At Mane Melody, Dahlia was looking for a hooficure on the mirror, which looked like a pink square circle with sparkling yellow. Pipp admired the hooficure as Dahlia and Pipp smiled, while Pipp had sparkling eyes.

"Loving iiiiiit!" Pipp sang. "But what about this?" she asked, then used the style makeover mirror selection to poof Dahlia’s hooves into different hooficures. "Or this? Or this? Or––" she stopped with an exciting look before continuing. "Ooh! What about this?" she said excitedly and then gave Dahlia a pink hooficure with flowers.

Dahlia gasped and smiled with sparkling eyes. "It's so me! I love it!” she cheered at the right choice of hooficure.

"Great choice, Dahlia," Jazz said as she pointed in one direction. "Right this way," she said while Dahlia placed one of her hooves into a pillow so Jazz could make her hooficure.

"I love all your designs, Jazz!" Dahlia said to Jazz, while pony gave her the requested hooficure.

"Oh, they're not mine," Jazz honestly said, then she brought out her phone tablet and showed the images of the hooficure pictures to Dahlia. "I just copied them from a huge library of hooficures," she explained, scrolling through the pictures before placing her phone down. "I've never created my own designs before," she said and finished Dahlia's other hoof.

"Oooh-weee!" Pipp cheered with a smile and sparkling eyes, appearing next to Jazz. "Those hooves are super-gorge! Mind if I Ponygram them, Dahlia?" she asked, bringing out her phone. Dahlia smiled and lifted her front hooves to the camera while Pipp took her picture.

Later, Jazz scrolled through her hooficures pictures to see if there was anything else the ponies might like and gave other ponies the hooficures they requested while she smiled at her work.

Try something new, take a chance, just believe it
Let out your light, shining bright, can ya see it?
Whoa-oh-ohhhh-oh-oh

Pipp took pictures of the hooficures while the customers loved them. Pipp and Jazz smiled at each other, and Pipp scrolled through her phone, humming to herself, seeing that the pictures she had taken had many positive reviews and likes.

Suddenly, Mane Melody's front door opened, and Izzy came in with a smile and decided to get a hooficure for her. Knuckles was with her, too, since he would make her company for an event that night. "Hey! I need a hooftag #Hooficure!" Izzy called out with a cool face as she front-flipped to Jazz, who was done giving Rufus a hooficure, while Knuckles just walked normally to her side. "It's music night at the Crystal Tea Room tonight!" Izzy explained with a cheer.

"The gal here wants a new style in her hooves for the occasion," Knuckles added with his arms crossed and a smile.

"Got anything music-y?" Izzy asked with a cheerful smile.

"Something music-y, huh?" Jazz said with an interesting smile as she brought out her phone. "Let's see what we got." But when she scrolled to her next picture, it showed a big red X in a black circle, which threw Jazz in the loop while Knuckles raised an eyebrow and Izzy placed a hoof on her chin.

"Uhhh, not sure. Black isn't really our color," Izzy pointed out.

"I doubt that's a style, Iz," Knuckles corrected her.

"Uh-oh," Jazz said nervously and started to sweat since she was only getting the same image with the X in the black circle. "No! Uh, hang on! No! The designs! I think I've used them all up!" she worriedly said.

"No biggie," Izzy said with a smile. "I'll have the same as ol' Rufus here. We can be hoof buddies," she said while giving Rufus a wink.

"No way, Izzy," Rufus stated. "Nopony with any style would be caught wearing the same design," he added as he walked out of Mane Melody.

"Rufus is right!" Jazz said with panic. "If I'm out of designs, nopony will come to Mane Melody for their hooficures!" she stated as she kept swiping her phone, getting the same result while Knuckles and Izzy came next to her.

"Can't you just make new designs or something?" Knuckles asked.

"Knux is right, Jazz. You gotta make some new ones!" Izzy assured with a smile.

"That's just it! I don't know how!" Jazz confessed, putting down her phone with a worried look. "I've always just copied the designs! And now I've run out! What am I going to do?!" she cried out in panic.

"First of all, calm down. No one's dying, and the world isn't ending," Knuckles said to Jazz as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "We won't deal with that until season 3 at least," he added. Now, let's think..." he said, touching his chin.

Izzy and Knuckles thought of a way to help Jazz with this kind of problem, and then, Izzy smiled, came next to Jazz, and placed a hoof over her shoulder. "Stick with us. I know exactly what you need. Jazz Hooves, you've got a date with destiny!" she declared, getting Jazz cheek’s against hers with a side hug.

"Destiny?" Jazz asked in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Izz?" Knuckles asked, confused as well.

Later, Izzy led Jazz and Knuckles to the Crystal Tea Room in Bridlewood and stopped at the front door.

"Get ready to have your mind totally blown, Jazz!" Izzy said as she playfully imitated explosions.

"You still got me lost, Izzy," Knuckles admitted. "Why are we here again?" he questioned.

"You just wait and see, Knuckie," Izzy said with a cheery smile as she pushed the door open, and the trio entered.

Jazz looked around while jazz music played, with ponies around the tea shop enjoying their tea. Onyx was playing her saxophone, and her friend Jasper was playing the bongos for the jazz music while Alphabittle was washing his tea cups with a calm smile.

Izzy found them a table, and she down tapped her hooves with clinging sounds. She smiled at Jazz and tapped the table to get her to sit. Getting the signal, Jazz sat down while Knuckles sat on the other side.

"Wow," Knuckles said in awe since this was his first time at the Crystal Tea Room. "This place looks amazing," he admitted with a smile.

"It sure is!" Izzy said with a smile, then turned to Jazz. "Can you feel the artistic, creative-y vibes flowing right through you?" she asked, getting close to Jazz.

Onyx and Jasper continued playing jazz in sync while Jazz listened to the music and smiled. She closed her eyes a bit and visualized the jazz notes while tapping her hoof on the table to the tune.

Knuckles now realized Izzy's plan. "Oh, I get it now," he said with a smile.

But then, the trio heard wild saxophone tunes that caused the jazz music to mess up, bringing Jazz out of her little world. "Oh, no! Onyx is playing the wrong song!" she said, looking at Onyx with worry.

"Nah, I don't think so," Knuckles replied with a smirk.

"Wait for it... Wait for it…" Izzy told Jazz with a smirk, knowing Onyx well enough to show some surprises for her music.

The ponies around smiled at Onyx's new jazz tune as she continued to play her saxophone wildly. She looked at Jasper with a knowing look, and Jasper followed in Onyx's tune, banging his bongos, which made Jazz smile widely with sparkling eyes while everypony in the tea shop was tapping their hooves on the table to the tune pattern, including Alphabittle.

"I just love it when they do their own thing," Alphabittle said to a unicorn with a smile.

"Whoa! This is amazing!" Jazz cheered, smiling at Izzy.

"It sure is!" Knuckles agreed as he tapped his hands on the table, finding the music catchy.

"Now that's what you call creative inspiration!" Izzy started with a smile. "Sometimes, you just have to throw out the rules and make something new," she pointed out while Onyx and Jasper finished their show, which caused the crowd to applaud them.

"See, girl? If these guys can make amazing music sound even more amazing, you can create even more amazing designs from scratch," Knuckles told Jazz with a smile.

Jazz smiled at him, and she envisioned the music notes around her. The notes turned into other images: a lightning bolt, a heart, a flower, an umbrella, a bush, and a pinkish-straight heart. They all flew into Jazz, giving her some inspiration for her designs.

"See? You can feel it, too!" Izzy said, winking at Jazz with a smile. "Now all you gotta do is take the feeling and put it into your art!" she encouraged Jazz.

"Wow! Maybe I really could create my hooficure designs!" Jazz cheered with sparkling eyes, feeling inspired.

"Yeah, you can!” Izzy cheered. "And we know just the guinea ponies to help you practice!" Izzy announced while giving Jazz a wink.

"I mean, it's more for practice, but yeah, calling them guinea ponies works, too," Knuckles said with a smile.

Back in Mane Melody, Izzy and Knuckles told their friends everything, and they fully agreed to help Jazz practice her new designs, except for Sonic and Tails. Since they're not there, we'll get with them later.

"Let's do this!" Izzy cheered in her chair as she pointed to Hitch next to her.

"Don't hold back!" Hitch called out with a smile after he turned his chair around.

"Follow your heart!" Sunny said, turning her chair around and hovering over her heart.

"Unleash your inner artiste!" Zipp cheered after she turned her chair.

And then a raccoonicorn turned his chair, eating a piece of food, and he squeaked at Jazz, encouraging her as well.

Jazz smiled at the rest of the Mane 5, took a deep breath, then gave a determined look and brought out her hooficure makeover supplies with sparkling eyes and a smile, then she applied them on the Mane 5.

Try something new, take a chance, just believe it
Let out your light, shining bright, can ya see it?
At Mane Melody, hey!
At Mane Melody!

Jazz started with Hitch by applying a hooficure to his hoof that is all dark blue with light blue lightning, and Hitch gave a smile with sparkling eyes.

Then, Jazz sprayed some makeup on Pipp’s hooves, making them dark purple with a crown. Pipp smiled with sparkling eyes, finding them beautiful.

Next, Jazz cheerfully added three colors as they hit Zipp’s hooves, giving her a rainbow hooficure.

Jazz did Izzy next, and she made her hoofs all purple with a yellow music note in it.

Then Jazz did the raccoonicorn next, making a piece of a berry on his paw's nails.

The Mane 5 and the raccoonicorn huddled together and looked at their hooficures. Sunny's were the darkest pink with a light pink swirl. She smiled along with her friends, finding their hooficures great.

"Jazz, how did you know?" Sunny asked with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. "Triple-berry is totally my favorite!" she happily added as she looked at her hooficure.

"Yay!" Jazz cheered in response.

"Ka-chow!" Hitch announced as he stomped his hoof down. "Who's yo' daddy?!" he called out with a pose, with the raccoonicorn looking at him with hearts in its eyes.

The Mane 5 high hoof each other while their hooficures sparkled from the light.

"I feel an exclusive hoof reveal video coming on!" Pipp cheered as she brought out her phone, turned the camera on, and placed her hoof in front of the camera. At the same time, the rest of the Mane 5 and the raccoonicorn huddled together to get given the camera to show their hooficure. Pipp took the picture and posted it on the web as it went viral, along with other pictures of Jazz’s new hooficures they have taken together.

Jazz hoof tapped one of the pictures and came next to Izzy and Knuckles, looking out the window. "Thanks, guys. Without your help, I would've never been brave enough to create my own designs," she said, thanking them for helping her find inspiration for new designs.

"Don't give us all the credit," Knuckles told her with a smile. "We may have inspired you, but you made the designs. Don't forget it," he added.

"And it looks like you're gonna need all the inspiration you can get," Izzy said with a smile. "Check it out!" she pointed out the window, and the three saw a huge line of ponies in front of Mane Melody muttering to each other. Jazz was amazed that there were so many ponies to try out her new hooficure designs.

"Wow. That’s a big crowd," Knuckles said, impressed to see many ponies waiting in line. "Seem like you’ll be busy for a while, Jazzy," he told her with a smirk.

Izzy, Jazz, and Knuckles walked out of Mane Melody to get a closer look at the crowd, and Jazz smiled with sparkling eyes while Izzy and Knuckles looked at her with joy.

"It's the hooficure queen!" the ponies in the crowd called out to Jazz.

"Hey!" Rufus appeared among the crowd, not understanding why there were so many ponies, but then smiled widely when he saw Izzy’s hooficure. "Your hooves are fierce, Izzy!" se complimented her. "Can I get one of the same designs as her, Jazz?" he asked.

"Fantabuloso!" Izzy cheered. "Finally, a hoof, buddy!" she said, placing a shoulder on Rufus and giving him a side hug.

"Contradicts what you said earlier, but sure, go ahead," Knuckles said with a smile.

"Neighway, Rufus," Jazz began with a smile. "Every Pony gets its one-of-a-kind design," she explained. "Follow me," she said to Rufus as he, Izzy, and Knuckles followed her back into Mane Melody, only for Jazz to gasp in surprise at the number of ponies already inside.

"Sweet grapes from the gods!" Knuckles said in surprise. "Seems like you'll be very busy today..." he added with a wide smile.

"Well, it'll be worth the wait," Jazz quickly said as she turned to Rufus. "I promise," she promised Rufus while they all smiled at each other.

While Rufus took a seat to wait and Jazz went to work, Izzy and Knuckles came out of Mane Melody again.

"Well, another pony helped, another day saved," Knuckles said with a smile. "By the way, where are Sonic and Tails? I thought we told them to try this, too," he pointed out, referring to his two friends' absence.

"They were there when we told them, but honestly, I don't remember hearing or seeing them agree to help," Izzy said, placing a hoof on her chin, trying to remember if Sonic and Tails also said they would help Jazz.

"Well, even if they accepted, there's no point with us," Knuckles pointed out. "We always use gloves, and even if we remove them, we have to put them back, so the manicures, in our case, would get lost," he explained. "But they could say something at least..." he added, but then his phone started to ring, and he took out of his quills.

"Wow, that's a very good timing!" Izzy pointed out that since the call was from Sonic,

Knuckles answered the call, but Sonic shouted from the other side before he could say anything. "KNUCKLES!!!" he yelled, which startled both Izzy and Knuckles. Knuckles almost dropped his phone but caught it in time.

"Geez, calm down, man!" Knuckles said. "What's gotten into you?" he asked, confused.

"Where are you?!" Sonic asked with a concerned look on the call.

"Near Mane Melody, why?" Knuckles replied.

"I need you to come to the Brighthouse right now!" Sonic shouted again. "It's an emergency!" he stated, immediately ending the call before Knuckles could ask anything.

Knuckles frowned after Sonic ended the call. "Izz, go with the others and tell them what happened," he told the unicorn, then boosted straight to the Brighthouse before Izzy could say anything.

"But I... uh..." Izzy tried to say. "Okay, I'll tell them!" she shouted, hoping Knuckled heard her, and then went to look for the rest.

At the Crystal Brighthouse, Knuckles slammed the door of the bedroom open and entered to find Sonic and Tails with worried looks.

"I came here immediately! What happened?" Knuckles asked.

Instead of answering with words, Sonic and Tails looked at each other, and Tails grabbed the chest with the Chaos Emeralds and opened it. And now Knuckles got what the emergency was: the Chaos Emeralds, after 7 months of being practically dead, were shining brightly once again.

"Oh my Chaos..." Knuckles said. "B-But how?! When did this happen?" he questioned.

"I was running a test on the portal like usual..." Tails started to explain. "Then one of the glowing gems that Izzy brought for us slipped from my hands and landed on the Emeralds," he added.

"The crystal became dust, but the Emeralds started to shine again," Sonic finished. "And now... the glow doesn't go, not even when I pick them..." he said, grabbing one of the Emeralds that kept shining in his hand.

"So... does that mean that..." Knuckles wanted to ask.

"That's the thing... we don't know!" Tails said. "There's a huge chance that they still won't work," he pointed out. "Our chances to succeed and make a portal to go home are of 2.5%" he added, since he knew Knuckles would ask how bad were their chances.

"And my connection with the Emeralds hasn't returned either," Sonic worriedly added. "It's like if they were back to the times when we all thought there were only six Emeralds and not seven," he said since his connection wasn't there either.

"Oh..." was all Knuckles could say.

"I have many questions right now... how are these crystals magical? Why did they make the Emeralds react? And why is Sonic's connection with them still dead?" Tails asked with worry and panic.

"Connection..." Sonic repeated, then looked at Knuckles. "Knux, how's your connection with the Master Emerald?" he asked.

Knuckles closed his eyes and focused on the Master Emerald. He visualized the giant Emerald in the same place on Angel Island, but then he felt the image fading, appearing, fading again, and it kept going on that loop. "It's getting weaker and weaker," Knuckles replied, then he opened his eyes again. "It's still there, but I feel it grows apart every day we spend here," he added with concern.

"I'm starting to run out of ideas..." Tails confessed. "These crystals don't work, and the Chaos Emeralds might be shining again, but are we sure they still work?" he questioned.

"We'll never know if we don't try," Sonic said with a little smile.

And then, the Mane 5 came in suddenly, panting since they ran a lot to catch up with Team Sonic.

"I... did it..." Izzy said with a tired smile, still trying to catch her breath. "It took me a while, but I did it!" she cheered.

"Uh, what's with the hooficures?" Sonic asked, a little confused.

"I'll give you context later," Pipp said, finally catching her breath. "So... why were you shouting so loud about an Emeralds thing?" she asked Sonic.

Again, instead of saying something, Sonic answered, showing the Chaos Emeralds now shining as they usually did.

"Wow!" the Mane 5 said in unison with sparkling eyes since they never saw anything shining like the Chaos Emeralds did.

"Wait, they're shining again!" Zipp pointed out.

"But... doesn't that mean that...?" Hitch tried to ask, but Sonic cut him off.

"Before you put all sad and sentimental: No, we don't know if they work because a) My connection with the Emeralds is still dead, and b) They started to shine after some random crystal became dust over them, so we don't know if it's still working the same way they should" Sonic quickly said. "But as I say, we'll never know if we don't try," he repeated.

He grabbed the Purple Emerald and threw it to Knuckles, who caught the Emerald and looked at it confused, then at Sonic with the same look. Sonic grabbed the blue one, then looked at Knuckles and smirked, which made the echidna realize what he wanted to try as he nodded to Sonic.

"Uh, what are they doing?" Sunny questioned.

"It's better if we stay back," Tails advised, as he stayed at a very significant distance while the Mane 5 stood behind him.

"Ready, Knucklehead?" Sonic asked with a smile.

"Let's roll!" Knuckles replied with a determinate look.

Sonic and Knuckles stood before each other and placed the Chaos Emeralds on their hands together. "Chaos Control!" they both cried out, and the Chaos Emeralds started to shine even more.

But they were doing it at a slow rate: first bad signal since they usually responded immediately. The second bad sign came when Sonic and Knuckles struggled to keep the Emeralds stable and functioning. Still, the third bad sign came in: Sonic's veins from the hand he held the Emerald started to turn blue, while Knuckles' veins from the hand he held the Emerald turned purple, and both struggled even more from pain.

"Guys, let them go, now!" Tails shouted, but neither Sonic nor Knuckles listened to him.

The Mane 5 also got worried as they looked around and tried to find anything that could help. Then, Izzy had a very bad idea, in her opinion, but it seemed like their only choice.

While Sonic and Knuckles struggled, the colored veins reached their whole arms. A blast reached the Chaos Emeralds they were holding, and they fell to the ground. Sonic and Knuckles fell backward and struggled in pain while they grabbed their arms.

The rest looked at Izzy, whose horn was glowing, meaning she had freed Sonic and Knuckles. "S-Sorry!" she apologized, thinking she had done something wrong.

"Don't, Izz," Tails said with a soft smile. "You saved them."

Knuckles could still stand up since he had a lot of strength, but the pain was still there since his veins were still purple. Sonic was almost shouting as he grabbed his arm with blue veins.

"This... totally... sucks!" Knuckles cried out as he held his arm, and then Izzy, Zipp, and Hitch came to his side.

Sonic still shouted from pain as Tails, Sunny, and Pipp came to his side, with Pipp holding the same arm he was.

Then, the pain suddenly stopped, Knuckles stopped growling, and Sonic stopped shouting. Their arms' veins became normal again, and Sonic breathed in relief.

"That was... something," Sonic whimpered, looking at the blue Emerald still shining but not as bright as when he and Knuckles activated it.

Tails walked towards the Emerald and grabbed it. "Until I know for sure what's happening, neither you nor Knuckles are touching the Emeralds," he said with concern. Then, he placed the blue and purple Emeralds back into the chest and closed the chest. "For your own good, whatever happened before, we can't risk any lives."

"I'm not planning on touching them soon," Sonic said, getting up and looking at his arm. "I just hope that, wherever the last Emerald is, it doesn't make a struggle to us..." he added with worry.

"I want to throw those things, but we still need them..." Knuckles said with a frown. "Because I don't want to feel whatever was that again!" he added angrily while Izzy placed a hoof on his shoulder, slightly calming Knuckles.

"Are you okay?" Pipp asked Sonic after a while.

"I feel okay," Sonic said. "But I don't know if I really am..." he added with a worried look.

THE END...?

Author's Note

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter!