The next day, Knuckles rose up from his bed and stretched his muscles. He was able to stop another gang from killing someone last night and he gave them the proper punishment for it. He was really getting sick and tired of the constant crime in the city, but he knew that it will never change just like back home in Baltimore. They always said it would get better and change was coming, but it never did. It was always the same and it would continue to be the same as long as people voted the same way.

This city on the other hand, this wasn't truly his home, so he didn't care as much like he did for his hometown. He'll still fight street crime if he sees it, but he won't go out looking for it. However, it was time to find the Master Diamond. He now had the map that would take him to the compass and once he has that, the Master Diamond will be his once again. He put on a change of clothes and brushed his teeth. After he went to have some breakfast, he went up to his office so he could figure out where this compass was.

He went over to one of the bookshelves and grabbed the map. He set it down on the desk and rolled it out for him to look at. He looked for his map of Equestria and set it down on his desk. He said "Okay. If I found the map here in the Everfree Forest and if the compass is south of Baltimare, then that must mean that the compass has to be in the Forbidden Jungle. It's the only place that has a temple inside. Isn't that where Ahuizotl lives? Oh well. That's no matter. Some weird cat animal won't stop me from getting what I have searched so long for." He put the map of Equestria away and slid the other map into his pocket so he could navigate through the temple in the Forbidden Jungle.

He left his office and went to the living room. He pressed a button that revealed the elevator down to the Knucklecave and he stepped inside. He pressed the button to the bottom floor and the elevator went down. Knuckles stepped out of the elevator once it touched down and went over to Blackbird. He hopped in and pressed the engine start stop button to turn on the car. He pressed the throttle lever forward and the vehicle blasted through the tunnel with tons of pounds of thrust behind it. He went through the caverns of the island and eventually made it out.

He flew up high to view the skyline of downtown Baltimare and he saw life going on as usual. Typically, things were fine during the day, but the criminals would strike at night so they could get away with it more. It irritated Knuckles, but it made sense from their perspective. You would want to strike at night instead of the daytime so that you wouldn't be seen as much. At night, you can simply hide in the shadows. During the day, the Sun is shining down on you and there is nowhere to hide if you commit a crime. It sucks, but it's whatever.

Once Knuckles was past the skyline, he flew down a bit and activated cruise control as he was flying over the Celestial Ocean. He decided to turn on the radio and jam out to Skillet music because it was a way to get him motivated in the morning. A few hours later, he landed down in the Forbidden Jungle and turned off the car. He made sure to hide it well enough to where it was not discovered by wildlife and taken away. That was very expensive and the last thing he wanted was to have a predator destroy it in a matter of seconds, so safety was definitely important to him.

Knuckles took a look around and he was fascinated at the amount of nature that was in this forest. It was almost like walking through the Amazon Rainforest for him. He never got to visit during his time back on Earth, but this definitely makes up for it. He took a look at the map and tried to figure out which direction to go. He eventually figured out he had to go north and he walked that way.

After a little bit, he arrived to the temple and stopped to look at it. He said "This has to be where the compass is at. I have waited so long to find it and if all goes well, I am one step closer to the greatest artifact of all time, the Master Diamond." He began walking up the stairs of the temple, but some vines wrapped around him and dragged him back down to the ground. He tried to break free, but it was a little difficult. As he was struggling, a voice said "Where do you think you're going?" Knuckles looked up and saw Ahuizotl standing right there with an evil grin on his face.

Knuckles glared at him and said "That is none of your business, fool. I have something very important that I need to retrieve out of here and then leave."

Ahuizotl was unfazed by that and said "I believe not! Those pests already destroyed something valuable to me, I will not let another one do the same!"

Knuckles growled with anger and released himself from bondage. He said "How dare you call me a pest! I'll have you know that I am Knuckles and you should think twice before getting me angry. This thing is something held within my family for generations and I shall claim it once more. I will get it and nothing or no one shall stop me in the process."

Ahuizotl smirked at that and whistled for backup. After a few seconds, a Cougar, Panther, Tiger, and small Cat that was definitely aggressive showed up next to Ahuizotl and growled at Knuckles. Knuckles was not intimidated by that at all and said "So, you dare bring your little pets to fight me because I hurt your little feelings? Pathetic."

Ahuizotl grew angry at that and yelled for the creatures to attack Knuckles. Knuckles only rolled his eyes and charged up his red lightning. When the Cougar reached him, Knuckles threw a punch right at the jaw and kicked the creature in the stomach before launching it back quite a bit. The Panther and Tiger roared with anger and they charged at Knuckles. Knuckles launched himself into the air and had his fist out ready to punch them. The creatures saw it and opened their mouths to devour it. Knuckles quickly adjusted his body and then kicked the Panther in the weakest area: the groin.

The Panther roared in pain and Knuckles picked up the creature. He spun it around and knocked out both the Tiger and the Cat at the same time. Knuckles did a final power punch to the Panther's stomach and all of the creatures crashed into Ahuizotl. Ahuizotl got knocked down and he groaned in pain. Just when Knuckles thought it was over, Ahuizotl got back up and ran right towards Knuckles. Knuckles accepted the challenge and punched Ahuizotl in the face King Kong style. Ahuizotl was enraged by that, but before he could retaliate, Knuckles performed different forms of martial arts on him at master level that almost wiped Ahuizotl out.

Ahuizotl was barely moving at this point and Knuckles stared at him with a glare. He yelled out his battle cry and slammed his fist into the ground, which caused all of the creatures to be sent miles away. He simply huffed and said, turning around "Pitiful creatures thinking that they could stop me. Do they not know whose domain they are crossing? Whatever. They paid the penalty for their foolish actions and now, I shall find the compass." He went up the steps and made it to the top of the temple. He saw a trapdoor that he was standing on, but there was no way he could open it by forcing it.

He looked around a bit and then saw a little hole inside of a pedestal standing in the very center of the temple. He walked over to it and noticed that there was a handprint in there. Knuckles looked at his left hand and then placed it down. A bright light began to shine and the trapdoor began to open with a staircase popping out. Knuckles believed he didn't have much time to get in there, so he took his hand off and ran inside as fast as he could.

The trapdoor closed and Knuckles made it to the bottom of the staircase. He saw a long hallway that was lit by torches and started walking. He looked to the left of him and on the left wall was the entire history of the Master Diamond in hieroglyphic format. A lot of the history he already knew and he was proud of, but then he saw the group of ponies that stole the diamond from his grandparents.

He growled with anger and said "Bastards. Stealing the greatest artifact of all time from my family and they are deemed legends here in Equestria. They will most certainly pay for that. But no matter right now. I will get the Master Diamond once more and seal it away for good so NO ONE will EVER steal it again!" He noticed that he was acting louder than he expected and cleared his throat nervously. He continued walking down the hallway and eventually stopped at a bunch of traps that were surrounding the main entrance to the compass.

He growled with frustration and said "More traps, seriously?! First, that ancient castle in the Everfree Forest, and now this temple in the Jungle. Oh well. I can get through this no problem. Even something like this won't stop me." He rolled into a bowling ball and rolled through all of the traps without getting harmed whatsoever. He got back up in the upright position and stared at a giant statue of Starswirl.

Knuckles was enraged and said with anger "OH, YOU HAVE TO GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I see this dude on the wall, and now, they have an ENTIRE STATUE OF HIM STANDING HERE?! WHAT KIND OF HERESY IS THIS?! These foolish ponies have a VERY unhealthy obsession with this moron. If I see this dude ONE MORE TIME ANYWHERE, I AM GOING TO LOSE MY F[BLEEP]ING MIND!" He grunted with anger and looked down at the map. He recognized the combination and rolled around the blocks to match it with the map.

The ground began shaking and Knuckles was confused for a second. He jumped down and stared right at the statue with a glare. The statue shined a bright teal light on Knuckles and then presented Knuckles the compass. Knuckles grabbed it with his left hand and secured it with his fist. He smiled and said "At last, I have the compass. Now, this will take me straight to the Master Diamond. My family legacy will finally be restored and all shall proclaim our great name!" Knuckles put the compass in his pocket and ran through the temple as fast as he could without getting hurt.

He made it out of the temple and zoomed right past Ahuizotl and the creatures with him who were still laying down weakly from the blast of Knuckles' punch. Knuckles eventually stopped running and made it to Blackbird. He turned it on and took off as fast as he could so he could return home back up north in Baltimare. This was a great achievement for him to possess the compass and it will take him to the Master Diamond. He was one step closer to finally getting it again and restoring his family legacy.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, the Mane Six were busy sitting out in the fields having a picnic and reconnecting with each other. It had been a little while since they had an actual picnic, but with the Everfree Forest crisis and the Knuckles situation, it took up a lot of time, so now, they could finally slow down and relax.

Rarity said "What a gorgeous day out here! It has been so long since that horrid Everfree Forest incident and the ruffian situation."

The rest of them agreed with that, but Twilight wasn't really paying attention to that. She was currently in thought and was thinking about Knuckles. It had been a little bit since she last spoke to him and when she did, he just gave her the cold shoulder and left without saying a word. She hoped she didn't do anything to offend him and if she did, she truly didn't mean it.

Rarity noticed Twilight not listening and asked "Darling, are you alright? You seemed to be staring off into space there for a little bit."

Twilight snapped out of it and said "What? Oh, sorry. I've just been thinking, that's all."

Rainbow said with skepticism "Please tell me you weren't thinking of that Knuckles dude."

Twilight went wide eyed and said "What's the big deal about that? It has been a few days since I last spoke to him and it has me concerned." After she said that, the environment had basically shifted into "you just opened a can of worms."

Rainbow said "The big deal about it is that you shouldn't even be thinking about that creature in the first place! We have hardly had any time to spend with one another and you are still thinking about him?! He shouldn't even be in your head right now. All that guy has ever done was insult us like we're dirt, abduct us as if we're the foreigners, and use his powers as a form of dominance over us!"

Twilight did not like that and said "Rainbow! He certainly has not done that all of the time! In fact, I've gotten him to open up on some stuff and it seems like we are moving in the right direction."

Rainbow said "Yeah, but did he tell you any of his darker secrets that he has hidden for Celestia knows how long?"

Twilight said "Well no, but I'm not going to demand that out of him right when I meet with him. He still doesn't fully trust me yet and I have to build that up. Plus, it would make me a bad friend if I asked him those things. That would be an invasion of privacy."

Applejack said "How do ya know that what he is sayin' is honest? We don't know what he's capable of and to be quite honest, that is a dangerous thing to think about."

Rarity added "For all we know, he could be a master manipulator like Sombra was. He might sound genuine, but he could just be tricking you into believing that he values friendship!"

Pinkie said "And he's just a big meanie pants. He doesn't seem to like anything happy or party related."

Twilight looked to Fluttershy to see if she had anything to say, but the pegasus stayed quiet. She wanted to say something, but she was just too afraid to.

Twilight growled with frustration and slammed her hoof down. She said "Enough! I get that Knuckles might not be the best individual and he lacks in social issues, but he is not a super bad creature. I've seen him act nice before, and that's when I've asked him questions that were not super personal. I understand that he might appear to be a dangerous creature, but I refuse to believe that he is some demented, twisted individual that has no morals or emotions for anything!"

Rainbow didn't like that and said "Don't you see?! He's already changing you into somepony else so that you can believe his lies about us and Equestria! Whether or not you want to admit it Twilight, he is an evil individual! How can you take his insults and continue to defend him time and time again?! How can you not see what he is doing to you?!"

Twilight yelled back "Because I've been where he was at before!" That statement threw Rainbow completely off guard and she went silent. Twilight sighed and said "There was a time where I absolutely hated friendship and didn't want anything to do with it. Yes, I know that doesn't seem believable, but that did happen. You see, I had "friends" back in Canterlot, but I didn't value them as much as I did now. Even when I met you guys, I thought it would be a waste of time, but I learned how much you guys mean to me and I couldn't ask for better friends. I believe something happened to him during his childhood and as a result, he hated friendship for good. I want to ask him, but I have to wait for the right time. That's why I keep defending him."

Rainbow shook her head and said "You still don't get it, do you? The moment we met that creature, he has treated us lower than dirt and even if he wasn't to you when you visited, it was just him faking it as part of a bigger plan that we still don't know about. If you are willing to die on the hill that he'll somehow be radically be changed by friendship, then be my guest. But just know that I will never EVER trust him or anything that comes out of his mouth." She took flight and left. The rest of them soon followed suit and Fluttershy did so very slowly.

Twilight sighed and looked around. She knew that her friends didn't trust her on this and she didn't blame them. But, they were still missing the big picture that this creature is not who they believe he is. Why couldn't they see he was a caring individual? True, he did say he hated friendship entirely, but he was probably only saying that because he doesn't want to look weak. There was something bigger going on and she was going to find out what. She had her entire lifetime to figure it out, but Knuckles certainly didn't. He probably didn't even have immortality despite him having powers. All she can do now is continue to wait for the right time and bring him to the light. Her friends might not approve, but she'll get him to change. They just needed to believe.

Author's Note

AN: Well, we've reached the end of another chapter! Sorry this one is a little shorter, but I have been busy these last few days with IRL events and I was stuck in a writer's block, but it's out now. The heat is about ready to get turned up to level 11 and prepare yourself for some crazy events to go down. It's about to get real interesting. Make sure you stay tuned for that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: The truth shall be revealed! When Twilight finishes up using the bathroom, she notices an open door in the hallway and goes to investigate. She eventually finds out the truth about a very dark secret that Knuckles has hid from her and is left in shock. Knuckles is furious about this discovery and forces her to leave. Will the two ever be able to recover from this, or will this shocking revelation keep them apart?

Until then, my fellow readers