"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!