Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: IDW Comics

by BronySonicFan

Chapters

Issue #1
Issue #3
Issue #4
Issue #5
Issue #6
Issue #7
Issue #8
Issue #9
Issue #10
Epilogue: Darkness Rising
Issue #2
Epilogue: Echoes from the Past

Issue #1

Author's Note

WARNING

I highly recommend to read Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: Make Your Mark before reading this whole story.

And I'm talking about the whole story, because there will be some slight details from there.

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

Issue #1

Years ago, before the magic was restored and the three pony tribes still lived separated, a young Sunny was at the top of the lighthouse, looking for something on her telescope when her father entered the room.

"Anything to report, explorer?" Argyle asked her daughter with a smile.

"I thought I saw the Royal Castle, but it was just a stack of oranges at the market," Sunny answered, looking through a telescope and writing something on paper.

Argyle came closer to his daughter. "Canterlot might be a bit too far for us to see from here," he explained to her, "But you’ll find it one day," he assured her with a smile.

Sunny gasped and looked at her father with a smile. "You think so?" she asked with hope.

"Twilight Sparkle built The Gates of Ancients to welcome those who believed and trusted in the Magic of Friendship to Canterlot," Argyle explained as he held Sunny close to him, and they both looked at Maretime Bay. "You lead with love, Sunny. And so long as you make sure no earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn ever feels lesser than because of who they are, Canterlot will always be your home," he explained as he hugged Sunny, and the filly giggled.

Today, two months after Winter Wishday, Sunny was at the Crystal Brighthouse, smiling at the picture she had taken with her dad in the bedroom.

"Nothing new to report, Dad," Sunny said to the picture as if she was talking to her father. "But not every week can be as beautiful as reuniting the Unity Crystals and restoring magic to all ponykind," she added, remembering her adventure across Equestria to find the Crystals. "And not every week you meet some new friends from another dimension," she said as well, thinking about the arrival of Team Sonic to Equestria. "Do you think Twilight would be proud of me?" she asked.

And then, out of nowhere, Pipp came zooming by and placed a hoof over Sunny, bringing her into a side hug as she took her phone out for a livestream. "Of course she would be!" she answered with a smile. "And the Pippsqueaks even agree. Say hi!" she added, smiling at the phone, and Sunny smiled.

They both ran out of the Brighthouse, where they found Zipp flying and Tails standing on the ground with a board. "If you’re done livestreaming, we’ve got a game of flyball to play!" Zipp called out as Tails drew the game's rules and even a little example on the board while Sunny activated her alicorn form.

"The rules are simple: get the ball in the net five times, and you win. But there’s also tons of strategy to this game," Tails explained, pointing the marker to the drawing on the board.

Suddenly, Izzy came from behind the board and smiled at her friends. "Ooh, are we playing a game? Is this a pie-eating contest? A cake-eating contest? A cookie-eating contest?" she asked excitedly.

"U-Um... well..." Tails tried to explain, but Izzy covered his mouth with a hoof and looked determined.

"No need to twist my hoof; I’m in! Point me on the field," Izzy stated, convinced to join the game.

Tails gulped nervously, and Sunny looked at her with an awkward smile. "Geez... how do I put this?" Tails said, thinking of the right words. Izzy... um... this is a game you cannot participate in..." he started.

"Because it’s up near that cloud over there…" Pipp continued while Sunny pointed at the cloud where the game would happen.

Izzy looked a little down at what they said to her, knowing she couldn’t play if she couldn't fly. Even so, she forced a smile for them. "Oh! Well, I always say it’s as much fun cheering on your friends as playing with them…" She lied to them, something they all noticed, but only one decided to cheer her.

"Hey, we still have that little 'trip' to search for Unicycling stuff I promised to go with you, remember?" Tails pointed out with a little smile. "I'll go with you once we're done playing flyball, I promise!" he assured her.

Izzy smiled slightly, but she was still sad since she could not fly and play with her friends.

"See you later, Izzy!" Sunny waved at the unicorn as she flew alongside Zipp, Pipp, and Tails. Izzy waved back, secretly drawing a sad face on the back of the board with a pen.

"Over here!" Knuckles' voice said suddenly as Izzy turned to see Hitch and Knuckles leading a family of earth ponies into the forest.

Izzy got curious and wanted to see what they were looking for. In the forest, she caught up with Hitch, Knuckles, and the Earth pony family. "These critters say we’re getting closer," Hitch said, translating everything the animals told him.

"I can feel it," the earth pony stallion said to his wife and son with a smile while their hoofs shone.

Knuckles was looking at the ground for any clue when Izzy came down to his level, and Hitch looked at her confused, but Knuckles didn't seem to care. "What are we looking for?" Izzy asked Knuckles, wondering what they were looking for in the woods.

"A family of butterflies. But they scare so easily, so we’ve got to keep very quiet," Hitch whispered to Izzy.

"Which means no speaking!" Knuckles whispered at her as he resumed his search on the ground.

"Veeerrry quiet," Izzy said in a whispered tone. But it didn't last long as she turned to the Earth Pony family. "HE SAID NO SPEAKING. YOU HEAR THAT, EVERYPONY?!" she yelled to them, which startled both Hitch and Knuckles as they gulped nervously.

And thanks to Izzy's yell, the butterflies they were looking for started flying away, as the critters, earth ponies family, Izzy, Hitch, and Knuckles saw them flying away. The parents glared at Izzy for ruin the moment; their son was at the edge of tears, the critters flopped into the ground, Hitch teared up after seeing the butterflies fly away, and Knuckles was lying on the ground with his face smashing the floor with frustration.

Izzy looked at them with sheepish embarrassment as she placed a hoof over her mouth. "Guess even the butterflies heard that," she said, which caused Knuckles to growl on the ground.

A little while later, Izzy walked on Maretime Bay with a long face. She felt like her friends were letting her out to have fun. She was glad that at least Tails was up to spend time with her, but the feeling of being left out was still there.

She arrived at a smoothie stand. Close to the stand, a unicorn was levitating a statue of the three pony tribes together, and a pegasus and an earth pony showed her where to put it. "A rainbow swirl. And make it a double," Izzy requested with a down expression as the earth pony stallion poured the smoothie into the cup.

She looked up and saw Sunny, Zipp, Tails, and Pipp in the sky, with Pipp livestreaming the whole game while Sunny and Tails tried to beat Zipp.

"She swerves, and she scores!" Zipp cheered as she shot the ball into the net, getting a score since Sunny and Tails failed to block her.

Izzy looked on, still sad, and paid for the smoothie while slurping it. Suddenly, a blue blur passed by her side. The blur came back but stopped in front of her.

"Hey there, Izz!" Sonic greeted her unicorn friend, but then he noticed her long face and got worried, as Izzy was usually happy. "Are you okay? You seem a little down today," he pointed out worriedly.

"Oh, I'm fine!" Izzy tried to lie, and she put on a forced smile. "I'm just... waiting for the game to finish!" she said again, not lying at all since she was waiting for Tails to finish the game.

Sonic looked up and saw the game between his three flying friends, and then realization hit him like a train as he looked back at Izzy with a soft smile. "You feel like you're left out, don't you?" Sonic asked her, as Izzy caught a little bit of it since she slurped from her smoothie.

"N-No! Of course not! I-I'm just, uh..." Izzy replied and tried to come up with something quick, but Sonic chuckled and touched her shoulder.

"Izzy, sometimes it's okay. You don't feel happy. Don't make the same mistakes I've made, and be honest," Sonic advised her with a smile. Hiding it only will make you feel worse. Besides, I'm your friend; you can tell me anything," he assured her.

Izzy hesitated a little at first, but then she looked at him with tears. "W-Well... t-the truth is..." she tried to confess, but something happened behind them with the ponies setting up the statue.

"Hold it steady..." the earth pony said to the unicorn.

However, the unicorn's magic started failing since he had difficulty holding the statue. "It’s my magic. It’s--" she strained before her magic faded away and caused the statue to fall, as the unicorn screamed in horror, thinking it was her end.

But then she blinked, and the next thing she knew, she was safe and apart from the statue, with Sonic standing next to her. Izzy came to the rescue and used her magic to levitate the statue. Sonic and the Earth pony sighed in relief as the Earth pony came to comfort the unicorn, who was traumatized by the experience.

"HELP!" Pipp’s voice screamed as Sonic and Izzy turned and looked at the sky, seeing Pipp falling. "Somepony, help me!" Pipp cried out as Sunny, Tails, and Zipp saw Pipp falling and freaked out, especially Zipp.

"I’m coming!" Zipp cried out to her sister as she, Sunny, and Tails flew down to see if one of them could catch Pipp before she could hit the ground. However, Zipp’s wings suddenly stopped working. "What the--" Zipp said to herself, seeing she couldn't fly either.

Tails saw this and quickly flew to grab her in bridal style. "Gotcha!" he assured to the pegasus.

Unfortunately, Zipp was not calm as she looked down. "But… Pipp!" she cried out while Pipp curled herself in fright with tears in her eyes.

Sunny tried to use her alicorn magic, but her horn wasn't working either, and her wings started to glitch a little, although she could still fly in the air. Izzy tried to use her magic as well, but it failed.

The one who decided to take action now was Sonic, who ran towards a building, and once off the ceiling, he charged his SpinDash and boosted towards Pipp. Once he was about to hit her, he returned to his normal form and grabbed the pegasus in bridal style as he landed on the ground and looked at Pipp. He sighed with relief since she seemed okay. Mane was messy.

"Well, it seems like you're always falling for me, Princess Petals," Sonic joked, using a flirting tone with her and looking at her seductively. This caused a big blush on Pipp, as her heart started to bump quickly. Sonic decided to cut the act and look at her with his usual face. "Jokes aside, are you okay?" asked, now worried for her.

Pipp blinked and tried to focus back. "Y-Yeah! I-Im fine... t-thanks to you..." she assured, still blushing a bit now smiling, which caused Sonic to blush a little too.

He put her on the ground as Tails landed and put Zipp down while the pegasus ran toward her sister. Sunny landed, too, and Izzy got close to them while Hitch and Knuckles arrived, followed by Cloudpuff.

"Aw man, don't tell me we missed all the action!" Knuckles complained.

"What’s that, Cloudpuff? You want me to know Pipp’s no longer falling through the air and in imminent danger?" he translated rhetorically as he rolled his eyes since he could see that.

"It was so freaky. My wings were fine one second, and my magic started glitching out the next!" Pipp pointed out worriedly while she fixed her mane a little.

"The same thing happened to me," Zipp added.

"And me," Izzy said as well.

Hitch looked around and saw other ponies were also having glitches: the pegasi were having trouble flying, the unicorn's magic was glitching out, and the earth ponies could not use their earth pony magic. "And everypony else in Maretime Bay," he pointed out with a hoof on his chin.

"Except you, Sunny. Your wings worked the whole time," Zipp pointed out since Sunny's wings and horn didn't disappear.

"I could still feel my magic glitching. But it seems better now," Sunny confessed since her horn wasn't working.

"More magic trouble? Geez... It would be nice if our only problem were Eggman and Opaline, but it seems like magic wants to tease us even more," Sonic complained, crossing his arms and stomping his foot on the ground.

"Oh, look, my magic is coming back, too!" Izzy cheered as she saw her horn glowing again. "Looks like this topsy-turvy magical crisis has been averted!" she added, thinking the problems were over.

Hitch, however, wasn’t convinced that it was over that easy. "Just because our magic’s back doesn’t mean it's back back. If it fizzled away once, the same thing could happen again," he pointed out.

"Gotta agree with the sheriff on this one," Knuckles added with his arms crossed. "As much as I hate to admit it, peace and harmony can't be preserved forever," he frowned.

"Ever since Maretime Bay Day, everypony has been kind to each other, so these glitches should not be happening," Tails protested while he tried to think about what was happening.

"None of this makes any sense..." Zipp said as she looked at her friends. "So long there’s been unity between our species, the crystals are supposed to keep our magic stable," she pointed out. "Like Tails said, pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies have never been tighter. If anything, our magic should be stronger!" she finished.

"You’re right," Sunny said to Zipp. "So if our magic is going haywire, it can’t be about friendships--" she started to say, but then stopped midsection as she realized with a worried expression what might be wrong. "Oh, no..." she said in a worried tone.

Izzy popped her head next to Sunny with a worried look as well. "Do we think that’s a good 'Oh no' or…?" she asked, hoping the problem wasn't that bad.

"Wait a minute... Friendship is supposed to stabilize the Crystals..." Tails started to realize this as well. "But if the problem isn't the Crystals... For Chaos sake!" he yelled, realizing what was worrying Sunny, while they both started running towards the Brighthouse.

"And we’re running," Hitch stated as he and the others ran to catch up with Sunny and Tails.

Zipp had to drag Pipp at the start of their running. "Get your hooves moving, Pipp!" she told her sister.

"Haven’t I been through enough trauma for one day?" Pipp complained.

Sonic decided to play the gentleman and again carried her on bridal style. "Seriously, Pipp! Something's wrong with the magic, and we're gonna need your help too!" he said, focusing on the path and not noticing the big blush on Pipp's cheeks.

The Mane 5 and Team Sonic burst the door at the Brighthouse. Sunny immediately ran towards the elevator to reach the top, being followed by Zipp, then Hitch, Izzy, Tails, and then Sonic carrying Pipp, with Knuckles being the last one as They all got into the elevator, where Sonic put Pipp down.

Once they reached the top, Sunny suddenly stopped and placed her hoof to the side, causing Zipp to crash against it. The others followed.

The whole group gasped in shock when they saw the floor: the Unity Crystals were still there, but just two of them.

"Somepony’s taken one of the Unity Crystals!" Sunny cried out in shock as she grabbed the remaining Crystals and watched them grimly.

"Oh no!" Izzy cried out in worry.

"This is the worst kind of Deja Vu I've ever had..." Sonic complained as he looked with a frown, saying they would have to run around to find a Unity Crystal again.

Hitch decided to calm things down while Cloudpuff sat on his back. "Let’s not get our manes tied up in a bunch. The Crystal could be anywhere," he tried to assure her as he placed a hoof on Sunny’s back to comfort her.

"Magical Crystals that are the power source of every creature in Equestria? Falling just like that?" Tails pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think so, Hitch. If you ask me, this seems like a crime scene," he added.

"Tails is right; I don't think the Crystals would be separated. This looks intentional," Sunny said, agreeing with Tails and finding some pattern.

"Well, the Crystals were separated before any of us were even born, so I guess they can still get separated," Knuckles said with a frown. "But why steal something that can give you amazing abilities like flying, leviatating things, talking to animals or making plants grow out of nowhere? That doesn't make sense to me," he added.

"Knuckles has a point. These Crystals are a symbol of Ponykind’s ability to live in harmony. If somepony separated them, it’s because they want magic to fizzle out until it’s gone--for life to go back to the way it was before," Sunny stated with a frown while Izzy inspected the unicorn Crystal. "But we are not going to let that happen," she stated with determination placing the earth pony crystal down. "We were able to unite the crystals once before; we can do it again. Let’s find the crystal thief and get that crystal back!" she announced to her friends, as they all gave determined looks to her.

"Yeah!" Zipp cheered as she brought Pipp to a side hug.

Cloudpuff barked and jumped up and down on Hitch’s back, agreeing to help as well.

"Mission initiated," Izzy stated with a smile while holding a magnifying glass over her eye.

"Ready for action, captain!" Sonic also announced while Team Sonic stood in military pose before Sunny.

Pipp brought out her phone and started to livestream with a sad look. "Pippsqueaks, I know you’re all scared right now… and you should be," she said, as Zipp looked at her sister with a frown. "Your magic might be back, but it might disappear again, and then come back, and then disappear again, until it disappears completely… Because somepony stole a Unity Crystal. It’s really bad!" she added, but Zipp had enough of her sister panicking her followers and grabbed Pipp’s phone from her hoof. "Hey! They deserve the truth!" she pointed out and complained.

"And a bit of hope," Zipp countered. "All you’re doing is throwing them into panic mode," she pointed out.

Pipp huffed and placed a hoof on her chest. "My Pippsqueaks meditate when they’re overwhelmed. They don’t panic," she assured.

And, of course, she was wrong.

Outside, on Maretime Bay, the ponies that heard Pipp’s bad news from her livestream started to panic at the idea of magic vanishing forever.

"If magic’s going to disappear, I’ll fly as much as I can now!" a pegasus stallion panicked as he tried to fly away, but an earth pony mare grabbed one of his hind legs and stopped him.

"What if it fizzles out while you’re in the air? What then?!" the mare asked, trying to prevent him from flying.

A unicorn stallion looked at his phone with teary eyes while brushing his mane. "I can’t go back to manually brushing my mane like some pedestrian pony!" he cried out since he adored his magic.

The other ponies looked in despair at the news while a unicorn cried on the floor.

One of Sonic's ears twitched, hearing all the chaos Pipp caused with her livestream. "Yeah... I'm gonna doubt you there, Little Pipp," he replied with a neutral expression.

"Nopony should be scared because we are going to solve this by beginning our search right here, where the break-in happened," Sunny assured, since the break-in happened in the Brighthouse.

"And that’s the thing about break-ins..." Zipp said suddenly, while the others looked at her wearing the detective hat Tails gave her for Wishentine a few months ago while playfully inspecting a cactus. "... No matter how hard a thief tries, they’ll never be able to leave the scene exactly as they found it. Something’s always just a little bit off. A little bit broken… in," she added with a tone that made her like a true detective.

"Ooh, I would like fifty of those hats, please! Where’s it from?" Izzy asked Zipp with a big smile.

Hitch, Sonic, and Pipp looked at Zipp with boring expressions, clearly seeing her showing off a bit. "Probably from all her clutter," Pipp answered Izzy, guessing that Zipp had taken the hat from her room.

Zipp lifted her hat to look at her friends. "Detective Zipp always comes prepared," she assured them with a smile.

"Detective Zipp?" Sunny asked, looking at Zipp with a smug look.

"That’s right. Because I zipped my way through a good mystery until I track down the perpetrator and bring them to justice," Zipp answered with a smirk.

"We’re going to get those Crystals back in no time!" Izzy cheered as she bounced up and down.

"I wouldn’t be so sure about that, kid," Knuckles protested since he suspected Zipp was just showing up.

"Yeah, how many successful cases have you solved, Detective Zipp?" Pipp asked in a mocking tone.

"Well... This would technically be my first case," Zipp admitted as she tossed the hat away. "Which, if you think about it, means I’ve never had any unsuccessful cases either," she added, which caused Hitch and Pipp to take huffs and roll their eyes while Sonic and Knuckles facepalmed themselves.

"Hang on..." Knuckles said. "What about Sunny's lantern that disappeared a while ago?" he whispered to Sonic. "Izzy accidentally left the lantern in the garden the night before, and then Pipp found it the next day," Sonic whispered. "But instead of giving it back to Sunny, she set up a fake mystery for Zipp, so no. So far, Zipp hasn't solved an actual mystery," he pointed out with a bored expression.

Zipp then turned to see her friends. "So, if you’re ready, let’s get solving!" she stated, taking out her phone and the rest huddled close. "To catch our thief and find our missing Crystal, it’s important to watch for the specifics. The minutia. The details," she pointed out as she scrolled through her gallery until she found one of the many videos Pipp posted on the morning. "Pipp filmed this before we left this morning. And as you can see from the rainbow light behind her, the Crystal hadn’t been stolen yet," she added since the rainbow light of the Brighthouse was still shining. "Look closely. What else do you see?" she asked the rest as they all returned to the Brighthouse's first floor.

"Besides the gorgeous way the light’s brushing my cheeks?" Pipp questioned with a smile.

Oh, you have no idea, Pipp Sonic thought as he blushed a little, but it faded once he focused on the task.

"Yeah. Besides that," Zipp replied while she rolled her eyes at her sister's attitude. She placed her phone next to the shelf where Pipp filmed in the morning and found something strange about both sides. "The vase has been moved," she pointed out, then she inspected the vase and found a strand of a long white fur. Zipp turned to her sister with a smug look on her face. "Consider the case zipped," she joked as Pipp blew a raspberry at her.

"It doesn’t look like it belongs to anypony I know," Sunny pointed out, looking at the fur string with Izzy and Tails.

"I mean, it could be mine, but I win nothing by stealing a Crystal that brings nothing to me, and that fur is way too large to be mine," Tails added with a neutral expression.

"It’s long and stretchy like the fur of a platipony or a unicooger! Or maybe even a pugasus!" Zipp pointed out that no animal in Equestria could have fur as long as that one. "If we follow the scent, we’ll find them," she added confidently.

"You’re up to the task, Cloudpuff?" Hitch asked the dog underneath him with a smile. However, Cloudpuff barked with worry, and Hitch looked at him, bored. "No, it’s the crystal that was stolen. If I’d been stolen, I wouldn’t be here right now," he translated with a dead tone.

Zipp brought the fur closer to Cloudpuff as he started to sniff it. "Go on. Get a good ol’ sniff of this," she instructed. Cloudpuff suddenly twitched as he got a scent and ran/flew out the door, barking. "We’ve got a hint! Let’s roll!" Zipp stated with a smile.

"But I haven’t packed my bags! If I go a morning without my meditation pillow, aromatherapy candles, toner, and moisturizer, I will be a nervous wreck with blemishes. That’s a bad combination!" Pipp complained.

However, the group was already following Cloudpuff, with Sonic carrying Pipp since it seemed like she wouldn't move alone. "No time for that, Pipp! The thief can get away if we don't take action!" Sonic said to her as he ran to follow Cloudpuff.

"And Cloudpuff could lose the scents if we don’t leave now!" Zipp pointed out. "C’mon, sis. It’ll be fun!" she assured, as the whole group started to run to catch up with Cloudpuff.

Several hours later, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic walked through the forest following Cloudpuff. The group was feeling very tired from all the walking and running, except for Izzy, who was singing to herself, and Sonic, who used to run farther distances all the time.

"You’ll let me know when we hit the fun part, right?" Pipp rhetorically asked the group since she didn't find the trip fun.

"Man, my tails hurt," Tails complained as he rubbed his tails after flying around for hours. "I haven't felt this tired ever since we stopped Eggman on Angel Island years ago..." he pointed out.

"I don't feel my legs," Knuckles complained as well, as he fainted on the ground tired.

Zipp was just as tired as the rest, but she kept looking anyway. "The good news is that whoever stole the crystal must be getting just as tired," she pointed out since they'd been following Cloudpuff for hours.

"Here’s the deal, Pippsqueaks. We’ve been tracking our thief for a millennium--" Pipp said while she started to livestream again.

Sonic rolled his eyes at Pipp's attitude. He liked her, he won't deny, but sometimes she was so dramatic that he could not tolerate it. "Pipp, honey, it's been three hours," he pointed out irritatedly.

"Because Zipp is a horrible detective, Hitch keeps attracting all these creepy animals, Izzy keeps singing, and Cloudpuff keeps going in circles!" Pipp complained with an anxious look. "So if you’re hearing this, for the love of all ponykind, send help!" she begged desperately. But soon enough, her phone battery died, and she started to cry and stomp the ground with a hoof. "No, my phone died! And I don’t have a charger because somepony didn’t give me enough time to pack anything!" she yelled.

"We were going to lose the trail and magic altogether!" Zipp yelled at her sister with a frown. "I think that’s more important than a phone charger--" she tried to say, but Pipp cut her off.

"Now I can’t even call for help if we need it!" Pipp pointed out.

"Ok, that's enough, girls!" Sonic said as he stepped in the middle. "I get you two to have a lot of crashes like any sibling, but right now, we need to focus our energies on finding the thief, okay okay pled with a soft voice but also with a little frown.

"I know you’re all scared. I am, too. We can’t let fear tear us apart. The only way through this is by sticking together," Sunny added looking comfortingly at the sisters.

"Yeah, fine/Whatever," the two sisters huffed turning on each other's backs and crossing their hooves.

As Zipp walked away, Sonic pulled a portable charger from his quills and extended it to Pipp. "Just don't tell your sister I gave you this," he whispered, winking at her. Pipp blushed a little, but she also smiled. She quickly connected the charger and the phone and then put it back on her wing before Zipp could notice it.

Then, Pipp, Sunny, and Tails looked at Cloudpuff with a bored expression. "You’re right about one thing, Pipp… Emphasis on one thing," Sunny spoke. "Following Cloudpuff isn’t getting us anywhere," she agreed with Pipp. "We’ll get a better lay of the land above the trees. Zipp, Pipp, Tails, can you fly?" she asked her flying friends.

Zipp checked her wings and started to flap them, seeing that she could fly now. “Wings seem to be working right now," she replied as Sunny summoned her alicorn form.

"And if they stop working in the air?" Pipp asked, worried that their magic might glitch out again.

"We’ll make sure we’re low enough that the trees can catch our fall," Sunny assured.

"And if that doesn't work, knucklehead and I will catch you," Sonic stated with a smile as Knuckles stood up from the ground and put his thumbs up with a bored expression.

"I need to stick to the ground for now," Tails said with a tired expression. "My tails hurt, and I'd rather not force them to fly if they're not okayokaye pointed out.

"I can ask some of the critters around here if they’ve seen anything," Hitch said, walking away to talk with them.

"I'm gonna run around to find anything suspicious," Sonic said while stretched a little. "Maybe they left out something," he suggested as he boosted running through the forest.

However, Izzy wasn't sure if splitting up was good for them. "I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up," she said with worry,

"We don’t have a choice," Sunny replied. "Every minute that the Crystal is separated from the others, our magic glitches out more and more. We need to use every advantage we have. That means using our magic." she pointed out.

"I still think…" Izzy tried to say, but she was cut off when the rest of her friends had already spread out. The only ones remaining were Tails and Knuckles. "... Well, that’s okay. Look for a place to use my magic down here. Leave it to me!" she yelled, waving at them.

"Hey, Izzy, it's okay. We can search around with you!" Tails assured her with a smile. "I need to rest my tails for now, and I'm not letting you search alone. What kind of friend would I be then?" he pointed out, still smiling. And Izzy finally smiled joyfully, happy that Tails wanted to stay at her side for the search. "Hey Knux, mind to join us?" Tails asked as he looked at the Equidna, who had a bored expression.

"Meh, why not? It's not like I can do much around here, anyway," Knuckles replied as he walked towards Tails and Izzy. "So, where do we start?" he asked.

A few hours later, Izzy, Tails, and Knuckles spend time searching when they find a cave blocked by a pile of rocks. Izzy also mumbled half the time while she, Tails, and Knuckles moved the rocks.

"It’s a good thing they left us down here… totally good!" Izzy mumbled, still mad at her friends. "I mean, who else would’ve noticed this not-suspicious cave in a non-suspicious part of this non-suspicious woods?" she complained sarcastically while Tails looked at her with worry. "And who else would’ve…Moved. All. THESE. RRROOOCCKKS?!" she cried in frustration while straining from moving all the rocks.

Both Tails and Knuckles looked at each other with worried expressions. "Are you mad because we didn't let you join the game before?" Tails questioned.

"Or you're upset about what happened with the butterflies?" Knuckles asked as well.

Izzy took a deep breath before answering. "It’s not the game I’m sad about, nor the thing with the butterflies. It’s the way I was left out. Tails, you and the others can fly to play in the sky, and Knuckles, when I tried to join you and Hitch on your critter hunt, I only ruined it. And now, the others won’t even listen to my plan to find the thief and get the Crystal..." she explained with a sad look. "I get that we have to get that Crystal back before magic disappears forever, but can our friends stop for a second and think before leaping?" she added, sniffing a little.

Tails looked at her with compassion since he knew pretty well what it was like to be left out, and Knuckles felt ashamed for not realizing it sooner. "Geez, kid... I... I had no idea," Knuckles confessed with shame. "Sorry if we made you feel bad; I'm just used to letting anger get over me before I can think clearly," he apologized.

"And I'm sorry you could not join us at the game, Izzy," Tails also apologized. "We felt bad for you not joining, and I even considered quitting playing to spend some time with you, but of course, they didn't allow me." he rolled his eyes, remembering Zipp's protests for him considering not participating anymore. "Now, with them not hearing you, that was weird, now that I think about it..." he confessed, as he put a hand on his chin.

"I get it with Sonic. He acts without thinking twice, and we can't change that as much as we want to," Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression. "But with your friends... that was not normal..." he pointed out again.

"Give them some time, Izz," Tails smiled again. "Once we get that Crystal back, you can tell them how you feel so things like these never happen again, okay?" he suggested.

"And let me promise that if they still act like this, then we will get along with you more often," Knuckles added as well, smiling at the unicorn.

Izzy slowly smiled and grabbed Tails and Knuckles into a group hug. "Thank you, guys. I appreciate that you're here with me," she thanked them.

"Anytime, Izzy," Tails replied.

"I think we don't have to move any more rocks; it seems like we can enter the cave now," Knuckles pointed out, looking at a hole in the pile of rocks.

The trio climbed the rocks as they poked their heads through the hole. "Helloooo, Crystal Thief! We come in peace and with a song if you want to hear it!" Izzy called out nervously.

"Um... Izzy, we're supposed to catch him without him knowing, you know..." Tails pointed out.

"Oh, right, sorry," Izzy apologized with a little smile. Suddenly, Izzy felt little rocks falling on her head, and when she looked up, a big one was about to crush her... if it wasn't because of Knuckles, who sent the rock at the inside of the cave in one punch. "Phew! That was a close one. Thank you, Knuckles!" she thanked the Equidna.

"No problem!" Knuckles replied with a smirk.

The rock rolled down the pile of rocks until it hit the wall, which, for some reason, made a clanging sound. "Huh?" Tails said with confusion as he passed through the hole and landed on the ground inside the cave. "As far as I know, rocks don't make a clanging sound," he pointed out as Knuckles and Izzy also entered the cave.

"Crystal Thief, if that’s you, I’m sorry for hitting you with a rock," Izzy apologized, thinking she might hit the thief.

"I don't think that was the thief, kiddo," Knuckles pointed out as he examined some vines covering something. "There has to be something behind these vines," he suggested.

The trio moved the vines aside, and instead of a wall of rocks, they found a rusty, old door.

"Well, that explains the clang; it's a door!" Tails exclaimed in awe.

"A very old one if you ask me," Knuckles pointed out.

"Whoa…" Izzy said in amazement. "Is this a creepy gate for a creepy crystal thief? Bet I can say that five times fast," she said to his friends as she tried to open the door. "A creepy gate for a creepy crystal thief, a creepy gate for a creepy crystal thief, a creepy gate…" she started to say but stopped in midsentence and gasped in awe at what she was looking at.

"Izzy?" Tails called out. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her.

"Yeah, you stopped talking suddenly," Knuckles added with a worried face.

Izzy didn't answer directly and instead opened the door enough so Tails and Knuckles could see, and they gasped as well.

Sunny told them stories about ancient Equestria since they arrived late with the group and didn't know about those times. She told them about a city that had not been seen in years, where anypony was welcome as long as they believed in the magic of friendship. And now, the trio was looking at that city in a devastated state and lying in ruins.

"CANTERLOT?!" Izzy cried out in shock.

Tails and Knuckles were amazed at the view, and none knew exactly what to say at least until Tails decided to break the silence.

"Guys... We have to tell the rest..." Tails said, still staring in shock at the now abandoned city.

To be continued...

Issue #3

A few days later, back at the Crystal Brighthouse, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic regrouped in the living room to discuss tracking Discord down now that they knew he would try and destroy the Pegasus Crystal.

"How will we stop Discord in time if we don’t know where he could be?" Sunny asked the group.

"I could ask my Pippsqueaks if they’ve seen him," Pipp suggested with a smile.

"Not this time, Little Pipp," Sonic replied. "In other circumstances, it would be fantastic, but right now? Not a good idea," he pointed out. "Besides, who's gonna believe that a guy with a body made of the animal kingdom stole the Pegasus Crystal and wants to destroy it?" he added in a little sarcastic tone.

"Sonic's right, guys," Zipp replied, as she walked back and forth through the room. "We don’t want to panic everypony. There’s gotta be a better way," she added, as she tried to think on some other way.

"Well, I did a little research on Sunny's dad's notes about Discord - since she permitted me - and if this guy is chaos itself, finding him is gonna be tricky. He could literally be anywhere," Tails explained with concern.

"So, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack?" Knuckles asked with a frown, and his arms crossed, sitting next to Izzy.

"Even worse," Tails replied with worry. "He's been here on Equestria before we were even born, so he probably knows every possible hideout like the palm of his hand. So again, finding him is gonna be tricky."

"Too bad we can’t track his luminescence. It was totally glitterific. Like a super shiny rainbow," Izzy said with sparkling eyes and a smile.

Zipp placed a hoof on her chin, with an idea finally forming in her mind. "True, but you might be onto something, Izzy," she said with a smile. "We can try---" she tried to explain, but her phone started to ring and she stopped. Zipp brought out her phone and saw that her mother was calling. "Mom?" she asked, answering the call.

"Zipp, sweetheart, where are you? It’s almost time for me to leave." Haven answered through the phone.

"Leave?" Zipp questioned, wondering what her mother was talking about.

"For my Unity Summit, Dear!" Haven said. "You’re supposed to be dog-sitting Cloudpuff while I’m away," she added, reminding Zipp of the reason she should be on Zephyr Heights right now.

"That's today?!" Zipp asked with a panicked face, since she forgot about that. "Mom, we have bigger things to worry about!" she cried out, but of course, she could not tell her mother what things she had to take care of.

"Bigger than my darling Cloudpuff? I doubt it!" Haven replied with joy. "I’ll see you soon, dear! Toodles!" she finished hung up the call.

Zipp sighed and dropped her wings since she can’t avoid this. "So much for investigating, and Mom is putting me on Royal Dog Duty. I want to help you guys sleuth this out, not pander a prized pooch" she complained with a bored expression.

"That’s okay. This means you can look for leads in Zephyr Heights!" Sunny said with a smile. "We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone," she assured.

Sonic approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. "See it like this: while you care for the doggo, you can search for clues on this guy at your home. The more ground we cover, the better, right?" he said with a smile.

Zipp sighed and looked at the hedgehog. "I guess searching for some clues on ZH would count as helping..." she said, considering the idea.

"Go fulfill your Royal Duties, Princess. We’ve got this," Hitch assured with a smile.

Zipp gave him a deadly stare and flew out of the Brighthouse on her way to Zephyr Heights.

Sometime later, Zipp arrived at Zephyr Heights just in time while Queen Haven gave her a list of things to take care of Cloudpuff, as well as some boxes with things she was going to need, with Thunder and Zoom behind them carrying Haven's bags for the summit.

"...And if he hasn’t had his bath and paw message by eight, he gets grumpy, so make sure you’re on time," Haven listed out the last thing so Zipp could remember what to do.

"Yes, Mom," Zipp answered, getting every detail of what her mother told her.

Haven decided to give Cloudpuff one last nuzzle. "You be good, all right? I’ll be back tomorrow morning," she said to the dog. Then, she placed Cloudpuff on Zipp’s head and trotted off with a smile. "Have fun, you two!" she cheered, too, and then headed out of the castle.

Zipp rolled her eyes and took Cloudpuff to his bed while she started to read on the list. She put a bored expression reading some of the points on the list since she found them unnecessary.

"All right, Cloudpuff. I don’t have time for your whole routine today, so we’ll have to compromise," Zipp said, still reading the list. "I couldn’t find 'Fresh water from a crystal waterfall,' but there was bottled water in the kitchen," she told Cloudpuff, as she gave him his bowl filled with regular water, while the dog gave a boring expression. "And I may not be able to take you for an 'Evening stroll around the promenade,' buuuut..." she said, then placed a ball next to Cloudpuff, whose expression hadn’t changed. "... You can play with this while I’m gone!" she added as she walked off to the door. "I’ll be back soon, don’t worry," she assured with a smile, then flew off the room.

Cloudpuff stretched a little and then placed something down his sheets, and then ran away from the room as well, while Zipp didn't notice that at all.

Meanwhile, in Maretime Bay, Tails was researching with Sunny on more of her dad's notes while Izzy and Knuckles were playing chess, Pipp was scrolling down her social media. Sonic, however, was sitting on a couch with his arms crossed, still thinking about his little chat with Discord, when he stopped time around him.

The remaining Emerald it's here in Equestria... but not at the same time.

"What does that even mean?" Sonic said, not so loudly since the rest did not listen. However, Pipp heard him, put her phone aside, and looked at the hedgehog.

"Is everything okay, Sonic?" Pipp asked with worry.

Sonic realized that he was not alone and that he probably spoke loudly when he just wanted to think. However, he knew that keeping secrets was a bad idea now, and he promised not to hold anything anymore. So he looked at her with worry and decided to speak honestly. "Something weird happened the other day with Discord, and I'm not talking about the 'stealing the Pegasus Crystal' thing," he confessed, looking at the ground with a frown. "I can't help but feel that he has something to do with the Chaos Emeralds failing," he added with concern.

"I've been thinking on that as well," Tails said, still looking at the notes. "He says he's the Lord of Chaos, and the Emeralds were made out of chaos," he pointed out. "Maybe he is the reason they're failing in the first place," he suggested.

"Agreed," Knuckles said, still focusing on the chess game as he moved a piece. "That guy kicked our butts in a chaotic way, and I'm not proud to admit that," he added with a frown.

"And what weird thing happened?" Pipp asked, getting the subject back to Sonic.

"That's what I can't still explain..." Sonic replied with a frown. "You know I can stop time for a few moments and still walk and run normally, right?" he asked the rest, as they all nodded. "Well... when Discord told the actual reason he told us that story, I wanted to think before anyone could explode on him, but Discord... he talked to me at the same speed. He was... talking to me as if I never stopped time at all..." he revealed, still not getting how Discord did that.

Tails blinked a few times before he could speak again. "He... was going as fast as you?!" he asked in shock and fear, since the last guy that could do that almost killed Sonic.

Sunny pointed out with a smile, "I mean, he's chaos embodied in a creature, so it's pretty much possible that he could reach that speed even if he didn't try."

"Maybe... but that's not even the weirdest thing," Sonic kept saying, still frowning. "I accused him of the failure of the Chaos Emeralds, but he said he did nothing... and then he told me something that I still cannot understand," he explained with a concerned look. "He said that the remaining Chaos Emerald is here in Equestria, but not at the same time," he said. "What does that supposed to mean?!" he yelled in frustration, still not getting the meaning behind that phrase.

"It's here in Equestria, but not at the same time... that doesn't make any sense," Tails pointed out with a confused look.

"This guy not only has a terrible fashion taste, but also says nonsense half of the time," Pipp commented with a bored expression.

"I don't get what he means, but I'm down to find out the meaning of that sentence," Sonic stated with determination. "And, of course, find him and the Pegasus Crystal. Besides, I need to ask that guy some more questions," he added with a smirk, while his eyes and quills turned on electricity for a moment.

"And I need my rematch," Knuckles stated. "I am not letting him punch me and get away with it!" he yelled in frustration.

"Checkmate!" Izzy said with a smile as she defeated Knuckles on the game.

"Aw, come on!" Knuckles complained as he hit his face on the table.

"Well, I'm down to find him as well. We need to track him down before we lose magic forever, right?" Tails said with a smile as he got close to Sonic.

"Oh yeah!" Pipp cheered, standing at Sonic's other side.

"Absolutely!" Izzy cheered as well.

"Definitively!" Knuckles stated with a smile.

"Then let's get to work!" Sunny said with a big smile as they all gathered together.

"Hoof to heart!" they said in unison, putting their hooves and hands together.

After a while, Zipp walked through Zephyr Heights to find any clues on Discord.

How do I find a rogue draconequus with no leads? Zipp thought to herself as she looked around until she saw a tail resembling Discord's. "AHA!" she called out, thinking she found Discord and chased the tail. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" she yelled, but once she saw the whole body, she realized it wasn't Discord.

"Uh, princess?" a pegasus pony in a dragon costume asked.

"Horsefeathers, of course, he’s not here," Zipp muttered to herself. "Have you seen anything… extra weird lately?" she asked the pony, but he shook his head, saying 'no' before Zipp flew to the sky. "Thanks anyway!" she called out. Zipp looked from the sky, trying to find any clue. "Come on, weird chaos magic, where are you…" she asked herself.

Zipp started searching for clues about Discord or anything related to him and his magic. She showed some ponies drawings of his body parts to verify if they'd seen anything like them, but she got no results since the ponies had never seen them before. She spent the whole day doing that but got no results anyway.

She returned to the castle at the end of the day, frustrated since she got nothing.

Zipp entered her room on the castle with a tired and worried expression, carrying a tray of dog food for Cloudpuff.

"This is impossible, Cloudpuff," Zipp said sadly, while 'Cloudpuff' was covered on his blanket in his bed. "We just got our magic back. I don’t want to lose it all again..." she added, while putting Cloudpuff’s food in front of his bed. "I guess it doesn’t matter to you. You’ll always be spoiled, magic or not," she said, walking towards her bed. "Goodnight, Cloudpuff. Enjoy your dinner," she finished.

The next morning, Zipp got up and yawned while stretching her hooves.

She exited her bed and flew over Cloudpuff as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Hey, Cloudpuff. Not too long until…" she stopped and let out a yawn. "... Mom gets back," she said, finishing after the yawn. "How about you join me today for---huh?" she stopped when she saw Cloudpuff dinner plate exactly like she left it last night. "Why didn’t you eat your dinner, little guy?" she asked but got no response. "Cloudpuff?" she asked again, wondering if the dog was okay. Zipp got the blanket out and gasped when she did not see Cloudpuff, but a beach ball with four taped-up caps for the legs, a drawn face, two triangle cardboards on the top, and a piece of white hair in the middle.

Zipp panicked and began to search for Cloudpuff around the room but got no sign of him. "Cloudpuff! Cloudpuff! Come on out, buddy!" she called out to him, but not even a bark from him. Zipp sat on the floor and covered her hooves in despair and worry. "This is bad! If mom can’t trust me with pet duty, how will she trust me with the whole kingdom?!" she cried out in panic, then took a deep breath and calmed down. "No time to freak out. I have to get him back before mom gets home" she said to herself, taking her phone out and searching for a number. "I just need a little help…" she said calling the one pony who could help her find Cloudpuff.

She waited a little until the call was finally answered. "Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer, at your service," Hitch replied from the other side of the call.

"Sheriff, I need some backup. We have a critter caper on our hooves!" Zipp cried out with worry.

Even tho she could not see his face, Zipp felt Hitch was with either a determinate look or an annoyed one. "... On my way" the sheriff replied after a while, and hanged up the call.

Now, all Zipp had to do was wait for Hitch's arrival.

A little bit later, Hitch made his way to Zephyr Heights, and Zipp told him about Cloudpuff’s disappearance and why she needed his help.

Hitch gave out a smirk at Zipp while holding the Cloudpuff dummy. "What did you call me in for? I thought Detective Zipp would want to handle this case on her own," he said in a mocking tone.

Zipp smirked back at the sheriff. "I have a couple of ideas, but I was hoping our local animal psychic might be able to help narrow it down. Besides, every good detective has a sidekick," she explained.

Hitch put the dummy down and placed a hoof on his chest. "I’m not Psychic. Animals speak to me. I’m also not a sidekick," he pointed out, then pointed to the untouched dinner. "Look--- if he missed his dinner, I bet he’d try to get food somewhere else," he suggested.

Zipp then smiled, as she had an idea. "You’re right! Cloudpuff is a picky eater, so…" she started to say as she flew out the room, with Hitch following her. "... He’d go somewhere with good food! I know just the place," she assured.

Hitch and Zipp arrived at a place called 'Chez Pedigree', where they asked a pegasus stallion named Mr. Platter, who works there, if he saw Cloudpuff.

"Cloudpuff? Yes. 'E has a standing reservation with us. Came by just last night," Mr. Platter replied.

"Really?" Zipp asked with hope and a smile. "Do you know where he went?" she asked.

"Hm…" Mr. Platter said, thinking about where Cloudpuff would go next. "Ah! I do not know for certain, but he and Queen Haven often head to the shops for redo after lunch," he answered.

"Of course! Thank you, Mr. Platter." Zipp thanked her cheerfully as she flapped her wings.

Zipp and Hitch walked off to their next lead, and Hitch turned back one last time. "You’ve been a great help, sir," he thanked Mr. Platter.

Mr. Platter nodded his head in gratitude. "Good luck, Princess," he called to Zipp, as she and Hitch continued their search for Cloudpuff.

While searching around, Zipp and Hitch looked at the shops around them for any signs of Cloudpuff.

"See anything?" Hitch asked.

"Nope," Zipp answered before she saw something. "Wait, maybe!" she corrected herself and flew straight to a store with a poster of Cloudpuff winking as it said 'Cloudpuff Approved! on it. "Well, that’s new," Zipp commented, looking at the poster. She entered the store, and the bell on top of the door rang.

The shop owner saw Zipp come in and waved to her. "Princess! How can I help you? Would you like to try our new oat mask?” she asked with a smile.

"No, thank you," Zipp answered with a worried expression. "We’re looking for Cloudpuff. Have you seen him?" she asked.

The shop owner brought out a cardboard cut-out of Cloudpuff. "Why, yes, that sweet pup modeled for my new line last night," she replied, saying that he was there. "It’s a real bonus to have the Royal Pooch promoting my products, ya know," she added, then looked at the two ponies in confusion. "Did he not go back to the palace? I sent him off with one of my patented personal pampering packages," she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, he didn’t," Zipp sighed with frustration.

"Did you know which way he went?" Hitch decided to ask as well.

The shop owner shook her head, saying 'no'. "The city guard must have seen him on his way out, but I’m afraid I can’t help," she added with a comprehensive smile. "Would you like to try some Mane Oil before you go?" she asked again.

Both Zipp and Hitch rejected and headed out of the store. "We could ask the guards, but we’re running out of time. Mom will be home soon, and we don’t know who was even here when Cloudpuff left." Zipp sighed with worry since Cloudpuff is still missing. "It could have been anypony," she added with frustration.

Hitch turned his head and he a bunny waving at him, trying to get his attention as Hitch smirked. "Maybe we don’t need to find any pony," he suggested. He came closer to the bunny as it spoke to him. Zipp gave a confused look since she had no idea what it was saying. After speaking to him, Hitch smiled and galloped off while turning to Zipp. "Come on. I know how to find our missing pup!" he assured, as Zipp followed him by flight.

Zipp followed Hitch to a ledge where more bunnies were waiting and gathered around Hitch.

"These little guys say they know where Cloudpuff is," Hitch translated to Zipp.

Zipp smirked at Hitch and his ability to talk with animals. "Good sleuthing, Hitch," she congratulated him.

Hitch put on a proud expression. And pointed at himself. "Hey, I’m a sheriff for a reason," he said proudly. "Now, let’s go get your dog back," he declared as he pointed down the trench. "All right, lead on, little buds!" he requested to the bunnies as they sled down the trench, with Hitch sliding down as well and Zipp following by flight.

Once they’ve made the trench, the bunnies lead the two ponies to a wall.

"Are you sure they know where we're going? This is a dead end," Zipp asked Hitch, confused since the bunnies had led them to a rock wall.

Hitch raised his front legs as he stood and tried to touch the wall. "They say this is it. Something about it being a matter of---" he tried to explain, but when he was about to touch the wall, his hooves went right through it, and he fell to the floor.

"Perspective!" Zipp cheered as she waved her hoof through the wall. "From pony height, it looks like a solid wall, but for a critter like Cloudpuff, it’s clear as day," she explained with a big smile.

Hitch got up from the floor and rubbed his head. "Yeah. I knew that," he excused himself. Zipp decided to enter the cave as Hitch followed. "So where is---?" Hitch tried to ask, but Zipp cut him off.

"Hitch, look," Zipp said in an awed expression. She not only found Cloudpuff, who had kiwis in his eyes and was lying on a blanket, but she also found a waterfall that gave off beautiful sparkles. "Whoa!" Zipp said, since she had never seen anything like this before. "Cloudpuff, what are you doing here? How long have you known about this place?" she asked her dog as Cloudpuff lifted the kiwi from his eyes.

However, Cloudpuff huffed in response, looking away from her with his arms crossed.

Zipp then realized why Cloudpuff was like this, so she decided to come close and sit next to him. "I’m sorry I didn’t take good care of you, Cloudpuff. I promise to do better next time," she apologized to the dog with guilt. "But mom will be home soon, and she’s going to be worried if we aren’t there," she reasoned with him. "Come back with us, please?" she pled Cloudpuff to come home.

Cloudpuff turned to Zipp, smiled, and barked at her while Hitch translated what he was saying. "He says he'll come home as long as we don’t tell anypony about this place," he translated.

Zipp decided to hug Cloudpuff and smile at him. "I won’t tell you if you don’t," she said with a smirk, as Cloudpuff barked, meaning that he promised to not to tell a single thing.

Later, at the Zephyr Heights Castle, Queen Haven returned wearing glasses and walking through halfway with Thunder and Zoom behind her.

"Zipp, Cloudpuff! I’m home!" Haven called out cheerfully with a cheery smile.

Just at that moment, Zipp and Hitch came bursting through the doors, with Zipp holding Cloudpuff, startling Zoom, and Thunder as they came in.

"Phew, we made it," Zipp said with relief, but then gave a nervous smile when she saw her mother. "I mean… Mom! You’re back! How wonderful. We were just---" She tried to make a cover story, but Hitch stepped in first.

"Getting some fresh air!" Hitch called out with a sheepish smile.

"Yup!" Zipp said in agreement, playing along with Hitch.

Cloudpuff jumped out of Zipp’s hooves and ran towards Haven. He jumped into her hooves and gave her a lick on the cheek. "Awww, Darling! I’ve missed you too," Haven said to Cloudpuff as she giggled at his licks. She placed the dog down in her hooves and smiled at Zipp. "Sweetheart, thank you so much for watching him. I hope he didn’t cause you any trouble," she said to her.

Zipp smiled at her mother. "Trouble? No trouble at all," Zipp answered, keeping her promise to Cloudpuff. The dog smiled and winked at her, keeping his promise as well.

Back at the Brighthouse, Sunny and Tails were standing around while Pipp, Izzy, and Sonic were playing cards to pass the time, and Knuckles was resting with a cowboy hat covering his face.

"Has anypony heard from Hitch? He was going to help me and Tails follow up on a possible Discord sighting, but I haven’t seen him all day," she asked her friends, wondering where Hitch was right now.

"Nope," Sonic replied, still focusing on the games as he passed a card to Pipp.

"Na-ah," Knuckles replied, still lying on the couch.

Pipp just shook her head in negation as a reply.

"Maybe Zipp will know! She’s supposed to be back soon, right?” Izzy suggested, as she gave Pipp a card as well.

Exactly at that moment, the door opened, and Zipp and Hitch came in. "Was somepony asking about me?" she asked with a playful smirk.

"Woo called it!" Izzy cheered with her hoof raised in the air.

"That was a perfect timing!" Sonic said with a surprised smile.

"Zipp! Hitch!" Sunny cheered with a smile. "What were you two up to?" she asked with wonder.

"Yeah, we were waiting for you," Tails added.

"Oh, you know. Drama, adventure, mystery!" Hitch decided to explain.

"Normal Dog-Sitting stuff," Zipp finished with a smirk.

This caused the rest of the Mane 5 and Tails to laugh, while Sonic rolled his eyes with a smile, and Knuckles smiled a little as well, as Zipp and Hitch winked at each other.

But now that they were together, they had some important tasks to handle: find Discord, decipher the clue behind his message, and take the Pegasus Crystal back before magic disappears forever.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter! :twilightsmile:

Issue #4

In the Brighthouse bedroom, Pipp started a livestream on her phone to give her Pippsqueaks some news about her next 'big thing.'

"Goooood morning, everypony!” Pipp greeted through her phone. "Today, I’m trying something a little different," she announced. "Instead of streaming, I’ve decided to write my next major life update," she added with a smile. "I know, I know! But this kind of update calls for many selfies," she explained.

She didn't know that her fans didn't like her idea that much.

"Plus… It’s about Discord," Pipp added. "Okay, love you, gotta go write! Pipp, Pipp, hooray!" she finished and ended her livestream.

Pipp put her phone down and went to her laptop to get to work. She opened up the gallery she managed to take during her and her friend's time with Discord. Once again, she had to thank Sonic for giving her a portable charger back in the woods.

'Pippsqueaks, when I went flying with my friends, I had no idea it would lead to a journey that ended in Discord and a Unity Crystal…' Pipp typed on her post; being 9 a.m., she started to tell everything about their adventure with Discord.

And she spent all day on that.

It was now 7 p.m., and Pipp was still writing about their adventure on Canterlot's ruins. '... And that’s where we are now, searching for Discord before he destroys the Crystal!' Pipp continued typing. 'If anypony knows how to find him, we need your help! Thank you, love you, Pippsqueaks. Pipp, Pipp, hooray!' she finished and posted her story. Then, she walked off yawning to get something after being on her laptop all day.

Pipp returned with some hot coffee two hours later and checked her laptop to see how the post was doing. She had 100,157 views, 99,398 likes, and 6,780 comments.

Pipp took a sip of her coffee and called her mother since she needed to ask her about something that had been on her mind for a while.

After waiting for some seconds, Haven answered the call from her daughter. "My little filly! How are things in the Brighthouse?" Haven asked after greeting Pipp.

"Great!" Pipp answered. "Um, Mom? Can I ask you something?" she asked her mother.

"Of course," Haven answered while Cloudpuff tried to grab a makeup accessory.

"Well, I’ve been thinking, maybe, about getting a little more real with the Pippsqueaks," Pipp told her mother while Haven was trying to get Cloudpuff to drop the makeup accessory he grabbed.

"No, that is not for pets!" Haven scolded Cloudpuff, trying to get the accessory out of his mouth, and then she turned her attention back to Pipp. "Sorry, darling. 'Real' how?" she asked.

"I want to write about the day everypony learned I can’t fly," Pipp revealed.

"WHAT?!" Haven asked in shock while squeezing Cloudpuff, who barked from the tight hold.

"It’s a little different from what I usually post, but I think it’s important," Pipp reasoned.

"But, darling, that day was so hard on you" Haven said with a concerned look. "The only good thing you recall from that day was meeting him," she added, obviously talking about Sonic.

Pipp turned to see some pictures she had with her friends and smiled. "It was such a difficult, confusing, awful day. I want to show ponies that side of me. That it’s okay to be sad sometimes," she explained, wanting to show ponies that it's okay to be sad, even on their hardest day. "And, like you just said, sometimes you can find some good things in the worst situations," she added with a little blush, thinking about Sonic and how grateful she was for meeting him.

Haven then gave her daughter a touching look. She looked at Cloudpuff and hugged him with a smile.

She faced her laptop and placed her forehead on it while Pipp did the same. "Of course, my brave filly. It’s a wonderful thing to do. But if it doesn’t go exactly how you want it to, you’ll tell me, won’t you? You know you’re always welcome back home." she said with a careful tone.

"Of course, Mom! What could go wrong?" Pipp asked her mother.

And we all know that things would mostly go wrong...

After chatting with her mom, Pipp got to work on typing about how she felt when everyone discovered she could not fly.

"Done!" Pipp cheered and finally finished typing. She moved the mouse to the 'Post' button but stopped when she started having second thoughts about this. "Maybe I should ask my friends what they think before I post it," she said to herself. She moved the mouse to the 'Save' button and clicked it. "Yes, that’s a good idea," she told herself again, then turned off her laptop and headed to bed. "I’ll get up suuuuper early and ask everypony what they think before they head out for the day," she assured before falling asleep.

The next day, Pipp was still asleep on her bed since she snored. But once she woke up, she widened her eyes in shock when she saw it was noon.

"Oh no! I overslept!" Pipp cried out as she got up. She quickly did her mane and flew out of the window. "Everypony’s already gone! I have to find them and ask them about my post!" she exclaimed, as she decided to go and find her friends.

After searching for a while in Maretime Bay, Pipp spotted Sunny, who was strapping her smoothie cart with a worried expression.

"Sunny! I knew you’d be close by. You’re just who I wanted to talk to!" Pipp cheered.

Sunny turned once she heard Pipp. "Oh, hey, Pipp. Late night?" Sunny asked since Pipp wasn’t with them all morning.

"Yes. I was… creating," Pipp answered. "Sunny, you’re, like, the smartest pony I know. I need your advice," she said as she put Sunny closer. "I want to post on social media about the day everypony learned I couldn’t fly. What do you think?" she asked.

"Oh, that…" Sunny said with a concerned look, then placed a hoof on her face. "Sorry, Pipp. Everything with Discord has me so distracted. I can’t focus on anything else," she explained to Pipp since she was too worried to think straight.

"Oh. Okay. I can ask somepony else," Pipp said, understanding that Sunny could not talk right now.

Sunny gave her a comforting smile since she had an idea. "Why not try Hitch? He’s who I go to when I need a grounded opinion. Uh, so to speak," she suggested.

"That’s a great idea!" Pipp replied with a smile.

"He’s in the Main Square, I think, helping set up for the street fair," Sunny stated.

"Thanks, Sunny!" Pipp called out as she flew to where Hitch might be.

Sometime later, Pipp found Hitch helping other ponies set up a festival fair while Hitch instructed what to do.

"Be careful with that banner! We don’t want to block hoof traffic!" Hitch warned. "... Again," he whispered to himself.

"Hitch! Just the pony I wanted to see!" Pipp called out as she flew to him.

"I am?" Hitch questioned, a little confused.

"You’re so silly sometimes. Yes!" Pipp answered. "I wanted to ask you about my next big social media post!" she explained.

"Uh… Okay," Hitch said before turning his head to the other ponies around. "Raise the banner more on the right side!" he requested before facing Pipp. "Sorry, Pipp. Go ahead," he said.

"I want to post about the day everypony learned I couldn't fly. How sad I was and how ashamed I felt," Pipp explained. "What do you think?" she asked Hitch for an opinion.

"Er, isn’t that a little different from your normal posts? You know, your brand?" Hitch asked, finding this sudden change a little weird. "Isn’t it usually singing, sparkles, and glamour?" se asked.

"Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change. It can be sparkles and real feelings," Pipp pointed out as she began to fly away, now with a little conflict about the post.

"I suppose," Hitch replied with a smile.

"Well, thanks, I guess," Pipp said to Hitch.

"Anything!" Hitch called out before he turned his attention to another pony. "No, no, no, the banner’s all crooked now!" he yelled with worry and frustration.

Sonic was running around Maretime Bay, looking for anything strange or out of place. Since Discord was chaos itself, anything that seemed wrong in a chaotic way could be a hint to Discord.

"Come on!" Sonic complained angrily. "How hard can it be to find a guy that makes chaos wherever he goes?" he asked, looking around closely.

Pipp, a little sad after her talk with Hitch, noticed Sonic passing by and immediately smiled as she flew towards him. "Sonic!" she shouted.

Sonic heard her and stopped immediately, but Pipp crashed with him. They rolled until they reached a grass field far from town, with Sonic lying on the grass and Pipp over him.

They looked at each other for a few seconds before blushing and smiling nervously. Pipp moved aside, and Sonic stood up. He looked at her momentarily with a little smile as his heart beat fast. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Pipp looked at him, still blushing, and cleared her voice before speaking. "Y-Yeah... S-Sorry for that, Blue Star," she said and apologized for crashing into him.

"It's okay, Little Pipp," Sonic assured. "You wanted to talk with me?" he asked.

"Yeah! I wanted to ask something important to me," Pipp replied. "I’m making a social media post on how I faboutt when everypony every pony can’t fly, and I want to know what you think before I post it," she explained quickly.

Sonic blinked a few times before he could say anything. "Wow... just, wow..." he replied with a little surprise. "That's big, Little Pipp. I mean big. As far as I know, you hated that day," he added wtle worry.

"Oh, no. I don't hate that day," Pipp assured me with a smile. "Yeah, it was awful, but I also met our friends that day. I met you, especially," she added, realizing a few seconds later what she just said. "I-I mean...!" she tried to correct herself with a little blush.

Sonic blushed again as well, but he smiled as well. "Gotta say, even if it wasn't in the best of conditions, I met you that day as well, and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world," he assured, which just made Pipp's blush increase, and her wings opened up. "As for your post... I think it's a good idea, but only if you're ready to tell that story, of course," he added.

Pipp looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Of course, I'm ready, silly. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked with a confident smile.

"I'm not only talking about you feeling ready to tell it; I'm also talking about being ready for the mixed reception," Sonic explained.

"Mixed reception?" Pipp questioned, a little confused.

"Let me put it like this: there are some fans that won't care at all, let's face it, but the ones who would either thank you for posting that or would hate you for reminding them that you lied to them for centuries" Sonic stated with a worried face. "I think the idea is great, but just be careful. I would hate to see you down if the reception isn't what you expected..." he added gently caressing her cheek.

Pipp thought for a moment about his words and realized that she wasn't ready at all for a negative reception on a subject like this, but she was determined to try anyway. "I... I'm gonna think about it. Thank you, Sonic, for... for caring about me," she thanked with a blush and a smile.

Sonic ended up hugging her, something that she didn't see coming, but hugged the hedgehog back anyway. "If this doesn't work the way you expect, you can tell me, and I would pleasantly listen to you," he added.

"I know," Pipp replied. "And I will, I promise," she added.

They broke the hug, and they were going to go on separate ways, but Sonic decided to make a risky move. He held one of Pipp's hooves to stop her, then kissed her cheek softly and briefly. "Good luck, Princess Petals," he said with a smirk, a blush, and a deep voice, then ran away to keep for his search, as Pipp stood frozen in her place, shocked and with her face completely red as she tried to process what just happened.

Izzy was working on something big that required her Unicycling skills at her old home in Bridlewood.

Suddenly, Pipp poked her head in front of the open window in front of Izzy. "Izzy!" she called out.

"Agh!" Izzy yelled since she got startled and fell to the floor.

"It took me forever to find you!" Pipp added as she entered the house.

With some stuff on her mane Izzy got up and looked at Pipp. "Yeah, I came back to work on big crafts projects. I find La Villa Izzy 'Creatively Stimulating'!" she said with a smile.

"That’s great!" Pipp cheered. "Because I wanted to ask your opinion," she said, and Izzy then paid close attention to Pipp. "I want to do a social media post about whenever everypony found out me, Zipp, and my mom lied about being able to fly. What do you think?" she asked.

"Um…" Izzy thought about the right words before smiling. "That’s a great idea!" she cheerfully said, clapping her hooves.

"Really?!" Pipp asked with a hopeful smile and clapped as well.

"Yes! It’s just so brave!" Izzy called out.

Now, Pipp felt confused. "Brave? Why is it brave?" she asked, not understanding Izzy's point.

"I would never want to tell 1.6 million ponies about the worst, most embarrassing, most horrible day of my life!" Izzy pointed out.

"Oh, right," Pipp said, now feeling more conflicted.

Suddenly, the main door opened, and Knuckles entered carrying a tree trunk. "I got the trunk, Izz. Where do you..." he was about to ask something but stopped once he noticed Pipp was there too. "... want it?" he finished, then put the trunk on the floor and looked back at the mares. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked.

"Uh... not at all," Pipp replied with an awkward smile. "Izzy, could you give me a little context?" she requested of the unicorn.

"Knux is helping me to bring some materials while I do my work!" Izzy explained with a smile.

"Hitch said that I could be free today, so I decided to help the beautiful unicorn lady over here," Knuckles replied, smiling at Izzy.

"Aww, you're gonna make me blush, silly!" Izzy joked, but she did blush a little.

Pipp suspected something else was going on there, but the idea vanished as she remembered something. "Hey, Knuckles, I need to ask you something quick!" she said suddenly. "I know you were not there when it happened, but I want to post about the day everyone discovered we can't fly. And I need another opinion," she requested.

Knuckles knew what she meant but wasn't sure what to say as he scratched his neck. "Uh..." he said as he thought about what to say to not look bad in front of her. "Well... I think it is a good idea... but talking about the worst day of your life to many random people... are you sure you want to do it?" he questioned.

"Um..." Pipp didn't know how to reply, so she headed to the window. "W-Well, I, um, I should go. Bye!" she told Izzy and Knuckles before flying out of there.

"Bye, Pipp!" Izzy waved to her with a smile.

"Did I say something wrong?" Knuckles questioned.

Pipp entered the Crystal Brighthouse feeling down because most of the answers she received were not what she expected.

She passed by the living room when she noticed Tails was on the table near the Kitchen, with the box that had the 4 Chaos Emeralds Team Sonic had so far, many cables, and lots of electronic stuff that were not from anyone in the Brighthouse and many of his tools. Tails himself was using some goggles and he writing down something in a notebook when he realized Pipp was looking at him with confusion and curiosity.

"Oh, hi there, Pipp!" Tails greeted the pegasus. "Don't mind me, just making a little device to find the remaining Chaos Emeralds," he explained, as he returned to writing.

Pipp got close to him, being careful not to touch any of his things. "Hi, Tails," she greeted back. "Um, you got a minute? I want to ask you about something important," she explained.

"Fire away," Tails said, still focusing on his notes.

"I want to talk about the day the ponies found out I can't fly without magic on a media post. I know you were not there, but I want your opinion," Pipp explained.

Tails stopped writing, took off his goggles, and faced Pipp with an ashamed expression. "Um... Sorry, Pipp, I'm not the guy you can ask about that. As you said, I wasn't there, and honestly, I don't think the ponies are gonna take the post well, it doesn't matter if they're your fans" Tails warned. "No offense, tho," he added when he looked at Pipp's frown.

Pipp sighed with frustration as she flew away to the bedroom. "Non taken," she replied.

Tails then facepalmed and felt bad about what he just did. "I should not be that rude..." he complained as he got back to work.

Pipp was now walking upstairs to the bedroom, looking downtrodden and feeling so conflicted right now, when the bedroom door opened suddenly.

"Pipp?" Zipp said as she got out of the room.

"Zipp! I need your opinion about my social media post!" Pipp requested with desperation.

"Ummm… Okay…" Zipp replied with confusion.

"I want to get real with my followers. I want to tell them about the day everypony learned we couldn’t fly," Pipp explained, which surprised Zipp.

"Whoa," Zipp said with surprise.

"Yes! I want to show everypony that it’s okay to feel scared or hurt, like I did," Pip stated.

Zipp turned to the window and looked at what Pipp just told her. "I mean, I think it’s a great idea, Pipp, but…" she said, having second thoughts on Pipp’s idea.

"But what?!" Pipp cried out.

Zipp then turned to her sister with a worried face. "I don’t know, you used to worry a lot about what other people thought about you," she said with worry.

"I still do! My online persona is part of who I am," Pipp said with a smile.

"I know, and I’m afraid if everypony doesn’t respond nicely to your post, you might take it personally," Zipp explained, still worried about the idea.

"Of course I will!" Pipp exclaimed. "It’s extremely personal!" she pointed out.

"That’s my point," Zipp said, as she placed a hoof on her sister's cheek. "You know I’m all for being yourself, but maybe you should keep some distance between you and the Pippsqueaks, you know?" she said with concern.

Pipp sighed and looked at her sister. "I suppose I see what you mean," she said with a sad face. Then she turned and walked away. "Goodnight, Zipp," she said before heading to her bed.

"You too, Pipp," Zipp said to her sister as she went to bed.

Later that night, Pipp was looking at the draft of the blog she made last night, still feeling conflicted about what to do after talking with her friends.

Pipp groaned and flopped on the table, having a hard time deciding what to do... until she felt determined and opened her draft and posted her blog into her social media.

Pipp waited five minutes, getting 48 views and 27 likes.

But one day later, the views only increased to 102 while the hearts increased to 38, making Pipp nervous as Cloudpuff poked his head with curiosity.

A week later, Pipp started to have a teary breakdown since she only had 326 views and 92 likes, Cloudpuff barked and covered his eyes nervously since he felt that Pipp was about to explode at any moment.

And like he expected, Pipp snapped. "What is happening?!" she cried out as Cloudpuff barked, startled by Pipp’s outburst.

"My post about Discord had over a hundred thousand views in five minutes! Why doesn’t anypony want to read this?!" Pipp cried out as she held Cloudpuff close to her face.

"Bork," Cloudpuff barked as he placed one of his paws on her muzzle.

Pipp put Cloudpuff down and started typing on her laptop, tears streaming down her face. "That’s it! Hitch, Sonic, Tails,, and Zipp were right! I’m deleting it," she said tearfully as she moved her mouse to the delete button. But before she could press the delete button, she received an email from the blog she had posted, which surprised her. She moved the mouse and clicked on the message to read it.

'Dear Pipp, my name is Felicity. I’m a Unicorn, and my family just moved to Maretime Bay. I didn’t know what to expect. I’d never even seen the ocean, and I’d never talked to an Earth Pony. I wasn’t sure if I would fit in or if I’d be able to make any friends. I was scared that they’d think I was boring or weird if I tried to talk to them. So I decided to make things up. I told them about me, my family, and Bridlewood. But none of the stories I told were true. I told everypony that my hobbies were skydiving and surfing. I said my aunt was a princess and my grandma was a queen. I said I had two full-grown dragons as pets, and a sphinx was my best friend. At one point, I even said Bridlewood was made of cotton candy. Everypony loved it… But none of it was true. I’ve never seen the ocean, I’m not royalty, I don’t know any dragons or sphinxes, Bridlewood is made of normal trees, and I hate, hate, hate heights. It didn’t take long for my new friends to figure out I was lying. Someone visited Bridlewood, and you know what I said about the trees. Everypony was upset with me, but they weren’t just angry, they were hurt. They said we could've all stayed friends if I’d told them the truth. But I hadn’t. I’ve been afraid I wouldn’t make friends, but that day, I discovered it’s even worse to make and lose them. I thought I was the loneliest, saddest pony in the world… Then I saw your post. You made me realize I wasn’t alone, not really. Sometimes, we lie because we fear our friends won’t accept us. What I did was wrong, but I knew that if you could admit the truth and work past the fear and sadness… So could I," she read.

Pipp stopped to read and tearfully smiled at the message, feeling proud that her post encouraged somepony to move past their fears and be brave enough to overcome them. She decided to read what was left of the message with a smile. 'Thank you, from the Pippsqueak who thinks you’re the coolest pony ever. You helped me get my friends back. Love, Felicity' Pipp finished the message and stared at it for a long moment.

She decided not to delete the message, and not now that she knew somepony could overcome her fears thanks to that post. Pipp decided to sleep with a tired but proud smile, knowing exactly what she would do first in the morning.

The next morning, Pipp woke up and grabbed her phone to start a live stream with a smile. "Gooooood morning, Pippsqueaks. I wanted to talk about a post I recently put up. Most of you probably haven’t seen it…" she said.

In the main room of the Brighthouse, the rest of the Mane 5 were watching Pipp's livestream with proud smiles on their faces, specially Zipp. Team Sonic was there too, watching from the kitchen through Sonic's phone, who was also blushing with pride at the pegasus.

"What you’re seeing is my authentic self, bedhead-mane and all. A little over a week ago, I showed another version of my authentic self," Pipp said through the live stream.

In Zephyr Heights, the Pegasi watched Pipp's stream on the big screen.

"Part of me is the bubbly Pipp who loves to sing, dance, and talk to all of you," Pipp said to the viewers.

The Unicorns in Bridlewood listened to Pipp's live stream on their phones.

"But there’s another part of me. The Pipp who’s sometimes lonely, sad, and afraid. Who makes mistakes" Pipp said with a pride smile.

In the Zephyr Height’s Castle, Haven was watching her daughter’s live stream on her laptop with Cloudpuff next to her.

"Last night, I was afraid you wouldn’t accept me as I am. I should do a better job of hiding it," Pipp said to the viewers.

"Shout-out to Felicity for reminding me that who I am-- that every part of me--" Pipp said to her followers, not knowing that Felicity watched the stream with a smile, as her friends huddled close to her with smiles as well. "--is enough. Love you, Pippsqueaks. Keep doing what you do best: Being you." she finished.

"All of you. Pipp, Pipp, hooray!" Pipp said as she ended her livestream and put down her phone. She walked out of the room with a big smile, not noticing that her laptop had gotten a new message, a message from Discord himself, who watched both her post and her livestream.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter! :twilightsmile:

Issue #5

It was a dark, stormy night. Sonic and Tails were with Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp, wearing their raincoats while looking for Discord to get the Pegasus Crystal back. Hitch and Knuckles stayed in Maretime Bay to cover more grounds and guard up the town, letting the rest in a rough storm at night while walking towards a lighthouse for shelter, with Pipp livestreaming with her phone that was wearing a little umbrella somehow.

"Pippsqueaks, our search for Discord has brought us to the coast. If I don’t check in soon or…" Pipp paused with a sheepish smile. "Heh... If anything weird happens, you know where to find me. I hope!" she said nervously to her followers.

Then Sonic suddenly snatched Pipp’s phone and gave her a look. "Little Pipp, let's not livestream anything for now," he begged her. "You already did enough by sharing the existence of Discord with the others. We don't want him to find us, you know..." he pointed out, giving Pipp back her phone by putting it in her coat pocket.

"And you might wanna add a PSA for your followers, Pipp," Zipp suggested with worry. "If you get a message inviting you to the scariest abandoned town you’ve ever seen for info on a missing draconequus… Say you're busy at night," she advised her.

"It’s fine. C'mon, follow me," Pipp said with an assuring smile, leading her friends to the lighthouse the message led them to.

The group made it to the lighthouse and stopped at the front door. "Somepony needs to knock," Sunny suggested, not wanting to knock herself.

"I'll pass," Sonic said with a bored expression.

"Me too," Tails said, a little scared, hiding behind Sonic.

"I’m freezing my flanks off," Izzy called out. "Detective Zipp?" she asked Zipp to knock.

"I’m in observation mode," Zipp countered, feeling suspicious. "Pipp? This was your idea," she said to her sister.

"For hoofness sake--" Pipp groaned at her friends for not wanting to knock. But before she could continue or knock on the door, the lighthouse door opened, startling the group while an earth pony stallion, whose coat was light blue while wearing glasses and a raincoat, came into view.

"Well, now!" the stallion called out sternly before showing a smile. "Come on inside. Take your boots off and leave 'em in the dooryard," he said with a smile, inviting them inside and away from the storm.

Sometime later, after coming into the lighthouse, the stallion gave the group some hot chocolate as they sat in the living room with a fireplace in it to keep them warm; the stallion, now wearing a boat cap and scarf as his cutie Mark, was like a compass in the ocean. Inside the lighthouse, there were many boat-themed decorations. Zipp and Sonic looked around, suspicious about this guy and finding his place a little weird.

"I’m sure you're wondering why I asked you to haul hoof all the way here…" the stallion said as the group nodded in 'yes.' "Truth is, I don’t know how anypony uses those gizmos. Took me ages to write that message to you, Pipp," he confessed since he wasn't very used to technology.

Pipp brought out her phone as she read the message he sent. "Thanks for sending it—wait!" she cried after double-checking the message. You never told us your name!" she pointed out. The message said, "Have some information on the whereabouts of a certain lord of chaos. Meet me. Signed, A Friend," and that was all it said.

"I’m Lightning Rod," the stallion revealed. "And this here's the whispering beacon, the oldest lighthouse in Equestria," he gestured to his lighthouse home. "Most everypony has forgotten we’re out here," he added, stating that ponies had forgotten about this lighthouse long ago. "Ayup, everything here is long in withers, including me," he admitted.

"It must have been harsh," Tails said with a soft smile. "Being alone all this time, I mean," he added.

"It was, indeed," Lightning Rod said with a sad smile. "But being around a long time means you hear things," he stated.

"Things about Discord?" Sunny asked while she and Tails had hopeful expressions. Izzy and Pipp looked amazed, still sipping her hot chocolate and getting some on her messy muzzle. And then there were Zipp and Sonic, who didn't trust Lightning Rod.

Lightning Rod then gave the group a serious expression. "Hard tellin' not knowin', but maybe, just maybe, I know a legend that can guide your ship to port, so to speak," he told them. "Tell me… What do you know about chaos magic?" he asked them, pulling out his phone and looking at the history of Chaos Magic on the internet. "According to this Wikiponia, chaos magic was the enemy of the elements of harmony, and--" he started but got cut off by Pipp.

"--Wait, I could’ve read this at home and saved my mane from saltwater damage," Pipp pointed out suspiciously while waving her hooves to prove her point. "I wanna know what you know about chaos magic," she said to Lightning Rod with a frown.

"I’m with Pipp on this one," Sonic said with a playful smirk. "We have our experience with it, but what do you know about chaos magic, sir?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lightning Rod lifted his pike to his mouth as he sat on his chair. "Have you ever heard about the Mirror of Mayhem?" he asked them. "Don’t bother lookin' 'em up on your phones; won't be nothin' there," he said, getting up and standing next to his broken mirror while the group listened to him. "You sure you've never heard about the bad luck it brings? About the town it destroyed?" he asked them with a serious expression.

"I don’t think so…" Pipp said while turning to her friends. All looked confused since no one ever heard that story before.

"Nope," Sonic replied.

Then Lightning Rod went to his bookshelf and brought out a book. "Someponies say it's just a legend. Others say the mirror is cursed; some say it can contact spirits--" se stated, but then Izzy interrupted.

"Like Bloody Marey?!" Izzy asked in excitement.

"Don’t believe in that nonsense," Lightning Rod pointed out to Izzy, saying Bloody Marey is a scary story. "But I do think…" he said with a thoughtful look.

"Does this story link with Discord? Because if it doesn't, I'm not interested," Sonic said with a little frown while Pipp pushed him on the shoulder with a glare.

"I believe so, Mr. Hedgehog," Lightning Rod answered, opening up his book and searching for the right page.

"Scary story time!" Zipp cried excitedly while she and her friends huddled close to listen to Lightning Rod's story.

"Oh boy..." Tails cried out with worry, hiding behind Zipp this time. Although his age said he was an adult, scary stories still scared him a lot.

"What do you think, Lightning Rod?" Sunny asked. "What’s behind the Mirror of Mayhem?" she asked curiously.

"Spit out the beans, old man," Sonic said mockingly.

Then Lightning Rod gave a serious expression to the group. "I’m pretty sure it's a certain Lord of Chaos," he said, which got everyone's attention as they listened to his story titled 'Lightning Rod and the Mirror of Mayhem.'

"As it goes, the Mirror of Mayhem made its way here by sea," Lightning narrated, telling a scene of the story named 'Ye Olde Curse,' showing a map that showed part of Equestria and how the mirror was brought there when it moved by sea.

The next scene showed a family of earth ponies docking their boat at the docks, lowering their ramp. "Nopony knows where it came from, but when the ship picked up the cargo holding the mirror…" Lightning Rod stated. "Things dot stove-up real bad," Lightning Rod added, and the next scene showed the family being attacked by a group of earth ponies pirates as the family screamed in fright while the pirates attacked their boat that was burning from the attack.

The next page showed a blue Earth Pony Mare with a captain’s pirate hat setting the mirror. "They say a pirate by the name of Captain Cannon Bone kept the mirror for herself," Lightning Rod stated as Captain Cannon Bone looked at the mirror and admired her reflection... but then the next scene showed the captain mare as a skeleton who kept smiling creepily at the bottom of the ocean. "Ayup, it didn’t turn out so good for her either," Lightning Rod pointed out.

The next scene, 'More Curses,' shows a pony in a diving suit finding a chest at the bottom of the ocean. "Well, the darn thing didn’t want to stay at the bottom of the drink, so it turned up again," Lightning Rod narrated. At the same time, the diving Pony opened the chest, revealing the mirror that floated up from the water, not before the pony looked at it, freezing him in place as a shark came behind him "And you could say more bad things happened" Lightning Rod said, not wanting to narrate the pony's destiny.

The next scene showed the mirror being sold on a stand at a coast docks, with an earth pony stallion selling some sea stuff at his stand called 'Sea Junk' "The mirror resurfaced a bit later, finally having made its way to dry land" Lightning said, as an earth pony mare looked at the mirror and got in some trance, admittedly paying for the mirror. "Yessah, that ghastly glass sure had a way about it" Lightning started, while the mare with the mirror mindlessly walked to the edge of the docks and fell into the water, except for the mirror that flew out of her saddle bag and into the dock's floor. "Seemed to bring trouble to everypony it came in contact with. 'Cept one," Lightning said while the mirror got picked up by some pony. It was a blue earth pony stallion with a suit and glasses, looking at the mirror with a mischievous smirk. "... Fet Lockland. Used to be one of the Wealthiest Ponies in these parts. He opened his shop right over in Candlebright Cove." Lightning started while Fet's shop was shown. "Lotsa Yarns about Lockland, Yessah. They said all his bits came from Chaos Magic," Lightning stated.

And then Fet gave the mirror wrapped to an earth pony mare with a smile. "But he did earn quite a bit selling the mirror." Lightning listed as the next scene showed the mare, bandaged up and traumatized, returning the mirror as it was slightly opened, and Fet smirked, having planned this to get more bits.

And then the mirror was taken again and again by other ponies, like an earth pony stallion that was covered in cactus, or a unicorn mare that was covered in honey with bees around her and felt scared, and also a pony that had a giant fish on their head. "... He sold it a few times," Lightning pointed out, showing another pony that was smokey weakly, lifting the mirror to Fet, who was evilly smiling at this outcome.

The next scene, 'Ye Olde Legends,' showed Fet cheering as bits were raining down on him. "Where everypony had nothing but rotten luck, Lockland downright Flourished" Lightning explained, while Fet’s shop showed ponies waiting in line. "'Starting Charging' to see the Mirror of Mayhem, as he called it," Lightning stated.

"He said…" Lightning explained while Fet pulled the cover off the mirror. "Ayup, just look into the mirror, see what you’re up to in the future," Lockland said to the mare, who looked at the mirror and saw herself in a beautiful wedding dress, smiling with awe. "Even though the curse seemed dormant… The mirror still manages to cause grief," Lightning pointed out, as the mare turned to her fiance, who had a scolding look and lifted his hoof to reveal the same bracelet the mare has, and in the mirror, it’s not there, making the mare grew nervous.

Lockland was on his desk counting the bits he bribed off the ponies. "And made Lockland very rich" Lightning stated.

When night came, Lockland closed his shop, putting up a sign that said 'Gone Fishing' to let ponies know he was out for now.

"Which is why everypony thought it was so odd that his shop just closed one day," Lightning narrated, now showing three earth pony mares walking to Lockland's shop, peeking through the window. And what they saw scared them a lot: Lockland's face started to decay, and his eyes became completely white, while his hooves were grabbed by the spirit of Discord from the mirror with candles in front of it. "But Lockland hadn’t gone anywhere. At least, nowhere anypony had gone before" Lightning started, while the three mares rushed off in complete freight. "And wherever that was, it scared folks from something awful," Lightning added, not knowing what had happened in there.

Back to reality, the group was still listening to Lightning Rod when suddenly a thunder fell and startled Tails, who immediately turned into a ball and hid between Sonic's legs.

Sonic patted Tails a bit with a smile. "It's been 18 years, but you're still scared of thunders..." he said with a chuckle.

"I hate thunders..." Tails replied, still as a ball.

"Well--" Lightning Rod continued, about to finish the story, but then that word got Zipp’s attention, and she widened her eyes.

"Well?!" Zipp cried out as she quickly chugged her hot chocolate cup and dropped it on the ground. "You can’t just leave us hanging here!" she cried out as she went to Sunny's side, who turned to look at her but didn’t see that Zipp drank Sunny's hot chocolate as well so quickly. Zipp then grabbed Sonic's cup, which was wide-eyed at Zipp's sugar rush, while Tails straightened again and looked at Zipp, confused. "Where did he go?" she asked, grabbing Izzy by the face after drinking Sonic and Tails' cups. "Why isn’t Candlebright Cove still around?" she asked again, flying around Izzy and drinking her cup. Then, she grabbed Pipp’s hot chocolate next, who was wide-eyed at her sister. "Was Fet Lockland even real?" she asked again, and then she flew straight to Lightning Rod and grabbed his shoulders, who was wide-eyed at how hype Zipp was. "What does this have to do with Discord?!" she cried out, lifting the empty cup in her hoof and staring at it with wide eyes. "And may I please have some more hot chocolate?!" She asked, still in a state of a sugar rush.

Pipp chuckled sheepishly as she grabbed Hype Zipp from her hind hooves. "Somepony can’t hold their suuuugar…" she sang sheepishly.

"Thank hoofness Knuckles isn't here, he would be ten times worst" Sonic said, as he and Tails chuckled a little. "Also, these ponies phrases are starting to get on my mind..." he pointed out a little surprised.

Sometime later, Lightning Rod made a fresh back of hot chocolates and gave it to the group, while Lightning Rod gave a fresh cup to Zipp, who felt embarrassed about showing her sugar rush side to the others.

"Figured I’d answer the easy question first," Lightning Rod said with a smile. "Especially considering you were buzzin' around here like a bee in a mitten," he joked about Zipp's sugar rush.

Zipp smiled sheepishly as she grabbed the cup. "Ha. I’m a detective, and when I can’t crack a case, I get a little…" she started, but then got cut off when Izzy got in front of her, waving her hooves in a cheerful tone.

"Tell me who, tell me where, tell me NOOOW!" Izzy imitated Zipp's reaction, as she and the rest laughed at this while Zipp crossed her hooves in annoyance.

"You got on this yourself, Zipp! Live with it!" Tails said with a little chuckle.

"Oh, for hoofness sake! Okay, okay, I’ll chill," Zipp said with an annoying expression. "But we still need to know about Discord!" she said to Lightning Rod with a serious expression.

Lightning Rod smirked at her. "As I was saying…" he started where he left off as he grabbed another book from the shelf. "This is where things get complicated," he told the group.

"Things get more complicated?" Sunny asked with curiosity.

"Ayup," Lightning Rod replied.

"Well, since we're talking about the Lord of Chaos himself, I won't be surprised if things get out of hand from here..." Sonic pointed out, slurping hot chocolate.

"It sure does," Lightning Rod answered again.

Now, a glass tapestry showed how Celestia and Luna defeated Discord for the first time. "Even though Celestia and Luna imprisoned him, Discord found a way around it," Lightning explained, and then Discord, looking at his youth, growled since he was defeated. "He’s always been a clever one," Lightning Rod added, while Discord suddenly smirked at the janitor pony with the mirror behind him, rubbing his chin with a smirk. "Too clever, maybe." Lightning Rod added as Discord appeared in the mirror and the janitor was washing.

And sometime later, the janitor stallion was hypnotized by Discord, who got the mirror on his saddle bag while he walked up to a unicorn mare with a bread cart.

"I reckon that Discord found a way to travel using Glass. And the poor folks who got in his paths" Lightning Rod theorized how Discord gets around so easily while trapped in stone for a thousand years. The scene showed the janitor getting hit by the cart with a bucket on his head while in dizziness as the unicorn mare trotted off with the mirror on her cart without knowing.

"Used them how?" Sunny asked Lightning Rod.

"That nasty fellow draws his energy from the havoc he creates," Lightning Rod explained, showing a scene where Discord laughed in the mirror, clearly enjoying the chaos he was causing. "While his spirit hides somewhere safe, he spreads trouble. And with that escape, he was on his way to becoming unstoppable," Lightning added.

And then, over time, other ponies that have found the mirror fell under Discord's trance while passing it down from one pony to another, while the mirror traveled around Equestria as a unicorn mare put it in a box. "He made his way here," Lightning said, settling the events up until Lockland found the mirror.

The mirror on Captain Cannon Bone’s desk showed a little swirl on one side. "Maybe he sensed Fet’s magic…" Lightning stated.

Then Fet Lockland's clothes and glasses were on the floor, and green smoke emerged. "... And took those powers for himself." Lightning stated Lockland's fate.

Later, some ponies started cleaning Lockland's shop while they moved boxes and took out the sign since Lockland was now gone. "Eventually, the shop was cleaned out, and folks went on with their lives," Lightning said, now showing Discord's talon claw coming out of one box with smoke while Discord grinned evilly in the mirror. "But Discord was still waiting… for some naive fool to come along." Lightning finished the story.

Lightning Rod looked at the broken mirror with regret and guilt. "And a fool surely did come along," he said.

"What do you mean?" Pipp asked in confusion.

"Let’s go up top," Lightning Rod said, leading the group upstairs to the top of the Lighthouse.

At the top of the lighthouse, the lightning rod turned on the light signals, pointing them in one direction while the group looked in the other direction.

"See that?" Lightning Rod asked the girls at the sight they were seeing.

"I think… I sorta… Kinda..." Sunny said as she tried to see clearly. "No, I don’t," she honestly admitted.

"Uh, what are we looking at?" Sonic asked Lightning Rod.

"Wondering the same, I see nothing," Tails replied, narrowing his eyes.

"That used to be Candlebright Cove," Lightning Rod revealed to the group, looking at some rubble in the distance.

The group was shocked as they saw the barren remains of what used to be Candlebright Cove while Zipp flew in the air. "What happened to it?" she asked.

Lightning Rod closed his eyes as he grabbed his hat and lowered it to his chest, revealing that he was a Unicorn, but his horn was cut in half. "Me," he revealed, saying that he is the cause of the town's destruction.

The group was shocked at this, both at Lightning Rod being a unicorn and how he just said that he was the one responsible for what happened to Candlebright Cove.

"Well, this went from 0 to 100 too freaking fast!" Sonic said with shock.

"We’re going to need more hot chocolate for this. And maybe some snacks," Zipp said to Lightning.

"Follow me," Lightning Rod told the group while they followed him downstairs.

In the kitchen of the Lighthouse, the group was sitting at the table while they listened to Lightning Rod from its side.

"I knew when I sent that email that I was ready to come clean, but--" Lightning Rod started explaining, but then Zipp came to his side with an eager look as she pointed to the cabinets.

"Do you mind if I just… Y’know..." Zipp asked Lightning Rod with a smirk.

"I’m all mug up from the hot cocoa, but help yourself." Lightning Rod gave his permission to Zipp, and she zipped to the cabinets and dug through them for snacks while Lightning Rod brought out his photo album. "These photos are from just before… Well, see for yourselves," he said, bringing the album to the group as they saw pictures of what Candlebright Cove used to be. One picture showed a seapony statue fountain, the second showed Lightning Rod in his youth with his horn intact and taking a picture of himself and his Lighthouse, while the third showed him waving to the crowd in a parade. "Candlebright Cove was a nice town. I had good friends, did an important job, and felt part of the community. Back then, being a keeper was a big deal... But things changed; things always change," he said sadly.

"Except Zipp," Izzy pointed out with a smile as the group saw Zipp bringing in snacks while in flight.

"How's that Zipp even has a sweet tooth?" Sonic asked with a chuckle.

Pipp smirked at her sister and started recording Zipp with her phone. "The Pippsqueaks are going to love this, especially if she drops it!" she teased, wanting to see if Zipp would drop the snack if she lost her balance.

Lightning Rod gave a serious expression as he looked at the group. "You ready for one last scary story?" he asked the group, ready to tell his tale.

In the past, young Lightning Rod shook an old stallion that used to work in the Lighthouse hoof as they smiled at each other. "I came to Candlebright Cove because they didn’t mind magic, unlike some other places," Lightning stated, meaning that unlike Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, and Zephyr Heights, Candlebright Cove welcomed everypony, no matter what race they were.

The next scene showed Lightning Rod looking at the ocean at the top of the Lighthouse as he saw a boat in the distance, and he shined the light to help guide it back to safety from the rough waves. "The harbor used to be the main port, yessah. Led lots of boats to shore and helped a lot of folks. Over the years, Candlebright Cove grew. Got more modern," Lightning stated.

The next scene showed Lightning Rod walking out of the Lighthouse and seeing ponies using their phones. "Technology meant boats were guided differently; they didn’t need an old Lighthouse anymore," Lightning explained.

"Or the keeper," Lightning added as it showed his young self packing his things. "I decided it was time to move down the road apiece. Didn’t want to stick around to watch myself become obsolete," Lightning added with sadness.

"And then…" Lightning started, while his younger self opened up a chest and saw the mirror in it, and once he picked it up, he saw Discord in it with shock. "... I’d had the thing for years; nothing bad had ever happened. Until that day in my Lighthouse," Lightning stated.

"Yesss, your Lighthouse…" Discord smirked evilly to Lightning.

"He said he’d make sure the town will always need me, that I'd always have a home," Lightning stated as his past self got grabbed by a smoke claw version of Discord's claw, and Lightning freaked out. "What he wanted in exchange though…" Lightning stopped for a moment as he showed a scene of boats crashing into shore in a tremendous wave in a dangerous storm. "Imagine the chaos of just a few boats running upshore, he said." Lightning narrowed down while Discord surrounded him in fog form as Lightning Rod lowered his head. "I should just use my powers, he said. They’d help me free him. Surely there must be another way, I asked him." Lightning told what he and Discord said to each other while he looked at Candlebright Cove with Discord in the mirror next to him. "If it was my powers he wanted, well, I was gonna make sure he got 'em," Lightning said as his young self got in front of Discord, who was 'seeing' excitedly for Lightning to do it, as Lightning blasted the mirror with powerful magic from his horn. "I should just use my powers, he said. They'd help free him," Lightning repeated.

Once he was done, his horn broke off from the overpowered magic as it smoked, and he looked in despair at what he had done. "It was like the town had never existed. I’ve never meant-- I thought I’d just destroyed the mirror," Lightning said in a sad tone, stating that he was planning to destroy the mirror to prevent Discord from messing with other ponies, but somehow, not only did he destroyed the mirror, but also he destroyed the entire town of Candlebright Cove. "What was left of it shows some things but with that piece broken… Well, Discord was gone." Lightning Rod finished his backstory.

"That’s my story," Lightning Rod said to the group with a sad look. "And that’s why I asked you out here," he said, explaining his reason for bringing the group out here.

"That was very brave of you. It must’ve been hard," Sunny said to Lightning with a comprehensive smile.

Lightning Rod small smiled back at Sunny. "What would have been brave was letting the town grow, letting things change," he stated with a sad look again. "Instead, I held on to the past and ended up alone-- But at least the mirror isn’t hurting anypony anymore," he said, looking at the bright side of things.

"I know the feeling..." Tails said with a small smile. "When I was a kid, I moved from my place to live with Sonic. At first, I was scared, not because I had left my old home. That made me happy since no one wanted me there..." he started to explain a little down. "I was scared because I was going to a new, unknown place. And I knew nobody but Sonic back then, and the idea of not fitting in because of how different I was... made me realize I didn't like change..." he said with sadness, but then he smiled. "But once I arrived, everyone was so... warming and welcoming. They didn't cared about my tails, they were being nice because they wanted to. Change can be scary, that's true, but it's a good thing once you give it a chance," he finished with a bright smile.

Lightning Rod smiled at Tails for his words. "Guess you right, kid," he said.

Pipp then gasped at what Tails and Lightning had just said. "Change! That’s it! Discord doesn’t want anything to change. I bet he still uses the same hideout he did back then!" she said aloud with a smile. "We can just look in the mirror--" she wanted to suggest, but then realized something as they walked out of the kitchen. "I forgot, it’s broken. You really can’t see where he’s at, Lightning Rod?" she asked the old Unicorn.

Lightning Rod smiled in response as they walked to the mirror over the fireplace. "No, you can’t see it from here with it broken. But…" he adjusted it a bit. "The other piece is out where the town used to be, probably buried under the rubble," he said. "When I saw your message, I knew it was time to do some of the good I meant to finally," he finished with optimism.

Pipp smiled as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "We can find him with this, can't we? We can still save magic," she said with a hopeful smile.

"Of course we can, Little Pipp," Sonic said, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling at her. We will find this guy at any cost," he said confidently.

The next day, the group was ready to start their search again, with the broken mirror in Pipp’s saddle bag as they said goodbye to Lightning Rod.

"Mr. Rod, thank you so much for your help," Sonic said with a smile, shaking his hand with the stallion's hoof. "Now we have a chance to find Discord and save magic for good," he added.

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Hedgehog," Lightning Rod replied with a smile, glad to help them.

"You’ve been keeping this safe for so long, as I do the math, an exceptionally long time," Pipp told Lightning with an uncertain look. "Are you gonna be okay without it?" she asked him with worry.

Lightning Rod smiled in reassurance. "Oh, I think it’s well past my time to find a new hobby. Maybe I'll try blogging like you," he said cheerfully.

Pipp then smiled as she brought out her phone. "Thanks for reminding me! Can we get a selfie—y’know, for my next update?" she asked, wanting her and her friends to take a selfie with Lightning Rod to remember him for his help.

Lightning Rod smiled in agreement as the group huddled around him. Pipp took a picture of him and his Lighthouse while Zipp looked suspiciously at Lightning Rod as she flew close to him.

"When exactly did all of this start?" Zipp asked. "It does seem like you’ve been here a long time… Something isn’t adding up," she pointed out while Lightning Rod smirked.

Sunny grabbed Zipp by her leg and gave her a scolding look. "Zipp! You said you’d chill!" she lectured. However, Tails gave a strange look, finding Zipp’s question suspicious. Since Sunny told some stories of Ancient Equestria, the Discord ones included, and the fact that Discord himself confirmed them when they met him on Canterlot, he felt something wasn’t right.

A few moments later, the group continued their journey as Lightning Rod waved goodbye. "Thank you all for listening and helping me make things right," he said.

"We’ll let you know how it goes." Pipp waved back at him with a smile. "Wow, I mean wow! Can you believe that?" she asked her friends cheerfully.

"Not really, no," Zipp replied as she had a lot of thoughts in her head. "I believe the story, but I have many questions," she added.

"Zipp's right... something's wrong," Tails said with concern. "Discord using the mirror to get around? That’s not what happened, according to Argyle's stories. If he were still, he would still be a statue, but he said Twilight and her friends set him free to get reformed" he said. "And Discord said something about having a sanctuary with Fluttershy, and he was already a 'good guy' then! This smells like a charade to me..." he finished with a frown.

"And not only that," Zipp spoke again. "How does he get cell service out here? Where does he go grocery shopping? This place is desolated!" she pointed out, questioning how Lightning Rod could even contact them if it were desolated for miles. Zipp stopped as she gestured to where they were without looking. "Why didn’t he just give us the mirror to begin with? Why tell us--" she tried to ask again, but Pipp cut her off with an assuring smile.

"Zipp, if I’ve learned anything from streaming… Lightning Rod is a natural content creator," Pipp stated. "Everypony loves a story. Everypony loves a little mystery," she added.

Suddenly, Sonic felt a chill on his quills that glowed momentarily before returning to normal. Sonic turned around, and his eyes widened. "Oh, you have to be kidding me!" he shouted.

Sunny turned her head to see what shocked Sonic and then gave a shocked look. "Uhh…" Sunny said with confusion.

Tails turned around as well, and his eyes widened as well. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF CHAOS IS HAPPENING?!" he cried in shock.

That was because Lightning Rod and his Lighthouse were gone, and there was nothing on the spot where it should be.

Pipp turned to her friends with wide eyes as well. "I said a little!" she cried out, surprised that Lightning Rod and his Lighthouse were gone.

"Did somepony request a mystery?" Sunny asked in shock.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter! :twilightsmile:

Issue #6

"The nights and days blend in an endless vortex that I now think signals the end of time itself," Sunny cried out in panic. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" she yelled in frustration.

"This is the most dramatic she has acted ever since her lantern disappeared..." Knuckles said with annoyance.

The Mane 5 and Team Sonic were at the Crystal Brighthouse, watching over some screens that were monitoring Canterlot on every corner since Tails and Zipp installed security cameras a few days ago to watch over the city and spy on Discord, in case he decided to get back there.

However, only Zipp, Sunny, Tails, and Sonic seemed interested in finding the draconequis because Izzy was completely lost. Hitch and Knuckles were bored—they had about five or six cups of coffee at this point—and Pipp was neutral.

"Calm down!" Zipp called out to Sunny. Since we can't figure out where Discord's going, the only way to find him is to go back to where he's already been," she pointed out, but Sunny slammed her head against the control table.

"We need to make sure we keep an eye on every inch of the castle," Tails also called out.

"If you need to blink, make sure it is fast," Sonic added with concern. We have already wasted too much time; we must find this 'lord of chaos' as soon as possible."

"Ooh! If you cross your eyes, the colors mix," Izzy said, looking at the screens.

Knuckles was the only one who paid her attention, and he also tried out. "Huh... I guess you learn something new every day," he said while Hitch at his side rolled his eyes.

"I don't think my eyes even move anymore..." Sunny complained.

Pipp opened her right eye and smirked at her. "You know, you have a real flair for the dramatic, Sunny," she pointed out, then approached Zipp and Tails. "But you're about to be outshined because I have a new song to perform."

"Can it wait? We've gotta concentrate over here," Zipp said with annoyance and concern.

"I think listening might help direct your focus," Pipp said, now starting to get annoyed as well.

"Pipp, if we turn away from these screens, even just for a slight second, we can lose a vital clue to get to Discord," Tails pointed out to her, not even moving his sight away from the screens.

"But perhaps my song is just in tune with your search," Pipp added, now very annoyed.

"It's not time to sing, Pipp," Sonic stated with a frown, staring at the screens. "Finding Discord is everything that matters right now," he added.

That was it. Pipp could accept that Zipp didn't get the signs, even from Tails, who she started to see as a little brother, but Sonic? That was her limit. "HOW OBVIOUS DO I HAVE TO BE FOR YOU TO REALIZE I'VE DISCOVERED SOMETHING IN THE FOOTAGE?!" she screamed angrily to Zipp, Tails, and Sonic, who got startled at her sudden snap.

"You found something?!" all the others asked her. Izzy and Knuckles had their eyes separated as if it were Derpy, and Sunny opened her eyes slowly.

Pipp let out a sigh before rolling her eyes. "Embarrassingly obvious is the answer," she complained. She then grabbed a TV mote and rewinded the recording of the camera pointing at Discord's hideout, where they all met him the first time. "Take a closer look at Discord's cave," she instructed the others. "Five minutes ago, this was actual footage of the cave. But now..." she said, moving the footage back to live.

Instead of showing the usual cave, the footage seemed more... cartoony.

"Is that a drawing?" Zipp questioned, confused.

"It sure is!" Izzy said, looking better at the image. "And it looks just like photorealist artistic crayon stylings of One Reginald Fursome."

"... I refuse to ask how you know that..." Knuckles said with a bored expression.

"If he's using a drawing to cover the camera lens, he must be there right now," Hitch theorized.

"And if Reginald is there, he could guide us to Discord," Sonic stated with a confident smirk.

"Time to head back to Canterlot!" Sunny announced with a smile.

"And ruin another impeccable hooficure..." Pipp complained as she looked at her hooves.

"Pipp..." Sonic scolded her with a bored expression while Zipp gave her a look.

"... For a noble cause, of course," Pipp added with a sheepish smile, sweating a bit.

The entire group made it to Canterlot, and Hitch quietly retired one of the trap doors from the ground and put it aside while Knuckles climbed down using his knuckles to stick to the rocky walls, with Zipp, Hitch, and Sunny following behind.

The four of them watched Reginald pack some stuff for Discord in a suitcase, grunting a bit as he tried to pack a straw hat.

"Anypony else think that hat is too big for Reginald?" Sunny whispered to the others.

"He's packing for Discord," Zipp whispered. "If we follow Reginald, I bet he'll lead us straight to Discord and the Crystal," she said.

"Maybe, but let's be as quiet as pos––" Knuckles tried to say, but Zipp almost slipped and made a sound that alerted Reginald.

Knuckles grabbed the three ponies and quickly climbed back to the top, just in time since Reginald turned around to the entrance, but he saw no one there.

He climbed back to the surface with the suitcase, and once he saw the coast clear, he started to move away from the castle. As for our heroes? Well...

Since Knuckles climbed up quick enough, and the magic of everyone but Sunny was failing, Tails lifted Zipp in bridal style and flew high enough to pass unnoticed by Reginald, while Knuckles stuck to the ceiling with one hand and grabbed Izzy with his arm. On the other hand, Sonic grabbed Pipp in bridal style and sat on a broken pipe from the ceiling that simulated a hammock, while Sunny used her alicorn magic to lift Hitch, although she was starting to struggle.

"What a time for our magic to glitch out..." Zipp complained, blushing, embarrassed since she wasn't used to being carried on this way.

"Thank hoofness, we're around to give you a hand with that," Sonic said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I don't mind this at all~," Pipp thought out loud.

"What was that?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.

"N-Nothing!" Pipp said with a nervous chuckle.

"Hoofness? Really?" Knuckles asked with a bored expression.

"Sonic's right, these phrases are starting to get into us," Tails pointed out.

And then, Sunny's magic started to glitch out, with her wings slowly disappearing.

"That's never a good sign," Sunny said after a small gulp.

The next thing everyone knew? Reginald Fursome was nowhere to be seen, and both Sunny and Hitch fell to the ground after her alicorn form disappeared.

"Well, that's what I call 'falling with style'!" Sonic said mockingly as he jumped from his place and used his boost ability with a stomp, landing safely on the ground. However, Pipp just attached to his body more after that sudden movement, which made him worry that he might accidentally hurt her. "Hey, Pipp! You okay?" he called out with concern.

Pipp realized what she had just done and blushed until her face got as red as a tomato. "Y-Yeah!" she assured with a sheepish smile. "I-I'm perfectly fine!" she said nervously, but Sonic's soft smile made her relax.

Knuckles glided down, carrying Izzy on his back, while Tails landed at Hitch's side and placed Zipp down. Sonic also put Pipp down. She thanked Sonic silently, and Sonic looked away with a slight blush.

"Just get a stupid room already," Knuckles said with a bored expression as he passed by Sonic and Pipp.

"Knuckles..." Sonic groaned with a frown and a blush while Pipp stared daggers at him.

"Are you guys okay?" Tails asked Hitch and Sunny as he helped Sunny to stand up.

"I-I think so..." Sunny said, feeling a bit dizzy.

"There will be time to count our bruises later," Hitch replied, shaking his head and looking at the room exit with a determined look. "Right now, we got a possum to follow," he stated.

"Let's just hope he doesn't notice our presence," Sonic muttered, a bit worried.

Hours later, the group followed Reginald Fursome close behind while the possum was using a kazoo to play some music for himself.

"Okay, we're clear. Let's go," Sunny instructed as the rest followed close behind Reginald.

Pipp, recording everything, approached the camera to focus on the possum. "If you're just tuning in now, Pippsqueaks, we're in the middle of a life-or-no-magic stealth mission as we follow Reginald Fursome towards Discord's hideout," she explained through her livestream.

"Remind me: Why are we letting her record this?" Knuckles whispered to Sonic. "Being sneaky is already a lost cause. Discord knows we're looking for him," he pointed out.

"Maybe, but he doesn't know when we'll get him," Sonic pointed out. "And convincing Pipp not to stream is like telling me to stop running," he added with a bored expression.

"Impossible?" Knuckles asked with a bored expression as well.

"Exactly," Sonic replied.

Izzy then approached Pipp. "Pipp, Pipp, hi! Do you mind if I interrupt with a quick question?" she asked cheerfully.

"I do, but it's too late already," Pipp replied with an eye roll.

"I just think maybe you shouldn't be livestreaming this secret stealth mission," Izzy pointed out with worry.

"See? Even Izzy understands it," Knuckles said with a frown.

"Oh, it's not like Reginald's going to see it. He doesn't follow me on socials," Pipp pointed out. "His loss," she added.

"I meant that we shouldn't be filming Reginald without his permission," Izzy said with concern.

"You know, Izzy's right," Zipp confessed. "This following thing is a total bore. I think it's time we let Reginald know we're here," she said confidently

"You want to confront him?" Sunny asked, a bit concerned.

"Bad idea. Very, very bad idea," Tails said with a bored expression.

"I think it would be better if we approached Reginald as a friend," Izzy suggested. "Hitch could use his magic to talk to him, and I could give him a flower crown," she explained. "Then we'd be best friends forever, and he'd tell us where Discord is because best friends tell each other all their secrets," she added.

"Not all of them," Sonic muttered with a frown.

"Reginald is 100 percent loyal to Discord," Hitch pointed out to Izzy. "There's no way he'd give up his location," he stated.

"So we agree. Confrontation's the only way to get Reginald to talk," Zipp stated confidently. "Sunny, Pipp, Tails, and I can fly down from those trees over there and take Reginald by surprise," she suggested.

"Count me out of this ridiculous plan," Tails quickly replied with a frown, his arms crossed. "I'm not attacking the possum; I don't care if he's taking us to Discord," he stated.

"Oh, come on!" Zipp complained. "If we make him talk by force, we'll get to Discord in no time!" she pointed out.

"I'm with Tails on this one," Sonic remarked. "We don't attack critters, enemies or not," he explained concerningly.

"I agree with a more pacifist way to approach him," Hitch said. "Maybe not like Izzy suggests, but still..." he added.

"Being a pacifist is taking us nowhere!" Zipp cried out with a frown. "We need to act now!" she stated.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO MY NEW BEST FRIEND! YOU'LL SCARE HIM!" Izzy shouted with anger towards Zipp.

All the others were shocked at Izzy's sudden reaction, especially Zipp. But Izzy's scream was so loud that even Reginald heard her, and once he spotted all the others, he quickly ran away from them.

"Too late for that," Pipp said with a bored expression, focusing her camera on Izzy, who looked at the ground with shame.

"Don't worry, Izz," Knuckles said, patting her head softly to comfort her. "This just proves that Zipp was wrong," he told her in a playful tone, which made Izzy look at him and giggle.

"Hey!" Zipp complained.

"I mean, he isn't wrong at all," Tails said neutrally, winning Zipp's glare and a groan. "But now we're back at square one," he pointed out with concern.

"Did anypony see which direction he was headed?" Sunny asked with worry.

Sonic was about to reply because he had seen him leaving. But then he got a very reckless idea, but still an idea. Did he want to take the Crystal back? Yes, he did, but more than that, he wanted to get his rematch with Discord and some answers regarding the Chaos Emeralds. So, he decided to stay quiet and wait for everyone to get distracted.

"No, but Pipp was livestreaming the whole thing," Hitch told Sunny with a bored expression.

Pipp, however, was publishing a video on her media with the hooftag 'Oopsie'. "I wasn't filming Reginald, I was filming Izzy," she confessed. That only made everyone but Izzy and Sonic glare daggers at her, which didn't make her flinch strangely.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying him attention, Sonic quietly moved away to follow Reginald before losing track of him.

"There's only one rule in livestreaming, and it's that no matter what, always follow the drama," Pipp explained to the others, who still glared at her. "And that was Izzy. Did you see how mad she was?" she questioned.

"Yes. I. Did?" Knuckles replied madly, moving away before doing something he'd regret later.

"I-I wasn't mad..." Izzy tried to defend herself. "Or I didn't mean to be..." she told the others nervously.

"You were golden," Pipp said, getting close to Izzy to show her the video. "It was perfect applewood melodrama. I mean, look at this!" she said, now showing the video to Izzy.

However, despite Izzy's mad expression and shouting on the video, absolutely nothing was heard. There were just a few letters and the stream of the river.

"What is going on in Zephyr Heights?!" Pipp asked in a panic.

"I can't hear anything Izzy's saying," Hitch pointed out.

"Me neither," Tails said.

"It's that stream over there!" Zipp said, pointing at the river stream they were walking by. It's so loud that it's the only thing the mic wcouldpick up," she explained angrily.

"Oh no, no, no, nooooo..." Pipp cried out in panic. "It's not just Izzy's voice. The stream has drowned out everything I've filmed for the last two hours!" she said. "So rude!" she yelled to the river... for some reason.

"It's great news!" Zipp said with a smile.

"Huh?" Izzy said, confused.

"You got me completely lost, Zipp," Tails deadpanned.

"If Pipp's phone was picking up the stream for the past two hours, it must mean Reginald's been following it this entire time!" Zipp explained cheerfully.

Sunny immediately smiled. "If we want to find Reginald and Discord, all we need to do is continue following the stream," she said confidently. You're a genius, Zipp. "

"When she's thinking carefully, that is," Tails muttered to Knuckles and Izzy, with the former snorting and the latter giggling.

"Let's head out, team!" Hitch instructed, leading the way.

"Cheer up, sis," Zipp told Pipp with a smirk. "I'm sure some of what you filmed was still fun to watch," she said.

"It was completely incomprehensible," Pipp complained, her expression annoyed. I might as well have live-streamed Mom discussing the health benefits of dragon fire tea," she groaned in frustration.

"Now that was rude," Zipp said with a bored expression.

"You're right. Let me call and apologize... Oh, wait! She won't be able to hear me over that STUPID STREAM!" Pipp cried out in anger.

"Drama queen," Knuckles muttered as he rolled his eyes.

As Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp walked forward, Izzy stood a few steps back, followed by Sunny, Tails, and Knuckles, who looked at the unicorn a bit concerned.

Izzy didn't last to notice her friends behind her, tho. "You know, I've always said a moment together is one you're more likely to remember," she told the rest.

"Y-Yeah, we know," Tails said with a nervous smile.

"We were trying to give you some space," Sunny explained with concern.

"Yeah, it seemed that you need it," Knuckles pointed out with worry.

"It's my breath, isn't it?" Izzy asked, concerned. "I know sugar doesn't make the best toothpaste, but it tastes much better!" she said.

"It's not that," Sunny told her. "You've been distant ever since our run-in with Discord. I know he mentioned you felt left behind in Canterlot when we split up," she pointed out, concerned.

"Which could be easily avoided if you listened instead of act once in a while," Knuckles replied coldly.

"Knux, don't start another unnecessary argument," Tails begged.

"Am I wrong?" Knuckles asked him with a frown.

Tails tried to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth because he knew Knuckles was right.

"Izzy, I hope you know flying off without you wasn't personal," Sunny told her. "If you could fly, we obviously would have invited you too," she assured her.

"Oh, yeah... Abso-lutel-lutely..." Izzy replied, not convinced at all by her friend's words.

"Izz, if you have no wings, that's not your fault," Tails told her. "As fun as the game was, I would rather not play if that meant keeping you company," he confessed aloud.

"You do?" Sunny asked, both surprised and confused.

"Oh, definitely," Tails replied coldly, not even looking at Sunny. "Because that's what a real friend does," he added with a bit of anger.

This wasn't the first time Tails and Knuckles acted like this. Izzy wasn't the only distant one lately; those two were also. And when it came to Izzy, they were... cold, very, very cold when they talked, and now Sunny started to grow worried about them as well.

"I think we've made it," Hitch's voice called out to the others.

They all approached him to see an abandoned cottage on a hill full of muss, which probably meant it had been abandoned years ago.

"Whoa! What is this place?" Pipp asked, surprised.

"It looks like the animal sanctuary Discord told us about," Sunny pointed out. "The one he built with Fluttershy to care for the creatures of the Everfree forest!" she said with awe.

"Are you sure? It looks pretty empty for a sanctuary," Izzy pointed out with concern.

"Reginald must have given Discord and the other creatures the heads-up we were coming," Hitch theorized.

"Why am I not surprised?" Tails said with a bored expression.

"Nothing can ever be easy, can it?" Zipp complained.

"There's no point in having an adventure if things were easy," Knuckles pointed out with his arms crossed.

Then, Hitch saw a squirrel holding two acorns with a frown and smirked with an idea. "Maybe it's not easy, but I'll take a lucky break when it comes along," he said confidently, then approached the squirrel with a smile. "Hi! You might remember us from Discord's little tea party. I don't want to brag, but we were his VIP guests of the day. And maybe of the last ten years..." he told the squirrel.

"And thanks to that party, now I hate tea," Tails said with a frown.

"Anyways..." Hitch said, ignoring Tails' comment. "We're looking for our friend Discord. Do you know where he might have gone?" he asked.

"He won't be teaching a class on the art of subtlety anytime soon," Zipp said with annoyance.

"Unfortunately, being subtle isn't one of his strengths," Knuckles commented with a bored expression.

The squirrel said something that made Hitch look at him with worry. "Oh no! That's horrible news!" he cried out.

"What is it? What's wrong?!" Sunny asked, now concerned as well, while the other looked worried at Hitch, and Pipp covered her mouth with her hooves.

"Has Discord found a way to destroy the Crystal and turn us back into miserable, meaningless, magicless ponies?!" Pipp asked in a panic.

"Oh, I don't know about any of that," Hitch confessed with a calm expression. "But this little guy says his friend hid all his acorns from him, and he's been stuck here searching for them for the past two hours," he explained.

Pipp huffed with a frown, and Sunny rolled her eyes at Hitch's attitude.

"I swear, Hitch, one of these days, I'm breaking your face if you keep doing stuff like this!" Knuckles groaned in anger.

Then, Izzy and Tails approached the squirrel to talk with him. "That doesn't sound like a very nice friend," Izzy said, looking worried.

"Yeah, you must be hungry, little guy," Tails told him as well while the squirrel sobbed a bit in sadness.

Suddenly, Izzy got an Idea and made her horn glow, hoping her magic wouldn't glitch out. "Let's hope this works..." she muttered with worry.

She started to levitate the acorns of the trees nearby, and then she let go of her magic, with all the acorns falling from the trees. The squirrel looked at the acorns with sparkling eyes, but just before he could grab even one, Izzy caught the acorn first and looked at the squirrel with a smirk.

"Not so fast!" Izzy said with a confident smile. "While normally I'd let you take this for free, we're in a time crunch to find Discord, so I'm going to need some information first," she told the squirrel.

As the squirrel nodded and ran towards Fluttershy's abandoned cottage, Tail's side smiled and hugged Izzy. "Offer something in exchange for some info! You're a genius, Izz!" he told her.

"Nicely done, kiddo," Knuckles told her with a smile.

"T-Thanks!" Izzy said with a blush and a smile.

The group approached Fluttershy's cottage, entering through the main door. They found the place abandoned, dusty, and messy. The squirrel made sounds again as he entered.

"He says Discord's been using this place for research," Hitch translated.

"He must have cleared it out when he found out we were coming," Sunny theorized.

"Well, he did a terrible job," Tails said with concern. "This place is a mess!" he pointed out.

Then, the squirrel tapped to a door on the floor as he talked to Hitch. "Sounds like Discord made one last trip down here before he took off," he translated again.

"Oh great, another musty underground lair," Pipp groaned.

"Can't say he isn't consistent," Zipp pointed out.

"Go on, Zipp," Pipp told her with a mocking smirk. "Crawling into the pits of despair is one of your favorite pastimes," she added.

"You sure gave me a run for my money at the thought of ruining your hooficure," Zipp said sarcastically with a bored expression.

"Oh, for Chaos sake!" Knuckles groaned as he walked downstairs, turning his electrical powers on for some light. As he looked around of what it looked like the basement of the house, Knuckles mumbled to himself a bit angry. "Why are they always like this?! I get they are siblings, but come on! Not even Sonic and Tails act like that..." he complained.

And then, he stopped suddenly to stare at something glowing at the end of the basement as his eyes widened.

"Knux? Is everything okay down there?" Izzy called out from upstairs.

"You might wanna come down here and check it out for yourselves!" Knuckles called out.

Soon enough, the others came downstairs, and they all gasped when they saw a giant crystal - very similar to the ones of Bridlewood - shining bright in the middle of the basement.

"This is the prettiest crystal I've ever seen!" Izzy exclaimed with a smile, accidentally making her horn glow. "And I once saw a crystal named 'Pretty'!" she pointed out.

Suddenly, the crystal started to react weirdly, which startled Izzy as she stepped back.

"I think your magic broke the crystal, Izzy," Pipp said with concern.

"Hello? Is this thing working?" a female voice spoke through the crystal.

Once it became clear, the crystal showed an apparent message from Fluttershy herself.

"That's Fluttershy! Is she speaking to us?!" Sunny said with both surprise and excitement.

"I think it's a memory," Izzy said with an analytical look. "My mom used to tell me this Bridlewood legend about crystals being able to hold messages from the past. Ones that you could only see if you used magi,c," she explained.

"Looks like your magic unlocked it," Hitch pointed out.

"First a message from Twilight, and now a message from Fluttershy," Tails muttered. "I'm starting to see a pattern here..." he said with a small frown.

"Me too," Zipp said at his side as they all gathered to listen. Pipp took out her phone to record the message.

"Discord... Listen closely because this is something you need to hear..." Fluttershy begged in the memory.

A long time ago, when the pony tribes started to split up, Fluttershy hummed a melody as she walked towards Ponyville.

Or at least she tried, because a sign saying 'Danger! Construction! Do not enter!' suddenly appeared and blocked her way.

"Discord!" Fluttershy cried out, a bit mad, knowing perfectly that he was the one who made those things appear.

"Top of the morning to you, Fluttershy!" Discord greeted her with a smile as he was driving a backhoe to expand the animal sanctuary. "Don't you just love that expression? It's so hopeful like everything bad that's happened before is just a distant memory," he commented.

However, Fluttershy knew his intentions very well and frowned at him. "A little construction is not going to stop me from talking to Water Lily," she stated to him.

However, that only made him snap his fingers to show more signs to stop her from leaving. He snapped again, appearing in front of her and now frowning.

"If I can just talk to her, I can convince her that being a pegasus doesn't change who I am or what I can teach her." Fluttershy tried to resonate with Discord.

"That would involve her listening to reason. She wasn't prepared to do that the other day," Discord angrily reminded her. "We did everything to help Water Lily and all the other ponies! And they abandon us because our magic is slightly different from theirs?!" he complained.

"I know it's hurtful, but what's important to remember is that if our magic separates us––" Fluttershy tried to point out, but...

"IT CAN DESTROY US!" Discord stated, as his eyes became fire.

He snapped his fingers again and left, leaving Fluttershy disappointed and sad as she looked at the ground.

"I was going to say it can also bring us together..." Fluttershy finished with sadness.

She walked towards a crystal outside her cottage, with her bunny Angel following behind.

"Hello? Is this thing working?" Fluttershy said, tapping the crystal a bit. "Discord... Listen closely because this is something you need to hear... And stop rolling your eyes at me like that! I know you are because I know you better than anypony else". She scolded him with a frown, knowing very well that he would be annoyed because of her message. "Which is why I can tell how hard it's been for you to let go of the pain caused by these magical divides," she said with a worried tone. "I'm creating this message for you in the hopes that every time you feel overwhelmed, you can listen back and remind yourself why anger is not the answer," she added.

As the Mane 5, Tails, and Knuckles listened closely to the message, the same squirrel that guided them there sneaked behind and grabbed a book from a shelf. Once he got it, he climbed upstairs as fast as possible before anyone noticed him.

"Our magic does make us different..." Fluttershy said in the message. "... And that's something we should embrace... Lead with your heart, Discord. It will always show you the way," she finished, with her image finally disappearing.

"Poor Discord..." Izzy said, feeling sympathy towards the draconequus.

"Poor Discord?! He's trying to get rid of all magic!" Zipp pointed out with frustration.

".... Discord is not a bad guy," Knuckles said suddenly, his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"WHAT?!" everyone else, including Izzy and Tails, shouted at him.

"Before you all scold me, listen. For once, in this entire story, listen before act" Knuckles said with a frown, now opening his eyes and staring daggers at the others sins Izzy and Tails. "Discord wants the same that we all in this room want: unity. Peace. No more unnecessary fights because of horns or wings," he explained. "However, he's using a very, very questionable method to do it. He has good intentions, but his actions... are not as positive as he might think," he pointed out.

"Are you saying he's trying to do something good by doing something wrong?" Sunny asked, confused.

"Pretty much," Knuckles replied. "There are no sides to this. No good or bad, no black or white, no yin or yang... we are all on the same page; we're just reading different passages," he pointed out.

"Even if Discord has good intentions, we still have to find him and the Crystal before he destroys it," Tails pointed out with concern.

"But we still have no clue where he is," Hitch worriedly said.

"Back to square one..." Pipp complained. "It's starting to feel like home these days," she pointed out with annoyance.

"We made it all the way here, and we'll figure out where Discord is, too," Sunny stated confidently. "From this moment on, nothing slips past us," she assured us with a determined look.

"Except for the part where we have no idea where Sonic went," Knuckles said casually with a bored expression.

"I'm sorry, what?!" Tails said in panic.

Meanwhile, somewhere not too far away, Discord and Reginald Fursome stood before a cliff as the sun started to hide. Then, the squirrel from before arrived with him with the book he had taken from Fluttershy's house.

"Thank you, Canterlot!" Discord smiled, took the book from the squirrel, and then frowned at Reginald. It's one thing to lead our rivals straight to our sanctuary, but then to leave a vital key to our plan behind?" he scolded him, which caused Reginald to sweat nervously.

What Discord had wasn't an ordinary book; it was one of the Daring Do books, the ones Rainbow Dash loved to read. It was called 'Daring Do and the Curse of the Basaltic Caves.'

"If they'd found this book, we'd be failures, castaways, garbage left to rot in a world with magic for the rest of eternity," Discord said angrily. "But with it, we can finally––" he tried to add, but some sounds of the squirrel cut him off, and Discord turned to face him with a frown. "No, not destroy everypony in Equestria! Have you been paying attention to our plan?!" he asked with disbelief. "With this book, we can finally create peace by ridding Equestria of magic once and for all," he stated confidently.

Suddenly, a blue blur passed in front of him, and the next thing he knew, the book wasn't with him anymore. Discord blinked a few times before realizing that, and as he panicked, he saw Reginald pointing with worry at the other side of the cliff.

"Well, well, well. It seems like I finally found you, old man," Sonic said, holding the book and taking a quick look inside.

"What the...? How did you find me?!" Discord asked, confused.

"You can thank Reginald for that. He's terrible at being sneaky," Sonic mocked up. "Now, hearing that this is vital for your nonsense mission of destroying magic makes me change my plans a little bit," he said with a smirk.

Discord glared daggers at Reginald for leading Sonic accidentally to them as the draconequus returned his sight to the hedgehog. "What do you want?!" he cried out in anger.

"Relax, old man. I'm not here to fight... today, at least," Sonic said, frowning. I only need some information, and then I'll return your precious book. "

"... Fire away," Discord replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You mentioned something about the last Chaos Emerald being here in Equestria, but not simultaneously," Sonic explained. "Would it be too much if I asked what that means?" he requested.

"Maybe you should'vecheckedk out places you've never seen before instead of walking the same path a thousand times," Discord replied with a smirk.

Sonic just glared at him, more confused. "You just passed from talking nonsense to bullshit!" he stated with anger. "Look, old man, you have good intentions; I get it; you only want the ponies to stay together. But getting rid of magic won't solve anything!" he tried to resonate again.

"Twilight used to think the same," Discord replied. "And look what happened to her legacy because of that," he pointed out.

"Isn't the fact that Sunny and her friends restored magic because of friendship and unity enough to prove that we can live in harmony with magic?!" Sonic asked with anger.

"No. It's. NOT!" Discord replied, now snapping his finger again and making Sonic and the book return to him. Now, Discord held Sonic by his neck with his lion arm while he grabbed the book with the other with the other. "You've been even more annoying than Sunny Starscout and those other ponies, Sonic," he said with a frown. "The sooner you find that Emerald and leave Equestria for good, the better," he stated. "You, your friends, and your enemy are a real problem for this land, so please go back home before it's too late," he begged.

Before Sonic could ask anything, Discord launched him strong enough as Sonic screamed and got lost in the distance.

"Now, let's get moving. We have a Crystal to destroy," Discord stated with a frown.

To be continued...

Author's Note

So, we're officially half way in this story.

Since the Discord arc seems to end on Issue 10, I'm going to write down two epilogues to tease Sonic x Make Your Mark: Season 2. Also, from now on, the chronological place for the IDW Comics events it's after the first season, Winter Wishday included.

I've decided to NOT make all the comics because, well, let's be honest: besides the Discord arc, so far, these comics haven't been that interesting, so I don't think write them all is necessary. I'm not counting out possible future references, tho. Just because I'm not writing them doesn't mean I will ignore them.

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

Issue #7

Spring finally arrived in Equestria.

Some leaves flew around as ponies prepared for the Spring Arrival Celebration in Maretime Bay.

However, Hitch slept peacefully in the Sheriff's Station on his bed since he lived above the station. Literally.

Suddenly, his clock alarm went on, and Hitch woke up with a yawn, also turning off the alarm.

He stretched a bit and smiled at the ceiling. "It's a beautiful morning," he said, waking up and approaching his calendar. And the first day of spring," he added. Which means it's time for the Spring Arrival Celebration!" he said with a cheery tone.

After that, Hitch went to the shower and bathed before getting ready for the day.

"Do you recall? The first day of Spring? The leaves were changin' the minds of all while chasin' the clouds away." Hitch sang as he washed his mane.

After getting out of the shower, Hitch dried himself and went to his closet, where he took out his sheriff's belt. Then he turned to see Kenneth and another bird standing on the open window in his room.

"As Sheriff of Maretime Bay, my duties of helping others bring me so much joy, but today, I get to help others by helping them get their groove on," Hitch told the birds with a smile.

After that, he went downstairs and prepared a cart by putting some boxes on it, including one that contained vinyl.

"DJ Hitch is ready to get on the ones and twos," Hitch said confidently. A squirrel approached him and gave him white headphones. "Thank you!" he said to the critter, putting the headphones around his neck. "I can't get hooves in the air without these," he added with a smile. Then, he walked towards the exit and opened the door. "This is going to be a blast," he stated confidently.

However, just as he got out of the station, somepony passed by at high speed, spinning him around and sending the vinyls flying.

"Whoa!" Hitch exclaimed, surprised, as he stopped spinning, then grabbed the vinyl's box and caught the vinyl one by one with his hooves, even using his mouth to grab one.

"I am so excited!" Sunny exclaimed with a smile since she was the one who passed by Hitch at high speed because she was also on her rolling skates. "Can you believe today is the spring celebration?!" she asked Hitch excitedly.

"Well, good morning to you too, Sunny," Hitch said with a smirk and raised eyebrow, putting the vinyl back in the box.

"Whoops!" Sunny said with a sheepish smile, slowly approaching Hitch. "Sorry, Hitch. I'm just really stirred up about today's celebration activities. Hayrides, Straw Bale Mazes, a Scarepony-making Contest, Applepie Bakingg... Gosh, I could go on!" she added with happiness.

"No way," Knuckles said, approaching with a bored expression. "It's not like you've been telling us every day for the past week or something," he added, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"I thought I told you to take your day free today?" Hitch told Knuckles with a smirk.

"And let you do something stupid and reckless? Not happening!" Knuckles replied with a mocking smirk. Besides, I'm not wearing my belt or badge today, so I'm just going with you as your friend," he pointed out. "Also, I'll do whatever it takes to be away from your girlfriend and her hyperactive attitude to holidays. I don't want to get through another rushed Christmas ever again..." he muttered with an anxious look.

"Stop calling her my girlfriend," Hitch muttered with a bored expression.

"Hey, Hitch," Sunny called out, not hearing what Knuckles muttered. "Thank you again for agreeing to DJ," she said with a smile.

"It's no problem at all," Hitch said with a smile. "Helping others, especially my friends, is my calling. I can't wait to remind the good ponies of Maretime Bay how to feel the rhythm for the new season," he exclaimed joyfully.

"If you focus, that is," Knuckles said with a bored expression, his arms crossed.

"You two are great when it comes to helping others!" Sunny told Hitch and Knuckles with her front hooves and sparkling eyes together. "That's why I'm here. I need a small favor. Nothing you guys can't handle, of course!" she assured.

Hitch and Knuckles looked at each other before smirking, and then they looked back at Sunny. "Sure, although I need to get all my equipment set up," Hitch replied, rolling his eyes at Sunny's attitude.

"But I guess we can make a quick pitstop to help you," Knuckles added.

"Great!" Sunny exclaimed with a smile, placing a hoof around Hitch's neck. "Izzy asked me to get extra rings for the Unicorn Ring Toss Booth," she explained to Hitch and Knuckles. "You guys think you can stop at Neighborhood Sporting Goods?" she asked them.

"Anything to talk with the manager and make them change that name," Knuckles said, slightly punching his fists together.

"We're just the pony and echidna to get the job done," Hitch replied with a smile to Sunny.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Sunny told Hitch, embracing him in a hug.

"No problem at all!" Hitch replied with a smile.

"Our job as Sheriff and Deputy of Maretime Bay is to help all the ponies in town," Knuckles said with a proud smile, but then McSnips, Kenneth, and other critters made a sound to him. "And critters," he added, getting why the critters were mad at him.

Sunny nodded with a smile at them. But before she could leave, she looked at Hitch sideways while the sheriff was putting the vinyl box in place; then she took a deep breath and quickly kissed Hitch's cheek before starting to roller skate away.

"B-Bye, Hitch, Knuckles! S-See you later!" Sunny shouted with a smile and a slight blush. "I have a Tug-of-War Game to set up!" she added, now rolling and skating away completely.

As Sunny skated away, the critters around Hitch burst laughing, while Knuckles himself was speechless, even though he had gotten completely off guard by Sunny's action. But Hitch was the most affected: he froze in place, and his face was as red as a tomato.

"Huh..." Knuckles said, finally waking Hitch from his trance. "The kiss wasn't scripted, but I'm not complaining," he added. Then, he looked at Hitch with a mocking smirk while the sheriff tried to hide from the fact that that just happened.

However, Kenneth stared at Hitch with a frown for accepting help even when he already had much to do. "Hey, don't look at me like that," he said the bird. "I can help Sunny and set my stuff up," he stated confidently.

"Let me doubt it," Knuckles said. "Are you helping her for a good cause, or just because it was Sunny from all the ponies?" he asked playfully while Hitch blushed again and frowned.

"Don't get me started, Mr. Moonbow," Hitch scolded, walking toward the town.

"Hey!" Knuckles shouted, blushing as well. "Leave Izzy out of this!" he warned, following Hitch towards Neighborhood Sporting Goods.

Sonic was bored.

After Discord threw him away, he crashed against rocks aligned as pillars, then against a mountain. In the process, he broke his ankle, and when he rolled downhill, he crashed against some bushes with thorns before finally landing on the ground, weak and hurt.

He somehow managed to stand up and walk towards the Crystal Brighthouse. But before he could open the door, he fell to the ground, completely weak, and after a few seconds, he became unconscious.

He woke up two days later on his bed and felt surprised to find Pipp asleep nearby. It didn't take too long for her to wake up as well, and she saw that Sonic was awake.

After she hugged, slapped, and hugged him again, she went downstairs to tell the others.

Of course, they needed to know what happened to him and where he went since he didn't show up on Fluttershy's Cottage. So, he told them the truth, and they scolded him, just as he expected. Although Pipp slapping him again was unexpected, he knew he deserved it.

And now, here he was, resting for the past two weeks until Tails came by and asked him if he could go back to run around freely or if he still needed to rest.

He was a free spirit who loved to run around freely, but right now, he was stuck on his bed with a broken ankle and a hurt belly.

He wasn't bleeding there, thank Chaos for that, but he had a scar. Not as bad as the scar he got on his left shoulder, but still.

"How did I even get a scar on my stomach, anyways?" Sonic wondered. "I mean, I crashed against the mountain, then I rolled downhill and passed through some bushes with thorns–– Oh..." he said, realizing now how he got some of his injuries.

Then, the bedroom door opened, and Pipp entered with a small smile, approaching Sonic.

"How are you feeling, Blue Star?" Pipp called out, sitting at the edge of his bed.

"The same way I've been feeling for the last two weeks," Sonic replied. "Bored," he added with a teasing smirk, which caused Pipp to roll her eyes.

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't gone on your own to face Discord," Pipp pointed out with a bored look.

"I know, Little Pipp," Sonic said, rolling his eyes. "You've been telling me that every day since I got hurt," he also pointed out with a bored look. "How many times do I have to apologize for not saying a thing?" he asked rhetorically.

"Sonic, I get you wanted to get some answers and help us, but doing dangerous stuff or traveling on your own is not the right way," Pipp explained with a worried frown. "We appreciate your help and intentions, but please stop acting without thinking," she begged.

Unlike when he got his scar on his back, Pipp seemed concerned. She was not completely mad or even close to crying, which was a good sign already, but she still seemed worried about him.

Sonic sighed and looked at her with a weak smile. "Yeah... I'm sorry. I just wanted answers so desperately, and it almost cost my back and ankle," he added with sarcasm. "Sorry for worrying you for the millionth time, Pipp."

Pipp let out a sigh and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. Just... don't do anything that gets yourself killed, okay?" she pled.

Sonic smiled softly now. "Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do," he replied jokingly. Pipp hit him softly on the shoulder, and Sonic chuckled playfully.

"I just wanted to check on you before heading to the Harvest Day Celebration," Pipp said, getting down from the bed. "You keep resting and don't. Move," she warned with a cold stare.

"It's not like I can go anywhere, you know," Sonic said mockingly.

Pipp rolled her eyes and left the room. "Take care, Blue Star," she said with a little smile, blowing him a kiss and closing the door.

"You too, Little Pipp," Sonic said with a little smile, before lying again on his bed and sighing heavily, once again feeling completely bored.

Hitch and Knuckles passed by in town as they saw the ponies preparing for the Spring Arrival Celebration.

"The start of a new season gives me hope that we can find Discord," Hitch said with a smile, as he saw a pegasi and an earth pony placing a sign saying 'Spring Arrival' near the bridge.

"That is, if no one else departs on their own and tries to confront him alone," Knuckles said with a bored expression.

"Oh, come one, Knux," Hitch said with a small frown. "What Sonic did was reckless, totally, but he has something!" He pointed out. "Yeah, he may not remember the name of the book Discord stole, but when he does, maybe we'll finally get him!" he stated with a confident smile.

"Well, until he remembers the name of the book, I'm afraid we're stuck at square one," Knuckles also also pointed out.

Finally, they arrived at Neighborhood Sporting Goods. "This place is massive," Hitch said with an amazed expression.

"And I already hate it because of that," Knuckles said with a bored expression.

They entered the place, to see that it was even bigger on the inside.

"Oh, come on!" Knuckles groaned with frustration.

"All right. Now, where do they keep those rings?" Hitch questioned, walking by some sports materials.

"Found 'em!" Knuckles exclaimed, as he ran back with Hitch. He gave him the rings with a smirk.

"Neat!" Hitch replied with a smile. "Now, let's buy them and head to town so we can give them to Izzy."

Once they got the rings, Hitch and Knuckles returned to town, walking by some stands on the small fair that the town prepared for the celebration.

"Bingo!" Hitch exclaimed with a smile as he saw his DJ Hitch Booth in the distance.

But then...

"Hi, Hitch! Knuckie~!" Izzy greeted them with a smile, getting in the middle of their way.

"Oh, hey Izzy," Hitch greeted me back.

"Sup!" Knuckles greeted her as well. "Sunny asked us to bring these to you," he added, extending the rings to her.

"Aw, thank you so much!" Izzy told them with a smile, also giving Knuckles a side hug. "Do you guys mind coming with me to the Unicorn Toss Booth?" she asked.

"Not at all!" Knuckles replied with a little smile.

"Lead the way!" Hitch added.

As they walked towards the Unicorn Toss Booth, Izzy couldn't help but squeal in excitement. "Isn't it just wonderful how everyone has come together to bring in the new season?" she asked Hitch and Knuckles with a cheery smile. "Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi all springing together," she joked.

"Ah, I see what you did there," Knuckles said with a smirk, and Izzy chuckled and blushed a bit.

"Well, I can't wait to see everyone hoof up the dance floor when I play the greatest pony hits," Hitch added with a smile.

Suddenly, Izzy smiled sheepishly at them. "Hey, uh, I was wondering if you could grab some arts and crafts supplies for me?" she asked her friends.

"Well, I need to get my DJ Booth set up," Hitch pointed out with a worried expression as they arrived at the Unicorn Toss Booth, and Izzy used her magic to levitate the rings from Knuckles' hands. "But I guess one more errant won't hurt," he added with a little smile.

"Hitch..." Knuckles scolded with arms crossed and a frown.

"You're lifesavers, guys!" Izzy told them with a smile.

"Anything for my friends!" Hitch replied, smiling back at her.

Izzy then blushed and quickly kissed Knuckles' cheek, and then she walked away as she hummed to herself.

Now it was Knuckles' turn to get blushed and stay freeze in his place, while Hitch at his side chuckled and bumped his arm with a hoof.

"Look who's blushing now!" Hitch said with a mocking smirk, walking away and towards the town again.

"S-Shut it..." Knuckles muttered, following Hitch.

Once again, they walked through town, and this time, they saw Sunny and other ponies getting ready to play Tug-of-War.

"On my mark," Sunny announced with a changeling look. "Ready, set, pull!" she shouted as the two teams started to pull the rope.

Hitch wanted to stay and watch, but Knuckles quickly cleared his throat, and Hitch reminded him that they had to keep going, so he resumed his walk.

They passed by Sprout and her mother, with Sprout in charge of managing the celebration this time because... well, I don't know. Because his mother allowed him, I guess?

"Hey! Rein it in!" Sprout shouted to a colt that ran by, who also ignored the red earth pony. "Don't make me get the Harvest Day Celebration rule pamphlet!" he warned, then turned to see Phylis, his mother, with a sheepish smile. "How am I doing, mommy?" he asked.

"Maybe take it down a notch," Phylis replied, as Sprout got covered in mud since one of the teams from the Tug-of-War game lost. Sprout looked on with a bored expression.

On the other hand, both Hitch and Knuckles arrive at a store called 'Pasture Arts & Crafts'.

"Seriously, who the heck is in charge of the names in this generation?!" Knuckles shouted with anger.

"At least the store is much smaller," Hitch pointed out, ignoring Knuckles' comment and getting inside the store. Knuckles rolled his eyes at Hitch and went inside the store as well.

After 10 minutes, Hitch and Knuckles came out of the store, with Knuckles carrying a white bag with Izzy's new supplies.

But then, Izzy arrived with them all of a sudden. "Oh, guys! I am so sorry," she apologized with a sheepish smile. "I found my supplies just after you left," she explained, while Hitch frowned a bit. Knuckles forced a smile, getting a twitchy eye as well. "I tried to track you down sooner but stopped to watch Sunny's Tug-of-War Contest. I left before it got too messy," she added, still smiling sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," Hitch said, trying to give her his best smile. "Now you have extras," he added.

"And I need them too!" Izzy replied, now smiling cheerfully as she levitated Knuckles with the bag of supplies. You didn't read that wrong: she levitated Knuckles. "And I'll need your help, handsome~" she added with a flirty tone, only looking at Knuckles, who blushed at Izzy's sudden change of attitude. "Thank you for your help, Hitch!" she said the sheriff, hopping away with Knuckles.

"Guess I'll see you later, sheriff!" Knuckles shouted, getting away from Izzy's magic. "And don't forget to say 'No' if you need to!" he added.

Hitch sighed, a bit frustrated. Not only did he waste some time, but now Knuckles was pretty much dragged away from him.

"I mean, I do enjoy helping. It's my thing," Hitch told himself with a worried expression. "But now I may have to rush to set my booth up, especially with Knuckles not helping out anymore..." he said with concern.

He walked a bit more but stopped when he saw a big group of ponies gathered around a stage, where Pipp was singing alongside an earth pony mare and a unicorn mare.

"Oh, great," Hitch groaned in annoyance. "I need to find a way around this parade," he said.

But just as he was about to turn in another direction, Pipp noticed him. "Hitch!" she called out with a smile as she flew down and grabbed the sheriff, then lifted to the stage as well. "Get up here!" she said.

"Whoa!" Hitch exclaimed, surprised that Pipp didn't even struggle to lift him. "You're surprisingly super strong!" he pointed out.

"You can thank Sonic and Tails for helping with that," Pipp replied, putting him down and then looking at him with a sheepish smile. "You are just the pony I was hoping to see. I need your help," she said.

"Pipp, I need to get ready for my DJ Set tonight," Hitch explained with a worried frown.

"It will be quick, I promise,," Pipp assured. "My camera guy is nowhere to be found, and I need someone to record my performance and post it to my social media accounts. "

Pipp's cameraman panicked in the May Maze since he got lost in the maze.

"HELP!" the cameraman shouted.

"Usually, Sonic will be the one helping out, but you know why he can't right now..." Pipp pointed out with a sheepish smile.

Hitch let out a sigh and smiled. "Just one song. Okay?" he said.

"Totally!" Pipp said, smiling and giving her phone to the sheriff.

Hitch lifted it and pressed the record button to record Pipp's performance.

"A new season has begun. Our summer fun isn't done. We're still going up like the sun. It's time for the Spring Arrival Celebration!" Pipp sang while the crowd around her cheered in excitement.

"Celebration!" the mares behind Pipp sang as well.

After Pipp finished her song, Hitch returned her phone and trotted away before she decided to keep him longer.

"I really gotta blaze a trail now," Hitch said to Kenneth, who stood on the cart he kept dragging and looked at him with a bored expression. "Don't like me like that. I know I could have told Pipp no," he told Kenneth. "But without Sonic there to help, I couldn't deny it. Besides, I'm Hitch! I always make space for others," he pointed out with a worried frown, then thought of how his friends could look at him if he refused to help. "I don't want to let my friends down. They depend on me," he added.

"Don't forget to say 'No' if you need to. " Knuckles' voice suddenly echoed in his head.

Hitch shook his head at the sudden appearance of Knuckles on his head and kept walking. And so, he happened to arrive at an obstacle course.

"Oh, great!" Hitch said with a little smile. "Maybe I can sneak by without anyone seeing me," he stated.

And so, he moved quickly to the side of the obstacle course, hoping nobody would notice him. But this story is about Hitch having bad luck for a day, so as you expected, he was noticed.

"Hey, Hitch!" Zipp called out as she flew in the sky with a bright smile.

"Ah, hoof..." Hitch muttered with an annoyed expression.

He tried to move faster, but Zipp managed to catch him anyway.

"Wait up!" Zipp said with a smile. "Save some for the obstacle course," she said, landing at his side. "My partner ate too much apple pie. I will ask Tails, but he's checking on Sonic's state, so I need your help,," she explained with a sheepish smile.

"Oh, geez," Hitch said with a worried expression. "I'm sorry to hear that, Zipp, but I need to––" he tried to add and to deny, but Zipp kept insisting.

"Please!" Zipp begged, placing her front hooves together. "I promise It'll be fun," she assured.

In the end, Hitch sighed and just nodded, seeing that Zipp wouldn't leave with a no as an answer.

And so, Zipp lifted Hitch and flew towards the obstacle course entrance.

"Wow. You and your sister are ridiculously strong," Hitch told Zipp, genuinely impressed.

He knew Zipp was strong, just not strong enough to lift a pony so easily. And he didn't expect it from Pipp.

Once they were both in their places, alongside two earth ponies, a pegasus stallion flew by wearing a white hat, a whistle, and a white shirt with black stripes.

"The first to reach the finish line is the winner," the pegasus stallion announced. "Play fair; we don't want a repeat of last year's incident. " He said this with a bored expression.

As soon as he saw the obstacle course, Hitch gulped and started to feel dizzy, and Zipp noticed that.

"Don't worry. This'll be a piece of cake," Zipp assured with a confident smirk.

"That's easy for you to say..." Hitch replied with a nervous expression.

Back on the Brighthouse, Tails had already checked Sonic's injuries, as well as his broken ankle.

"Well, the good news is that all of your injuries have healed, the one on your stomach included," Tails told Sonic with a smile, then pulled out a walker boot. "However, your ankle still needs 3 weeks, or maybe a month, to heal completely," he said, carefully placing the walking boot on Sonic's ankle.

"Guess that's a whole month without running..." Sonic said with an annoyed expression.

"Yeah, but you can walk now at least" Tails said with a smile. "Just don't pressure it too much or else..." he tried to warn, but Sonic cut him off.

"Or else it'll hurt as hell. I know, I know," Sonic said, slowly standing up and carefully walking around to ensure he can walk. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt that much. Guess resting here without doing a thing did help after all," he added with a little smirk. "Thanks again for helping, little bro," he said, patting Tail's head.

"No problem!" Tails replied. "But I hope you take this as a lesson to not do stuff alone without telling anyone. And knowing Discord's magic, you better not try something similar again with him," he warned with a frown and arms crossed.

"Both you and Pipp have been harsh on me for being such an idiot, so you can be sure I won't do it anytime soon," Sonic assured me with a smirk, then made a pain expression and looked at his broken ankle. "Especially with my ankle's current state," he pointed out.

"Uh-huh," Tails said with a bored expression. "Anyways. Have you remembered anything in the book Discord took away?" he asked curiously.

"Just that part of the title said something like 'Daring Do,'" Sonic replied. "Beyond that, I got nothing," he added.

"Well, at least we have something," Tails pointed out with a little smile. "Maybe we can ask Sunny after the Celebration's over," he suggested.

"Yeah... maybe..." Sonic said with concern.

Hitch was now walking away from the obstacle course at slow paste, feeling his stomach hurting after clearing the obstacle course with Zipp.

"Ugh... That obstacle course made me sick," Hitch told himself with a dizzy expression. "I don't want to see another apple for the rest of the day," he added.

But again, this story is about Hitch having bad luck, so he saw a pony dressed as an apple, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back for him.

He made his way to a bush and threw up all the pain in his stomach behind it. After that, he looked on and sighed, pretty tired after delaying his stuff to help others. But then, he noticed that the sun was setting on the horizon and panicked.

"Oh no, it's almost time for my set! I gotta get moving!" Hitch stated, running towards his DJ Booth to set everything up, passing by some ponies at top speed. "Pardon me!" he exclaimed.

But once he arrived at his DJ Booth, he felt surprised when he found it almost done.

"Oh, great. Now I'm hallucinating," Hitch told himself.

"AHEM!" a voice called out from his back. As he turned around, he saw his friends there: Izzy levitating a speaker, Zipp carrying a box, and Knuckles holding some cables.

"What are you all doing here?" Hitch asked, both surprised and confused.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to say 'No', so I gathered everyone, and we decided to give you hooves and hands to help," Knuckles explained with a smirk.

"Sometimes you have a hard time putting yourself first," Sunny added with a smile.

"We felt awful about not being great friends and making sure you do," Izzy added with a sheepish smile.

"So we're here to help you," Pipp added.

"Like you've helped us today," Zipp said too.

"Yeah, well, he didn't help me out today," Sprout, who was also there, said annoyedly.

Knuckles smacked his head after that.

"I... I don't know what to say..." Hitch said with a thankful expression.

"How about you say No next time?" Knuckles suggested, placing an arm around Hitch's neck. "No one will hate you if you refuse to help now and then. You might be the sheriff, but you can't do everything," he smirked.

"Now come on! Let's get your DJ booth party ready," Izzy declared with a determined look.

Several minutes later, the gang was placed all together.

"I hope you like the decorations Knuckles and I made with the extra art supplies," Izzy said with a smile as she and Zipp lit the booth.

In another segment, Sprout instructed two earth ponies to move a table towards the booth.

"Pick up the pace," Sprout instructed. "A little more horsepower, pleas,e" he added.

Near the DJ set up, Pipp, Sunny, and Knuckles placed some pumpkins on the ground.

"We're almost done, Hitch!" Pipp said with a smile.

"Are you ready?" Sunny asked, smiling as well.

"Almost," Hitch replied, placing all his DJ set up on the table the two earth ponies from before brought up. "I only have one more thing left to do," he stated.

Then, he pulled out a black ponyhead with blue heart eyes and hair, and soon enough, he started to put on the music.

The ponies around started to dance on the dance floor, with Pipp dancing with Zipp in the air and Knuckles inviting Izzy over to dance.

Sonic decided to look for the book on his own.

He was in the basement of the Brighthouse, looking at Argyle's old stuff to see if he had the book.

After researching for a while, he found a box with many books... and one of them had the Daring Do title on it. Sonic smiled, then grabbed the book and blew the dust from the cover... and then the tittle's memory returned as soon as he saw the entire title: Daring Do and the Curse of the Basaltic Caves.

Sonic smirked, seeing that he got the right book and the clue that would lead the group to Discord. "I got you now, old man," Sonic stated with a confident smirk.

However, he also saw a giant crystal in the basement. He raised an eyebrow, not understanding why it was there, but when he decided to touch it, the image of Fluttershy appeared.

"What the––" Sonic tried to ask, but then he heard the message from Fluttershy to Discord.

"... I can tell how hard it's been for you to let go of the pain caused by these magical divides" Fluttershy said on the message with a worried tone. "I'm creating this message for you in the hopes that whenever you feel overwhelmed, you can listen back and remind yourself why anger is not the answer. Our magic makes us different, and that's something we should embrace. Lead with your heart, Discord. It will always show you the way..." she finished, with her image finally disappearing.

For the very first time since he met him... Sonic felt bad for Discord.

Again, he understood his point, and he knew that Discord was not a bad guy; he was just so blinded by hate and anger that he was using umethods that were nfavorable. He was still a bit mad at the draconequus for not explaining himself better about the matter with the Chaos Emeralds, but now he had a different view of him.

"Fluttershy is right," Sonic muttered, disappointed in himself. "Anger is not the answer," he added, concerned.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Let me explain why I decided to change this from fall to spring:

In my canon, this entire story (that is, from Issue #1 up 'till now) happens like one or two months after Winter Wishday. (Yes, I will make connections with Tell Your Tale so you guys can read this properly, I'm just waiting for the right episode to drop so I can make the proper connection.)

This way, I save myself from a massive plot hole, despite my desire is to keep this as canon as possible. Hopefully, the next issues won't requiere this kind of changes.

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

Issue #8

Sunny and Izzy were leaving a Pie Festival in Maretime Bay.

As the name implies, this festival was all about pies, and Sunny and Izzy went to it together to have fun.

However, as Sunny and Izzy were walking on the streets of Maretime Bay, Sunny couldn't help but notice that Izzy was feeling down again. Lately, she has been feeling sad and worried, and she had suspicions about why, but she still needed to be sure.

So, she suddenly boopped Izzy's nose, taking her a bit off guard. "Sure was a fun festival, huh?" Sunny asked her with a smile.

"Huh?" Izzy exclaimed. "Oh, yeah! It's so nice seeing everypony come together!" she said, putting on the best smile she could. "There are so many kinds of sparkles between unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies..." she added, but then she gave a worried expression. "It's just a little hard to focus on everything with Discord still on the loose."

Sunny understood perfectly. After all, Discord himself declared that he wanted to do what he was going to do for her, and ever since she has been feeling down. Sunny felt that Izzy thinks that Discord wants to destroy the Crystal is her fault, but again, she needs to be sure first.

She already had to deal with Tails and Knuckles being overprotective with her lately. With Knuckles, she understood it; he liked her, so he had that protective attitude towards her because he loved her, even if he would never accept it. However: Tails was a different manner, because she didn't understood why he acted the same way Knuckled does with her.

Perhaps she'll never know.

"Hey, I get it..." Sunny told Izzy with an understanding look before smiling. "And we'll find him," she assured. "But I think I know what you need right now!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh?" Izzy asked curiously.

"Come with me!" Sunny said, now running towards the Crystal Brighthouse.

Izzy smiled and decided to join Sunny in her little race to their home.

Once they arrived at the Brighthouse, they were surprised to find Sonic walking around normally, holding a plate of chilidogs, and sitting on a couch in the living room.

There, Tails waited with the Daring Do book Sonic had found in the basement. Tails were reading it to find anything that could tell them where Discord was going and why it was so important for him to keep it a secret.

"Whatcha doing, guys?" Izzy asked them with a cheery smile.

"Trying to find out if there's a place in special that Discord wants to keep as a secret," Tails explained.

"And I'll say I'm helping, but after my last encounter with him, I'm not allowed to help if that involves me running towards Discord again, even tho now I can understand him better and even feel a bit bad for him," Sonic said with a bored expression, also chomping a chilidog.

"That, and Pipp warned him not to do anything if it was Discord-related," Tails said casually, still reading the book.

Sunny and Izzy laughed as they moved towards the kitchen. Sonic started to look around the living room in search of something.

"Uh, what are you looking for?" Tails asked, confused.

"Nothing special. Just looking for the guy who asked you," Sonic replied.

Tails realized what Sonic had just done while burying his head in the book and screaming in annoyance, and Sonic smirked in pride.

Meanwhile, Sunny searched for the blender in the kitchen while Izzy waited patiently as she hummed to herself.

Once she returned with the blender, Sunny asked her excitedly, "Hey, remember that smoothie we made together?"

Izzy gasped as well when Sunny mentioned that. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed, also excited now.

"The Dreamy Creamy Peanut Butter Starbow!" they both exclaimed with sparkling eyes, placing their hooves together.

"I know things haven't been going well with Discord, but... this is what the Unity Crystals are all about," Sunny said with a smile, gathering some fruits, a bottle of milk, and a peanut butter jar. "It's about all of us coming together," she added, grabbing the milk bottle and placing some milk on the blender.

That's right! Izzy thought to herself, placing a hoof on her chin. I wanted so badly to connect with Sunny... she remembered.

A flashback sequence started when Izzy remembered how things were in Maretime Bay when Magic was recently restored.

This also happened 2 or 3 days after the Mane 5 and Sonic finished the Brighthouse, meaning neither Tails, Knuckles, or Sparky were there with them yet, and Discord didn't stoled the Pegasus Crystal either.

She remembered one day when she was outside of the Crystal Brighthouse with the rest of the Mane 5 and Sonic. Other ponies from all the tribes were also around, trying out the newly restored magic. Everyone but the earth ponies since their magic wasn't invented back then.

"Everypony was so Happy when Magic was restored to Equestria... Especially Sunny," Izzy narrated. "Seeing all of us together was her dream come true, and it showed."

Sunny was in her alicorn form, smiling brightly and talking with a small group of ponies from all the tribes.

"Her sparkle was so bright..." Izzy narrated. "But I couldn't say the same thing about mine," she added with sadness, while she looked sad at her memory as well. "My sparkle just couldn't keep up with Sunny," she remembered as well.

Still in the flashback, a few days later, after that happened, Izzy was on her side of the bedroom, fixing her mane with a brush and smiling at her reflection in the mirror.

"Sunny's been galloping all over since we all got our magic back and settled in the Crystal Brighthouse," Izzy told her reflection, most likely talking to herself. "And everypony knows if you work hard, you gotta play hard!" she added with a smirk.

After finishing her mane, she rushed downstairs and pulled out a lot of stuff from her Crafting Spot using her magic, which was still tricky back then.

"So I'm gonna take Sunny on a wildcrafting adventure!" Izzy stated with a smile.

She went back upstairs to look after Sunny... but she didn't find her there. She went to the Crystal Room at the top of the Brighthouse but didn't find her there either.

When she returned downstairs and entered the kitchen, she found a note on the fridge. The note said, 'Out flying with Zipp and Pipp! Back later - Sunny', signed with a smiling face.

Izzy squealed excitedly, levitated the note, and then jumped towards the Brighthouse's doors. "Out flying with Zipp and Pipp? Oh, eee! That sounds like so much fun!" she said with excitement. "If I hurry, maybe I can catch them––" she tried to add, but then she realized that Sunny was out flying with the pegasus sisters. "Oh... but I can't fly," she remembered with sadness.

She decided to go outside the Brighthouse for a walk and put her thoughts in order. It seemed to work since she was in a better mood, and her smile went wide again.

"Of course, she'd want to fly with Zipp and Pipp. They're so cool and fun!" Izzy told herself with a smile as she walked down the road. "Who wouldn't want to use pegasus magic?" she questioned. "I mean, my magic isn't so bad, either," she added with a bright smile.

She then lighted up her horn and used her magic to levitate some rocks, leaves, and flowers around her, making them float around her as she smiled and laughed, also shouting 'Ta-da!' with joy... a joy that didn't last long when she remembered she could not join Sunny, Zipp and Pipp since she has no wings.

"But I still can't fly with my friends..." Izzy said with sadness. That made her snap at herself as she shook her head wildly and tried to stay happy and positive. "I can't get too down on myself! C'mon, Izzy. Keep it together! I can still have a fantastic day," she assured herself.

She kept walking downtown, still trying to put her ideas in order, but then she passed by a bench where two earth pony mares were talking and feeling thirsty since it was a sunny day (no pun intended).

"Gosh, I could use a smoothie right now," one of the mares said. "I haven't seen Sunny skating around today!" she pointed out.

"That's too bad," said the other mare. "Sunny's smoothies are the best."

Izzy, having heard the conversation, approached them with a raised eyebrow and a confident smirk. "Oh yeah? You know, I'm Sunny's best friend. I could whip up some good smoothies until she's back!" she assured.

"Really? A unicorn?" one of the mares asked, unconvinced that Izzy could make smoothies. Or, at least, not as good as Sunny's.

"Yeah, a unicorn!" Izzy assured confidently. "And why not? Unicorns like smoothies just as much as earth ponies! We also like a lot of tea, but still! I could help Sunny!" she reassured.

But then the two earth pony mares got startled when Izzy suddenly gasped dramatically.

"I CAN DO A TOTAL SMOOTHIE MAKEOVER FOR SUNNY!" Izzy shouted with excitement while the two earth pony mares looked at each other, and one of them shrugged. "It'll be such a cinch! I need to make some new banners for her cart. With lots of glitter, of course!" she said with a smile, pointing to a 'World of Crafts' store. "Stock up on lots of goodies to make some cool new recipes!" she added, pointing at a store called 'Füd King'. "And when Sunny returns, she'll be so surprised, and we can have a lot of fun making smoothies together!" she finished, as she imagined herself and Sunny dancing around giant smoothies.

Why? Well, why not? This is Izzy we're talking about, after all.

After that, she backed away, confusing the two mares. "Weirdo," one of them said.

Back at the Crystal Brighthouse, Sonic was trying to find out how to reactivate the Chaos Emeralds since, back then, they were still only three, and all of them were dead.

However, an explosion that sounded downstairs interrupted his thoughts, so he put the Emeralds back in the bag he used to hide them and placed them on his mattress.

Then, he ran downstairs to find Izzy wearing protective equipment and using a flamethrower, modified to be a glitterthrower, over a pink blanket.

"Uh... Izz?" Sonic called out with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh, hi, Sonic!" Izzy greeted with a smile, throwing away the protection equipment. "I'm just going to make some smoothies and help out Sunny until she returns to work!" she explained.

"Okay, but... why use a glitter thrower?" Sonic questioned, confused.

"Oh, I can't tell you just yet, silly!" Izzy replied. "You'll have to wait and see," she stated with a smirk.

"Oookaaay..." Sonic said, not convinced of that answer. "Anyways, I'll be upstairs working on... something... So, if you need me, knock on the door and come to me!" he said with a smirk and a wink, waving his hand goodbye and returning to the bedroom.

"Don't worry, I will! Bye, Sonic!" Izzy waved, then took out a book titled 'Smoothie Recipes' on the cover. "Filling this recipe book will be so much fun!" she stated with a smile.

Later on, she was weaving some cozy covers for the plastic glasses of the smoothies.

"Even smoothies deserve to feel cozy," Izzy told herself with a smile.

A while later, Izzy went to the kitchen and used her magic to bring a white apron with a pink heart in the middle and put it on herself.

"Yeah, my magic isn't so bad, either," Izzy said with a confident smirk.

Then, she brought some fruits and a blender, placed them on the table, and grabbed her recently completed 'Smoothie Recipes' book. She used her magic to levitate some fruits and put them in the blender.

"Some bananas, an orange, some pieces of watermelon..." Izzy listed as she placed said fruits in the blender.

However, Izzy forgot to place the top of the blender when she turned it on, and all of the content blended, but it also exploded on her face and made a mess in the kitchen.

"EEK!" Izzy exclaimed before turning off the blender and looking at the mess she caused... but she didn't care at all since she suddenly got an idea. "This recipe would be good for ponies with a vermillion sparkle. It just needs a little peanut butter!" she said happily.

Later, Izzy moved outside the Crystal Brighthouse and started making a new and improvised Smoothie Stand with her Unicycling skills.

"A little of this..." Izzy said, as she placed the pink blanket from before as a sign that said 'Sunny's Smoothies,' also placing behind her a sign saying 'New Sparkle Smoothies.' "A little of that, and this, and that..." she said again, bringing her homemade roller skates, an orange helmet with a sticker that said '20% Cooler', and some tools to make smoothies as well.

After that, she levitated a red tape and moved it around the improvised stand. She also levitated the 'Smoothie Recipes' book and placed some stickers there, as well as her favorite thing in the world: glitter, lots and lots of glitter.

"And this. And some more of that! And some more of this! And oh, I'm so excited!" Izzy exclaimed happily.

After a few hours, she finished the new Smoothie Stand. The smoothie cart now had two signs: one saying 'Try the Blueberry explosion', a new flavor Izzy invented; and the other one said 'Now with more smooth'.

"Ta-da!" Izzy said with a big smile. Then, she levitated two white aprons with a pink heart in the middle, one being the one she used before after making a mess in the kitchen, cleaning it later on, of course, while the other apron was a gift for Sunny. "She's going to love it!" she assured me with a smirk, putting on the helmet, roller skates, and apron.

Sunny was flying above Maretime Bay with a smile.

She had a lot of fun flying with Zipp and Pipp, but she was a bit tired, and now she needed to stay with her hooves on the ground for the moment.

However, as she was landing, she couldn't help but notice that some ponies around were with smoothies, and she accidentally heard a conversation between two earth pony fillies.

"A unicorn smoothie! Who would've guessed?" one of the fillies said with a smile.

"She says it matches my sparkle... whatever that means," the other filly replied, smiling and sipping from her smoothie.

"Feels cozy!" the first filly pointed out as she hugged her smoothie because of its cozy cover.

"Unicorn smoothie?" Sunny questioned, confused.

"Your sparkle looks fuschia today, so try this raspberry chamomile smoothie!" Izzy's voice spoke, and Sunny finally turned to see that Izzy was selling smoothies on a different Smoothie Stand than hers, also talking with a green earth pony mare.

"Hey, that... sounds kinda good," the earth pony said with a smile as she grabbed the smoothie and paid for it. "Are you reading my mind?" the mare asked rhetorically.

"Ha ha! Unicorns can't do that!" Izzy replied with a smirk that faded away as she suddenly approached the mare's face. "Or can we? Ooooh..." she added in a spooky tone.

The mare freaked out and walked away as she looked at Izzy with a strange look, probably thinking that Izzy loosened a screw.

As the mare walked away, Sunny approached Izzy with a confused and curious look.

"Sunny!" Izzy exclaimed with a bright smile. "Surprise!" she shouted, rolling skating towards Sunny, who made her alicorn form fade away. "How do you like the makeover? I did everything myself!" she said with excitement.

"Wow, Izzy! That's... So nice!" Sunny said with an awkward smile since her thoughts on all of this were... let's say she could hurt Izzy's feelings if she told her what she thought about everything she did.

"I put your name up big and bright! And I thought streamers would be cute here––" Izzy started to list at a fast paste. "We could add wind chimes, though! Then everypony can hear you coming!" she suggested, still smiling brightly.

"Oh... Wind chimes!" Sunny said, still thinking about Izzy's additions to her usual 'smoothie routine'.

"And I made a few new recipes. I organized them by sparkle color. We can look them over together; it'll be fun!" Izzy added, showing the 'Smoothie Recipes' book to Sunny and still with a smile.

"By sparkle?" Sunny questioned.

"And look at these smoothie sweaters I knitted!" Izzy said as she showed the covers/sweaters she made for the smoothie glasses, but Sunny cringed at the sight and even got a twitchy eye. "Oh, oh, and finally––" Izzy was going to add, but Sunny cut her off.

"Izzy, this is so sweet, but I wish you asked me first!" Sunny said with an anxious expression.

"But if I asked first, then it wouldn't be a surprise!" Izzy pointed out with a smile, but it faded away as soon as she saw Sunny's expression, and now she started to feel sad. "Wait... you don't like it, do you, Sunny?" she asked with disappointment.

Thinking the answer was a yes, Izzy started roller skating away, but Sunny stopped her.

"Izzy! Hold on... That's not what I'm saying," Sunny said with a worried expression, but then she smiled a bit. "It's not that I don't like the makeover! I think it's so sweet you did all this for me," she explained. "It's just a lot to return to. I've been working here for so long, and my dad and I came up with many recipes together, I just... I'm attached to how things are," she added.

"Oh... I can understand that," Izzy replied sadly. Then, she removed her helmet and roller skates and sat on the floor. "I wanted to surprise you because you've been all over the place since magic returned, and I thought we could do something together," she explained. "It's not like I could go flying with you, Pipp and Zipp," she added with disappointment.

"Oh, Izzy..." Sunny said, placing a hoof around Izzy's neck and smiling softly at her. "I know everypony's magic is unique, but look at us. We're all finally together now!" she pointed out with happiness.

"I know, I know," Izzy said, still sad. "I just think about that letter I found when I was a little filly. It said I had a friend in Maretime Bay and got to meet her! Magic or no magic... And now I miss her..." she confessed with sadness.

"I didn't realize you felt that way, Izzy..." Sunny confessed, now looking sad.

Then, Izzy used magic to bring the other white apron with a heart in the middle, showing it to Sunny. "Yeah, well, this was the last part of the surprise," Izzy confessed, and she extended the apron to Sunny.

Sunny immediately grabbed the apron and put it on herself, smiling brightly. "Awww, I love it!" she said with an honest smile. Then, she nuzzled her cheek with Izzy's, finally making the unicorn smile. "In all the excitement of having magic back, I forgot to check in with all my friends. I didn't realize you felt so left out," she apologized.

"It's okay, Sunny," Izzy assured with a soft smile. "I wish I had said something sooner," she confessed.

"Well, we're together now! So let's sell some smoothies!" Sunny stated with a confident smile.

"That'd be wonderful!" Izzy cheered, with her smile growing bigger.

And that's exactly what these two best friends did the rest of the day: they sold the smoothies Izzy made to everypony in Maretime Bay who wanted one until they eventually ran out of smoothies.

So, they decided to go back to the Crystal Brighthouse after finishing with the sales.

"Looks like we're all out!" Izzy commented as they walked towards the Brighthouse.

"I didn't get to taste one..." Sunny pointed out, and then she got an idea. "Hey, let's head home and make some together," she suggested.

"Sure!" Izzy said with a bright smile.

Once they arrived at the Brighthouse, they gathered some ingredients on the kitchen table, and Izzy took out a big jar of peanut butter.

Sunny grabbed the 'Smoothie Recipes' book Izzy made and was impressed with what Izzy wrote down. "Wow, you were busy with this!" she exclaimed with a smile, and then she read something that got her curious. "Why a green tea smoothie for a red sparkle?" she asked

"Oh, because it's super calming! Especially with ginger and some oranges for fun!" Izzy replied with a cheery smile.

"What do you suggest for my sparkle?" Sunny asked.

"For you... lots of sweet peaches. And a little mango," Izzy replied.

"Ooh, that sounds good," Sunny said with a smile, then she brought some mint leaves. "Between you and me, I like to throw a little mint into my smoothies," she confessed.

"Really? Me, I love a bit of peanut butter," Izzy confessed as well, levitating some ingredients and putting them in the blender, the mint leaves included.

"Yeah? Well, let's go for both!" Sunny stated with a smile, causing Izzy to smile more as she put some peanut butter in the blender. "It feels so good making new recipes with someone again. Thank you, Izzy." Sunny thanked her with a smile.

"Aw, Sunny. Anytime you want, I'm here for you!" Izzy assured with a smile.

"Same here. Hoof to heart," Sunny said with a warm smile.

After a while, the smoothies were finally ready.

"Here we go!" Sunny said with excitement.

"Bottoms up!" Izzy said.

They both started to sip their smoothies to taste their new creation, and they loved it.

"It's sweet and creamy..." Izzy pointed out.

"Mm-hmm. And peanut buttery!" Sunny added. "How about we call it... The Dreamy Creamy Peanut Butter Starbow?" she suggested.

"That sounds great!" Izzy said with a smile. "I think we should make this for all our friends," she stated.

Several minutes later, Sunny and Izzy gathered all of their friends in the Brighthouse's living room to give them the new smoothies made by them.

"Here's your Dreamy Creamy Peanut Butter Starbow!" Izzy said with a smile, giving Zipp one of the smoothies.

"Just a little something Izzy and I whipped up," Sunny explained, smiling.

Hitch and Sonic already had one of the smoothies, and they seemed to like it because none of them could stop sipping it... but in Sonic's case, it was a terrible idea.

"Oh, dang it! Brain freeze!" Sonic complained, grabbing his head in pain while Hitch snorted at his side.

"Adorable!" Pipp said with a smile. "Oh, I just gotta share this with my Pippsqueaks!" she stated, pulling out her phone and taking a picture of the smoothie. "By the way, Sunny, did you see the pics I posted of our flight? Stunning!" she said with joy. "Can't believe how good it feels to fly for real," she added.

"It does!" Sunny assured with a smile.

"Hah. Wait till I tell you ponies what happened on my wilderness trip!" Hitch said with a worried expression.

"Oh, that trip, huh?" Zipp said with a bored expression.

"Please tell me you did something stupid. I like to mess with you, Donut Lord," Sonic said with a smirk after his brain freeze was over, and Hitch rolled his eyes in annoyance.

The group started to chit-chat, except for Izzy, who seemed worried as she looked at her friends talking happily.

"In the end, the desire to bring back magic brought us all together––not just Equestria, but the six of us. Five different ponies and one hedgehog from another dimension with our beautiful sparkles, finally becoming friends..." Izzy narrated in her mind.

Izzy was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Sunny turning on the blender, and when she turned in her direction, she saw that Sunny already had one of the smoothies served.

"We're all different, but when we come together, we can make beautiful things happen. Just like when the Unity Crystals come together, the beauty of magic happens," Sunny commented with a smile as she gave the smoothie to Izzy. "You see?" she asked to the unicorn.

"Yeah... of course!" Izzy said with a forced but convincing smile before looking away worriedly. Magic has brought us all together, but... I wonder if our sparkles can stay bright through everything. she questioned in her mind with worry.

She also couldn't help but menacingly imagine Discord holding the Pegasus Crystal he stole and preparing to destroy it, making magic disappear forever this time.

Tails was having a massive headache.

After about six hours of reading the book, the young fox found nothing useful on how that could help to find Discord.

"I hate to be running in circles..." Tails said with annoyance, having his face smashed on the table.

"Dude, you're not reading the book properly if you're seriously struggling this much," Sonic said at his side, his arms crossed behind his head, his eyes closed, and his legs crossed.

"Of course, I'm reading this properly!" Tails complained with a twitchy eye. "And let me tell you what I discovered: Discord is a stupid old man with serious mental problems because this book tells nothing about where he could be!" he shouted in frustration, smashing his head against the table again.

Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance and stretched his arms a bit. "Dude, you're such a drama king. If you only checked out page 45 properly, you wouldn't have said any of that," he said calmly.

Tails suddenly separated his face from the table and looked on, shocked. "Page 45..." he muttered before grabbing the book again and starting to search for said page. However, he stopped when he realized what Sonic just said. "Hey! Didn't Pipp tell you not to help on anything Discord-related?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Tails, little bro, at this point, you should know, better than anyone, that this guy right here responds to no one," Sonic said with a smirk and a relaxed tone, also pointing at himself.

At first, Tails was surprised by the reply, but then he smirked and returned his gaze to the book. He moved forward through the pages until he stopped on page 45.

There, he started to read the entire page... and his eyes widened when he saw something about a place called 'Lava Creeks'... and the mention of something powerful, and his only guess was that something was powerful enough to destroy the Pegasus Crystal.

"Sonic... we did it," Tails said in disbelief before happily flying around the living room. "WE FINALLY DID IT!!!" he cheered in excitement. "This is it! The clue we've been seeking to reach! The clue that will lead us to Discord!" he stated with a smile.

"And the clue that will help us save the magic and, hopefully, find the last Chaos Emerald," Sonic stated confidently. "Now, there's only one thing left to do..." he smirked.

Both Sonic and Tails smiled at each other and fist-bumped. "Find that draconequus and save the day again!" they both stated confidently, ready to find Discord and stop him from destroying the magic once and for all.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Next time, we're finally going back to the plot! WHOOO! :pinkiehappy:

Too bad that means we're just two issues away (not counting this one) for this story to end, but don't worry! As I said, future comic events will be referenced in the next stories one way or another. :twilightsmile:

I'm also adding two prologues to tease Sonic x Make Your Mark Season 2, as I already stablished before, so at least I'm closing this story with a golden brooch!

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

Issue #9

Team Sonic, Pipp, Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy were walking towards Fluttershy's cottage, with Tails carrying the Daring Doo book since he and Sonic found a clue.

Just so you know, Sonic's ankle has recovered entirely from its injury, and he can run and move around as much as he wants again, all thanks to both Tails and Pipp's care of him.

However, once they all reached the entrance to the cottage, Pipp stopped them. "You need to be prepared for the worst," she warned with a bored expression.

"Discord's about to destroy a Unity Crystal, ridding Equestria of magic for the rest of eternity," Sunny pointed out. "I think our threshold for catastrophe is at an all-time high."

"Yours is just now? We've been dealing with a fat man our whole lives that ours even passed the limit!" Knuckles pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what happens when your hobby becomes your life," Sonic said with a bored expression.

Pipp sighed heavily before placing a hoof on the cottage's door. "You brought this on yourselves," she said tiredly, and then she pushed the door.

Inside, Zipp was having a massive breakdown. The couch, the windows, the stands, even a lamp—all of them—were covered in yellow tape that said, 'Do not cross.' As for Zipp's hair, it was a mess; she had massive eye bags, and her eyes twitched.

"HOLD UP!" Zipp shouted to the others, startling them and making them freeze in their places. "This is an active scene. If you touch anything, you'll contaminate evidence, and we'll never find Discord or save magic in Equestria," she said, desperate, and then she approached the others. "Which means I'll never fly again, achieve my 100-win flyball streak, or perform that air routine Mom asked me to do for the royal ball!"

"Zipp stressing over royal duties?" Pipp muttered to Sonic at her side with wide eyes.

"Okay, this is worse than it looks like..." Tails said as well with concern.

"We just popped in to... say a quick hello," Pipp told Zipp with a smile.

"Hi..." Sunny said sheepishly, waving her hoof.

"Hey!" Izzy said cheerfully, waving her hoof excitedly.

"Whazzup?" Hitch said as well, also waving his hoof.

"Yo!" Knuckles and Sonic replied, with Sonic making the 'piece' symbol with his right hand.

"I told you I'm fine..." Zipp said tiredly, also rubbing her left eye.

"And obviously, we can see that," Pipp said, patting Zipp's head softly. "You look as peaceful as a pegasus in a mud bath," she complimented.

"Or an orchid sun-soaked field," Izzy said with a sheepish smile.

"Or a bear surrounded by honey pots," Hitch added.

"...Or a pony who hasn't eaten or slept in several days and is on the brink of collapse," Sunny said with a bored tone.

"Or like Knuckles when the Master Emerald gets stolen from Angel Island on a random day," Sonic said with a bored expression.

"Nah, she looks even worse," Knuckles said with a bored expression.

"For Zipp's sanity's sake, I'm shutting my mouth," Tails muttered nervously.

Everyone else looked at Sunny, Sonic, and Knuckles, confused, while Zipp looked at them annoyed, and Tails gulped and covered his face with the Daring Doo book.

"Like we weren't all thinking it," Sunny pointed out.

"Go get a cup of coffee or something, Zipp," Knuckles said. "You look terrible," he added.

"But also, we're all gonna have to pitch in if we wanna find that old man already," Sonic pointed out.

"Discord researched how to destroy the Crystal in this very room," Zipp explained, grabbing her head as she tried to stay awake. "There's gotta be something that can point us in his direction."

"I found a claw nail!" Izzy said, cheerfully for some reason, after looking down a carpet.

"Ew. Cutting his claws in the living room has gotta count as suspicious behavior," Pipp said with a cringed expression.

"Unfortunately, I don't think it does for Discord," Hitch pointed out with a bored expression.

"Besides stealing the Crystal, what counts as suspicious behavior for him?" Knuckles questioned rhetorically.

"If Discord was researching... Wouldn't the answer be somewhere on this bookshelf?" Sunny questioned.

"I've read through every single sentence on every single page of every single book here, and I promise there's nothing helpful in them," Zipp explained.

"Maybe it's not about the books on the shelf... maybe it's about the one book that's missing," Sunny suggested. "The one Sonic said he had when he followed Reginald," she pointed out.

"Thankfully, my ankle has healed after that awful experience," Sonic said with a smirk. He adjusted his left shoe normally now that his ankle was fully recovered.

Sunny was moving her hoof around the books on a shelf when she stopped after noticing something. "Aha! Discord has every single Daring Doo book ever published on this shelf, except for one: her ninth book," she pointed out.

"Quick question: it doesn't happen to be called 'Daring Doo and the Curse of the Basaltic Caves,' right?" Tails asked, reading the cover of the book he had on his hands.

"It is!" Sunny replied with a smile.

"How did I miss that?" Zipp asked, confused.

Sunny smirked, "Sometimes, we're so busy looking for the inconspicuous that we miss the obvious."

"And how come you know about this, but I don't?!" Zipp asked Tails in panic.

"Sonic found the book in the Brighthouse's basement, and I looked at it for six hours just to find nothing..." Tails explained. "At least until Sonic told me which page was the clue instead of telling me about the clue itself," he added with a bored expression.

Pipp turned on her phone and tried to find information about the Basaltic Caves online, but Sonic placed a hand on her phone and shook his head in denial.

"Don't bother, Little Pipp," Sonic told her. "Tails and I already tried to look for something on the internet, but there's no info," he explained.

"That's because nopony's been there for hundreds of years," Izzy said with a smile.

"Izzy's right. The book says that the caves are full of dangerous lava creeks that are so hot they could melt an entire castle, a stone sculpture, an entire building..." Tails was listed, but then he got confused about something. "A dragon scale?" he asked.

"The point is, that thing can melt pretty much anything," Sonic explained.

"Didn't I tell you not to do anything Discord-related while you recovered?" Pipp asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't pass the obedience class, Pipp. Do not blame me," Sonic replied with a mocking smirk.

"Hang on..." Sunny said, "Those lava creeks can melt anything... maybe even a Unity Crystal..." she said with an anxious look.

"Oh yeah, they could destroy a Unity Crystal!" Izzy said with a relaxed tone.

"Three, two, one..." Knuckles counted down with a bored expression.

"Oh..." Izzy realized her own words and panicked.

"There it is," Knuckles said with his arms crossed.

"Yeah... we kinda forgot that was the whole point of our investigation," Sonic confessed sheepishly, scratching his left cheek.

"Okay. What we are absolutely not going to do right now is panic" Sunny instructed to Zipp, Hitch and Pipp, who seemed to have the same anxious expressions as Izzy. "We know Discord took the book with him, so it probably has information about how to survive the caves," she pointed out.

"Well, I have a Daring Doo and the Curse of the Basaltic Caves for you!" Tails said, extending the book with a smile.

"In that case, we should pack up and get ready to head out!" Sonic stated with a smirk, then looked at Pipp's sparkling eyes and smiled at her. "And yes, Pipp. You can finally pack up all that you need for a trip," he told her.

Pipp squealed like an excited child in response.

Izzy, however, couldn't feel excited a single bit. "You mean... you want to go into the caves?" she asked in panic. "My uncle Fizzy once threw a flying star back to its home solar system using his bare hooves, and even he was too afraid to go to the Basaltic Caves," she said with worry.

"Daring Do was able to survive the caves," Sunny pointed out. "I'm sure that book will be able to tell us how," she assured.

"But Daring Do's a trained explorer..." Zipp pointed out with concern.

"Luckily for you, we have an expert explorer in the gang!" Sonic stated, looking at Knuckles with a smirk, who stood in pride at the compliment.

"And who will save magic if we don't even try?" Hitch pointed out.

"There are worse things than losing magic..." Izzy said with worry and concern.

Everyone else turned to face her, completely confused, except for Tails and Knuckles, who looked at each other for a second before looking back at Izzy.

"We've lived without magic before, and losing magic won't change ponykind coming together or any friendships we've made. Isn't that what matters?" Izzy questioned.

"Discord's words did stuck with you..." Sunny pointed out with concern.

"I'm not saying I want to get rid of magic. I love magic!" Izzy pointed out before using her magic to levitate herself. "I wouldn't be able to do this without magic," she added with a smile that disappeared once she put herself on the ground again. "But even good things like magic can come with some not-great things, too," she pointed out with concern. "Discord said he wanted to get rid of magic because he didn't want anypony feeling less because of their powers," she explained.

"He also said that's how you felt when we flew off without you near Canterlot," Zipp pointed out in concern.

"Maybe I felt that way, a tiny, little, atom-sized bit," Izzy confessed nervously.

The rest felt confused by that, except for... the entirety of Team Sonic. Yes, Sonic included.

Now Sonic understood Izzy's situation: When he was running around Maretime Bay that day, the same day Discord stole the Pegasus Crystal, Izzy felt down. He wanted to know what had happened, but the thing with the statue happened, and everything went downhill.

At first, he thought Izzy could be sad over something silly... But now, everything made perfect sense: she was left by Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, and Tails - although he didn't want to leave - for the fly ball game; everyone left her BUT Tails and Knuckles in the forest; she's been ignored lately and nobody, not even himself, was willing to listen...

He was so focused on finding Discord at any cost that he ignored a friend's feelings entirely. Now, he feels ashamed of himself. He was Izzy's first friend. How did he let her feelings slip so easily?

Unfortunately, while Sonic felt compassion for Izzy, Sunny seemed to take her words a bit harshly. "I told you, flying above those trees was about getting a better perspective of the forest," she pointed out to Izzy with a frown.

"And we still found nothing," Sonic pointed out with a frown.

"Sonic is right. It didn't help us find the Gate of the Ancients," Zipp pointed out with worry. "All it did was separate us and leave Izzy and Hitch alone," she added.

"We were fine!" Hitch said with a frown.

"Oh yeah, we were so fine that it took us like five hours to find nothing, while Izzy, Tails, and Knuckles found the gate in what? An hour? Maybe two?" Sonic pointed out with his arms crossed and a bored expression.

"Ugh! Don't you see?! This line of thinking is what Discord wants!" Hitch pointed out in concern. "You can't let him get in your heads," he begged with worry.

"All Discord wants is to make sure everypony is on equal hoofing," Zipp pointed out.

"By getting rid of what makes us special!" Sunny snapped back in concern. "Our magic has already saved us in so many ways!" she pointed out.

"Communicating with animals makes me a better sheriff!" Hitch said in concern as well.

"Izzy's not saying our powers haven't helped," Zipp defended her. "But I'm sure magic has made all of us feel left behind at some point," she pointed out worriedly.

"Don't you wish you could play flyball with everypony, too?" Izzy asked Hitch with worry.

And so, the four of them started to fight out loud, with Knuckles facepalming in frustration, Tails groaning in annoyance, Sonic putting on a bored expression, and Pipp frowning in worry.

"Alright, I had enough of this bullshit!" Tails said angrily, pulling out three headphones blocking external sound and extending two to Sonic and Knuckles.

Team Sonic put on the headphones, and Sonic then covered Pipp's ears, which made her blush. "S-Sonic?" she asked, confused.

"You'll understand soon, Little Pipp," Sonic replied with a smile that seemed to comfort Pipp a bit as she smiled back.

Then, Tails pulled out a party bugle and used it to make a loud sound that startled Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, and Hitch. Thanks to the headphones, Team Sonic didn't hear the horn, and since Sonic covered Pipp's ears, she didn't hear it either.

"Wow... thanks for that, Blue Star!" Pipp told Sonic, who retired his hands from her ears and removed his headphones along Knuckles.

"Anytime, Little Pipp," Sonic replied with a wink.

Once the rest seemed to turn their attention to Tails, they found the little fox frowning in anger at them. It wasn't really scary to tell the truth. I mean, is Tails what we're talking about here? Even when he's mad, you feel like a cupcake is threatening you.

"Now that I have your attention, can we please pass the page on the 'Discord is our enemy or not' thing? Because I'm pretty sure we already settled that three issues ago," Tails pointed out with a bored expression.

"We did?" Sonic asked, confused.

"You already left to chase Discord when that happened," Pipp replied with a bored expression.

"Look: Zipp and Knuckles already say it, Discord isn't a bad guy. There's no sides to all of this," Tails explained. "His methods are wrong? Yes. He's an older man with the wrong perception of unity? Totally. Does that mean he's a bad guy? No. He's just misguided. Maybe none of us can convince him not to destroy the Crystal..." he pointed out before turning to see the cottage's basement door and smirking. "But I think I know how to stop him for good," he stated.

"Well, if it stops Discord from getting rid of magic, any idea is welcome!" Sunny stated with a smile.

"Great!" Tails said. "The problem is that I still need to adjust some things, and it could take me a few hours that we don't have..." he pointed out in concern.

"Then let's make up that time!" Sonic said with a smirk, putting his arm around Tails' neck. "You guys go ahead and track Discord down. Knux and I will stay with Tails, and then we'll catch you up once he's done, okay?" he instructed the Mane 5, launching the Daring Doo book to Sunny, who struggled a bit at first before finally grabbing the book properly with a sheepish smile.

"Are you sure? You can tag along with them if you want," Tails said with a smile.

"And leave you alone? Yeah, not happening, little man," Knuckles stated with a confident smirk.

"Alright, then it's settled," Hitch stated. "Let's get moving, everypony!" he instructed with a smile.

The Mane 5 immediately left Fluttershy's cottage while Team Sonic waved their hands to say goodbye to them. Once they were alone, Sonic turned to see Tails. "So, what's the game plan here?" he asked.

"First things first: Knux, could you go to the basement and bring the crystal with Fluttershy's message?" Tails requested with a smile.

"Leave it to me!" Knuckles replied with a smirk before boosting to the basement.

"As for us, I think I have a little plan to trick Discord so we can recover the Crystal by using violence... but not hurting him at all," Tails said as he turned to Sonic with a smirk.

"And what would that plan be?" Sonic asked while Knuckles returned carrying the crystal with Fluttershy's message on his left shoulder.

"I'll explain everything on our way to Maretime Bay," Tails replied. "I have something on my workshop that I wanna show you guys, anyway. I've been working on it for months, but it's finally ready! And we can use it to catch up with the rest!" he smiled.

Sounds good to me!" Sonic said with his thumbs up. "One question, though: which one of you two is gonna explain to me why you didn't tell me about Izzy feeling excluded?" he asked them with a frown and his arms crossed. "And don't use the 'you should pay more attention' bullshit of an excuse with me! I want a real answer!" he added with anger.

Tails and Knuckles looked at each other hesitantly before nodding and looking back at Sonic. "We promised her to keep it a secret... and that we'd be with her at any moment if the rest didn't realize how excluded she felt..." Knuckles started to explain with concern.

"I tried to tell you several times before..." Tails confessed. "But... You were so focused on finding Discord and getting that Chaos Emerald back... that I decided it was better if you never realized in the first place... at least not until Izzy herself decided to speak," he added with concern, scratching his right arm with shame.

Sonic was frowning at first, but eventually, he sighed in defeat and rubbed his eyes with a hand. Then, he looked back at Tails and Knuckles with a smirk. "You two are a pair of idiots, you know that?" he asked them. "If you told me before, I would have listened instead of acting instinctually to track down Discord," he confessed. "But I guess it Is already too late to regret that. What matters is that you two were great friends with Izzy, and now that I know how she feels... I think it's time I also help her by finding that draconequus and saving magic!" he stated.

"Really?!" both Tails and Knuckles asked, while Sonic nodded with a smirk.

"But what about the final Emerald?" Knuckles asked, concerned.

"We'll deal with that once we get the Pegasus Crystal," Sonic stated with a determined look. "So, little bro, still wanna show us what you built?" he asked Tails with a smirk.

"Sure thing!" Tails assured with a smile.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sonic asked as the three of them boosted towards the Crystal Brighthouse. "Let's roll!" he stated with a smirk.

A few hours later, the Mane 5 walked towards the Basaltic Caves.

Sunny was reading the Daring Doo book, supposedly guiding the rest, while Hitch carried some bags with stuff, and the others followed... but then they arrived at a very tight zone where they almost crashed against each other.

"Sorry!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Excuse me!" Zipp replied to her.

"Eyes on the road, Sunny..." Hitch told her with a bored expression.

"I'm sorry, but these instructions are really confusing," Sunny said with concern as she kept reading the book.

"You've got time until we reach the Basaltic Caves," Zipp pointed out with concern.

Sunny revealed that the instructions weren't for the cave. "They're for the Boulder Grit Canyon, which we'll have to pass through first. "

"That doesn't sound like the leisurely scenic route I want to be," Zipp confessed with a cringed expression.

"Don't worry, the canyons aren't dangerous," Sunny assured. "But there are huge boulders that separate the road, so if we go the wrong way, we could get very lost," she pointed out with concern.

"And we're already running out of time," Hitch pointed out with worry as he watched the sun setting on the horizon.

"Luckily, Daring Do left us specific instructions for navigating through the boulders," Sunny said with a smile, showing the others a map with some words.

"Turn right, then left, then right, right, right, left," Izzy sang cheerfully.

"Are you sure it was Boulder Grit Canyon Daring Do was talking about?" Hitch asked, pointing at their surroundings in panic. "We've been walking through Boulder Grit Canyon for the last half hour, and I can't see any boulders or turn," he pointed out with concern.

"T-That doesn't make any sense!" Sunny said in a panic. "The whole road is supposed to be one big confusing maze..." she pointed out with worry.

"Maybe Daring Do made a mistake," Zipp suggested as she approached Sunny to take a better look at the book.

"Yeah, maybe..." Sunny replied, unsure.

Later, the Mane 5 arrived at a bridge in the middle of the canyon.

"You decided to warn us about Boulder Grit Canyon but not about the creaky old bridge with the 1000-foot drop?!" Pipp shouted in panic. "The guys are not even here to catch us if we fall!" she pointed out with worry.

"It's perfectly safe," Sunny assured, burying her head in the book. Oh, wait! It does say there was an incident back in—–—" she tried to explain with a worried look, but then Hitch snatched the book from her hooves.

"How about we put the book away for now?" Hitch suggested, annoyed, putting the book on his badge. "Just follow my lead, and whatever you do... Don't look down," he instructed determinedly before carefully walking over the bridge.

The girls looked at each other uncertainly, but Zipp decided to be the first one to follow Hitch, then Sunny, and then Izzy.

Pipp stood behind for a few seconds since she was terrified, but then her phone vibrated, and she took it out to read a message from Sonic that said, 'Be there in 10! Maybe five if Tails can take us there as fast as he claims!'.

Pipp smiled at that, sighed in relief, then focused back on the road, looking carefully at where she stepped so she wouldn't fall at any moment.

"Turn right, then left, then right, right, right, left," Izzy sang to stay as calm as she could while also trying not to look down. "Turn right, then left, then right, right, right, left," she sang again.

"Careful. There's a rotting piece of wood here," Hitch instructed the others.

"Copy that," Zipp said, focused on the bridge.

"Turn right, then left, then right, right, right, left," Izzy kept singing.

"Izzy, we need to concentrate right now," Sunny told her with a frown.

"I've never been good at concentrating," Izzy confessed. "There're always too many fun things around, and how can you just pick one thing? It's impossible!" she pointed out.

"Well, you're singing, which is making it a bit difficult for the rest of us to concentrate," Sunny scolded.

"But it helps take my mind off the scary bridge," Izzy pointed out with worry.

"Your mind should be on the bridge! Focused" Sunny said in anger.

"Can we please stop arguing back––" Hitch tried to beg, but he stepped right on the rotting piece of wood and fell from the bridge. "––THEEEEERE...? THE BOOK!" he shouted as he fell, and the Daring Do book fell from his bag.

"My wings are glitching!" Zipp shouted in panic.

"MINE TOO!" Sunny shouted in a desperate voice. She wanted to save Hitch but could not because her magic had failed.

"Come on!" Pipp cried out as well.

Suddenly, Hitch was enveloped by a blue aura of magic and levitated back to the bridge.

"Come on, magic. Do your thing!" Izzy cried out, grunting as she struggled to levitate Hitch back to the bridge, which she could do.

"Izzy! You did it!" Hitch cheered with a genuine smile, although he and Izzy seemed anxious after Hitch almost freaking died, and Sunny even wrapped her hooves around Hitch as she hugged him tightly.

"But it looks like our magic is glitching out more by the second," Zipp pointed out with concern.

"And we kind of lost the Daring Do book..." Hitch added with worry and shame since he wasn't fast enough to catch the book before it fell.

"So we'll be entering the caves with barely any powers and no road map? That's just great..." Sunny complained, separating from Hitch.

"Well, the boys are on their way. Maybe they could take a detour to catch another copy of the book," Pipp suggested, taking out her phone.

"I don't think it's a good idea, Pipp," Sunny confessed. "I know they could go in a flash, but we're running out of time," she pointed out.

"Let's just keep moving forward," Zipp stated with a worried frown.

Once again, time passed by, but the Mane 5 managed to arrive at their destination.

"The Basaltic Caves! We finally made it!" Sunny cheered with a smile.

A giant rock door covered the caves with symbols around and a clock hand.

"Turn right, then left, then right, right, right, left," Izzy kept singing despite not being in a live or death situation anymore.

"We're not the only ones," Zipp pointed out, pointing at some footprints on the floor.

"Discord..." Hitch said with a frown before walking to one side of the giant rock blocking the entrance. "Get your hooves in position. It will take all of us to move this builder aside," he stated.

"Wait!" Sunny said, "According to Daring Do, the only way through is to solve some code." Sunny explained this with concern.

"Great. What's the code?" Pipp asked in a tired tone.

Sunny gulped and started to sweat nervously. "Well, I didn't make it that far in the book..." she confessed shamefully.

"Daring Do's not known for giving away clues," Zipp pointed out. "If it were in the book, it would have been hidden in some sort of riddle," she explained.

"A riddle that has to do with turning this dial," Hitch also pointed out.

"But how many times and in what direction?" Sunny asked in concern.

"Turn right, then left, then right, right, right, left," Izzy sang again.

"Izzy! What did I tell you about singing while we're trying to concentrate?!" Sunny scolded her with a frown, and Izzy flinched at her outburst.

However, Zipp realized something. "No! Wait... keep singing. The directions Izzy was singing were clearly not for Boulder Grit Canyon, but this rock dial also turns right and left," she explained with a smile. "What if what Izzy's singing is the code?" she questioned.

"It's worth a shot," Hitch smirked, grabbing the giant clock's hand.

"Turn right one, left one..." Zipp and Hitch repeated as they moved the clock hand in said directions.

"Right one, right one, right one..." Sunny kept going.

"And then left!" Izzy sang again.

Just like that, the doors to the Basaltic Caves opened up, granting access to the Mane 5.

"It worked!" Hitch cheered.

"WOOHOO!" Zipp cheered as well.

"Yes!" Sunny celebrated as the entire group entered the caves.

"We did it," Izzy cheered.

"Nice one!" Pipp added with a smile.

"That code was a real head-scratcher!" Discord's voice spoke, and everyone saw him, Reginald Fursome and the squirrel Izzy helped a while ago over some rocks, with the draconequus holding the Pegasus Crystal. "But look at us, able to figure it out by working together as a team, and blah blah blah," he added in a mocking tone.

"Discord!" Izzy growled with a frown while lighting up her horn to get the Crystal away from him.

"GET THAT UNITY CRYSTAL!" Sunny shouted in concern.

However, Izzy's magic was fading away, and Discord giggled since Izzy's magic tickled him.

"Oh, please, stop! It tickles, it tickles!" Discord pled. "You are all trying your best, aren't you?" he added in a mocking sad tone. "Let me save you the embarrassment.

So Discord snapped his fingers, transporting the Mane 5 to a cage hanging where the bridge they had crossed before used to be.

Then, Discord transported over the cage and looked bored at Hitch, bitting the cage with his teeth and at Sunny glaring daggers at him. "Don't look at me with those woebegone eyes. I'm doing this for you. For all of you!" he pointed out with a smirk. "One day, you'll thank me for creating equality among all ponykind. But in the meantime... at least you can indulge in these fleeting moments of magic trapped with the ones you hold dear. You're welcome," he added confidently.

However, besides the annoying protests of the Mane 5 begging him to set them free, he noticed something else. Something that was... off.

Discord counted the group's members and then gasped, confused. "Hey... wait a minute," he said with a frown. "I thought you used to be eight," he pointed out.

And then, without being able to dodge or even notice it, Discord was punched hard in the face by a blue ball that soon enough disappeared in a way he could not understand.

"What the–– WHO DID THAT?!" Discord shouted in anger, with fire forming in his eyes.

However, as he looked around, he didn't notice something else coming at him, and so he ended up punched in his stomach by Knuckles, who smirked with joy after he finally could strike a punch on the draconequus.

"Oh, I was dying to do that to you, old man!" Knuckles stated before landing over some yellow wings.

Discord put his hands over his stomach and looked around with a frown, but then his eyes came out of his body, and he screamed like a little filly when he saw something coming right at him.

The Mane 5 inside the cage felt confused by Discord's sudden change of attitude, and they also wondered who attacked him.

"Uh, what's going on?" Hitch questioned, confused.

"Why did Discord just scream like a filly?" Zipp asked, startled.

"Uh... guys?" Pipp called out with wide eyes. "P-Perhaps you wanna take a look at this..." she added, pointing at something outside the cage.

The others looked in the direction she was pointing at. Their eyes also widened in surprise: Tails was wearing a pilot hat with pilot goggles, piloting a yellow plane with white stripes, no wheels, and white wings with his iconic two tails printed on the sides and the words 'Tornado IV' written down beside the plane. Over the wings, Sonic and Knuckles were standing with smirks, and their electrical powers charged up.

"Get him, boys!" Sonic instructed with a confident smirk as the three of them prepared for the showdown against Discord.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Next month, the Final Battle approaches:

THE MANE 5 AND TEAM SONIC VS THE LORD OF CHAOS!

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

Issue #10

Tails guided Sonic and Knuckles back to his workshop in Maretime Bay and told them to wait on the ceiling.

"What is Tails up to now?" Knuckles asked with his arms crossed.

"No idea," Sonic confessed, desperately tapping his foot on the floor. "But he says it can guide us to the rest of the Basaltic Caves, so I trust him," he said with a smirk.

Tails has already proven a genius with his inventions several times before. Not only have all the variants of the Tornado he built before helped, but also other stuff like that translator for the wisps, his modified Soap Shoes so they could resist his speed, and the watches of the whole team to use their electrical powers to create weapons, and a very long list of other inventions.

Everything Tails has built before has been incredibly useful for desperate situations.

Suddenly, they both felt the building rumbling. The ceiling of Electronic Tails opened up to reveal something big covered in a blanket. It slowly moved up, and Tails stood at its side with a smirk. Once the entire thing was out, Sonic and Knuckles were curious about what was underneath the blanket.

"Guys!" Tails called out with happiness, also smiling. "This is what I've been working on these past months!" he stated excitedly.

So, he finally removed the blanket to reveal a yellow plane with white stripes, no wheels, and white wings. His iconic two tails were printed on the sides, and the words 'Tornado IV' were written on the plane.

Sonic whistled in amazement at the new plane while Knuckles' jaw dropped to the floor.

"Say hello to the Tornado IV!" Tails presented with a proud smile. "This one wasn't made out of my powers because it wouldn't have a special meaning, so I decided to make it from the ground!" he explained, flying up and then sitting on the pilot's seat. "It has several weapons, three different types of shields, three seats instead of the usual two, a four-blade propeller instead of the usual three, retractable wheels... and, instead of turning into a tank like the Tornado II, it transforms into that cool robot I created when I first awakened my powers!" he said with joy. "So, what do you guys think?" he asked them.

"Little bro, you outdone yourself this time!" Sonic cheered, jumping and landing over the plane's left wing. "My Tornado is cool, but the ones you made are amazing! And this promises to be the definitive one so far!" he complimented with pride.

"I'll usually argue that I don't get your stuff, young man... but this is beyond amazing!" Knuckles said with a smirk as he climbed to stand over the plane's right wing. "Is it ready yet?" he asked.

"I wouldn't be presenting it to you if it wasn't!" Tails pointed out with a smirk as well. "Wanna take it out for a ride?" he asked back.

"I would be offended if we weren't!" Sonic replied with a smile.

So, Tails put on a pilot hat with goggles before turning on the Tornado IV. The engine began to roar, and the propeller spun fast enough. However, unlike the other tornados, this one is elevated in its place instead of going forward, and the wheels are retracted to hide inside the flying vehicle.

"Okay... this is new..." Sonic pointed out.

"One of the new few things I added to this baby!" Tails said with a proud smile.

Then, the plane started to move in the air, making a loop before boosting away.

Several hours later, the sunset was on the horizon, and Tails discussed his plan with Sonic and Knuckles.

"Sounds good to me, little bro!" Sonic said with his thumbs up. "You thought on everything, didn't you?" he asked rhetorically.

"You know me way too well!" Tails replied with a smile.

Knuckles, however, saw something that made him frown. "Ah shoot! Discord has the rest encaged!" he pointed out with the spikes of his fists.

Sonic and Tails looked at that, too, and Sonic frowned. "Thank Chaos, he's distracted because I can finally do this!" he said, charging his Spindash with his electrical powers and then boosting towards the draconequus.

He crashed on his face and landed back on the Tornado IV with a smirk.

"God, I feel so relieved now that I caught him off-guard!" Sonic stated happily.

"What the–– WHO DID THAT?!" Discord shouted in anger, with fire forming in his eyes.

However, as he looked around, he didn't notice Knuckles coming at him, and so he ended up punched in his stomach by the echidna, who smirked with joy after he finally could strike a punch on the draconequus.

"Oh, I was dying to do that to you, old man!" Knuckles stated before landing over some yellow wings.

Discord put his hands over his stomach and looked around with a frown, but then his eyes came out of his body, and he screamed like a little filly when he saw something coming right at him.

The Mane 5 inside the cage felt confused by Discord's sudden change of attitude and wondered who attacked him.

"Uh, what's going on?" Hitch questioned, confused.

"Why did Discord just scream like a filly?" Zipp asked, startled.

"Uh... guys?" Pipp called out with wide eyes. "P-Perhaps you wanna take a look at this..." she added, pointing at something outside the cage.

The others looked in the direction she was pointing at, and their eyes also widened in surprise: Tails piloting the Tornado IV, with Sonic and Knuckles standing over the wings with their electrical powers charged up.

"Get him, boys!" Sonic instructed with a confident smirk.

Knuckles glided down of the plane and tried to punch Discord again, but the draconequus dodged the attack this time. However, he couldn't even cheer because Sonic kicked him in the back. Then, Knuckles landed on a rock and used to impulse himself back at Discord and strike a critical hit right over his head.

Then, Sonic and Knuckles crossed their right arms over one of the ropes holding the cage and started to punch and kick Discord with their electrical powers combined multiple times.

Eventually, Knuckles stroked a punch so hard that he sent Discord towards the mountain, making the old draconequus traverse the rock structure entirely.

Then Sonic pulled a strange device from his quills. "Guys, wherever you are, duck down," he instructed.

After that, he placed the device over the cage. The device shot a hook attached to the cage's ceiling from the lower part, while the higher one created a circular structure with a hole.

Knuckles pulled out a wire with double hooks, one on each extreme. He attached one of the hooks to the device on the cage, then pulled out another device, placing the hook in the same hole. He launched that second device to the Tornado IV's lower part, where it attached equally.

After that, Sonic and Knuckles grabbed the two strings at the cage's sides and used their electrical powers to cut them off. Then, Tails flew over one of the mountains and carefully placed the cage with the Mane 5 on the ground.

Once safe, Knuckles ripped off one of the cage's sides while Tails landed the Tornado IV near them and then got close, launching the pilot hat to the pilot's seat.

However, as the Mane 5 emerged from the cage, Discord traversed the ground in rage. His eyes turned into fire, and he looked at Team Sonic and the Mane 5.

"This is the last time you interfere with my plans, little pests!" Discord stated with anger. "I'm destroying the Pegasus Crystal, and that's final!" he added.

"Not if we can reach the basaltic caves first!" Sonic challenged with a confident smirk.

Discord looked at him, confused at first, but then he grinned when he saw what Sonic's game was. "What, are you challenging me?" he asked.

Sonic's smirk and electrical powers grew bigger, and as the draconequus and the hedgehog stared at each other, the others felt the tension in the air.

"Oh, I'm challenging you, Sir Lord of Chaos," Sonic replied in a mocking tone.

"You're entering a dangerous arena, Sonic. You sure you wanna make a deal with the devil?" Discord asked in a mocking tone as well.

"Wouldn't be the first time I kick the devil's fat ass, and it sure won't be the last," Sonic replied confidently.

"Big talk for a little hedgehog," Discord pointed out.

"I think you'll find I'm average height," Sonic continued to challenge.

After Sonic said that last line, Sunny's eyes widened: that was exactly the same thing she told Alphabittle back when they tried to win the Unicorn Crystal. She always thought Sonic never heard that, but today, he proved her wrong without knowing it, and she couldn't help but smile at him.

Discord, however, stared deeply into Sonic's eyes, trying to find something, anything that could help him get the higher hoof... but all he saw was an unbreakable spirit, one that was willing to go as far as he could if that meant he could recover the Pegasus Crystal... and maybe even get some answers about the last Chaos Emerald.

"Alright then, Sonic," Discord stated before snapping his finger and disappearing. "May the best competitor win," his voice echoed, and he disappeared entirely.

Once Discord was gone, Sonic sighed, relieved, with his powers calming down.

However, he was suddenly wrapped in a big hug by Pipp, who nuzzled against his chest as Sonic's entire face turned red.

"Huh... didn't expect you of all people to stand up like that, hedgehog," Zipp said mockingly.

"Yeah, that was impressive!" Hitch added with a smile. "Didn't know you could pull off such a dear like that!" he confessed.

"Thanks for saving us!" Pipp said, looking at Sonic in the eyes in a lovely way while his blush increased. Then, Pipp turned to see Tails and Knuckles as well. "To all of you," she added with a smile.

"Helping is our job!" Tails replied with a smile, also scratching his neck a bit.

"Besides, it is not like we would leave you hanging in there. Literally," Knuckles pointed out with a smirk.

"And all thanks to Tails' little plan!" Sonic added with a smirk as Pipp finally separated from him.

"Oh, so the young man planned this out, huh?" Zipp said mockingly while Tails blushed, cleared his throat, and looked away nervously. "Thanks to the three of you, anyways. It's not like we could have come up with a plan to get out of there, anyways," she pointed out.

"Well, waiting around until Discord came back technically is still a plan," Izzy pointed out, also rubbing her chin. "But it's not a very good one because if Discord did come back, it'd mean he already destroyed the Crystal," she added with a concerned tone.

However, soon enough, the group heard sobs, and they all turned to see Sunny crying heavily in sadness. Tears fell from her eyes. Hitch immediately moved to her side by instinct, while the others felt their ears fall flat as they felt bad for Sunny.

"Ssh... It's alright now, Sunny... We're here with you..." Hitch said as he wrapped a hoof around his best friend while Sunny buried her face on his chest.

"A-All I wanted to do was bring magic back to Equestria... I-I thought it would make things right..." Sunny said in sadness, tears falling from her eyes while Hitch rubbed her back with his hoof. "B-But all it's done is make us fight and argue about everything... T-That's why we ended up trapped in that cage..." she pointed out with concern and sadness.

Nobody said anything for a while, but as everyone else felt sad about Sunny's words, Sonic frowned and stepped closer before kneeling in front of her.

"Sunny, I don't know if you noticed, but having magic around Equestria changed everything, don't you see?" Sonic told her, now smiling a bit. "Everyone's busy trying to figure out what magic means for themselves, even us, and we never stopped to consider for just a tiny second what it means for all ponykind," he pointed out.

"... I think Sonic is right..." Izzy spoke as she also approached Sunny. "That's why it sometimes feels like our magic is dividing us. And it's not that it makes me angry or that I want to fight with every pony... It scares me..." she explained with a sad smile.

"And yet, I doubt things have to be this way," Sonic added, now looking at the ground with sadness. "Everything I did so far was out of fear... Confronting Discord on my own, hating so much on him, refusing to wait anymore for more clues... I only acted like that because I was scared of what he could do with chaos..." he explained with concern before looking back at Sunny and putting on his iconic smirk. "But not anymore. It doesn't have to be that way, and even if Discord is still doing the wrong thing, I understand now that he has no bad intentions. Yet, we still have to stop him," he pointed out, standing up and staring at Sunny.

"Is true..." Izzy added with a happier smile. "If we all come together, nopony will feel left behind," she pointed out, then she placed her hoofs on Sunny's cheeks while Hitch let her go, now smiling at everything Sonic and Izzy have said so far. "You're the one who can bring us together, Sunny," she finished with a big smile.

"After all, you already did," Sonic added with a smile, winking at her.

Sunny smiled after hearing all of that and dried her tears. "Discord was right in one thing at least... Even with everything that's happened, you two always see the best in others..." she said with a smile.

"I guess it's part of our charm!" Sonic said in a mocking tone.

Sunny giggled after hearing that, and then, she gasped in the realization of something. "Wait! That's it! I know exactly how to get that Crystal back from Discord now!" she said suddenly with a huge smile.

"Serious question: Does it involve fighting? Because that old man still didn't get the last of us!" Knuckles asked with an excited smirk.

"It does!" Sunny replied with a little grin.

Later on, Discord admired the lava at the edge with the Pegasus Crystal in his lion hand.

"It seems like I won this race, Sonic," Discord said with a grin. "Now is the time to make things right! For Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies to come together in peace, without magic or the belief that any one species is better than another," he declared, now dangling the Crystal over the lava. "I’ll always protect the Equestria you believed in…. Fluttershy..." he added in a slightly sad tone.

However, just when Discord was about to drop the Pegasus Crystal, it levitated back over his hand, which surprised and irritated Discord since he had a twitchy eye. So, he turned to the other side of the edge and saw the Mane 5, with Sunny bringing out her horn to levitate the Pegasus Crystal away from him.

"Time to give the Crystal back!" Sunny stated with a frown, although she was struggling to use her horn.

"If it’s magic you’ve come for… you’ll have to be part of the show!" Discord replied as he snapped his talons and put Sunny in a cut-out magician box that split her in half while Reginald Fursome and a squirrel separated her.

Zipp glared at Discord and pointed a hoof at him. "We’re not interested in joining your act today, Discord," she called out angrily.

"RAAGH!" Discord yelled out as he extended his arms and went to grab Zipp and Pipp while Izzy and Hitch took cover.

"Ahhh, Zipp!" Pipp cried out with tears in her eyes.

"I’ve got you!" Zipp shouted as she grabbed Pipp and tried to run away. Unfortunately, the two sisters didn’t get far because Discord's talon got them. "Ahhh!" Zipp cried out while Discord pushed them to another cave section. "Put us down!" she demanded, while Discord dropped them on a stone as they landed with a thunk right in the middle of the lava. "I didn’t mean here!" she yelled while Discord's talon retracted from them.

"Where is here?" Pipp said in fright as she looked around at the lava surrounding them.

However, they soon heard a strange sound behind them...

Back with Discord and the remaining Mane 5, Discord retracted his talon and looked down at Reginald, who gave him back the Pegasus Crystal.

"Thank you, Reginald," Discord thanked with a smile, taking back the Pegasus Crystal.

Suddenly, however, he was surrounded by bunnies trying to get the Pegasus Crystal. Discord sighed, not bothered by it, before looking at Hitch, who glared at the Lord of Chaos. Hitch probably found the bunnies nearby and asked their help to recover the Crystal, but it seems it's not working.

"Oh, to be young and believe you are invisible…" Discord started, but then he snapped fingers at Hitch, putting him and the bunnies over a rock floating in the lava. "...It’s a real kick to the ego when reality finally sets in," he added.

"Hold on!" Hitch yelled out to the bunnies as they huddled close to avoid getting hit by the lava.

Afterward, he walked towards Sunny and gave her a small smirk in victory while Sunny glared daggers at Discord.

"But surely you would have known your failing magic could never best mine," Discord taunted Sunny, twirling the Pegasus Crystal on his finger.

"It was never meant to," Sunny said with a grin, confusing Discord.

And so, the ground started to rumble all of a sudden.

"What the––" Discord exclaimed, startled.

However, the draconequus didn't manage to finish his sentence because he was hit in the face hard by Knuckles, who came off the ground and stroke a punch right on his face, which sent Discord backward as he fell to the ground while he also dropped the Pegasus Crystal at the same time.

The Crystal flew in the air before a yellow blur passed and grabbed it.

At the same time, Discord stood up and shook his head before looking up with a frown and glare at Tails, flying in the air as he held the Pegasus Crystal in hand.

"Looking for something, old man?" Tails asked in a mocking tone.

Discord prepared to snap his fingers again, but then Knuckles grabbed him by his tail and smashed to the other side in one single move, making the draconequus groan in pain.

"I've been waiting the whole arc for a good battle!" Knuckles declared with a huge grin.

Discord, however, stood up faster than before and glared at Knuckles with fire in his eyes. Yet, the echidna didn't feel intimidated by the draconequus, as he charged against him with a warrior crime.

So, the Lord of Chaos snapped his fingers multiple times, making rocks appear so they could fall over Knuckles and crush him. However, what happened in the end was that Knuckles traversed every single rock that was thrown at him, all thanks to his super strength and his electrical powers.

Izzy watched him move, and she felt her entire face blush and her eyes sparkle as she looked at Knuckled in action against Discord.

After that, he charged his left fist and tried to punch Discord, but the draconequus moved aside. Yet Knuckles moved his right hand instead, hitting Discord's crotch in the process.

"Ugh!" Discord shouted in pain as he fell on his knees and placed his hands over his crotch since his Knuckles hit something painful.

After that, Knuckles punched Discord in the stomach, kicked his neck, and finally sent Discord backward with a massive punch to the face, which caused the draconequus to crash against some rocks shaped like pillars.

Discord landed on the ground again, but he groaned in pure rage and turned around with his eyes in literal fire. However, he felt very confused when Knuckles wasn't there anymore.

"Surprise, motherf$*%#^!" a voice shouted behind him.

Discord barely turned around to get a kick in his face by Sonic, who soon landed on the ground as he looked at the old draconequus with a smirk.

Discord groaned again, and he looked at Sonic with rage. "Why do you keep getting in my way, little pest?!" he shouted angrily.

"Because I can, because it's fun, but most importantly..." Sonic started before launching himself against Discord in a Spindash.

Discord smirked and moved aside to dodge the attack. But then, some portal with the shape of a ring-opened right below him, and so Sonic smashed his head with his Spindash, making Discord groan in pain and anger as he grabbed his head and rubbed it while Sonic landed a few meters away and frowned at him.

"Because you messed up with my friends. And I won't let that slip," Sonic stated with anger as his electrical powers showed up.

"Grr! I'll make you pay for that, Hedgehog!" Discord announced as he launched himself against Sonic.

Sonic smirked and launched as well, but just when they were about to crash against each other, Sonic ducked down and slid below Discord to stop and grab his tail while the Lord of Chaos fell to the ground with a thud and a painful grunt. Sonic started to spin the draconequus around, making Discord crash against the rocks and the Basaltic Caves' walls. Discord grunted in pain as he was being smashed across the caves.

Meanwhile, Izzy and Sunny were amazed that Sonic was moving the Lord of Chaos himself. Whileny would feel mad that Sonic needed to be so violent, she also understood that Discord himself asked for it, so she allowed herself to be impressed.

On the other hand, Tails opened one of those portals, which was shaped like a ring, behind Sunny and Izzy. Zipp and Pipp traversed it confused, while another appeared for Hitch and the bunnies.

"What are these things?" Zipp asked, confused, after the portals had closed.

"Warp rings," Knuckles replied. "Ancient artifacts from the Owl tribe that open portals to any point in the current universe," he explained. "We have plenty of those, but we never thought they'd be necessary... until now, that is," he added angrily.

Finally, Sonic let go of Discord, launching him toward a wall. The draconequus crashed on his back, grunting in pain once again.

Once on the ground, Discord roared in pure rage, so he extended his arms again to grab both Sonic and Knuckles, smashing them against a wall as well. After that, Discord moved both heroes and smashed them on the ground, weakening them all.

With Sonic and Knuckles out, Discord turned his head upwards and grinned sinisterly at the remaining members of Team Sonic. "It's just you and me, little fox," he said, snapping his fingers and making the Pegasus Crystal appear in his hand again.

However, and to Discord's surprise, Tails grinned back with confidence. "Wrong! It's's just you..." he started, pressing a button on his watch and making at least 39 copies of himself appear around the draconequu "... and us!" all the Tails' copies and the original said in unison.

The Mane 5's jaws fell to the floor after Tails pulled that trick out, but Zipp felt her eyes sparkling and her face heating up as she saw 40 Tails in the cave.

Sonic and Knuckles, still on the ground and suffering in pain, stood on their knees and smirked weakly at Tails. "W-Way to go, little bro..." Sonic said happily, but still in pain at the same time.

"G-Good job, kiddo..." Knuckles said with his thumbs up, but he was coughing in pain soon afterward.

Then, all the Tails' copies in the cave created a yellow electrical lasso with their watches, and they all tied up Discord on his entire body, even his fingers, so he could not snap and escape away.

Reginald and the squirrel tried to do something, but Hitch and Zipp stepped in front of them and glared daggers at them, scaring the two critters and making them step back with sheepish smiles.

With Discord tied up, it was time for the plan's final phase. "Now, Izzy!" Sunny and Tails yelled to their unicorn friend.

Izzy nodded and stepped forward, stopping in front of Discord with a smirk that soon changed to her cheerful tone. "You got a voicemail!" she said happily, now levitating Pipp's phone in front of him and playing a video on it.

Discord was surprised when he saw the recording, since it showed somepony he hadn’t seen in a very long time. It was none other than Fluttershy and the message she had left for him so long ago.

"Hello, is this thing working? Discord… Listen closely because you need to hear…," Fluttershy said on the recording.

Discord shook his head at Fluttershy's image and turned away from the phone. "I can’t see this again. I can’t see her. Please don’t make me watch!" he begged with panic and terror.

"And stop rolling your eyes at me like that! I know you are because I know you better than anypony else," Fluttershy said again while the recording continued.

"Oh, no! You won't escape this!" the original Tails, the only one that wasn't tying him up, said with a frown as he moved over and grabbed Discord's head before moving it against his will to face the recording again.

"You need to hear it," Izzy said with a sympathetic expression.

"Which is why I can tell you how hard it’s been for you to let go of the pain caused by these magical divides. I’m creating this message for you hoping that whenever you feel overwhelmed, you can listen back and remind yourself why anger is not the answer..." Fluttershy explained in the recording.

After Discord started to cry, Tails let go of his face. By pressing a button on his watch, all his clones vanished in the air, letting the draconequus go entirely. Discord held the phone close to him as he listened to Fluttershy's message.

"Our magic does make us different… and that’s something we should embrace… Both in ourselves and others. Our powers let us be the best versions of ourselves. I mean, who would Rainbow Dash be if she couldn’t fly?" Fluttershy said, her spirit suddenly hugged and smiled at Discord over his head, making Discord's tears fall even faster. "And yes, our powers might threaten some ponies, but if we can use what makes us special in unity, I know we can create the Equestria we always dreamed of. Lead with your heart, Discord. It will always show you the way," the recording finished.

Discord looked at Fluttershy, finally having second thoughts about everything he was doing. "That was a long time ago. Fluttershy hadn’t even experienced the worst of it when she recorded that message," he said, still willing to continue with his plan if necessary.

"But she would say the same thing if she were here right now," Izzy pointed out at him. "I’m not saying I've never felt left behind... But mistakes happen. My friends showed up for me today when I counted. And we got all the way here because we know that what makes us special alone makes us even more powerful together," she added.

"Unity and friendship aren't an easy thing, true..." Tails stepped in as well. "But isn't the fact that we remain together what matters at the end of the day? Fluttershy always believed that we could all live together without a care about 'talents' or 'special magic'. She only wanted to live in peace and harmony, and I know you want that, too... But magic isn't the problem. Are those ponies scared of staying together because they fear their magic? So, you can choose to live in fear... or you can choose friendship," he finished with a smile.

Discord analyzed everything that Izzy Tails told him, looking at the Pegasus Crystal and wondering what Fluttershy would think about his idea of unity if she were still here. The answer came faster than he expected because it was pretty clear: She'd be pretty disappointed in him and beyond furious about his decision.

So, with a last glance at the Crystal, he extended it to them. "Take it," Discord said, finally making the right choice.

Discord's choice surprised Izzy and Tails, but Izzy took the Pegasus Crystal back in her hoof, smiling at Discord.

"Thank you," Izzy said with a smile, placing a hoof on Discord's arm. Reginald and the squirrel comforted Discord. "We promise you we'll honor Fluttershy and create the Equestria you always wanted it to be," she assured him.

"One where everypony and draconequus belongs!" Sunny cheered with a smile while her lower half kicked in joy, even when split in half.

Discord sighed happily, still feeling Fluttershy's spirit as a butterfly stood on one of his horns.

Soon enough, Sonic and Knuckles joined them, with Pipp and Zipp helping Sonic to stand up, while Hitch helped Knuckles since both Team Sonic members were still feeling in pain because of how hard Discord smashed them against the ground.

Once Discord saw them, he looked at them with shame on himself. "I owe an apology to you two for what I did earlier... But Sonic? I owe you a bigger apology for everything I said to you..." he apologized. "I... I have no idea of when the Emerald you are looking for is... And I'm sorry I made you struggle so badly for nothing..." he confessed with shame.

Of course, Sonic felt both anger and disappointment after Discord confessed that... but he still smirked at him.

"Eh... It's fine. It's not like we want to leave yet," Sonic assured. Besides, we'll get to it sooner or later. There's no rush," he added in a mocking tone.

"Except that we still have to deal with Eggman and get him the hell outta here..." Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression.

"Discord, please do me a favor and turn him into a Donkey if he says more bullshit during wholesome moments," Sonic said with a frown towards Knuckles, whose jaw dropped after Sonic said that.

"Hey!" Knuckles complained.

Everyone else bursted out laughing at that, even Discord himself.

A little bit later, after Discord fixed Sunny back, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic returned to the Brighthouse, with Cloudpuff now joining them.

They were at the Crystal Room in the top, where the Unity Crystals should go, as the Mane 5 but Sunny either stomped their hooves on the floor while Team Sonic played actual drumrolls with huge smirks.

"We’ve got the drumrolls going, so it must be time," Sunny said with a smile as she held up the Pegasus Crystal.

Soon enough, she reunited the Unity Crystals, and they gave a big glow before shooting a rainbow up into the sky, once again spreading all magic back to Equestria.

The five ponies felt their magic return, with Hitch's hooves and Pipp and Zipp's wings glowing. At the same time, Pipp took flight and recorded the whole thing on her phone with a wide smile, Izzy's horn glowing too and Sunny's alicorn magic now stable, as she took flight between Zipp and Hitch, while Cloudpuff barked happily on Hitch's hooves.

"Look at all the bright, shiny colors!" Izzy cheered.

"So this is how magic returning looks like..." Knuckles said with a smirk.

"You were right, Sonic. It is beautiful!" Tails confessed with a smile.

As Sonic only nodded, the entire Team Sonic grinned at each other, and then...

"Nailed it!" the three cheered as they fist-bumped together with huge smiles.

In Maretime Bay, the ponies felt their magic returning, and the rainbow was shining all over Equestria, with the ponies enjoying their recently returned magic.

"The sky is once again the limit!" the red pegasus stallion said happily as he flew into the air.

"Race you there!" The pink pegasus mare cheered to her friend as they flew through the air.

"Oh, how I’ve missed you, my silky, smooth mane!" the unicorn stallion said happily, using his magic to restore his mane.

Sometime later, Sunny placed a new photo frame with a picture of her and her friends, along with Discord with them, at the ruins of Canterlot with a new sign that says 'Welcome to Canterlot,' and she placed the group photo on her nightstand, right beside the picture of her and her father.

Sunny stood back as she felt her father's presence behind her as they looked at the picture together.

"And so long as you make sure no earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn ever feels lesser than because of who they are, Canterlot will always be your home..." Argyle’s voice echoed through Sunny as she smiled at her father’s words.

"I did it, Dad. I made it to Canterlot," Sunny said with a smile as she touched the picture of her and her father.

Soon, Izzy joined her, along with Tails and Knuckles, as Izzy ate a snack piece that fell out from the frame. "Reginald did a great job with the frame! And now you can always grab a snack on your way out the door," she said happily.

"Is that even healthy?" Knuckles asked Tails in a whisper.

"No, but this is Izzy we're talking about," Tails said with a smile. "No matter how dangerous or deadly something is, she simply survives because she's built differently," he added.

However, Sunny still felt guilty about something, so she looked at Izzy with shame on herself. "I owe you an apology, Izzy. You were right. When magic came back, I was so excited about my powers that I let it get in the way of our friendship. That wasn’t fair to you," she apologized. "I know it will take time, but I hope one day I can earn your trust back," she added, rubbing her right hoof nervously.

"You can’t," Izzy said, smiling and pulling Sunny into a hug. "Because you never lost it," she finished, while Sunny smiled and returned the hug.

However, once they broke the hug, Sunny turned to Tails and Knuckles and suddenly pulled them into a hug, startling them as they looked at each other, confused.

"I also should apologize to you two," Sunny said. "You wo were only trying to protect Izzy, and... were so afraid of losing our magic that we never stopped to consider how the rest were feeling... n—ven you, guys..." . " Sheted out with concern.

Both Tails and Knuckles smiled and returned the hug. "Don't worry, Sunny. We're not mad—not anymore, at least," Tails said cheerfully.

"Just try not to let your cool Alicorn powers get over you again, alright?" Knuckles stated in a mocking tone.

Sunny giggled before breaking the hug and nodding at them.

Suddenly, Zipp appeared through a bedroom window. "If you’re done chatting in here, we've got a game to play!" she said with a smile.

Later on, the Mane 5, Tails, Knuckles, Discord, Reginald Fursome, the squirrel, and Hitch's animal crew reunited in a circle, with Zipp sitting over the board with the rules of the new game, while Pipp pulled out her phone to record the game.

"The rules of Power-Pass are simple. There are two teams and two nets," Zipp started to explain. "The goal is for each team to get the ball through the other team's net," she added. "All magic is allowed on the field, but you’ve got to pass to each player on your team before getting the ball in the net. If not, your goal doesn’t count," she said.

Later on, the Mane 5, Discord, his critter's comrades, and Team Sonic were playing the game together. Izzy levitated the ball over Sunny as she hopped along while Zipp tried to catch the ball. However, Discord appeared through a portal and snatched the ball from Izzy, giving her a mocking face as she disappeared through another portal right before Zipp could catch him.

After that, he appeared on the ground and ran out with a ssmilingossed the ball to Reginald, who then passed it to the squirrel. Both Tails, Knuckles, and Zipp rushed to try and catch the ball back, while Hitch and his animal crew were next to their team's net as he got ready and tried to catch the ball.

The squirrel kicked the ball into the net, and unfortunately, Hitch missed his block, so the squirrel scored a point.

"AW!" Hitch groaned in frustration.

Pipp and Zipp were flying in the air, and Pipp looked at Zipp with a smile, still livestreaming the whole thing on her phone. "The score’s ten to five now. No way we’re winning this," Pipp said to her sister with a playful smile.

"They might win the game, but we all know who pulled the best trick today," Zipp said with a confident smirk, looking back at Pipp.

"You saw my double air kick?" Pipp asked her sister with a smile.

"I was talking about me. I came up with this ingenious game," Zipp pointed out playfully.

"You heard it here first. Zipp’s ego is now ten times as as when this whole thing started. And that’s not the only thing that’s changed in Equestria. It’s been an adventure for the books," Pipp said to her followers with a mocking smirk, shaking her head in disbelief at Zipp's attitude, before turning around the camera of her phone and smiling at her followers. "Thanks for coming along for the ride, Pippsqueaks. Until next time. Pipp, Pipp, hooray!" she cheered with a warm smile ending her livestream with a final text that said '#TheEnd' on it.

However, as she pulled her phone away and decided to return to the game, she noticed in the corner of her eye that Sonic was sitting over a hill, looking at the horizon while holding the Blue Chaos Emerald in his hand.

She'lShe usually approachesheck how hhow he's doingi]what is hehe'sg, but she felt like Sonic wanted to be alone for now, so she smilesmilesy to respect his decision and and then returnse game.

On the other hand, Sonic still had thousands of questions in his head. It was clear to him now that Discord wouldn't answer his questions and that his search for the last Chaos Emerald would be longer than he ever expected.

"Longclaw..." Sonic muttered, still holding the Blue Chaos Emerald. "What would you do?" he questioned with worry, closing his eyes.

However, the Chaos Emerald soon glowed a bit on his hand, but Sonic didn't notice it, yet he could feel its power.

"... Stay strong, my dear Sonic..." Longclaw's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

Sonic opened his eyes widely and looked at the Chaos Emerald in disbelief, which was still glowing and... talking with him.

Sonic felt a tear rolling down his cheek at the sound of Longclaw's voice since he hadn't heard it in years, but he still smiled and looked back at the horizon, not even bothering to dry his tears away.

"Right... I'll just do that. Just like you taught me... Mom..." Sonic muttered to himself with a sad smile.

THE END...?

Author's Note

Main story done!

HOWEVER! Stay tuned for Monday, because there're 2 Epilogues coming up!

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

Epilogue: Darkness Rising

Sonic walked back and forth in the Brighthouse's bedroom with concern.

Tails were using the Chaos Energy lectures from one of the Chaos Emeralds. They had to try to track down the remaining Emerald. For the past few days, they have tried to find any meaning in Discord's riddle. Still, they couldn't get anything from whatever the draconequus meant, and the fact that he refused to elaborate, even after he returned the Pegasus Crystal, just made things harder and worse.

Zipp, Sunny, Hitch, everyone already tried to get somewhere with the riddle. Izzy even tried to persuade Discord a bit more so he could finally spill the beans... but it didn't work, either.

And to be honest, he was sure it wasn't going to work, anyway. If the other six Emeralds were weakened/half-dead before being restored by his powers and Eggman, then it was possible that the remaining one needed a similar treatment. Therefore, nothing they did was going to track down the Chaos Emerald.

"Any luck, little bro?" Sonic asked Tails after a while.

Tails' computer replied instead of Tails himself with a beep sound and a red light, while Tails turned to face Sonic and refused with his head and a concerned expression.

"Great..." Sonic groaned, grabbing his head and trying to find another solution to find the Chaos Emerald. "Just when I thought Discord would be mature enough after returning the Crystal, he refuses to elaborate and leave us hanging!" he complained with a frown.

"Not to mention, he keeps insisting we leave Equestria as soon as we find the final Emerald. Yet, he refuses to help us find it," Tails pointed out.

"Yeah, don't mention it... Sonic said with a frown. "Don't you feel like this is pretty weird? It's been almost a year since I arrived with the Chaos Emeralds in Equestria, yet we haven't found the sixth Emerald this time... What if Eggman has it, but he's waiting for the proper time to make it work again?"

"I think if he does have the Emerald, he probably would have said it already," Tails pointed out. "I mean, he's a terrible secret keeper, so if he does have the final Chaos Emerald, I think we'll already know at this point," he added.

"Right..." Sonic said, unsure. "Still, it doesn't explain why we haven't found the Emerald yet," he pointed out in concern.

"We'll eventually find the Emerald," Tails assured. "But until then, I think we definitely should get some fresh air," he stated with a smile.

Tails walked off the room, leaving Sonic behind. Sonic himself rubbed his chin a bit and tapped the floor in frustration.

He had a bad feeling, and he couldn't help but think that Eggman had something bigger in store for them...

"No, no, no, NO!" Eggman shouted, as the new simulation Sage, his AI, showed him didn't convince him either.

These past months, Eggman decided to use all the commotion Discord caused by stealing the Pegasus Crystal to adjust his plans.

He was running countless simulations to determine what to do with Equestria's magic and the Chaos Emeralds once they were in his power. All these simulations were just excuses to see what he would make when the time to conquer Equestria came if it ever came.

He wanted something big, remarkable, and unforgettable. Something everypony, and Team Sonic, could see and never forget, even if he lost because of plot convenience. He wanted something like his Death Egg, just not as big as a moon, but bigger than any other machine he had ever created before at the same time.

Yet, none of the simulations so far was convincing him. Either there was stuff he had already tried before and failed, or it could be something that worked, yet it wasn't what he was looking for. He felt lost, desperate, and confused at the same time.

"This makes no sense!" Eggman shouted in anger. "I've been planning every single detail of this plan to detail! Yeah, I had some complications, but so far, I'm still safe! As long as Opaline does not plan on stabbing me in the back, everything should work out just fine... Yet what is the most vital thing so hard to define?!" he shouted in frustration.

He smashed his keyboard as hard as possible before sighing in defeat and sitting in his chair again, tired. His mustache also saddeningly sat a bit.

His story with Sonic was the classic 'battle between the light and dark, good and bad, goodness and evil'—and there was a long list of other things that Eggman wasn't in the mood to list—and I'm not in the mood to write them down, either.

Sonic was the hero, the loved one, and the popular child almost everyone wanted to be friends with. Many claim that Sonic could be a 'chosen one' —a hero whose destiny is to defeat the forces of evil until they are eradicated forever. However, for both Eggman and Sonic, he's just a random guy who happened to be there on Green Hills when Eggman decided to take over the world by kidnapping animals and using them to make his badniks work.

Yeah, not even Eggman was proud of himself back then. He has no idea why he listened to Zavok when he convinced him to use animals again for the badniks, but he was glad that said phase was over.

And what about him, though? Well, Eggman is the bad guy. The bad third, the rotten seed, call him however you want. Eggman is to Sonic like Bowser is to Mario: they're nemesis, they despise each other, and the sooner they can get rid of the other one, the better for them (and, in Sonic's case, for everyone else).

Eggman was that 'bully.' The weird kid, the guy that no one notices or everyone hates just because he's different. Just like everyone claims Sonic is a hero, everyone also claims that Eggman's destiny is to fail repeatedly so Sonic can fulfill his potential and become the hero he's supposed to be.

Of course, Eggman always said that this was bullshit and that he wasn't another piece in a massive board just for Sonic to be something greater. No, he refused to believe that. No matter how much it could take, no matter how much he could fail, no matter if he had to tear apart the entire multiverse itself, he would prove to destiny that he wasn't a piece on a board and that he could defeat Sonic and win for sure. One way or another, he was proving that.

Eggman smirked and stood up from his chair, raising his mustache and everything. "Sage, run another simulation," he instructed. "But this time, make sure that whatever machine you build up makes justice to my image and greatness! Make sure everything and everyone on this pitiful land remember my name, even if I fail again," he added with a sinister grin.

"Right away, doctor" Sage replied.

Sage began running a new simulation with all the details Eggman instructed her to make. Thankfully, this entire simulation gave lots of joy to the doctor:

First, the sea near Maretime Bay could be seen... and then, a massive Death Egg Robot was raised from the ocean. It was so big... even bigger than those Death Egg Robots he used back when he took over the world for six months. It had his face and arms large, with five fingers instead of the usual three, which were more like spikes.

It was gigantic, massive... memorable. It wasn't just a generic Death Egg Robot, no... It was a massive titan.

Said robot was walking over Maretime Bay, and just by swinging the right arm from behind to the front, a model of the Brighthouse could be seen flying away, crashing and tearing apart into pieces on the ground.

Then, the robot used two different types of lasers: One in the chest, probably impulsed by magic or Chaos Energy, or even both in the best of scenarios, that the machine used to destroy everything on its way. The other type of laser was in the eyes, and it seemed to be less potent but just as destructive as the other one.

In addition to its other functions, this robot also seemed to have a flamethrower on its knuckles, various missiles, a giant wrecking ball that could be used the same way the Egg Beater does, and the ability to fly or at least elevate itself from the ground like past robots.

But the cherry on the cake was definitely when the simulation showed up a pretty much banged-up Sonic on the floor, being crushed by one foot of this massive robot.

Saying that Eggman was happy only simplified how he felt right now. He was beyond satisfied: the amount of happiness and joy he felt right now couldn't be described in any known way. The simple fact that this simulation showed up a scenario he was expecting was good enough... but making the biggest variant of the Death Egg Robot so far to ensure no one forgets his name and what he's capable of doing? That was simply spectacular.

"Sage, dear..." Eggman said with a sinister grin. "Charge up the prints of this new model to my database. Code name: Death Egg Titan," he stated.

"Yes, doctor" Sage replied.

Meanwhile, Eggman stared at the hologram of the new robot he would create once all magic in Equestria and the Chaos Emeralds were under his control.

"Soon enough, this land will be mine!" Eggman stated with an evil laugh.

Opaline walked back and forth in her Throne Room with a frown.

Eggman hasn't come out from his labs in weeks. He still owed her an apology for almost killing her months ago, but now he not only refused to share any new details on his plans, he also didn't talk to her in weeks unless he needed Misty for something or when he needed to get supplies to survive.

Out of that... Eggman distanced himself. He only told her about his plans to analyze Team Sonic's and the Mane 5's fighting styles that one time, but nothing else.

She was getting tired of this, so she was going to make plans alone. But she was changing her strategy once and for all. She didn't need to steal magical artifacts, and she didn't need to steal Sparky's fire either now.

Surprisingly, even for her, she was planning to listen to Misty's theories for once... even though she somewhat regrets the idea, at least she's going somewhere now.

Misty mentioned Cutie Mark's magic multiple times during her reports. Back in the day when Twilight Sparkle was around, she and her friends kinda already experimented with what Cutie Mark's magic was capable of. It only shone and vibrated when something called the Cutie Map had an assigned mission for certain ponies, but it did the trick.

However, that magic was something else: it could increase a pony's power, combine to reveal secrets, and even transform stuff into something more practical and useful. But something like what the Cutie Mark magic did on Winter Wishday was... simply spectacular.

She will admit it once and never again: she found what happened beautiful, but since Misty was there, she needed to pretend she only wanted power. However, she was alone, so saying... or thinking it was something cool wouldn't kill anyone. Too bad for everypony else that she was going to steal all that magic for herself...

Again, too bad for everypony else.

'So, what is her plan?' You might be wondering. Well, it was simpler saying it than actually doing it: she was planning on stealing the Mane 5's Cutie Marks and using all that magic and power to steal the Unity Crystals once and for all.

She could leave her castle to do that. She could have done it thousands of times before if she ever wanted to, but she couldn't just face the Mane 5 and Team Sonic to steal the Unity Crystals in her current state.

That's exactly why she wanted to steal Sparky's dragon fire: even if he's just a baby dragon, his magic is strong enough to restore Opaline's power. Therefore, she could leave the castle and face the Mane 5 and Team Sonic properly to steal the Unity Crystals.

But now that she knows about Cutie Mark's magic, it is time to leave that baby dragon.

However, she wasn't sending Misty to do her dirty job this time, at least not now. With so many failures, she needed someone else. Eggman wasn't an option, either. He barely talked to her, so if she went to ask him for a favor, something worse than what happened last time could happen.

"It doesn't matter," Opaline stated with a smirk before using her bolder to make an image of the Mane 5 appear. "One way or another... your Cutie Marks will be mine!" she stated confidently.

Author's Note

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter! :twilightsmile:

Issue #2

Zipp, Sunny, and Pipp were still searching for the Crystal Thief in the sky, but Pipp grew tired.

"I spy, with my pony eye… Another leafy tree!" Zipp said, trying to distract her mind by playing 'I Spy.'

Sunny picked up a leaf and inspected it. "Ooh, they’re already beginning to shed. That’s going to increase the effectiveness of pollination and help them flower."

"If I fall right now, it’s not because my magic glitched out. It’s because you’re putting me to sleep," Pipp complained as she yawned and looked at the ground, looking for someone.

"The trees are way too thick for the Crystal Thief to have gotten this far away," Zipp pointed out.

"We should regroup with the others. See if they found anything," Sunny suggested as the three ponies flew back to where they spread out. After a while, they saw Hitch, Sonic, and Cloudpuff in front of a cave.

"Down here!" Hitch called out from the ground as Sonic waved at them with a smirk.

"Hitch!" Sunny called out as she, Zipp, and Pipp flew down and landed on the ground. "Where’s Izzy, Tails, and Knuckles?" she asked, seeing none were around.

"I hoped Tails would be with you..." Sonic confessed as he frowned in worry. "I've been trying to call those two. I even ran around the forest again to check on them, but they didn't seem to be there. And their watches haven't given any signs of them, either..."

"As for Izzy, I’ve been calling out to her. Those three should be here soon," Hitch added while he turned to see the cave.

Zipp then noticed that Cloudpuff was shaking and pointing his nose to the cave. "What’s got into you, bud?" she asked, wondering why the dog was shaking.

"As soon as you left, Cloudpuff raced off. I thought he was running towards something..." Hitch started to explain as he put a hoof on a vine.

"But turns out he was running away…" Sonic kept going as he placed his hand on the vines next to the ones Hitch held.

They both looked at each other and nodded, putting the vines away simultaneously. "From this!" they finished together, showing the mares what was inside the cave.

There was an old and rusty door with some symbols, and Sunny immediately gasped. Pipp felt disgusted from the mud in the cave, and Zipp looked at the door.

"The door’s open. Bet we’ll find the Crystal Thief through here!" Hitch stated with confidence.

"How’s that for detective work?" Sonic said with a smirk and his arms crossed.

Sunny looked at the gates in awe as she covered her mouth with her hooves and got sparkles in her eyes. "The sacred Gates of The Ancients!" she squealed in excitement, grabbing Hitch and shaking him like crazy. "My Dad used to read me stories when Canterlot became home to the Royal Princesses. This gate was built to welcome travelers!" she added and stopped shaking Hitch, who was dizzy from all the shaking. Sunny looked at the gate with a proud and exciting smile as a tear dropped from her sparkling eyes. "I made it, Dad," she finished, happy that she finally found Canterlot, just like her father told her.

"Well, someone's excited," Sonic said with a smile as he opened the door again. "Now, let's catch that thief before he gets a chance to escape!" he confidently stated.

All that confidence faded once he entered the place, followed by the others and Cloudpuff. Sunny looked at Canterlot excitedly, and the other three ponies looked around. Cloudpuff sniffed the ground for clues.

"And suddenly, Sky Sanctuary doesn't seem like a pigsty anymore compared to this place," Sonic said sarcastically.

Pipp cringed in disgust as she picked up what was left of the Canterlot banner. "Yikes. Did you dream of coming here? No offense, but if the thief needed enough money to move out of this ghost town, maybe we should let him keep the Crystal," she said with disgust.

"Yeah, I say we should call it a day and go home," Sonic added with a bored expression.

Sunny turned to Pipp and Sonic with a smile. "Nopony’s lived in Canterlot for a while. But I promise you’ll be able to feel the magic once we start exploring!" she assured with confidence as Sonic rolled his eyes and stayed close to Pipp. The four ponies and the hedgehog looked around the ruins of Canterlot as Zipp looked through a window, and Sunny looked at the buildings while waving her hoof in excitement. "Every one of these shops is a relic from the past; the Canterlot Culture lived here!" she said with a smile.

"Uh… Shouldn’t we wait for Izzy, Tails, and Knuckles?" Hitch asked as he looked around for those two. Suddenly, they heard loud noises inside one of the buildings called Joe’s Donut Shop. The group got startled, as Hitch got in front of Sunny and shielded her with his hooves. Sonic stood in front of Pipp, and she hid behind his back. "The Crystal Thief!" Hitch called out.

Sonic curled into a ball and stood next to one of the windows, as he indicated to rest stuck behind him with a hand. "The trick here is always to take the thief by surprise. So stay quiet and follow me," he whispered to them as he curled into a ball again and rolled until he got to the side of the door while the rest ducked behind the walls and under the windows so the thief wouldn’t see them coming. Once they all stood at Sonic's side, he gently opened the door, and Sunny summoned only her horn while they all burst the door open.

"You’ve been caught red-hoofed, Crystal Thief! Give us back the Pegasus Crystal!" Hitch shouted as Sunny levitated the 'thief,' and Sonic made a finger gun charged with some electricity. But it was all a false alarm since there was no thief in there, but some familiar and friendly faces.

"You made it!" As she and Tails were being levitated from Sunny’s magic, Izzy cheered with donuts floating around them and holding a tray.

"Took you guys long enough," Tails said with a little smirk, still floating because of Sunny's magic.

"Izzy? Tails?" Sunny said in surprise, embarrassed that she had trapped two of her friends with her magic. She released them, and Tails and Izzy landed on the ground, and the donuts fell to the floor. "How long have you been here? Why didn’t you call us?" she wondered.

"And where's Knuckles?" Sonic asked, now with all of his new powers shut down.

"Right here!" Knuckles replied as he poked his head behind the counter with some donuts and quills on his head. "Hi there, what took you so long?" he asked with a little smile.

"We tried to call you, but you flew too far away. So we came here to look for the thief ourselves." Izzy answered Sunny's previous question. "We’ve gotta try these donuts! They’ve been aged, like, a hundred years, which means they’re fancy!" she said, grabbing a donut and pointing at one stuck on her horn to Pipp.

The pegasus cringed in disgust while the donut spun some gunk from Izzy’s horn. "It’s not like cheese, Izzy. If you eat that, you’ll be sick for days," Pipp pointed out.

"I've been telling her for 20 minutes now, but she insists that we have to try them out," Tails complained with a bored expression.

"Well, we’re not going to find our Crystal Thief here. Looks like we’ll have to do some exploring after all," Zipp suggested as she walked towards the door.

"Yes!" Sunny cheered to herself, excited to explore the former capital of Ancient Equestria.

"Exploring?!" Knuckles exclaimed as he shook his head and took off the donuts. "Count me in!" he exclaimed with a smile, gliding towards the exit.

Pipp saw what they were doing and still felt tired from all the searching. She grabbed the donut on Izzy’s horn and put on a nervous smile. "I actually will have this donut," she said nervously to Izzy, thinking that if she ate it and got sick, she wouldn’t have to search with them.

However, Sonic saw what she was trying to do and immediately took the donut away. "Not so fast, young lady!" he warned her as he threw the donut away.

"Hey!" Pipp complained with a frown.

"Honestly, I want to get out of here too, Pipp, but whether you like it or not matters for you." Sonic scolded her. "Besides, I don't want to see you sick in bed for days again. I don't think I can handle a second relapse, okay?" he confessed with a little blush, which caused Pipp to blush as well, while Izzy giggled a little and jumped towards the door.

Several minutes later, the Mane 5 and Team Sonic were exploring the ruins of Canterlot, looking for the Crystal Thief. Zipp and Tails were flying around the place, Knuckles was looking inside some buildings, and Cloudpuff kept sniffing the ground. Sonic carried Pipp with her hoof crossed to his arm since she was too tired to fly around, and Sunny and Izzy were leading the group.

Sunny looked at the ruins of Canterlot with excitement but a little down as well. "I can’t believe I’m here…" she confessed out loud, still in shock at the fact that she was standing in the city of Canterlot.

Izzy smirked at Sunny. "I think you can believe it, and that’s sort of the problem," she said.

Sunny explained, "I always saw Canterlot as the perfect beacon of friendship. It was where unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi lived in harmony, and no pony ever felt left behind."

"That’s what you wanted to create in Maretime Bay," Izzy pointed out.

"Yeah," Sunny admitted with a smile that faded away soon after. "But seeing Canterlot like this… Makes me question how hard it would be to keep it that way," she finished with a little worry.

"Hey, everyone!" Zipp called to the rest from a distance. They all ran to her as Zipp pointed to Canterlot Castle. "Listen up. According to new evidence that’s just come to light, if we want to find the Crystal Thief, I believe we need to head to the Royal Castle," she explained, pointing to the Castle, which looked in very good condition, unlike the rest of the place.

Sunny started fantasizing so much that she got hearts in her eyes, and she squealed in excitement. "The Royal Castle!" she squealed as she came to Zipp’s face and squished her cheeks. "You’re a genius, Zipp! You know the thief must be somepony with a power complex who would be drawn to the castle. They would also have the best view from up there to spot incoming threats!" she pointed out, still fanmaring.

Sunny let go of Zipp, and the pegasus rubbed her cheeks from the squishing and gave an embarrassing smile. "Yeah…Of course, I realized all that…" she said, then pointed to the castle's entrance. "And also, I might have seen the door being opened," she confessed, a little embarrassed.

"Get into formation, everyone. We’ve got a thief to catch!" Sonic stated with a smile as he cracked his knuckles and looked at the castle confidently.

A few minutes later, the group was walking towards the Canterlot Castle, as Sunny looked all over the place with sparkles in her eyes. Sonic wanted to run around the whole place and check everything super quick, but he had two problems: the first one, Pipp, wasn't letting him go, although that didn't bother him at all. What bothered him was the second thing: Sunny was fanmaring all over the place, so even if he wanted to use his super speed and finish the job, he was willing to stay slow and let his friend enjoy the place.

They arrived at the front door of the Throne Room, but it was closed. "I’ve got the door!" Izzy cheered as she jumped before the door and concentrated her magic. "Come on, little horn-horn. You can do it!" Izzy strained and tried to use magic to open the door, but her horn stopped glowing. "Magic’s gone again," she said with disappointment since her magic glitched again.

The whole group then decided to open the door together, and the door started to move slowly as they pushed. "It is moving!" Sunny exclaimed as they all kept pushing until the doors finally opened completely. They all stepped in and looked around in awe, except for Hitch, who looked at the place suspiciously. "Princess Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle all stepped hooves exactly where I’m stepping! EEE!" Sunny squealed as she walked around the place with sparkles in her eyes as Pipp took some pictures since her phone was charged again, all thanks to Sonic. "History has been made in this Throne Room a thousand times over… And it’s still standing!" she excitedly said as she pointed at the room. "Even after all the attacks from Queen Chrysalis, the Storm King, and King Sombra. Can you believe it!?" she asked Hitch, who was close to her.

However, Hitch was more concerned about finding the thief. "Sunny! Now is not the time for fanponying," he pointed out, since their priority had to be finding the Crystal and stopping the thief. "The Crystal Thief was calling us here, so we can assume this is a trap. We need to stay vigilant," he pointed out, since it was weird that they entered just like that. Sunny then went to the tapestry of Twilight that Izzy was looking at in awe; Zipp was petting Cloudpuff, Sonic just looked around with curiosity, standing next to Pipp, who was looking at her phone, and Tails and Knuckles were looking at another tapestry at the other side of the room. "Look for any signs of movement. In front of you, behind you," Hitch instructed as he looked around. However, he didn't notice that all the rest fell into trap doors on the floor where they stood. "We need to be completely aware of our surroundings. Because if we’re not paying attention…" he kept going as he turned around to face the others. "... We could be in big…" he stopped when he saw with panic that his friends were gone and the trap doors below were open. "...Trouble," he finished, right before he fell into a trap door as well, screaming in panic.

Hitch fell through the trap and screamed a bit before he fell right on a chair that cushioned his landing, leaving him dizzy from the fall.

It then reveals that the Mane 5 and Team Sonic, who is a little frazzled and shocked except for Izzy, who is smiling, is sitting on what looks like a dinner table with snacks.

"How cute is this?!" Izzy cheered in excitement as she grabbed some of the snacks on the table. "Somepony invited us to a Tea Party! And these donuts look delicious! Maybe not as fine a vintage as the ones earlier, but C’est La Vie," she added.

"I think this is more of a filly-napping than a party invitation, Izzy," Zipp pointed out while sweating nervously, wondering who kidnapped them.

"Man, I like surprise parties, but this sucks!" Knuckles yelled with a frown looking around with his guard up.

Izzy then picked up a card with her name on it. "Would a Filly-Napper have made us homemade place cards?" she questioned Zipp.

"You don't want to know the answer, Izz," Sonic said with a deep, serious voice and a frown, looking around with his guard up like Knuckles.

"Reginald Fursome is the one who made those place cards," a voice suddenly said to the group.

They all felt surprised when they heard that voice, and they turned to see an Opossum on the floor with a card around his neck. "Meep," it said to the group before gesturing behind him on who spoke to them.

And they saw how a hoof came out from a cave entrance as Reginald ran to its owner. "He’s an annoyingly needy kind of creature…" he said, revealing himself completely. He was a very weird creature: he had a lion arm, an eagle arm, a dragon leg and tail, a horse leg, a serpent body, and a pony head. "... And will ‘Meep’ at the top of his lungs when he eats berries on the carpet, even though I tell him that juice is hard to scrub out," he continued, as Fursome smiled with pride. "But unfortunately, he also has a very creative eye. My old friend Fluttershy used to say all opossums do. And I’ve learned that if you’re not paying attention to Fluttershy, you’re not paying attention to what matters," he finished.

"What the actual heck is that thing?!" Knuckles yelled as he got up and stood in a fighting position.

Sunny gasped in shock at who she saw as she pointed a hoof at him. "You're DISCORD!” she cried out in awe. “The Discord! The lord of chaos, who was friends with Fluttershy, who helped Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Thorax to save everypony from the Changelings!” she squealed excitedly since she had read about him in her father’s notes.

"Excuse me, did she just say' Lord of Chaos'?" Tails asked, fearful and confused.

Discord came closer to Sunny, covering her mouth with her hooves and having stars in her eyes, while the others looked suspicious about him, except for Izzy, who was eating a donut. "And you are Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, Izzy, Zipp..." he stopped in midsentence as he looked at Team Sonic. "...Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles," he finished as he looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Never thought we would have a connection with your dimension, Sonic," he spoke as Sonic stared at him with a frown.

"You know about us, huh?" Sonic mocked. "Pretty wise for an old man who seems to have lived isolated from the world for the past few centuries, if you ask me," he said with a smirk.

"I'm the lord of chaos, young man. I know about every reality, yours included," Discord replied, rolling his eyes. "And your presence in Equestria cannot be ignored since you should not be here, neither your friends nor your enemies," he added.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Knuckles intervened.

"I could explain, but I don't think a knucklehead like you would understand," Discord replied with a smirk.

"Repeat that, you son of a––" Knuckles was about to sweat as he raised a punch to the creature.

However, Sonic stepped in and put a hand over Knuckles's chest to stop him. "Easy, Knuckles!" he said to the Echidna as Knuckles started to calm down. "It's not worth it..." he said, then looked at Discord with a deathly stare. "... Yet," he added as Knuckles huffed and sat down.

"There’s nopony who comes to Canterlot without me knowing about it, and… usually there’s nopony who comes…" Discord kept going. Then he stood up straight with a cheery smile. "... But today’s an exception. I’m so delighted you could all make it to my little soiree!" he cheered happily, glad he finally saw ponies after all these years.

"Woof!" Cloudpuff barked at Discord while the others were still unsure about this, except for Izzy.

Izzy leaned her head closer to Zipp while still eating the donut. "You see. It was an invitation," she said to Zipp, but she still did not buy what Discord said.

Discord grabbed a teacup and took a bite out of it. While he chewed the piece, Sunny barely kept her excitement in check. "Mr. Discord, I have so many questions to ask you---Like, so many," she said to him, wanting to ask so many things. "But first, we need your help. One of the Unity Crystals was stolen. And we followed the thief here to Canterlot. You wouldn’t happen to have seen the thief around here, would you?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

Zipp and Pipp placed their hooves on their heads, thinking Sunny should not have asked about that to him. "Smooth," Pipp said as she twirled her phone around.

Discord placed the broken teacup down and looked at Sunny with a smile. "The thief is exactly why we’re having this soiree! There is so much to tell, and it all begins with a dramatic story," he said to Sunny as he placed his eagle arm up and snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. "There goes my magic glitching out again. Standby!" he said to the others. He then cracked his hands in a stretch as Fursome came over him with a rope. Discord pulled the rope down, and suddenly, a stage appeared when the tarps cleared out, and Discord somehow moved to the stage and stroked a pose.

The Mane 5 and Team Sonic stared in confusion, except for Sunny - since she knew about Discord’s magic from her dad's notes -Izzy, and Sonic since he has seen much crazy stuff and didn't find those things weird.

Hitch held up a pamphlet about Discord that suddenly appeared on his hooves. "Has that stage been there the whole time?" he asked, a little shocked.

"How does this freak do that?" Knuckles questioned with confusion.

"Man, my head's spinning with so many things going on..." Tails complained as he held his head with his hands.

"That lightning is completely oversaturating him. It’s very unflattering," Pipp pointed out in the details about the stage.

Izzy then grabbed some popcorn out of nowhere and munched some. "Anypony want popcorn?" she asked her friends as Sonic took some and ate, still staring at Discord with a frown.

Fursome started playing music, and a scroll appeared in front of Discord as he read it out loud. "While age has been exceedingly kind to this handsome Lord of Chaos, many moons ago, when I was but a spry draconequus, I was part of a high-flying group," he said as he started to remember.

Discord had a vision of the Mane 6, the Elements of Harmony, back in the day in the 30 years after the final battle with the Legion of Doom.

"It was Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and me fighting the good fight," Discord told them. "Our fans called us the Mane-Ificent 7," he said, even though it’s not true, but he wanted to be in the picture as well.

Sunny whispered to Hitch and Sonic next to her with a smug look.

"The history books might have a few corrections on that one," Sunny whispered to them.

Fursome then approached Sunny with a sign that said, 'Save your comments until the end, Sunny. ' Sunny looked at the sign with confusion.

"Did you just have that sign ready to go?" Sunny questioned Fursome, who then turned the sign around that now reads 'Yes, we did, Sunny' on it, as Sunny gave a pout.

"This is some kind of chaos I'm not used to..." Sonic confessed as Fursome came to him and showed a sign that said, 'You stay quiet too, Sonic.' Sonic rolled his eyes and centered his attention back to Discord.

Discord continued his story about the ancient times of Equestria. "We were quite the heroic little team, but the truth is, when Twilight first took over as Ruler of Equestria, there wasn’t much for us to do," he pointed out since peace and harmony were all over the place. "Twilight made sure everypony in Equestria felt respected and cared for, and we all lived in---what’s the opposite of chaos? Ah. Yes,--" Discord gave his hands the, 'And I quote' gesture. "--Harmony" he finished with a little annoyance.

"During those quiet years, Fluttershy and I created an animal sanctuary and took a few proteges under our wings," Discord said. "We taught them to care for all the creatures of the Everfree Forest. It was pure and utter bliss," he added with a nostalgic tone. However, something he remembered somepony that made his voice go serious. "Until a wicked pony came along…" he added with a frown. "... One who caused pandemonium with her false ideas of a Perfect Equestria," he explained. Discord decided to show a vision of the pony skipping in front of Fluttershy and the pony next to her when they were about to buy some flowers. "Those who listened to her started believing some races of pony were better than others simply because of the magical abilities they possessed," he said as Fluttershy and the pony glared at the line cutter.

"So sorry, but you need to wait your turn like everypony else," Fluttershy retorted softly to the unicorn.

However, that unicorn stared back at Fluttershy. "Unicorns have better things to do than wait in line," she retorted back at her, and then she shoved Fluttershy to the ground and walked away. That shocked the ponies around her as Discord showed up to comfort her.

"It’s okay," Discord said, comforting Fluttershy, who was about to cry.

"But it was far from okay," Discord kept telling, showing them the ponies around Ponyville arguing and complaining about each tribe. "One instance led to another, and soon ponykind found themselves divided," he told them. And then came a scene at the sanctuary where Discord and Fluttershy discovered they’d lost their proteges. "Our filly proteges stopped attending our sessions…" Discord said in a sad tone. "It was all very upsetting, but I knew I had it together for Fluttershy." Discord boasts, but he made that up since he wailed his tears out, and Fluttershy tried to comfort him.

And then it showed Discord, Fluttershy, and a couple of ponies, trying to outrun and fly away from a dark, thundering cloud attacking Equestria. "Then truly terrible things happened. Much which is far too frightful to describe. Things in Equestria became even more divided," he pointed out, as the scene turned to Twilight and her friends. Twilight cast a magic spell from a book she used to create the three Unity Crystals. "To ensure magic never again pitted unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies against one another, Twilight gathered all the world’s magic and placed it in three crystals.” Discord revealed. "As long as these three crystals were protected, and all Ponykind lived in harmony, magic would be kept alive and well in Equestria" he finished his story.

Once Discord finished the story, he sat on the stage and started tearing up from telling them about his past, missing his friends and Fluttershy. Fursome held up a sign that said 'Applause' as Pipp and Zipp applauded. Zipp and Hitch looked at each other strangely; Sonic kept staring at him with a soft look now, while the others just looked at Discord.

Sunny came up in front of Discord. "So Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy created the crystals…" Sunny stated, knowing where the crystals come from and who made them from what Discord told them. "Discord, you need to help us get that missing crystal back so we can keep magic alive and protect their legacy," she pled, convinced that taking the crystal back would protect Twilight's legacy.

Discord then gave her a look. "My dear Sunny, that’s not what I wanted you to take from my story," he confessed, seeing that Sunny didn't take the message clear. "I told it to you so you might question if society without magic might be a more peaceful one," he revealed the actual reason for the story.

Sonic felt time stop around him as he started to add two and two together. All that compassion and sympathy he felt for Discord a few moments ago vanished as he realized what had happened. "That big piece of—–" he tried to say, but a voice cut him off.

"Watch your mouth, young man," Discord said to him as Sonic blinked twice, not getting how Discord was moving as fast as him.

"H-How?" Sonic asked.

"Are you deaf or something?" Discord asked while he rolled his eyes. "I'm the lord of chaos. I can control time and space as well, Sonic. You're not as special as you think," he pointed out.

"What's gotten into you, freak?" Sonic asked the creature. "What do you win out of all of this?" he questioned, not getting what Discord could get by stealing the pegasus crystal.

"That's none of your business. You should be more worried about getting home, not complain about other ponies' problems," Discord stated to him.

"These ponies are my friends, and what concerns them concern me, no matter if they're from other dimensions or not," Sonic assured with a frown. "And why do you care about me and my friends being here, anyway?" he asked. However, something made 'click' on his mind as he stared angrily at Discord. "You... are the Lord of Chaos... What did you do to the Chaos Emeralds?!" he shouted.

"Nothing," Discord replied with calm. "I wonder what happens to them as well. But I can tell you one thing, Sonic: the remaining Emerald it's here in Equestria... but not at the same time," Discord said in a dramatic tone.

Sonic stared at him for a few seconds before speaking again. "What the actual f*** does that mean?" he asked, confused.

"You'll have to find out with time, Hedgehog," he replied with a smirk. Snapping his fingers, time returned to normal. Sonic now was now confused, and he glared at him once again.

Sunny gasped after hearing Discord's actual purpose in the story. "Wait," Sunny said, now realizing what Discord means. "You stole the Pegasus Crystal!" she called out and pointed at him.

"When you reunited the Crystals and restored magic, I panicked. I didn’t want ponykind to turn against one another again, so I just… took it," Discord confessed since fear took control when he stole the Crystal.

"Stole it," Hitch corrected with anger.

"Don’t anger him," Pipp advised, as he stopped Hitch with a hoof.

"What exactly are you planning on doing with the crystal now?" Zipp questioned since she didn't have a clear idea of what Discord wanted.

"I’m not sure… That’s why you’re all here!" Discord cried out to them. "It’s too big a decision for one Lord of Chaos to make his own," he confessed.

"The answer is easy. Accepting what makes ponies unique and sparkle is what creates unity. We need to embrace each pony’s magic, not strip it away from them," Sunny said confidently to Discord.

"Agreed," Hitch said.

"Same here," Pipp agreed.

"You got it, Sunny!" Zipp cheered to her friend, agreeing as well.

"The way I see it, ponies are the problem, not magic itself." Tails decided to step in, a little nervous but with enough confidence to try and change Discord's mind. "From everything you told, what I got was that chaos and disharmony made them split up and hate each other, not the magic itself," he finished, as Discord looked at him unconvincingly.

"And the ponies are getting along pretty well now," Knuckles added. "Sure, there was trouble on the way, but these guys are more united than ever; the only thing that's messing magic around is you, sir," he finished with a frown and crossed arms.

The rest minus Sonic and Izzy cheered at both of them while Discord came down to the stage and looked at Izzy and Sonic. "And what about you two? You’ve been quiet, and I would very much like to hear what you think of all this," Discord said while he looked at them.

Sonic wanted to say many things, but none were rated E for Everyone, so he held back and said something softer. "I think magic's something beautiful that can't be and should not be taken from everypony," Sonic stated, glaring at him in a way none in the group have seen before, especially Tails and Knuckles.

"I agree with Sunny and the rest. Everypony should get their magic back," Izzy replied, but Discord noticed she wasn't as excited as the rest.

"You don’t seem so sure about it, though. And I can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with you, Tails, and Knuckles' arrival in Canterlot. I’ve noticed that you three came in on your own, and I can tell that you feel off about this, Izzy," Discord replied with a concerned look.

Tails and Knuckles gulped and looked at each other with worry since they knew Izzy had fallen out in the morning.

"Oh, well, that’s because we split up so Sunny, Zipp, and Pipp could use their magic to fly above the trees, Hitch could use his magic with the forest critters, Sonic ran around the forest, and Tails and Knuckles kept me company," Izzy replied with a sheepish smile.

"And they left you behind. Only Tails and Knuckles decided to stay with you," Discord pointed out.

"It wasn’t exactly like that…" Izzy tried to counter, but deep down, she felt he was right.

"I see so much of Fluttershy in you, Izzy…" Discord said in a sad tone as he looked at her with sympathy. "... During those years, she also made excuses for others. But I could see how much it hurt her. Just like I can see how much it hurts you," he added, clearly seeing how excluded Izzy felt. "It’s hard to feel left behind because of the magic you don’t possess," he said, remembering the conversation between Izzy, Tails, and Knuckles before they entered Canterlot.

Discord's expression changed as he clenched his lion hand. "But I’m going to fix it for you, Izzy," he assured, opening his claw hand and magically bringing the Pegasus Crystal. "To truly rid of division magic creates, it now seems there is only one answer: No more mutants," he said, while the Mane 5 stared at him confused, and Team Sonic looked with boring expressions since they got the reference, even Sonic. "I kid. I kid. I must destroy the Crystal and get rid of magic once and for all," he declared, earning shocked expressions from the rest, especially from Izzy since Discord was doing this for her now.

The whole group gave determinate looks at Discord. "That’s not going to happen on our watch," Sunny declared as she summoned her alicorn magic. "Come on, ponies. Let's make sure this number’s a real showstopper," she stated as they stood ready and flew straight to Discord to get the Pegasus Crystal back.

"Finally!" Sonic yelled with a smirk as he charged his SpinDash towards Discord while Sunny also charged against him.

Discord turned to Sunny and Sonic with a smug grin. "You love Canterlot History, Sunny. Let me teach you about chaos magic!" he called out as he snapped his fingers.

Sunny reappeared on the stage with her hooves tied to strings like puppets, shocking Sunny.

"Sunny!" Hitch called Sunny about what Discord had just done to her.

On the other hand, Sonic got his attack redirected as he crashed into a rock wall and lay down on the ground, looking at Discord in shock. "He... he dodged my SpinDash... no one could've ever done that before..." he whispered to himself, both amazed and terrified. "How powerful is this guy?!" he asked with genuine fear.

"Sonic!" both Pipp and Tails yelled, but Tails did not stay there and pulled out a gun with a ned as he shot the net to Discord, but the creature snapped his fingers, and the net trapped Tails instead.

"Oh, come on!" Tails complained.

Knuckles tried to attack Discord from the back, but Discord snapped again, and Knuckles crashed into a wall as well, as he fell on the ground and growled. "Man, I feel like in 2017 again..." he yelled in frustration.

Izzy gave off a determined look and used her magic to levitate the snacks from the table. "You let Sunny go, Discord!" she demanded, but then her magic glitched out again, releasing the snacks from her magic grip as they fell to the ground and got some on the Mane 5 and Cloudpuff.

Pipp glared at Izzy. "I’m sticky. Why is this happening to me?" she called out rhetorically while Izzy rubbed her arm in embarrassment.

"Enough of this," Discord said, as he snapped his fingers again, trapping the Mane 5 and Team Sonic in robes and keeping them secure from attacking him.

"Even if you destroy the crystal, Twilight’s magic is too powerful. There’s no way to break her protective spell," Sunny declared confidently.

But Discord just smirked at her. "No way that we know of yet. But Twilight taught me the power of a little research. I’m sure I’ll figure something out," he assured as he snapped out of the cave. However, his voice could still be heard. "The theater can be an emotional experience for everypony. You’ve been a wonderful---if not rowdy---audience," he declared with a playful tone. "And it's been a pleasure to meet some people from another dimension, especially the blue one," he added, which caused Sonic to react once again as he frowned angrily. "I hope we reunite for another tea party during more peaceful times," Discord finished his voice fading away.

The Mane 5 and Team Sonic stood silently for a few minutes until Knuckles broke the silence with a bored expression.

"Yeah, this is stupid," he said, as he just separated his hands as if they were not tied up, freed his feet, and then started to break the ropes of the rest. Cloudpuff came out of the stage curtains and started to free the rest.

Sunny said with an anxious expression, "He’s going to figure out how to destroy the crystal, and if we don’t stop him in time, we’ll lose our magic forever."

Sonic, on the other hand, never felt so mad before. Not even when Eggman said he wanted to rule another dimension, no. It was even worse than that.

'Whoever this guy is... he knows something about the Chaos Emeralds... and I'm gonna find out what it is.'

He then looked at the rest, who were worried about the situation, as he remembered his promise not long ago.

'But I'm not doing this search alone.'

To be continued...

Author's Note

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter! :twilightsmile:

Epilogue: Echoes from the Past

Green Hills - 26 Years Ago...

A blue blur passed, running by at top speed around Green Hills.

You might think this is our beloved Blue Blur, who's been fighting Dr. Eggman since he was young, right?

Well, you're mistaken. This is a blue blur... just not the one we already know. This blue blur was just as fast as ours... but he was a dark blue hedgehog with green eyes and fully brown shoes and gloves.

He's as confident as Sonic, but he's not as reckless or careless as him. He does everything he can to protect his people, and now more than ever, since his wife will give birth to their son soon enough, he's training more than ever to protect his village and his people.

But why is he running right now? Unlike Sonic, he isn't running because of fun or because he's as free as the wind. He is running because he's trying to hide and dodge a bunch of arrows that are being thrown at him.

He moved around the forest at fast paste, jumping over branches and rocks, sliding under some places that allowed him to, curling into a ball to fit in areas where the arrows would never reach him, and even grabbing some of them to throw them back at whoever was launching them.

And then, in the skies, we see a figure flying and launching the arrows at the hedgehog. He stopped once he saw himself cornered near a mountain, and the figure following him landed right behind him. The hedgehog turned around and frowned at who was behind him: a female Owl warrior with a mask covering her face, a bunch of arrows, a bow, and a long spear, which she decided to take out.

"End of the line... Jules," the woman said, pointing her spear at the hedgehog in a fighting position.

"You're not the first one who tries to intimidate me... Longclaw," Jules replied with a smirk, charging up his electrical powers. "After all, it wouldn't be the first time we dance this piece!" he pointed out in a playful tone, now positioning to run towards the owl.

Despite her face being covered by the mask, Longclaw smirked and launched herself against Jules, who also boosted against her as he curled into a ball and then tried to hit the owl lady. However, she not only dodged the attack but grabbed Jules, still curled into a ball, and then launched him back to the mountain.

After that, Jules uncurled and groaned in pain, but when he saw Longclaw charging against him again, he quickly moved away and then made a zig-zag move that moved him in the air before launching him against Longclaw, kicking her on one side.

After that, Jules charged up a Spindash and charged against Longclaw again, but the owl grabbed the spindash with her bare hands, and then she punched Jules against the floor, where he lay in pain, but once he shook his head and recovered, he saw Longclaw's spear pointing right at his neck.

She lifted the spear slightly, and Jules never closed his eyes, nor did he try to look away or run.

Was he waiting for his fate? Was this it? Was he going to die at the hands of the one who claims to be Sonic's mother?

Nope, not a single bit.

"Boop!" Longclaw said as she booped Jules' nose with her spear, making the hedgehog blush slightly in shame. "I won again, July!" Longclaw added in a mocking tone, also taking off her mask and smirking playfully at him.

"...Dang it..." Jules replied. "How's that I keep losing against you?" he asked with a smile, although he was frustrated that Longclaw defeated him again.

"I don't know; Maybe if you stopped depending so much on your Spindash, you could strike more than one miserable punch," Longclaw replied with a mocking smirk, extending her hand to Jules.

Jules stared blankly at her before smirking, rolling his eyes, and then taking Longclaw's hand to stand up. "Maybe," he said. "Still, I lost count of how many times you have defeated me already," he confessed as they both began to walk back to their village. "I mean, I doubt you have the count of—"

"48 Times," Longclaw replied with a smirk.

Jules stopped and deadpanned at her. "... You've gotta be kidding me... You seriously have a count of that?!" he asked in disbelief.

"It's not that hard when you cannot get past your Spindash to make me even a slight scratch, July," Longclaw replied in a playful tone.

"Can you please stop calling me like that?" Jules pleaded, bored as they resumed their walk. "We're not kids anymore, and we're also leaders of our tribes! You're going to embarrass me in front of them," he blushed with shame.

"Mocking you up is what I live for, July," Longclaw replied. "I'll stop calling you like that when you stop being adorable or anytime you lose against me."

Jules rolled his eyes and shook his head in negation. "And people say you're more mature than I..." he mocked.

"Oh, I am more mature than you, July. You're just too shy to admit it," Longclaw replied mockingly.

"Grow up, Longclaw," Jules replied with a blush.

Finally, after walking for what felt like an eternity, the two tribes' leaders arrived to their village: a small, hidden place on Green Hills called 'The Hidden Village'. I know, pretty original. However, the name does not matter; their inhabitants do.

You see, even though this place is hidden, it can be considered a beautiful, peaceful and normal village since usually everyone just collects resources from gardens they made by themselves, water from the nearby lake and river, and they also rely on their leaders - Jules and Longclaw - to protect them if necessary.

This last thing is exactly why certain members of both tribes are chosen to train themselves, in addition to the leaders, to fight and defend themselves to protect the village if necessary. Again, the place is very peaceful, and little to nobody ever approaches here, so they're pretty much saved for now.

However, this place is also the current location of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Now, why are all of them in this place? Years ago, an Ancient civilization arrived from space to the Hedgehogs and Owls' original home with six Chaos Emeralds, while they had the last one, thinking it was a Gem of Miracles.

They decided to give a home to this civilization, but then, an old enemy arrived and tried to destroy them forever. So, the civilization, the Hedgehogs, and Owls all traveled to another dimension - this one - and established there. That ancient civilization evolved and transformed into the Chao while the other two tribes prospered.

Now, why is all of this important, you might wonder. Well, before that enemy arrived, a prophecy said that the Chaos Emeralds will choose a blue hedgehogse their power, confront the enemy, and destroy it forever. After the enemy returned, a tradition was born among the hedgehogs: Two days after the leader's baby was born, everyone gathered around a pedestal where the baby was placed, surrounded by the seven Chaos Emeralds.

If the seven of them shine bright and dance around the baby, it means that the chosen one to confront that ancient enemy has finally been born. But if it doesn't, it means that it is not yet time.

Right now, the village was preparing everything for that meeting since Jules' wife would give birth to their baby soon enough.

"I hope everything's ready for when Bernie gives birth to our little one," Jules said with worry.

"Have you thought of any name for him yet?" Longclaw asked curiously.

"Several, actually," Jules replied. "Is kinda weird, you know? We both agreed ages ago that 'Maurice' would be his second name, and that's not changing... but we cannot agree on the first one," he confessed with a sheepish smile.

"Gosh, you two are meant for each other..." Longclaw rolled her eyes and playfully shook her head. "How's it that you decided on a middle name but can't choose a normal one?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, we––" Jules tried to reply, but then he heard screams coming from his home.

Then, a brown hedgehog came out of his house and ran straight to him. "Chief, your wife! It's happening! The baby is coming!" he said with worry and concern.

Jules gasped, and in a flash, he was moving along Longclaw toward his house.

Once he entered, he found his wife Bernie on the bed, with two pink hedgehog girls at her side holding her hands, while a hedgehog with a doctor's coat was also there, and he turned to face Jules.

"Thank Chaos, you're here, chief!" the doctor said with a smile before frowning in worry. "The water broke a few minutes ago. She's fine, but I'm gonna need extra help with taking the baby out," he explained.

"I can provide help," Longclaw assured me with a determined look. "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it," she added.

"Alright, Chief. You better go and give company to your wife. She needs it today, more than ever," the doctor pointed out to Jules.

"I'vee= been preparing for this day. Just tell me what to do, Doc," Jules replied looking at his wife.

Bernie is a light blue hedgehog with a blonde fringe, purple eyes, and a green dress. Of course, her belly was bigger because of their child that soon enough would come to this world.

Jules ran to her side and kneeled, holding her hand with worry. "I'm here, Bernie! Just keep pushing, alright? I'm not leaving your side!" he assured.

Bernie smiled weakly, and soon enough, both the doctor and Longclaw arrived to start the process of bringing a new child into this world...

After 2 hours, everything worked out just fine.

Bernie was stable and recovering after pulling out, while Jules and Longclaw took a look at the newborn child: a little, blue male hedgehog that slept peacefully over his father's arms. He was weirdly born with fully black eyes, being the first of his kind since usually every other hedgehog was born with colored eyes... but they decided to let it slip for the moment.

He was so little, so adorable, so... perfect.

Once Bernie seemed to wake up,h Jules and Longclaw approached with the little hedgehog. Jules sat on the bed and extended the baby to Bernie, who carefully grabbed her son and smiled warmly at him. The baby seemed to wake up, and he giggled at the sight of his mother, which melted Bernie's heart.

"Jules... I'm just meeting our little one, and I already feel like I could die for him..." Bernie muttered with slight tears of joy, caressing her son's head, who giggled at his mother's touch.

"I'm not going to lie, Bernie: I cried a lot after 20 minutes of holding him," Jules confused with a smile, kissing Bernie's forehead.

"Sweet Chaos... he's even more perfect than I thought!" Bernie cheered with a smile.

"He's just as adorable as you, Bernie," Jules said with a smirk. "I hope he gets my attitude, ,though," he confessed in a playful tone.

"Please no," Bernie replied with a playful smirk. "I love you, Jules, but I don't need a tiny version of you running around the village," she confessed.

"I hate to interrupt this, but... you two still need a name for him, you know," Longclaw pointed out with a sheepish smile. "I mean, I get his middle name is 'Maurice,' but... what about his first name? You still haven't come up with that" she added a bit concerned.

Jules and Bernie looked at each other with worry before looking back at their kid.

"Well... we come up with a name, or at least, we think we finally found it," Jules admitted with a smile.

"Ever since our ancestors ran away from Equis and arrived here, all the leaders have had supersonic speed... but their names never actually represented that," Bernie explained.

"That's why we decided that this little guy should change that," Jules said with a smile as he tickled the baby's belly and laughed a bit.

"And well? What is his name, then?" Longclaw asked curiously.

Bernie and Jules smirked at each other before looking back at their son. "... Sonic," they said in unison.

".... Sonic Maurice Hedgehog..." Longclaw said out loud.

"Actually, could you put Maurice aside when presenting him?" Bernie requested.

"Yeah, it might be his full name, but... we want his presentation memorialized!" Jules pointed out with a smirk.

Longclaw smirked and shook her head in disbelief. "Alright, then. We'll present the village their new and future leader: Sonic the Hedgehog" she stated with a smile.

TO BE CONTINUED IN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG X MY LITTLE PONY: MAKE YOUR MARK - SEASON 2

Author's Note

These epilogues tease up what's coming on Season 2.

This second one happens in the past, true... but I think you'll get better context on the next two stories (both Season 2 and the Frontiers one).

Thanks to JD1 for editing this chapter! :twilightsmile: