending his hoof to Knuckles, as the echidna smiled and fist bumped with him.
Then, Hitch also crossed the portal, and the only remaining pony was Sunny, who was still looking at the ground, as she seemed to be lost on her thoughts.
"... Sunny?" Tails called out, as he approached to her with concern. "Um... Are you alright?" he asked with worry.
"... I don't know..." Sunny replied with honesty, as she let out a sigh. "Sonic... You said that I already made my mark in Equestria, but... I still don't understand how..." she confessed, now looking at him with worry.
"Seriously?" Sonic asked confused. "Sunny... You are the reason why we are here today! Because of you, and your desire to unite ponykind, the Crystals came back together and restored magic! Because of you, everypony believes in the power AND magic of friendship! Yeah, earth ponies took their time to accept magic, but once they saw their advantages... and after they got magic as well, they opened their hooves to friendship!" he pointed out.
However, Sunny still didn't believed, and she looked at the floor again.
So, Sonic sighed and approached her, lifting her chin with his hand. "But most importantly... Is thanks to you that Equestria is the wonderful place it is today" he pointed out with a smile. "Sunny... have you ever imagined what would happened if we never met you? What would happened if you gave up your dream?" he asked her.
Sunny only denied with her head, still looking at him.
"Like Eggman said, you probably would have ended like him... Forcing friendship or something like that. Hitch wouldn't have changed that much, but... maybe he wouldn't be at your side if you did went the Eggman route..." Sonic started to explain. "Izzy would be unhappy in Bridlewood, and would eventually have turned into a depressed pony, just like how the unicorns used to be before magic came back. Zipp and Pipp will still be living a lie, with Zipp hating the idea of being a Queen and Pipp still being a selfish influencer that enjoys living a lie..." he pointed out.
Sunny's ears perked up, and she looked at Sonic with disbelief, since she actually never considered how things could have been if she never met Izzy and Sonic the last year.
"And us? If I never arrived, our lives would still be what they were back then... Knuckles would be alone half the time in Angel Island, Amy would still be helping anyone on her own way, Tails and I would go from adventure to adventure, I will still be fighting Eggman..." Sonic narrated. "And I would have never find the truth of my parents... About the Emeralds' true origin... And I would never have met you, nor any of the others... not even Pipp... I guess I should thank you in that aspect, too. Is because of you that I met who's my girlfriend today..." he added with a smile.
"And it's because of you... That we're more united as a Team now" Knuckles added, first looking at Sunny as he said that, before turning to see Amy. "All of us" he repeated.
Amy smiled and nodded in agreement.
Sonic smiled at that, before looking back at Sunny. "Look. I understand that you think this is over because of what Eggman did to you... Even if I was unconscious and underground, I did heard what Eggman was doing to you, and... I guess I get why you feel so hopeless right now" he said, standing up and stepping back. "If you choose to stay in your 'mourning phase', then I won't stop you... But if you cross that portal, then you better show everypony why the Crystals choose you as the Alicorn! Magic or no magic!" he stated with a smile, also winking at her.
Sunny looked at him, and her eyes sparkled a bit. Her ears also moved upwards, and she couldn't help but smile at him, a genuine smile after so long.
"... A part of me still believes there's no point on fighting back..." Sunny confessed, before standing up and look at Sonic with a determinate smile. "But everypony used to tell me that I would never unite ponykind... And I proved them wrong! So, I'm gonna show Eggman that he's wrong as well... Or fail in the attempt, at least!" she stated with a newfound confidence.
"Now that's the Sunny I remember!" Sonic stated with a smirk, extending his fist to her.
However, Sunny smiled even more and hugged him tightly, which did startled Sonic at first, but he still smiled and hugged her back.
Then, Sunny separated and looked at him with a determinate look. "Well, time to get everypony safe!" she stated, now rushing towards the portal, but before traversing it, she turned around and looked back at Sonic. "Oh! And Sonic?" she called out.
"Yeah?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Thank you for the little confidence boost. You really are a miraculous hedgehog" Sunny said with a bright smile.
Sonic smiled back at her. "You gave me a confidence boost when I was feeling down in Longclaw's death anniversary. It was time I returned the favor!" he stated. "Besides... I'm looking out for you!" he sang the last part and winked.
Sunny smiled even more at him and nodded, before traversing the portal, that closed afterwards.
Sonic only nodded, and then he looked back at Amy and Knuckles. "Alright, before we go to destroy Eggman's plan as always... Amy, I think we should talk about... well... your departure from the group" he pointed out.
"No need to apologize, Sonic" Amy said with a smile. "If anything... I should apologize for leaving you three behind. I wanted to find out what was my purpose, but... Just like the three of you, I like to help out others! Specially if that means to put my life at risk. So... If you guys want to... I'm fine to be part of the team again" she stated confidently.
Sonic smiled at that statement, then he looked at Knuckles, who nodded at him with a smile, and he nodded back at the echidna.
"What do you say Tails?" Sonic shouted from the lower floor, since Tails went to the upper one to check on Eggman's data base. "Are you up on letting Amy join again to us?" he asked.
"I don't even get why she left in the first place!" Tails shouted back with happiness.
Sonic snorted and looked back at Amy. "Guess that decides it!" he stated, extending his hand to her in a formal way. "Welcome back to Team Sonic, Ames!" he added with a smile.
Amy gasped with sparkling eyes, and she squealed like a little girl, before... actually extending her hand to Sonic as well.
However, Sonic smirked and tricked her, because he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug. "This is for all the times you did the same to me!" he stated with a laugh.
Startled at first, Amy laughed and wrapped her arms around Sonic, returning the hug to him.
However, both Sonic and Amy suddenly felt breathless, because Knuckles himself wrapped his arms around both and hugged them tight.
"Sorry, I just didn't wanted to be left out!" Knuckles said joyfully.
"G-Great... B-But we need our lungs to breath, Knucklehead..." Sonic pointed out with pain.
In Maretime Bay, everypony was confused on why their magic was failing.
Worse of all, Misty approached to the Crystal Brighthouse and looked with concern at the rainbow light, since it was glitching a lot.
Then, the Mane 5, Shadow and Rouge bursted out of the Brighthouse, with Sunny and Shadow leading everypony else.
However, and weird enough for Misty, Sunny's rainbow streak was gone, and when they all passed by her, none of the Mane 5 had Cutie Marks, which only confused her even more.
So, Misty quickly rushed to catch up with them, and she approached to Izzy. "Izz!" she called out, now panting a bit exhausted. "What in... Equestria... it's happening?!" she asked with concern.
"Basically: Eggman stoled the Unity Crystals, and he stoled our magic and the magic of that evil Alicorn Opaline too, betraying her in the process!" Izzy explained.
"He did... WHAT?!" Misty shouted in disbelief.
"Now he wants to steal all the magic of Equestria... And conquer it all! But we're gonna stop him!" Sunny stated confidently.
However, Misty stopped following and looked on with panic and disbelief. Eggman betrayed Opaline... Which meant that Eggman was in trouble, specially since one day, she heard from her room a conversation Eggman and Opaline had, where Eggman declared that it wasn't convenient for any of them to be enemies.
And now, Eggman betrayed Opaline by stealing her magic, which was already a bad sign, because if Opaline ever got it back, she'll definitely try to get her revenge on Eggman, and Misty wasn't going to allow that. Villain or not, Eggman was still her friend.
So, Misty quickly resumed her run to catch up with the Mane 5.
With that, the Mane 5, Misty, Shadow and Rouge reached the town, where they saw that everypony's magic was glitching and failing because of the Unity Crystals' absence.
Then, as the Mane 5 got near Mane Melody, Posey decided to be the first one to approach them. "Hitch, Sunny. What is happening?!" she asked confused and concerned. "The magic of everypony in town is glitching! No one can fly, nor levitate anything, nor make any plant grow!" she explained.
"And the rainbow light in the Crystal Brighthouse can't stop glitching!" Dahlia approached and pointed out as well. "Have you any idea of what's happening?" she asked concerned.
"You want the short version, or the long one?" Sunny asked with a sheepish smile.
However, Posey and Dahlia gasped in horror when they saw Sunny's purple eye.
"S-Sunny!" Posey called out with worry. "W-What happened to––" she tried to ask.
But before she could finish her sentence, a purple lightning started to appear in the sky, calling everyone's attention.
"... It seems like we won't have to explain ourselves that much..." Hitch said with a concerned gulp.
Then, the lightning materialized into the Eggmobile and Eggman, as the doctor stared down at the ponies in Maretime Bay with a sinister grin, while the town's reflection reflected on his glasses.
"Uh... who's that?" Dahlia questioned.
"The reason why magic is failing... and why we lost ours..." Sunny explained with a frown.
"I'm sorry... you did what?!" Posey screamed in shock.
However, Eggman snapped his fingers, and so, a massive wave of power was sent through all Equestria, allowing the doctor to hack on any device that has a screen so he could deliver a message.
At first, what the screens showed was a purple variant of Eggman's logo, before glitching out to show Eggman, with his hands together and still grinning sinisterly.
Back in Opaline's Castle, Tails was still hacking into Eggman's data base to find something useful.
However, the computer started to glitch out, first showing Eggman's logo, and then showing Eggman's face, which startled and worried Tails.
"Guys?" Tails called out. "You might want to check this one out..." he pointed out.
Soon, Amy and Knuckles jumped to the second floor, while Sonic ran there, and they all frowned when they saw that Eggman was on the screen.
"Greetings, Equestria" Eggman started. "My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, also known as Doctor Eggman, and I'm here to make an announcement..." he declared.
"Please don't say Shadow, please don't Shadow, please don't Shadow..." Knuckles begged desperate, while Amy looked at him with a bored expression and smacked his head, and Knuckles groaned in pain, rubbing his head a bit annoyed.
However, in Maretime Bay, Shadow wasn't reacting so differently.
"Please don't say my name, please don't my name, please don't my name..." Shadow begged desperate as well, while Rouge at his side stared at him with disbelief.
In Zephyr Heights, Queen Haven and Alphabittle, as well as other ponies around, were looking at the screens of the city confused.
"For the past 8 months, I've been watching over you and your lifestyle. Your daily lives, your desires, aspirations... I know everything about you" Eggman stated with a grin.
In Bridlewood, ponies around were looking terrified at the news, specially since they had no idea of what was Eggman.
"However, I'm not here to tell you all that I know your favorite colors and biggest fears, because I don't give a shit about that stuff" Eggman said.
Back in Maretime Bay, the Mane 5, Shadow and Rouge were frowning at Eggman, while everypony else stared at him in fear, and Misty in a mix of confusion and disappointment.
"I'm here to tell you all that things are gonna get wild! Because..." Eggman started, before laughing like a maniac and smash a button.
Then, the Unity Crystals separated from the Eggmobile, still shining in purple and they started to float in the air.
The next thing they did was weird: let's just say that they recreated how they first brought magic to Equestria... but backwards, because they launched a massive energy wave to the sky, but the next thing they did was take it back inside.
Everypony in Equestria was loosing magic: Pegasi stopped flying, and some even fell to ceilings, pools, or straight into the pavement; unicorns couldn't levitate anything anymore; and earth ponies' hooves stopped glowing with the wave.
As if loosing their magic wasn't enough, their Cutie Marks also disappeared, representing the lack of magic.
Once Misty noticed this on her flank, she frowned. "Oh, come on!" she groaned in frustration, since she just lost the Cutie Mark that cost so hard for her to gain.
In Canterlot, Discord was watching everything through his own TV, and he frowned in anger.
"I won't allow that guy to mess with my home!" Discord stated, snapping his fingers...
However, that snap did nothing, because absolutely nothing happened.
"What the––" Discord muttered confused, snapping his fingers again, but still, nothing happened. "My magic... Is not working!" he shouted in panic.
It was right then when he realized that there was a purple aura coming out of him, and once he looked back at the TV, he saw that his magic was also being stolen, leaving him completely useless.
"Well... This is gonna be a problem..." Discord muttered in panic.
With the magic now stored back into the Unity Crystals, they returned to the Eggmobile, as Eggman's laugh become louder.
"Now that I have all the magic in Equestria, you will ALL. KNEEL. TO ME!!!" Eggman stated with a sinister grin, laughing like a maniac once again and snapping his fingers.
With that snap, electricity came out of hid hand. Said electricity was redirected towards the Marestream, right outside of the Brighthouse.
You might think this did nothing... it did.
The Marestream elevated from the ground, and slowly but surely started to tear apart piece by piece, nut by nut, bolt by bolt, as all the pieces of the vehicle started to approach to the Eggmobile.
"OH, YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Zipp shouted in anger.
But as if that wasn't enough, more lightnings came out of the Eggmobile and moved towards several places in Maretime Bay: Canterlove Studios, Mane Melody, Electronic Tails, and even a home appliances store.
What happened next? Well: All kind of electronic devices and technology started to separate piece by piece, and were all dragged to the Eggmobile as well.
"Welcome... to the new norm!" Eggman declared with a grin.
Then, Eggman created a tornado using the power of the Unity Crystals, with which he began to disarm even more electronic and technological gadgets, causing the pieces to begin floating in the air as they followed the Eggmobile and the gigantic tornado. Heck, he was even disarming the remaining tramcars of the town to the tornado.
"H-How did he do that?!" Dahlia asked puzzled, looking in disbelief at what was happening.
All the ponies, Shadow, and Rouge stared at the tornado, and the storm it created in the process, and no one knew what to do about it, not even the wretch Sunny.
"This isn't going to get better anytime soon..." Pipp murmured worriedly.
"He disarms anything electronic in all parts..." Hitch pointed out with a frown.
"And he's going to build something else…" Sunny added with concern.
Meanwhile, the tornado grew bigger every second, while Eggman's laugh could be heard from inside.
After Eggman stated he would take over Equestria, the transmission was lost, so Tails quickly returned to hack into Eggman's data base.
Fortunately, it didn't took him long to find something in the computer. "Bingo!" Tails cheered with a smile.
"Did you found something, little bro?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes!" Tails replied, as the rest of the team approached to check on what he found. "There's a lot of schemes on Eggman's base, and there's at least 500 prints of old machines he has used already... But one print is not well blocked on the data base" he explained. "In other words: from all the blue prints Eggman hided, only one isn't" he pointed out.
However, as he opened the blue print, all Team Sonic gasped in horror at the sight of a massive Death Egg Robot, even bigger than the one's Eggman used to take over Mobius back when he created Infinite.
"Death Egg... Titan..." Knuckles read the label on the top.
"This must be what Eggman's planing to do with the Unity Crystals!" Amy pointed out with concern.
"That is, if he isn't doing it already as we speak!" Tails pointed out.
"Tails, did you brought the Tornado IV with you?" Sonic asked to the young fox, while he nodded. "Then turn in to the max and let's go save the day already!" he stated with a smirk, before jumping towards the hole in the ceiling.
With determinate looks, Amy and Knuckles followed, while Tails used his tails to fly through the hole.
Near the forest near Maretime Bay, a ring portal opened, and the Tornado IV emerged from it, again as a plane.
It was flown by Tails, with Sonic and Knuckles holding on to one end of the wings each, while Amy was sitting in the seat behind Tails. They were heading towards Eggman's tornado, with Sonic and Knuckles scowling.
"That can only be one thing..." Tails said with concern.
"The magic of the Unity Crystals!" Knuckles declared angrily.
"If Eggman really stole all the magic, we're in trouble" Sonic said anguished, before frowning again "With Eggman it's all trouble..." he added annoyed.
"Hey, Sonic..." Tails called out to his brother suddenly. "Do you really think that if you hadn't met Sunny, things would still be the same as always?" he asked curiously.
Sonic looked at Tails a little confused, but then he smiled at him. "I think if we hadn't met her... I wouldn't have learned to see certain things from another perspective... Like the fact that I don't feel very heroic if you guys aren't fighting by my side" he confessed.
"Is it just me, or has being in this pony world made you soft, Sonic?" Amy asked with a smirk.
"I told him the same thing!" Knuckles pointed, also with a smirk.
"Nah. Like I told Knuckles: I'm the same old Sonic that loves adventure and kick Eggman's ass!" Sonic assured with a smirk as well. "It's just like I said: Meeting Sunny made me see things from another perspective... She kind of saved me when I felt lost. Now, it's time I save her by returning the favor!" he stated, once again looking at the tornado with a determinate look.
Inside the tornado, a gigantic robot was forming, the same robot that Eggman has wanted so much to put together.
At the head of it, which resembled Eggman, as always, was Eggman himself, who slowly descended in his Eggmobile to face an outward-facing chamber, which had windows that were positioned to form a smiley face.
Eggman then got up in his Eggmobile and took the Unity Crystals, then used their magic to create a harness around his body, so he could use the Crystals' magic himself.
Soon, the doctor was floating without his Eggmobile thanks to the pegasi magic, then, he was engulfed in purple electricity, and this electricity spread throughout the chamber, granting him full control over the gigantic machine he had created.
"Yes!" Eggman cheered with a grin. "My masterpiece is finally completed! Now, all of Equestria will burn with my mighty!" he stated with joy.
The tornado began to break up little by little, until it was completely immersed in the water.
"What the hell..." Sonic muttered confused from the plane, as he looked at the place where the tornado, and therefore Eggman, disappeared.
The Mane 5 were also confused when that happened.
"Did he... did he just gave up?" Izzy asked confused.
"No..." Shadow replied. "He's preparing for something..." he added with a frown.
And just like he expected, a giant metallic hand came out of the ocean, smashing the sand on Maretime Bay's beach and covering it all in the process. Then, the other hand grabbed part of th town's streets and held into it, because the rest of the robot started to rise from the ocean.
It was not another Death Egg Robot, however, since the only thing it shared with said design was that it had Eggman's face, plus the body was different: It combined his distinctive red color and also a bit of light blue and black. The arms were very flexible, as well as the legs, and instead of giant spikes like with other Death Egg Robots, this one had regular fingers.
As if that wasn't enough, the robot also mimicked every action Eggman performed inside its head, all thanks to the power of the Unity Crystals. Also, the light from both the eyes and the chest was pink, since it represented that the Robot was controlled by Eggman's body.
This wasn't a robot... it was a titan. The Death Egg Titan that Eggman wanted to build so badly.
Half of the robot was out of the sea now, since only the chest and upwards was out. And yet, Eggman was already planing on doing something, because he focused his sight on Sunny and her friends.
"Starscout..." Eggman said, but not mad because the Mane 5 escaped, but rather happy because they were going to witness his next action. "I've been dealing with your unity bullshit for 8 months... Today, I finally showed you why I'm not a guy tom mess with... And you are still fighting!" he shouted in rage.
Sunny didn't said anything, she just frowned and looked at Eggman expectantly.
Let's just say that she won't like what's about to happen...
"But not anymore!" Eggman stated, as the head of the robot turned to face something else... the Crystal Brighthouse, which rainbow light was completely gone now. "You've messed up my plans time and time again, all in sake to protect this place... NOW BEHOLD HOW IT ALL TEARS DOWN!!!" he shouted with a maniac laugh.
With that being said, Eggman moved a hand like if he was about to grab something, and the robot imitated his action, as the hand was moving towards the Crystal Brighthouse.
The only one who seemed to notice that almost immediately was Zipp, who's eyes widened in panic. "No... No, no, no, no, no, no!" she shouted with worry.
However, no cries were gonna stop the inevitable, and so, the hand grabbed the Crystal Brighthouse and elevated it in the air, tearing it apart form its base in the ground.
"W-Wait!" Pipp cried out. "W-What is he doing?!" she asked with concern.
"No, no, no! Stop it!" Izzy begged.
"No... not again..." Sunny muttered, breathing heavily as the hand raised the Brighthouse.
Inside the building, everything was shaking violently, and the chest with Team Sonic's Chaos Emeralds fell from its place, releasing the Emeralds inside as they scattered on the floor.
Then, Eggman took a look to the Brighthouse, before launching the entire building towards the forest near the town, as the building twirled in the air, before crashing into the ground and falling apart, as the entire Brighthouse scattered across the forest, while also destroying it a bit in the process.
Team Sonic saw everything from the air, with Amy covering her mouth with her hands, Tails having his jaw dropped, Knuckles looking on anxiously, and Sonic growling in anger, as he looked back at the Death Egg Titan with a frown.
"Oh, now you've done it, Robotnik!" Sonic said with rage, as his eyes went blue for a second.
"Should I be concerned that he called Eggman by his name and not his nickname?" Amy asked with wide eyes after Sonic called Eggman by his name.
"Yes, you should..." Tails replied, now also looking at the Death Egg Titan with a frown.
On the other hand, nobody in Maretime Bay could believe what Eggman just did to the Crystal Brighthouse, and Sunny felt her entire world fading away...
She saw her home being destroyed and teared apart not one, but two times... and both were caused by a giant robot with the face of their creator.
If she had any spark of hope left, it faded away with this last action. She was now convinced that Sonic was just a suicidal maniac if he really pretended to defeat that titan.
"Take this as my last lesson, Sunny!" Eggman said with a chuckle, looking at her once again. "Nobody messes with me and gets away with it! Not without consequences!" he added, once again letting out a maniac laugh.
Sunny started to breath desperate, feeling like there wasn't enough air to breathe anymore. She placed a hoof over her chest, and just froze on place, completely shocked by the fact that her home was destroyed again.
Worst of all, Misty's disappointment just increased by every action Eggman committed.
Meanwhile, Eggman himself raised what was left from his Death Egg Titan, as the giant robot raised its feet and stomped them hard enough over the pavement of Maretime Bay.
Inside the robot, Eggman smirked, and pressed a few buttons on his right glove, approaching it to his face with the shape of a phone. "Sage, 'World Domination' Playlist!" he instructed to his AI through the glove.
Eggman then began to use his right leg as a guitar, spinning his hand wildly as music blared in the background.
Immediately afterwards, the doctor began to move inside the robot, causing it to walk for real on the outside, imitating the movements of its creator.
And so, the robot began to walk towards the ponies, still imitating Eggman's footsteps.
"I think this is the part where we put Sonic's plan in action!" Hitch declared, as he took out a megaphone and turned it on. "Everypony take cover, quick! This is not a simulacrum! I repeat! This is not a simulacrum!" he instructed.
The other ponies in Maretime Bay didn't think twice and started moving towards Canterlove Studios, since that was the safest place in town, while the Mane 5, sins Sunny, and Misty went over to help everypony take cover.
Sunny, however, was still froze in her place, because she was still shocked by what Eggman did to the Brighthouse, something that Shadow noticed.
So, he grabbed the earth pony mare and teleported to the factory, where Hitch somehow gotten already.
"Sheriff, she's in a shocked state" was all that Shadow told him, before placing her down and teleport back with Rouge.
"Sunny?" Hitch called out, but Sunny had her gaze lost, and she was barely breathing now. "Sunny?! Sunny, react! Come on!!!" he begged desperate, but Sunny was still froze in place.
On the other hand, Shadow and Rouge were frowning at the Death Egg Titan, that was having fun stomping buildings and shooting laser from its eyes around the town.
"Shadow, I think we should do our part of the plan as well!" Rouge stated, flapping her wings and elevating from the ground.
Shadow nodded in agreement, grabbing Rouge's hand and using his teleportation ability to take both him and her out of there.
Meanwhile, the robot stopped moving for a moment, as it noticed a quartet of anthropomorphic animals on a plane approaching it.
"Uh... Sonic?" Tails called out concerned, as he pointed at the giant robot. "How are we supposed to defeat that?" he asked worried.
"By making a plan!" Sonic replied with a determined look. "Knuckles, you are the deputy of the town, and the ponies trust you. I want you to use your strength to go down there and protect those citizens like the good deputy that you are!" he instructed the echidna.
"Consider it done!" Knuckles said with a serious expression, balling his fists which released some reddish electricity.
"Amy, you go with him, and use that hammer of yours to destroy anything Eggman sends that could threaten the lives of the ponies" Sonic instructed Amy. "If anything gets close to them, tear it apart and let nothing be left!" he added he with a smile.
"Honey, leave the 'destroying fun' to us!" Amy assured with a thumbs up and a wink.
She then climbed on Knuckles's back, while the echidna crossed his arms and dropped out of the plane, landing in the woods near the town.
"Wow...Okay, I didn't expect him to do that..." Sonic confessed with a bit of astonishment, before looking at Tails with a determined look. "This is what we'll do. Step 1: Laugh at him!" he declared himself, as he climbed onto the wings of the plane. "Step 2: I have no idea!" he added, still with a determined look.
Meanwhile, Izzy, Misty and the sisters were still getting more ponies inside of Canterlove Studios, while Hitch managed to make Sunny react a bit, as Sparky was sitting on her back and hugging her for some comfort.
However, it didn't took for Pipp to notice the plane in the sky. "Guys, look!" she pointed out.
The others turned to the sky, just to see Sonic and Tails in the Tornado IV, which made them smile. Even Sunny smiled a bit at the sight, forgetting for just a moment what happened to her home again.
On the other hand, Tails began to rotate the plane around the robot, as if it were a mosquito bothering a person.
"What a cute little doll, Eggman!" Sonic mocked up with a smile. "It does something, or it just stands there looking ugly?" he added, crossing his arms.
Once they got to the robot's face, Tails began to walk away from it, unaware that the robot was now looking directly at them.
"Like a blister, it appears again!" Eggman exclaimed furiously, already tired of having to deal with the hedgehog. "Luckily, you're on the 'to kill' list, so I'm just going to launch the missiles and enjoy your death!" he added with a sinister smile.
Unknown to him, Shadow and Rouge teleported inside the robot, and they both looked with wide eyes and jaws dropped at how insanely big the robot was.
"Um... I think this stealing mission's gonna be a lot more difficult than we thought..." Rouge pointed out with concern.
However, as they both looked all around the machinery of the robot, Shadow managed to see the three Chaos Emeralds that Eggman has with him at the top... near the Eggmobile... and also right below Eggman.
"Maybe a bit more than just 'difficult', Rouge..." Shadow pointed out with concern.
Rouge looked at him a bit confused, but as soon as she saw on the same direction that him, her eyes widened again, and she gulped nervously.
Meanwhile, Eggman activated all of the robot's missiles, which were fired in the direction of the plane from the machine's chest.
Tails hadn't noticed yet, as he looked at Sonic with a smile and gave a thumbs up, but when he looked straight ahead, he noticed the missiles, and his eyes widened.
"Uh oh..." Tails exclaimed in panic.
"I'm going to open that thing up like a can of chili–– HOLY CHAOS!" Sonic exclaimed in terror upon noticing the missiles.
"Hold on!" Tails yelled.
Sonic didn't think twice and held on to the wings of the plane, while Tails made the vehicle do a very sharp turn in the air to avoid the missiles.
Sonic, for his part, was screaming in terror, still clinging to the wing of the plane, and praying internally that he wouldn't fall and that Pipp wouldn't scold him if she was watching.
Spoiler: She is watching, and she was breathing heavily to keep from passing out in panic.
Soon, Tails did another spin in the air to the other side to evade more missiles, then positioned the plane well. Thereupon, he pressed a button that activated the autopilot and lowered his seat, which brought him back to the canyon with lasers.
Tails used the cannon again, this time flipping it backwards and firing at all the missiles, which exploded in midair.
Sonic sighed in relief to have come out in one piece, while Tails returned to pilot the plane and loudly celebrated his maneuver before the horde of missiles.
"That was close..." Sonic said with a smile, relieved that no one got hurt...
Well, almost, because immediately after, a remaining missile blew Sonic out of the plane, causing Tails to look back with wide eyes.
"SONIC!" Tails yelled in a panic.
"YOU KEEP FLYING, TAILS!" Sonic yelled back.
On the other hand, Eggman began to move like a chicken inside the robot, causing it to imitate the action.
Suddenly, someone's scream caught his attention.
"EGGMAN!" Knuckles yelled furiously, as he ran towards the gigantic machine with a scowl on his face.
The robot turned its head in the direction of the echidna, which was running down the street in its direction.
"GET AWAY FROM MY CITIZENS!" Knuckles yelled angrily, as he charged up his electrical powers and ran even faster.
"Die, mosquito!" Eggman exclaimed with a smile, while with his fingers he simulated two feet running towards the echidna.
The robot mimicked the action, and started running its fingers towards Knuckles.
It quickened its pace, and when they were face to face, the echidna jumped into the air and hit the robot's hand hard with its fist.
He pulled back his hand, while a slight charge of energy was released from the impact.
"Oho-ho! I did feel it!" Eggman exclaimed with a mocking smile, while he rubbed his hand.
With Knuckles being sent backwards after the smash, Amy was the next one to come by, as she lifted her hammer and ran at top speed towards the robot.
"Miss Rose want to play?" Eggman mocked up with a smirk. "Then get a load of this!" he stated, as he closed the left hand on a fist and prepared to smash Amy.
However, Amy only smirked, before starting to twirl around with her Piko Piko Hammer at fast paste, before jumping in the air and hit the hand with the hammer, sending it backwards in the process.
Inside the robot, Eggman grabbed his hand and rubbed it in pain. "Shit! I felt that one too!" he exclaimed, but this time with anger. "Perhaps linking my moves to the robot wasn't the smartest move..." he recognized with a frown.
On the other hand, from the plane, Tails pressed a button, and two yellow pistols came out from the sides, just behind the propeller.
Thereupon, the fox began to descend towards the robot while shooting.
Seeing this, Eggman began to move his arms as if he were some kind of Godzilla, while the robot imitated him, but failed to hit Tails.
Then, Tails changed to the robot and turned on its thrusters, at the same time separating the mechanisms that functioned as tails and transforming them into a sword, with which he made several cuts to the machine, but none was a blow that really affected.
So, Tails transformed the sword into a sniper, and started to shot laser at the robot, while Eggman launched missiles and moved the hands around, in hopes that the robot will eventually hit the young fox.
Yet, those same missiles were either destroyed or dodged by Tails, but he didn't noticed that the dodged missiles were heading towards some of the ponies that were still heading to Canterlove.
Pipp's Pippsqueaks, aka Glory, Seashell and Peach Fizz, were also part of those few ponies who haven't got to safety yet, and therefore, there were a bunch of missiles heading towards them.
Fortunately, Knuckles was near by, and so, he smashed his hands into the floor, before tearing apart a piece of pavement and launch it against one of the missiles. He repeated this two other times, and then, when he saw a fourth missile, he jumped over and grabbed it with his bared hands.
Of course, the missile was trying to fly away because of the rocket it had, but that didn't seemed to bother Knuckles, because he turned the missile around and made it fly towards another one.
That missile exploded, and the explosion reached several other missiles that exploded as well.
Knuckles nodded, before turning to see the fillies, who were smiling at him with sparkling eyes. "Don't stand there and go to the studio for cover!" he instructed them, before boosting away.
"Thank you, Deputy Knuckles!" Seashell shouted with a smile, before she and her friends resumed their run towards the studio.
On the other hand, Amy was also using several replaceable stuff to throw at the missiles, not only to prevent them to hit and hurt/kill somepony, but also to avoid damage to private property.
Back with Tails and Eggman, the latter was already getting tired of dealing with the former, since for how huge the Death Egg Titan was, the Tornado IV in robot form looked like a fly, a very irritating one for the doctor.
However, he had a very bright idea, so he redirected some of the electricity around him to his face inside the robot.
The real robot then moved its mustache just as Tails was aiming its snipers at the face, and the mustache ended up crushing the sniper, which also caused Tails to be sent backwards, losing control of the Tornado IV.
"Whoa!" Tails cried out startled, as he jumped out of the robot and spin his tails to fly in the air, while the robot crashed in the floor and turned off. "Aw, man..." he complained with sadness, since it took him a lot of time and effort to build up the plane.
However, he shook his head and nodded determinate, before boosting on flight towards the town.
Meanwhile, Eggman was rubbing his mustache, making sure nothing was out of place. "Geez... that was a better idea on my mind... But at least the yellow pest has left!" he pointed out, once again grinning.
Suddenly, Sonic appeared, now riding the missile that Eggman launched at him as if it were a wild animal, and managed to divert it so that it went towards the doctor's robot.
"Return to sender!" Sonic yelled, then jumped up and let the missile explode into the robot's knee.
The impact moved the entire gigantic machine, shaking Eggman a bit, who nearly dropped the Unity Crystals from his harness, but luckily for him, he managed to adjust them so they didn't fall out.
"Okay... That hedgehog is very crafty, and I seriously don't know how I forget..." Eggman muttered to himself with a bored expression.
The shake also seemed to affect Shadow and Rouge, who were sneaking and climbing the machine at a very slow paste to grab the Chaos Emeralds that were near the Eggmobile and below Eggman.
"You okay?" Shadow asked to Rouge with a slight frown of concern.
"Yeah..." Rouge replied, shaking her head a bit. "Let's keep moving. The sooner we get the Emeralds, the sooner we can get out of here!" she stated.
Shadow nodded in agreement, and so, they both kept climbing the machine.
On the other hand, Team Sonic huddled behind some rubble to avoid being seen by Eggman.
"Does anyone know where Shadow and Rouge are?" Sonic asked with a frown.
"If they're not here, they must be inside the robot," Amy pointed out. "After all, we still need to get the Emeralds Eggman has" she added.
Suddenly, the ground trembled strongly, and Knuckles stuck his head out to see the robot.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Eggman said, followed by a maniacal laugh. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you yet... I'm just going to make you suffer a lot!" he assured, before laughing maniacally again.
At that, Knuckles growled in annoyance, and hid again to talk to the rest. "Those were our best attacks, and they did nothing!" the echidna complained furiously.
"We can't beat Eggman as long as he's got those Crystals" Tails pointed out with concern. "He's too powerful!" he added he anguished.
"And if that robot keeps attacking the town, we'll end up roasted!" Amy pointed out, equally concerned.
"Hey! Listen..." Sonic called out. "We aren't strong enough to beat Eggman on our own... But there's 4 of us!" he pointed with a smile. "Your strength..." he told Knuckles, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Your smarts..." he told Tails, putting his other hand on his shoulder. "Your cunning..." he told Amy with a smile, while Knuckles placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded at her. "And my speed! Together! That's how we'll win" Sonic assured. "We've always beaten Eggman together. True, I'm the one who delivers the killer punch, but without you, maybe I'll end up dead" he confessed. "The four of us together will defeat Eggman, and restore magic to Equestria!" he assured her once more.
"So we make our stand here. On the field of battle!" Knuckles yelled determinedly.
"As a team!" Tails declared with a smile.
"To beat Eggman together!" Amy assured, also smiling.
"It's showtime!" Sonic announced with a serious and determined expression.
On the other hand, the Mane 5 and Misty continued to help evacuate the few ponies that remained inside Canterlove Studios.
Even Sunny was helping now, since she had managed to recover from her shock, although she was still somewhat shocked by what happened with the Brighthouse...
However, she remembered that Sonic was counting on her and her friends to get the other ponies to safety, so she clung to that thought so as not to freeze in panic again.
Suddenly, Izzy's ear twitched a bit, and as he turned from her, she saw something that made her gasp, then she touched Sunny's shoulder to get her attention.
Sunny saw Izzy, then in the same direction as her, and gasped, too.
"Guys..." Sunny called to the others.
The rest looked in the same direction as her... And what did they see? Well, Team Sonic climbed over the rubble in which they were hiding, while they frowned at Eggman's gigantic robot.
"This... is how we roll!" Sonic stated determinedly.
Seeing this, the Mane 5 and Misty smiled, but then they heard several ponies panic, so they looked at each other and nodded determined, before running off to help them get to safety as well.
On his part, inside the robot, Eggman put his legs and hands together and smiled sinisterly, as he watched the quartet of anthropomorphic animals.
"Time to fight!" Eggman declared with a sinister smile.
And then, from the robot's shoulders, thousands of badniks poured out, heading towards the quartet.
At the same time, Eggman used the power of the Unity Crystals to feed unicorn magic to the machines, allowing them to levitate objects.
Interestingly, these badniks did not have their distinctive colors, but instead were silver with neon purple stripes.
To fight them, Knuckles used his fists to destroy the badniks, Tails used a gun that disintegrated the robots and also a boomerang, Amy used her Piko Piko Hammer to smash them, while Sonic did break dance moves and used his Spindash and Homing Attack.
"This is the worst time to say this... but I actually don't have a plan at all..." Sonic confessed, doing a break dance move to destroy some Buzz Bombers. "Tails, any ideas?" he asked his little brother.
"We have to find his weak spot!" Tails replied, throwing his boomerang and using the gun to disintegrate some Crabmeats.
"I suggest the groin!" Amy said, using her hammer to not only destroy a couple of pieces of debris that a Buzzer threw at her with magic, but also returning a piece of debris to that same badnik.
"What?! No... Ugh, no!" Sonic denied with a scowl, in turn charging a Spindash at a Buzz Bomber, while Tails used his pistol to destroy a piece of debris that a Moto Bug threw at Sonic.
"Traditionally yes! The groin is weakest spot!" Knuckles pointed out, destroying a Crabmeat he was holding under his arm, in turn blocking with his hand a smoothie cart thrown at him by a Caterkiller.
"Stop. Saying. Groin!" Sonic pleaded desperately, making Knuckles look at him with a bored expression.
"Hedgehog!" Eggman suddenly yelled from the robot.
Following that, the doctor raised his arms inside his head and simulated firing lasers, causing the robot to raise its clenched hands into fists and begin shooting real beams from its knuckles.
"Look out!" Sonic yelled.
Immediately afterwards, the quartet of anthropomorphic animals ran away before the rays hit them.
Soon, they began to dodge the lightning bolts as they ran down the street, and then lined up to draw up a plan, while continuing to run and leaving an aura behind with the respective color of their skins.
"I know what his weak spot is. It's me! I'm 'the groin'!" Sonic exclaimed determinedly.
After that, Sonic curled up into a ball and launched himself at Knuckles, who grabbed him with his hand and threw him at a Buzzer, destroying it in the process.
Following, Sonic straightened up in the air and was caught by Tails, who started spinning with the hedgehog holding hands, destroying several badniks on the spot: Sonic with his feet and Tails with his tails.
"Think about it! I live rent-free in this guy's head, so if I go out there and rile him up…" Sonic began to explain.
"He'll focus on only you, letting his guard down completely..." Knuckles continued.
"So while he focuses on you, Tails, Knuckles and I can surround him and take the Crystals!" Amy finished with a smile.
As Knuckles spoke, he took a Buzz Bomber and used it to destroy a Buzzer, destroying both badniks in the process. He then jumped into the air and spun with his fists outstretched, destroying various debris thrown at him by Moto Bugs, as well as some more Buzzers.
Amy then used her hammer as momentum to jump into the air and spin with the hammer, destroying Buzzers and Buzz Bombers alike, then slamming the hammer into the ground, destroying several Crabmeats, before holding hands with Sonic and spin both in the air, while Sonic used his electrically charged fist, and Amy used her hammer.
Then, while Amy was saying her thing, Knuckles extended his fist at him and destroyed a Moto Bug that was launched at his face, while Sonic did a series of Homing Attacks against Buzz Bombers and magically levitated debris.
"Hedgehog, I was wrong about you..." Knuckles spoke once again. "You are a brave and noble warrior! Go to your certain death with honor!" he added confidently.
"We're gonna have to work on your pep talks, Knux" Sonic told Knuckles with a smirk.
"And please don't say we're gonna die, that doesn't helps..." Amy begged with a bored expression.
Tails only chuckled at the conversation. "Yeah!" he declared with a smile.
"Let's go!" Sonic declared, as he went straight towards the Death Egg Titan.
Then, the group split up at an intersection: Sonic went in the middle, Tails went to the right, and Knuckles and Amy went to the left.
Now, the blue hedgehog stopped just below Eggman's robot with a frown.
"All right, Egghead!" Sonic sneered, though he still was frowning. "You want me? Come and get me!" he challenged, still with a mocking tone.
"You don't tell me about coming and getting!" Eggman declared rhetorically, as the robot pointed at itself. "I am on the cutting edge of coming and getting!" he added furiously.
Inside the robot, Eggman began to imitate walking movements, while the machine did move on the outside.
In turn, the doctor repeatedly said "Coming, getting!".
Sonic, for his part, ran off into a forest near the town, with the robot and Eggman following close behind, unaware that Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were chasing behind him, planning to jump on board.
"You ready for this, Tails?" Amy asked to the fox with a smile, also putting her hammer aside.
"Thanks to Knuckles, I might be able to carry both of you to the top!" Tails declared with a smirk.
"That's the attitude!" Knuckles declared with a smile.
And then, after reaching the end of the roof they were running on, Amy and Knuckles launched themselves, while Tails grabbed their hands and flew at full speed towards the top, until he reached the back of Eggman's robot, which they began to climb without Eggman himself noticing.
Why could he feel a tremendous punch from Knuckles before, but not three things climbing on him? Because that's what the plot requires, what else do you want me to tell you.
On the other hand, the Mane 5 and Misty finished putting everypony safe, while Hitch talked with Phyllis inside of Canterlove Studios.
However, Zipp noticed right then that the Death Egg Titan was walking away from the town, which confused her.
"Um... guys?" Zipp called out. "Where's Eggman going?" she asked confused.
It wasn't until she mentioned it, that her sister, Sunny, Izzy and Misty noticed the robot walking away as well, and as soon as Hitch came back, he also noticed that.
"Did he ran away?" Hitch asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No..." Sunny replied with concern. "I think he's chasing down something... Or someone!" she pointed out with wide eyes.
"He's following the boys!" Izzy pointed out with panic. "We cannot let that guys put a hand over Knuckie nor the others!" she stated with a determinate look.
"Uh... I don't think Tails, Knuckles or Amy need help..." Misty said, as she pointed at the back of the robot.
When she did, the rest saw that Tails, Knuckles and Amy were climbing the back of the Death Egg Titan, apparently trying to reach the head.
"Wait... if those three are fine..." Pipp muttered, before her eyes widened in realization. "THAT SON OF A BITCH IS FOLLOWING SONIC!" she shouted in rage, as her ears let out some smoke and her face got all red.
The others just looked at her, both startled, confused, worried, and scared, but then, Sunny shook her head and looked back at the robot. "We gotta help them take that thing down!" she stated.
"Whoa, what?!" Zipp asked in disbelief. "But Sunny, we don't have magic! How can we help when right now we're just a bunch of little ponies?" she pointed out with concern.
"Magic or not, this is our home, and we must fight to protect it!" Sunny stated. "I know that I was feeling down back in the lab, and that he destroyed my house for the second time... But I'm not letting that get the best of me!" she said with a determinate look. "Equestria is our home, and now? That guy wants to take it!" she pointed at the Death Egg Titan with a frown. "Even if we don't have magic, I'm still gonna fight to protect this land. After all, I'm Alicorn, and the Unity Crystals choose me as such for a reason! It is time I fight for that reason!" she stated once again.
Her friends smiled with determinate looks at her.
"So, are you up 2 to save Equestria? Or are you too afraid?" Sunny asked with a mocking tone, before run away towards the Death Egg Titan.
The rest looked at each other and nodded with smiles, before chasing after her and the Death Egg Titan as well. "Sunny! Wait for us!" Izzy shouted with a chuckle.
Back with Sonic and Eggman, the doctor had made it to the woods, not far from the Brighthouse rubble, but being out of shape, he was starting to get tired from stomping around.
"Coming... Getting... Ugh..." Eggman groaned, as he finally stopped to catch his breath. "Geez... I shouldn't have quit Zumba classes..." he pointed to himself wearily.
Since his driver needed to take a break, the robot stopped moving, while Sonic was up on top of a pine tree.
"Yoo-hoo!" called Sonic with a smirk. "So what's the plan here? You gonna build a big robot house? Get yourself a big robot wife?" he sneered with a chuckle.
The doctor frowned at him, thinking he already knew what was going to happen.
"I'm going to enslave everypony and force them to service my machines!" Eggman responded furiously. "First Equestria, then Mobius, then the entire multiverse, and then who knows?! Maybe that'll be enough!" he added he, while the robot shrugged.
Sonic frowned at him as he made a fist, charging up some electricity.
"Full disclosure?" Eggman said, while his glasses turned neon purple from the power of the Crystals. "You won't be there!" he assured himself with a sinister smile.
And thereupon, the robot began to shoot laser beams from its purple eyes.
The laser fell under the pine tree Sonic was in, and it didn't hit him luckily, but it did cause him to fall out of the tree. Although he landed on his feet, as he began to run, another laser collided with a tree, and the impact of the explosion sent him flying, crashing into another tree.
"Laser eyes? Really?!" Sonic complained angrily, as he ran to avoid a laser that he almost hit him with.
Eggman continued to shoot Sonic with his laser eyes, unaware that Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were already about to enter the robot.
On the other hand, Sonic started to dodge all the laser attacks, in a desperate attempt to get away.
He ran through the forest so he could try and trick Eggman so he could lose track of him, but every new corner he reached was always hit by a laser, because Eggman was making sure there was no forest where he could hide.
Still, that didn't stopped him from trying, so he kept running across what was left of the forest.
Meanwhile, the Mane 5 and Misty managed to reach the scene. Thanks to all the forest burned down by the Death Egg Titan's lasers, they could perfectly see Sonic running away from the robot, but also struggling in trouble.
"Sonic!" Pipp screamed in panic, not thinking twice and actually running towards him.
"Pipp! No!" Zipp said with concern, as she grabbed her sister's tail with her mouth and hold her back.
"Zipp! LET ME GO!" Pipp shouted desperate, as she tried to run away from her sister's grip, even trying to kick her so she could go and help her boyfriend. "HE'S IN DANGER!" she shouted in panic.
"He'll be fine, sis!" Zipp said, still holding her back. "It's Sonic we're talking about! He always––" she tried to add.
However, Eggman screamed in rage suddenly, and started to launch lasers even wilder, while Sonic was now struggling on dodging the attacks.
And then, Eggman punched the ground hard enough, making it not only rumble, but also causing the road to brake and get launched in the air, with Sonic getting launched as well.
And finally, Eggman launched the lasers again in Sonic's direction, hitting both all the pieces of earth that got lifted in the air, the remaining ruble of the Crystal Brighthouse that landed earlier in the forest, and Sonic himself.
With that, the hedgehog rolled in the ground, until he finally stoped, as earth and ruble landed all around him, with Eggman laughing louder than before.
"NOOOOO!" Pipp screamed in pain with tears in her eyes.
The good news was that Sonic was alive... but the bad news was that he fell unconscious because of the impact.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Giving up already?" Eggman asked with a grin, but of course, Sonic didn't replied anything. "Not so tough when you're fighting someone 700 times your size, are ya?" he added with a chuckle.
However, as he looked down on the head of the robot, he noticed that something was missing... and when he realized what it was, he only putted on a bored expression and made a 'Tch' sound with his mouth.
And just then, Shadow and Rouge jumped behind him, with Shadow holding the Light Blue Chaos Emerald, while Rouge had the Yellow and Silver ones on her hands.
They were ready to shout 'Chaos Control!' to the doctor, but Eggman just snapped his fingers, and both Shadow and rouge were freeze'd in place, but still holding the Emeralds.
Then, Eggman used the levitation of the unicorn magic to move both Shadow and Rouge to face him, and he also started to suffocate them.
"I'm impressed that you two managed to sneak inside of my machine, but that didn't changed anything, did it?" Eggman mocked up with a smirk.
Of course, neither Shadow nor Rouge could say anything because of being suffocated.
"You think you can climb into my robot and escape without consequences? Well, too bad!" Eggman shouted in rage.
And then, he shoot a pair of powerful lasers from his hands that sent both Shadow and Rouge out of the robot through the eyes. In the process, they both let go the Chaos Emeralds they were holding, with the ones Rouge was holding landing near her, while Shadow dropped his almost at the same time as he was sent backwards, which made the Emerald land right in the middle between the Death Egg Titan and Sonic.
"You fools!" Eggman said with a sinister grin once again. "You can't beat me! I'm all-powerful! All-knowing!" he stated confidently, but before finishing his sentence, he could feel that something was off, so he frowned. "All-seeing..." he added with anger.
Immediately afterwards, he turned to his right, and saw that a hole opened in the roof of the robot, and Tails came out of this hole.
"Looks like your fancy robot has a glitch!" Tails mocked up with a smirk.
And then, thousands of clones of the little fox began to enter through the hole. These clones were all made thanks to the watch he created for him, Sonic and Knuckles.
All of Tails' clones positioned themselves around Eggman while taunting him, as the doctor hit several clones with his electricity, hoping to hit the real one, but never managed to hit him.
"Is it me?" one of Tails clones said, before being wiped out by Eggman's lightnings.
"What about me?" other clone said, also being wiped out.
"I'm over here!" another of Tails' clones mocked up, before being wiped out by Eggman.
"Up top!" one Tails said.
"Down below!" another Tails mocked as well.
"Behind you!" other Tails' clone mocked too.
"I'm over here!" a Tails' clone called out with a smile.
"Sorry!" one apologized for not being the real one.
"Over here!" another of Tails' clones kept mocking, before being wiped out.
"Too slow!" one of the clones mocked as well.
Tired of games, the doctor made a small explosion with his electricity all over the robot's head.
"You can't outsmart me. I'm the outsmarter-er!" Eggman declared confidently.
The Tails clones disappeared, and the real one went flying into a corner. He was left dangling over the edge, but managed to climb up without much difficulty.
"Eggman!" Amy screamed suddenly, as she jumped towards the doctor with her hammer.
Eggman looked on her direction, and immediately teleported aside, dodging Amy's attack in the process.
However, Amy landed over the head and jumped back to Eggman, launching her hammer free towards him. Just like before, Eggman dodged the hammer, but he didn't expected to be punched on the face by Amy.
Growling in anger, Eggman teleported and grabbed Amy from her arm, before launching her to the other side.
"Amy!" Tails screamed in panic, jumping in the air and catching her, before landing over the floor with a grunt.
"As I said: I am the outsmarter-er!" Eggman stated once again with a maniac laugh.
However, as both Amy and Tails kneeled, they looked at each other with knowing smiles. "That's the thing, Eggman. We didn't outsmart you..." Tails muttered with a smirk.
"We're just the distraction!" Amy stated confidently.
"Eggman!" Knuckles' voice spoke.
However, before Eggman could turn around, his face was punched hardly by Knuckles, who at the same time ripped the harness with the Unity Crystals from his chest.
As a result, Eggman fell from his placed and landed with a grunt of pain on his Eggmobile, while Knuckles glided and landed in front of Tails and Amy.
Outside of the robot, this one stopped moving and just stood on its place, as the purple eyes shut down and the entire robot got out of service.
The Mane 5 and Misty already managed to pass the robot at this point, and they noticed that the Death Egg Titan wasn't moving anymore.
"What happened?" Izzy questioned, both confused and worried.
"I think... I think they did it!" Sunny said. "If the Crystals powered the robot, and it isn't moving... they did it! They actually stopped Eggman!" she cheered with a huge smile.
At hearing this, the other ponies smiled and cheered as well, with Izzy and Pipp hugging each other tightly, and then Misty being suddenly dragged to that hug by Izzy, while Zipp and Hitch hoof bumped, and Hitch and Sunny made their secret hoof shake.
And they were not the only ones celebrating, because inside the robot, Knuckles presented the Unity Crystals to Tails and Amy with a huge grin.
"We hit the jackpot!" Knuckles stated with a smile, as Tails and Amy cheered.
However, Eggman wasn't done, because he shook his head and sat on his Eggmobile. Then, when he noticed that he didn't had nor the Unity Crystals, nor his black clothes with neon purple lines, he growled in anger.
"Sage! Auxiliary power! NOW!!!" Eggman instructed with anger.
"On it, doctor!" Sage replied.
And so, the robot started to turn on again, slowly moving again, but this time, the light on both the chest, eyes and smile were color red, all because of the auxiliary power of the robot.
The robot rumbled and made everything shake again once its power was restored, and he looked down to the floor, were the Mane 5 and Misty were still standing.
They didn't noticed yet, however... until a shadow covered them completely.
Sunny noticed that immediately, and she turned around slowly, just to feel her ears dropping and her throat gulping at the Death Egg Titan's face looking at them with its red eyes.
"Guys..." Sunny called out nervously. "Retreat..." she said.
"What? What do you––" Hitch tried to ask, but as soon as he turned and saw the robot's eyes on them, he gulped in panic.
"RETREAT! NOW!" Sunny screamed this time.
And without thinking it twice, the Mane 5 and Misty started to run for their lives, while Eggman's laser shoot towards them. The laser was red this time around, and Eggman's voice couldn't be heard anymore, or not yet at least.
Misty herself was incredibly scared and confused now. She remembers that Eggman promised that, even if they were on opposite sides, he would never hurt her, no matter what... A promise he was braking right now.
As this happened, Sonic finally woke up again, and his entire body hurt as hell, even though there was no broken bones. If you're wondering how much it hurt, well, it was basically like if his skin was burning and his bones were cracked and destroyed into small pieces. Again, no bones were broken, but he could still feel the pain on his entire body.
He then stood up and looked at the disaster surrounding him, until his sight stopped on the Light Blue Chaos Emerald.
"... I... need to..." Sonic said weakly, as he took a step, and then immediately fell in the ground with pain. "... g-get... that... Emerald..." he finished, as he stood up again and started to walk slowly towards the Chaos Emerald.
Meanwhile, Eggman was laughing maniacally inside the robot with a sinister grin, looking thanks to a screen on his Eggmobile at how the Mane 5 and Misty ran away from the lasers.
He didn't noticed, however, that Tails, Knuckles and Amy saw all of this, and they all frowned and growled in anger.
"Leave our friends out of this!" Knuckles shouted, as he jumped and prepared to punch Eggman again.
However, a shield activated around the Eggmobile once Knuckles was near the doctor. Eggman smirked after seeing that, and so, he kept having fun with the Mane 5 and Misty.
Outside, they kept running, until the laser finally hit a rock that lifted the ground, and so, the Mane 5 and Misty were lifted in the air and rolled in the ground, until they finally stopped, while feeling a lot of pain.
Eggman laughed once again at this, and then, he pressed several buttons on his Eggmobile, and the head of the Death Egg Titan opened up completely.
After that, the robot putted inside the right hand and grabbed Tails, Amy and Knuckles, before pulling it out of the head and launch the three critters away.
They screamed in fear, before rolling on the ground and land near by the Mane 5 and Misty.
The ponies stood up with effort and pain, with the three members of Team Sonic doing the exact same thing.
"G-Guys?" Sunny asked in pain, as she stood up. "A-Are you okay?" she asked.
"As okay as we can be..." Knuckles replied with a painful expression, as he grabbed his chest with a hand, while Izzy came by and helped Knuckles to stand by crossing his other arm around her neck.
"H-Here..." Tails said with a painful expression, as he approached Sunny and gave her the Unity Crystals back.
Sunny sat down and grabbed the Crystals, looking at them with a smile. The Crystals were still all purple, shining bright and vibrating, but Sunny was happy that everything seemed to be back to normal.
Eggman, on the other hand, was looking at Sunny holding the Crystals with a frown, but suddenly, something else called his attention, so he moved the head of the Death Egg Titan straight once again, and he frowned even more, even growling this time, when he saw that Sonic was standing, and limping towards the Chaos Emerald ahead of them.
"No... Not anymore..." Eggman muttered with a frown, before pressing a button that turned on the Eggmobile, as it elevated until it stopped right in front of the face, and so, Eggman pressed another button that extended two hooks that attached to the Eggmobile, holding it in place while Eggman kept growling in anger. "I might have lost the Crystals... But I can still win!" he stated, now turning on the speakers of the robot and starting to manually move the robot towards Sonic.
Speaking of him, he was limping in pain, holding an arm and groaning, while still moving towards the Light Blue Chaos Emerald.
On the other hand, we had the Mane 5, Misty, Tails, Knuckles and Amy, and soon enough, Rouge and Shadow also arrived, even though both of them also seemed to be in pain. In fact, everyone at this point had bruises, dirt, messed up hair and slight cuts around their bodies, but none of them seemed to care, because they all wanted to keep fighting.
"O-Okay... the Crystals are back... All we gotta do now is make sure they release their magic again..." Sunny said with a shaky voice.
"H-How do we do that?" Zipp asked, as she coughed a bit as well.
However, before anyone could say anything, they all heard a 'crack' sound.
Everyone's eyes widened, and they all slowly turned their gaze back to the Unity Crystals... just to see that the earth pony crystal and part of the pegasus crystal had a crack.
Now, you might be wondering why the Crystals seem to be shattering, right? Well, since they didn't had the earth pony magic stored before, the Crystals were overpowered, and since Eggman abused their power, they now reached their limit.
"W-What the––" Hitch muttered with a worried frown.
"Please don't tell me that––" Pipp said with concern.
But what everyone didn't wanted to happen still happened anyways: The Crystals shattered even more, until they finally broke apart, as the small pieces fell from Sunny's hooves and into the ground, while their pink aspect also disappeared and got replaced with a more grey-ish one.
"No..." Sunny muttered with concern. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" she screamed in shock and panic.
However, it was already too late: The Unity Crystals fell apart, and in the process, all the magic in Equestria was lost forever.
"T-The Crystals..." Zipp muttered in utter shock and disbelief.
"T-They... t-they just..." Izzy added, with her voice sounding very shaky and nervous.
"A-And the magic..." Pipp added, at the edge of just bursting out crying. "O-Our magic..." she added with a nervous and shaky voice as well.
However, Tails' ear twitched when he heard the Death Egg Titan moving again, and when he turned around and saw that Eggman was moving towards Sonic, he panicked, specially because Sonic was moving too slow, and he never moved slow.
"Sonic!" Tails shouted in panic.
It was then when the rest noticed that Sonic was limping towards the Chaos Emerald, or rather, he was kneeling and taking it on his hands, while the Death Egg Titan stopped right in front of him.
"S-Sonic..." Pipp muttered. "Sonic!" she shouted again, now in concern.
Without thinking twice, she rushed towards him, with nobody being fast enough to stop her.
"PIPP!" Zipp shouted in panic.
However, the one that went behind the pegasus wasn't her, but Sunny instead, who also snatched Tails' watch from his wrist, which startled the young fox.
"SUNNY!!!" Hitch yelled in fear.
"STOP SHOUTING NAMES, FOR CHAOS' SAKE!" Knuckles begged with a groan.
Meanwhile, Sonic was looking at the Light Blue Chaos Emerald on his hands with a smile, and he still couldn't believe that the Emerald was stuck in the past all this time.
However, his smile faded away and got replaced with a frown once he noticed that the Death Egg Titan was right in front of him.
"21 years..." Eggman said with anger. "We've been dancing the same song for 21 years, Hedgehog.... BUT NOT ANYMORE!" he assured with anger.
And so, Eggman launched the laser eyes towards him, while Sonic simply closed his eyes and held the Chaos Emerald close to his chest.
Things could have ended there, since we're back to where everything began, but...
Sonic never got hit. In fact, he even heard grunts for some reason. So, he opened his eyes, and felt amazed when he saw that Sunny and Pipp were both in front of him, with the shield of Tails' watch activated, as Sunny hold the watch with her hoof, while both she and Pipp protected Sonic from the laser.
"... G-Girls?" Sonic called out amazed.
Both Sunny and Pipp looked back at him and smiled, still grunting as they protected Sonic with the shield.
"We... are not letting you getting hurt..." Sunny stated with a smirk, grunting again as she held the shield over the laser.
"And if you are to fall here... then we'll fall with you, Blue Star!" Pipp assured with a Smirk as well.
Sonic smiled warmly at them, before standing up and approaching them, also putting his watch and activating the shield, in order to help his friend and girlfriend in the protection area.
"As long as we're together... Not even the multiverse can defeat us!" Sonic stated with a smirk.
However, for their bad luck, Eggman was not only shooting the laser, but he was also walking towards them, something that the others noticed.
Shadow tried to teleport towards them, but the blast from before leave him in a weakened state, so he couldn't help them.
It was now when Zipp tried to rush towards them, and even Izzy tried as well, but Knuckles grabbed the latter and Tails grabbed the former, both stopping them from doing something both stupid and reckless.
"TAILS! LET ME GO! S-She's gonna..." Zipp said with sadness, as she started to sob with worry.
"Knuckles, no! I-I need to help her!" Izzy cried, trying to get free from her boyfriend's grip, but when Hitch joined him, she knew there was no chance on saving Sunny now.
"Please save yourselves, please save yourselves, please––" Amy pried with her hands together and her eyes closed, hoping her friends would come back alive.
Misty had her mouth covered with her hooves, also hoping that none of them would die in Eggman's hands, and also hoping that Eggman himself would wake up and realize how wrong this is.
Unfortunately for her, Eggman stopped launching the laser, while raising the left foot right above the trio, who finally realized what was Eggman's intention here, as their shields went out.
"Game Over, Sonic!" Eggman grinned inside the robot with joy.
Finally, after years of fighting, he was going to end his mortal enemy, the pest he believes Sunny is, and Sonic's girlfriend, right here, right now.
"Oh crap..." Pipp said with wide eyes.
"Heh... I don't have any warp rings..." Sonic confessed, weirdly enough, with a smile.
"I... I don't think any of us have..." Sunny pointed out with concern and disappointment.
"Ditto..." Pipp said with sadness, before smiling again. "But at least... If this is our end, I'm just glad I'm dying for a bigger cause... Not just pretending to be pretty in front of a crowd of ponies..." she confessed.
"Yeah... I never thought I'll die fighting a villain of all things, but... At least I managed to do all the important stuff I always wanted..." Sunny said with a sad smile.
"You know? I kind of imagined not dying alone... I just never knew who I was going to die with..." Sonic said as well, but with a genuine smile. "And girls? I'm sorry for dragging you into my problems... I... I really wished we could have more time..." he apologized.
Both Sunny and Pipp started to tear up by hearing that, and so, they both wrapped Sonic into a tight hug. At this, Sonic let go the Chaos Emerald, wrapping his arms around the two mares, while also tearing up and sobbing.
The three of them just did that: They hugged each other tightly, feeling that this was it. This was the end for all their adventures... this was how they were going to die, and this was how everyone will remember them... as the group of friends that tried to stop Eggman from conquering everything.
"I love you, guys..." Sonic said with a sad smile.
"We love you too, Sonic..." Pipp replied, sobbing and also with a sad smile, while Sunny nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, the Light Blue Chaos Emerald shone bright and started to float in the air.
Then, the rest of the Chaos Emeralds also started to shine bright and float, with the ones that Team Sonic collected coming out of the Brighthouse's ruble, while the ones that Rouge recovered from Eggman also started to float.
Soon enough, the 7 Emeralds moved towards the trio, as they spin around Sonic, before entering on his body and make a slight white light to appear on his chest.
And then, Eggman smashed the trio with the Death Egg Titan's foot...
Sonic couldn't tell what happened exactly.
One second, he was hugging his friend and girlfriend seconds before to die. The next one, he could hear the Chaos Emeralds jingling around him before feeling all their might running though his veins. And now, he could see nothing.
Heck, it was weird, because he could also swear he was drowning. How was he drowning? Was dead supposed to be like this? Dying was just drowning and that's it? Because if that was the case, then even dying is lame...
Suddenly, however, he felt that something grabbed his arm, and so, he was being dragged upwards.
The next thing he knew? He was out of the 'water', gasping loudly as he got his breath back, and now he was lying over the 'water', that was just a lot more of darkness.
Still, Sonic felt confused and got up, shaking the wetness from his body and looking around confused.
"Uh... what the fuck is this place?" Sonic asked confused.
"Geez... I don't remember having taught you that kind of vocabulary, young man!" a voice spoke behind him... a voice he hasn't heard in 10 years.
His eyes widened, and he slowly turned around... just to be face to face with the same owl lady that raised him and taught him almost everything he knows today...
He was looking at Longclaw, his mentor... his mother figure... She was right there, in front of him.
"... L-Longclaw?!" Sonic asked puzzled and shocked, not able to believe what he was seeing.
Longclaw smiled at him, and even fought the urge to cry. "Hello, my dear Sonic..." she replied.
Sonic wasn't sure if he was going nuts, so he decided to approach her carefully. Once he was in front of her, however, Longclaw extended her hand and softly caressed his cheek.
That was everything that made Sonic brake entirely... His eyes watered and started to cry, as he stared in utter shock at her.
Not able to resist that urge anymore, Sonic immediately wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, also sobbing hard on her chest as he did so.
Longclaw couldn't fight that urge anymore and started to cry as well, also hugging her son back.
"L-Longclaw... M-Mom..." Sonic cried out hardly. "I-I've missed you... I-I've missed you so, so much..." he confessed.
"Sonic... dear... I-I've missed you too..." Longclaw replied with a smile, as she nuzzled her head over his, also hugging him tightly. "I-I'm so, so sorry for never telling you the truth..." she apologized.
"Don't, Longclaw... You had a very good reason to never tell me... I just wished you haven't lied to me about my parents, but... The past is in the past now..." Sonic replied with a smile.
Longclaw smiled back, and she hugged Sonic even tightly, with him reciprocating the action.
They stood like that for a while, hugging each other like if their lives depended on it.
Finally, however, Sonic broke the hug and looked at Longclaw with a warm smile. "... It's good to see you again, Longclaw..." he confessed, before looking back at his surroundings. "Although I have no idea of what the heck is this place..." he pointed out confused.
"It's hard to explain..." Longclaw confessed. "The Emeralds only call our spirits here in times of need... And I can only guess that you really need me" she said with a smile.
"... Yeah... I've actually been needing you ever since you died, but... Eh, it's fine now" Sonic said with a smirk, as he hugged her again. "I don't care how much time I have here, I want to spend it well" he stated happily.
Longclaw chuckled at his attitude, before slowly pulling him away. "While I would love that... I'm not the only one that wants a word with you..." she said.
Sonic tilted his head confused, but soon enough, two new presences appeared behind him.
Sonic turned around and... he saw two hedgehogs... two hedgehogs that seemed like strangers, but... he could also feel he knew them from somewhere.
And yet, he had no idea on who they are, so he slowly separated from Longclaw and walked to them, stopping right in front of the hedgehog girl.
"... S-Sonic?" the girl asked, almost at the edge of tears.
"Uh... yes?" Sonic replied with a sheepish smile.
The girl couldn't believe it, and so, she wrapped Sonic into a tight hug, which startled Sonic a lot, as he looked confused at her.
"Uh... what's going on?" Sonic asked confused and embarrassed.
"Let her by, my son" the hedgehog guy said with a proud smile. "Your mother's just happy to finally meet you" he pointed out.
"Oh, ok–– I'm sorry, SHE'S MY WHAT?!" Sonic screamed in shock.
The girl, aka Bernie the Hedgehog, Sonic's biological mom, broke the hug and looked at her son's eyes with happy tears and a warm smile. "I-I'm sorry for being this sudden, Sonic... I-It's just... I can't believe it's really you..." she said with sadness and happiness at the same time.
Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing... The very same mother that he hated before finding out the truth was right in front of him... And he had a lot of mixed feelings right now.
Then, Jules, or the hedgehog boy, approached to both his wife and son, smiling at them. "Well, I'm just glad to see that my boy has become a big and strong young man!" he said with a chuckle and a proud smile, placing a hand on Sonic's back.
Now Sonic stared at him with wide eyes, specially since he never thought about a father figure before, since even if Bernie died along Jules, Longclaw worked as his mother figure his entire childhood and part of his adolescence.
Yet, Sonic snorted and placed his hands on his hips once he remembered something. "... Let me guess... You're the guy that jumped to your death in order to save mom and I, aren't you?" he mocked up with a smirk.
Jules blinked a few times at hearing that "... Seriously? That was your first impression over your old man?" Jules asked a bit mad. "I was doing it to save everyone from the village!" he tried to point out.
However, Bernie rolled her eyes and Sonic shook his head mockingly. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that!" both his son and wife said at the same time with a mocking tone.
After saying that, their eyes widened and they looked at each other before smiling and laugh about it.
Jules, however, putted on a bored expression. "Great... he did got your sassiness. But at least he also got my charm!" he said, now with a proud smile.
"And your recklessness..." Longclaw pointed out, as she approached them and rubbed Sonic's hair a bit.
"Yeah, well, what can I say? I'll do me!" Sonic said with pride. "But... why are we here, though? Why did the Chaos Emeralds brought our souls to this place? ... Wherever it is..." he asked concerned.
"Well... all I can say is that the Emeralds work in strange ways..." Jules said.
"But if there is a reason... I guess it's to tell you how proud we're of you, Sonic..." Bernie said, as she caressed the cheeks of her son, and Sonic smiled at her. "We've been watching you ever since we... we left you, and I wish I could make up for all the wasted time..." she added with sadness.
"Mom..." Sonic called out, and Bernie felt her heart jumping from happiness and her eyes widening when she heard her son calling her like that for the very first time. "It's okay... You did what you thought was the right thing" he said with a smile, then he looked at Longclaw. "Longclaw raised me to the man I am today, true... But you two are my parents. And... And I'm happy to know everything you did for the ones you care for..." he added.
Both Jules and Bernie smiled warmly at him, and they both pulled him into a hug, with Sonic hugging them back.
"... Sonic... please still be this good hearted hero... no matter what..." Jules said with a smile and a few tears.
"I will... dad..." Sonic replied, also letting out a few tears. "I promise..." he assured.
Jules also felt incredibly happy at being called 'dad' by his son for the very first time ever, and he just kept crying a lot, hugging Sonic tightly.
Then, when they broke their hug, Sonic hugged Longclaw too, and Longclaw hugged him back.
"I feel like our time together in this place is getting over, but... Even if it was short... I'm glad I could talk to you one last time..." Sonic said happily.
"I'm glad to, my dear Sonic..." Longclaw replied with a smile and a few tears, as she also caressed his head.
He broke the hug and looked at Longclaw and his parents one last time with a smile. "I'm glad I could meet all of you... And thank you" he told to his parents. "Even if we never got to be an actual family... I'm glad to know how wonderful my parents truly were..." he added, still letting out a few tears.
Bernie smiled, and even kissed his cheek lovely, while Jules smirked and rubbed his hair in a playful way.
And then, the four of them glowed bright before turning into light, with Longclaw, Jules and Bernie's spirits going upwards, while Sonic's went downwards and back into the 'water'.
The 7 Chaos Emeralds moved towards the trio, as they spin around Sonic, before entering on his body and cause a slight white light to appear on his chest.
And then, Eggman smashed the trio with the Death Egg Titan's foot, and the remaining Mane 5, Misty and remaining Mobians saw everything completely shocked.
"NOOOOO!" Zipp screamed with pain and horror.
Eggman, on the other hand, was extremely happy, because he finally managed to defeat Sonic.
"I got him!" Eggman cheered with a maniac laugh. "I FINALLY got him!" he kept cheering, feeling happy that he finally finished Sonic's life, and Sunny and Pipp's as well in the process.
However, his time of celebration was shortened when the Death Egg Titan suddenly shake, which startled him and confused everyone else outside of the robot.
"What the heck was that?" Eggman questioned confused, now looking back at the foot that stomped over the trio.
Well, let's just say that the foot was starting to elevate, and a golden light could be seen from above.
Everyone else stared confused at the light, everyone except for the Mobians, who only smiled/smirked, knowing very well what happened.
I'm here Reaching far across these new frontiers (I'm here!) With my life I'll fight this fear
Then, below the foot, Sunny and Pipp raised their heads and realized that they were fine, but a golden light was blurring them. However, as soon as the light's intensity minimized, they felt surprised, because they saw Sonic surrounded by a golden light, with his blue fur going golden as well, and his quills lifting up too.
After 1 entire year, Sonic finally transformed into the real Super Sonic, and he was ready to take down Eggman's plans.
Now that he made sure that his friend and girlfriend were alive, Sonic blasted through the foot to keep them safe. In the process, the foot stepped backwards and let Sunny and Pipp free.
Don't, don't, don't look down Don't, don't, don't look down
Then, Sonic stopped right in front of the Death Egg Titan's head, showing his full might as Super Sonic to Eggman, who got startled at seeing his transformation.
Don't look down, don't look down Let's go!
"Time to end this, Eggman!" Sonic stated with a frown. "You and me! Now!"
Welcome to the mind of a different kind Were we've been growing slowly Thing I'm on eleven, but I'm on a nine Guess you don't really know me
Eggman growled in anger, and so, he launched all the missiles towards the hedgehog.
Yet, that did nothing, because Sonic either dodged the missiles, took some and launched them against others, or simply blasted through the missiles, getting absolutely no damage in the process.
Can you hear the spirits sing? Lost messages of long ago? (Long ago) Can you hear the spirit shout, the secrets in their melodies? (Can you hear them?) Let's go!
Since this didn't worked, Eggman charged the right fist of the robot, with some rockets showing up even, as he boosted it towards Sonic.
It's time to face your fears 'Cause when your time has come and gone I'll be the one to carry on And you can throw me to the wolves 'Cause I am undefeatable
However, this didn't did anything either, because Sonic blasted through the arm and destroyed it entirely in the process.
That startled Eggman again, who still growled in anger, and so, he charged the laser eyes and launched them towards the golden hedgehog.
No more compromise, this is do or die And now you've crossed the line You'll wake the beast inside
Sonic, however, received the blast like if it was nothing, and he even flew through it and towards the Death Egg Titan.
Once Eggman stopped launching the laser, Sonic punched the robot's face, sending it backwards once again.
Here I am Standing at the border of everything Listen close
"Come on, man! You can do it!" Hitch encouraged from the ground.
"Finish him, Sonic!" Tails said with a smile.
"Hit him were it hurts!" Zipp cheered, also smiling.
"Have no mercy!" Knuckles added, also recording the whole fight with her phone, while Izzy just cheered.
"Sonic!" Sunny called out as well. "Show him what you're made of!" he cheered with a smile.
"Go on, Blue Star! Get him!" Pipp said too with a smirk.
Sonic smiled when he heard that his friends were cheering at him, and so, he looked back at the Death Egg Titan with a frown, before boosting towards it.
Can you hear the spirits sing? Lost messages of long ago? (Long ago) Can you hear the spirit shout, the secrets in their melodies? (Can you hear them?) Let's go!
Eggman saw this, so he launched a bunch of missiles again. However, Sonic stopped time, and therefore, the missiles, before using his super speed to gather them all together, and then launch them like a cannon ball towards the Death Egg Titan, that got hit by it.
Will the whole word know you're name When we dance with destiny Will the whole word know you're name When we dance with destiny
Eggman growled in anger again, and so, he charged the lasers and blasted them towards Sonic again, but Sonic dodged the attack this time and boosted towards the face, striking another punch.
It's time to face your fears 'Cause when your time has come and gone I'll be the one to carry on And you can throw me to the wolves 'Cause I am undefeatable
Then, Eggman tried to punch Sonic again with the left arm this time, but Sonic once again blasted through the arm and destroyed it completely.
That seemed to worry Eggman, because he gulped nervously. "Oh dear..." he muttered in panic.
I'm hanging on to the other side I won't give up 'till the end of me I'm what you get when the stars collide Now face it, you're just an enemy
Tired of these games, Sonic began to go through the entire robot using his super speed to tear it to pieces.
He tore through the entire structure, at full speed, delivering the final blow by finally passing through the robot's chest.
Finally, with the robot already in pieces, Sonic slowly approached his face, where Eggman was looking terrified at the golden hedgehog. And then, with a little touch of his foot, Sonic made the robot start to go backwards.
"Oh, it's like that?!" Eggman asked with a frown and disbelief.
But he got a combination of a glare and a bored expression from Sonic, who looked at him raising an eyebrow, almost shouting 'You seriously asked that?' with his face.
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Eggman said with annoyance, crossing his arms as well. "We're not friends..." he added with an offended tone.
And so, the machine fell backwards as severals parts of the robot exploded, until it landed in the floor and caused a massive rumble, that also made everyone else cover their faces from the amount of dust it released.
Then, the Death Egg Titan shut down completely, with the face of the robot shutting down entirely.
Meanwhile, inside the robot, Eggman was groaning and laying on his Eggmobile in a bit of pain, but then, a golden light illuminated the room
So, he straightened the Eggmobile, and then gulped when he saw Sonic right in front of him with a frown.
The hedgehog raised a hand, and with that, the quills Eggman took from both him and Knuckles flew away from his pockets. Of course, Eggman tried to grab them, but it was too late for him now, since Sonic already recovered them.
Then, with just a snap, Sonic made the power of the quills dissipate, and then, the quills themselves turned into dust. This only made Eggman feel even more nervous, because he gulped again and stared at Sonic on his super form with pure fright, even sweating a bit.
Sonic was more than mad with Eggman, because he went very far in this occasion. He tortured Sunny, destroyed her spirit, stoled the Crystals, burned down a forest and almost destroyed Maretime Bay.
But his crimes started way before he even met him: He killed his parents, destroyed their home, and even tried to kill Longclaw without him even noticing it.
He was beyond angry with his mortal enemy, and now that he had the power of the Chaos Emeralds, he could just end everything there and now. He only needed to snap once, and that's it, he was gone...
"... Sonic... please still be this good hearted hero... no matter what..."
Jules voice echoed on his mind, and Sonic's eyes widened.
What was he even thinking? Killing Eggman wasn't the way to go... He might have done unforgivable things, but... killing him was just an easy route for him to not pay for his crimes.
So, Sonic sighed and looked back at Eggman, still frowning, but not as mad as before, at least not anymore.
"... I'm not gonna kill you, Eggman..." Sonic said.
At hearing that, Eggman sighed in relief... but then, Sonic grabbed the Eggmobile from below and boosted to the air, carrying the Eggmobile, and therefore Eggman, in the process.
The doctor screamed in fear, and as they reached the sky, Sonic let go the Eggmobile and moved to the front of it with a frown.
"But I'm not gonna save you, either!" Sonic stated with anger.
Eggman gulped in fear, and so, Sonic kicked the Eggmobile hard enough, sending it through the air and towards Opaline's Castle.
"CURSE YOU, HEDGEHOG!!!" Eggman screamed in anger and fear, as all sign of him got lost in the air.
With Eggman gone, Sonic blasted through the ground, just to come out below the Death Egg Titan's back and lift the entire machine in the air.
"Hey, what is he––" Zipp tried to ask once she noticed him doing that.
But she got her answer before even asking it, because Sonic launched the robot in the air, then he grabbed it from one foot, spin it at super sonic speed, and then, launch it to a random direction, while the robot's sight also got lost in the air.
"Pfft. Show off" Shadow snorted with a smirk.
With the robot gone, Sonic nodded with a smile, and then, he went back with his friends in the ground, lowering himself but still floating in the air.
Just so you know, Sunny and Pipp already gathered back with them, and of course, Hitch, Tails and Izzy dragged Sunny in a tight hug, while Zipp did the same with Pipp.
"Everyone okay here?" Sonic asked with a smirk.
"All thanks to you!" Tails replied with a wink.
"Gotta say: I haven't seen you doing so much stuff as Super Sonic in quite a while" Knuckles confessed with a smirk. "You did well, though!" he added with a wink as well.
"What? Did you doubted me?" Sonic snickered.
"Well, I say that you look great with golden fur!" Pipp said with a loving gaze. "But no offense, sweetheart. The quills going upwards suits only Shadow, not you..." she added with a mocking smile.
"See? I told you!" Shadow told Sonic with a mocking tone, while Sonic rolled his eyes.
"Dude, that was amazing!" Zipp said with a smile. "I didn't knew you could get this stronger when going 'Super'!" she confessed.
"I'm also glad to see that you're fine, Sonic..." Sunny said with a smile, before looking back at the ground with sadness. "Too bad the Crystals shattered and we lost magic, though..." she pointed out.
"Huh?" Sonic said confused.
It was then when he noticed that the Unity Crystals got shattered, so he approached them and looked at them with a smile.
"You guys act like if this didn't have a solution!" Sonic stated confidently, before snapping his fingers.
By doing this, all the little fragments of the Crystals floated in the air and started to build together again.
First the Earth Pony Crystal, then the Pegasus Crystal, and finally the Unicorn Crystal. Then, they recovered their colors, before joining together in a perfect fit again, and so, they restored all the lost magic to everypony in Equestria.
The first ones to notice this effect where the Mane 5 and Misty: Zipp and Pipp's wings glowed again, and when they flapped them, they were flying; Izzy and Misty's horn lightened up, and they both squealed excited, because it meant that their magic was back as well; Hitch's hooves glowed, and he stomped one to make a small flower glow, which made him smile.
Sparky also got the magic Opaline stoled from him back, since he giggled happily when his horns started to glow. And finally, Sunny's Alicorn form returned, and she was flapping her wings as well, also flying in the air.
Also, their Cutie Marks were back as well, and they were glowing bright too.
Then, the Unity Crystals kept glowing and started to fix all the mess caused by Eggman: First, they restored the forest, which made everyone head back to the town. Then, in the town itself, the Crystals restored everything Eggman disarmed, even restoring Tails' workshop.
And finally, above the hill were the Crystal Brighthouse was located, the Crystals made the rainbow light appear once again, and in doing so, they also glowed so bright that, when the glow was gone, the Brighthouse was restored, like if Eggman never destroyed it in the first place, as well as restoring all the magic across the land.
The Mane 5, Misty, the rest of Team Sonic, Shadow and Rouge approached, with the former group, Tails and Knuckles looking completely amazed at how the Brighthouse was back and intact.
"W-What?!" Sunny asked on disbelief. "B-But how––" she tried to ask.
Then, Sonic came by, still as Super Sonic, and smiled at her. "Consider this a little favor, Sunny. As I said, we are where we are because of you. This is my way, and the Crystals' way to, to thank you back!" he stated with a wink.
Sunny smiled back at him, before looking at the Brighthouse once again with a smile.
She was glad that this was over, but most importantly, she was glad that her home was safe, and that her house was back as well.
Opaline finally started to wake up, and she shook her head a bit dizzy.
She stood up, and when she did so, she felt surprised to feel her magic, or what she had left at least, and her wings back. She looked over her flank and also saw her Cutie Mark, which only confused her even more.
However, as she looked around, she realized that she was on one of the capsule's where Eggman had the Mane 5 earlier, and she frowned.
She not only had lost, but she also had no dragon fire magic left.
Then, she suddenly heard a groan, and when she turned to see where it came from, she saw that it was Eggman himself, who landed along his Eggmobile through the hole on the lab after Sonic threw him away.
"... Ivo?" Opaline called out, both confused and still mad at him for what happened before.
Eggman flinched and turned around, showing that his suit got all damaged, while his mustache was made a mess, all because of the impact of the fall.
"You're finally awake, I see..." Eggman said with a frown. "Well, at least you can be glad to hear that I failed... again..." he said, although he sounded more dizzy and confused than mad or annoyed.
"And why did you came back? So I can feel bad over you and reconsider allying with you again?" Opaline asked with a snort. "You betrayed me, Eggman. You made believe that I actually had a competent enough ally to even dare consider calling him my friend! And you still stabbed me in the back!" she shouted in rage, although part of her voice also sound kind of broken.
"I'm not here to make you more miserable than you already are" Eggman stated with a frown.
After that, he pressed a button on the panel control at the side of the capsule, and so, Opaline was free once again, because the capsule opened up.
"Consider this my last favor to you, Arcana" Eggman said with a frown. "For what concerns me, we're not partners from now on!" he stated with anger, turning around and giving her his back.
Opaline only frowned and nodded in agreement. "I couldn't agree more, doctor" she stated, before open her wings and fly back to her throne room, but not without trying to say something else. "Oh! And as for all your stuff––" she tried to say.
"You'll wake up tomorrow, Opaline" Eggman interrupted her. "By the time you do so, everything that reminds you of my existence will be gone" he assured.
Satisfied with that answer, Opaline simply nodded and resumed her flight, although deep down she was still disappointed that Eggman did betrayed her, even though she was planning on doing the same at some point.
She quickly shook her head and made those thoughts fade away. "Doesn't matter anymore..." Opaline told to herself. "It's better if you're alone..." she reminded, before looking upwards once again.
Eggman, on his own, was lifting his Eggmobile with some effort, while also trying to use this effort as the excuse to release his frustration of his recent lost against Sonic.
8 Months of planning went through the window, and now he's back to square one... completely on his own, since he already declared that he isn't allies with Opaline anymore.
"Well... It's better to be on your own than in bad company..." Eggman told himself with a frown, before resuming his effort on lifting the Eggmobile.
One week later...
Pipp decided to stage a little concert in Zephyr Heights to celebrate Team Sonic's victory against the Death Egg Titan.
Yes, Sonic made the killer punch, but he insisted that it was a teamwork thing, so both him, Tails, Knuckles and Amy were all praised equally.
Now, if you wonder what happened with the magic, everypony got it back, as well as their Cutie Marks, and they were all incredibly happy to have their magic back. Yes, Discord also got his magic back, and yes, he was right now at the concert as well.
Shadow and Rouge wanted to leave, because they want to search for Omega's corpse in the snowy mountains of Equestria, since he sacrificed himself to allow Shadow and Rouge to cross the warp ring portal before it closed.
However, Sonic pointed out that even if it was important to go and look for him, they still needed to rest for a while after spending so much time busy.
Shadow declined at first, but Rouge managed to convince him, for his eternal annoyance. What did she told him so he could stay? She said that he could meet Sunny better and see if she's as similar to Maria as he thinks she is.
That, in fact, made Shadow happy in the inside, but he still wanted to act 'edgy' and tough about it.
Also, the Chaos Emeralds spread across all Equestria once Sonic let them go. When Sunny asked why that happened, Tails explained her that the Emeralds always do that once their purpose is done.
Of course, Zipp wanted to know more about it, and Tails promised that he would tell her everything, but after Pipp's concert, since he also wanted to rest from dealing with Eggman, and Zipp actually agreed with him.
Knuckles was mad that they had to go and collect the Chaos Emeralds again, but Amy managed to convince him that maybe the Emeralds spreading again was for the best.
And now, moving to the concert, everyone but Shadow and Rouge were there, since they wanted to stay in the Brighthouse to keep an eye close to the Unity Crystals, in case either Eggman or even Opaline tried to do anything with them.
Also, since this concert was to honor Team Sonic, all the songs that Pipp performed were from Sonic's games, like 'Open Your Heart', 'Live And Learn', 'His World', 'Endless Possibilities', and even a new arrangement of 'Fist Bump' made by herself, which she named 'Strength'.
In fact, she just finished singing said song, and the entire crowd stomped their hooves in a massive applause, while Team Sonic also clapped their hands and cheered at Pipp, with Sonic even whistling at his girlfriend.
"Aww, thank you everypony!" Pipp said with a smile, as she blew a kiss to all the crowd, until they finally stopped cheering. "Now, this next song is a little gift I've been working on for quite a while now. And, since he made the killer punch to save Equestria, I want to dedicate it to my boyfriend, and Eggman's defeater: Sonic the Hedgehog!" she stated happily.
With that announcement, the crowd cheered loudly again, and Knuckles even gave Sonic a friendly pant on his back, although it did hurt him because of the echidna's strength, but Sonic still smiled back at him.
Then, the crowd went silent, giving Pipp the space to perform her song...
Blue Streak...speeds by, Sonic the Hedgehog! Too fast for the naked eye, Sonic the Hedgehog!
Sonic! He can really move! Sonic! He's go an attitude! Sonic! He's the fastest thing alive!
Look out when he storms through, Sonic the Hedgehog! Don't doubt what he can do, Sonic the Hedgehog!
Sonic! He can really move! Sonic! He's got an attitude! Sonic! He's the fastest thing alive!
Sonic! He can really move! Sonic! He's got an attitude! Sonic! He's the fastest thing alive!
Sonic! He can really move! Sonic! He's got an attitude! Sonic! He's the fastest thing alive!
He's the fastest thing alive! He's the fastest thing alive!
Once Pipp was done singing, the crowd once again clapped loudly.
However, this time around, when they calmed down, Pipp looked down to Sonic, who was in the first row of the concert, and smiled at him. "Hey, Blue Star! Why don't you come up here and sing a bit too?" she asked him.
"Oh, no, it's not really nec––" Sonic tried to assure.
However, as soon as Pipp suggested that, the entire crowd started to animate him on going there, and he smiled a bit nervous.
Then, he suddenly got levitated by Izzy's magic and launched into the stage, landing on his feet right at Pipp's side.
He felt a bit confused and startled on how he got there, but seeing that everyone was still cheering, he looked back at Pipp, who smiled at him and kissed his cheek, before extending him a wireless microphone.
Sonic looked at it, then at the crowd, and then he smirked. "All right, all right... But only one song!" he stated, which made the crowd cheer.
Then, he whistled to Tails and Knuckles on the crowd, who smiled and immediately got over the stage as well. After that, Sonic grabbed an electric guitar, Knuckles moved to the drums, and Tails grabbed a bass.
And so, with the three of them ready, Sonic whistled once again before starting to play his guitar.
Well, I don't show off; don't criticize I'm just livin' by my own feelings And I won't give in, won't compromise 'Cause I only have a steadfast heart of gold
I don't know why I can leave though it might be tough But I ain't out of control, just livin' by my word Don't ask me why; I don't need a reason I got my way, my own way!
It doesn't matter now what happens I will never give up the fight! Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right
Well I don't look back; I don't need to Time won't wait and I've got so much to do
Where do I stop now; it's all a blur and so unclear Well, I don't know, but I can't be wrong!
It doesn't matter now what happens I will never give up thе fight! Long as the voice inside drivеs me to run and fight Place all your bets on the one you think is right
Oh, it doesn't matter now what happens I will never give up the fight! Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right
No, no, no, no It doesn't matter!
Once they were done singing, all the crowd got into the cheers again, specially Amy.
"Hey, Amy!" Sunny called out to her suddenly in-between the cheers of everypony else. "I didn't wanted to bring this over here, but shouldn't we worry about Eggman attacking again?" she asked concerned.
"Eggman always disappears for a good while before acting again, so don't worry!" Amy assured with a smile. "We won't hear from him anytime soon!" she added. "Now chill and enjoy the concert, girl!" she finished.
Sunny, for once, decided to let her worries aside and smiled, as she also kept cheering at Sonic, Tails and Knuckles over the stage.
Eggman was at his new hidden lab, far away from Opaline and from Maretime Bay.
He was frustrated to see that 8 months of work went all to hell thanks to Sonic... as always...
He was back at square one, and now that he betrayed Opaline, he was completely alone... Worst of all, he broke the promise he made to Misty about never hurting her, and he attempted that when he was trying to crush the Mane 5 with the lasers.
He felt horrible at the simple thought... Even if he's a villain and braking promises is sort of his thing, he did considered Misty his friend, even if she's with Sonic and Sunny now... He was convinced that Misty probably hated him now, specially since he tried to kill her...
But shame or not for that, it wasn't the time to mourn. It was the time to plan.
Thankfully, he had a reserved plan in case the first one was a flop. So, he accessed to his data base and opened an archive that say 'Starfall Islands Expedition'.
"5 Islands, full of an ancient technology left behind by an extinct civilization that used the Chaos Emeralds..." Eggman said with a slight frown. "This only confirms that the Emeralds come from this dimension. Whatever lead them to Mobius must have been bad... but it doesn't matter!" he stated.
Then, he started to click on his keypad, as well as mumbling something to himself.
"It's gonna take me at least 2 months to prepare everything, but I hope it'll be worth it" Eggman said. "If there's nothing useful for me in there, then it's fine. I will have a Plan C by then!" he stated with a grin.
Then, he pressed enter on his computer, and several images of the Starfall Islands, the Chaos Emeralds, and some pictures he took from books' pages in Opaline's library appeared in the screen.
"Now, where were we? Ah, yes... Kronos Island!" Eggman snickered sinisterly with a maniac laugh.
At the Crystal Brighthouse, Tails frowned with worry at his Miles Electric, then he looked at the giant computer on his side of the bedroom, that showed images of 5 islands and some info about them.
It's been two months ever since Sonic defeated Eggman and his Death Egg Titan, and things were as normal as they could be on Equestria. However, Tails was concerned at something, and that something wasn't Eggman: it was the Chaos Emeralds.
After they spreed around Equestria again, Tails has been trying to track them and collect them before Eggman decides to do so. But right now, something weird has been happening with them...
"Hey buddy!" Sonic's voice spoke suddenly, as he entered the room with Knuckles, Zipp and Sunny. "We got your message, and came here as fast as we could, but the others couldn't come right now, so..." he explained.
"No problem. In fact, I think this is only going to be of your interest" Tails confessed, now stepping aside and showing the images of the islands.
"What's all of this?" Zipp asked curiously.
"You see, after Sonic defeated Eggman, I've been doing some research on the Chaos Emeralds, and their signal led my tracker to someplace strange..." Tails started to explain, making zoom in the image of one of the islands. "It seems to be the islands Longclaw talked about!" he explained.
While Sonic and Knuckles looked confused at the images, Sunny and Zipp seemed to recognize them.
"Hang on... I've seen this image before..." Zipp said with a small frown.
"Yeah, me too!" Sunny added a bit concerned.
"I was hoping so!" Tails admitted with a smile. "I've researched a bit about them, and they seem to be called the––" he tried to say, but then...
"The Starfall Islands!" Zipp cried out in surprise.
"... Yeah, that" Tails said on a dead tone.
"You know that place?" Sonic asked confused.
"Personally? No. But I have read a lot about them. I thought they were just a legend!" Zipp said with surprise.
"If experience has taught us something, is that there's always some truth on every legend" Knuckles stated with a serious expression.
"What did you found exactly about the islands, Tails?" Sunny asked.
"Pretty basic info, actually. Apparently, they are a set of 5 islands located far beyond Equestria, were an ancient civilization had the most advanced kind of technology, even more advanced than the one we have" Tails said. "And now, the Chaos Emeralds are gathering around these Starfall Islands for some reason" he added.
"Well, you got all the info that exists about the Islands, actually" Zipp said.
"Where did you find all of that?" Sunny asked.
"Internet" Tails replied with a smile. "The best place to get all the info you can!" he stated.
"Not surprised at all with you, Tails. You're very smart, after all" Zipp replied with a smirk and a wink, which caused Tails to blush and chuckle slightly in embarrassment.
"For the sake of Chaos, just kiss or something" Knuckles muttered to himself and Sonic with a bored expression.
Sonic chuckled at Knuckles before turning to Tails. "And you're telling us this because?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I was planning on going to the Starfall Islands myself and find out why the Emeralds are gathering there" Tails explained, and then looked back at Sonic with a knowing look. "Want to come check it out?" he asked with a smirk.
"You're kidding, right? Sounds like an adventure! I'm in!" Sonic stated with a smirk as well.
"You know what? I think I'm going as well" Zipp said confidently. "Not everyday you get a chance to solve a lot of mysteries on a place that is mysterious already!" she said with excitement.
"I'll go too" Sunny said. "Research in these Islands history is a one time opportunity in life!" she explained her reason with excitement.
"Count me out on this one" Knuckles simply replied. "With Shadow and Rouge touring Omega around Equestria, and Misty investigating about that weird barrier that appeared around Opaline's Castle, I'm the only one left in Maretime Bay along Hitch to protect it from anything" he stated with a confident look.
"Okay! In that case, you just do your job and protect everyone while we're out!" Sonic told him with his thumbs up and a wink, as Knuckles replied with a smile. "I'll go give my farewell to Pipp and Pipp in Mane Melody, assuring them like ten times I won't get myself killed..." he said with an eye roll. "Seriously, at this point, Pipp should just install a parental control app in my phone or something..." he added with annoyance.
"Don't gave her ideas!" Zipp told him with a bored expression. "Oh! Can you gave her my farewell, too? I want to go ahead and win some time on my research!" she asked.
"Sure thing!" Sonic said with a smile, boosting towards Mane Melody.
"I'll go with Zipp" Sunny said with a smile. "There's an island at the limits of Equestria, you guys can meet us there" she told Tails.
"Okey, then!" Tails said. "I need to stay and close Electronic Tails, anyways" he pointed out.
"And don't worry about Hitch, Sunny" Knuckles told her with a smile. "I'll make sure the sheriff doesn't loose his mind thinking you'll get yourself killed in those islands or something" he told her with a knowing look.
"Okey, then. I'll trust you with that, Knuckles. Thank you!" Sunny said with a smile, leaving the place as well.
"Are you sure you don't want to come, Knux?" Tails asked a bit concerned. "There's always room for one more" he added.
"You four will be fine! Besides, Hitch has been a bit paranoid lately, so he needs me here" Knuckles replied. "I'm the only one besides Sunny who can calm him down, and with Sunny out for a while, I'm everything he has to feel like no one's gonna kill us at any minute now" he explained. "Also, I don't want to worry Izzy either" he added.
"Well, if you say so..." Tails replied, not very convinced.
Several hours later, Sonic and Tails were on the Tornado IV, flying towards an island located at the limits of Equestria.
"Sunny said she'd meet us with Zipp on the island up ahead" Tails explained. "E.T.A. five minutes!" he announced.
Sonic however, noticed something on the island. "Better make an emergency landing, Tails..." he stated, looking how Sunny on her Alicorn form and Zipp were surrounded and fighting against some giants crabmeat and even one very massive one being controlled by Eggman. "... 'Cuz it looks like they could use some help!" Sonic added.
As Sunny used her horn to blast a magic laser towards a group of crabmeats, Zipp did a loop on the air and stomped her hooves on one of the crabmeats, and then use her hind hooves to kick some of them as well.
And then, Sunny noticed Sonic and Tails' presence. "Seems like we got our backup!" she said with a smile, blasting another laser to a crabmeat.
"Get a load of this!" Eggman said, as he moved on of the crabmeats giant legs to try and smash Zipp, but she moved fast enough to dodge the attack.
"Ha! Sonic and Tails are here!" Zipp stated with a confident smirk, kicking another robot. "Your chances of beating us just went from slim to none, Eggman!" she added.
And then, Sonic jumped off the Tornado IV and smashed the crystal of the capsule where Eggman controlled the giant robot.
"No way! I can't believe this!" Eggman cried out, after Sonic almost smashed him on his robot.
Sonic landed at Sunny's said, who smashed a robot with her front hooves this time. "Did you girls save any of the small fry for me?" he asked with a mocking tone.
"Sorry, that's the last one!" Sunny said with a sheepish smile.
Suddenly, Eggman moved one of the giant Crabmeats arms to smash Sonic and Sunny "All systems–– Full power!" he announced.
"Not so fast, partner!" Zipp said, as she kicked the arm with her hind hooves, sending the Crabmeat backwards.
"Don't hog all the fun~!" Sonic said on a singing tone.
"No way! I can't believe this!" Eggman cried out again.
And then, Tails sneaked behind the robot with an adjustable wrench and quickly flew around the arm, removing the screws and disassembling the arm in the process, that fell on the ground with a clang sound.
"Ha!" Tails cheered with a smile.
"Way to go, Tails!" Zipp cheered with a smirk.
"Time for change of pace!" Eggman stated, as he used the other arm to shoot at Sonic and Sunny, with the former dodging with a frown and the latter barely moving just in time.
"Hold up... I've heard all this mad ranting before..." Sonic said, looking at the capsule where Eggman was with suspicion, as the arm kept shooting at him. "Let's wrap this up quickly! Any ideas?" he called out with a smirk.
Zipp then zoomed by with a determinate look. "Tails, Sunny! Let's take out the front legs!" she stated.
Both Sunny and Zipp used all of their strength to punch and kick the left leg of the giant crabmeat, while Tails used his tails to cut off the other one. The body of the machine, now without legs, fell with a loud thud into the ground, and Sonic jumped in the air, charged his Spindash with no electricity and boosted against the crystal, crashing with Eggman on the process.
However, once he landed, his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. "What–– that's not Eggman!" he cried out.
It seemed like Eggman wasn't even there this whole time: it was a decoy piloting, just like the ones Neo Metal Sonic used to trick them years ago.
"Ha, ha, ha! See if you can make it through here, Sonic!" the decoy Eggman played.
"It's another decoy piloting a mecha. Adorable!" Sonic said with a smirk, taking out the head of the decoy and playing with it like a ball.
"This is all part of a bigger plan! I can feel it!" Tails stated with worry. "He's trying to distract us from the Starfall Islands!" he added.
"Why am I not surprised that Eggman knows about the Islands?" Zipp said with a bored expression.
"You guys invited us to go there and help you find the Chaos Emeralds, right?" Sunny questioned, as Tails landed in front of the two mares.
"Right!" Tails replied. "They're a mysterious set of islands. Legend has it a long-lost civilization once lived there. For some reason, after what happened with Eggman 2 months ago, the Chaos Emeralds started gathering there" he explained.
"And now Eggman launches a decoy to keep us busy" Zipp pointed out with a frown. "He's definitely up to something!" she stated.
"Whatever he's up to now, can't be any good..." Sunny said with worry. "We don't need another massive robot trying to conquer Equestria..." she said.
"That's why we should hurry and get to the Starfall Islands before Eggman!" Tails pointed out.
"Mystery! Action! Adventure! Sound like fun to you?" Sonic asked, kicking the decoy Eggman's head towards Zipp.
She smirked and kicked the decoy's head towards the ocean. "Oh, you know it does!" Zipp replied. "Wherever there's a mystery, count me on board!" she stated.
"I have heard about the islands before, so... research on its history will be a great opportunity to learn more about this ancient civilization. Let's go!" Sunny cheered with a smile.
Both Zipp and Sunny flew in the air with their wings, while Sonic and Tails got on the plane again and followed the mares.
"Next stop: Kronos Island!" Tails announced with confidence.
Meanwhile, at Kronos Island, the first one of the Starfall Islands, Dr. Eggman landed one of his many assets on the island, while the rest spreed to the other islands as well.
Inside the asset on Kronos Island, Eggman was sitting on his Eggmobile, looking at multiple archives of the Starfall Islands he managed to gather. Despite being busy with his past plan, he had lots of free time, and after checking Opaline's library for at least 4 or 5 times, he managed to fin some books of his interest. They all talked about the Starfall Islands, and Eggman was very interested on their ancient technology. So, he gathered all the info he could and downloaded it on his computer.
"Status report!" Eggman instructed to Sage.
"Assets have been deployed to all islands. Supply caches have been distributed" Sage replied.
"Excellent!" Eggman cheered with an evil grin. "Now I can begin surveying the islands. Soon, the long-lost technology of the Ancients will belong to me!" he stated with confidence.
And then, on his screen suddenly appeared a recording, taken by Sage, of Sonic, Tails, Sunny and Zipp defeating the giant Crabmeat at the island's coast.
"Doctor, apparently Sonic and his friends defeated Unit D3-CO4" Sage informed to him.
"What?!" Eggman cried out with worry. "And you're telling me now?!" he asked with anger.
"Analysis of data transfer shows significant delay between unit destruction and contact" Sage said through the computer.
At this, Eggman growled with annoyance, before sighing heavily. "Gosh... I really miss Misty sometimes... She's a lot better than any of my previous AI's to Metal Izzy and Metal Hitch. I take the time to program life-like personalities into minions, and all it does is frustrate me" he confessed with anger. "Once–– just once!–– I'd like one of my creations to fill me with pride instead of regret!" he complained. "The relics hidden on the Starfall Islands are staggeringly advanced. Maybe once I take them for my own, I can finally craft the ultimate creation..." he suggested to himself.
He pressed some buttons on his computer, and not only the images dissipated, but also his Eggmobile roared as it started to float and prepare to explore Kronos Island.
"First things first! The rodents is undoubtedly on his way here. I'll have to accelerate my plans" Eggman stated, then he started to download Sage AI on a HDD.
"Warning. A.I. integration untested. System stress test untested. Accelerated timetable is not advised" Sage warned.
"Ah, but I developed you to protect me, and my coding is impeccable!" Eggman assured with confidence. "There's no time to waste with Sonic on the way. Hurry up and download yourself for deployment!" he ordered with annoyance.
"Download complete" Sage announced.
"Very good!" Eggman said with an evil grin, grabbing the disk where Sage downloaded itself.
As Eggman exited the asset, his Eggmobile was received by rain, but he didn't cared at all. In fact, his machines were all water proof, so he wasn't worried a single bit. After moving around Kronos Island for a while, Eggman spotted one of the ancient technology ruins. He got down of his Eggmobile with the disc that had Sage, and grinned sinisterly.
"My latest, greatest artificial intelligence will make short work of the Ancient's cyber security! And then all of their fantastic achievements will be mine to control!" Eggman stated with confidence.
