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!