Project Nega Titan

by darkmage1997

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Human, Sad, Other, Princess Luna, Original Character, Random, Adventure
Length: 14887

A new, mysterious band of Titans have arisen, and have been making the real Titans look like criminals.

After being framed for a crime they didn't commit, the Elemental Titans are being hunted down b all forms of authority. But when they uncover a plot created by Toby's evil father, James, its a race against the clock to not only clear their names, but for the Titans to save all of both Earths from being destroyed.

Published 2014-12-08 05:50:06 UTC
Last updated 2015-08-09 04:10:48 UTC

Chapter 1: Enter the Nega Titans

Human Earth,

Time: 22:35

Location: Prison Island research lab

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! All hands prepare for battle! This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill!" a voice on the intercom system said, as hallway doors closed up, but were soon blasted away.

"Heh, if this is all these high security bases have, then getting my grandfathers research project will be a piece of cake," a mysterious figure said, as he continued inward.

"Wait up James!" James turned to see his teammates rushing towards him, "We're here to help in any way we can," Mane-iac said.

"Alright, but move quickly," James said, as he continued on his way. After some walking, they encountered a robot with a large shield, "Ah, so its Laser Hunter," James said, as the robot fired at him, but he used his hovercrafts force field to deflect the blast, before it could hit any of them, "Now then, its my turn," James said, firing some small rockets at the robot, completely destroying it, "Heh, that was almost too easy. Now then, shall we continue?" he asked the villains, who all nodded, as they moved on, destroying robots, immobilizing guards.

After a half hour of walking, they cam across a room with four capsule pods attached to some machinery, "Whoa, this room could use some dusting," Long Face commented.

"The machinery looks like it hasn't been used in ages, are you sure this is the right place?" High Heel asked.

"According to my grandfathers diary, the Nega Titan creatures should each be resting in those pods," James said, as he went over to the control panel, "Now then, I'll enter a fake user I.D, and then I enter the password, HEN-RE-ETTA," James said, pressing some buttons on the control panel, "Now to give them some juice with this substitute Element of Harmony, and we're all set," he said, putting a fake Element of Honesty into a slot. After that, the capsules began to open. After a few moments, four figures arose, "What!? It cant be?! How dare those teenagers beat us to capsule room?!" James cursed, before noticing something, "Wait, those aren't any of the teenagers we know!" he exclaimed in surprise as each of the figures stood before them. One was in a full suit of armor with a gold headband, one was a cowboy, one looked to be a king, or at the very least a prince with a crown with a blue jewel in the center, and one was in a water suit.

Kneeling down, the armored one spoke, "My name is Lance, you have awoken my brothers and I from a state of suspended animation, and we are very grateful. To show our gratitude, we are at your command," he said, as his brothers nodded in agreement, which confused James, and the villains.

"My name is Tempo," the regal one said.

"I'm Surfer," the surfer said.

"And Mah name is Dusty," the cowboy said.

Just then, they saw a large robot coming towards them, "GAH, Impeccable timing as usual," James snarled.

"Wait, allow me to show you our power," Lance said, as he and his brothers attacked the robot, Lance slashing the robot, the cowboy lobbing a ball of mud at it, the royal looking one blasting it with a blast of time energy, and the surfer throwing a tightly packed blade of water at the legs, completely slicing through.

"How did you boys do that?!" Shadow Mane asked.

"Fifty years ago, I was infused with the traits of a dragon by Professor Jerry Mason, so I also got the claws of a dragon, so slashing through steel like that was like tearing a piece of paper in half," Lance explained.

"I was given the powers of time," the regal one said.

"He gave me control over water," the surfer said.

"And Ah was given the powers of earth," the cowboy said.

"Jerry Mason? That's my grandfather!" James said.

"Then we are most definitely at your command," Lance said.

"Well, I would like for you to explain to us about one of my Grandfathers greater inventions, one that's positioned in space?" James asked.

"Ah, you mean space colony ARK. If you were to obtain all seven Elements of Harmony, then the eclipse cannon will be yours to use on both Earths," Lance said.

"Wait, both Earths? And I thought there were only six elements?" the Pharaoh asked.

"No, there are seven. The seventh element is in the Crystal Empire, but the empire has been missing for ages. But if you collect all elements, then you'll know what I mean," Lance said.

"Well, if you could lead us to this seventh element, then we'll show you where the others are," James said, as he led the Nega Titans and the villains out of the research lab.

Equestria

0:00

Location: The Crystal Empire

After arriving in Equestria via portal, James took the Nega Titans to the northern most part of Equestria, "Whoa, so that's the Crystal Empire," Surfer commented.

"And your objective is right under the castle," James said, giving Lance a pair of binoculars, which showed him the Crystal Heart.

"So that's the Element of Love?" Lance asked.

"That's right, but there's bad news. The Heart is heavily guarded, so getting to it will be difficult, but I have a solution," James said, giving the teenagers some vials, holding a liquid of some kind, "These vials hold a very powerful sedative, so you boys should throw them first, and make life easier, and it won't arouse any suspicion," he said.

"That won't be necessary. I'll just freeze time, and swipe the Crystal Heart with ease," Tempo said.

"Or that works too," James said with a shrug, before pulling out a piece of paper, "But, can you leave this calling card? It will be vital to keeping one group of teenagers form interfering. You boys can do that, while we work on some plans back at the base, which the directions will be in this GPS," he said, giving Dusty a GPS.

"Alright, I'll be right back," Tempo said, as he began to slow time. He then made his way towards the Crystal Palace, and casually strolled past the guards, and took the Crystal Heart, and left the calling card, and made his way back to the group. Of course to them, it just looked like Tempo just sprinted at the speed of light, and returned with the jewel in hand, "Heh, that was too easy," Tempo said, as he gave Lance the Crystal Heart.

"Good work, and you did leave the calling card, right?" Lance asked.

"Just like James asked me to do," Tempo replied.

"Alright, but we should go see that Ponyville place James told us about, but lets take our time," Surfer suggested, as the newest villains of Equestria made their way slowly to Ponyville.

Chapter 2: The Titan meet the Nega Titans

Equestria

8:00 AM

North of Ponyville,

"Captain Shining Armor, we are currently en route to Crystal Empire station from Ponyville," a guard said over an intercom.

"Copy that, but be careful with the suspects, their sneaky little guys," Shining Armor said.

Back in the passenger section of the train, the titans were all sitting in handcuffs, with guards keeping watch over them, "You're all awfully quiet," one guard said.

"So what about it?" Brian demanded.

"Well, from what we heard from Captain Armor, you boys stole the Crystal Empires only means of defense," another guard said.

"Well, there's a flaw with that theory, sense we've never been to this 'Crystal Empire', before. But as for being arrested out of the blue like that, we're not feeling too chatty!" Raiden snapped.

"You just watch that smart mouth of yours kid," the same guard snapped.

Just then, using his psychic powers, Silver then projected his thoughts to his brothers, 'Hey guys, feel like making an escape?' he asked, which made his brothers smile. They immobilized the guards, and then blasted a hole in the side of the train, which allowed the titans to escape, and flee to the nearest city, being Manehatten.

"Boy, the captain is gonna kill us for this," one of the guards commented, as they soon followed the titans toward the bustling city.

Canterlot Castle

8:15 AM

"But Celestia, this doesn't like something the titans would do," Discord said.

"What doesn't sound like the titans would do? I haven't said anything," Celestia pointed out.

"You're right, jumped the gun, my fault," Discord said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But you're right. The theft of the Crystal Heart is not something the Titans would do willingly, and from what you've told me, you never once brought them or Heaven or their parents to the Crystal Empire," Celestia said.

"That's right. Our sons would never do any sort of crime, not even jaywalk," Marcus said.

"Which gives us reason to believe that they've been wrongly accused," Lily said.

"But what of that calling card? It said that is was from them," Luna asked.

"Well, I've reviewed the card, and compared the handwriting to that of all of the titans. Someone else wrote the note, which in turn means someone else stole the Crystal Heart," Marcus said.

"If that's true, then we must call off the search! Raven!" Celestia called for her advisor, who came in with a quill and parchment, "I need you to take a note," Celestia said, as Raven readied to transcribe.

"Dear Cadence,

It has come to our attention that someone else stole the Crystal Heart. This bit of evidence was brought to our attention by Marcus, the real father of the Titans, as he compared the penmanship of the calling card to some papers the titans wrote on earlier. So, I wish to ask for you and Shining Armor to call off the search. We'll let you know if and when we come across new information,

Your Aunt,

Celestia.

"Alright, did you get all that?" Celestia asked.

"Right down to your name Princess," Raven replied, giving the parchment to the solar Princess.

"Excellent, I'll go ahead and send it," Celestia said, using her magic to send the letter.

"Do you think they'll be willing to listen to us?" Lily asked.

"Fear not Lily, I'm sure Cadence and Shining Armor will listen," Celestia reassured, just as another scroll appeared. Unrolling it, Celestia then began to read it.

Dear Aunt Celestia,

I am writing back to you in regards to your previous message about the titans. Of what Marcus said is true, then we have called all but one platoon of guards off the search. The only remaining one is led by a commander who always accomplishes his first assignment first before taking another order. So his platoon won't be called off any time soon. So, I am apologizing in advance for the disobedience of the platoon in Manehatten,

with love,

Cadence.

"Well, that's a problem," Celestia commented.

"What is?" Lily asked.

"Well, according to the letter, the platoon stationed in Manehatten is led by a commander who won't stop hunting down a criminal until they're brought to justice, so, we have to get to Manehatten, and order him directly to stop," Celestia said.

"Fluttershy said that she and her friends, along with the Mixels are heading to Manehatten for the Wiztastics to perform on stage against other magicians, so we'll need to let them know in advance to keep an eye out for them," Discord said, just as he conjured up a limo. He then hopped into the front seat, "Well? Get in!" he said, as they did, and teleported away.

Manehatten

9:00

After escaping from the prison train, the titans had made it to one of the more busier streets in the bustling city of Manehatten. Looking around to make sure they were in the clear, Raiden spotted some Pegasus Guards flying towards them, with unicorn guards on the ground following, "Uh guys, we need to make a run for it!" he said, as they all turned tail and ran for cover. Ducking into an alley way after making a good distance from the guards, they managed to escape down a manhole cover and into the sewers.

"Could we possibly sink any lower?" Heiru complained.

"BUT WHAT ARE WE RUNNING AWAY FROM? WE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG, HAVE WE?" Echo-Echo asked.

"I don't think we did, but one things for sure, the guards will stop at nothing to place us under arrest," Francisco said.

Meanwhile in a doughnut shop,

"Good idea to take a doughnut break lieutenant," one of the guards said.

"Yeah, but remember, we have to continue the search afterwards," the lieutenant said, which the guards nodded.

Manehatten

20:00 PM

After the guards stormed the sewers, the titans then made their way through the sewers until they came across another manhole cover, and quickly escaped through it, covering it back up as soon as they escaped, "Not too shabby," Silver said, as a large robot came flying towards them.

"How long is this going to go on?" Brian asked.as the robot landed in front of them, and went of the attack, which was pointless, sense the titans were all able to deflect the blasts without any effort.

"Well, this certainly is a bother, I'll take it from here," Raiden said, as he converted himself into lightning, and bounced right through the rocket launchers, "Whoa, that was tight fit!" he commented, as the robot launched more rockets at him, which Raiden was able to trick into hitting the robot, ultimately destroying it.

"Alright!" Silver said, before he and his brothers noticed four glowing lights being emitted from the broken robot. When the lights faded, there stood four teenagers that the titans never saw before.

"Well, I must say its a pleasure to finally meet you boys. Guess they're giving powers to just anyone nowadays," the armored one said.

"And just who are you?!" Brian demanded as he threw a fireball at them, which was doused with a water ball thrown by the surfer.

"Cowards!" Stealth commented, as he charged at them. He never got a chance to get them as they vanished from sight. A shadow was cast over them. Turning towards where the shadow was coming from, they could see the mysterious teenagers standing there.

It was Icezer who made the next attack, as he froze the surface of the building the new teenagers were standing on, and skated towards them. This attack was also unsuccessful, as they vanished before he could get there. He then turned to see the four of them on another building, "Hey, not bad for somebody we don't know, how about a little race action?" Icezer challenged, as he and Stealth quickly made their way through the streets of Manehatten, with the surfer in pursuit, riding on a self generated wave, riding on a surfboard, with the other in pursuit.

After some running, they all came across the Mane Six, their children and their families, and the Mixels, who were all shocked to see the eight boys racing four other boys that they've never seen before. Just a few yards from the group, the Nega Titans teleported away, leaving the real titans in front of a bunch of very surprised bunch of friends. Without warning, the Nega titans kicked the titans in their backs, knocking them to the ground, "Oof, like to fight dirty, don't ya?" Silver asked, as Lance pulled out the Crystal Heart.

"How did they get the Crystal Heart?!" Twilight asked.

"So that's the Crystal Heart? Wait, now I get it now, its you guys that's been getting us in all this hot water with the royal guard! Say something you imposters!" Brian demanded, as he and his brothers charged at the Nega Titans.

"Well, how about we show them how real we really are?" Lance asked, as the others placed their hands on the Crystal Heart.

"CHAOS CONTROL, NOW!" they said in unison, as they were enveloped in a bright light, before disappearing.

"What the..?!" Silver said, as he and his brothers looked around for the thieves. It didn't take long, as they all materialized in front of them, before they started punching and kicking the titans back down to the ground.

"Fifty years ago, the grandfather of the one you call James, Jerry Mason, infused me and my brothers with the ultimate powers, of dragon, earth, water, and time. Normal beings such as yourselves don't stand a chance against us," Lance explained.

"James?! So he's back in Equestria?!" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, but these punks shouldn't underestimate us normal types," Brian said, just as some guards came rushing towards them.

"I have a feeling we should make ourselves scarce. Goodbye titans. Tempo, if you would," Lance said, as Tempo slowed time around the Nega Titans, as they made their escape, with the guards still rushing towards them.

"Titans, we have you surrounded! You're all under arrest! Put you hands up!" Commander Cold Judgment demanded.

"No way, we didn't do anything!" Silver argued.

"Alright, I'm giving you to the count of ten to surrender," Cold Judgment said, as he began counting, clearly unconvinced.

"Commander Cold Judgment!" Everyone jumped when they heard Celestia call to him. Looking up, they could see her, along with Luna, Discord, and the titans parents all floating down between the guards and the titans, "I am ordering you to stand down! The titans have not committed any crimes," Celestia explained.

"Princess, please understand that I have never backed down from a job, and I don't want to start backing down now," Cold Judgment said, forgetting who he was talking to.

"And I respect that, but the titans are innocent, because of the evidence provided by their parents," Celestia said, looking at Marcus and Lily.

"They could be covering the titan's tracks, so they won't be sent to jail where they belong," Cold Judgment said.

Looking around at his brothers, Silver saw annoyed looks on their faces, "Silver, maybe we should just turn ourselves in, they won't stop until we do," Raiden suggested.

"I have to agree with Raiden, we won't get anywhere if they just argue," Brian said, with the others nodding in agreement.

"Alright officer, we give up, we surrender!" Silver announced, which made everyone look at him confusedly, as the guards approached, "Just go easy on our wrists," he asked. 'You fakers may use Chaos Control with the Crystal Heart, but we're going to have to get out of here without any tricks,' he thought to himself.

"WAIT! The titans are innocent! One of the real thieves was in a suit of armor!" Gobba said.

"We witnessed it!" Magnifo said.

"We'll let the high court of the Crystal Empire decide that," Cold Judgment said, as he and some guards escorted the titans onto a prisoner wagon, and hauled them off to the Crystal Empire, "If any of you wish to vouch for the defendants, then you may come to the Crystal Empire," Cold said, as he left for the Crystal Empire himself.

Unbeknownst to our heroes, the Nega Titans were on a building, watching what has transpired, "C'mon Lance, James is waiting for us," Dusty said, as he and the others left for James' secret base.

'I will let nothing stand in our way, least of all you, titans. Henrietta,' Lance thought to himself, as a vision of a young girl with brown hair, spring green eyes, a sapphire dress, and big blue glasses appeared in his head. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he followed his brothers to their base.

Crystal Empire Castle

22:15

"Ugh, you nimrod! I gave a direct order to call of their arrest! What possessed you to ignore that order?!" Shining Armor spat at Cold Judgment.

"My orders were to apprehend the criminal scum, nothing else," Cold replied.

"Well consider this strike one. Two more and you'll be demoted back down to rookie!" Shining Armor said.

"Whatever for? I completed my first task, just as I was ordered," Cold argued.

"Well, you should start listening to second orders!" Shining Armor snapped, "Now, my wife and kids have gone to the prison outside of the Empire where you locked up the titans. I hope that you'll take what I'm saying more seriously from now on," Shining Armor said, as he left to go join his family at the prison.

Winterkeep Prison

22:45

Deep within the prison walls, in the innermost cell, the titans all sat in the cell, contemplating what had occurred within the day, 'What a day. Who would've thought we'd be locked up for something we didn't do?' Silver thought to himself.

Manehatten Hotel: Royal Suite

23:00

"Alright Chrysalis, here's the deal. The titans have been wrongly accused of something they never did, and we have reason to believe from Twilight and friends, that Toby's former father, James, has released a new, deadlier threat on Equestria," Celestia explained, as the Changeling Queen sat across from the solar princess, sipping on some tea.

"So, what is it that you would like for me to do?" Chrysalis asked.

"Well, from James' last attack on Equestria, which was the Chaos creature incident, we have reason to believe that the villains of Maretropolis are still working with him, so here's where you come in, you'll masquerade as one of the villains, acting as an inside mare. Your mission is to uncover what James' latest plot is, and report back your findings," Luna explained.

"Hmm, sounds exciting, alright, I'll do it," Chrysalis said, as she turned towards her minions, "Alright minions, I would like for you to scout all of Equestria, and let me know the instant if you find something," she ordered, as the Changelings left to scout out where James' hideout was.

Chapter 3: Battle for the Elements begins! Part 1

James' Secret base

4:00 AM

"Excellent work boys! Those pesky titans are now in the slammer thanks to you!" James congratulated the Nega Titans.

"But don't forget James, you must still obtain the other six elements to operate the eclipse cannon, but when you do, you will have unlimited power," Lance said, just as a small fairy pony came flying in with a miniature TV set.

"James, I have a message for you!" Shadow Tech said, giving James the set. Turning it on, an image of Shadow Mane was shown.

"James, I was able to obtain the Master Element with ease, and am returning to base with it, while the others go after the Elements of Harmony in the Crystal Empire," Shadow Mane explained.

"Excellent, things are going according to plan," James said, before hearing a beeping, before the TV exploded, with Shadow Tech laughing, "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" James yelled at the robot Breezy.

"Hey, don't blame me, lots of shows on TV bombs!" Shadow Tech said, giggling again.

Crystal Empire

Winterkeep Prison

7:30 AM

After giving themselves up, the titans were all just lounging around the cell they were put in, Silver was playing cards with Brian and Heiru, Echo-Echo, Stealth, and Icezer were entertaining themselves by drawing pictures on the floor, while Francisco and Raiden were examining the mathematical equations on the walls, "What do you suppose any of this means?" Francisco asked.

"I haven't the foggiest idea, but whoever came up with these equations might've been a genius," Raiden replied, as he examined the wall more closely.

"C'mon guys, just relax, we'll get out of here, sooner or later," Icezer reassured.

Crystal Empire Palace

7:40 AM

"And that's the whole story, Cold Judgment ordered the guards watching over Winterkeep prison to keep us out, until it was time for the high council of the Crystal Empire to give their judgment," Cadence explained to her friends and family.

"Well, is there any way for us to give our evidence on the situation," Celestia asked.

"Yes, the titans are to be given a fair and just trial before their final sentence. If the evidence is to be good enough for them to release the titans, then that's our best bet," Celina replied.

"You've really gotten the hang of law and order in Equestria down pat pretty fast," Flain commented.

"Yeah, I was a major in that area back in college," Celina replied.

"Well, we have good evidence, so that should help us," Marcus said, holding some papers up.

"What are these?" Cadence asked, taking the papers.

"Some papers my boys wrote in their free time. I compared their penmanship to the note, and I concluded that someone is setting them up," Marcus replied.

"Alright, lets take them to the warden, and see if he'll let them out, or at the very least, let us see them," Cadence said, leading her family and friends to Winterkeep Prison.

Crystal Empire Outskirts

7:40

"Hmm, I wonder if I'm pushing my luck, trying to invade the Crystal Empire a second time?" James asked himself.

"I would think so, security has really tightened since our last visit," Long Face replied, just as Shadow Mane and the Nega titans arrived.

"Is everyone here? Good, now then, where's the plan, I will go around wreaking havoc around the Empire, drawing off the attention of the guards. Now here are your roles, the Nega Titans will infiltrate the Winterkeep Prison, and sabotage their defenses with it remote detonator," James said, tossing a small device to Lance, who caught it, and nodded in understanding, "Meanwhile, the rest of you will go and snatch away the Elements of Harmony, once everyone has lowered their guard," he explained, as he looked at the villains, who all nodded in understanding, "We only have one shot at this, if any of you runs into any trouble, you're on your own," James said, as he and the others went to do their own tasks.

'Hmm, looks like these dopes can't tell the difference,' "Shadow Mane" thought to herself.

Chapter 4: Battle for the Elements Begins! Part 2

After his cohorts left to complete their assignments, James went on the attack, firing rockets all around the Empire. Thankfully, he didn't hit any of the buildings or the ponies, but it was enough to catch the attention of the guards, who were all chasing James, as he flew around, still firing rockets.

Meanwhile,

After leaving James to cause a distraction, the Nega Titans and the villains all made their way to Winterkeep. Stopping outside the walls of the infamous prison, Lance could see the elements of harmony, along with the children, the Mixels, and their targets, the Beings of Harmony, all waiting to be let in, "Lance, should I freeze time and retrieve the elements?" Tempo asked.

"No, we have our own assignment to accomplish ourselves," Lance replied. Just then, he saw that the group was being let in, "Alright Tempo, freeze time around us, and we'll infiltrate the prison from there," Lance ordered. Nodding in understanding, Tempo began to warp the fabric of time around them, and they all quickly made their way into the prison, and past the group, and the guards, "Alright, lets get to our assignments," Lance said as he and the other Nega Titans made their way to the weapon storage facility.

"Well, we should wait for an opening to swipe the elements, those lame brains will never know what hit them," Mane-iac said, as she and the other villains left for their own hiding places, just as time was returning to normal.

Back with the children,

After getting permission to see the titans, the adults went down to their cell, while the Mixels volunteered to stay behind and watch the children, "Well, while they go and straighten things out with the Titans, how about we take a stroll around the Crystal Empire while we wait?" Flain suggested.

"Well, seeing as how none of you have been to the Empire before, Ah could show y'all around," Nathan offered.

"Fine with me," Zorch said, before seeing Toby, Conner, Echo, Clover, Melody, and Mike, all looking around, "Hey guys, is something wrong?" the fiery speedster asked.

"Well, none of us can see our little sisters, and they were just standing right here," Toby replied.

"That's strange, but why is Trinity still here? They could've taken her too," Cory pointed out.

"Hmm, I'll run in, and tell the others," Sonia said, rushing back into the prison to find the adults.

"Well, in the meantime, I guess we should look around here for them," Hoogi said.

Winterkeep Prison: Titans Cell

9:00 AM

While he was waiting for someone to come and bust him and his brother out, Raiden was examining the math equations on the wall, 'Hmm, what do these equations mean?' he thought to himself, just as he and the others heard the door holding their opening, and much to their relief, it was their parents and their friends.

"Hello Titans," Celestia said.

"Hey, what're you all doing here?" Silver asked.

"To get you out of here, of course," Discord replied, just as Sonia came running in.

"Guys, we have a problem! Serenity, Charity, Season, Vibrant, and Lucky Joy have disappeared!" she cried.

"Bet it was those weird Titans, the ones that had that guy in a suit of armor," Brian suggested. Twilight then noticed some writing on the walls.

"Uh, were you boys doing math on that wall?" she asked.

"That was there before, now stand back," Raiden said, as he and his brothers readied themselves, and burst through the bars, "Ok, lets hurry and find them," he said, as Discord teleported them out of the prison.

Winterkeep Prison: Weapon Storage facility

9:05 AM

"James, the detonator is set, but I need to know how long to set the timer for," Lance said, using a communicator.

"Good work boys, you can set the detonator to go off in exactly fifteen minutes. Will that be enough time for you and your team to get out, Mane-iac?" James asked over the communicator.

"My team has already got our objectives, and we can get out of here in five minutes easy," Mane-iac replied.

"Alright, then set the detonator to go off in ten minutes," James said to the Nega titan, who did so.

"Alright guys, lets blow this popsicle stand," Lance said, as he and his brothers ran out of the building.

Winterkeep Prison Courtyard

9:10 AM

After Discord teleported the group outside the prison walls, they saw all the children and the Mixels looking around for the missing elements of harmony, "Hey guys, any luck?" Sonia asked.

"None so far," Toby replied, before noticing four figures jumping off of the building, "Hey, look!" Toby said, pointing to the side of the building.

"It those fake titans!" Brian said, as he and his brothers gave chase.

"Boys, wait!" Lily called.

"Don't worry, my fellow leaders will give chase, right guys?" Flain asked, which the others nodded.

"I'll take to the skies," Flurr said, as he began to fly, with Mesmo in pursuit.

Outer Forest Clearing

9:15 AM

"Alright, lets wait here for the others to arrive," Lance said.

"Not so fast!" the Nega Titans all turned to see the real titans, "We found you fakers!" Silver said.

"Fakers? You dare call us fakers? I think you're the fake titans. You're not good enough to be our fakes," Tempo said, as he and his brothers raced off.

"Hold it right there!" Brian said, as he and Silver tackled Lance to the ground, while Francisco and Heiru attacked Tempo, Stealth and Icezer went after Surfer, and Echo-Echo and Raiden went after Dusty. A huge battle ensued as the titans and Nega titans exchanged blast after blast, none of them giving an edge.

"Oh boys, could you come and help my team out? We ran into some trouble, and now we're locked in some large room, and it can't be opened from the inside," Mane-iac asked. over the communicator.

"We're busy!" Lance snarled.

"What? You mean you won't help us?" High Heel asked.

"Not right this second, no!" Dusty replied.

Winterkeep Storage Area

9:20 AM

"I knew we should never have counted on those shady characters!" Shadow Mane commented, as she and her fellow villains tried to break the doors down themselves.

"Just you jerks wait! Our family and friends are going to get us back, just you wait!" Vibrant said.

"Oh, be quiet!" Mane-iac hissed, as she and the other villains continued at the door.

Outer forest Clearing

9:23 AM

"*Pant* *Pant* You guys are pretty good," Silver said, trying to catch his breath.

"You guys aren't to shabby yourselves," Lance commented.

"Lance, what are you and your brothers doing?! The bomb in Winterkeep's storage is going to blow up any second!" James said over the communicator.

"WHAT?!" the titans exclaimed.

"We need to get back to the prison, and fast!" Silver said, as Francisco teleported them away.

"I'm not waiting for you and the villains any longer! You're on your own now," James said, as Lance pulled out his communicator.

"Mane-iac, do you and your friends still have the elements of Harmony?" he asked.

"Like they could escape," Mane-iac replied.

"We'll be right there to pick them up," Lance said, before turning towards Tempo, who pulled out the Crystal Heart. However, they didn't know that the Mixel leaders were watching the whole thing, and charged at them, latching onto them, as they all warped.

Winterkeep Storage Area

9:25 AM

"*Groan* They're coming for the elements, but what about us?" Long Face asked, just as the Nega Titans warped into the storage unit, with the Mixel leaders, who they just punched away, and swiped the elements.

"Alright, we have the elements, so lets get out of here," Lance said.

"Hold on! You boys aren't just going to leave them behind, are you?" High Heel asked.

"It doesn't concern us what happens to them," Surfer replied.

"Hold on," Flain said as he stood up, "Our friends got arrested because of you guys," he said.

"So what?" Dusty asked.

"Well, we'd know they try to save you guys if it was the other way around," Viynal reasoned, just as another vision entered the Nega Titan's minds, of the same little girl as before.

Thinking for a moment, Lance then turned towards Tempo, "Tempo, go ahead and slow time around everyone in this room for about thirty minutes," he instructed, which Lance did so, "As for you guys," Lance said, turning towards the Mixels, "You're all coming with us," he said, as Surfer formed a ball of water around them, "Surfer, you, Dusty and Mane-iac and her friends head back to the base. I still have one more thing that I should do before we leave," Lance instructed, as everyone went their separate ways.

"So what're we going to do?" Tempo asked, as he and Lance exited the compound.

"Since the Element of Magic is going to be the hardest to contain, we're going to kidnap some of her friends," Lance said, as he grabbed Toby, Josh, and Conner, while Tempo grabbed Melody, Clover, and Mavis, "And just because I'm old fashioned, I'll leave this ransom note," Lance said, as he pulled out a letter with words spelled with newspaper clippings.

We have your children. If you ever want to see them again, along with the Mixel leaders, you WILL bring us the Element of Magic to Space Colony ARK.

"Brilliant!" Tempo said, as Lance left the note on Shuff's face. As soon as that was done, they took off.

Winterkeep Prison Courtyard

9:27 AM

Detonator Countdown: 2 minutes 23 seconds

After the effects of Tempo began to wear off, Shuff noticed a piece of paper on his face. Taking it of, and reading it, he gasped, "Uh, guys?" he called.

"What's wrong Shuff?" Spot asked.

"This is," Shuff said, handing the DJ musician the ransom note. Once read, she gasped in horror.

"Hey, you guys know where my precious baby Toby is?" Ashley asked. Spot then handed Ashley the note, and once she read it herself, she gasped in horror, "Oh, my baby!" she cried, just as Heiru scooped her, along with Shuff and Spot, "What the?! Heiru, what're you doing?!" Ashley demanded.

"No time, there's a bomb in the prison that'll go off any minute! My brothers have already evacuated everyone here," Heiru replied, as he brought them over to a hill side, where the others were waiting, just as the prison exploded.

"Was everyone in the prison evacuated?" Shining Armor asked on of the guards.

"Yes captain, and all the inmates are present and accounted for," the guard replied.

"Good, now then, until another prison is built, you're all going to spend your sentences in the dungeons bellow Canterlot Castle," Celestia said sternly, which got some quiet groans from the inmates.

"But, what about our babies?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, and we need our leaders," Hoogi said, as the sun began to set, but not before a mysterious warp in the fabric of space formed in the night sky.

Chapter 4: The ultimatum

Canterlot Castle

7:45 AM

The next morning, after leaving the Crystal empire, Celestia had brought all the families, and the remaining Mixels to the castle. They were all having breakfast in the dining hall, when a guard came in, "Princess, I'm simply to report that there were no others in the prison, and everyone has made it safely out," the guard said.

"Thank you sergeant," Celestia said, which the guard nodded, and left.

"Well, at least now we know our friends are alright," Zaptor said.

"True, but if they're not at Winterkeep, and they're not here," Superstar began, before she gasped, "Then the Nega Titans must have them!" she exclaimed.

"They might've taken them to James' secret base," Marcus said.

"So, if we want to find our friends, we need to find that base," Silver said.

"But it could be anywhere!" Deimo pointed out.

"Just leave that to me, Dash, and Speedy," Zorch said, as he, and the Supersonics raced out of the castle.

"I'd better start searching myself," Francisco said, as he began to warp space, "Hmm, knowing James, he probably set up shop in the last place we'd think to look," he muttered to himself.

Equestrian Sand Dunes

5:56 PM

A cloud of dust was rocketing through the dunes. When the cloud died down, it revealed a very angry Eris, "I'll get even with that sneaky mare who stole the Master Element!" she seethed. Just then, she felt the ground below her shaking, forcing her to duck and cover. When she looked up, she saw a stream of smoke flying into the air, "What was that?" she asked herself, taking to the other side of the dune, where a pyramid structure was sitting, "Could that be James' secret base?" she thought to herself, before teleporting away.

Space Colony Ark: Observation Deck

7:53 PM

Gazing out onto the planet that they had came from, as well as the planet Earth that the human children came from, the Mixel leaders, along with the children were amazed at the view, "So, we're in some kind of space station?" Toby asked.

"We call this place Space colony: Ark," Lance explained.

"I never heard of it," Josh said.

"It was created fifty years ago by Professor Jerry Mason, the same person who created us four," Surfer said.

"Huh, I wonder if you kids are the first children that's ever come into space?" Teslo asked.

"They're not," Surfer replied.

"Really, then who was the first?" Conner asked, which made the Nega Titans divert their eyes away from the group, before glaring harshly at the below, as another flashback began.

Flashback: Fifty Years ago

The Nega titans were looking at the Earth from the observation deck, when a young girl came up to them, "Are you boys going to stare out the window all the time?" she asked teasingly.

"Well, yeah," Surfer replied.

"Since all we've seen of the planet are from photographs on the surface, we wonder just what its like to see the sky above your head. You get what we're saying Henrietta?" Lance asked.

"The professor said we had a purpose, but he never really told us what it is, but we have a feeling it has something to do with that planet," Tempo commented.

"Yeah, but someday, I want to visit that planet," Henrietta said, as another, more scarring memory flashed in the minds of the Nega titans. They were running away from the human military, while Dusty was holding onto Henrietta's hand, with the professor in tow. After some running, the Nega titans made it into a seemingly empty room, where they stood in the center. Looking back towards Henrietta, she pulled a lever, slamming down a capsule, trapping the Nega titans.

"Henrietta, what are you doing?!" Lance demanded.

"I'm sorry big brothers. I always dreamed of going to the planet below with you four, but it looks like you're all going to have to go without me. The planet looked so beautiful from here. Big brothers, please," Henrietta tearfully said, but the Nega titans could not clearly remember what the little girl had said. Just then, the door opened, and a soldier pointed a gun at the youth.

"Little missy, take your hand off that lever," the soldier demanded.

"No, Henrietta, don't do it!" Tempo pleaded.

"Sayonara, big brothers," Henrietta sadly said, as she pulled the lever, releasing the capsule. But just before the capsule was released, the most horrific scar for the Nega titans happened. The soldier shot the little girl, as Henrietta fell unconscious to the ground.

Present time

'They'll pay for what they did to her. Every last one of them,' the Nega titans thought to themselves, glaring even harder at the planet, which made the children, and Scorpi cower in fear.

Space Colony ARK: control room

8:00 PM

"Alright James, the elements are in place," Mane-iac said, as she and Long Face placed the elements of Harmony, along with the crystal heart into a big machine. However, James was fiddling around with the control panels.

"Alright, where is that blasted plug?!" he raged, as he messed around with some more panels.

"So, this dump keeps the ultimate weapon? Let me guess, it makes our enemies laugh so hard, they surrender?" Shadow Mane asked.

"I'll have you know that the eclipse cannon draws its power from powerful magic elements, such as the Elements of Harmony, and if it has enough power, it has the power to destroy an entire planet," James explained.

"Is that true, it can really destroy a planet?" Long Face asked Mane-iac.

"You know he tends to exaggerate," Mane-iac replied.

"I HEARD THAT!" James yelled, which made the two villains jump.

Time Square: Human Earth

8:45 PM

The citizens of the human earth were going about their normal routines, when the Jumbo-tron went to static, and James' face appeared, cackling evilly.

Equestria

8:45 PM

"Attention, this is James Mason, coming to you live from Space Colony ARK, with a proposition that no one can resist! Now then, if you'll all turn your attention to the sky," James instructed. When the citizens of both planets looked up, they were shocked to see a planet right next to their own, "Now then, I am requesting that all citizens of both planets follow my rule! For those who resist, this is the penalty," he explained, as he pointed the Space Colony's cannon at the human earths moon, and fired, blasting a good chunk off of it. This horrified not only the citizens of both planets, but Luna as well, "This is the penalty for disloyalty to my rule, and make no attempts to resist, the Colony and the Eclipse cannon are indestructible from the outside. The leaders of both planets have twenty four hours to comply," he explained, before signing off.

Space Colony ARK: Control room

8:47 PM

"With that kind of power, James came blow up any planet he wants!" Viynal commented fearfully.

"He wasn't kidding, it really is the ultimate weapon," 'Shadow Mane' commented.

Equestria Dunes:

7:45 AM

"Alright, so we now know that James is in Space Colony ARK, but how is the human Earth directly next to ours?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The power of the elements must've broken the spacial barrier between our worlds, thus positioning our solar system right next to theirs," Twilight theorized.

"How right you are, Twilight," Discord commented, "But the children, along with the Mixels leaders must still be James' base, so we should pray that they're still there," he said.

"We're approaching the base now," Eris said, as she presented the pyramid to the group.

"It could be dangerous, so lets keep on our toes," Silver said, as they all entered the base.

Canterlot Castle: Pegasus guard Hanger

7:45 AM

While Discords group left to storm James' base, Eric, Sarah, Raiden, and Echo-Echo were modifying the jets with Trinity hooked up with some wires, "I hope these mods will be enough to get us into space," Eric commented.

"But Trinity alone won't be able to generate the power we need to do so," Raiden pointed out.

"But Trinity is all we have Raiden," Eric explained.

"Yeah, I'm the only element of harmony we have," Trinity said.

"Not quite Trinity, we have two elements," Raiden said, as he pulled out an element of magic that wasn't as lustrous as Trinity's jewel form.

"You made a copy of Trinity?!" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, but it isn't as powerful as Trinity is, but its power is almost identical," Raiden explained, as they all went back to work.

Inside James' base

7:52 AM

After exploring the base in the search for the children and the Mixels, the group eventually ended up at a door, "Alright, so how do we get through?" Brian asked.

"There's a keyhole here, so there has to be a key somewhere," Twilight said, as she and the others looked at Eris, Heiru, and the remaining Cragsters.

"Uh, why're you all looking at us?" Heiru asked.

"Well, you have ghost powers, so you should try to open it from the inside Heiru, and since the Cragsters and Eris are treasure hunters, they should look around for the key," Silver explained.

"*Sigh* Alright," Heiru said, as he phased through the door.

"But why send us? A key isn't exactly a treasure," Eris asked.

"A real treasure hunter wouldn't have any trouble finding something as simple as a key," Marcus said.

"Maybe they are treasure hunters, but they're not very good ones," Heaven suggested.

"Alright fine, we'll look!" Eris growled as she and the Cragsters left to find the key, "So, where should we start looking?" Eris asked.

"Hmm, James might hide key in last place to look, so we look there," Shuff suggested, as he and Seismo went digging.

"Alright, I guess I'll look up on the surface," Eris said to herself as she began to look around, before she ran into a familiar mechanical Breezy.

"I hope you know you're all trespassing," Shadow Tech said.

"Look, I have no time to play games with you Shadow Tech. SCRAM!" Eris yelled.

"Look, if you all don't clear out of here, you're all going to be sorry!" Shadow Tech warned.

Just as Eris raised her bear claw, she stopped herself, 'No, I have to keep looking' she thought to herself, walking by the robot Breezy.

"Well, I warned her, didn't I?" Shadow Tech asked the audience, as he pulled out a remote control, "Go clobber them, J-Golem," he said, as he pressed a button.

Back with the group,

As they waited for the return of Eris and the Cragsters, the group heard a rumbling. Turning towards the corridor, they could see Eris and the Cragsters all running towards them, "Did they find the key already?!" Vulk asked, before his and everyone's attention turned behind the fleeing Draconequss and Cragsters, as a very large statue was chasing them.

"Nope, more like trouble. Fifteen tons of it," Silver commented, as Eris led the statue to the door, and with a mighty kick, the golem smashed the door open, revealing a very surprised Heiru.

"There, we got the door open, happy?!" Eris snapped.

"Yeah, but we can't go anywhere, until we deal with that," Silver replied, looking at the colossal statue.

"Ha! I'm not going to let you foil master James' plans this time!" Shadow Tech said, as the titans went on the attack. Brian tried a head on attack in a superheated ball of flames, "Ha, that won't work, here's the spin cycle!" the mechanical Breezy said, as he pushed a button, which had the statue spinning its arms around at a high velocity, knocking away Brain. Icezer then tried to use the spinning arms to his advantage, as he ran on the arms, "Now here's the clap trap!" Shadow Tech said, having the statue stop its arms, clapping its hands on Icezer, and then head-butting him, knocking him to the ground, "Ha, none of you can beat me, and none of you will be able to get up into space, so just give up!" the robot breezy said, just as the statues foot was brought under the ground, "Alright, what's going on?!" he demanded, as he fluttered to the ground.

"Sorry we're late," a familiar man, preferably Will, along with Cindy, came out of the tunnel, which was dug by Will's Steelix.

"Will? Cindy? What are you guys doing here?" Twilight asked.

"After that transmission, we knew Toby's father was up to his tricks. So we came here to help any way we can," Will replied.

"But how did you know where to find us?" Rarity asked.

"Never underestimate Lucario's ability to track aura," Will said, as the Pokemon in question leaped out of the hole.

"Alright, so you've got size to match the J-Golem, but it won't help you either way, cause look what I've got!" Shadow Tech sang, as the colossus raised its arms, to reveal Trixie and the Ponyville fillies.

"APPLEBLOOM!" Applejack cried in distress.

"How did you get my sister?!" Rarity demanded.

"Heh, never underestimate the capabilities of the tiny, but useful trapping robots, created by the glorious James himself!" Shadow Tech said, just as Lucario came from behind the robot breezy, and glared him down, forcing Shadow Tech to keep the remote control out of its reach, but not anticipating Cindy to sneak behind him, and snatch away the remote, "Hey, give that back!" the mechanical breezy demanded, which prompted Cindy to push button, releasing Trixie and the fillies, who then fell from the giants grip.

"Lucario, use psychic!" Will called out, which the aura Pokemon complied, as its eyes turned a light blue color, which encased the fillies and Trixie in the same light, and carefully set all of them down gently.

"What's this button do?" Cindy pondered, as she pushed it, which soon had the giant statue chasing Shadow Tech out of the temple, yelling stuff like "No, don't!", "Your enemies are back there!", or even "Don't chase me boulder brain!", leaving a very confused bunch of friends.

"Thanks for the help Will," Sweetie Belle squeaked.

"No problem, just doing what I though was necessary," Will replied.

"But how did you girls get captured, along with you Trixie?" Twilight asked.

"Well, we were just minding our own business, when out of nowhere, a net captured us, and dragged us back here," Scootaloo replied.

"The same goes for Trixie," Trixie, commented.

"Perhaps camouflaged trapping robots, obviously left here by James so he can use the captured ponies as hostages if somehow his plan fails," Twilight theorized.

"Yeah, but its not just us who were captured, all sorts of ponies were captured and placed in the jail here in the base," Diamond Tiara said.

"Take me to where the prison is, we can free all the hostages," Will said, before turning towards his friends, "This is where we must part, but best of luck to you guys in your mission," he said, as the fillies, and Trixie led him and Cindy to the prison.

"Meanwhile, we should get into the larger top of the base, and let Raiden and them in," Twilight said, as she and the others rushed into the other room, and opened the top of the base, which was good timing, because Raiden, and the rest of them were coming in with the jets.

"We did guys! We modified the jets to go into space!" Raiden said, before he noticed a problem, "We may have a slight problem. The jets only seat four each," Raiden said, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, that puts a dent in our plans," Slumbo commented.

"Well, we could always take that," Silver said, pointing at a huge rocket ship, "Its big enough for all of us," he added on.

"Looks like we did all that work for nothing," Eric deadpanned, as everyone boarded the rocket, and took off for the Space Colony.

Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic Adventure 2, or any of the Sonic references. All copyright goes to sega.

Chapter 5: Storm the Space colony! Silver's final goodbye?

James' Pyramid Base

8:00 AM

After the Frosticons boarded the rocket, our heroes took off for space, 'Just wait Toby, your mommies are coming to get you,' Ashley and Fluttershy thought to themselves.

Outer Space

8:03 AM

Time till infiltrating the ARK: 15 Minutes: 27 Seconds

After leaving the atmosphere of Equestria's Earth, our heroes soon found themselves in the midst of an asteroid field. Some time later, the Space colony came into view, "There it is," Raiden said in awe.

"Its enormous!" Sarah commented.

Just as they got closer, Eris could feel the Master Elements energy reaching out to her, "I feel it! The Master Element!" Eris cried, as she rushed over to the controls, "Can't this thing go any faster?!" she snarled, as she fought for control.

"Hey calm down!" Brian demanded.

"Yeah, we're all going to the same place!" Icezer pointed out, as they all came in closer to the Space colony.

"Master element, here comes momma!" Eris said, as the rocket crashed into the side of the colony.

Space Colony Ark control deck

8:18 AM

Lounging around at the controls for the colony, 'Shadow Mane' was talking with James over the intercom system, "Looks like your boys did it this time. The leaders of both planets are bound to launch a counter strike," she said.

"Don't worry Shadow Mane, its nothing to concern yourself with," James replied.

"Well, then how about we launch the attack? How about giving me the password to the Colony's defense systems?" 'Shadow Mane' asked.

"H-E-N-R-I-E-T-T-A, Henrietta, that's the magic word. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be standing by a crazy gadget," James said, as he signed off.

"Ha, that was so easy, I almost feel guilty, almost. Alright lets get to work, Henrietta, H-E-N-R-I-E-T-T-A," 'Shadow Mane' said to herself, as she got access to file of Project Nega Titan, "'Project Nega Titan'? Sounds exciting! Now, lets see what we've got here," she said, as she accessed more top secret files, "'Top Secret'? Sounds juicy," she said, as she opened the file, before look of shock filled her face, "What? 'The Nega Titans sealed off'? But if that's true, then who are those boys who were helping us?" she pondered.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDERS SPOTTED IN SECTOR M-17!" the alarm signaled.

"Well, I wonder who that could be?" 'Shadow Mane' wondered as she went to investigate.

Space Colony Ark: Observation Deck 1

8:18 AM

While waiting for their families and friends to come and rescue them, the children were all huddled up next to the Mixels, just when Lance noticed something, "Your friends are coming," he solemnly spoke.

"You mean our mommies?" Josh asked.

"And our friends?" Glomp asked.

"That's right, but they would be fools to challenge us again," Tempo replied.

"Your the fools! Our friends won't stop at anything till they stop my daddy!" Toby countered, which the Nega Titans just sneered at.

Master Element Store room

8:21 AM

Leaving the other behind, Eris soon made her way into the store room, where she was meet with the presence of the Master Element, "There you are!" she said, as she rushed towards the magic jewel, before being stopped by the Mane-iac and her friends.

"That's as far as you go, Eris," Mane-iac said.

"Outta my way! The master Element belongs back in Equestria!" Eris argued.

"Well, if you want it, you'll have to take it from us," High-Heel said, as she and the others went on the attack. Eris then countered, using her eagle talon and bear claw to slash at the villains. Mane-iac then used her mane to ensnare Eris, giving an opportunity to Smudge, who was about to slam Eris with his hoof with tremendous force, until Eris teleported away, causing Smudge to strike the foothold under 'Shadow Mane', who would've plummeted to her death, if Eris never caught her in time. Pulling 'Shadow Mane' back up to stable ground, Eris set her down. Once that was done, the Pharaoh knocked Eris away.

"Back off!" he snarled.

"Hey, if it wasn't for me, she would've busted her head!" Eris argued.

"Fine, whatever," Mane-iac said, as she and the others walked away.

"Hey, wait! What about the Master Element?!" Eris demanded.

"Keep it. We have what we need, so that things just taking up space," Long Face said.

"You know, I'll never get the minds of you villains," Eris said, as she picked up the Master Element, and ran off.

Space Colony Ark: outside Observation Deck 2

8:24 AM

"I think we should head this way," Raiden said, pointing down a hallway.

"Ok, but what should we do when we get to the cannons power supply?" Twilight asked.

"We can use this," Raiden said, holding up the fake element of Magic.

"Oh no! I am not letting you use Trinity to help you do whatever you're planning," Twilight protested.

"Well, if this was Trinity, that would make sense. But this is a fake element of Magic I made to power the jets. I doesn't have the same power as an element of harmony, but if we put it with the real one, it could cause some sort of reaction that might melt down the system," Raiden explained, just as they all entered another room. Without warning, Rarity let out a high pitched scream, which caught everyone off guard.

"Rarity, what happened?!" Twilight asked, as the as the lights came on, to reveal Rarity was captured by James.

"Well now, don't any of you know its impolite to barge in unannounced?" James asked, before taking notice of Ashley, "Ashley, I thought you were dead," he said.

"You mean after you killed me? Yeah, well, jump back a few stories to 'Toby's Wish', and you'll find out," Ashley replied.

"Ok, but now, back to THIS story. I'm willing to make a trade, this drama queen unicorn, for the element of magic, so what'll it be?" James asked

"Silver, if you give James the fake element, you could kill two birds with one stone," Raiden whispered to Silver.

"Ok, I'll do it. You've turned into a big time villain James," Silver commented.

"Now just place the element into the center of that circle right there, and then back away," James ordered.

"Ah well, I guess you can't win them all, now can you?" Silver asked, as he placed the fake element of Magic into the center of the circle. Without warning, James pressed a button that soon trapped Silver in a glass tube, "Hey, what the?!" Silver asked.

"HA! You think you could trick me with that counterfeit element?" James taunted.

"How did you know it was a fake?!" Raiden asked.

"You just told him," Silver deadpanned. Raiden just had a 'wat' face on him.

"Let him go!" Twilight demanded.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Silver said, which made Heaven start tearing up.

"S-silver?" Heaven asked.

"Raiden, you're in charge. Don't let me down," Silver said to the straw hatted teen.

"W-what are you saying?" Raiden asked. Before Silver could answer, James pressed another button that released the capsule into space, but Silver was able to get a telepathic message to Raiden before he left.

'Don't worry, I have a plan,' Silver said to Raiden. Looking out the window to see where Silver was, all they saw was an explosion, which made everyone gasp in horror, especially Heaven.

"SILVER!" Heaven and Lily cried out.

"No, it can't be the end, can it?" Marcus asked.

"I'm through waiting around, now hand over the element of Magic right now," James ordered.

"No, it can't be the end Silver," Raiden mumbled. James put a hand up to his ear to hear what he was saying, "I won't do it Silver. I'll never give him what he wants," Raiden said, as a look of determination was planted into his eyes, "I'll never give up! Volectro, Zaptor, get the others out of harms way, Brian, Heiru, Echo-Echo, Stealth, Francisco, Icezer, with me!" Raiden said. The Electroids got everyone to safety, while the titans went on the attack at James, who then pushed a button, which had turrets firing at the titans, who were able to strike down with some ease. However an explosion caused the titans to be sent flying back into the wall, which unfortunately caused Raiden to drop the real element of magic, which James greedily seized, "Hey, give that back!" Raiden cried, as James ran out of the room, "I'm really sorry guys, I let James get the element of magic," he said, looking down in disappointment.

"Hey don't beat yourself up Raiden. We could always go and destroy the cannon ourselves," Stealth suggested.

"Right, well, lets get a move on," Raiden said, as he and the others ran out of the room.

"I guess that leaves us to go and find Toby and the others," Twilight said, as her group left in search of the missing children and Mixel leaders.

Space colony ARK observation deck 1

8:25 A few seconds after Silver was launched into space

"What was that explosion?" Kraw asked.

"Humph, it appears one of your friends could not save themselves," Lance commented.

"Wait, you mean one of our friends was in there?" Tobus asked.

"Yes, and it appears that they were not the big hero you thought them to be," Tempo replied.

"No, you're wrong! Nobody was in there! I'm sure of it!" Toby cried, as he ran off.

"Toby, wait!" Magnifo called, as he and the others chased after the youth.

'They're wrong! There couldn't be anyone in there!' Toby thought to himself, as he continued to run.

En route to the eclipse cannon

8:30 AM

"C'mon, it has to be here somewhere!" Raiden said, as he and the others continued to run. After making a turn, they encountered Eris carrying the Master Element, "Eris!" Raiden called, as he and the others ran towards their older sister. A little bit before they could get closer, a ball of light appeared from thin air. From the ball, Silver fell out.

"SILVER!" the titans and Eris said, rushing over to see if the psychic soldier was ok.

"Are you ok man?" Icezer asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to try something," Silver said, holding up the fake magic element, as it glowed slightly.

"Care to explain?" Eris asked. Taking a deep breath, Silver then explained what had happened after being launched into space.

Chapter 6: Blast from the past

*Flashback*

"Ok, lets hope this works," Silver said, holding the fake Magic Element, "CHAOS CONTROL!" he said, as he began pouring all his psychic power into the element, which began to glow.

*Present Time*

"This may be a fake element, but it works , like a charm," Silver commented.

"What's your plan?" Eris asked.

"We're going to put this little guy to the test. Raiden, you and the others come with me," Silver said, leading the other titans to the cannon.

Space Colony ARK control room

8:27 AM

"Alright Celestia, I'm downloading all the file on Project Nega Titan as we speak," 'Shadow Mane' said over a communicator.

"Good work Chrysalis, make sure you get every last bit of information," Celestia said over the communicator.

"Don't worry, even that dope of father that Toby had doesn't know what I'm doing," Chrysalis replied, "Should I grab the Elements?" the changeling asked.

"Go ahead and do so, but be sure you get all the data on..." the transmission was cut off with a stomp to the communicator by Lance.

"I'd leave those elements where they're at, we wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands, now would we, Queen Chrysalis?" Lance asked as he, his brothers, and the other villains surrounded the changeling imposter.

Changing back into her original form, Chrysalis chuckled, "So you finally figured it out? Well, now that I have all the information on Project Nega Titan at my disposal, I'll just be leaving, if you don't mind," Chrysalis said slyly.

"We do mind, you phony imposter!" Lance growled viciously.

"Well that's rich, coming from you," Chrysalis said.

"What do you mean?" Surfer asked.

Chrysalis then pulled out a document, "According to this, the body of the original Nega Titan was sealed off due to an accident," Chrysalis explained.

"Yes, that's true, but that was the prototype. We were the very first creatures made after that," Dusty countered.

"Ah, but it says here that on the day the ARK was shut down, there were eight capsules ejected, and apparently none of them were ever found. If that's so, then how did you four end up on a secret military base?" Chrysalis asked.

Just then, Lance's communicator signaled a call, "Good news Lance, I have the element of magic, so I'm going to go put it in. Oh, and it appears we have some intruders at the cannons power supply. Could you and your brothers go and see to it?" James asked.

"Roger that, on our way," Lance replied, before he and the others turned away to head to the cannon.

"Come back! Don't you boys realize that everything about you isn't real?! Don't you realize that the memories you boys have are just as unreal as you?!" Chrysalis asked.

"If it is true that our memories are not our own, then they are all we have," Tempo said, as he and the others left.

Hallway outside of cannon

8:30 AM

Continuing to run to where she can find her friends, Eris then looked out a window, to see the Nega Titans running along a conveyor belt, "They must be going after Silver and the others," she said to herself.

"Then that means Silver's ok!" Eris turned to see the bearers of Harmony, along with everyone else.

"MOMMY! MOMMA!" everyone turned to see Toby, along with the other children and the Mixel leaders all running towards them.

"Oh, Toby, we were so scared for you!" Ashley said, as she and Fluttershy scooped him up in a warm embrace.

Eclipse Cannon

8:32 AM

"Alright, now lets wreck this thing!" Silver said.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that," looking back, the titans could see the Nega Titans, all standing behind our heroes, "I could have sworn one of you might've been blown out into space a little while ago," Lance said.

"Ah, well, you know me, I die hard," Silver said, holding the fake element.

"I see, you caused chaos control with that phony element," Tempo said.

"That's right, well, we got to run," Silver said, as he and the others raced of towards the control deck of the cannon, only to be pursued by the Nega Titans.

"I'm afraid we can not allow you to escape, not until you tell us who your all are," Lance said, as he and his brothers chased the titans.

"We're some of Equestrias greatest heroes. We're known as the titans!" Silver replied.

"Ah, then we see your reason for upholding truth, but your days of justice ends HERE!" Lance said, as all twelve of them rushed off.

Space Colony ARK: Control room

8:35 AM

"Eclipse Cannon is beginning to charge power," Mane-iac said.

"I will release the safety locks," Long Face said.

"Good, now all I have to do is put the element of magic in, and..." James was cutoff when the colony shook, "What the!?" he said, flabbergasted.

"The cannon is taking damage from the inside!" High Heel responded.

"What do those Nega Titans think they're doing?!" Pharaoh asked, just as the colony shook again.

"Bad news James, the cannon battery has been shot," High Heel said.

"Grr, well, FIRE IT ANYWAY!" James ordered, as he placed the last element of harmony into its slot, and walked over to the control panel, "Eclipse Cannon, FIRE!" James yelled, as he slammed his fist on the fire button, but then, the entire room went dark, "What? Why is this happening?!" James demanded. Just then, a picture of an old man appeared, "Its, my grandfather, Professor Jerry Mason," he said, awestruck.

Eclipse Cannon power station

8:36 AM

"Dragon Spear!" Lance shouted, as he launched a barrage of energy bullets at Brian and Silver, as they skillfully dodged, while the others were fighting a different Nega Titan. Eventually they smashed the cannon severely, leaving only a path of destruction. Looking around, Raiden found a broken wire that was still crackling with electricity, "Your meddling days are over, Titans," Lance said, as he launched more bullets at the titans, as Raiden dodged them all, and grabbed the broken ends of the wires, and began absorbing electricity. Once he reached full power, Raiden then sent a wave of electrical energy at the Nega Titans, who were sent careening into a pile of rubble.

"GIVE UP NEGA TITANS. ITS OVER!" Echo-Echo demanded.

"On the contrary, its just beginning," Dusty replied.

"What do you mean?" Stealth asked, as the Colony shook.

"Titans! Your time is running out!" Lance said, as he and his brothers made a hasty retreat.

"Wait, what do mean by that!?" Brian said, before he and his brothers looked behind them to see a timer set for twenty seven minutes and fifty three seconds.

"What could that mean?" Raiden said, as he and the others ran out of the room to join their friends.

Chapter 7: Jerry's Revenge

Space Colony ARK Observation Deck 1

8:38 AM

Leaving where they fought the Nega Titans, the titans soon found themselves among their friends, just as the ARK shook again, "What's with all these vibrations?!" Zorch asked.

"Quiet, someone's coming," Silver said. From the ceiling swooped Chrysalis.

"Chrysalis! What are you doing here?" Toby asked.

"Its all over for us," the changeling replied.

"What do you mean?" Silver asked.

"I got a call in from Celestia. Space colony ARK is hurtling towards both Earths at an incredible velocity. It will probably impact," she cut herself off with a surprised look. Looking towards where she was looking, the others could see a picture of an old man, tied up with chains.

"Who's that?": Ashley asked.

Both Earths

8:39 AM

Space Colony impact countdown: 26 minutes 42 seconds

As the image was projected across every screen on both earths, what the message said sent shivers down everyone's spines, "This is a death sentence for every human, pony, minotaur, etc., on the face of the Earths. If my calculations are correct, the space colony ARK will impact your planets in twenty seven minutes, and fifty three seconds. You have no hope of preventing this disaster and even less hope of surviving it. You will all be destroyed, along with your beloved planets," Jerry explained, which sent every denizen of both planets into a blind panic, as the colony began to approach the planets.

"I plan to give you a taste of my revenge, once all seven elements of harmony are collected. Once this program is initiated, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful ingrates will feel my loss and despair," Jerry explained.

"What's going on here?! Who is that exactly?" Sonia asked.

"That is Professor Jerry Mason, one of the greatest scientific minds known to man, and my grandfather," they all turned to see James and the villains all standing behind them.

"What? I knew you were behind this! Stop this right now you big jerk, or else!" Rainbow threatened.

"I would have stopped this a long time ago if I had the chance," James explained.

"What'd you mean?" Silver asked.

"You're pretty persistent for a teenager," James commented.

"Well, what can I say, I die hard," Silver calmly replied.

"Well, anyway, here. This is my grandfathers diary," James said, giving Twilight a computer chip, "Just insert it into the disk drive, it'll give you what my grandfather wrote," he explained. The purple alicorn did so.

"I don't quite know what happened, or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the ultimate life forms?" Twilight began to read, "I thought it would be something that could benefit mankind, but then military guards landed on the colony that day. They were sent to destroy the research project that I had been working on. My colleagues at the research facility, my granddaughter, Henrietta, I hope you are all safe. The colony was shut down, probably to keep the prototype from falling into the wrong hands. The ARK was shut down under the premise that there had been an accident. I found Henrietta's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me, and I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research. I lost everything. I had nothing more to live for. I went insane. All I could think about was to avenger her... somehow, someway. I got scared, as I could no longer control my thoughts. All I could think about, was that I wanted it all to end. Based on my original research, I was able to complete my projects, the Nega Titans. I designed their mind to be pure, and perfect. I will leave everything, to them. If you wish, release and awaken them, to the world! If you wish to fill the world with destruction," Twilight said, finishing the entry.

"So that's why you released them!" Flain said accusingly, as the ARK shook again.

"The core of the Eclipse Cannon is now highly reactive and explosive. This is because the energy of the elements of harmony is overpowered, turning the entire colony into a mega bomb, and if it hits just one of the Earths, the explosion will be more catastrophic that a supernova, just like my grandfather said. That mad scientist!" James said.

"We need to stop the space colony NOW!" Teslo said.

"The reason the colony is hurtling towards Earth is because of the power of the elements. We have to stop that energy!" James said.

"But how do we do that?" Superstar asked.

"Hey, there is a way we can stop the energy, we have to use that!" Silver said, pointing at the Master Element.

"The Master Element, of course, I'll use it to stop the power of the other elements," Eris said.

"The power of the elements is also what's pulling us towards the planets, it may be too late," Nyx said.

"There is time enough, if we use the shortcut to the reactor core, and if we pull together," James said.

"Just leave getting the master element to me, my brothers, Eris, and the Cragsters," Silver said.

"Then lets get to it!" Twilight said, as everyone, save for the children, who stayed behind with the Spikels, and the Flexers, left to stop the ARK, and save the world.

Chapter 8: Final rush

Space Colony ARK: 8:42 AM

Collision time: 20 minutes, 39 Seconds

Running to try to save the Earths from destruction, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, the Wiztastics, Infernites, Frosticons, Glorp Corp, Supersonics, and Charmings, along with Clementine, Marcus, Lily, Harold, and Cory were making their way to the eastern control room, where a switch that can allow access to the reactor core of the ARK was located, "Ok, we know the plan, right? Go in, find the switch, switch it so the door opens," Twilight said, as they entered the room. Once they entered, turrets started firing at them. Luckily, the Wiztastics and Frosticons maxed out and obliterated the turrets, allowing Cory, Clementine, and Harold access to the switch.

"We got it Mom!" Cory called to his alicorn Mother, who was surveying the monitors.

"Yes, but it looks like the others haven't gotten to the other switch yet," she said worriedly.

"Yeah, and Silver's group is closing fast," Harold commented.

Space Colony ARK: 8:45 AM

Collision Time: 17 Minutes, 56 Seconds

Running to complete their objective, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, the Power Ponies' enemies, along with James, Ashley, Damian, Clare, the Rockettes, Electoons, Fang Gang, Fighters,, and Electroids were running like mad to the west control room, "There it is!" James shouted, as they entered a room. Once inside, they were ambushed by water creatures, "Are you kidding me?!" he shouted.

"Leave these guys to us, get to the switch!" Teslo said, as he and the other Mixels maxed out and went to stall the water creatures. Once they got cover, the humans and ponies rushed over to throw the switch, opening the other door.

"Alright, both doors are open. Now its all up to Silver's group," James said solemnly.

Space Colony ARK observation deck 1: 8:47 AM

Collision time: 15 Minutes 25 Seconds

"I hope Mommy and the others will succeed," Toby said, fearful of the consequence of failure.

"Toby, everything will be alright, have faith in our friends," Footi said, kneeling down to the boy.

"Footi's right, they'll succeed," Kraw said.

"Don't count on it," they all turned to see Lance and the Nega titans standing in the doorway, "We vowed revenge on the world for taking Henrietta from us, and its about to become a reality," Lance explained.

"But Lance," Toby said, getting up from the floor. Footi was about to stop him, before Tenetro stopped him, "You guys can help our friends," he explained, latching on to Lance's leg.

"Back off," Lance said, as he kicked Toby away, which made the others gasp.

"We made a promise to Henrietta, and we're going to keep it!" Dusty said.

"Look, I know there a lot of bad people out there, and some bad ponies too, but there are also a ton of good guys too. You guys can help stop this, please Lance, Tempo, Dusty, Surfer, you've got to stop this whole thing! Can't you see its not fair to the nice people and ponies?!" Toby begged.

"Don't talk to us about 'fair', not after what we went through!" Lance snarled, "Henrietta was our only friend, and because of us, she died," Lance said, remembering their little sister figure.

"All she ever wanted was to visit one of those planets, but she never got the chance," Tempo said bitterly.

"But think about it! If Henrietta wanted you guys to avenge her, she would want you to save the worlds, not destroy them! And she would want to you guys to make friends with them!" what Toby said suddenly got the gears in the Nega Titans' heads to start turning, as they remembered the last time they saw Henrietta.

Flashback: 50 years ago

The Nega titans continued their attempt to break out, "Big brothers, listen to me, promise me that you'll help the people and ponies of that planet, and be their friends," Henrietta said, "I always dreamed of someday visiting that planet with you guys, but it appears you'll have to take on this task yourselves."

"NO HENRIETTA!" the Nega titans cried, as tears rolled down their eyes.

"Sayonara, Lance, Tempo, Dusty, and Surfer," Henrietta sadly said, as she pulled the lever.

Present time,

As Toby tried to get through to asking the Nega Titans for help, he collapsed, before being helped by Lance, who had tears in his eyes, "Toby's right, Henrietta wanted us to make friends with everyone down on those planets," he said, as he gave Toby over to Footi, "Now guys, we've got to go help the others, and fulfill our promise to her," Lance said, as he and his brothers rushed out of the room.

Space Colony ARK reactor core: 8:50 AM

Collision time: 12 Minutes, 45 seconds

The titans, Eris, and the Cragsters entered a room with a pulsating heart like object suspended over the shrine where the elements of harmony and the Crystal Heat were located, "That shrine looks like the shrine of the Master Element!" Eris exclaimed.

"They must've designed this place like the Master Element's shrine to harness the power of the Elements of Harmony, and the Crystal Heart," Raiden theorized, as the group ran towards the shrine, where something caught their attention.

"All of you ungrateful ingrates will pay for taking my granddaughter from me," the recording of Jerry's last words were played over and over, as a flash of light summoned a large red lizard with what appeared to be cyborganic parts on its back.

"Is this creature the prototype of the ultimate life form that was supposed to be encapsulated?" Raiden wondered, as he and his brothers prepared for battle, before they were stopped.

"Leave this guy to us," Lance said, as he and his brothers approached the monster in place of the titans.

"Lance?" Silver asked, as he and the armored teen locked glares.

"We'll distract this beast while you guys go for the elements!" Lance said, as he and his brothers went on the attack. The creature roared as the Nega Titans attacked it. While that battle was going on, the titans, Eris, and the Cragsters quickly sneaked past the lizard, and rushed towards the shrine.

Ascending the stairs to the alter, the Cragsters placed the Master Element in the center of the shrine, "Alright sis, this is up to you now," Silver said, as he, the other titans, and the Cragsters backed away.

"The servers are the six harmony; Harmony is power; Power is enriched by the heart; Only you can stop the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart, do it Master Element!" Eris called to the rainbow object, which shot beams of light at each of the elements and the crystal heart, which dropped to the ground, having lost their luster. A roar got their attention. Turning, they saw the large lizard being engulfed in a bright light.

"Is it gone?" Shuff asked.

"Chaos control!" Tempo cried, as he and his brothers joined the others at the alter. Just then, the entire colony shook again.

"What's going on?!" Brian demanded.

"We stop energy, so why we still fall?!" Seismo cried.

"*BZZT* Silver, can you and the others hear me? That monster is still alive! Its attached itself to the eclipse cannon! Its determined to keep the colony on its collision course!" James called to the group.

"Looks like we've got one thing left to do guys," Heiru said, as he, his brothers, and the Nega Titans closed their eyes, and floated up with the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart, which started circling the twelve boys. Eris and the Cragsters watched in awe as the titans and the Nega Titans had become Harmony infused, and teleported out of the reactor core.

Space Colony ARK observation deck 1: 8: 54 AM

Collision Time: 11 Minutes, 25 Seconds

"That thing's the prototype?!" Ashley cried, as she and the others saw the monstrosity.

"It sure is persistent," Rainbow commented, as they all heard a warp sound. Turning, they saw Harmony Silver.

"Big Brother?" Heaven asked, worried about the entire situation.

"Don't worry sis, we're going to make sure everything is alright," Silver said, ruffling Heaven's hair, as he teleported away.

Chapter 9: The final battle

Outer Space: 8:55 AM

Collision Time: 10 minutes

"Silver, can you hear me? The Colony is just ten minutes away from impact. Hurry!" James called on the intercom, as the harmony titans flew towards the lizard.

"Lets take this thing down!" Harmony Lance said, as he and the others flew like speeding bullets into the machinery on the lizards back.

As the Harmony Titans continued their onslaught to save the planets from destruction, the citizens watched on from their homes as twelve rainbow lights were circling around the red spot in the sky that was the colony, "I hope the titans can stop that thing," Luna solemnly said.

"Have faith sister, they will prevail," Celestia said.

"But, if they don't," Cadence said fearfully, as Nathan, Mavis, Skyla and Guard all hugged their parents for comfort.

With one last strike, the titans were finally able to destroy the prototype, just as the colony started to flare up like a meteor, "I don think so!" Harmony Silver said as he and his brothers all placed their hands out in front, trying to stop the colony from going any further.

"You're stopping here and now!" Harmony Lance said, as he and his brothers copied the motion, as the spirits of Trinity, Serenity, Vibrant, Season, Charity, and Lucky appeared with the spirit of a crystal alicorn filly.

"You can do it Silver!" Twilight's voice called.

"Give it all you've got Lance!" James' voice called.

"If you fail, we'll all perish!" Rarity's voice called.

"Try to tough it out you guys!" Cory and Rainbow's voices simultaneously called.

"We know you can!" Melody, Clover, Mavis, Kelly, and Crystal's voices called.

"My sons!" Discord called.

"Big brothers!" the voice of Henrietta echoed in the heads of the Harmony Nega Titans, "Those people and ponies need you, big brothers," Henrietta called, as the Harmony Nega Titans were bestowed with new found determination.

"We promised Henrietta!" Harmony Lance said, as he and his brothers began powering up.

"You guys ready?" Harmony Dusty asked.

"You bet!" Harmony Icezer replied.

"Alright, here we go!" Harmony Heiru called, as twelve balls of rainbow light engulfed the colony.

"CHAOS!" The Harmony Nega Titans yelled, firing a blast of energy at the colony.

"CONTROL!" the Harmony Titans yelled, as they fired a beam of energy of light as well. Within seconds, the entire colony was engulfed in light, and was teleported back into a stable orbit.

Back on the planets, everyone was rejoicing at the aversion of the catastrophe, "See, I told you we had nothing to worry about," Celestia said.

"Right, now we must go and welcome our heroes back," Luna said, as the royals all left the room.

"Henrietta, we did it, for you," Lance said, as he and his brothers were falling into a rift in space, before being saved. Looking up, the Nega Titans were shocked to see Silver and the others had latched onto their arms, "Silver, what are you guys doing?!" Lance yelled.

"Saving you guys! Be cause that's how we roll!" Silver replied. Thinking about what Silver had just said, the Nega Titans grabbed onto the arms of the Titans, and were pulled out.

Back on the ARK, the mane six, the Mixels, and humans were all rejoicing over the triumph, "They did it!" Toby cheered, as the doors opened to reveal the titans, Nega Titan, and the elements of harmony, with a new pony among them. She was a royal purple crystal unicorn with green eyes.

"MOMMY!" Trinity said, as she ran to Twilight, with the others rushing to theirs.

"Oh Trinity, thank goodness you're all ok!" Twilight said, relieved that her daughter was safe, but then noticed the crystal unicorn, "Who's this?" Twilight asked.

"My name is Amore Borealis, but I like the nickname 'Aurora'. I'm also the embodiment of the Crystal Heart, AKA the element of Love," the new pony replied.

"Well, its very nice to meet you Aurora," Twilight said, as they all looked out onto the planet.

"You know, maybe the Nega Titans were created by Jerry to stop this craziness," Musica theorized.

"We don't know why were created ourselves," Lance said.

"But in the end, you guys were who you were; brave and heroic teenagers who would give their lives to protect the planet," Silver commented.

"Ever since I was Toby's age, I always looked up to my grandfather. He was my one true hero, but, did he really mean to destroy the planets?" James asked.

"But in the end, you helped save the planets," Rarity said.

"I'm so glad they're both ok, now we can go back to trying to conquer Equestria!" James said.

"You're still on that?" Rainbow asked.

"That's right!" Mane-iac replied.

"You're welcome to join us!" Long Face offered.

"No thanks!" Rarity replied, as the villains ran off.

Looking out onto Equestria, Twilight and the others smiled at the sight, "We'd better get back down there," Silver commented. With nods of agreement going around, they all departed, one by one. Lance was the last one to leave, as he took one last look at the ARK.

'Sayonara, Henrietta,' he thought to himself, as he joined the others.