Episode 17: Hades Gate

Mutt was swimming laps in the pool, building up his endurance. He touched the wall after the second lap, and tried going for a third. But when he was half way there, he was exhausted. He then started to go under. Just then, he was pulled out by Ocellus in Seapony Form. She carried him to the ladder that leads out of the pool. Mutt then got out and coughed.

"Are you okay?" Ocellus asked.

"I'm fine," Mutt said. "I just... I was thinking about what those guys said about me at the Festival. That lynx guy. He said I shouldn't even be a Freedom Fighter because I don't have any powers."

It then showed a clip from the previous episode with Lightning Lynx saying, "Face it. You're just a kid without any powers. Just fancy shoes and a dangerous toy whip." It then went back to the present time.

"I don't even know how I feel about that," Mutt said. "So, I'm starting to do some hard core training like MC has done."

"This isn't hard core," Ocellus said. "You're overexerting yourself. If you push yourself too hard, you might end up hurting yourself."

Mutt sighed and said, "You're right. I'm just the runt of the Freedom Fighters. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, MC, Truemen, Bunnie, Maria, Blaze, Silver, they all have powers. Me, Sally, Antoine and Rotor don't have powers, yet I'm not as skillful as they are."

"Just don't worry about it," Ocellus said. "I'm sure you'll be a good Freedom Fighter as much as the others are. I gotta get to the library. See you when I get back." She then started buzzing her wings and she flew away. Mutt then sighed and looked at his hands.

"Maybe... maybe I'm not good enough to be a Freedom Fighter," Mutt said to himself.

"Is that what you think, young one," came a voice. Just then, a green flash appeared behind Mutt. Mutt turned around, shielding his eyes from the blinding light. When the light dimmed, there stood the Oracle of Delphius. "Perhaps you haven't been doing the right training."

"Oracle?" Mutt asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been keeping my eyes on Michael Crayton to see if he was living up to his mother's expectations," the Oracle said. "But it seems that you are doubting your own expectations as a Freedom Fighter."

Mutt sighed and said, "Yeah. It's been so rough for me trying to catch up with the other Freedom Fighters. I'm... just a runt."

"Only if you believe you are, young Muttski," the Oracle said. "Perhaps... you just haven't found the right training yet." He then used his magic and created a vortex from the pool. "This vortex will take you to a place where you will take on excruciating challenges to prove you're worthy of fighting along side your friends."

"Is this one of the challenges that MC went through?" Mutt asked, looking down the vortex.

"Indeed," the Oracle said. "You must face the demon at the end to complete this challenge. You must use your wit and determination to get through it."

"Is that how MC passed this challenge?" Mutt asked. The Oracle walked up to Mutt and put his scaly hands on the dog's shoulders.

"About that," the Oracle said. "This is the only challenge that Michael Crayton hasn't complete." The Oracle then pushed Mutt into the vortex.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa--?!" Mutt asked as he was being sucked down by the vortex. The vortex then vanished.

"Good luck, Ben Muttski," the Oracle said. He then disappeared in a green flash of light.

Mutt was unconscious someplace volcanic. Mutt then woke up and he looked around, wondering where he was.

"Where am I?" Mutt asked. He then looked up and gasped. In front of him was a large gate with flame emblems all over it, with three stone dog heads over it, all three of them giving a snarling look towards those who look up at the stone heads. "Whoa! What is this place?!"

"Benjamin Franklin Muttski, son of Ava Muttski, prepare to face the demons within," a strange, ominous voice came from the dog heads.

"Who... who said that?!" Mutt asked.

"I am the gatekeeper," the voice said. "Welcome... to Hades Gate."

"Hades Gate?!" Mutt asked. "How am I gonna pass this?!"

"As I said before, you must face the demons within," the voice of the gatekeeper said. "The demons within will take forms of those you may or may not have encountered before. Villains from your past."

"And if I don't pass?" Mutt asked.

"Then you will be returned to where you were, not worthy of your goal," the gatekeeper said. "Are you ready to enter?"

Mutt looked down at his hands. He then clenched his fists, looked up at the gate and said, "Let's do this!" Then the gate opened up. Mutt then walked through the gate. And as soon as he took five steps through the gate, his sixth step had no footing and he fell, screaming. He then landed in a pile of rubber chickens. Mutt then unburied himself from the pile of rubber chickens to look around. Where he saw looked like Ponyville, but it was in complete chaos. "What the heck?! Ponyville?!" He then looked around and saw the ponies of Equestria being tortured by pranks set up everywhere. He then looked behind him and saw a sign that had a picture of Discord on it. It even had a speaker that came on, reading what was on the sign.

"Welcome to Discord's Capitol of Chaos! For my personal amusement!" Discord's voice came from the speakers on the sign.

"No way," Mutt said. "My first demon to fight has taken Discord's form?" Just then, the eyes of the Discord on the sign looked towards Mutt, and it got angry. It then popped off the sign and began crawling on all fours, its mouth gotten longer and a lot of sharp teeth came from its mouth, its eyes became completely red and the Mane got longer and got sharp points from it. Mutt took a step back, saying, "Uh oh."

The Discord demon roared. Then it started chasing Mutt through the streets of Ponyville. Mutt then started using his Jet Shoes to get away from the Discord Demon as fast as he could. He then boosted towards Sweet Apple Acres. There he saw Applejack sitting on a bench that was outside of it. But her colors were duller than they usually are.

Mutt stopped in front of her and said, "Applejack, help! There's a demon that looks like Discord after me. And it's made Ponyville into his own personal playground of Chaos!"

"Ya kiddin' me?" Applejack asked. "Ah don't think so. There ain't no demon. Besides, Ponyville is alright. Ain't nothin' causin' anythin'."

"Uh, what?" Mutt asked. "Have you seen what's out there?"

Applejack looked towards Ponyville as it was being soaked by chocolate rain coming from some cotton candy clouds. She then said, "Nope. All Ah see is Ponyville havin' clear skies."

"What?" Mutt asked. "But..." He was then drenched in water from above. "Hey!" Mutt got angry and looked up. Above him was Fluttershy, her colors duller than usual, her expression in a mean smile, holding a bucket like she dumped something from it.

"Ha ha! You've got wet!" Fluttershy said. She then flew off.

Mutt was jaw dropped at this. He then started thinking out loud, saying, "Okay. There's a demon that looks like Discord, and my friends are acting like..." He then got a realization. "This... this isn't the real Ponyville. This is just a copy full of Chaos. And nopony here is really who they are. They're just copies. And that means that Twilight and her friends are made into their complete opposites. Which explains why Applejack is a liar and Fluttershy is a jerk."

"Ah ain't no liar," the Applejack copy said. "Ah am 110% real."

"No you're not," Mutt said, pointing at the Applejack copy. He then started thinking. He then got another realization. "The gatekeeper said that I have to face every demon that's taken the form of a familiar face. That means..." He then looked back towards Ponyville. He then used his Jet Shoes to skate back towards the town. He eventually got to the statue of Chancellor Pudding head in front of town hall, jumped on top of it, and called out, "Discord! Come and get me!" Just then, the statue started moving, making Mutt fall off, landing on the ground. He then looked up and saw the statue crumbling, becoming the Discord demon. "Okay, there you are."

The Discord Demon roared and tried smacking down Mutt, but Mutt jumped out of the way. Mutt then started running away from the Discord Demon as it chased him. He lead the Discord Demon down an alley. Mutt then grabbed a banana peel from a trash can and threw it on the ground behind him. The Discord Demon slipped on it and slid towards a wall that was at a corner which Mutt turned in time. The Discord Demon made contact with it, flattening himself.

"Like a squash and stretch cartoon," Mutt said before chuckling. Just then, the demon vanished. "Huh?" Just then, the ground below Mutt started rising, taking him upwards. "Hey, what's going on?"

"You have defeated the first demon," the gatekeeper's voice came from the sky. "Time to face the second."

"How many demons are there?" Mutt asked.

"Five," the gatekeeper's voice answered.

"Okay, that's not so bad," Mutt said.

"Each demon more stronger than the last," the gatekeeper answered again.

"Huh. I spoke to soon," Mutt said before he went through a portal in the sky. The portal led him to the Smithsonian Plaza. He looked around and said, "I'm... home?" He then got suspicious. "Wait a minute. This can't be home." Just then, a manhole cover was shot up. Mutt turned to face the manhole just as something came from it. It landed 10 feet away from Mutt.

"Chaos?!" Mutt asked. "Oh, boy."

Back at Freedom Fighters Mansion, Tails, Midpoint and Rotor were setting up something around the front door.

"Okay, with these Sonic Cannons set up, there's no way anyone will try to get in," Rotor said.

"And Twilight is casting a spell to keep those who seek evil desires from entering the house," Tails said.

"How did she do that?" Rotor asked.

"The Unity Crystals," Midpoint said. "And they should be activated... now." Just then, a rainbow beams came from the guest house. "That must be the Prisbeam. That should keep out Opaline's squad." Just then, MC and Truemen came out of the house.

"Hey, guys, have any of you seen Mutt?" MC asked. "I can't even track his scent."

"Mutt's missing?" Tails asked. "That's odd." He then looked towards the outside panel. "Nicole, locate Mutt."

"Locating Ben Muttski," Nicole said from the panel. "Error. Ben Muttski is unlocatable."

"What?" Tails asked.

"View his last known location," MC said. Then the panel showed Mutt in the pool area, with the Oracle of Delphius. "The Oracle of Delphius? What's he doing there?" It then showed the pool becoming a vortex. "Nicole, what are they saying?" Nicole then put the audio in the footage.

"Is that how MC passed this challenge?" Mutt asked in the footage.

"Indeed," the Oracle replied in the footage. "You must face the demon at the end to complete this challenge. You must use your wit and determination to get through it."

"Is that how MC passed this challenge?" Mutt asked before the Oracle put his hands on Mutt's shoulders.

"About that," the Oracle said. "This is the only challenge that Michael Crayton hasn't complete." He then pushed Mutt into the vortex.

"Nicole, pause footage!" MC said. The footage stopped right before Mutt was sucked into the vortex. "Hades Gate?! The Oracle has taken him to Hades Gate?!"

"What's Hades Gate?" Tails asked.

"The only training challenge I could never complete," MC said.

"Well, that's not good," Truemen said. Then the rest of them shook their heads in agreement.

Mutt risen from the second challenge of Hades Gate, soaking wet. He then got on all fours to shake off what's left of Chaos on him.

"Okay, that was tricky," Mutt said. "Two down, three to go. Alright, who's next?" He then looked around and saw that he was in a castle. "Whoa. What is this place?"

"Tis the place of your demise, trespasser," came a female voice. Mutt turned around and saw the throne. He then widened his eyes with who he saw.

"Nightmare Moon?!" Mutt asked. He then broke the 4th wall. "I'm screwed!"

"Prepare... to die!" Nightmare Moon said, pulling out a sword. She then charged towards Mutt. But Mutt jumped out of the way, and hid from her. Nightmare Moon looked around for where Mutt went, but she couldn't find him. "Show yourself, you dog! You can't hide from me!"

Mutt was hiding behind the throne. Mutt was trying to keep quiet when hiding from Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon then left the throne room to search for Mutt. Mutt then sighed in relief, knowing he bought himself some relief. Or so he thought. He turned around and saw Nightmare Moon, smirking at him.

"Found you," Nightmare Moon said, giving a dark smirk.

"Waaaah!" Mutt shouted. He then dashed away from behind the throne and headed for the door. But it was then slammed shut before he could get out. He tried stopping but he crashed into the door and fell onto his back. "Ow."

"Did you honestly expect that I would take it easy on you?" Nightmare Moon asked. She walked towards Mutt, her horn charging. "You were a fool to even come here. Any last words?"

Mutt smirked and said, "You're gonna kill your subjects by eternal night."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Nightmare Moon asked.

"Haven't you even considered that the plants need sunlight to stay alive?" Mutt asked. "If they don't have sunlight, the plants will die. No plants, no crops. No crops, no food. Face it, you're gonna kill everyone slowly!"

"What?!" Nightmare Moon asked. "What have I...?!" She then went mentally unstable. Nightmare Moon was getting stripped off of a dummy that looked like Princess Luna. Then the Nightmare Moon ghost rose up and got angry. Its eyes were now red. It then charged at Mutt.

"Uh oh," Mutt said. He then dodge the demon ghost and it slammed into the wall. Mutt kept running from the demon ghost. The demon ghost then grabbed a torch from the wall, turned around and said, "Eat this!" The torch then made contact with the demon ghost, and it was being burned by the flames. It then disintegrated into nothing. Mutt then sighed in relief. "That was close." Mutt then got in the middle of the throne room. Then the ground below him started rising, taking him to the next challenge.

When he went to the next level, he saw that he was on some hill tops. He turned around and saw Canterlot behind him.

"Canterlot?" Mutt asked. "Okay, who am I facing here?" Just then, the sound of pounding came from behind him. Mutt turned around and saw something from hilltop to hilltop, coming closer to him. "Is that..." Just then, what was coming landed in front of him, making him fall down on the ground. Mutt looked up and saw his next opponent.

"Oh, snap!" Mutt said. Tirek then tried smashing Mutt, but he went in between Tirek's legs before he made contact. Tirek then looked between his legs, seeing Mutt zooming away from him. Tirek growled, turned around to face Mutt's direction, and started chasing him by jumping.

In Delphius, the Oracle was checking on Mutt's progress through his Crystal Ball. Just then, a Super Warp Ring opened up. Coming out of it was Twilight, Sonic, MC, Rainbow Dash, Zipp and Truemen.

"Oracle!" MC said, angrily.

"Ah, Michael Crayton," the Oracle said. "I see you have returned."

"You sent Mutt to Hades Gate?!" MC asked, angrily.

"He wanted something that would prove to himself that he's worthy of being a Freedom Fighter," the Oracle said. "If he passes this test, it'll prove to himself that he is worthy of being a Freedom Fighter. Or else..."

"He's thinking of leaving?" Sonic asked. "No way. Mutt's been with us since we've started the Freedom Fighters. He doesn't need to prove that he's worthy of being a Freedom Fighter."

"Sonic's right," MC said. "Mutt is stronger than he thinks he is. He doesn't need to so this test."

"What's so dangerous about Hades Gate?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It doesn't sound so bad."

"Hades Gate is all kinds of dangerous," MC replied. "It's full of demons that take the form of villains faced in our past. A lot of danger comes in with each challenge, more harder than the last."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Zipp said. "How hard is each challenge?"

"The final one is always extremely hard," MC said. "In fact, I couldn't even complete it."

"WHAT?!" Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Sonic, and Truemen asked in unison.

"It's true," the Oracle said. "This is the one challenge that MC hasn't completed."

"Then how will Mutt be able to pass this if MC hadn't passed it?!" Sonic asked.

"He's actually doing a lot better than you would expect," the Oracle said. "He's already on the fourth challenge."

"The fourth?" Twilight asked.

"Huh. I would've thought he'd give up on the third," MC said. "Who'd the demons take form of?"

"The first one was Discord," the Oracle replied. "Then Chaos 0, then Nightmare Moon, and now..." The Oracle then showed his Crystal Ball with Mutt running from Lord Tirek. "Lord Tirek."

"Okay, that's not good," Twilight said. "If Tirek is that powerful, then Mutt's in trouble." Rainbow Dash got a closer look. She then smirked.

"I wouldn't think so, Twi," Rainbow Dash said. "Look. Mutt's leading him to Ghastly Gorge."

"He's gonna make Tirek fall off the cliff," Truemen said.

"But it won't be enough to stop Tirek at that size," Twilight said. "Tirek's really strong at that size. How will Mutt be able to do that?"

In Hades Gate, Mutt was running away from Tirek as he was chasing him. Mutt turned his head seeing Tirek coming closer to him. Mutt then looked ahead. He saw a hardware store. He then got an idea. He ran in and came out with a lot of rope. He then continued boosting towards Ghastly Gorge. He then reached the gorge at a high peak.

"Okay, now all I have to do is..." Mutt said before he started tying the ends of the ropes together, making them all one long rope. As soon as he finished, Lord Tirek landed 30 yards away from the dog. Mutt then looked up at Tirek. "Oh, boy."

"Looks like you're done for, dog boy," Tirek said. "Any last words?"

Mutt then smirked and rushed around Tirek's legs, the ropes being around Tirek's legs. Mutt then held the ends of the tied up rope in both hands.

"You say something?" Mutt asked, mockingly. "I couldn't hear it over the stench of your BO. Gross."

Tirek growled. He then used his right arm and reached down to pick up Mutt, unaware of what the dog was planning. He then said, "Why you little..." As he picked Mutt up, the rope around Tirek's legs tightened and brought all four of his legs closer, making him lose his balance. "Whoa-oa-oa!" Tirek then leaned forward, letting go of Mutt, and he fell into the gorge, screaming all the way. Mutt barely went over the cliff, hanging onto the edge as Tirek fell down.

The impact shook the ground, almost making Mutt fall in, but he kept his grip. He then pulled himself up as magic was coming from Lord Tirek. Mutt looked down to see Tirek back down to his weakened sized, unconscious.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Mutt said. He then saw the giant horns of Tirek on the ground beside him. "He'll feel that in the morning." Then Tirek and the giant horns vanished in black smoke. "Okay... that's four."

In the Oracle's home, Twilight, Sonic, MC, Rainbow Dash, Zipp and Truemen were watching Mutt through the Crystal Ball on the Oracle's table.

"Did he just really beat four villains?" MC asked.

"Indeed, Michael," came the Oracle's voice. They all turned around to see the Oracle coming in with a meal for the heroes. Chili dogs, pizza, carrot dogs, even a pasta and potato sandwich on sourdough bread. I bet you can guess who that last one is for. "It seems that Mutt has proven to himself as a valuable member of the Freedom Fighters. But he has one last challenge."

Back in Hades Gate, Mutt looked around, still in the same place as before.

"Okay, gatekeeper!" Mutt said. "Let's get this over with! Where's my last challenge?!" Just then, the area started getting covered in smoke, blinding Mutt. Mutt coughed at that and tried blowing the smoke away with his hands. "What is going on?" Just then, the area around him changed to a large arena, the walls being jagged rocks and active volcanoes around the arena. "Where am I?"

"Your demise, young one," came a voice from behind Mutt. Mutt turned around, seeing some jagged rocks going down, revealing a new figure.

"Who the heck are you?" Mutt asked.

"I am... Grogar!" the goat said.

In the Oracle's home, the heroes were surprised at Mutt's final opponent.

"Oh no," Twilight said. "Grogar is the most powerful villain in Equestria. Mutt's done for.""

Mutt was standing his ground in front of Grogar, getting ready to fight him. Mutt was getting cocky.

"Seriously?" Mutt asked. "My final opponent is a goat? This is gonna be easy."

"Oh, really?" Grogar asked. Just then, the bell on the front side of his collar started glowing. It transferred magic to his horns, and he shot so much power towards Mutt. Mutt jumped towards the ground, going under the beam of powerful magic, destroying the wall behind Mutt. When Mutt turned his head to see the impact, he saw that the powerful beam destroyed not only the wall, but dug into the ground behind the wall in a far distance.

"Oh, snap," Mutt said. Just then, he was grabbed in Grogar's magic and pulled towards the old goat.

"You're done for, dog," Grogar said. "Time to take you down!" Grogar then slammed Mutt into the ground, making him bounce. Grogar then rammed Mutt, pushing him towards the wall.

"Ow..." Mutt said, trying to recover from the pain. He slowly used his hands to push himself up. Mutt then looked towards Grogar.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Grogar asked.

Mutt then started getting back onto his feet and said, "That's the thing... about us Freedom Fighters." He was breathing heavily. "We don't... give up... on what we believe in."

"Then you will die a fool for your stupidity," Grogar said. He then fired another beam towards Mutt. Mutt barely dodged it and used his Jet Shoes to speed around the arena. Grogar was trying to catch up with Mutt's movement. "What the heck do you think you're doing?! You think your speed is enough to take me out."

The heroes in the Oracle's lair were all confused on what Mutt was doing when watching from the Crystal Ball.

"What is he doing?" Truemen asked. "He can't win if he keeps rushing around."

"He's not running," Sonic said. "He's picking up momentum. Enough momentum will give him an incredible impact. He's using his speed to increase his hit on Grogar."

"That's actually clever," Zipp said. "That just might work."

"Mutt, it's a trap! Pull back!" Twilight said, making the others look at her.

"Huh? A trap?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

Mutt then charged at Grogar, but he was repelled by a barrier surrounding Grogar. Mutt was then forced back towards the wall, making him lodged in an impact crater in the jagged rock wall.

"Ow..." Mutt said. He then fell to the ground.

"You see that, dog boy?!" Grogar asked. "You can never beat me as long as I have this!" He then pointed a hoof at the bell on his collar. "Give up, and I'll let you live."

Mutt then slowly got up from the ground, breathing heavily. He then started thinking of what his friends said in his past. Mutt remembered when Knuckles helped him during the Junior Olympics.

"If you're going to strike your opponent, you must make sure you're not hit. Read your opponent's movement, block his or her attack, and then strike."

Then the sound of a large dog growling came in. Mutt then clenched his right fist. He then remembered what Rainbow Dash said when they were with his mom and some of the other heroes when they were looking for the Chaos Emerald in Egypt.

"You can do this, Mutt. Just believe in yourself."

Then the sound of another large dog growling came in. Mutt then stomped his foot on the ground. Mutt looked at Grogar with a determined look.

"What makes me a Freedom Fighter... isn't powers, special tools, or the stuff I wear," Mutt said, breathing heavily. "It's all... about... the will to keep going. For what's right!" Then the sound of a large dog growling came in. "I am... a Freedom Fighter!" Just then, Mutt was surrounded in a red aura.

The heroes in the Oracle's home gasped when they saw Mutt glowing in the Crystal Ball.

"What's happening?!" Twilight asked.

"Now that's cool!" Zipp said.

"He's... he's awakening," MC said.

"Awakening?" Twilight asked.

"When a certain Mobian is faced in a difficult challenge, he gains some powers," Sonic said. "Powers they never knew they had before. It usually happens when that Mobian starts to mature."

"Looks like it's Mutt's turn," MC said. "He might get himself a beast from his resonance."

"A beast?" Twilight asked. "What kind of beast?"

"Well, MC already has his beast," Sonic said. "The golden dragon."

"That must've been what Smolder saw when they were fixing the moon!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Exactly," MC said. "That's the power of my Dragoon Force. From the mighty dragon, Dragoon. The great protector of my kingdom. Let's see what he'll gain."

Back in the arena in Hades Gate, Mutt was still glowing. He then started zooming past Grogar's barrier, leaving a red streak behind. He then kept going past the barrier over and over again, making the red streaks go through each other. There were multiple lines covering the arena, around Grogar's barrier.

"What are you trying to accomplish?!" Grogar asked.

"The will to keep going!" Mutt said as he stood back in the spot he started. "I am Ben Muttski! And I am... a Freedom Fighter!" Then the aura around Mutt expanded. Then it revealed a giant, three-headed dog coming from the aura. Then he grabbed the red lines, which formed into a chain, all the lines doing the same. Then they were set ablaze. Mutt then pulled the chains to tighten around the barrier, which then got crushed, and Grogar was trapped, and burning in pain.

"Raaaaaaargh!" Grogar roared.

"It's time I finished this!" Mutt said. He then charged towards Grogar, the Cerberus from Mutt's aura following. Then Mutt made contact, and Grogar got sent flying away. Mutt then breathed heavily at that.

"Congratulations, Ben Muttski," came the voice of the gatekeeper. "You have passed Hades Gate. You have proven yourself worthy. Not only to your team, but to yourself, that you are worthy of being a Freedom Fighter." Mutt continued to breath heavily.

"Yeah..." Mutt said. "I... I did it." He then fell onto his knees. "I guess I... I am... worthy... of being... a..." Mutt then fell to the ground, unconscious. It then blacked out.

When Mutt came to, he saw that he was surrounded by Twilight, Sonic, MC, Rainbow Dash, Zipp, Truemen and the Oracle. Mutt's vision was a little blurry, but the sound of MC's voice was coming in.

"Mutt...!" MC said, echoing in Mutt's head. "C'mon, Mutt... wake up...!" Mutt then opened his eyes all the way, seeing that he was surrounded by his friends. "There you are, Mutt."

"Guys...?" Mutt asked. He then put his right hand on his head. "Oh, my head."

"You have passed Hades Gate, Ben Muttski," the Oracle said. "You have proven yourself to be a great Freedom Fighter. And you even started your awakening state."

"Awakening?" Mutt asked.

"It seems that you have gained the Cerberus Chains," the Oracle said. "Check out the necklace under your neckerchief." Mutt then took off his neckerchief, and it revealed a chain link necklace with an emblem. The emblem was of three nasty looking dog heads. One facing left, one facing right, and the middle one looking straight.

"Whoa!" Mutt said. "This is cool!"

"At least it wasn't burned into your body," MC said. He then extended his left fist, then he grabbed the end of his glove, and pulled it down, revealing a dragon head.

"Whoa!" Mutt said.

"After everything we went through, you have never shown me that," Sonic said. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"You never asked," MC said. "Alright, everyone. Time to head back home." He then looked towards Mutt. "And if your mother asks where you got that, don't say anything about Hades Gate."

"I can't promise you that," Mutt said. Then the other heroes laughed. MC then pulled out his Super Warp Ring, and threw it, opening a portal back home.

Somewhere in the multiverse, a yellow digital screen showed MC and company going back home, with the alternate one-eyed Sonic and the alternate Nicole watching.

"MC's power grows exponentially with each passing day..." Future Sonic, FS for short as the alternate Sonic is mostly referred to, said with a frown and a cold stare at the image of the fox. "The more powerful he gets, the dangerous it can be."

"Sonic, I don't wanna sound like I question your methods or anything, but... Don't you think keeping an eye on MC and some other selected variants is driving us away from our real, main concern?" The alternate Nicole asked with a bit of concern, standing right over FS' shoulder. "I think I should remind you there's a wicked Alicorn out there making a mess in the whole multiverse! We've been tracking her for 8 months, but we keep hitting corners and finding villains in universes they don't belong!"

"That's why Twilight is in charge of supervising all of that," Future Sonic reminded, then rolled his eye with a groan. "Although I wish she'd let that Sunset pupil she took on her own and fully focus on her job. She's a liability. My job is to focus on capturing the anomalies spread across the multiverse, both the ones Opaline is moving, and those that represent a potential threat, like MC."

The alternate Nicole rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, boss... So how do you plan to capture him? And when?"

"We've been studying this fox for months now," Future Sonic said. "My bracelets are being updated to combat that guy, and I'll soon have that special little blade that stuns you and weakens you when stabbed, but doesn't harms you physically. The wonders of magic, I tell ya."

"And the advantage of having an Alicorn as your lover~," The alternate Nicole teased him with a grin.

In return, Future Sonic deadpanned at her. "You're an AI, why did Tails made you so sassy?" The alternate Nicole simply giggled, and FS rolled his eye. "Anyway. I'm afraid that MC is gonna have to wait for a little longer to our meeting to happen."

"Why's that?" The alternate Nicole asked. "You have captured other anomalies before, I'd argue some mightier than him! What makes him so special that you have to prepare this much?"

"This isn't like Mr. Tinkerer or Leonardo, Nicole." Future Sonic said. "We can't just tell them we want to recruit them and then capture them to lock them away. MC will see us coming from a mile away, and he can't be fooled because of his ability to smell lies. And he could prepare for our coming all because his mother can warn him with dreams, visions or whatever they are. If we wanna get to MC, we first gotta deal with Sarah... Specially with her Chronokinesis."

"Oh, I think I know how to deal with that!" A voice spoke behind them, and they turned to see an alternate Twilight... One that was a pony and not a Mobian. "We've got some new recruits studying how to brake time manipulation! Does that sounds helpful?"

Future Sonic's eye widened a bit, then he looked back at MC on his monitor and grinned. "Twi, that works perfectly!"

Author's Note

Next Episode:
Back to School...

The ending of this episode was written by BronySonicFan for his story, Sonic the Hedgehog x My Little Pony: The Final Act, although, I had to make a few alterations that fit into this story.