Chaos Crisis

...“Ya thinking what ah'm thinking?” Scootaloo smiled and the three fillies jumped into the air. “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Chaos Emerald Hunters!”

While the three fillies sneaked out in an overly complicated way, the party continued on. Knuckles was searching for some grape juice or something of that caliber. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were off talking in a corner. Twilight and Sonic were trying to have an intelligent conversation. Pinkie was off following the grouchy Shadow, trying to come up with a way to cheer him up. Applejack had stepped out to get some air. Rarity, who had only recently been introduced to the Sonic team, was busy fussing about Pinkie's “obtrusive” overuse of pastel colors.

After a little bit of searching, Knuckles walked over to the two mares talking. “Hey, what was your name... Bumblefly....” Fluttershy barely audible “It's... Um Fluttershy...” “Oh... that's right. Sorry about that. You take care of animals, right?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well, I got this problem. There's a lot of Apple stuff around here but I don't have a taste for it. By any chance do you know where I can get any grape juice?”

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. She then cut in. “You actually LIKE grape juice? I thought I was the only pony that drank that.” Knuckles turned his attention to Rainbow. “Oh, so you have some?” “Yea, I always keep a bottle or two at my house. Not many ponies like it so I don't bring it to parties.” Knuckles let out a friendly smile. “Well if you got a glass to spare, I would love some.”

Rainbow Dash looked out the window. “Sure, I just need to fly home first.” “Mind if I tag along? I need some fresh air.” Rainbow agreed to the echidna's simple request. The two headed out. A few party goers noticed them leaving but paid little attention.

“So, tell me more about Mobius. What's it like, where you come from?” Twilight asked, pulling out a quill and some parchment. Sonic gathered his thoughts and answered the mare's question to the best of his abilities. “Well, Mobius is a nice little planet. Not too cold, not too hot, and defiantly not too wet. The way Mobius is divided is into several different zones. You got one zone that is several rolling green hills. Another zone has a giant chemical plant in the middle of it. Most of Mobius is a giant forest, however. Some areas are starting to industrialize. Some a little faster due to Doctor Eggman.”

“Oh so this Doctor Eggman guy helps out the planet?” Twilight asked out of curiosity. Sonic knew that wasn't true, entirely. “Not exactly, Twi'. Mobius is just starting to come off its first big industrial revaluation. Eggman tried to push it a little bit too fast. A lot of people ended up hurt because of him.” A tear could be noticed rolling down his cheek. “Oh. I'm sorry I said anything like that.” “He wasn't always bad. He use to invent for the greater good. Then... Badniks.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the last word. “Who or what is a Badnik?” Sonic leaned up on the wall. “Well you see, Eggman found out a long time ago, most creatures that live on Mobius are tied into something called the Chaos Force. So by using the inner chaos in all the little woodland creatures, he was able to power robot suits with them.” Twilight just lost it to that thought. “That's horrible!” “Yea, I know. I lived it. That's why I started fighting against him.”

Twilight put down her writing supplies. “I can't even begin to think how hard that must have been for you.” Sonic reassured the mare. “Nah. Once I was able to destroy the robots, the little guys came out fine. It didn't take long for old Egghead to figure out that I wouldn't let him use my friends to power his bots.” Twilight smiled. “So eventually he stopped?” “Well yes and no. He stopped using woodland creatures and turned to something more powerful.”

Twilight grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and put more ink on her quill. “You see, every living thing on Mobius is tied into the Chaos Force. But there are more direct ways to access it.” His eyes then darted to the light blue chaos emerald sitting on the counter next to him. “You mentioned that a couple times now, what is this Chaos Force?” The mare pondered the Mobian hedgehog. “It's like your magic. Except its alive. I can feel it right now. Not just from the emerald but every single pony in this very room. It comes from your emotions.”

Twilight was just simply dumbstruck. “What do you mean it comes from one's emotions?” “The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos enriched by the heart. The user is the one who unifies the chaos. This energy is created when positive and negative emotions react against each other. In a way, chaos represents harmony and disharmony.”

Twilight wanted to get a little deeper on the subject. She was interested. “Okay Mr. Hedgehog, riddle me this. Why would this Eggman fellow want to use this Chaos Force anyway? What kind of practical applications dose it have?” “Well, for starters, it's a source of near unlimited power. Some people that have a strong enough connection to it can use it as an energy weapon.” He said pointing to Shadow. “Mr. Hotshot over there is one of the best I know. Some of those things he can do with it are teleport, energy projectiles, and having an overinflated ego.” Twilight let out a girlish laugh.

“Well, I guess it is a lot like unicorn magic. Not that I am not taking your word for it but I'd still would like to have an example. Think you could show me?” Sonic shook his head in disagreement. “Sorry little lady, but I can't use that power quiet so well. But I do know one hog who can. Give me one second to get him.”

In a blink of an eye Sonic dashed over to Shadow, leaving a blue trail behind. Sonic grabbed the black and red hedgehog by his spine. He then darted back over to Twilight, dragging Shadow with him. As soon as Sonic let go of him, Shadow turned around and kicked him hard enough to send the blue hog over the counter. “What the hell was that for?” Sonic asked, picking himself up. “You should have know what you were getting yourself into. Now, would you mind telling me why you dragged me over here?”

Twilight broke into the conversation. “That would be my fault. I asked Sonic to show me how the Chaos Force works.” Shadow looked at Twilight. “I guess Sonic isn't as stupid as he looks. I am the one who you would ask about that.” “Okay then... Sonic said you can use the Chaos Force to teleport. Mind showing me?”

Shadow picked up the chaos emerald. “But of course. Alright everyone, I would suggest taking a step or two back.” Everypony in a five foot radius, even Twilight and Sonic, took a few steps back. Some of the party goers were a little confused about what was going on. Shadow rose his hand into the air. “It all starts with this. A gem containing the ultimate power! Chaos... Control!”

A sudden bright light similar to one given off by a military flash bang filled the room. Everypony attempted to cover their eyes in time. When the flash died off, Shadow was nowhere to be found.

***

At that moment, Rainbow Dash and Knuckles was just below the mare's house. Knuckles was more confused then he ever was. “Your house is a cloud?!” Rainbow Dash looked at Knuckles. “Yea, I know. I'm awesome, ain't I?” “I mean, I live on a floating island. I thought I was the only one who did that.”

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in a little bit of confusion. “A floating island? How dose that work?” Knuckles gathered his thoughts. “You live in a cloud and you are asking me how I live?” “Well duh! Lots of pegasi do that! It's kind of what we do.” “Right, cloud houses aside. I think we came here for some grape juice?” Rainbow facehoofed. “Oh right. Let me go get that.” She then flew up and into her home to recover the bottles.

A sudden flash of light appeared behind Knuckles. He turned around to see Shadow standing right behind him. “Oh hey Shadow. What are you up to?” “Just checking in on you. I know how you like to sneak away from parties. But if I don't get to you don't either. Explain why you are out here.” “Damn, I never figured you to be the nosy one.” Knuckles commented on Shadow's pushy attitude. “I'm just down here waiting for one of Sonic's pony friends to come back down here with some grape juice.”

“Grape juice eh? Well, keep telling yourself that it is. I will expect you back at the party.” Shadow then blinded Knuckles as he teleported back to the party. Rainbow Dash came back down from her house, carrying a bottle of home made grape juice. “What was that flash?” “It was just Shadow snooping as usual.”

***

After a couple of confused moments passed, Shadow reappeared in the exact spot he was in moments before. Twilight rubbed her eyes with one of her forehooves. “What the buck just happened?” Shadow put the emerald down back on the counter. “I was just checking in on someone who had sneaked off with one of your mare friends.” Twilight blushed a light red. She looked around an noticed the element of loyalty was gone. “She's just a friend mind you.”

“Is that all you needed?” Shadow questioned the violet colored mare. “Yes, for now. I must sort this information out.” Out of the blue, a pink earth pony tackled Shadow. “Where did you get to Mr. Grumpy?” Pinkie asked with a large smile on her face. Shadow let out a angry growl. “Get... the hell... off... me...” “Okie doky artichokey.” The pink mare then got off him and trotted off.

“Okay. So what was that just now?” Sonic asked. “That would be classic Pinkie Pie.” Twilight answered. “Right then. I think its a good time to end the chapter.” Everypony just looked at him in confusion.

**end of Chapter four**