Author's Note

This episode happens during the Special, after Hitch ignored Posey on the station and before Zipp kept looking at the Crystals for days.

That also means that Tails and Knuckles were not with the Mane 5 and Sonic yet.

Once I cleared that, enjoy the episode!

P.S: Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter!

13. Dumpster Diving

"And a hush descends as Neptune steps up to take his dive," Skye Silver announced, while a blue Pegasus put her goggles down with her swim cap on, then jumped on the diving board three times and flew into the air, doing a couple of front flips before whooshing into the water.

"Whoo-hoo!" Zipp cheered at the TV since it was just a show she, Sunny, and Hitch were watching. Sunny looked on in awe with sparkling eyes, and Hitch found it interesting while he looked at Zipp with a smile. "That's how you make a splash in this competition! Go, Zephyr Heights!" she cheered.

Meanwhile, Izzy was in her Unicycling, wearing her goggles and using a tool on an object. "Yay!" she cheered with a smile before the item she messed with broke, and parts came flying by. She took a closer look at the part she was looking for, a ring-shaped part, but the one she was holding wasn't what she was looking for, so she rolled her eyes and threw the ring away.

"Ehhh…" Hitch thought, while Sunny still had sparkles in her eyes and Zipp was bopping her head. "I still think a Pegasus has an unfair advantage in the diving competition," he said with a smirk and then crossed his hooves.

Izzy grabbed one of Sunny’s roller skates and hammered the wheels a bit before they fell off the shoe. Izzy inspected one of the wheels but sighed in frustration since it still wasn't what she was looking for, and tossed the wheel away. Izzy went now to one of the legs of the couch and unscrewed it with her wrench, losing up the leg and removing it as a gold metal ring came off. Izzy grabbed the ring with a smile. "Aha! Well, hello, perfect little ringy-thingy!" she said, then giggled a bit.

"Next diver up!" Sunny announced with a smile, with none of them noticing that Izzy took one of the couch's legs. "Maretime Bay can still win this!" she stated confidently, but then the couch tilted and fell backward, landing with a thud as the three ponies sitting on it fell backward with it as well.

"IZZY!" Sunny, Hitch, and Zipp all yelled out, now knowing that Izzy had taken one of the legs.

The three looked bored, and then a pair of red shoes with a white stripe in the middle came into their vision. "Uh... What's going on here?" Sonic questioned, confused about why the couch was like that.

"Take a guess..." Zipp told him with a frown.

Sonic looked confused at first, but after a few seconds, the answer came to his mind, and he put on a bored expression as well. "Izzy broke the couch?" he asked rhetorically.

"Izzy broke the couch," Sunny confirmed.

Sonic sighed and put the couch back in place. He quickly ran away and came back with another golden ring, a wrench, and the missing leg, then fixed up the couch. "There we go!" he stated with a smile.

"Thanks, Sonic!" Hitch said with a smile.

"Hey, I may not be as skilled as Tails nor Izzy with fixing some stuff, but I know the basics," Sonic said with a smirk. "Now, I'm gonna talk to our unicorn friend before she does something that takes the house down..." he said with a neutral expression. "... again," he added, remembering when Sprout took the Lighthouse down before it turned into the Brighthouse.

Sonic walked towards Izzy, who tried to put the ring she got from the couch on the lantern that Sunny’s father made when Sunny was a filly. But once she put it on the top, the ring fell to the middle of the lantern because it was bigger than needed.

"Awww!' Izzy groaned in disappointment. "Now, this Maretime Bay Day gift for Sunny will never be ready in time," she added with sadness.

"Izz?" Sonic spoke to her, and Izzy looked at him in a panic. "What are you doing?" he asked with his arms crossed.

"H-Hi, Sonic!" Izzy greeted nervously, as she sweated a bit. "N-Nothing important! Just unicycling some stuff for something important," she said nervously.

"Izzy, you just contradicted yourself... in the same sentence," Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. Come on, Izz. We've known each other for a few months now. You can tell me anything," he assured her with a smile.

Hypocrite. You hide secrets from your friends, and you dare to say they can tell you anything? What a fucking bastard you are, Sonic.

Sonic felt guilty after hearing that he still hadn't told his friends about his encounter with Metal Sonic or about the Chaos Emeralds being there but not working as they should.

In the end, he ignored his thoughts and focused back on Izzy. "W-Well... If I tell you, promise you won't tell anypony, not even Sunny!" Izzy whispered. Sonic nodded with a smile, and the feeling of guilt returned, but he quickly ignored it to stay focused on Izzy. "Remember Sunny's old lantern? The one her father made for her?" she asked with a smile.

"Yup. I saw it when we first met with Sunny," Sonic replied.

"Well, I want to fix it to give it to Sunny as a present for Maretime Bay Day, but I can't find a piece that looks like a metal ring thingy," she said again with sadness. "I've tried everything. Even the—" She held a pink circle but didn’t get to finish because they all heard Pipp's screaming.

"AAHHH! What's wrong with the shower?! Izzy!" Pipp cried out from the bathroom.

"You messed with the shower?!" Sonic asked her in panic, while Izzy nodded embarrassedly. Sonic sighed and then quickly looked at Izzy with determination. "Let's get out of here before Pipp yells at you," he stated, then grabbed one of Izzy's hooves and ran out of the place with the unicorn.

Pipp screamed and came out of the bathroom, all wet with a towel around her. She looked around with anger and growled, trying to see where Izzy was, but since she wasn't there anymore, she got back into the bathroom.

Izzy was now wearing a helmet on her motor-scooter, while Sonic ran at her side, getting away from the Brighthouse - and Pipp - and heading to the town to find the piece Izzy was looking for.

Once they arrived at Maretime Bay, Izzy took a hoop from a pegasus filly who was playing with it, while Sonic looked with a bored expression since he knew too well Izzy's antics. "Nah. Too big," Izzy pointed out.

"Give me that!" Sonic said as he snatched the hoop and gave it back to the filly. "Sorry, kiddo. She's just looking for something important for a friend," he apologized with an embarrassed smile.

Izzy then looked at the key change on Rufus's saddle strap. "Too small," she said, as the earth pony stallion looked at Izzy weirdly while the unicorn laughed nervously. Sonic facepalmed, not only because this was not only ridiculous but also embarrassing, since Rufus obviously thought she was talking about something else.

Then, Izzy and Sonic arrived at a donut shop and looked at the pile of donuts as Izzy inspected one. "Too doughnut-y," she said, and then she chomped the donut she was holding.

"Tasty as well," Sonic added, chomping a donut himself and paying for the donuts.

A while later, a unicorn filly played with a triangle instrument while Izzy looked at the triangle for a second. "Not ring-y enough" she pointed out..

"That's not even a ring, Izzy," Sonic pointed out with a bored expression.

And then, Izzy grunted as she tried to take the Mane Melody billboard, but it couldn’t be removed. Izzy looked down below, where Sonic and Posey looked at her with surprise and disbelief. "Too stuck-to-a-building-y," Izzy said sheepishly to them.

"Pipp's already mad at you because of the shower, Izz. You shouldn't make her even madder," Sonic pointed out with a concerned look.

A while later, Izzy was driving her scooter slowly again and sighed in disappointment.

"Cheer up, Izz," Sonic said as he walked alongside her with a comforting smile. "I'm sure we'll find that piece you're looking for," he assured her.

"But I'm afraid we won't make it in time..." Izzy said with a worried face and tone. But she gasped when she saw Posey's blue circle earrings. "But that is absolutely perfect!"

Sonic saw Posey's earrings as well. "Are you sure?" he asked, not because he thought it was a bad idea but because Posey was the one wearing the earrings. Izzy didn't answer and prepared to boost behind Posey with her scooter. However, Sonic stepped in and looked at her. "Whoa, calm down, Izzy!"

"But...!" she was going to strike, yet Sonic cut her off.

"Let me handle this" Sonic said, running until he reached Posey.

The earth pony mare frowned when Sonic stepped in front of her. "What do you want, Sonic?" she asked with annoyance.

"Hello to you too, Posey," Sonic replied with a smirk. "I know you and I are not on very good terms, but I want to ask... Can I borrow one of your earrings for a second? It will be quick," he asked, now with a neutral expression.

"Why do you need my earrings?" Posey questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"A little gift for Sunny," Sonic said. "But I know the earring won't work. Just give it to me so Izzy sees she doesn't need it," he whispered at her.

Posey just rolled her eyes, took one of her earrings off, and gave it to Sonic. "You better be quick," she warned with a glare.

"Quick is my middle name!" Sonic joked, then ran back to Izzy and extended the earring to her with a smile.

"I thought your middle name was 'the'," Izzy said confusedly as she took the earring and examined it, while Sonic just facepalmed. "Nah. Too plasticky," Izzy said as she gave the earring to Sonic.

Sonic ran back with Posey and gave her the earring back. "Thank you very much!" he said, and once Posey took the earring, he returned with Izzy. "Okay, that didn't work either. Now what?" he asked her.

Before Izzy could answer, she saw two critters rolling a circle net and gasped with a smile. "That could work! Wait up!" she said, then decided to follow the critters.

"Okay, whatever she saw, I'm not letting her get in trouble!" Sonic told himself and followed her. "Not without me!" he added with a smile.

Izzy came to the alleyway and found the critters dragging the net. She zipped and gasped with a smile, but it faded once she saw a deflated float instead of the net she was looking for.

"Awww, no good," Izzy said with sadness, as Sonic caught up to her.

"Still nothing, Izzy?" Sonic asked.

"No..." Izzy answered and then groaned. "This is hopeless, Sonic. I'm never gonna—" she tried to say but then gasped in awe with sparkling eyes at a sight.

Sonic looked in the same direction as Izzy and raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" he questioned, since she was looking at a dumpster while a raccoon corn jumped on a homemade diving board on the side and crashed into the dumpster.

"Whoaaaa…" Izzy said in amazement, then headed to the handmade diving board.

"Izz..." Sonic called out. "Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you'll do..."

"Oh, I'm totally doing it, Sonic!" Izzy cheered.

Sonic looked at her with concern. "You do realize what you’re doing is unsanitary, right?" he questioned Izzy.

"Yeah, but this is for Sunny!" Izzy cheered again. She climbed up the diving board and jumped with a flip. "Whoo-hoo!" she cheered as she dived into the dumpster.

Sonic cringed in disgust. He has done some gross things himself in the past, but it was for the sake of the world. "I admire her dedication to her Unicycling job, but this is reaching a line I never thought it was possible to reach," he told himself.

Izzy:
Makin' a splash
A splash into trash
Reaction this trash
Don't have to be so slapdash

Uni-cycled in a flash
Could be a table or mustache
Anything really for trash

T-R-A-S-H
Doesn't mean it's waste

T-R-A-S-H
With a dash of taste

Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo
Make it brand new-ooh, ooh-ooh
Whoo!

Come on in, the trash is lovely
Lookin' for a ring for Sunny
Call it waste, call it misplaced
But always with a dash of taste

You might think it's rotten
But I think you have forgotten
It's anything really for trash
(Oh, yeah!)

T-R-A-S-H
Doesn't mean it's waste
T-R-A-S-H
With a dash of taste

Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo
Make it brand new-ooh, ooh-ooh
Whoo!

As the musical number finished, Izzy poked her head out of the dumpster looked at the ring she had on her horn, and smiled since it was exactly what she was looking for. "Aha! There you are, my circly little friend!" she said as she grabbed the ring and polished it a bit.

"It took you some time, Iz," Sonic said with a little smile. "I heard some music and many weird sounds inside there. Was there some kind of party or something?"

"Sorta," Izzy replied, as she left the dumpster completely. "Now let's go! I have to finish the lantern!" she shouted, then ran away.

"But hit the shower first, Izzy!" Sonic pled her as he followed the unicorn.

Back at the Brighthouse, Sonic watched Izzy putting the ring on Sunny’s lantern.

"Ta-daaaaah! All uni-cycled up!" Izzy cheered as she raised her hooves in the air.

"All this trouble for a ring," Sonic said with a smile. "And I'm the one talking," he pointed out, since he's usually looking for rings to power up his resistance, although those were other kinds of rings.

"Huh... Something's still not quite right," Izzy said, putting a hoove on her chin. She gasped as she realized something. "Oh! I know!" she said cheerfully and then grabbed a box of rocks. She opened it and then smirked when she took out a crystal. Izzy put the crystal on the lantern and closed it, and then the lantern began to float.

"Wow!" both Sonic and Izzy said in awe as the lantern started to float off the table. Without noticing, Izzy's Cutie Mark started to glow.

"The floating is unexpected, but Sunny's gonna love it!" Izzy stated with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure she will, but since when did you get magical crystals?" Sonic questioned.

"You know how there's lots of crystals in Bridlewood, so I just collected them now and then!" Izzy explained.

"Hm... Interesting..." Sonic said as he looked back at the lantern floating.

"Izzy! What's happened to my manedryer?!" Pipp spoke, which caused Sonic and Izzy to cringe. Izzy grabbed the lantern and hid it in her drawer as Pipp came to them with her mane little frizzed out while holding her broken mane dryer. "It's missing, like, all the pieces!" she cried.

"Sorry, Pipp." Izzy apologizes to the pegasus. "I can fix it! Hang on!" she says as she runs out the door.

"Izzy?! Where are you going?!" Pipp cried out. "Come back! No one can see me like this!" she cried, not wanting anypony to see her with her mane messed up.

"Yeah... you don't want to know where she's going, Pipp," Sonic said with a concerned look, feeling his whole body shake with goosebumps. "Geez, just imagining the place makes me shake," he said, hugging himself.

Pipp felt a little panicked that Sonic was there as well, since she didn't want him especially to look at her like that, but Sonic was a little traumatized to even notice her messed up mane, so she sighed in relief.

As for Izzy, she returned to the dumpster with the homemade diving board, ready to grab some parts for Pipp’s manedryer.

Weeks later, after Team Sonic's Reunion and Maretime Bay Day, Sonic told the whole story to Tails and Knuckles as the trio looked at Sunny's lantern in her area of bedroom.

"So, what are you trying to say, exactly?" Knuckles questioned, not getting Sonic's point.

"Guys, the crystal shines, just like the Emeralds should. But since they're not working, I was thinking... maybe we should find alternative ways to go home," Sonic explained with his arms crossed.

"Like these crystals?" Tails asked.

"Yeah," Sonic replied. "If the Emeralds don't want to help us, then we should find other options, starting with the crystals in Bridlewood."

"You know, I would agree if it weren't because we're still missing one Chaos Emerald, and we still have no idea where Eggman is hiding," Knuckles pointed out. "We can't leave without both."

"I know, I know. I'm not saying we have to leave now," Sonic corrected himself. "I'm saying that we should start researching alternate routes to go back, so once we get egghead and the remaining Emeralds, we have our route to get them out before they cause more trouble to these ponies."

"Sounds good to me," Tails said with a little smile. "I can research these crystals a bit before testing them to open a portal," he suggested, taking out a little notebook and starting to write.

"I think I can bring some when I go back to Bridlewood when Izzy works on 'bigger stuff' in her home," Knuckles added, still unconvinced at all but on board all the same. "We sure need some way out, anyways."

"Good, because I feel like Eggman has something big prepared on his hands, and we have to be careful from here," Sonic stated as the trio looked again at Sunny's Lantern.

THE END...?