The Red Ring...

Chapters

A fast one
Zone l: Hide And Seek
Zone ll: Scrap and Run
Zone ll: Scrap and Run 1/2

A fast one

It was like any other day in Ponyville. Rarity was making dresses for her new fashion line. Rainbow Dash was training with the Wonderbolts while Scotaloo was looking up to watch the show. Pinkie Pie was making cakes and other pastries while managing the counter at Sugercube Corner, making everypony smile smile smile smile and sunshine sunshine as usual. Applejack was with her little sister, Apple Bloom, at Sweet Apple Acres harvesting the apples. Fluttershy and Discord were having tea together. Then there was Twilight, practicing a spell on a golden ring she found recently while Spike was in the background, reading the latest issue of a comic series he started reading recently about a super speedy earth pony and his friends taking down a smart alicorn who wanted to take over Equestria.

"Dang it!" Twilight grunts out of frustration as she has failed the spell once again.

She looked at the ring, noting that nothing had changed, she then looked over to Spike who was still sitting there reading his comic.

"It'd be way easier if you were helping me here, Spike!" Twilight said rolling her eyes.

"But you said, 'I got this. I can master this spell in no time since it's small. So your help will not be needed,' and here I am, reading my comic," Spike said, knowing that he was right.

Twilight groaned, “Fine! Is there something I’m doing wrong?"

Twilight pulled out Star Swirl’s book on the spell and looked it over what seemed like a million times, but the words were not registering.

"I did everything right. Why isn't it working?" she said, face-hoofing herself.

2 hours later, Twilight’s sudden yell resonated throughout her castle, not knowing the sun was already beginning to set.

"YES, I FOUND IT! AFTER SO MANY TRIES, I NOW KNOW MY ERROR!"

"I’m happy for you Twilight..." Spike said, being startled awake by Twilight’s outburst.

"Thanks, Spike, now I should be able to do this spell," she says before making her horn glow.

She then fired a beam at the ring, and as she did so, the whole room was filled with black smoke. Twilight's face was covered in the leftover ash when it dissipated, leaving her coughing and sputtering.

"Twilight?... what happened?" Spike said, now fully awake from the loud explosion.

Twilight wiped the ash off her face before looking back at the ring. It was still smoking slightly, so she waved her hoof to clear it. When it faded away, she saw that the ring had turned red, and a wide smile spread on her face.

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!” she shouted, making Spike cover his ears.

Twilight started hopping around with excitement, now having finally done the spell after so many tries. She then picked up the ring with her magic and held it to her face to examine it. She then looked back at Star Swirl's notes.

"There's something else in here. It says once you have a Red Ring, throw it up in the air and watch as you are tested on your skills and try to win the Gol-" she was interrupted by Spike suddenly belching, fire spreading everywhere and burning the page.

"MY BOOK!!" Twilight cried, looking with a horrified face as the rest of the page was burnt to a crisp. "Now I will never know what the rest of this means!"

Spike rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled nervously before saying, “Sorry, Twilight, it just came out of nowhere. I never meant for it to burn your book like that.”

“It’s okay, Spike. I understand that it was an accident,” Twilight said before looking back at the burnt page as Spike picked up the ring. "Uh, what did it say to do with this again? It was something about throwing the ring in the air and how you'll be tested by something."

"Maybe we should call the girls to help us, that way, whatever this test is we all can do it together!" Spike smiled after finishing his suggestion.

"That's not a bad idea. Good thinking, Spike," Twilight said as she got off the ground and went out to find her friends.

"So why in the hay are we here again?" Applejack asked while picking the ring up and looking at it quizzically.

The mane six were now in the throne room, discussing what to do with the ring.

"I have Wonderbolt practice in a few minutes, so this better be quick," Rainbow Dash said, tapping her hoof on the ground impatiently.

"Don't worry, this won't take very long,” Twilight replied before she began explaining, “I've found a spell that Starswirl made for... three tests? I think... I couldn't read it all since somepony had to burp up a firestorm!" She shot Spike an accusing glare before continuing her explanation, "And now I thought we could try and find out how it works together."

The group of friends looked at one another and back to Twilight before Applejack spoke up, "Okay then let's see what we got here-"

She was cut off by Pinkie grabbing the ring with her curly mane and putting it up to her face while wearing a detective hat and examining it with a magnifying glass.

"Hm, nope! Looks like any other ring to me," she said, not helping the case at all.

“Maybe if you try to remember the last part of Star Swirl's text, it could give us a better hint at what to do," Fluttershy suggested to Twilight as Pinkie tossed the ring to her, not noticing that it sparked a little as it moved. Twilight picked it up with her magic and examined it before handing it back to Fluttershy.

"So, what was the last part you read of Star Swirl’s scroll?" Rarity asked.

Twilight thought for a moment before answering, "It said something about tossing it in the air, I think?"

The ring was suddenly snatched by Rainbow, "Come on! It’s just a ring! Is this over? Because I’m going to be late for my workouts if I stay here any longer... Rarity what can you do with this?"

As Dash tossed the ring to Rarity, it sparked some more almost as if it was charging up.

"I do fashion, darling,” Rarity replied, “I don't know anything about jewelry."

She tossed it back to Twilight, the ring now sparkling like crazy

"Woah... girls I don't know what we did but whatever we did has made the ring glow and have red sparkles around it..." Twilight commented, a concerned look plastered on her face.

Dash then grabbed it again and threw it to the other side of the room before sneering, "Oh please, it's just a silly little red ring. Sure it has sparks around it, but I’m sure it's just a flashy cheap product that Star Swirl fell for and bought, then just forgot about it or something. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got Wonderbolts practice to attend to."

Before she could fly off, the ring had fully charged, It flew up into the air and grew bigger. The next thing the 7 of them knew was a huge flash of light, making them go blind for two seconds. After they opened their eyes, they looked up to see the ring floating in the air almost touching the ceiling.

"Holy Celestia," they all said at the same time.

Before they could say anything else, 7 gloved hands came out and reached to each one of them.

Dash yelped as she tried to fly away, only to be stopped by one of the hands and was pulled into the ring, struggling to break free in the process.

Pinkie and Fluttershy were the next to go, both screaming while Fluttershy closed her wings around her to protect herself.

Rarity soon followed suit, and not even her magic could stop the hand from grabbing her, at least she managed to keep her mane intact.

Applejack and Spike then got dragged in, and they went down trying to fight back.

Twilight was then faced with the last hand. She blasted magic beams, but spell after spell, it continued to resist.

After using most of her energy to hold back the hand, she was grabbed and dragged into the ring portal. As she went through, she screamed out for help, only for the ring portal to shrink back down to a normal ring.

As the portal closed, a faint, deep, and menacing laugh could be heard throughout the castle. The worst part, was nobody else heard it as the ring clanked on the ground, like nothing had happened.

Zone l: Hide And Seek

Twilight’s eyes fluttered open as she awoke, rubbing her head with a hoof. She got up on her hooves slowly and looked around, trying to remember what happened.

“What the hay?... Where am I?” she asked out loud before looking up to see her friends and Spike around her to see if she was okay.

“Twilight you're alive!” Pinkie said before hugging her.

“Twilight, do you know where those things dragged us to?” Spike asked as he looked around.

Orange sky, dried green grass, dead palm trees and flowers, it looked like a wasteland. The others agreed with Spike, a chill running down their spines.

“So how do you think we can find a way out?” Applejack asked Twilight.

“Unfortunately, I don’t. Star Swirl’s notes never said anything about how to get out of here, just that we’d be tested on something. It wasn’t specific on what though,” Twilight answered, pulling herself back together once Pinkie got off her.

Rainbow Dash was a bit annoyed, “I hope these ‘tests’ are easy and quick, ‘cause now I am going to be late for my rounds with the Wonderbolts…” she muttered angrily, getting a look from Twilight.

Pinkie started to walk away to see what she could find as the others discussed what was going on. As she moved forward, the scenery around her seemed to worsen as the trees and flowers continued to wither the further she went, a cloud of fog looming overhead. Even she could tell something was wrong with this place, and her happy-go-lucky self was oddly not present as her ears fell flat against her head.

Without paying attention to what was in front of her because of the fog, she suddenly stepped into a puddle of warm liquid. “Huh?” she exclaimed, “What did I just step in?”

She brought a hoof to her face, not being able to see it due to the fog that was now starting to thicken the further she walked. She felt a sense of unease overcome her as she spoke nervously, “Wow it sure is getting... foggy, hehe...”

Then she realized the girls didn’t follow her, and felt alone in this strange place. She called out to the others, hoping to find them in this fog. After a few seconds of shouting, she came across a shadowy figure who seemed to be leaning against a tree.

Gaining a small bit of hope, she called out to the figure, “Oh, thank Celestia I found somepony in this fog. Can you help me find my friends? I got a little sidetracked and wandered away from them.”

She got no response.

“Hello?” she called again, still getting no response.

She slowly started walking up to the figure, its features becoming more clear. When she got close enough, the figure revealed black eyes with small red pupils. It smiled wickedly at her, and she screamed in fear before an unknown force made her fall unconscious.

Meanwhile, with the rest of the mane 6 and Spike, they were unaware of Pinkie’s departure as they continued to argue.

“Yeah, but if we do that we’re just going to-” Rarity said, being cut off suddenly by a blood-curdling scream.

Twilight instantly looked around the group and realized Pinkie was missing, then figured out who the scream belonged to. “PINKIE’S IN TROUBLE!” she shouted.

“Well, let’s go find her then!” Dash urged, flying in the direction of the scream.

The further they went, they began to see puddles of blood and dead animals everywhere. Fluttershy could only tear up slightly as she passed the bodies, feeling so sorry for them. When they reached Pinkie, they found her unconscious on the ground. Twilight walked up to her to make sure she was okay.

“What the hay is going on?” Applejack asked aloud, wondering why she screamed in the first place.

Before they could do anything, Spike spotted a figure next to Pinkie and told the others.

“Uh, guys. Who’s that?” he asked, pointing to the shadowy figure.

“Most likely the guy behind this…” Dash said through gritted teeth before shouting at the figure, “Who are you, and what did you do to our friend?!”

She got no response.

“Oh, you’re asking for it!” she seethed, spreading her wings as she pounced at the figure.

“Rainbow, no!” Twilight shouted.

However, the figure disappeared and Dash slid on the ground, grunting in pain. Then a wave of fatigue washed over her and the others, and they too, fell unconscious.

When everyone woke up, they were greeted with the smell of smoke. They all jolted awake and noticed they were surrounded by flames.

“Why is everything on fire?!” Twilight asked aloud.

“I think I can answer that,” a deep, menacing voice from behind said.

They turned to see the same figure from earlier, but the light from the fire illuminated its entire form.

He was a dark blue creature standing on two legs, adorning red shoes with a single white strap around them held together by a golden buckle. He had a tan stomach and arms, and gloves on each hand. However, the fingertips were ripped to reveal sharp claws underneath, and the gloves were bloody. His black eyes were menacing as he stared at the group with those red pupils, blood leaking from them. His teeth were razor sharp as he smiled devilishly, and what seemed like quills jutted from the back of his head and shoulders, making it more menacing.

He chuckled deeply as he began to speak, “Ah… finally, you’re all awake. Now we can begin.”

Dash glared at him before shouting, “Who are you, and why are you doing this!”

“My name is X, but you all can call me Sonic.EXE. You all signed yourself up for this by charging up that ring and passing it around to one another.”

Dash was about to protest before she was stopped by Twilight, her whispering that talking back at this guy might not be the best idea.

EXE continued speaking, “To pass, you must win 2 or 3 of my games. If you pass, I’ll return you to your world. If you don’t, I doubt you’ll be leaving this realm, alive.”

Everyone stared at EXE with fear or determination. They all mentally took note of this as he continued to speak.

“With that out of the way, let’s begin. This first game is Hide and Seek.”

Applejack gave him a deadpanned look, “Hide and Seek? Really? We’re playin’ a game for little youngins?”

EXE ignored her question, “The rules are simple: You seven hide, I seek. If I find you, you won’t be happy with the results. However, no cheating. If I catch you cheating, let’s say that it’s a surprise for now.”

He waved his finger at the group. Clearly, this guy was extremely powerful, but how powerful they weren’t sure of yet.

Then, EXE began to count down, and each of them looked at each other and back to EXE. They nodded to each other, silently agreeing to split up, and ran in different directions as they all tried to find a place to hide. They knew they had to win at least 2 of these games to return home.

Rainbow hid in the clouds, thinking she was smart.

Pinkie hid in a bush somewhere nearby.

Rarity hid in a cave with Spike, safe from the raging flames.

Applejack took Fluttershy with her to a hole in the ground that looked like it belonged to a Maulwurf.

Twilight hid in this area that looked like a shrine for something she didn’t know about.

EXE finished counting down and called out to everyone, announcing he was on the hunt.

Dash was beginning to feel a bit too cocky, “Ha! This has got to be the best spot. He said not to cheat, but he never said anything about using our own unique abilities,” she taunted, flapping her wings as she mentioned them.

She knew without a doubt this would work, so she decided to take a quick nap. She closed her eyes and fell asleep for a few minutes, and when she woke up, she realized she no longer was on the cloud and was in a different location as before. It was pitch black save from some pink and blue crystals illuminating her surroundings. The walls were yellow, some blocks having the faces of owls.

“What the?! How did I get here?” she exclaimed.

She then felt a wave of pain come from her sides, and let out a grunt. She looked back to see what the pain was coming from. With the little light she had, she saw her wings were ripped off, and her face went pale in response. Panic surged through her.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO MY WINGS?!” she shouted, her voice cracking from fear.

She then was grabbed from behind, and without any time to react, she was lifted off the ground and flew at fast speeds. She struggled as they flew, but she couldn’t get her attacker to let go. When they stopped, she heard a voice above her.

“Found you, cheater…”

She screamed as she was dropped into a deep pool of bloody water, and A gloved hand came out and dragged her in deeper like a Giant Squid. Dash tried her best to break through, but it wouldn’t budge.

Once EXE could no longer sense her life force, he muttered something before teleporting away.

“You’re too slow, want to try again?”

Pinkie had started to get bored of hiding in a bush. EXE had passed by a few times, but never spotted her.

"Why is it so boring to be a hider…” she whispered to herself out loud, “Maybe the cupcake I brought might help."

Digging into her curly mane, she pulled out a cupcake she’d been saving for the unexpected trip "It may not be a cake, but this will have to do. Good thing I love cupcakes," she said before eating the cupcake in one bite, "Mmm, that hit the spot."

When she poked her head out to see if she was still in the clear, she spotted a chocolate cake only a few meters away from her. Her mouth watered and her stomach started to rumble at the sight of it. Realizing it could be a trap, she shook her head and whispered, "Bad tummy, no cake right now, we are playing hide and seek and we don't want to be found.”

Then she started to have a small conflict with herself, “But it's right there…Maybe just a liiiiitttle tiny bite,” she then slapped herself in the face, “No! Bad Pinkie! No cake right now! You’ve already had the cupcake, and that should be enough."

Meanwhile, with Fluttershy and Applejack, Fluttershy was scared out of her wits while Applejack comforted her, keeping an eye out for trouble in the process.

"Okay Fluttershy, so far we're safe. How ya holding up?" Applejack asked softly while covering the hole back up after checking if they were safe.

"A-Applejack,” Fluttershy whimpered, “What do you think is going to happen to us if we get caught?"

Applejack chuckled, "Yeah right, this is a foals game. Besides, it's not like we’re gonna die or something. We just gotta win 2 games, then we can leave." she answered, reassuring her that everything will be fine.

"Maybe you’re right. I just hope we do win this."

Applejack smiled softly, "That's the spirit sugarcube, now all we do now is play the waiting game," she said before smirking.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Spike were in the cave, looking for gems while hiding from EXE.

"Spike, have you found anything yet?" Rarity asked

Spike had been looking for a while, not finding a single gem. He did find some shards, but they wouldn't impress Rarity, even though they were in the middle of a game of hide and seek. However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t capitalize on new gems for her fashion line if they ever got back to Equestria.

He looked back at Rarity who was using her magic to look for gems in the walls

Rarity sighed contently, "Just like back home. Besides, it’s not like that ‘Sonic.EXE’ guy will find us in here.”

"Woah!” Spike commented, finding a large green gem, “Rarity is gonna love this!"

He called out to Rarity, asking for her help to pull out the gem.

Meanwhile, with Twilight at the old shrine, she was examining it while keeping her eye out for EXE.

"Wow, this is something I've never seen before..." She commented, knowing she won’t get caught anytime soon.

"No!... But it's right there-NO! I won’t be tricked by that cake!”

Pinkie could not make up her mind. She struggled against her instinct to run up to the cake and take a bite, knowing it was a trap.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps closing in and she shrunk back into the bush. She knew it was EXE, so she watched him carefully as he spoke.

"So many souls to play with, so little time…" he then stopped mid-step when he saw the cake and smiled devilishly, "Maybe this might lighten the mood a little…"

He materialized a fork out of thin air and was about to poke it into the cake when Pinkie couldn’t hold back any longer and sprinted out of the bush.

“THAT’S MY CAKE!!!" she shouted, taking a huge bite out of the cake.

She knew she was found, but she didn’t care. After gobbling up the entire cake, she made a small comment, "Worth it!"

She giggled briefly, not even caring that EXE was watching her until she felt her stomach begin to churn. She groaned, bringing a hoof to her midsection.

“Maybe I ate that a little too fast…”

Then she felt her mouth begin to foam. Her eyes widened, realizing she should’ve resisted the cake in the first place. She began to cough violently, falling to her side as the effects of the poisoned cake took hold.

As her vision blurred, she reached a hoof up to EXE, "H-h-help…" she choked out.

EXE watched her die slowly and smiled wickedly, "Found you, maybe lay off the sweets next time," he muttered as he watched the life drain from Pinkie’s body.

“Looks like this party has met its end.”

Applejack and Fluttershy had been hiding for a while, not knowing there were only 5 players left. When Applejack poked her head out again, she and Fluttershy heard Pinkie softly cry out for help nearby. Fluttershy started to panic at this point, hating the fact that she was right.

"A-Ap-Applejack, Pinkie is in trouble. Do you think she's okay?!" Fluttershy shakily asked, looking at Applejack, her face pale.

Applejack cleared her throat a little bit as sweat rolled down her forehead, trying to come up with something not to make Fluttershy panic more, "Uuuh… Maybe she's just lost something or... or just lost a cupcake or something,"

They then heard footsteps coming close to where their hiding spot was. Applejack covered her mouth and Fluttershy's, laying down as they watched EXE’s shadow walk past them. They both let out a sigh of relief. Though, EXE heard it immediately, not knowing where it came from. So he decided to keep that area in mind, moving on to looking for everyone else.

Meanwhile, in the cave, Rarity and Spike were trying to pull the big green gem that was stuck into the cave walls.

“Wow! This thing is sure in there tight!” Spike said, trying his best to pull it out.

“You’re right! We’ve almost got it though, just one more tug!” Rarity replied.

They pull as hard as they can on it one more time, and the gem popped out of the rock walls of the cave. They both exclaimed in excitement as they set the gem in Rarity’s saddlebag.

“Thank you Spikey Wikey,” Rarity said, making Spike blush, “Now I have something to add to a new dress I’ve been working on back home!”

She then looked back where the gem used to be, spotting another gem that was behind the first one. Rarity decided to reach in with her hoof, but she suddenly felt a hand wrap around her hoof and began dragging her into the rock wall, that seemed to have become a liquid.

“Found you both,” they heard EXE say coldly.

She screamed as Spike tried to pull her back, but it was no use as the two of them got sucked inside of the rock walls of the cave.

“I can’t risk any of you finding those powerful gems.”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Applejack were starting to get a little bit hungry. They wished they brought something with them like Pinkie did.

“Applejack... how much longer are we going to have to hide?” Fluttershy asked, hoping that this would end soon as she began to feel paranoid again.

“I’m... I’m not sure, sugarcube. We’ve been here for over an hour now... I’m sure at least one of the others has been found.” Applejack answered.

They wait it out more, and it did not take long to hear footsteps outside again. Applejack narrowed her eyes and got to the ground.

Fluttershy shrunk in place, whimpering. Then she felt something grab her wing, making her squeak in fright. Applejack turned around to make sure she was alright, but Fluttershy wasn’t there. Her eyes widened. Where did she go? Applejack began to panic slightly before hearing Fluttershy scream outside.

”APPLEJACK, SOMEPONY, HELP!”

Applejack jumped out of the hiding spot, not caring if she was in the open. She looked around, making sure her friend was not hurt. She then sees EXE holding Fluttershy in one hand, her being squeezed and played around like she is a stress toy, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Found you two,” he said coldly.

Applejack growled, “YOU LET HER GO RIGHT NOW OR I’LL MAKE YA” she demanded, stomping her front hoofs down.

EXE looked at her and smiled wickedly. He teleports Fluttershy away before Applejack heard her let out a scream.

Applejack went pale. This guy was even more sadistic than she thought. Then she realized he might’ve done the same to the others who were found. She saw EXE reappear in front of her, holding Fluttershy’s head in his hand, and only her head. Her body was nowhere to be seen.

“I’ve let her go, just like you’d asked,” EXE said before laughing. He then threw Fluttershy’s severed head to the frightened Applejack.

How could he do this? How many of the others had he done this to? Filled with grief and rage, she charged at him, letting out a battle cry.

EXE shook his head as he teleported away from the attack, leaving Applejack to kick empty air.
She then turned around saw him there, laughing at her before running to try again, but failing again. This continued for a few seconds, EXE taunting her and making her more enraged. When EXE had enough, Applejack was about to land a hit when EXE suddenly turned into Apple Bloom. Applejack stopped herself, not wanting to hurt her sister. She fell to her knees, tired of being taunted by this demon. Accepting her fate, she looked to EXE with small tears in her eyes.

“What are you going to do to me…?” Applejack asked, her voice cracking with emotion.

EXE smiled wickedly as he slashed her torso, gutting her out until there was nothing left.

“You should’ve stayed quiet.”

Twilight continued to examine the shrine. As she examined it, she came across an inscription that seemed to hint at seven powerful gems called the Chaos Emeralds.

“Are they like the Elements of Harmony? One being inhabiting a certain trait? Or are they something completely different?” she asked herself.

Then she noticed one of the gem inscriptions begin to glow, indicating what she assumes is that one these “emeralds” had been found. She hoped it wasn’t EXE, knowing with villains like him, powerful items like these don’t belong in their possession.

Suddenly, she began to hear what sounded like singing. Knowing EXE was close, she hid behind a pillar nearby and waited for him to hopefully leave.

As time went on, she started to get nervous, realizing that he knew she was here. All she could do now was try and get out of there before she meets her end. She silently moved away from the shrine so as to not alert EXE. Though, as she keeps moving, a soft tune began to play, and a few seconds later, she hears EXE’s voice sing along. Sweat formed on her brow and her ears fell flat to her head.

"I've always been here
I'm chasing you down
Though I'm not running
I'll be all around.

You can't escape me
Just know that I'll be waiting for you at the bottom...

Everyday I prowl these lands waiting for an unfortunate soul.
The way I say goes into play, for I've found my prey today.

Unstoppable,
I'm in control,
There's hope that faded long ago.

You had your one shot at life,
You threw away!
You tell me I'm responsible but you had faltered,

Dwell within my realm,
Don't blame me when it goes to hell,
Don't go feeling overwhelmed,
It's time for your final farewell.

With the power I possess,
I can stir up all your distress,
Oh I once was silent, growing violent
Times will change but I will not..."

Ḩ̵̰̙̣͉́̾̉͝A̶̛͎̮̗͉̭̗̒̆͑̽̏̄͂͆͝H̵̗͓̳͚̱̱̲̀̆͜͜A̴̖̳̟̩͈̗͐̄H̵̩̱̀̇̾Ä̸͈̈̀́̔̃H̷͎̠͛͊́̌̓̈́̚̚A̶̦̥̰̺̱̲͐͂̌Ḥ̷̻̰͈̭͐̋̾́͋͆̕͝ͅAH̷̫̳̠̬̟̗͊̄͋͌̏̇̓͝Ǎ̶̼͇̫̙͎̞̹̂̈́͜H̵̥͓̭͍͗̉̽͜Ä̴̢̦͕̮̯͍̮̟͛̽̀̆͜͠H̵̢̺̮͓͔͎̟̾̄̎ͅĄ̷̲͚̺̲̹̹̳̗̾͌H̷̬̊̍̊͘͝À̵̼̈́͐͗͐̾͂̑́͝Ḣ̸͍̹͔͑̓̚Ă̶͓̱͇̘̜̭͖̋̓̍̅̇͗̈͝ͅH̵̛͎͇̪̗̟͗̿̿̏̈́͂AḨ̷̳͙̹̺̝͛͐̓̑̕Ą̸̲͉̞͖͙̰̦͙̹̉̈́͂̋̀̋͛͌̾Ĥ̵̗̜̫̦̰͋͑̽̉̔͜A̴̼̔̔Ĥ̵̡̆̇̂͒̽͛Ą̵̡̢̠̝̙̱̣͍̝͌͛͠Ḩ̴̢͓̝̟͕̤̤̱͕̏͋̌̎̂AH̸͔͙̟̭̬̆̇̍̿̑̈̚͜ͅA̸̧̫̣̹͚̯͂͌̋̉̓̏̏̕͝Ḧ̴͖̥́̽̏̋̏͒̄͊͠͝ͅĄ̸̢̯̤̮̫̘̺̜̈́͐́̽̉͝Á̵̡̮̣̳̩̮̦̂̈́Á̴̡̙̬̟̍̓͑̀̉͊̀̋̄A̶̛͙͎͖͔̱̙̅̊̄̚̚A̸̛̖͎͍͇͉̤͛̒͜͝Ạ̴̧̝̗͙̯̽̽̇̋̏͝͝

As EXE was singing, Images of her friends began to appear, and her face went pale. They were all dead.

Rainbow had her wings ripped off, and had drowned in bloody water.

Pinkie had foam around her mouth, showing she had been poisoned.

Rarity and Spike were impaled by spikes.

Fluttershy was decapitated.

Applejack had her guts ripped from her body.

Twilight’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks. All her friends were killed in brutal ways. She was all alone. Tears welled in her eyes as she walked, blurring her vision. She then trips and falls over, EXE appearing right in front of her.

“Found you, princess,” he said coldly.

Before Twilight could scream, he thrust his hand forward into her chest. Twilight coughed up blood as a result. Then with a forceful tug, EXE ripped her heart out, and Twilight’s body fell to the ground.

“I win round one. Ready for round 2, ponies…?”

Zone ll: Scrap and Run

At this point, they knew Exe was not playing around, since he was able to make a game into a blood bath that was not even very fair, but he didn’t care.

The Mane Six and Spike woke up again, confused and baffled about how they were alive. Rainbow Dash gasped and coughed for air, Pinkie used her hooves to try and get something out of her mouth, Rarity and Spike looked over their bodies to find they weren’t impaled, Fluttershy looked up and down herself seeing she was in one piece again, Applejack looked at the lower part of her body to see if her organs were still clawed out, and Twilight shot straight up as she put a hoof to her chest to check if she could feel her heartbeat.

The 7 of them then looked around to see each other alive, and they all went in for a group hug.

“Oh, I’m so happy to see you all again. I thought you’d all were dead,” Twilight said with tears in her eyes, knowing Exe had brutally murdered them.

They were each about to tell what happened to them, but they saw Exe leaning against the metal wall, tossing and catching a bird head while waiting for the 7 to be done with their friendship talk.

The moment they saw him, Dash and Applejack lashed out at him, only for him to teleport away. They kept on trying to hurt him, but he just kept teleporting away. After a few seconds, he stopped the two mares by putting his hand up.

“You two done yet?” Exe said with a hint of impatience in his voice.

The two just retreated back to the others, and Twilight stepped forward to Exe. He stared her down with a grin as she came forward to speak.

“Alright, Exe… we may have lost the first game, but you didn’t have to rip my heart out!”

Dash chimed in, “And you don’t just drown somepony for cheating! You never said anything about using our unique abilities being counted as cheating!”

Applejack then adds, “You didn’t have to turn into my little sister before killing me!”

Exe only chuckled, “Oh well, it was fun.”

Fluttershy did not like him one bit for killing her, her friends, and so many innocent animals.

Twilight narrowed her eyes, “Exe, let’s just move on. We may have lost the first game, but we will win this next one. With the power of friendship, we will defeat you!”

Exe gagged but then started laughing, “Yeah. The Power of Friendship will help me and my other friends win the next game.” Exe mocked, “Yeah right. This next game is pretty easy, all you need to do is make it to the end of this area, and you win. Simple, right?”

He teleported away, leaving the mane six and Spike alone at the beginning of this area.

Twilight sighed, “Well, let’s get this over with,” she said.

She and her friends started to travel through the scrap wasteland that had blood stains, rust stains, sawblades, and pits to Celestia knows what.

As they tried to traverse the area, Pinkie almost fell into a pit from a trap door that opened randomly.

“AHH-” she screamed before Applejack managed to grab her tail and pull her away from the pit.

“Phew! Thanks, Applejack,” Pinkie thanked.

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Applejack replied, “Once we’re out of this wasteland, then you can thank me.”

Rainbow flew a few inches from the ground since she was punished with drowning for flying up to the clouds last game, “ Tch, yeah yeah. But I swear, I’m going to beat that Exe up whenever get the chance!” she said, throwing punches in the air with her hooves.

Twilight sighed before responding, “Come on, girls, just stay close, and don’t wander off since we know what happened to Pinkie the last time she wandered away!”

Twilight then spotted another red ring, but this time she didn't want to go near it and stopped in her tracks. She made a whimpering noise that caught Rarity’s attention.

“What's wrong Darling?” she asked, seeing Twilight freeze up.

Twilight pointed at the red ring, making Rarity's face go pale. Then the others noticed and all stared at the ring. Pinkie then looked at everyone, wondering why they had all stopped.

“Huh what's wrong?” she asked, then noticed the ring and smiled, “Ooooh another ring!”

She began to trot towards it.

“Pinkie, don’t touch that!” Twilight shouted, making Pinkie stop right in the nick of time

“Oh, you want to hold it? Alrighty!” Pinkie said before using her curly mane to pick up the ring and toss it to Twilight.

“PINKIE, NO!” everyone shouted to her.

The moment it touched Twilight, she blacked out.

The rest of the mane six circled her to see if she was still alive. When they saw her breathing, confirming she was, they all glared at Pinkie.

Pinkie cocks her head, “What?”

Applejack sighed, facehooving herself before picking up Twilight and putting her on her back, “She’s still breathing, but we should still keep moving. If not, we may not get out of here.”

They then continue to make their way through whatever things Exe had put in their way. They came across a large pit, and Dash rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“Alright, let me handle this, who wants me to carry them across this bottomless pit?” she asked.

Applejack pulled an apple out of her hat and said, “Hold on there sugarcube, something seems fishy about this.”

She threw it into the pit, and a gloved hand came out and grabbed it and pulled it down, making a bunch of arms pop out, trying to reach over the pit to catch something or someone. Rainbow’s eyes widened and she slowly landed on the ground.

She chuckled nervously, “Guess flying is out of the question…”

“Look up there!” Rarity called out, pointing at the bars on the ceiling.

“Good idea Rarity, we could use those pipes to move over this pit,” Applejack said before everypony started to cross over the pit.

Rainbow crossed easily. Rarity cleaned the bars before grabbing them, and Spike followed behind her. Fluttershy slowly but surely made her way across with the help of Rainbow Dash. Pinkie had fun like she was playing with monkey bars. Applejack used her rope to tie Twilight to her before grabbing onto the first pipe, trying her best not to slip, but Rarity didn’t make it very easy for her from her cleaning the pipe.

After some time, she was only two pipes away from making it across when Twilight began to slip. Applejack tried to keep her up, but the moment she jumped to the next pipe, the rope holding her and Twilight together snapped before she could make it across. Applejack let go of the pipe and used her powerful hindlegs to buck her to the other side. The rest of the six saw a hand grab her and dragged her down into the pit.

“Applejack…” Spike said, watching every single hand go down too.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and growled, “Alright, everypony, we need to win this! Let's move out!”

She put Twilight on her back and moved forward. Spike was the last one to leave the pit, hearing what sounded like limbs being torn apart. The next few minutes go by and they run into a tunnel with walls in the way, making tight corners if you were moving fast.

“Pinkie, darling, do you have any sweets? I am quite hungry,” Rarity asked.

Pinkie dug into her mane and pulled Gummy out, getting a confused look from Rarity and an eyeroll from Rainbow.

“Oh, hi Gummy! You shouldn’t be here though, It’s kinda dangerous.”

She dug back into her mane and pulled out a cupcake.

“AHA! Here you go Rarity,” she smiled, handing her the cupcake.

Rarity took the cupcake in her magic and began to bite into it.

At that moment, Pinkie spotted something at the corner of her eye. It looked like a red gem.

“Oooo! Shiny!” she exclaimed.

She caught the other’s attention as she picked up the gem, showing it to them.

“Look what I found!”

“Hey!” Spike added, “That gem looks just like the one me and Rarity found in a cave before we were killed!”

“He’s right,” Rarity said, teleporting the green gem in the middle of the group.

“Could they be important?” Fluttershy asked.

“They might be,” Rainbow answered, “I’m not Twilight, but I have a feeling we’ll be needing these later.”

Pinkie snatched both gems and placed them in her mane for safe keeping, and the group continued on the path.

“Uhm R-Rainbow,” Fluttershy called, catching Dash’s attention, “Do you think Twilight will wake up soon?”

“I don’t know Fluttershy,” Dash replied, “I don’t know. All I know is that we need to keep moving-”

“SNAKE!!!” Rarity shouted, startling the rest of the group.

They looked to see Exe as a snake, slithering towards them with a devilish gleam in his eyes.

“RUN!” Rainbow shouted, and everypony followed closed behind.

They all try their best to move around the sawblades, spikes, and pits. After they all jumped over a big pit, they didn’t notice Spike tripped over a metal robot leg. Fluttershy turned back and helped Spike get back up, but it was too late. They both screamed before being eaten by Exe.

After some time, the group stops running. Rainbow started a head count to make sure everyone was okay but realized Spike and Fluttershy were missing. Rarity began to cry, knowing that Fluttershy was dead.

”DAMN YOU EXE!” Rainbow shouted angrily, “We may have lost AJ, Spike, and Fluttershy, but we're close, I can feel it. Come on we need to keep moving.”

Rarity snapped at Rainbow, “REALLY?! We Just lost two of our friends, and you want us to just forget this?!”

Rainbow glared back at Rarity with tears in her eyes, “Rarity, I miss them too, but if we stay her, we’ll lose this game and our chance to go back home!”

Rarity and Rainbow glared at each other, and Pinkie looked back and forth between them.

“Girls, come on, we’re friends! Besides, we still have one game left, so I’m sure they’ll be back again,” Pinkie said, trying to lighten up the mood.

The two realized that for once, she was right.

“Pinkie has a point, darling,” Rarity sighed before looking back up.

“Well let's not keep waiting here, we must get a move on,” Rainbow said, calming down.

After some time, the air around them all felt cold and it made Pinkie a bit uncomfortable, but they pressed forward, and soon reached the end to see what appeared to be the end of the game: a long path that seemed to stretch for a good while.

“Welp looks were gonna have to run this,” Rainbow said before she started to move.

It was now only Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Twilight who was still knocked out on Dash’s back. They still had a chance at winning this sick game. As they moved forward, blood stains became more apparent, and soon it started to rain blood.

“OOooh strawberry chocolate sauce!” Pinkie says sticking out her tongue. The moment a drop hit her tongue, she gagged, “That's not strawberry sauce…”

Rarity rolled her eyes before a drop of blood landed on her mane, going down to her coat. She gasped and tried to cover her mane. “MY MANE!” she exclaimed, “Curse this blood rain! Do you know how long this takes to do it and get my coat clean!?”

“Rarity,” Dash said with a deadpanned expression, “You can fix your mane when we get home, but we can’t risk losing another pony if none of us get to the end… then we’ll lose this game too!”

She watched as Pinkie sped past her after stepping on what seemed like a boost pad.

“Weeeeeee!” she happily exclaimed, giggling as she continued going faster.

She turned around to see Rainbow and Rarity still running as she zoomed, mainly due to the slippery blood making her go faster. Pinkie then turned back to face in front of her, but only to see a wall of spikes. She screamed as she was about to crash, and managed to stop herself just a few inches away from being impaled.

“PINKIE! ARE YOU OKAY?!” Rarity shouted with a look of concern as they got closer to the pink pony.

Pinkie smiled nervously. “Yep. I stopped right before hitting these spikes.”

She then looked up to see a figure right behind her, and Pinkie gasped before smiling widely.

“MAUD! OH MY CELESTIA!!!” she shouts.

Pinkie then ran up and hugged Maud, soon Rarity and Rainbow joined the two sisters. They both have a sneaking suspicion it isn’t Maud, but who knows what could happen in this world?

“Girls, look who I found!!!” Pinkie said, her smile widening,

“Pinkie, I have a surprise for you,” Maud said.

Pinkie’s face beamed with excitement before saying, “OOO! What is it?”

Rainbow then spoke up as she raised an eyebrow, “Look, Maud, I’m sorry, but we don’t have time for a gift. Also, what are you doing here?”

“I came here to see what new rocks I could find,” Maud answered.

Rarity tilted her head, “Then, how did you get into this nightmare of a world darling?”

Maud then looked at her with her normal stone-faced look, “Well there's a ba-”

Pinkie interrupted her as she made Maud look at her and her smiling face, “You still haven’t given me my gift and we are-”

Rainbow and Rarity cocked an eyebrow at each other after that response before Maud interrupted Pinkie.

“Okay, I’ll give you your gift. Your gift is this,” she said before getting closer to Pinkie and pushing her into the spiked wall, impaling her.

Maud just looked at Pinkie’s dead body, blood gushing out of the wound. Maud smiled devilishly while Rainbow and Rarity were dumbfounded, but also slightly angry.

“What. The. Fuck?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

The sound of cracking bone is suddenly heard as Maud's head turned all the way around to face the dumbfounded mares, and her face started to smile wider, her teeth yellow and stained with blood. Her skin began to peel off, revealing muscle then pure bone. Then all the flesh and bone distort to form Exe’s head. He then laughed before a gloved hand busted through the metal floor, grabbed him, and pulled him down into an endless abyss.

“SHIT!!!” Dash yelled angrily, “We’re down to us three now.”

Rarity turned away, not wanting to see Pinkie’s impaled body, and Dash stared into her eyes, once full of life.

Dash sighed and walked around the now bloody spiked wall, “Rarity, come on. We need to keep moving, we’re so close,” at that, Rarity followed soon behind.

After some time, they soon came up to a wall with 6 paths, each leading to different fates.

“Okay then. What are the odds that one of us dies…?” Rainbow said, turning to Rarity as she thought out loud, “We have a very small chance to get passed this. Stay here. I’m gonna check which of these is safe. Most of these must be traps, but I’ll try to fly fast enough so Exe doesn't catch me. Look after Twilight as she might be our only hope of getting out of here and figuring out what is going on.”

Rarity nodded as Dash set Twilight down on the metal ground. Rarity watched her fly in and out of 4 of the paths before coming back with a smirk.

“Welp, that was easy. Now we have a 50-50 chance to choose the right one. We have to choose wisely, as the wrong one might be fast enough to catch me since the others can learn quickly,” she said before looking at Rarity.

Rarity nodded as Dash walked to a path.

“I hope that path is not a trap, darling,” Rarity said, worried for Dash’s safety.

As Rainbow walked through the path, she kept her guard up in case something were to happen. However, she eventually stepped on something fleshy and looked to the ground, inspecting what she stepped on. What she saw baffled her as she muttered, “Exe?”

Rainbow then looked around the walls, ceiling, and floor. The entire room was made out of different Exe bodies.

“What the hell is all this…” Rainbow says before seeing something at the end of this path or in the way of it at least, she then walks closer, her guard up expecting anything.

At one point, she saw Exe waiting at the end of the path.

“Well, I’m surprised you’ve gone this far,” Exe said.

He smirked at her, making Dash grit her teeth.

“Yeah, surprised to see you’ve not killed any more of my friends, but am not letting us lose this game!” Rainbow said, keeping her distance from Exe.

“Oh yeah so very loyal of you~ You are the most awesome pony ever! Too bad you’re too insecure about losing,” Exe said, his voice mocking Scootaloo’s.

“Don’t you dare imitate her pure voice, you bastard!” she demanded, stomping her hooves on the ground and pointing at him.

“Rainbow Dash,” Exe said as his voice began to mock Dash’s mother, “You are a failure! You let your own friends die! No wonder why you're too slow, you can’t even save yourself.”

Rainbow’s rage was building up. How did he know who her parents were and about Scootaloo? He was really starting to get on her nerves.

“Dashie,” Exe said as his voice changed to her father’s, ”You are a horrible daughter, no wonder why you try to prove yourself to everyone, even if you know deep down, you're a failure!”

Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore. She yelled out a battle cry and was about to kick Exe, but he grabbed her left hoof and ripped it up, making it dangle while hardly attached to her body and bleeding heavily. Rainbow screamed before turning back and flying out of the path meeting back with Rarity and Twilight’s still unconscious body.

Rarity noticed Dash’s hoof and gasped, “OH MY GOODNESS, DASH, YOUR HOOF!” and let out a gag.

“Oh, this…” Dash replied solemnly, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Rarity wasn’t convinced. Dash’s hoof was hardly attached to her leg and bleeding profusely. She was shocked Dash hadn’t passed out by now from all the blood she had lost.

“Enough talk,” Dash said after dismissing her injury, “We need to continue. We’ll go down that path since we know it’s the safe one.”

Dash picked up Twilight and put her onto her back once more and Rarity followed her.

“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity asked Dash, “let me carry Twilight-”

“NO!” Dash shouted, not letting Rarity finish her question. She instantly lowered her voice, “I-I mean no. I can still carry her. Don’t worry about me, I got this…”

Rarity gave a concerned look. Dash was too stubborn to even think about what was happening to her.

“But darling, your hoof is hanging on by only a few threads of tissue! Let me see if I can find some fabric around here to at least make it stop bleeding. If not, you’ll bleed out and die, and it’ll just be me and Twilight’s unconscious body!” Rarity argued as she used her magic to create some fabric.

She then wrapped it around Rainbow’s hoof, making it stay in place and slow the bleeding.

“There you go, useful and fashionable, now I can guarantee we’ll both make it to the end alive.”

Dash smiled and rolled her eyes before looking at her hoof.

“Thanks, Rarity.”

Rarity smiled back, seeing Dash's expression soften up a bit.

“Of course, darling, now let’s not waste any more time.”

They continued on the path, Dash helping Rarity carry Twilight as they walked. Only one more obstacle stood in their way, it was a tall wall that Rainbow could easily fly over, there was one problem though, she would have to carry both Twilight and Rarity over it, and her injured hoof didn’t make it easier to carry both mares at once.

“Rainbow, darling, you take Twilight first then come back to help me get over it,” Rarity said, pointing up at the top of the wall with a hoof.

Rainbow nodded her head before carrying Twilight on her back as she flew up and over the wall. As Dash ascended further, she thought about everything that happened in this one game alone. Her friends had sacrificed themselves for the rest of them to move on, killed trying to help one another, or tricked by familiar faces and letting their guard down, getting killed because of it.

Before she knew it, she was on the other side of the wall. She lowered Twilight to the ground before flying back over it to get Rarity. When they made it over, Exe appeared and started to walk over to Twilight.

Rarity pointed at Exe, “Rainbow, darling, look!” she exclaimed.

Rainbow looked over and her eyes widened before letting Rarity go. Thankfully, they weren’t too far from the ground, so Rarity landed safely next to Twilight. Rainbow then reared her good hoof to punch Exe right in the cheek. As the attack landed, it sent Exe only a few feet away from Twilight, but he sat back up and laughed. A hand came out of the metal floor and grabbed him, pulling him down as he laughed. Rainbow snorted before returning to Rarity and Twilight.

“That guy is starting to get on my nerves,” She commented, “I hope we’re close to the end at least.” and that they were the three mares made it and crossed the broken sign with their faces on it, they then celebrated before then blacking out just as EXE said

"Congratulations you have won... But we are just getting started"
he says before laughing again

Author's Note

next up is Twilight

Zone ll: Scrap and Run 1/2

Author's Note

This chapter was made by Rainbow sparkle1 so Big credits to them ^^

btw the last chapter has a conclusion now :twilightblush:

Zone ll: Scrap and Run 1/2

Backstories

Twilight woke up to a black void after passing out from that red ring. She silently cursed Pinkie for tossing that ring to her without knowing it was dangerous. After she got up, she activated an illumination spell to help her see her surroundings, but the darkness stretched for miles. She walked forward, calling out to anyone who could be there.

“Hello?! Anypony here?!” she called.

Eventually, she began to hear crying from nearby. The soft sobs sounded male as she looked in the direction of the cries, and began to walk in that direction. As the cries got closer, she could see a figure in the darkness.

He was surrounded by floating screens of the distorted landscapes she had encountered during the journey, and she saw the figure’s forelimbs chained. As she got closer, she realized the figure looked just like Exe. She narrowed her eyes and spread her wings, preparing to shoot a magical beam at him.

“Exe, you better explain why I’m here in this void with you, or you’ll-” She shouted, cutting herself off after what happened next.

She didn’t expect the figure to turn around fearfully, revealing his face.

His eyes were normal, with green irises surrounding black pupils. Tear streaks stained his cheeks, and they weren’t bloody. The gloves were clean and neat, with not a single rip in the fabric. Looking closer, Twilight noticed his fur color was a brighter blue than Exe’s.

He tearfully responded, curling up in fear, “You’ve got it all wrong! I’m not him! Please don’t do it!”

Twilight’s face softened at his appearance and response. She disabled her magic and tucked her wings back to her side.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were him,” she said sheepishly.

“I’m not surprised, *sniff* I would’ve done the same,” he choked out.

Twilight began to feel bad for him. Seeing someone crying like this made her heart sink, like when she watched Rainbow Dash sob heavily over her pet, Tank, going into hibernation last winter. Her ears fell flat against her head as he turned back to the screens surrounding him.

“Hey, what’s your name, and can you tell me what’s going on?” she asked softly.

He looked up at her again to see her smile sadly at him, placing a hoof on his shoulder. He sniffled again, wiping the tears from his eyes as he slowly calmed down. She sat on her haunches next to him as he took deep breaths, rubbing his back as a means of comfort.

Once he calmed down, he began to explain…

I’m Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero of my world and the fastest thing alive. I could break the sound barrier just by running extremely fast, and I’ve had this power for as long as I can remember.

I’ve had lots of friends who helped me take down several villains, evil entities, etc. But nobody was as stubborn and frequent as Dr. Robotnik, heh, I like to call him Eggman because his body looked like an egg with limbs and a head. He was an evil genius who wanted to take over the entire world and roboticize everyone. Every plan he’s thrown at us, we’ve managed to defeat him.

My best friend was Miles Prower. I call him Tails because he was a two-tailed fox. He was a genius for his young age, able to create robots and several mechanical stuff that could rival Eggman’s.

Then there’s my echidna friend, Knuckles. He was the last of his kind and the guardian of the Master Emerald. He was very thickheaded, able to be tricked easily just so he could protect his home and the emerald. He had the strength to make up for it though, able to break down walls with just a single punch.

Then there’s Amy. She was a hedgehog like me, and boy did she have a huge crush on me. She would chase me down everywhere and demand me to marry her. Eventually, she stopped chasing me down as she got older, but I could still tell she had feelings for me. To make up for that, she had a huge hammer that could bash bad guys to the ground. With her hammer and Knuckles’ strength, nothing could get passed them without getting smashed or flattened.

I had a lot more friends, but I’m only going to name those three to keep this quick. Now to tell what I remember of when this whole mess started.

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and I were exploring a cave Tails had spotted on his radar. Being the adventurer I was, I agreed to explore it. Knuckles decided a small adventure wouldn’t hurt if nobody stole the Master Emerald, and Amy agreed to come along.

As we walked, a strange red glow came from this one crystal in the middle of the cave. Tails examined the crystal with intense curiosity, while Amy, Knuckles, and I stood back.

“What do you think it is, Tails?” Amy asked.

“I might take it back to Angel Island if I find it extremely powerful. We don’t want it to end up in Eggman’s possession,” Knuckles added.

“Good point, Knux,” I responded.

“It is really powerful,” Tails answered, “But my readings are picking up more negative energy than positive energy.”

It was strange. Most of the artifacts or gems we’ve found contained positive energy. I raised an eyebrow at Tails, and I could tell Knuckles and Amy were doing the same.

“There seems to be a lot of dark magic in this crystal, and I don’t think you’d be safe by taking this to Angel Island, Knuckles.”

I saw Knuckles slump at that statement, which made me chuckle slightly. Knowing him, I’m not surprised he reacted that way.

Suddenly, I heard a voice call out to me.

“T͚͍̦͕̳͒̑̾ͨ̐̆͐̍͝͠_̧̰̪̳͓̳̠̣̱ͦ̋ͣ̉ͮͭͫ̿̎̑ͭ̑̚͞͝ͅÔ̶̷͓̭̰͎̪̼̝̗̹̘̪ͫ͑͂̎ͬ̇ͮͣ̅̉͋̚͡͞Ư̸̵̡̲͔̩̪̮̞̤̗ͬ̿̄͠C̴̶̡͔̘̯͍̬̻̳͚̣͉̗̬̦͈͉̆ͤ̂̆ͦͮͨͮͭ̏͊̾̑̾͟H̢̧̘̗̱̬̰͓͔ͤ̄̈́̈́͑͗̌͆ͫ̅̈͗͑͑͌̚͟͞ T̶̷̢̧͍̟̱͖̼̳̟ͬ͑ͧ̌̒͗̒͒͌͋ͤ̂̍ͨ̐̕͟͟͞͞H͈̯̦̿̉̏ͨ̅͐͐̉ͪ̑̀͡È̷̴̡̘̝͙͔͙͇͒͌̃̌ͧ͆̚͞_̨̗̜̟̞̭͗̇̚͞ Ĉ͑̐̀R̨̛̛̝̙̤̳̣͙͈̝͆ͬͫ̎ͤ́̑̌ͩ̐̋ͧͥͯ̎̆ͥ̄̉̚̚͟͠Y̞͋̊ͨ̑̔ͪͯ̕͝͝S̵̸̴̸̷̵̨͈̝̠͍͇̰̗͚̬̭̞͙̲̰̱̉̆̍̈͑͂̾͑͐ͪ̍̌̇̉̋ͥ̅͗̕̕̕͟͞T̳̀̄ͧ̑͟A̡̡̛̜̼̦͇̟̤͕͖̜͙͌ͬ̓̑̂͒͊ͥͪ̆̍ͧ̏͊̊̕͢͠͞Ḽ̢̡̗̤͖̤̤̗̰́̿̾͒͆͛̐͐̏̀̕̚͝.̠̗͑͒͗̍.̷̧̢̺͎͇͈̮͍̩̦͎̗̱̹̫̏͒̆̏ͥ͛ͪ̏͊̿͛̔ͮ̍͊ͦ̔̀̚͢͜ͅͅ.̢̭̩͇̱̯̖͕͖̖̲̱̌ͧͧ́͂̓̀͑̚͡”

I jumped, not expecting to hear it.

“Uh, guys, did you hear that voice?”

“What voice?” Amy answered.

“Sonic, are you alright?” Tails asked me, concerned.

“Uh, yeah. Maybe I’m just hearing things,” I answered nervously.

“We should probably get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps,” Amy said.

We all agreed, but I told myself to return here to investigate further. Knowing what it had in store now, I wish I hadn’t.

That night, I sped back to that cave to find the crystal still there. I narrowed my eyes as I prepared to face whatever was going on with that crystal.

“Hello? I anyone there?” I called out.

Not too long after, I heard the voice again.

W̴̰̊̈h̶̯͌͐ŷ̷̰̣ ̷̭̹̎͘ḣ̷͚̟̏e̴̠͋l̶̨͆l̸͔̆ọ̴̥̈́͛,̷̡͉̈̅ ̶̢͍̀̌S̴̥̠͝o̵̜̻̒ň̴̮̖ỉ̸͉c̷̙͇̓ ̶͉̻̐̌t̸̞̗̓h̶̟͌́e̴͍̒ ̶͖͌̋H̸̙͖̓e̵̻̝͛̕d̴͇̬̑̾g̸̣͐e̸̳̺͒h̸̡̛̺̃ỏ̵̼ͅǵ̷̩̆,̷͚̏̑ ̵̟͘̕Ȑ̴͓̿e̴͖̭͌t̶̪̞̏ǔ̶͊ͅr̷̫͗̾ņ̷̋̋e̸̢̹̔d̷̜̩͋ ̷͉͔͌f̴͎̉o̸͍̎ŗ̷̗͠ ̴̱̞́͝m̷͙̤̋ỹ̵͂͜ ̷͉͑k̶̥̑́n̶̮̭̎̾o̵̮͛ẁ̴̹̇l̶͇̼̎̅e̷̙̞̓d̸͕̤̒g̷̯̤͑̕e̶̯͚͋̚?̴̜̺̍

“No, I want to know what your goal is. I have a gut feeling that you don’t have good intentions.”

O̴̼͛h̷̫̜̅,̴̨̇̆ ̵͊̎͜y̴͈͗ö̸̜̜́ǘ̸̥̿'̷͔̙̏͑v̶̲͒͆e̶̥̿͊ ̵̭̪̅͝g̸̢͂̒õ̷̧̻t̶͔̎͠ ̴̘͎̄̆i̵͐ͅt̶̡̓ ̶̼̄̈́a̷̛̜ͅl̶͔̯̆̐l̸̯̋̀ ̴͕̼̌w̶̭̻̽ŗ̵͐o̸͊ͅn̴͖͕̉g̴͓̼͐.̵̠͕̂͘ ̴̱̻̌̊Ȳ̶͔͠ở̸̡̻u̸̲̭̍ ̶̯͋s̴̔͜e̷͓̺͌̓ë̴̮́̓,̷̧́ ̵͚̯͗͌I̴̡̦͛ ̵̦͝ụ̴͕̚s̸̡̫̋̚e̵̛̪d̶̝̮̊̊ ̵̦̦̒̐t̵̗̳̔o̶̼͠͝ ̶͓̥̕b̴̪̬͝ĕ̴̥͆ ̶̲͊̚å̵͜͝ṇ̷͈̾̌ ̶͓̊e̷̙͊v̶̙͖̿ĭ̴̦ĺ̶͔̹ ̶̙̍͊e̶̥͗̀ṇ̸̹̆t̷̨̍͜i̴̯̒t̷̜̃y̵̳͐ ̵̯̂w̷̢͗i̸͔͗t̸͍̔h̴͓̜͑ ̷̛͎̂b̷͎̂à̴̭̭͑d̵̯͝ ̴̻̽i̶͙̋n̸̤̅̄t̴̟́̔e̶̦̥̋̆n̵̩͙̋͌t̸̹̥̀̈́i̸͖̚o̴͈̓̅n̷͂͜s̴̮̊,̶̥̓ ̶̞̲̏͛b̵̯̈́ǔ̷̥̒t̸̬̽ ̸͈̃̔d̸̲̯̃̅ụ̶̺͒͝ŕ̵̮̫͂ḭ̷̙͝ṅ̶̗͜g̶̼͐̽ ̵͎͙͌ḿ̶̙̚y̸̬̓ ̷̼͙̊̉ī̶͇̽m̵̥̳̾̈́p̸̤͌r̶̘̋i̷̛̫̘s̷̫̥̑ò̶̗͖̓ń̸̮m̸̡̈ě̵̯̱n̶̻̪̎͑t̶͓̒͝ ̴̹̇́i̵͖͜͠n̸̖̄̆ ̷̺͛ẗ̶͈̚h̷͉̃̅ĭ̵͎s̷̫͐ ̸̠̿̄c̵͇͛̽r̴̹̓ý̸̯ṣ̷̹͐t̸͉̜̑a̸̺̮͌̽l̷̗͊͠,̸̢͚̍ ̴̖̌Í̴͎͊ ̵̺͂r̴̠͖͑e̷͙͑̈a̶͚̘̒l̷̦̚i̵̞̿z̴̈ͅě̵͍ḑ̵̕ͅ ̴̬̮̌m̶̫͉̍y̷͚̾̄ ̴̻̬̂͂ḿ̴͍͓ì̷̤s̶̫͎͂t̸͙͐ả̶̜̺k̴̲͙̓e̴̲̜̕ŝ̴̡̖.̷̗͒̂ ̵̢͑P̵͖̌͝ļ̷̻̏͝ȅ̷̲a̴̹̞̿s̶͕̙͂e̵͉̫̓͠ ̶͇̀r̷̜̅͝e̴̯̽l̴͇̆ĕ̷͇a̸̋͜s̵̗̚͝ͅe̷̩̺͋̈́ ̸̹̠͛̚m̴̟̪̔ȇ̶̫́ ̵̻̭̚f̴̤̺́̓r̵̹͆̃o̷̪̦͋͝m̸̒͑ͅ ̴̣̳̏̌t̴̘̚h̴̡̝͛͠î̶̢̮̇s̷͖̞̑̔ ̷̗̮̽e̴͈̪͑ť̷̨é̷̪r̶̩͊͋n̶̟̮̋a̴̭̍́l̸͚̣͌ ̵̱́͋ͅp̴̟͉̽̆r̴̢̛̦͂i̶͈̒͝s̸̰̕o̸̹͛n̴̲̠͛,̵̞͂ ̶̙̈́a̸̱̭̎n̸̜̼̄̂ď̵̮̆͜ ̴̗̓̆I̷̳̬͑̇ ̵̰̀̅͜s̷͔̓ẖ̸̅a̸̱̦̾l̶͔̠͑͊l̵̢͔̀ ̸̳̑g̷͉̊r̵̙̤̀͋ȃ̴͖̩̚n̸̹̜͆̿t̵̬̤̕ ̴̛̰̭ẏ̴̧o̸̰͗ǔ̶͎̿ ̴̢̘̐̽ÿ̴͎́͗o̴̞̚u̸̫̿̈́r̷͈̝̃ ̶̦̈̚g̸̛̯͚r̵̳̆e̴̱̜͠a̷̧̕ț̵̈é̷̩s̴͓̪͋t̶̺̬̾̕ ̴͙͛̽d̵͋͜e̵̥͛̓s̵̩̋i̷̙̱͗r̸̥͇͗ȩ̸̫̇̃.̸͉̟̌̉

I wasn’t sure if he was telling me the truth, so I initially hesitated and asked him again.

“So, if I ask you to give me infinite chili dogs, you’d grant me that wish just by setting you free?”

Y̴̥͎̓̔ë̶̖́̃ṡ̸̭͈,̵̖̐ ̸̧̧͌Í̴͍ ̷̮̩͊c̷͆̈́͜a̶̺͙̽̇ń̷́͜ͅ ̷͓́̈́͜g̴͚̉̋r̶̞̔́a̸̧͈͋̓n̷̺̦̈t̸̥̄̓ ̷͇̾̋͜y̴̰͝o̴̦͂u̵̜͇̾ ̶̰̮̉͘á̴̮ń̸̘́y̶̎͜t̶̪̖̓h̶͍̘͌i̶̖̐̍n̷̟͓͑͐g̷̪̙̀̄ ̴͇̌̆ͅy̵͎̔̆ö̸̲͘u̶͉͒'̴̺͎̌̒d̶̞̈̉ͅ ̷̲̫̈́͝l̵̞̀́i̸̱̝̾k̴͈̑ḛ̷͕́͂.̵̲͛ ̵̱͖̌J̸͕̾u̸͎͌s̶̓͜t̵̡̗̚ ̴̱̇̿s̷̼̼̓ē̶͎̔t̵̡̯̒́ ̷͓͂m̶͇̫̓ḙ̵̼͒͝ ̷͚͌̕f̵̥̠͆r̵̢̨̒e̷̟͐e̶̖̓̈́.̴͍͌͠

I should’ve known better that it was a trick. Infinite chili dogs was not an opportunity I was going to waste. Mind you, I love chili dogs. Tails would always make the best ones. But, my love for chili dogs was my downfall. I touched the crystal, and that was enough to set the spirit free. Little did I know of what came next.

T̸͈̗͐͑̀͑̈́̂͒͐h̴̛͉̳͓̹̣̰̗͊̒̉̈́̈́̆͝ͅa̷̖̲͖͍͊̌n̶͈͕̹̖̽̑͘k̶̢̡͙̲͉͉̯̪̅̓͛̅̎͆̅͗ ̶̛̻̣̰͂͛̈́͑ÿ̶̡̧͚̝̦̗̲̅̂̇͋͠o̶̬͕̘̤͖̾͑̓̀͗ͅu̶͍͌̑̀̔ͅ ̴̡͎͇̪͚̟̺̀͜v̴̰̹̦̇̃̒͂͛̑ê̷̝̺̯r̶̛̘̻̺͉̍̌y̴̞͈̣̼̾ ̵̛̪̓́m̷̤̆̎͘u̵̲̹̲̻̯̫̐̃̒͒͌͘ͅĉ̶̡̖̓̈̾̽͘͝ͅh̵̡̡̪̲̗̱̹̄ͅ.̶̼̯͙͉̬̥̬̌́̈̿̏̇ͅ ̷̡͈̙̺̼̌̐B̷̺̍̈́̂̆̋̌̑ù̵̡̱̗͚̖̠̖͑̂̅̐t̸̨̫̜̩̰̥̿͊͗̔̏͜,̷͖̞͉̩̖̟̠̉̿̂͆̈́̈́ ̶̡̢̘̺̖̈̏̾́̒̄İ̸̫̗̺̝̜͔̻͗̐̍͛̆̉͋ ̸̱̾̈́͋͑̿̓ͅh̶͚̐a̵͕̖̤̫̺̼̚̕͜v̵̨͂ę̷͉̬̪͓̱̪̈́͋͂̏ ̷̝͖̣̞̎͗̓̽s̵͔͙̠̻̯̬͎̬̈́̊̇̇̓o̶̤̳̓̅̾̔̋̉͝m̶̠͇̦̗̒e̷̛̦̖̳̝̋̈́̈t̸̰̞͔̆̾̏̇̕h̷̲͕͍̋ȋ̶̡̨̛̠̬͓̣̮̼̑͗̈́͋n̶̘̔̋͗̾͝g̷̮̰̒̿̿͌̆͛̕ ̶̲̑̄̌t̸͎̫̻͈̀̋ö̵̥͇̝́͐ ̶̡̛͔̘͎̫͓̰̮́̃̇̽͂̊͠t̷̳̳̯͈̬̐̉̊͒̅͗̃͝e̶͚̹̬̱̭̬͒̄̍̉̅͘l̷̨̨̫̹̘̟̰̿̈́l̶̨̠͕̝͉͚͚̗͗̋̃ ̶̗̀̅̍̾͒̈ͅȳ̸̗͉̠̣͈̋o̷̝̪͓̟̼̙̪͈͒̎̉̏̔ŭ̵̢̨̳͓͇̠̩̓.̴͕͓̗̙̝̪̀̄̄̄ͅ

I should’ve sprinted out of there then, but for some reason, I didn’t.

“What would that be?”

The spirit laughed, sending a shiver down my spine.

Y̶͙̤̺̙̋Ò̶̬͐̿̋͒͐̓̋̑͘Ư̶̩̤̱͖̺͂̑̀̃̔ ̶̛̤͚̄̽͝F̴̺̙͓̪̜̱͙̭̚O̴̘̭̤̐Ǒ̶̡̮̺̩̞͇̖͗͂̎͛̏͠ͅL̶̥̙͖̭͕̞̿̏̆̏̾̈́͘!̷̧̛͚̣̠͜!̷̟̘́͒̔̎͆̈́͜͝ͅ!̴̛̞̤̥̭̪̤̱̯͍͐̓͆̊͒͝͝ ̶̛̪̗̥͒Y̸͈̗̮̪̫̥̹̦̫͐̏̄̊̀̈͂̀̇͘Ỏ̸̢͕͓͓̩̔́̕U̵̝̟̅͌͝ ̶̖̖͚̦͍̔͋́͋̿͌̋̈̕͝T̴̛̳͇͕̣̼̔̋͌̋̅̄̂̋̿H̴̨͚̰̞̯͙͇̺͕͘͜I̵̢̬̼͂̒̒͌̆̌̽̓̚N̸͚̹̙͓͕͚͕͚͙̄̈́͊́͛́́̂͜K̸̝̤̠̭̰͊̿̃̀̒ ̸̝̹͔̲̗̰͕̳͚̪̽̑̍Ÿ̷̮̜͙̩̲́́̚̚͝Ȯ̸̖̱̈̌̋U̴̠̟̘̠̕ ̵̗͙̮̲͊̎̅C̷̲̱͍̟̟͒̐̉́̈́͂͠͝O̸͉̣̬̳̫̖̽U̵̳̬̤̟̪͙͘Ḷ̶̛̳̪̜̪̼̬͕̞͉͐͑͒̒̂Ḑ̴͙̗͖͙̮́̎͗ͅ ̵͚̺̬̞͚̜͕̳̀̈̍ͅẼ̵̝͔̀̒̋S̷͚̰̺̞̫̳̥͚̹̔͋̃C̵̨̞͈̯̗̙̮͈͚̣͆̈́̀͝͠A̷̢̡͔̜̯͓̠̳̦͗͐́̀P̸̡̻̙̦͇͉͇̐͜E̴̦̘̪̠̬̹͕̠̘̔͐̕̚̕͝ͅ?̶̢͔͕̤̲̬̌̃͛͑̊͑ ̵͔͔̟̣̙͔̇̓̈́̓͂̀̋̄͘͝Ì̵̫̜̘̻̣͔̮̞̋̓͜ ̸̫͔̖͇̮̩̏͋̉̾́ͅT̴̗̤͙͚̦̺̈́̋̈́R̸̨̡̼̲̪̲̲̜̥͊I̶͉͒̆̕͝C̷̥͔̼̈́̀Ķ̶̧̦͎̳͕͕̰̾̑͛̋͋Ȩ̴̧̛͇̗̪̞̻͍̱̏͘ͅD̸̡̨̡̠̲͎̖̳̳̗͝͝ ̴̜̺͎̱͍̃̃̽̂̅̃͝Y̷̢̛̱̺͕͖͉̏̿̂̄͆̔̕O̷̹̖̝̞̔̐͜͠Ų̴̞̊͌ ̸̛͔̻͂̈́́Î̵̧̘̘̖͓̪̜̦̗̦̓͠N̸̡͙̲̠̝̝̬̫͍̿͑̑̓̏͆̒̕͝T̸̢̛͕̙̗̥̜͙̫̲̈́̂̆͝͠Ó̶̩̘͈̺̒͂̌̈̍̂̎̚͝ ̵̻̜͙̩͎͊̅̂͝R̶̛̪̩̐̽͐̎̕̚ͅE̴̩̝̰̮͛̓̿̆͐L̵͕͓̝͍͋͐̀̓̒̔͗E̷̜͎̬̳̿̉͐͋̀̋Ä̵̢͉͈̣͚̻̬́̇̋̈̾́͂́͜͝͠S̴͉̰̃͌͝Ĭ̷̢̧̡̗͔̀̈̚͝͝N̵̩̲͉̘̞͕̼̹̩̐́̿̑͐͘G̴͉̩̿̀̎̍̔͛̈́͜ ̷̩̍͂͛M̸̢̨̨̛̜̜̩̦̆̓̀́̊͝͠͝E̷͉̟̪̦̞̲̘͍͍̮̿̒ ̷̛̺̩̗̥̬̤̀̋̈́͠F̸̡̢͚̱̯͎̦̏̚ͅO̴̖̐́̈̃͆͋̎͘͠R̶͇͔͂̇ ̷̥̼̬̜͈́͌͋́̔̄̿̓̇M̴̦̜̠͛͗̄̈͂͊̒̋Y̷̩̙̾͋͠ ̵̞̼̻̬̬̝͚́̄͋̉̓̄̚͜ͅÒ̵̤̯͚̯̭̹̺͕̀̍͒͆͐̽̉̎̚W̸̨̬̞̫̲͚̯̥͚̕N̶̩͚̪̪̞̠̑̉̉̕̕ ̸͚̔͑̎͋͑G̵̼̻̺̖̯͖̥̈́͒̂̾̋̌A̶̹̥̪͍̍I̶̢͖͉͎̬̤͓͕̹̫̕N̶͓̥̠̥̖͇͕̑̾ͅ!̵̱̹͗̈́̄͌̓̏͌͌͘ ̵͙͓͙͚͓̮̠͔̅Y̷̨̙̜̪̥̼̥̓O̶̲̖̦̭̻̿̏͗͜Ų̶̣̯͖̞̠͕̝͉͛́̇͛͑̚͝͝ͅ'̶̧̛͔͚̤̠̖̲̘̝̿̅Ȑ̴̜̥̹̊̆E̵̢͓̟̤̟͙̘̪̗͆ ̷̧͚͙͍̹̥͔̣̯̿̓̀͒̀̐̑̑̂̚T̴̡̨͙̐̈H̷̛̙͍͎͎́̇Ę̸͓͕̿͑̎ ̴̝͕̻̮͓͌́̌͆͑͆̈́́P̵̢̹̼̫̎͒̍̏͝ͅȨ̵̠̄̍́͗͋̃͆́͌͆Ȓ̸͉͕̟͙̱͉͇̩̻̓͗̓͑͋̑F̸̗̗̝͇̜̯͉̄Ę̴̬̺̦̰͐̇́͜͝Ĉ̴̰͖̆̇̄T̸͕̉͐́̋̅̈͆̚ ̵͉̮̞̽̀̑͛V̵͇̻̦̟̻͖͍̽̋E̶͔͋͛̒̎͂̚S̷̜͉͈̗̝̯͍̏͑̈͐͠S̴̞͚̽Ȩ̸̪͔̯̲̼͔́L̷͖̮͉͈̆̂͂̓͆͊͑̾̚͝ ̴̼̘̳̫̹̼̜͉̝͒F̶̨̡̧̮͉̫̪̍̃͆͌͂̀́͂̊Ó̴̥̓̏̄̂͋͑̂̕R̵̗̠̯̘̈ ̶͈̲̠̞̦̰͔͓̝̞͌͛̒M̶̢̫̳̭̲̝̼͍̖͍͂̿̀͠E̸̢̱͙̩͚̮͍͎̗̔̆̈̇͂̾̉̏̒͠ ̵̗̒́̾̌T̴̪̹̰̱͛̒̀̃̈Ơ̵̩̯̘̲̗̳̰͌͂̆͛̐̑̑̆͜ ̸̢̛͎̯͔̮̯͇̥͒͐̐̀̐̉̎Ȗ̸̢̡̖͔̤̝̜̺̲̹͂N̷̢̛̞̰̩̦͉̖̟̙͂͊͆̔͠Ĺ̷̛̲̰̲̜̫͒̽̎͂̿͊̉̚E̶͓̪̥̼̥͖̽̄͂͆͝͠A̶͖̱̩̟̥͙͍̝̪͒̈́̎͠S̷̨̼͎̪̔͑́͐̎͂̈͐̚͠Ḧ̷͖͍̳̳̱͎̱̳̖̄̃͌͘͜ ̶̛̠̤̪́́̿̇͌̏̏̕M̸̤͔͈̻̹̜̟͈͎̒̈́͑̑̓Ȳ̶̥̪ ̸̧̹͉̯̝̝̲̠̥͍͗̊̃Ẇ̷̘͉̭̩̭̔̈́̓̂̋̋Ŗ̸̥̤̰̳͍̱͐̎̓͌͛͜͝Ą̵̖̻͓̝̙̣̾͛̆́͂̔͋T̴̨̞̗̺̘̟͉̮̘̯͑͊̄̊̀̃̑̑̐͘H̴̢̤͚́̈̈͆̋̍͂͂̚ͅ!̵̭͐̆͛͗̿́́!̵̧̤̣͕̭̉́͐̈̀̋̈́̿͛͠!̵̢̯̲̯̞̯̳̻͕̀́́ͅ!̷̭̻̉

At that point, I knew I had made a mistake. I tried to run out of there, but some unseen force prevented me from escaping. I began to feel an emotion I had never felt in years.

Fear.

Sure I had felt the slightest bit of fear during that time, especially whenever I was underwater since I can’t swim; but it was the first time in years I had felt this scared.

I tried calling for help, but I knew it was useless. What was the point in trying when you’re several miles in a cave and everyone was at home asleep?

C̷̢̣̀ͅa̷̧̧̯̥͈͇̫͗̀l̶͚̐̋̓̂͘͝l̶̙̮̩̫̥̙̰͑͂̔͜i̸͓̙̥̎͂͂̓̔̑ņ̵͉̗̮̜͛̕͜g̴̢͔̘̬͇̲̜̿͌͑̀͊ ̵̨͔̫̟̟̠͙̞̃͊̽͝ḟ̸̼͗̈́͘͝͝ô̶̜̟̮̯͂r̵̠̯̆̊̀̀͘͝͝ ̶͎̹͓̆͑̀h̵͉͓̙̆̉̈́͛̂̉͝͝ȇ̷̥̫̤͎̣̰̳̏l̷̡͍̓͌̅̑̓̌̀ṕ̴͍͔̪̈́̑̕ ̴̨̻̾̀̌̆̒ȋ̷̢̛̤̻̼̯̘̒͜s̶̨̗̟̬̣̬̥̞̉̎̐̚ ̴̹̖̊͐̎̈́͝f̸̹̯̖͉̟̯͇͂̆̋̀u̵̢͔̭̞̪͠t̸̥̺̥̻̫͊̌̅̓̕i̸͔̞̫̍͑̽̓̈́̅l̸̨̬̱͕͋́̀ȅ̶͚͔̫̲.̶̦͓̪̎̋͝ ̷͓̜͓͓̻̊̊͜Y̸̲̐̑͛̆̏̕͝ó̷͉͋͑̕ų̵̣̮̰̱̗̩̋͗̋͛'̸̛̺̼͕͖͇̘̝͚̀̾̀͌̏̓͝v̴͙͗̃̃̑̎͝͝e̴̺͕̜̍͜͝ ̸̤̹̗͍̞̖̙̏̍̿͌̍͘ą̵͈̮̙̯̘̟̍̈́͜l̴̪͙̯̼̮̪̯̈́̅̑̿͜r̴̡̫̦̖̬̠̋̅e̵͚̻͍̥̚ͅa̴̖͔͖̜̟̖͝ḏ̴̀̽͝y̶̖͊ ̸̢̼̭͔̫̘̘̅͛ś̴̖͍̬̙̺ė̶̙̞͈̮͙͈͎̈́͒̍͐ä̴̛̪͒̑͐͛̚͘l̵̢͉̹͔̖͓̭̕e̵̛̛̱͚̎̀͗͂͝d̴̲̞̲̺̪̮̠̲̃̄̏͗͊̆́̌ ̷̧̱̖̘̭̫́̽̐͆̈́̓̀̽y̴̨̝̗̯̩͌̀̀̌̌̈́o̶̫͖̍u̷̯̾̉͆̾̔̑r̴̢͇̲̹͙͇͘ ̶̩̞͌f̵͖͎̝̲̺̼̟͑̋ạ̶̧̖̝̗̒̔̂̂̈́t̴͖̹̗̳̫̥̎͘͜e̷̳̜̙̘̬̺̳̭͒̃̉.̸̡̩̤̀͌̽̀͘͠

I then felt this strange sensation overcome me, and I realized the spirit was entering my body. A splitting headache washed over me, and I sprinted out of the cave. I ran to Tails’ workshop and found him working late on one of his inventions.

"̸T̷A̶I̶L̵S̵!̷!̴ ̴I̴ ̷N̶E̶E̵D̶ ̵Y̷O̴U̷R̶ ̴H̷E̸L̴P̴!̶"̶ I called to him, snapping him out of his concentration.

“Sonic?! What’s going on?”

He dropped his tools and ran to me.

“I̵ ̶h̶a̶t̴e̶ ̵t̴o̸ ̷a̶d̸m̶i̷t̶ ̸i̶t̷,̶ ̶b̷u̸d̴d̶y̵,̵ ̵b̶u̷t̶ ̵I̸ ̴w̷e̷n̷t̴ ̸b̵a̵c̷k̵ ̴t̵o̵ ̷t̸h̷a̷t̶ ̷c̵a̴v̷e̴ ̵t̶o̴ ̴i̵n̸v̷e̷s̴t̸i̵g̴a̵t̴e̴ ̶t̴h̷a̶t̵ ̶c̴r̵y̸s̵t̷a̷l̷ ̵f̷u̸r̷t̸h̵e̷r̴.̵ ̶T̴h̶e̵r̵e̷ ̵w̴a̸s̴ ̵a̷ ̵s̶p̴i̴r̸i̷t̷ ̶t̶h̷a̴t̵ ̶t̵r̶i̴c̷k̵e̸d̶ ̸m̴e̸ ̷i̷n̵t̸o̵ ̸r̷e̵l̷e̵a̷s̷i̴n̶g̷ ̵i̶t̷,̷ ̴a̸n̵d̸ ̵n̶o̶w̵ ̴i̸t̷'̷s̷ ̸t̴r̴y̵i̶n̴g̶ ̸t̵o̷ ̵p̵o̸s̴s̴e̴s̸s̴ ̸m̵e̴!̷”

I heard my voice becoming more distorted, and I could tell Tails heard it as well.

“Sonic, what did I say about not going back to suspicious artifacts?” Tails scolded.

“I̴ ̴k̵n̵o̵w̵,̴ ̸b̷u̸t̸ ̷s̷o̴m̷e̷t̴h̷i̵n̶g̸,̷ ̷m̵a̵y̴b̸e̸ ̷t̷h̵e̴ ̶s̷p̷i̷r̷i̴t̷,̷ ̴w̶a̶s̴ ̸d̵r̶a̵g̷g̵i̶n̸g̷ ̸m̴e̸ ̸b̶a̶c̸k̸ ̵t̷h̸e̵r̴e̶ ̶a̶n̴d̷ ̷I̵ ̶c̷o̷u̷l̶d̴n̴'̶t̶ ̸r̶e̴s̸i̵s̵t̸!̸”

“Okay, calm down, Sonic. I’ll find a way to get the spirit out of your head.”

At this point, I was in tears. I was beyond terrified about what was going on with me. Unfortunately, as you know, Tails was unable to save me as my vision suddenly turned a very bright white, and it felt like my head was splitting open between my eyes. I clutched my head and screamed in pain, assuming Tails was running up to me to see why I was screaming. Then, everything went black.

After I woke up, I found myself here in this void, chained to the invisible floor. I heard that same voice from the spirit, but I heard it was a mix of my voice and his voice.

Ẅ̵̯́̅e̴͕͋̃ĺ̶͎̱c̶͉͎̆̅o̶̳̜͑̋m̴̧̄e̶̤̒̏ͅ ̵̹͔̏͝t̸͌͜͝ö̷̹́̔ ̵͇̆̎m̷͇̍͠y̷͔̱͂ ̴̜̮̀͘m̴̼̮̄į̸̽ṋ̵̔̅d̷̞̮̉̀,̵̬̽ ̷̨̱̈́͛S̴̤̠̀̀o̵̹̝̕ṉ̷̞̕i̴̭͛c̵̭͐.̵̥̌ ̸̣̣̉́T̵̹̀̍h̴͙͙́i̸̪̠̇s̸̝̬͊̆ ̴͙̈́ī̴͎̗͝ś̶̘̏ ̷̟̞͐w̷̖̑̅h̸̯̾͘e̸̘͂ȓ̴̟̝e̷̟̼͒̿ ̴̡͙̉̆y̸̢̳̽ö̵̙̥́u̸̮̻͑'̷͓̕l̷̜͒̊l̶͍̘̍ ̶̈̚ͅḇ̷̖̈ë̷̟́ ̶̢͖͐̒ẘ̷̞̟̓h̴͔̔̐ĩ̶̳͍̀l̵͚͑e̴͕̓ ̵͖̤̽̀İ̵̗͠ ̶͓̾́c̸̱̮̈́̍o̴͕̯̚n̴͎̟͛t̷̘̍i̸̛̘͑ṋ̴͍͂u̵̥̮̍̈́ẽ̴̩̓ ̵̰̐́m̸̺̈́̌y̶̙̎ ̶̤̪͒͒w̷̛̜̾o̷̡̢͊r̷̰̻̆k̵̢̺͒̐ ̵͙̝̿̅f̸̧͈̿r̶͖̪̔o̶̡̎̌m̵̘̃̋ ̴̢́ą̸̘͗l̴̳͂́l̵͙̔ ̵͎̽̚t̴̩͍͗h̸̫̐̂ȯ̷̠s̶͖͘e̴͍̲͒ ̴̧͈͒c̷̢̊̌ȩ̶̾̌ṅ̴̨ṫ̴̘u̵͍͑̉r̴̪̔̎i̴̪̹̾̕e̸̥͝s̶͜͠ ̸̧͒a̶̛̬͝g̸̒͆͜ö̸̙͓̋.̷͎̕ ̷͍̝̄Ý̶̯͚̕o̸̢͓͗͐ȕ̴̙̠́'̶̖̩͊l̷̯͕̅́l̸͕͒ ̵̺͇̽̉b̵̦́̒e̴͍͖̽ ̶̙̽ȧ̶͕b̵̤̠̓͝l̵͔̽e̶̼̲̍ ̸̼͘t̸̛̮̀o̴͚͂́ ̶̣̩̃̾w̸̼̿͌a̵̜̩͘ţ̷̕c̴̻͊h̸̢̛̽ ̶͎̓a̶̮̾s̷̲͆ ̷̣͆̈́Į̶̌͘͜ ̴͛͜ͅt̵͙̑ẹ̵̳̅a̶̞̥͂͆ř̸̘̱ ̶̘̈ÿ̶͎͕́̍ợ̴̧u̷̘̒̄r̴̥̒ ̷͈̣̈w̵̻̠͆̏o̸̡̠͝r̸̺͉̽l̴͎̗͗̚d̸̬̑ ̵͖͐̅â̶̻̩̿p̴̢͇̈́ả̶̬͠ŗ̷̟̀t̴̮̩̋ ̸̳̠͝å̷̲̇n̸̥̄ď̸͔͒͜ ̸̜̠͋s̶̺͒͗l̸̖̀ã̵̩͈u̸̲̞͑͊g̸͔͚͑h̷̛̗͎͠t̸̰̮̒e̶̝̹͠r̸̥͐͊ͅ ̶̹̲͌̉ȳ̴̼o̷̹̅ȗ̶͉͌r̷̲̆͠ ̴̘̈f̶̮̂̎ŕ̵̘̳̒ḯ̶̙̙̿e̸̓͜ͅn̶̩̏͠d̶̹̄s̴͔̘̐.̴̱̳͂ ̴͇̂Ï̸͙̃ ̸̡̍̕ͅh̷̙̯͂̂o̴̧̅͛p̴̮̚ë̷͈́ ̴̹̉̿ỳ̴̹o̶̗̓͒ŭ̷̜͜ ̸̟̂̕ë̶͖͍́͘ǹ̸͚̦j̴̻͐o̴̺͌̾y̴͍̤̒ ̵̣̗̀t̴̞̬͌h̵̜͌ê̸͇̲ ̵̩͓̾ś̸ͅh̵̠̍͊o̷͓̺̾̓ŵ̶̫!̶̘̮͠

Then, screens appeared in front of me of my favorite places. Green Hill, Angel Island, Metropolis, etc.

I watched as he killed all my friends, even Eggman, and transformed them into horrific versions of themselves. He turned my favorite places into wastelands, taking millions of lives, animal or civilian.

You entered this world in Green Hill, or what was left of it, the burning place you played Hide and Seek was Angel Island, and where your friends are now is a very bloody former Eggman base I nicknamed Scrap Brain.

I broke down into tears. I was supposed to be the hero, not the villain. But now, I look like a monster, because that’s what I’ve become.

I’ve seen X take several beings from several worlds and toy with them for what felt like several years. Most of them failed to escape and died here, but there was one life he failed to kill.

He looked a lot like you, but grey and had a long, white beard. He wore what looked like a wizard’s outfit.

After he escaped, X took his anger out by tormenting me, physically and mentally. I was left sobbing on the invisible ground in unbearable pain.

I’m just a shell of the hedgehog I used to be. I’ve seen so much I wish I could unsee. I just wish I could go back and make things right, but X is so powerful that he makes it impossible to escape his mind.

X would’ve killed me long ago, but he needs my spirit alive so he can continue to use my body for his own gain, and I can’t regain control of it no matter what I’ve done. I’ve given up by now, knowing it was useless.

For the first time, I, Sonic the Hedgehog, the undefeated hero of Mobius, was broken and defeated by one evil entity, all because of one STUPID mistake!

After explaining everything, he broke down again. Twilight teared up slightly from everything she heard, feeling bad for the hedgehog.

“I never thought this world had such a dark downfall,” she thought, “and I can’t believe Starswirl was the only one of Exe’s victims that escaped. I can’t let this hero think it’s his fault for everything.”

She wiped her tears and wrapped her hooves around the hedgehog, catching him off guard.

“It’s not your fault, Sonic. Everypony has their flaws, including heroes like you. My friends and I are heroes in our world, and we’re not afraid to show our flaws to our fans, other friends, and family. Ever since I met my friends, my view on life had changed. Now, I’m the princess of friendship, helping other ponies rekindle their friendships and realize what friendship is about. I hope you realize that your friends would forgive you for your mistake, because we all mess up sometimes. Like I said before, everypony has their flaws.”

Sonic continued to sob into Twilight’s shoulder as he returned the hug, grateful for her presence after being alone for so long. A few minutes passed, and Twilight watched a screen that showed her friends’ progress on their current game. Applejack, Spike, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were already dead, and Rainbow Dash had narrowly escaped death with her left hoof hanging on by a thread.

Eventually, Sonic had calmed down enough to thank Twilight for her kindness. She nodded, and he continued to speak.

“One thing I remember hearing was, the only way to defeat X is to use the Chaos Emeralds. I remember seeing you around the Master Emerald shrine on Angel Island, so you’re the only one who knows about them.”

Twilight recalled seeing one engraved shape glowing at the shrine.

“So that’s what those ruins were talking about! What exactly are they?” she asked.

“The Chaos Emeralds are seven extremely powerful gems. Each of them harness different powers. These emeralds are green, yellow, purple, blue, cyan, red, and white in color. If you collect all seven, you can gain access to extreme amounts of power. I’ve used them countless times to defeat powerful enemies. The thing is, they are extremely hard to find if they’re spread around the world.”

Twilight listened closely to what Sonic told her.

“Although, I did see your friends, the white one and the dragon, find the green emerald in a cave on Angel Island and the pink one find the red one in Scrap Brain. If you had Tails’ tracker, you could very easily track them down…”

Sonic’s ears flattened, but Twilight looked determined.

“Don’t worry, Sonic, We’ll find those emeralds and save you and your world. I pinkie promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Sonic, for the first time in years, smiled gratefully.

“Thank you, Twilight. You and your friends might be the heroes I never was all those years ago.”

They hugged again, both having sad smiles on their faces. Then Twilight felt herself beginning to fade, and realized she was waking up.

“Once again, I promise we’ll set you and your world free from this torture,” she said before disappearing completely, leaving Sonic alone again in the void.

“I’m counting on it, Princess.”