Universe 220822

Sunny was sitting down at Green Hills' beach, looking at the sun rising in the horizon.

Whenever Sonic talked about Mobius and all the wonderful places it had, he always did it with so much pride for his home, as well as with a huge smile. Now she understands why: This place was, in fact, very beautiful, and she wonders why he never presumed it more.

Speaking of Sonic... She was concerned for him. It didn't mattered if Buffon, Firefly and Hooves were looking after him along Classic, Tails X and Boom: She was worried that they could fail and even get captured as well.

If that was case, then how could she help Sonic, then? And how could she face Opaline? Sure, she's an Alicorn, but considering that Opaline has probably gotten more powerful at this point, she couldn't imagine herself fighting against the Fire Alicorn on her own...

Like it or not, she needed help, and said help was better if it was from Sonic, because he has taken down Opaline along her... They were a great team together, and she really missed her teammate.

Suddenly, she felt like somepony was behind her, so she turned around slightly, but then smiled sweetly when she saw Hitch and Sparky approaching her.

"Mind if I make you some company?" Hitch asked with a mocking smirk. "Or you wanna stay alone?"

Sunny fake-gasped and pretended to be offended. "And miss the chance to spent some time with my handsome coltfriend?! How crazy do you think I am, Sheriff?!"

Hitch rolled his eyes, then approached her and kissed her lips for a moment, before sitting down at her side, while Sparky got down of Hitch's back and moved over with Sunny, nuzzling his head against her chest, while Sunny giggled and hugged Sparky in a motherly way, and Hitch wrapped a hoof around her, making her rest her head on his shoulder so he could rest his head over hers.

"I've known you for pretty much my entire life, Sun... And I can tell when you're not feeling, well, so Sunny..." Hitch said with a slight chuckle, and Sunny chuckled too, but then Hitch looked at her with concern. "So tell me... What's bothering you?"

Sunny sighed and caressed Sparky's head with a hoof, while she also looked ahead to the sunrise. "...I'm worried for, well... For everything... For Sonic's safety, for how's Tails doing wherever he is, for Shadow tracking down Eggman, for Opaline taking over the multiverse... All of that."

"Yeah, I'd figured that..." Hitch confessed with a smile. "If I have to be honest? I'm also concerned about all this stuff. I mean, is one thing having to save Equestria from Opaline, but saving entire universes from her?! It's completely nuts! And yet here we are, doing our best to make our part so we can help out to stop her..." He pointed out, and Sunny smiled at him, even kissing his cheek. "You know? This kind of reminds me of when of when we went to Bridlewood to get the Unicorn Crystal. We never thought how far we'll come, nor if it would work out... We just followed our hearts."

"Yeah... And even if I got disappointed at first, finding out there was a third crystal gave me so much hope..." Sunny smiled. "But then I realized that we had to get together, not the Crystals... I wonder how the solution will show up this time around..."

"Well, it hopefully doesn't involves anyone's home getting teared down with a giant robot with its creator's face!" Hitch said with a mocking smirk.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny, Mr. Trailblazer~" Sunny mocked him back with a smirk, also slightly pushing him on his shoulder.

Hitch let out a chuckle, and then they both looked back at the horizon, while Sunny sighed relaxed and happy again.

Suddenly, she heard Sparky babbling and yawning, so she looked down at him and smiled, before taking him on her hooves and start to rock him to sleep, also humming a little tune that made the baby dragon yawn again, before he slowly closed his eyes, until he fell asleep.

"I never knew you were this good with taking care of Sparky, Sun!" Hitch told her with a smile. "Is this another of your Alicorn powers, or is this just you being the most amazing pony I know?"

That last comment made Sunny blush madly, and she looked away from Hitch embarrassed, even though she still smiled and felt flattered at his words.

"Did you just blushed?" Hitch asked mockingly.

"N-No!" Sunny replied in a defensive way.

"Yes, you did!" Hitch remarked with a grin.

"N-No, I didn't!" Sunny complained, looking back at him and still blushing.

Hitch rolled his eyes at her stubborn attitude, but he'll be lying if he said he didn't found it attractive... After all, her stubbornness is the very reason why he followed her when she became a "criminal", because he needed to make sure that she'll be fine.

Well, that, and he wanted to bring her to justice since back then helping out a unicorn was considered illegal, but you already know how that story ended.

"I've also been thinking about... us..." Sunny confessed one more time.

"Huh?" Hitch said confused, looking down at his marefriend with a raised eyebrow.

Sunny giggled at Hitch's obliviousness, although she also found it quite charming. "What I mean to say is... I've been thinking on what's next for us. You know, once Opaline is defeated and the whole ordeal of our Mobian friends staying in Equestria or not is solved."

"Oh!" Hitch said again, now getting what she's talking about. "Well... I may be saying something controversial, but... I believe we all will go on our own paths... For real this time..."

Sunny's ears perked up, and she looked at Hitch confused. "What do you mean?"

"Considering all the crazy stuff we've lived for the past three years, maybe when all is over, each one is taking their own route... But permanently," Hitch explained. "I'm not saying it will happen, but... It could..."

Sunny didn't liked to think on the idea of separating from her friends so they could all make their lives on their own... But she had to admit that maybe Hitch was right. After all, with Opaline defeated, and with Eggman as well hopefully, maybe everyone would want to go on their own, make their own lives.

"...Do you think that means we'll get married?" Sunny asked with a playful smirk, as she looked at Hitch at her side.

Hitch deadpanned at her, instead of freaking out or blushing a lot like she expected him to.

"What?" Sunny asked, still smirking playfully, but all Hitch did was raise an eyebrow. "Aw, come on, Hitchy. You can't say you haven't thought on the possibility!"

"I have, that's true, but it doesn't mean I completely believe we will," Hitch replied. "Besides, don't you think getting married when the journey is over is kind of a cliché at this point? I'm not saying it'll be bad, but... Maybe we should avoid until we're both ready?"

"Huh?" Sunny said with wide eyes. "A-Are you not ready?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, Sun. I love you, and I love Sparky, too. Nothing would make me happier than call you my 'Ms. Trailblazer'~" Hitch said with a flirty tone that made Sunny go red. "But... I don't wanna rush things out. Sure, it took us a long time to get together as a couple, but thinking about marriage? Are you absolutely sure we're ready for that?"

Sunny opened her mouth to reply, but then she closed it when she realized Hitch's point. Yes, they were together now; and yes, they took a long time to do so... That didn't meant they had to get married immediately. They could take their time still, and no one could tell them otherwise.

It was their decision, at the end of the day.

So, Sunny smiled and looked at her coltfriend. "...You're right, Hitch. There's no need to rush our relationship. We can take as much time as we need!"

"And I'll be glad to come at you with the question in the right moment, when we're both ready for it," Hitch assured her with a smile.

They shared another kiss after that, and they didn't cared for anything else in the world, or in the multiverse in general. Right here, right now? It was just them and their baby dragon. Nothing else mattered.

In another random zone of Green Hills, a portal suddenly opened up.

From it, Team Anomaly and Sonic came out, arriving to their destination after successfully saving Sonic from the HQ, and he could confirm they were in his universe, because neither his arm nor his shoes were glowing with any Prismatic Energy out of control.

Sonic seemed glad that his energy was under control, but then he looked ahead and noticed that, instead of appearing in Equestria, they were back in Green Hills.

"Wait a second... Why the hell are we in Green Hills?!" Sonic asked, confused and a bit startled.

"Because this is the last place we were before going to save you," Tails X pointed out. "Your friends were here last time we were here."

"Okay, I understand that, but why do I appeared here if I was in Equestria last time?" Sonic was more specific with his question.

"That's how dimensions and multiversal travel works!" Dr. Hooves replied with a smile. "Our watches not only allow us to travel to different universes, but also to different dimensions among that same world! Why do you think we came here to Mobius and not to Equestria when we wanted to talk with your friends?"

"Or why are we here instead of Equestria!" Classic Sonic pointed out as well.

"...Wait... Are you guys telling me that this is still my universe... Just another dimension?" Sonic asked confused and startled, but also feeling hopeful about something he thought that was impossible.

"Pretty much," Buffon replied uninterested, as he walked pass him.

Sonic stopped walking ahead to let this information sink on his brain. He always thought that he knew about the multiverse, that he has travelled to other worlds either to participate on the Olympic Games with Mario and company, or to represent his 'universe' in the Super Smash Bros. tournaments... But now, he's learning that he's always been in the same universe, and he only travelled to other dimensions... That includes Equestria.

It was hard to describe how he was feeling. Happy? Confused? At the edge of tears? All the above?

These mixed feeling also made him remember when Chip talked about the Nexus Events... A universe could either collide against another, fuse, or both could stop existing... But none of that applies to his world.

The reason why Chip could never tell what kind of thing was happening to his world was not because they were probably before a new kind of Nexus Event, but because his world and Equestria aren't different universes, but instead they are different dimensions...

"...I can stay in Equestria... And nothing bad would ever happen..." Sonic muttered to himself, still not knowing if he should be happy or confused on how it is possible... But it is, and that's all that matters.

"Yeah, I supposed you'll react like that." Boom Sonic said with a smile, as he approached him. "I honestly thought you knew that, so you can't be mad at me for not telling you something this time around!"

Sonic looked over at him, and instead of feeling mad or anything, he simply wrapped Boom into a hug, even including Aurora as well on it.

The baby babbled happily and placed her small hands on Sonic's face, while Boom ended up wrapping his arms around Sonic, and that made the Blue Blur smile and let out some tears of joy, not giving a damn for crying out in public.

"I'm still mad with you for not telling me about the Canon stuff..." Sonic muttered under his breath, but never broke the hug.

"Yeah, I know... I deserve it, anyways." Boom Sonic admitted with an eye roll, but also still smiling.

Soon, Sonic broke the hug and wiped his tears away, then he looked down at the floor with a smile... Just knowing that he could stay in Equestria, with his new friends, with Pipp... It was hard not to feel happy... And yet, he came to notice how dirty his gloves and shoes looked now.

"Okay, why the heck does this still happens?" Sonic asked with a deadpan, grabbing one of his shoes and looking at it with concern. "I seriously gotta tell Tails to check on that polymer... Is loosing its effect..."

"Question out of curiosity, but where are going, exactly?" Firefly decided to ask. "If you guys haven't noticed, we're just in the middle of Green Hills... Where do we have to go, again?"

"To reunite with the rest," Buffon pointed out, then he looked at Sonic. "Your friends are expecting you."

"Right... I, uh... I still don't know how to thank you, guys, for saving my butt back there," Sonic said with a smile. "I thought for a second that I'll never see the light of day again... I'm grateful for you all."

"Well, we made the little mistake of joining a Society that we thought was doing the right thing, but letting a bunch of people die just because "it had to happen"... Yeah, that's pretty messed up..." Classic Sonic pointed out.

"Besides, you went to our worlds and helped us against our Eggmans!" Tails X pointed out from inside his mech with a smile. "We had to repay your help somehow!"

"It wasn't necessary to repay me, you know?" Sonic said with a sheepish smile, also scratching his neck a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, but it was!" Classic Sonic said, as he zoomed at his side. "Thanks to you, my universe is safe from Robotnik, and now we don't have to worry for him ever again! Sure, I missed doing hero stuff before FS went to recruit me, but knowing I'll be happy with Sally? Sign me in!"

"And you helped my world to face off Eggman, even if he wasn't the same Eggman from your universe!" Tails X pointed out as well, as he got out of his mech and approached Sonic. "You may feel we don't owe you one for helping our universes, but we did! And now you're free and can take charge of the situation, right?"

Sonic felt a lot better after hearing Classic and Tails X's words, so he smiled and nodded with a determinate look. "Right! Can't leave any of you guys hanging on your own! Besides, there's still an Opaline we gotta catch! And if Sunset is as willing to you to make up for me, then we better get to Tails' lab and start planning out our counter attack!"

"Now that's the spirit!" Boom Sonic said with a smile, but then he smelled that something was off, then he looked down at Aurora on his kangaroo and cringed. "Ugh... And I hope you have a really well secured trash can, 'cause this baby needs a change of diaper..."

Sonic chuckled and rolled his eyes at Boom's father attitude, although he'll lie if he said he didn't felt happy for him. Who knew, maybe he'll be on his place one day, but married with Pipp instead.

Suddenly, though, his quills vibrated, and he took out his phone from there, but then his quills vibrated again, so he took out his other phone, the one that allows him to talk with anyone from within any dimension of that said universe, and he saw he got a message from Mario.

"Huh... That's weird..." Sonic muttered with a raised eyebrow.

Soon, he opened the message and started to read it... But the more he advanced on it, the more his eyes widened, and the more panic he felt.

"What the heck is Tails even thinking?!" Sonic exclaimed out loud in horror.

"Huh?" Boom Sonic said confused.

"What's the matter?" Tails X asked.

"You are the matter!" Sonic replied, before realizing what he said, so he shook his head and corrected himself. "Well, not you... The you of this universe! He's doing something so stupid that could get him killed if I don't go right now!"

After saying that, he was about to boost away, but Buffon stopped him with an arm.

"Don't forget your friends are expecting you, Hedgehog..." Buffon reminded him, at first without looking at him, but then he did. "You can't just pass by them without explaining yourself."

"Then hopefully they're not there!" Sonic said with a frown, as he moved Buffon's arm away, but before boosting, he turned to Team Anomaly. "I'm really sorry to leave like this, but my best friend could be in danger, and I'm still on time to avoid he dies... If you guys see my friends here in Green Hills in case I don't, tell them I'm sorry for not saying hi, but I really need to help Tails!"

After that, he boosted away and waited for no response, leaving Team Anomaly confused and concerned for him.

Sonic himself knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he seriously wanted to avoid Tails' death if possible. After all, if he changes his own Canon, nothing bad is supposed to happen.

As he ran through Green Hills, he couldn't help but smile. Yes, he likes Equestria and wants to stay there, but his own dimension, this place, is still his home. And he missed it... Maybe he never said it out loud to not concern anyone, specially Pipp, but he missed it a lot.

Running over loop-de-loops, across several forests, and even over the falling spaces whenever he simply stood over them... He missed Green Hills, no doubt.

Too bad he can't stay to appreciate his home so much, because he needed to go and see that Tails is fine. So, once he reached Tails' lab, he went over the frame of Longclaw, Tails and him when they were kids, and even if Sonic smiled at the sight, he still moved the frame aside and pressed the Super Mushroom button.

When the piano appeared, he quickly played the happy little melody for 40 seconds, and then, the green pipe appeared in the ground.

He didn't thought twice, curled into a ball and then jumped into the pipe, while the pipe made a strange sound and then disappeared. Once it did, though, the door that leads to the kitchen opened, and Pipp popped her head, confused on what the hell she just heard.

"Huh... I could swear I heard something..." Pipp told herself confused.

She decided to shrug it and then went back into the kitchen, since she was there with the rest of Team A... None of them noticed Sonic was there, and now he's on his way to the Mushroom Kingdom...

Meanwhile, in another dimension...

Bowser's Castle was one of the most dangerous places that anyone could ever imagine.

From the outside, the Castle has a gloomy appearance that could give anyone with the slightest ability to see a bad feeling. Just above the main gate of the castle, there is a statue with the face of the Koopa King, and the top of the tallest tower resembles the shell of a turtle. Surrounding the towers are gigantic replicas of the spiked bracelets Bowser wears.

The top of the other towers was green and pointed, like a stake ready to pierce anyone, and there were also several windows surrounding the building. They were probably the only thing not so scary about this castle.

And to make it clear that this is Bowser's Castle, several koopas were positioned on the towers with Bullet Bill cannons, ready to be launched in case they were under attack. Of course, the koopas find this unnecessary, but they also know that some smartass will always try to take on Bowser... Even if they die trying.

Now, the koopas have seen a lot of crazy stuff in their lives, no doubt... But seeing a sudden Yellow plane fly up in the air and approach still freaked them out, specially because no one ever approached the castle like... ever.

"Uh... Should we... shoot at it or something?" One of the koopas asked confused.

"No clue... Someone go and tell the boss that we might have company!" The koopa in charge of the cannons informed. "We gotta be ready for anything..."

One of the koopas nodded and jumped off his position, before moving towards the inside of the castle and move across the alleys as fast as his feet allowed him, also deep breathing to make sure he wouldn't loose his breath.

Once he reached the doors to the throne room, two of the koopas guarding it blocked him the way, but when the koopa explained that they might be in danger of being attacked, the koopas' eyes widened, so they let him in, but not without wishing him good luck.

The koopa slowly walked down the throne room, and he did all the possible to not tremble in fear, as well as to not look at all the Bowser Statues around that seemed to face him.

Bowser implemented those statues as a psychological test for his subjects, so they could always remember who they came to see, and who they are about to talk to. The koopa gulped and hid all his face but his eyes inside his shell, and when he finally approached the throne, he stopped.

The throne was turned around, and if Bowser was sitting there, the koopa couldn't see him.

"S-Sir?" The koopa called out nervously.

"..." No voice replied, but the koopa could hear a breath, so he gulped and choose to continue.

"I-I'm sorry to be b-bothering, sir... B-But we m-might be... U-U-U-U-Under a-a-a-a-attack?" The koopa said completely nervous, still hiding all his face but his eyes.

"...Is everyone in position?" A deep, menacing and echoing voice spoke, one voice that could sent shivers down anyone's spine, and that could make anyone wet their pants in fear.

"Y-Yes, sir!" The koopa replied, getting his head out of his shell and trembling while making a salute. "W-We're just waiting for your orders!"

For a moment, there was nothing but silence in the Throne Room. But then, the throne at long last started to turn around, just to show the monstrosity sitting over it, frowning down at the koopa.

A gigantic turtle with horns, red hair and eyebrows, blue eyes, several spikes on his shell, several spiked bracelets on his arms and neck, scales covering his entire body, and huge, sharp claws on his hands and on his feet... It was Bowser, King of the Koopas.

"Then go back to your formation, soldier... And take that thing down from the sky!" Bowser instructed with a frown, also smashing his fist on his own chair.

That startled the koopa, who at first entered entirely on his shell, before immediately get out of it. "Y-Yes, sir!" The koopa replied, and he soon got out of the room while screaming in panic.

Bowser, on the other hand, stood up from his throne and smiled. "It seems like Princess Peach is willing to take the lead with the attack, huh?" He muttered to himself with glee. "Well... Good thing I'm always up for a battle!"

After that, he clapped his hands, and soon, the entire throne room began to rumble...

On the other hand, we have Tails piloting the Tornado IV... or a replica of it.

He used his powers to create the plane, and while he piloted it, Misty and Izzy sat on the same place behind him, and behind the two mares, Princess Peach was sitting. That left Knuckles riding the plane's wing, Zipp flying, and the Mario Bros using tanooki suits to fly as well.

"We're just arriving to Bowser's Castle!" Tails instructed. "Be prepared to jump if necessary!"

"Jump?!" Misty exclaimed in panic. "Why would we need to jump?!"

However, before Tails could give her a proper answer, the koopas down in the castle pointed the cannons at them.

"FIRE!" The koopa in charge instructed.

With this, all the bullet bills in the cannons were launched against the group of heroes, but Tails knew this was going to happen, so he started to make evasive maneuvers in the air.

"Does that answers your question?!" Tails told Misty, as he kept dodging the Bullet Bills.

Soon, he made the plane dive towards the Castle's frontal zone, and he crashed it against the koopas and the Bullet Bill's cannons, but that also made the ones on the plane jump before it crashed, as Misty and Izzy levitated with their magic, Tails used his tails to fly, Knuckles glided in the air, and Peach used her dress to float, before politely landing on the floor as well.

Then, Zipp and the Mario Bros. landed as well, and they found themselves facing off a bunch of koopas, goombas, spikes, lakitus, more Bullet Bill cannons, and even Piranha Plants coming out of some pipes.

"Why are there so many pipes in here?" Zipp deadpanned.

"Come on, Luigi! Let's-a-go!" Mario said with a smile, as he flew towards the enemies.

"Okie-dokie!" Luigi replied with a smile as well, following his elder brother towards the battle.

Peach also followed along, while Tails smirked and looked back at the mares of the group. "Remember what Mario did with that mushroom back in the training course?!"

"That he became big after eating it?" Misty questioned, and Tails nodded. "Yeah... Why is it important?"

"Because those boxes have thousands of power-ups like that mushroom!" Knuckles pointed at all the Mystery (?) Boxes floating across the Castle.

"No matter what they do: Pick them up and start attacking those things!" Tails added as well.

"If it's gonna help us recruiting that Bowser guy, then I'll do it with pleasure!" Zipp stated.

"Please give me a red mushroom, please give me a red mushroom, please give me a red mushroom!" Izzy begged silently.

And so, the group of heroes began to fight against Bowser's minions.

On one hand, Mario and Luigi used their Tanooki suits to fly around and flip their tails to hit enemies constantly, even coming to a point where they made a combo that gave them both a 1-Up.

As they did so, Peach hit one of the Mystery Blocks and got an Ice Flower, which changed her dress to color blue and gave her a ponytail, while she started to launch ice balls against the enemies, and even made a small ice road on the lava around to dodge enemies and even trick them to fall in the lava.

Meanwhile, Tails used his powers and created a big explosive barrel that he launchd to the air, while Zipp flew, made a twirl, and then pushed the barrel so it would roll ahead against the enemies, even exploding and making them fly in the air in panic.

Then, Knuckles moved ahead and jumped, hitting a Mystery Box that gave him a red mushroom. He then saw a Mystery Box in the ground, so he kicked it to the air.

Tails hit the Mystery Box this time around, making a Fire Flower came out, so he clapped his hands on it and got the power-up, turning his yellow fur into red, while his shoes turned fully white with a yellow zone.

"Oh yeah!" Tails cheered, before extending his arms and creating a pair of fire balls. "FIRE!"

Meanwhile, Knuckles ate the Super Mushroom and grew significantly, before the two Mobians moved ahead and started to attack enemies as well, with tails flying and throwing fireballs like a maniac, while Knuckles jumped over the enemies, kicked some koopas when they hid on their shells after getting hit, and even made a ground pound.

"Guess we gotta try, too!" Zipp said with a smile, as she flew ahead, while Izzy and Misty followed along.

Soon, Zipp hit a Mystery Box with her hooves, which released a Cape Feather, and when she grabbed the item, a cape appeared around her.

Of course, this both confused and disappointed her, but as soon as she figured that when she spins in the air, the cape moves like some kind of whip and attacks, she smirked, and soon, she started to fly around to hit all the Lakitus and Paratroopas she could with her new power-up.

Meanwhile, Izzy levitated a green koopa shell and hit a Mystery Box as well, which released an orange mushroom with eyes that had a propeller on the head and flew around.

Izzy jumped and grabbed the item, squeezing it with her hooves so it would transform her as well, but as soon a she got a purple suit and a helmet with a propeller, she panicked when she noticed that she was heading towards the lava, so she spin and... elevated in the air.

Her new power-up allowed her to fly, and thanks to it, she could levitate enemies and make them twirl in the air along her, which of course made them all dizzy.

The only one left was Misty, who managed to jump and hit a Mystery Box with her hoof as well. The item that came out of it was a brown leave that tried to fly away, and even though Misty tried to grab it but missed a few times, she eventually clapped it with her hooves and transformed.

She got a similar suit to Mario and Luigi's, although it still showed off her horn, but she didn't seemed to mind.

"Uh, what does this does again–– Whoa!" Misty exclaimed surprised when her tail started to twirl around and elevated her in the air, just the same way Tails' tails elevate him off the ground.

However, as her Tanooki suit moved her wildly, she hit some Paratroopas and Lakitus in the air by mistake, until she finally got some control of her new power-up and twirled her tail by will, hitting a Lakitu and launching him off his cloud, which made Misty smile and giggle at her accomplishment.

"Hey, nice suit, Mist!" Tails complimented her with a smile, as he kept flying around and hit some spikes and goombas with fireballs.

"Really?!" Misty asked excited, as she followed him and twirled her tail again to hit a Paratroopa away.

"Who needs flying when you can smash... LIKE A GIANT?!" Knuckles said suddenly from the ground with a smirk, as he jumped highly charged his electrical powers and then dived to the floor, punching it and causing the whole castle to rumble, but also sending many of the enemies flying away.

"Can someone tell me why you never brought us here before?!" Izzy asked in excitement, as she kept twirling around thanks to the propeller mushroom. "This place ROCKS!"

"Blame the writer of this story for taking so long, not us!" Tails said, as he threw another fireball to a Piranha Plant that tried to bite him.

I'm doing my best here, okay?!

"Well, is not enough!" Knuckles said, punching a goomba out of his way, and I'm going to ignore he said that.

Soon, the group kept getting enemies out of their way, until they reached a giant door inside of the castle, the door that lead to Bowser's throne room.

Peach and Mario stood in front of the group, while the former looked at the rest of the group over her shoulder. "Be ready to knock down a very ugly turtle..."

Luigi simply nodded with a determinate look, Knuckles cracked his knuckles and charged his powers, Tails deep breathed and then looked ahead with a determinate look, also making two fireballs appear. Zipp grabbed her cape and adjusted it, while Izzy twirled the propeller on her helmet.

Misty limited herself to gulp, but then she took a deep breath and looked ahead determined, even lightening up her horn despite having the tanooki suit over.

Seeing that the rest were ready to keep going, both Mario and Peach looked ahead with frowns, as Mario stood ready for a fight, already used to deal with Bowser on his own, while Peach made two iceballs appear on her hands, before Mario began to approach the door.

He placed his hand over it, and the pushed it open and revealing the throne room, which had changed significantly compared to how it used to look when the koopa came in earlier.

Before, the Bowser Statues were all in a row along the path that lead to the Throne were Bowser sits... Now? The statues surrounded a massive lava pool that at the same time had a small wood bridge that led to the throne, which was in the middle of all this lava.

"Keep your eyes open..." Mario warned. "Bowser could be anywhere, waiting for attacking..."

"Which would be a very Bowser move to do, if you ask me..." Knuckles deadpanned, as everyone slowly started to walk over the bridge to cross at the other side.

They all went in tippy toes, making sure not to make any loud sound that could alert the koopa king of their presence here, even though Mario already suspected he knew that if the throne room was looking like this.

"So, uh... I know you have mentioned this "Bowser guy" can be intimidating, but... How intimidating, are we talking about?" Misty asked a bit nervous.

Luigi opened his mouth to reply to her, but before he could do so, the bridge behind them broke and fell into the lava, which was bad enough already, but they soon also started to hear a maniac laugh echoing around the room, and everyone positioned to fight.

Well, everyone except Luigi and Misty, who were incredibly scared and even positioned on each others backs to, well, be scared together, I guess.

And then, a loud stomp that also made the ground rumble was heard behind Luigi and Misty, and they both panicked even more, even gulping nervously. However, when the rest turned and felt panicked too, while Zipp and Izzy went pale, they got even more nervous.

So, they choose to start turning around slowly, and they went pale as well: Bowser appeared right behind them, and he looked down at Luigi and Misty with a sinister grin.

"How intimidating I am, you ask?" Bowser told Misty with a chuckle, before showing his sharp teeth. "Well... Judge for yourself, little pony!"

There was a minute of silence, and as soon as Misty and Luigi looked at each other, and then back at Bowser... They ended up hugging each other in fear and then running back to hide behind Tails and Mario respectively, while Zipp and Izzy were as pale as Misty to see Bowser.

They've seen creatures that had genuinely scared them before, but this guy? He definitely was the most terrifying monster they've ever seen, and if he really breathes fire... They're done.

"What a lovely surprise to have you all in my humble residence!" Bowser said with a huge grin. "And here I was planning to kidnap you in a few days, Princess... But I see that won't be necessary!"

"I'm not here because I want to, Bowser!" Peach said with anger, as she made an iceball appear on her hand. "If it was for more, I would take any possible chance I get to avoid even passing near your kingdom!"

"Don't play so rude with me now, Peach," Bowser said with a frown. "Or should I remind you how many times you've been the damsel in distress before training yourself to finally be useful?!"

"Bowser, don't make me go and kick-a your f––" Mario tried to say in anger, but while Luigi stopped him by grabbing him from his arms, Tails stepped in and covered his mouth.

"We're here because I told them to come with me!" Tails spoke with a frown.

Bowser's grin and menacing look faded away to show now a very confused expression, staring at Tails up and down. Last time he saw him, he still had red shoes and the high pitched voice... Now he sounded older, mature... And the fact that his shoes looked different even with the power up also confused the Koopa King.

"...What the hell happened to your voice?" Bowser asked confused.

Tails deadpanned and facepalmed annoyed. "Why does everyone has to ask me that?!"

"Dude, you sounded like a 5 year old girl up until a year and 4 months ago..." Knuckles deadpanned as well. "I don't judge him for questioning your sudden change in voice actor."

"C-Can you guys top breaking the fourth wall and focus?!" Zipp shouted in panic.

Tails rolled his eyes annoyed and shook his head. "Look, Bowser... There's a really important reason why I wanna talk with you, but first let me ask: Do we have to beat the crap out of you so you will listen, or can we try to be polite for once and talk like persons?"

However, this last take made Bowser deadpan and then raise an eyebrow at him, which made Tails deadpan as well.

"...That means you want a fight first before listening, don't you?" Tails asked.

"You already have power-ups and have beaten the crap out of my army..." Bowser pointed out, crossing his arms. "Bold of you to assume I don't want a fight, too."

"I should've seen this coming..." Tails rolled his eyes again, before cracking his knuckles, his neck, and then frown at Bowser, while making a pair of fireballs appear on his hands. "Let's get this over with!"

With this, Bowser grinned, and then he prepared to launch a massive breath of fire.

Noticing this, Tails immediately moved Misty and Zipp apart while Knuckles did the same with Izzy, and the rest moved away on their own, just in time for Bowser to launch his breath of fire.

Seeing that the Koopa King was serious, the rest decided to take it serious as well, and even if the mares were still shocked by how Bowser looked, they knew that they still had to fight back as well, so they choose to let their fears aside and confront the giant turtle.

Speaking of him, Bowser tried to hit Knuckles with his bare fists, but the Echidna blocked the attack and punched him on his face, which made Bowser step back and groan.

And still, the Koopa King shook his head and launched fireballs from his mouth against Knuckles, which made the echidna dodge the balls and then block another attack from Bowser... But that was a distraction, because the turtle then used his tail to make Knuckles loose balance by twirling and hitting his feet with his tail.

Now, just before Knuckles could hit the ground, Bowser punched him in the face and sent him backwards, which made the echidna crash against a wall and loose his power-up with a a strange sound.

Bowser grinned and laughed at this, but then he got smashed on his head, and he groaned again in anger, so he saw upwards and noticed that Izzy was using her power-up to fly around the room and hit his head. So, Bowser launched several fireballs to the air.

Izzy noticed this and began to fly around the room with her propeller, even hitting Bowser on his head several more times, but this only made the Koopa King get furious.

Eventually, Izzy couldn't fly anymore, and she was falling towards the ground, but she never hit it, because Bowser jumped and smashed her away with his tail, making her crash against the wall as well, as she fell painfully to the ground, right besides Knuckles, also loosing her power-up.

But then, Zipp and Misty came by flight as well and began to twirl so they could hit Bowser as well, Zipp with her cape, and Misty with the Tanooki suit's tail.

And yet, this only made the Koopa King get even madder, because he grabbed Zipp from her cape and then launched her out of the window. She landed on ground, thankfully, but she also lost her power-up. Then, she tried to get up, but fell once again when Misty fell over her.

Of course, Misty also lost her power-up, and what happened is that Bowser also launched her from the window next to the one he launched Zipp before.

The warp pipe that leads to Green Hills started to shine.

Out of it, a blue ball rolled in the ground, and then said blue ball showed to be Sonic, who accelerated and turned into a Blue Blur that got lost in the distance, heading towards Bowser's Kingdom.

As he did so, her jumped and hit a Mystery Box he found near by, which made a Penguin Suit come out of it. Sonic smashed the suit with his hands, and soon the suit got on him. Then, he launched himself to the water and started to swim at fast paste under it.

One of the blesses of the Penguin Suit is that whoever puts it over gains abilities they usually don't have... Like swimming, even if they don't know how to do it.

Mario and Luigi were attacking Bowser together.

They were used to this, they're experienced on the job. They flew around with their Tanooki suits and dodged all the fireballs and breaths that Bowser was launching at them. After that, they always made sure to stomp over his head, and even tackled him down with their tails.

At some point, Mario and Luigi grabbed Bowser from his tail and twirled him a bit around. "So long, King Bowser!" Mario commented, as the brothers let him go towards one of his statues.

Bowser crashed against the statue and destroyed it, also groaning in pain, but right when the Mario Bros. landed in the ground and high-fived, they heard the power-up sound, their eyes widened in panic, and they slowly turned their heads to the place where they launched Bowser.

And then, the rubble of the statue was moved away when Bowser launched himself and landed in front of the brothers, now looking like a cat thanks to the Super Bell.

"What's the matter?! Are you two scared?!" Bowser asked with a mocking tone and a grin.

Luigi was, in fact, very scared, but even if Mario did felt intimidated, he was used to deal with Bowser. This wasn't nothing new for him, so he simply frowned and stood ready to fight. Luigi saw this and did the same, but he was still trembling a bit in fear.

"Well, then... Maybe doing this will finally put you on your damn place!" Bowser shouted in rage, before bringing out his claws and try to hit Mario and Luigi.

Both brothers jumped backwards and then landed in the ground, but then Bowser moved ahead and jumped, then stomped on the floor right in time before the brothers could move away, and that stunned them, as they vibrated while standing on one leg.

Bowser took advantage of this, so he crossed his arms like an X, and then extended them towards the brothers, hitting them on their backs and sending them towards opposite directions.

The two Mario Brothers hit the wall and painfully fell to the ground, loosing their power-ups in the process, while Bowser laughed and felt victorious... But then, he was suddenly hit in the head by Tails, who was flying around and launching fireballs on his face.

This didn't damaged Bowser a lot, but like with any power-up, one hit made him loose the effect of the Super Bell, and he groaned in rage when this happened, so he tried to hit Tails, like if he was trying to kill a big mosquito.

Sonic came out of water and jumped back in earth.

He purposely hit himself to loose the Penguin Suit power-up, and then he started to run towards Bowser's Castle, but not without hitting another Mystery Box that released an Ice Flower. So, Sonic clapped his hand on the flower and transformed with a new power-up.

His fur changed to light-blue, his shoes looked like if they were freeze'd and allowed him to skate on ice. His warm ivory chest, arms, mouth and ears changed to a sky blue color, and his quills were straight while also looking freeze'd.

With this new transformation, Sonic launched iceballs to the lava round, then began to roller skate over it as he head even faster towards Bowser's Castle.

Tails and Peach were doing their best to dodge Bowser's attacks.

The young fox recently lost his power up, so he's trying to use his own weapons against the Koopa King, while the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom managed to freeze Bowser's legs and arms for a very short moment, which always allowed Tails to hit him with Spin Dashes and a boomerang he made.

However, this also made Bowser loose his patience, and so, he got free from the ice and hit Peach with his tail, sending her backwards, as she crashed into a wall and lost her ponytail and her power-up.

Tails, on the other hand, let out a warrior cry and headed towards Bowser, but the Koopa King grabbed him from his tails and twirled him around constantly, making Tails feel dizzy, then Bowser launched him against a window, and since Tails had no control over his flight, he was heading towards the lava.

Zipp and Misty, who were still outside the castle, saw this, and they both panicked at the sight. "TAILS!!!" They both shouted desperate, tears forming in their eyes.

Meanwhile, Tails screamed in fear and panic, as he seriously couldn't make his tails work, and just when he was about to hit the lava in the ground, he closed his eyes... Just to feel that he was being saved in the last minute. This confused him, so he opened his eyes and looked around.

However, as soon as he noticed that Sonic was charging him in bridal style, also having the Ice Flower power-up, he couldn't believe it: Sonic was here, safe, free, alive.

"S-Sonic?!" Tails asked with disbelief, but also with infinite happiness.

"Tails!" Sonic replied with a huge grin, happy to have saved his friend from dying.

Of course, the vision he had along Sunny about Tails and Hitch dying said that Opaline was the responsible, but he didn't cared for that detail... He saved him, and that's all that mattered to him.

Soon, Sonic jumped in the air, but then he accidentally let Tails go, and they both rolled in the ground, although they landed in their feet. Then, they looked at each other and didn't even thought twice before embracing each other into a tight and brotherly hug.

They definitely missed each other so much, and this hug was therapeutic: Sonic was glad to have his little brother alive, and Tails finally felt like he could breath again, because Sonic was fine.

"Are you okay?!" Sonic asked, as he cut the hug for a moment to check on Tails.

"Y-Yeah!" Tails replied, at the edge of tears.

"No bones broken?!"

"N-No!"

With that out of the way, they embraced each other into a hug again, like if they never wanted to let the other go ever. They didn't cared for anything else right now, just embracing each other. After all, they'll always be at the other's side, no matter what.

They broke the hug and Tails sighed in relief, but then he noticed Sonic with the Ice Flower power-up. "Man, why do you always look cooler than any of us when getting power-ups, huh?!" He complained, although he was still smirking.

"Sonic?!" Zipp and Misty spoke behind them, and the two brothers turned to see the two mares.

"Dude, is that really you?!" Zipp asked with shock, specially by how different he looked thanks to the power-up.

"The one and only!" Sonic replied with a grin. "You can thank Boom and his pals for getting me out of the Society!"

That confirmed that he was the same Sonic, and the two mares rushed to embrace him in a hug as well, while Sonic chuckled and hugged them back. Then, they broke the hug and hugged Tails now, since they were glad that Sonic managed to save him.

However, Sonic heard a roar coming from inside the castle, then he looked at Tails with a frown. "I got a message from Mario saying you wanted to recruit Bowser! Are you nuts?!"

"Bowser has a big army, Sonic!" Tails pointed out. "And he's powerful with his fire breath! He could help us fight against Opaline!"

"And how are you so sure?!" Sonic asked.

"Because he could loose it all... And you know what I mean..." Tails replied with a determined look.

Sonic's eyes widened, and he got what Tails meant, so he looked back at the castle and then boosted inside.

There, he found Bowser holding Knuckles from his neck and showing off his claws, ready to finish him off, but Sonic charged up a Spin Dash that combined with the Power Up he had, and then he launched himself against Bowser.

Once he hit the Koopa King, Bowser let go of Knuckles, and his whole body began to get massively freeze'd because of Sonic moving around at fast paste and constantly launching Ice Balls, until the head was the only thing not freeze'd.

"Sonic?!" Everyone in the room exclaimed with wide eyes, but Knuckles and Izzy also did it with happiness.

"Sup!" Sonic said with a smile, even though he was only looking at Bowser, as he walked up to him. "Let me guess: These guys entered to your Castle, wanted to ask something, you refused because you wanted to fight, and now here you are..."

"...Yeah..." Bowser deadpanned.

"Well, I cannot blame you for wanting a fight after your army got beaten up..." Sonic confessed with his arms crossed, before frowning. "But I cannot get why you attack us when we are not the ones you should be aware of."

"What do you mean?" Bowser asked.

"There's someone out there that's taking over the entire multiverse, and if she gets powerful enough, she'll come to our reality and erase everything as we know it!" Sonic explained. "That includes you, your castle, your minions, Peach... And your son."

That last thing made Bowser's eyes widen in panic, and he felt something he never thought he'll ever feel... Fear, but not for his safety: Fear for his subjects, for Peach, and for Bowser Jr., who was out for today, training with Kamek to become the future ruler one day.

"...How do I know you're not lying?" Bowser asked with a slight frown.

"Bowser, when have I been so desperate that I have to ask for your help instead of Eggman's?" Sonic pointed out with a concerned expression.

Bowser saw that Sonic had a very good point, so he let out a sigh, and then looked at him with a determinate look. If the entire multiverse was in danger, and that danger could reach his son and his Kingdom, then he'll gladly will face off this foe and take her down.

"...As long as my son has a place to rule, I don't care what I have to do!" Bowser declared. "I'll join your cause, Hedgehog... But this seriously better not be a trap!"

"Again, when have I been so desperate to need your help?" Sonic repeated with a mocking tone.

With that out of the way, Knuckles came by and grabbed Sonic, messing up with his quills in a friendly way, while Izzy arrived and hugged him tightly. Then, he fist bumped with Luigi, he grabbed his hand with Mario's in a friendly way, and he made a small bow to Princess Peach.

"Welcome back, Hedgehog!" Knuckles cheered loudly with a smile, still rubbing his head, while Izzy continued hugging him.

Sonic chuckled and smiled happily. "Well, is good to be back, Knucklehead! It really is..."

Author's Note

Oh yeah! The Blue Blur is back, and Bowser is now part of the team!

I've been doing really good on these few chapters! I honestly feel that chapter 11 could've been a better comeback from the hiatus, but ever since chapter 13, I feel like I'm doing great with this story!

Using the Mario power-ups on the characters was really fun, and it was hard to define which one each character was going to use... But I like how it turned out in the end. And who knows. If you guys are loud enough, maybe one day you'll get a Super Mario x My Little Pony story from me. But only time will tell!

I couldn't find a good picture of Tails with the Fire Flower, but I did found Ice Sonic!

Like Tails said: Sonic always looks bad-ass when he's got the Mario power-ups.

Thanks so much for reading so far. Next chapter: Opaline and Eggman keep collecting shards, but Team Dark might be right on their tails...

See ya!