Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: A New Generation - Revisited

Chapters

Chapter 5: The Menace(s) from Angel Island
Prologue: A Sign for Disaster
Chapter 1: Meet Team Sonic
Chapter 2: Guardians of the Crystals
Chapter 3: Ambush on Angel Island
Chapter 4: Nightmares Come True
Chapter 6: What We're Made Of
Chapter 7: Rotten to the Core
Chapter 8: Trip to Zephyr Heights
Chapter 9: Glitter is the Best Weapon
Chapter 10: Clash of Ideals
Chapter 11: Villains Assemble
Chapter 12: Things Go Wrong
Chapter 13: Live and Learn

Chapter 5: The Menace(s) from Angel Island

Unknown Location

A small purple bunny, named Twitch, hopped at fast as he could across a forest, not so far from Maretime Bay.

He jumped over some tree roots and through some bushes, until he finally reached his destination: What seemed to be a hidden cave on the forest, where a big shadow was hiding inside. Twitch made squeaking noises and shouted at the cave, which made a pair of yellow eyes open up, and soon, a figure came out of the cave to stare down at Twitch with a smirk.

This creature is a a winged snow leopard with purple fur, purple, blue, and green feathers. She has a long mane that sweeps to her right which is blue with stripes of purple, cyan, and pink. She also has golden, slitted eyes and two piercings on her left ear. Her name is Allura the Leopard, a gal that had the town of Starlight Ridge kidnapped for a few months until the Mane 6 came in to throw her plans away.

Now, she has come to Equestria to obtain revenge, but also to finally find a way to save her brother from wherever he is. Of course, she hasn't shown herself to the ponies yet, and she believes that her presence in Equestria is still going unnoticed so far... If only she knew...

"There you are, Twitch." Allura spoke as she approached her assistant. "I was worrying you were spotted."

Twitch only replied by protesting she always said that anytime he went outside in search for resources to survive or just to gossip and then pass the new to her.

"Considering our arrival into Equestria is still unknown, you shouldn't be surprised I get worried." Allura pointed out with a slight frown. "If we're discovered, our whole plan might be fooled again. The last thing we need is those ponies on our tails again!"

Twitch rolled his eyes, but then shook her words off and squeaked again, this time explaining everything he just heard and even witnessed in Maretime Bay.

Allura's eyes widened after hearing all of this. "What do you mean a floating island appeared over the ocean?!" She asked, and Twitch just squeaked again as a reply. "And some glow came from it... I've never heard about floating islands before, but if this is new for the ponies as well... Perhaps we should go and see this for ourselves."

With that being said, Allura ducked down so Twitch could get on her back. Once he was riding the leopard, Allura spread her wings and then threw herself to the air, flying high enough to pass unnoticed by everypony in Maretime Bay, as well as to arrive into this floating island Twitch mentioned by surprise.

Maretime Bay

Sonic could see absolutely nothing for what fell like an eternity. How much has it passed since they crashed?

He could feel sand on his mouth, and as much as he tried to move or at the very least spit the sand, nothing happened. He did fell, though, that a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. Judging by how big it was, he could tell Knuckles just grabbed him. And then. he felt his entire being getting dragged upwards, and soon, a light finally reach his face and made him close his eyes.

He soon fell to the ground on his back with a thud, and the first thing he did was roll to stand on his knees and finally spit all the sand that entered his mouth. It was gross, way past gross, but it felt relieving to finally spit all of that out of his system.

Soon, Sonic stand up and looked behind, where he found Knuckles removing his gloves to get the sand out of them; Tails panting exhausted, probably because he's the one that took them all out; and finally, he saw Amy sitting on the sand coughing some out, while also cleaning off some sand from her dress.

By seeing this, Sonic rushed with her and kneeled at her side. "You okay, Ames?"

Amy coughed a bit more sand before she finally could sigh relieved. "As okay as one can be after a plane crash..."

Sonic then stood up and extended his hand to her, which she accepted to stand up again. Soon, Sonic rushed to Tails and patted his back with a smile, while Tails smiled back, although it was a very weak smile.

"I'm gonna guess you're the one that saved us from chocking with sand 'till dead, little bro?" Sonic asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, I had the power to help you guys out, so I did that!" Tails smiled, then he turned to the Tornado and sighed. "Wish I could say the same about the Tornado, though..."

Sonic also looked over at his plane and sighed. He's been having tis thing since he was a kid, and looking at it now was kind of painful. He knows Tails can fix it in no time, but it didn't made him feel any better.

Soon, Knuckles approached as he finished adjusting his gloves. "It's a miracle that we're not dead. Getting suddenly burred in the sand after the crash should've killed us."

"That crash on it's own should've killed us!" Tails pointed out. "We're alive out of luck or, like Knuckles said, a miracle."

"Well, thank God we are alive," Amy pointed out with a smile. "However... Don't you guys think is weird we're on a beach, and Angel Island is still so close?"

As Amy pointed this out, her friends turned and confirmed that, in fact, Angel Island was still very close, yet there's no islands near the floating one. Never had been before, so why now?

"Wait a second... This is not right..." Knuckles pointed out. "Why the hell are we on a beach, and not dead deep into the ocean?"

"Or, why is Angel Island so close and not a tiny little point in the distance one could confuse with anything?" Tails redo the question from a different perspective. "Something's not right..."

"Oi!" A voice suddenly called out, and so, Team Sonic turned around, only for their eyes to widen at the sight.

Instead of seeing people, or beings that look like them, what they found was a group of six... colorful horses. All of them had some kind of tattoo on their flanks, and one yellow one with an aquamarine mane had what appeared to be a small turquoise dragon on his back.

"Who in the name of Equestria are you?!" The white one, which seemed to be a female, spoke with anger.

"And what are you, exactly?" A pink one, also a female and the smallest one as well, asked next.

"What are those things on your feet?" The purple unicorn asked confused.

"Oh, thank hoofness..." The light blue unicorn said relieved.

"You're not dangerous, are you?" An orange mare asked concerned.

"I hope they're not, for both our and their sake," The yellow one, a stallion, spoke with a frown.

Team Sonic, however, only stared ahead on disbelief at the horses... or rather ponies, since they're smaller. And then, Sonic let out a giggle, which turned into a chuckle, which then turned into a maniac laugh that made his friends look at him confused, except Knuckles since he deadpanned, while the ponies stared at him kind of scared.

"Finally! After so many years, it has happened! We went completely insane!" Sonic said with a creepy smile and a twitchy eye, then he grabbed Knuckles from his shoulders. "Can you believe this? We're seeing talking colorful horses! WE FINALLY LOST OUR MINDS!" He shook the echidna violently.

Knuckles frowned and then slapped Sonic's cheek to make him get back into his senses. "Better?"

Sonic rubbed his cheek in pain, but then looked back at the ponies and deadpanned. "No, I still see them."

"That's because they're real, Sonic." Tails deadpanned as well. "At least I think so..."

"Oh, we're real alright!" The white pony spoke, then she revealed she had wings since she spread them, and then glided to stand right in front of Team Sonic, still frowning. "Now how about you answer my question?"

"Zipp, wait!" The light blue unicorn called out, and she rushed to her side. "I know what you're thinking, but you got it wrong!"

"What do I got wrong?!" The pegasus, Zipp, asked concerned. "You said your nightmare showed someone evil that comes from the floating island being after our Crystals! And we have four weirdos that came out of it!"

"Who are you calling a weirdo, small-time hen?!" Knuckles asked in anger, stepping ahead while punching his fists together. "I'm going to break your face with one blow!"

"I wanna see you try!" Zipp dared with a frown.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sonic interrupted, stepping in the middle to push Knuckles away. "Let's not do something we'll regret later–-"

"Oh, I'm gonna regret something: Not braking this bitch's face while I can!" Knuckles declared wit anger, also pointing at Zipp.

"Oh, now you're hearing me!" Zipp declared madly, and she tried to launch herself to Knuckles, but then was suddenly stopped mi-air and levitated. She was startled by this, but then noticed that the purple unicorn was keeping her away from Knuckles. "What the hay?! Izzy! Let me go!"

"Okay, I think we started the wrong way..." The orange pony spoke with a sheepish smile, while she approached Team Sonic with the rest of her friends.

"You think?" Amy deadpanned. "Your friend almost launched at us in anger for no reason! No that Knuckles helped, though..."

"I was trying to protect you three, bunch of idiots!" Knuckles said with anger, then groaned and crossed his arms. "The things I do for the ones I care..."

"Thanks for the tough love, Knuckles." Sonic rolled his eyes, then looked at the six ponies ahead with a smirk. "Look, I don't know what are you talking about regarding that nightmare the winged horse mentioned, but I think it's best if we just calm down a bit and... introduce ourselves. You know, to avoid getting into an unnecessary fight?"

"Aren't you the one that panicked right after seeing us?" The yellow stallion deadpanned.

"I'm not proud of that either, okay?" Sonic said with a deadpan. "I just say we sort this out now and then, let's see if we're enemies or not, alright?"

The ponies looked at each other, but then the orange one smiled and stepped ahead. "Well, I guess it's just fair. I mean, you don't seem to be bad guys, anyways..."

"Yeah, that's a title that fits the pain the ass that represents the guy that's still on the island..." Sonic deadpanned. "But let's get to him later! Name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog! Fastest thing alive, and Chilidogs number one lover!"

"Well, nice to meet you!" The orange pony said with a smile. "I'm Sunny Starscout, the Alicorn of Hope."

Right after saying this, Knuckles looked at her up and down confused. "Uh... But you're not a––"

Yet he was shut down when Amy slapped his head, making hims groan and glare at her, while she glared back. "Don't be a knucklehead now of all times."

"Well, since we're doing this for real, hi there!" Tails stepped in next, standing next to Sonic. "My name's Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails. If you wonder why, well..." He showed his two tails to avoid questions.

This, however, seemed to impress the ponies more than weird them out, and that weirded Tails instead. He wasn't used yet to people being amazed at his two tails rather than shocked or disgusted. He could only smile and chuckle sheepishly, not knowing what to say.

"Wait... We saw you flying before..." The yellow stallion pointed out. "Does that mean that––"

"Oh, yeah, that. Well, if you wonder if I can fly with my tails, then let me just..." Tails then spun his tails together and elevated himself off the air, even making a little loop while chuckling.

This surprised the ponies even more, but Zipp also seemed to be kinda confused. "W-What?! B-But how can you do that? I-It doesn't even makes sense!"

"Honestly, not even I understand how it works. It just does!" Tails replied with a little smile.

"Well, hello, new friends!" The purple unicorn said next cheerfully, leaving Zipp on the floor again and jumping to stand besides Sunny. "I'm Izzy Moonbow! And Unicycling is my the best I can do!"

"...Unicycling?" Sonic questioned.

"Is a words game, Sonic. "Uni"corn and re"cycling"." Tails pointed out. "Makes total sense to me."

"Ha! See?! Somecreature finally gets it!" Izzy said with a smile.

"Well, since we're already here presenting ourselves..." The yellow stallion spoke, now stepping ahead and clearing his throat. "Greetings, visitors! I'm Hitch Trailblazer, Sheriff of the little town of Maretime Bay. And these fella right here..." He pointed at the dragon on his back, who seemed to be eating a cookie from who knows where. "Is Sparky Sparkeroni, my adopted son."

"Aww!" Amy exclaimed with a cute smile and sparkling eyes. "He's do adorable!"

"Classic ol' Amy..." Sonic smiled, although he also rolled his eyes a bit.

Next, the pink pegasus approached and cleared her throat. "Hello, dear guests. I am Princess Pipp Petals from Zephyr Heights, second on line in the throne, famous Pop-Star in all Equestria, and probably most famous influencer in the whole world!"

Sonic snorted with his arms crossed after hearing all of this. "Too many titles for a dwarf..."

As a result, he got punched on his shoulder by Amy, who glared daggers at him for saying that, then she looked back at the ponies with a smile. "Excuse him, Princess. He can be such a jackass sometimes."

"Just "sometimes"? That's being humble..." Knuckles snorted with his eyes closed and his arms crossed.

"You are one to talk, Knucklehead..." Tails said with a teasing grin, earning a deadly glare from the echidna.

"Anyways..." Amy rolled her eyes, then looked at the ponies with a smile again. "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Amy Rose!"

"U-Um... Hello. I-I'm Misty Brightdawn..." The light blue unicorn, Misty, spoke with a nervous smile and tone.

"And I am Zipp Storm." Zipp presented herself properly, but then Pipp cleared her throat and glared at her, which made Zipp groan and roll her eyes. "...I'm Princess Zephyrina Storm, heir to Zephyr Height's throne... And also her sister."

With that said, Pipp nodded satisfied with a smile.

"...You? A Princess?" Sonic snorted slightly, which made Pipp glare at him, while Zipp only raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, no offense, but if you asked me between you and your sister who looks like a princess, I'll believe the dwarf is one. But you?"

"I'm this close to brake someone's bones if you call me dwarf again..." Pipp warned with a glare.

"Well, excuuuuuse me, Princess, but I feel threatened by a cupcake," Sonic snorted, earning now a painful punch on his arm from Knuckles.

"To get rid of your stupidity!" Knuckles said, then looked back at the group. "Listen here, Care Horses. I am Knuckles the Echidna, the last of the echidna tribe. I was charged with the mission of protecting that island, MY island, from invaders like the rotten egg that is there right now! I am the Guardian not only of Angel Island, but also of the Master Emerald, the limitless source of power that keeps the island afloat."

"And as you can all see, he's got really bad anger problems." Sonic deadpanned.

"THAT'S JUST HOW I AM, SONIC!" Knuckles shouted in anger.

Sonic rolled his eyes, then stepped ahead to the ponies, but only looking at Zipp. "Look. You mentioned something about a nightmare where a bad guy comes from a floating island, didn't you, Princess?"

"Yeah, and please just call me Zipp." She begged with a deadpan and low ears.

"Whatever," Knuckles said with anger, now standing at Sonic's side. "What do you thought exactly, huh? That any of us was here after you or whatever of value you have?"

"Uh, yeah!" Zipp argued. "After all, Misty's nightmare had a floating island coming out of nowhere, and that already happened! The next thing was a villain coming from there, so excuse me for just wanting to protect my friends!"

"And our magic as well!" Sunny added with a sheepish smile. "Look, we're sorry if we confused you with this bad guy that's after our Unity Crystals. We just want to know where did you come from."

"And also, to make myself clear, Zipp..." Misty stepped in, deadpanning and glaring at Zipp. "I wanted to say before that I know from memory the shadow of this bad guy, and none of them is our mysterious evil creature that's after our magic."

"Wait, hold on a second, and let's rewind a bit here..." Tails spoked, also rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "You say that there's someone that will come from that island that's after your magic, stored in magical crystals?"

"Yeah, that's actually why we were so concerned any of you would be this bad guy!" Pipp pointed out.

"...Yeah, well, we're not your evil creature who seeks magic..." Sonic replied, then frowned and looked back at Angel Island. "But I know about someone who's actually after it..."

Angel Island

Eggman could do nothing but pace back and forth in frustration on the biggest ship of his Egg Fleet. His nose was bandaged, as were his shoulders, and his neck was sore. Apparently Knuckles' blows affected him more than he would like to admit.

But that didn't take away from the fact that his plan worked: He arrived at this new dimension with magic, enough to grant him what he longs for. If the power of those Crystals is seriously so powerful that he is able to surpass the power of the Chaos Emeralds, and most likely the Master Emerald as well, then he had no reason to worry about Sonic and his friends. After all, Sage is already scanning the area of this new dimension so he can send his badniks to attack and thus keep Team Sonic away.

The problem was that, even if he was patient enough to wait several months to collect the Chaos Emeralds to do his experiment, his patience was beginning to wear thin, and now he was desperate and eager for Sage to return from her research.

Soon enough, though, he heard some cracking noises, which called his attention. He quickly turned around, and then his eyes widened when he saw that the floor of the ship was suddenly getting freeze'd. He stepped back and then had to stop on purpose when he was already stepping over the frozen part.

Then, Orbot and Cubot arrived since they were inside the ship, but as soon as they got a sign of the ship's temperature decreasing significantly, they came to talk with their boss. In exchange, however, they found themselves staring at a frozen floor, as well as at their boss trying not to loose his balance.

When Eggman noticed Orbot and Cubot's presence, he frowned. "Don't just stand there, you pair of idiots! Get over here and help me!"

Startled, the two robots approached their boss and allowed him to get support from their heads.

"What exactly happened?!" Orbot questioned. "One second, the temperature's normal. The next one, it decreased significantly!"

"And now the floor's frozen!" Cubot pointed out.

"I have no clue what happened, but I feel like we're not far from our answer..." Eggman replied.

"Oh, and you're absolutely rrright, mysterious creature," A female voice spoke, although she kind of purred one of her words.

"Who's there?!" Eggman called out with anger. "Don't hide, you coward, and show yourself!"

Soon enough, a figure flew across the sky, before it landed on the floor and, instead of skate like Eggman, the figure walked over the ice like nothing. This figure turned out to be Allura, who walked with a sinister grin towards the evil scientist.

"What the actual fuck..." Eggman muttered, and both Orbot and Cubot seemed surprised to hear their boss peak like that.

Allura stopped right in front of Eggman, while Twitch climbed on her head and looked down at Eggman and his robots with a glare... Well, he's a bunny, so his glare is adorable, but he still tried to be menacing like Allura.

"Hmm... You're a interesting creature..." Allura said, then she started to walk around the doctor and examined him. "What kind of mysterious being are you?"

"I'm not a mysterious being!" Eggman spat with anger. "I am a human! The smartest creature alive in this and every other dimension you'll ever hear about, kitty!"

That word immediately represented an insult for her, and she got right in Eggman's face with a glare. "How did you call me?!"

"Kitty!" Eggman replied with absolutely no fear nor regret. "And you should be careful on whatever you plan to do against me. When I eventually get my revenge, I won't play fair nor square!"

"You should listen, ma'am. He's talking serious," Orbot said, as he and Cubot hid behind Eggman in fear of Allura.

"Seriously, he's not a guy you want to mess with!" Cubot added, trembling terrified.

Allura growled in anger, but then her eyes widened as she recalled something. "...Excuse me, sir... Did you just said... You're the smartest mind in this and every other dimension?!"

Blinking confused, Eggman looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "...Yeah?"

"Huh... Maybe this is what I need after all..." Allura grinned. "You don't happen to be a... kind soul, do you? 'Cause I could really use some help to leave this dimension and look for a way to... help my brother."

"...Bitch, what the hell are you talking about?" Eggman asked confused, then he frowned. "You show up on my ship and leaves my floor frozen, then you threaten me for calling you kitty, and now you want me to help you?!"

"Oh, but I can make you give me what I want!" Allura warned with a growl. "You wanna test me?"

"Oh, please. What's a big kitty-cat gonna do, huh?" Eggman mocked up with a grin.

Allura grinned after hearing this, then she turned to Twitch and used a strange power where she let out some kind of sound wave that made Twitch's pupils shrink, while he forced a very creepy smile.

Allura then proceeded to make his minion do some stuff against his will just to show off to Eggman what she could do, and now that Eggman pretty much knew about her two powers, he analyzed his situation:

If he refused to cooperate, he would end up being controlled by this girl and forcing a smile for who knows how long. In the worst case, he would end up frozen, and if she was as ruthless as she seems, then he would also end up shattered like an ice statue.

On the other hand, if he managed to manipulate her into helping him on his mission, it could complicate things for Sonic and his friends even more. He would then get rid of her when he had the Crystals in her possession, but until then, having her as an ally of his could be beneficial. And since she mentioned her brother, he has the perfect bait to keep her at bay.

So, with a grin, Eggman cleared his throat. "Ma'am, please apologize me for my behavior. Seems I had the wrong impression about you, Miss..."

"Allura." The leopard replied with a frown, then she made a whistle, and that made Twitch get free from her mind control.

"Allura... Very well. My name is Ivo Robotnik, but everyone knows me as Dr. Eggman." He presented himself with a grin. "It seems like your power is quite the special thing, so... How about we make a deal?"

Allura and Twitch looked at each other, then back at Eggman. "What kind of deal, Mr. Eggman?"

"You will help me out on my divine plan to distract a blue rat that's always trying to defy me," Eggman declared, sliding a bit to get closer to Allura. "In exchange, when I get my hands over the magical Crystals of this dimension, I will help you out with whatever's up with your dear brother. We both win! I get my Crystals, that hedgehog's away from me, and you get to see your brother!"

Okay, this was tempting. Allura couldn't just deny such an offer. This guy was actually trying to help, and that made her grin back at Eggman.

"Don't be a fool" Allura's brother's voice spoke on her mind. "He's tricking you! This is a trap!"

However, Allura ignored the warnings and extended her paw, while Eggman grinned even more and grabbed it with his hand, stretching it to seal their deal.

Author's Note

And finally, both our heroes and villains have met each other! From here on, we'll see how these guys relationship develop over time.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading, and see you next time! :twilightsmile:

Prologue: A Sign for Disaster

Earth - Unknown Location

"Do you believe in magic?"

A purple flame suddenly ignited, while it sizzled and moved wildly at the touch of a mysterious, invisible wind.

"For the longest time, I believed that magic was nothing more than a surreal fantasy. A story for deluded children who limited themselves to dreaming and wishing with innocence..."

The flame suddenly enlarged, and soon, it began to take the shape of three strange crystals: One looked like the horn of a unicorn, the other seemed to be a pair of outstretched wings, and the third was just round.

"But magic is as real as science itself. So real and incomprehensible. So complicated and yet so wonderful. So... Powerful!"

The maniacal laughter of a man was heard, and soon the flame spread to give way to a real environment: A laboratory with quite advanced technology, with different screens to control machines and robots of all kinds; heavy machinery that manufactured insect-shaped robots; and finally, a huge screen with a strange logo that appeared to be a sinister smiling face with a mustache.

Soon, we see a tall but fat man walking towards said screen, and after pressing a couple of buttons, it showed images of 7 floating jewels, identical in shape but different in color. One was red like a ruby, another blue like a sapphire, another was yellow like a topaz, another green like an emerald, another purple like an amethyst, another light blue like cavansite, and the last one was white like a diamond.

These gems were known as the Chaos Emeralds, jewels so powerful that they could grant unparalleled power to the one who obtained them all. In the right hands, they could be tools that bring peace and repair any damage... But in the wrong hands, they could be weapons of mass destruction and cause a terrible catastrophe.

Unfortunately, they are now in the wrong hands by the same man who reads their statistics on his computer. The 7 Emeralds were inside a capsule that had two satellites on top. They all rested without reacting inside the capsule, but that was going to change soon.

"Sir?" A robotic voice called out. This turned out to be a round-shaped red with black robot, named Orbot. "The Chaos Emeralds have rested long enough. We're ready to start with the contact."

"The satellite is also in position, boss," Another robotic voice stated. This one was a square-shaped yellow with black robot, named Cubot. "All's ready for your little experiment!"

"I can confirm my brothers' statements, father," A female voice spoke this time around. She was a young human girl with white hair and what seemed to be a red stray of hair. However, she was floating instead of walking. Her name is Sage. "Should we proceed to make the contact?"

The man they've been talking to stepped out of the shadows to show himself: He wore a red coat and black pants. He had blue glasses and some grey goggles over his bald head. His mustache was so large that cut it off could definitely be painful. His nose was pink for some reason, but his grin was so sinister it could sent shivers to anyone's spine. His name is Ivo Robotnik, but everyone knows him as the mad scientist, Dr. Eggman.

"The question almost offends me, dear daughter!" Eggman replied to Sage with a sinister grin. "After months of careful planning and sneaking around from Sonic and his friends, I've finally gotten my hands on the Chaos Emeralds! His power will be enough to open a door to a new world, one where I know I will be able to rule without the annoying presence of that blue rodent."

"Is there any guarantee he'll be successful this time?" Cubot muttered to Orbot, who simply shrugged at the question.

"Father, pardon me for doubting your skills, but I must ask: What if the experiment fails and we cannot open a door to another dimension?" Sage questioned with a slight frown.

"Then I hope that at the very least we get some good information from that dimension," Eggman replied. "My research states that there has to be a world full of magic out there. And while magic would usually be a source for trouble, is the purpose I'll give it that matters!"

"So you're gonna invade a world with powerful magic, sir?" Orbot asked.

"Even if it's a silly world with inhabitants you'll consider pitiful?" Cubot asked next.

"Specially if that's the case!" Eggman said with a grin. "Now turn on the lights! We have a world to invade!"

Sage nodded after hearing this, then she proceed to point her hand at the capsule that contained the Chaos Emeralds. The capsule began to react as the satellites spun around, while the Chaos Emeralds glow bright and start to float in the air.

The Emeralds, however, were glowing brighter than usual, and they also started to tremble, like if they were reacting to something in particular. Eggman smiled sinisterly as he saw the Emeralds react. Regardless of the outcome of this experiment, he was glad to know that at least the signal Sage was sending was working.

Sage kept the focus of her powers on making the Chaos Emeralds send an energy signal to some nearby dimension where magic abounded in abundance, but as simple as the task sounded, she was straining her abilities to make it work.

However, she eventually began to feel exhausted, which caused the Chaos Emeralds to begin to vibrate and sway, as if at any moment they would become exhausted again and rest in the capsule. Sage didn't want to allow this, and she was about to force her powers even further, but then her visible eye flashed white, and then, she fell unconscious to the ground, which caused the Emeralds to stop floating, and the satellites stopped spinning.

"Sage!" Eggman exclaimed in panic, rushing to her side and picking her up on his arms.

Sage groaned a bit in pain, then slowly opened her eyes to meet her father's. "...D-Did it worked?"

"I don't know..." Eggman replied with concern, although it was more for his daughter's sake than for the experiment's result, but he still looked at the Chaos Emeralds. "The Emeralds seemed to be reacting at something, but no door nor portal of some sort seemed to open."

"...Well... I think it worked, father..." Sage said with a little smile.

Eggman looked back at Sage with wide eyes. "I-It did? How?!"

Sage managed to stand up on her own. Not floating, since she still felt a bit weak, then she looked at her father. "When I was using the Emeralds to sent the signal, I saw something... I think I saw the signal's receptor."

Eggman's eyes widened more, if that was even possible. "For real?! And what where they? What do they looked like?!"

"They seemed to be three floating crystals... One was shaped like a purple horn, the other one seemed like extended turquoise wings, and the last one was a round silver crystal," Sage replied. "Despite their simple looks, though... Father, I sensed a big amount of magic. I dare to say that is somehow matches the Chaos Emeralds' power... It could even surpass it, and I didn't know it!"

Just hearing everything Sage described made Eggman grin from ear to ear. A power that could match and probably even surpass the Chaos Emeralds'? That sounded like a dream, one that he thought was impossible... But with all the shit he has seen on his life, this actually seemed perfect.

"A source of magic that could possibly go beyond the Chaos Emeralds' abilities..." Eggman muttered, then chuckled and stood up to rub his mustache. "Family... Looks like we hit the jackpot!"

Eggman started to laugh like a maniac, feeling like this plan could actually work and benefit him to the max. If he got his hands over that source of magic, then no one could stop him from conquering the world, not even his long sworn enemy...

Equestria - Crystal Brighthouse

The Unity Crystals floated as they usually do in their place, inside the Crystal Room.

A rainbow beam spread right outside of the Crystal Brighthouse, the symbol for friendship and unity among ponykind, and home of the Unity Crystals that brought magic to all of Equestria.

These were three Crystals that represented each kind of pony that inhabited this magical land: The Unicorn Crystal, a purple gem with the shape of a unicorn's horn; the Pegasus Crystal, a turquoise jewel with the shape of extended pegasi wings; and the Earth Pony Crystal, a round silver gem that created the newest and mysterious Earth Pony magic.

The Unity Crystals were brought together by a group of unique friends: Sunny Starscout, an Earth Pony mare who dreamed of making friends with pegasus and unicorns thanks to her father's stories, which led her to become an Alicorn; Izzy Moonbow, a cheerful Unicorn mare who can transform trash into anything, and who came to Maretime Bay to escape with Sunny on an odyssey that united Equestria; Hitch Trailblazer, an Earth Pony stallion who loves his home and its citizens, being the Sheriff who always tries to adhere to the law, and Sunny's best friend; Zephyrina "Zipp" Storm, eldest princess of Zephyr Heights and a bit of a rebel who has a love for solving mysteries, and the main reason why Sunny and Izzy were able to obtain the Pegasus Crystal; and Pipp Petals, Zipp's younger sister who loves her phone more than anything in the world, and the reason the group recovered the Pegasus Crystal when it was thought lost.

Despite being so different, these five friends achieved what was thought impossible: Reuniting all the ponies again and restoring magic to Equestria. Thanks to this, however, they also awakened the hunger for power of an ancient and evil Alicorn called Opaline Arcana, who tried to dominate all of Equestria by stealing the magical cutie marks of all the ponies.

However, Opaline didn't count on Misty Brightdawn, her "helper", becoming fond of the ponies who restored magic to Equestria. Misty was sent several times with Sunny and her company on Opaline's orders, but when she decided to fight for them, for her friendship and for her sake, she got her cutie mark and decided to work as a double spy.

There's also Sparky Sparkeroni, a baby dragon that Hitch found on the beach as an egg, adopted and now raises as his son. The poor guy was once kidnapped by Misty, who took him to Opaline, but she redeemed herself by helping save him. With some setbacks and revelations in between, but eh. Details.

Opaline wanted all the magic in Equestria, included the Unity Crystals', but she was finally defeated when all the ponies of Equestria joined in singing in front of the Together Trees, which used that magical force of unity to lock Opaline in a fourth tree that ended up destroying her old castle.

Then came Allura the Leopard, who had a people kidnapped in another dimension before she discovered a way to get to Equestria, which she now stalks in search of a way to rescue her brother... Or at least that's what she thinks. Allura says, but the ponies are not aware of this.

As you can see, these crystals are of utmost importance to all of Equestria, not just Sunny and her friends. They are the reason Equestria has magic after so many centuries, and the reason why Sunny and Zipp alike feel attached to said crystals... So I hope they prepare to be alarmed, because the Crystals are vibrating and shining brighter than normal.

Zipp, who was in the bedroom, literally a floor below the Crystal Room, seemed to be checking her notes on all the activity her drone has reported respecting Allura. Every day was the same thing so far: Allura and her little bunny sidekick, Twitch, robbed food to survive in this new dimension for them and... That's it.

Zipp was never the kind of pony to take a clue for granted. The fact that Allura hasn't made anything suspicious and has only stollen food was concerning. Maybe it meant that she only wanted to stay away from Starlight Ridge, the town she kidnapped, for a while, but Zipp didn't believed that. She wanted an answer, she needed to know what's Allura really up to.

However, her investigation seemed interrupted when she sensed the whole Crystal Brighthouse shaking violently. That had never happened before, and the only time it did was when Misty found some sort of secret room with stained glass windows showing Twilight Sparkle and a talking spell book. She still had to ask Misty for more details, because to this day she was still confused about everything she said.

Yet the pegasus was sure that this was not related to that secret room, because the tremor felt even stronger than that time.

"Strange..." Zipp muttered confused, looking around in case anything fell from its place. "I don't think Izzy's making another project with dynamite after our incident with Sparky and his explosive coughs. That shake has to be something else..."

As she though on what could possibly make the Brighthouse shake like that, she soon noticed that her Cutie Mark was glowing brighter than usual, even more than when it wanted to provide help under certain circumstances. Her Cutie Mark glowed as if it were expanding on certain directions, but it then disappeared. It seemed like a vibration, but Zipp didn't felt her butt vibrating, so how could she know her Cutie Mark was acting weird if she didn't turned to see it?

"This is... Weird..." Zipp noted with a raised eyebrow, then she looked up at the ceiling and gasped when she noticed that there was a bright light coming from the Crystal Room. "That light... It has to be from... The Unity Crystals!"

Panicked, Zipp rushed inside the elevator and went upwards. Once she reached the top, she gasped again when she noticed that the Unity Crystals were not only vibrating a lot, but they were also shining in seven different colors: Red, blue, yellow, green, purple, light blue and white, in that exact order, several times.

"What in Tartarus is going in with the Crystals?!" Zipp said concerned, then she took out her phone from under her wing and pointed it at the Crystals, recording a video to save the evidence that this happened.

"Zipp!" A voice suddenly called out, making Zipp turn around and then move aside when Sunny crashed into the Crystal Room, practically landing on her face. Sunny shook her head and stood up, also scratching her head a bit.

"Sunny?" Zipp asked confused. "What are you––"

"Zipp! O.M.P., you have to help me!" Sunny said concerned, also grabbing Zipp's face with her hooves and booping her nose on hers.

Zipp blushed at the sudden contact between them, but then she noticed that Sunny's etherial horn and wings were constantly glitching, as if they were failing when they were not. She also noticed that her Cutie Mark was also kind of 'vibrating'.

When Sunny let her go, Zipp tilted her head confused. "Is something wrong with your Alicorn powers again?"

"I don't know!" Sunny replied. "I was just attending my job in the Smoothie Stand as usual, then my Alicorn powers came out of nowhere! And then, I tried to come over here to ask for your help, but–– Whoa!"

She trailed off when she looked at the Unity Crystals vibrating in colors, but as soon as Zipp also turned to them again, they vibration and the brightness came out an end, leaving the Crystals on their normal state once more. This also made Zipp and Sunny's Cutie Marks stop glowing, and Sunny's Alicorn form disappeared entirely, confusing the two mares even more.

"Uh... What happened to the Crystals now? And why did it seemed to affect my magic?" Sunny questioned.

"It also affected our Cutie Marks..." Zipp pointed out, looking at her Cutie Marl for a second, then she looked back at the Crystals. "I don't know why it happened, though. But I have the feeling we're gonna find out eventually..."

Author's Note

Ladies, gentlemen and non-binary bitches, welcome to the reboot that nobody asked for, and that I'm still making because I can and want!

To make sure that no one confuses this with the original saga: The timeline for the Sonic characters is post-Frontiers (The Final Horizon included), and the ponies' is post-TYT Season 1 and some time after Season 2's Episode 5. So if you all wonder why Allura's being used instead of Opaline, there's your answer.

I also have planned new pairs for every character, so I hope you liked the ones we had back in the OG saga, because they're gone for this reboot.

Now, without anything else to share, let's move into the first chapter! :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 1: Meet Team Sonic

Earth - Frog Forest

A long, green field could be seen as far as the eye could see. It was quiet and pleasant to be able to see that greenish field...

But suddenly, a blue blur ran by at full speed, using all its strength to run even faster than it was already going. If we get closer, we appreciate that blue blur better: It seemed to be an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog, with red sneakers that had a flat strip in the middle and a gold button on the sides, white gloves that protected his hands, green eyes like emerald, and a smile that rarely appeared no matter the circumstances.

His name was known to everything and everyone on this planet: Sonic the Hedgehog.

What goes up must come down
Yet my feet don't touch the ground
Seein' the world spinnin' upside down
A mighty crash without a sound

Sonic wandered into a forest and began jumping over steep hills, ducking under tree trunks, and even using the trees to propel himself into the air for a moment and then curl into a ball, rolling on the ground at super sonic speed. Not for nothing is his name "Sonic."

I can feel your every rage
Step aside, I'll turn the page
Breaking through your crazy maze
Like a laser beam my eyes on you

Soon, however, Sonic was close to falling off a ravine, and he didn't know how to stop in time... However, before he fell, a pair of yellow arms caught him in the air. Sonic looked up and smiled when he saw his best friend. He was an anthropomorphic yellow fox with two tails, red and white shoes, white gloves tied with black ribbons since they were too big for him, and blue eyes like sapphires.

His real name is Miles Prower, but because he has two tails with which he can fly, everyone calls him Tails. That, and it's also the nickname Sonic gave him after they met. Tails launched Sonic into the air, and he landed safely on the ground to resume his path, with Tails now flying behind since he could keep up, at least to some extent.

Watch me rule the night away
Watch me save the day
Feel my storm is getting close
Headin' your way!

Soon, however, Sonic and Tails found themselves running/flying through a ravine, from which several stones suddenly began to fall that could crush them. Sonic quickly curled into a ball and performed a move called "Spin Dash", in which he charged enough speed at his spot to then shoot forward at high speed. Tails, for his part, was a great inventor, so he took from who knows where a small yellow gun that, when fired at some rocks, literally shattered them.

However, they couldn't stay like this forever, and they knew it. And just when a rock that none of them saw coming was going to crush them, it was suddenly destroyed with a punch by another of their friends. This was an anthropomorphic red echidna with large white boxing gloves, red and yellow shoes, green tights, pink eyes, and a serious expression that he loved to make when he broke things.

His name is Knuckles the Echidna, the last of his species, guardian of a powerful gem known as the Master Emerald, and friendly rival of Sonic. It's a miracle that they put up with each other in their day-to-day lives, but they always seem to be on good terms when it comes to breaking things.

Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes!
Bind you, confine you, defying your reign!

Knuckles continued breaking more and more rocks, which made the path easier for the three friends, but there was a huge rock that they didn't see coming and that was about to crush them from behind. This rock was so big that it literally covered the sun, which darkened the atmosphere a bit for the three of us. When they turned around and finally noticed the rock, everyone's eyes widened... Luckily, this wouldn't be the end of them.

Just when the rock was going to crush them, it was completely destroyed, and the tool that was used to achieve this was a hammer. The bearer of that hammer was Amy Rose, an anthropomorphic pink hedgehog with a red headband, gold bracelets around her white gloves, a red dress with a skirt, and red and white boots, just like her aforementioned Piko Piko Hammer.

Amy was very in love with Sonic, and although there was a time when she was very intense about those feelings and irritated Sonic, today she has calmed down and now shows her affection in a calmer and more civilized way so as not to make the one she loves with her heart uncomfortable.

Now that the entire group, known as Team Sonic, had gathered together, the four of them quickly moved towards the end of the ravine, then jumped and launched themselves even further down before landing and posing, facing in front of Doctor Eggman, who had a army of robots called badniks ready to attack in case they arrived.

Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes!
Setting the stage for a hero's parade!

Eggman growled angrily upon seeing his enemies, and then pointed a finger at them. "Badniks, crush them all!"

With the order given, the various Buzz Bombers, Crabmeats, Caterkillers, Balkiries, Moto Bugs, Nebulas, Snail Blasters, Spinners, and Egg Pawns marched against Team Sonic. They, for their part, simply smiled - although Knuckles continued to frown - and then launched themselves at the badniks.

I won't even hesitate
A second left to alter fate
You try to strike but a bit too late
I got you hooked by my own bait

Sonic jumped into the air and charged up his Spin Dash, destroying several Crabmeats, Moto Bugs, and Snail Blasters. Then, he jumped again and automatically launched himself against several Buzz Bombers and Spinners, thus performing a move called "Homing Attack". Likewise, he performed the Head Spin move from Breakdancing, which caused several badniks to be hit or directly destroyed by the blue hedgehog's kicks.

Watch me rule the night away
Watch me save the day

For his part, Tails also performed Spin Dashes, but at the same time used his own artifacts to fight. For example, and for some reason, he could throw several wrenches at the badniks, and given the speed at which he threw the object and how heavy it was, he always ended up destroying some robot. He also had a drill that he used to throw himself towards the ground to unbalance a few badniks, and also to destroy them because... Well, it's a drill, what did you expect?

Feel my storm is getting close
Headin' your way!

Later, we see that Knuckles mostly uses his fists, but sometimes they catch fire... literally. Also, we see them throw themselves with their fists towards several badniks, and suddenly, he moves as if he had literally transformed into a drill. There are also times where he slams his fist into the ground and causes spikes of earth to spawn to destroy badniks in the process.

Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes!
Bind you, confine you, defying your reign!

Finally, we see how Amy uses various movements of her hammer to destroy badniks, but especially the Caterkillers, which are the largest of the group. She also knew how to do Spin Dash and Homing Attack, but her hammer was her main weapon against those machines.

Sonic Heroes! Sonic Heroes!
Setting the stage for a hero's parade!

Next, we see the 4 teaming up to do combo attacks: Sonic and Tails jumped into the air and grabbed their right hands, then proceeded to do a double Spin Dash against the robots; Knuckles grabbed Amy by her legs and started spinning her around her, while Amy extended her hammer and smashed the badniks to pieces.

You can bet there ain't no doubt
As the words spill from the mouth
Of a hero

Then we see Tails standing on the ground while spinning his tails, throwing Knuckles against the walls in a constant loop since the echidna warrior is balled up, that is, he does a constant Spin Dash that resets every time he lands on the tails. from Tails, which throw it again. We also see that Amy plays baseball with Sonic in a ball, since she is also throwing Sonic that way, and every time he goes towards her, the hedgehog throws Sonic against the badniks again.

I can chase another day
Fight you all the way
Like a hero!

The last combo shows Sonic and Knuckles having their backs to each other, hitting any badnik who attacks them with their feet and fists, and then finishing off the combo with a double Spin Dash. For their part, Amy and Tails swap weapons from time to time when destroying Crabmeats, Buzz Bombers and Caterkillers, since they are the only badnik types left.

And together we stand strong no matter how
No one can bring us down
Hey!

Finally, Eggman loses patience when he sees that all his robots were destroyed by Team Sonic, so he rides his Egg Pulveriser, a big red robot with silver legs, Eggman's face on it and a couple of removable spike-like hands, and then proceeds to shoot his hands at his enemies.

This, however, only makes the group look at each other with knowing and determined smiles, then they nodded and looked back at Eggman. Next, Tails pointed the same gun he used before against the stones and shot both hands equally, destroying them completely and causing Eggman to panic.

Sonic Heroes! (heroes! heroes)

Sonic then curled up into a ball and charged his Homing Attack towards Tails, who was flying into the air. It, however, caught Sonic with its tails and spun several times before launching him towards Knuckles. The echidna punched his fists and then punched Sonic into the air. This, still in a ball, began to charge energy, and soon, Amy jumped spinning in the air with her hammer, and then looked at Eggman with a determined smile. She then swung the hammer and hit Sonic in the direction of what was left of the Egg Pulveriser.

Sonic Heroes! (heroes! heroes)
Give us a reason and we'll be on our way!

With that charged attack, Sonic passed through the machine and made it fall into pieces, forcing Eggman to be ejected from the robot in his Eggmobile, while he screamed in terror, but at the same time, he assured that he would get revenge for this.

For his part, Sonic stood up and wiped some of the dust off his body, just in time to enjoy how the silhouette of Eggman and his Eggmobile disappeared into the horizon. Not long after her, Amy came from behind and wrapped him in a hug, which Sonic didn't mind at all, and he even put an arm around her to pull her a little closer to him. For his part, when Tails and Knuckles arrived, he high-fived the former and fist-bumped the latter.

Once their short celebration over their victory against Eggman was over, Tails approached the now destroyed Egg Pulveriser and opened the "face", just to then enter and see if there's any remaining hardware or software he can save. Meanwhile, Knuckles was pilling up all the destroyed badniks, while Sonic looked back and forth between the badniks and the Egg Pulverizer, something Amy noticed as she approached him.

"Something bugging you, Sonic?" She asked, slightly concerned.

"...This is the first time in months since what happened in the Starfall Islands that Eggman shows up," Sonic pointed out. "Weirdly enough, he appeared without Sage, nor Orbot or Cubot."

"...Yeah... Now that you mention it: Is also the first time ever since our adventure in Northstar Islands that Eggman uses the Egg Pulveriser." Amy pointed out as well."

"Don't you think this is a bit strange, or at least suspicious?" Sonic questioned.

"Eggman's a solo game player," Knuckles pointed out as he approached the two hedgehogs after finishing with his task. "If he came alone, is probably because he wanted to. As for why the Egg Pulveriser out of all his machines? Again: Probably because he wanted to."

"I don't know, Knuckles... Sonic has a good point," Amy declared, crossing her arms and rubbing her chin. "Eggman can be an idiot sometimes, but he also knows when to trick us into anything. Maybe this is a distraction from something else Sage, Orbot and Cubot are doing?"

"Or maybe is just a trick and Sonic did what Eggman wanted him to... again..." Knuckles deadpanned.

"I don't really like to remember what happened with the Eggcrusher and the Paradox Prism," Sonic said with an eye roll. "Speaking of it, anyone here has any clue where Shadow took that thing? Because the last thing we need is Eggman finding it and shattering it. One Eggman is more than enough to deal with."

"Agree. We don't need that "Chaos Council" around to cause trouble," Amy nodded in agreement. "Nor to our world, nor to those "Shatterspaces". Seriously, why did you called it like that?"

"Don't blame me for the odd name, blame Nine," Sonic deadpanned, raising his hands in defense.

"I think is for the best that Shadow remains as the only guy in the planet that knows the Prism's current location," Knuckles pointed out, crossing his arms. "Besides, Shadow might have an ego, but even he knows that something as powerful and dangerous like that thing shouldn't be hidden anywhere."

"...You have a good point... For a Knucklehead," Sonic mocked up with a smirk.

Knuckles' eyes widened, then he frowned in rage. "Seriously?! You choose to "Knucklehead" me now of all times?! Is not a good time for that!"

"Beep, beep, beep, beep. Wrong!" Sonic exclaimed. "It's always a good time to "Knucklehead" you!"

Knuckles growled in anger at Sonic's smug and mocking smirk, but before anything could go from bad to worse, Amy interfered and stood between the two of them with a frown.

"Guys! Is not the time to act like kids! We have important stuff to actually take care of!" Amy pointed out with anger. "For starters: If this was a trap, like Knuckles suggests, shouldn't be had witnessed another big energy explosion like what happened with the Eggcrusher in that mountain?"

"There's no Speed Amplifier on here!" Tails replied from inside the destroyed Egg Pulverizer, then he popped his head out. "Besides, you really think Eggman would risk his own life putting another Speed Amplifier with him being inside the robot? I know he makes questionable decisions, but come on! He isn't that inept." He then went back inside the machine.

"There's a certain entity sleeping inside the planet that would disagree, but eh, whatever you say, bud." Sonic said with a smirk, then he turned back to the pile of badniks with a frown. "What I'll like to know is why bringing over so many badniks for nothing. I mean, what was Eggman doing here in the middle of nowhere, anyways?"

"Hmm... That is actually really suspicious," Knuckles confessed. "Perhaps you're right, hedgehog. Maybe this was a distraction. But for what?"

"It wasn't a distraction," Tails' voice suddenly called out, as he came out flying from the Egg Pulveriser, then landed in front of his friends while holding a wide yellow rectangle, with two cyan-glowing antennas on top, a touchscreen in the middle and some directional pads beside the screen, known as "Miles Electric", made by himself. "Rather, it was a farce!"

"A farce?" His friends replied, all confused.

"You're gonna have to be more specific, bud," Sonic pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Explaining it won't be enough, unfortunately." Tails said, then smiled. "Let's go back to my lab! I'll explain and show it all once we're there."

Emerald Town

Tails' Lab, located in Emerald Town, is a yellow-orange, dome shaped area that takes the appearance of Tails' head. White windows can be seen in the places of where Tails' eyes would be and it has a gray door to go with it. Tails' Lab even features Tails' signature tufts of hair and ears as roof decorations.

Inside, Tails was loading all the data he extracted from Eggman's Egg Pulveriser into his computer, while Sonic, Knuckles and Amy patiently waited for him to be done... Well, Amy was the only patient one here. Sonic, who always gets bored quickly if he's doing nothing for more than 5 minutes, was starting to loose his mind, and Knuckles wanted to go back to Angel Island and make sure neither Rouge, Eggman nor anyone else have attempted to steal the Master Emerald.

"Can we wrap this quickly, Tails? I have a job to do." Knuckles said after a while, since he didn't wanted anything bad to happen to Angel Island.

"Just a second, Knux," Tails replied, typing over his monitor before he finally unplug his Miles Electric. "Done!"

"Oh, thank God!" Sonic exclaimed. "No offense, buddy, but that thing of yours is slow as hell!"

"Sonic, it just lasted 3 minutes." Amy deadpanned.

"That's like 3 hours to me!" Sonic deadpanned back, which made both Knuckles and Amy roll their eyes.

"If you guys are done fighting, allow me to explain what I meant back in Frog Forest when I said that Eggman wasn't distracting us, but rather fooling us!"

"The farce thing, yeah, what with that?" Knuckles asked.

"Eggman's been quiet for the past 8 months," Tails started to explain. "After each one of us separated for 6 months, we all thought we'll be fine on our own, and that we could deal with anything Eggman threw at us in that time."

"A little strategy that was never put into action," Amy pointed out. "Eggman never bothered any of us. Not even you, Sonic."

"Which makes it even more strange that his latest attacks for the past 2 months are so... random and meaningless," Sonic pointed out. "Isn't it weird that, even if it's been 2 months since he came back, we know nothing about what he's up to know?"

"Which exactly leads to my next point: Eggman's just playing with us!" Tails pointed out, then he showed on his monitor the image of the 6 destroyed machines that Eggman has used in the past 2 months. "The original Death Egg Robot, the Egg Dragoon, the Egg Emperor, the Eggrobo, the Egg Driller, and now the Egg Pulveriser. What do all these machines have in common?"

"All of them are machines that we trashed up years ago," Knuckles pointed out. "I'll say some are even ones we thought Eggman ditched."

"Exactly!" Tails said. "Eggman's making all these attacks not to keep us busy, nor to distract us... He's up to something and wants it to be so secret that he wants to fool us! He wants us to think he has nothing yet!"

"But how can you be so sure that's the case?" Amy asked confused.

Instead of replying, Tails pressed a few buttons on his keyboard, which made some images about information that Eggman's been gathering. Things like "dimensional traveling", "powerful sources of energy", and even an article that was labelled with "The art of magic" could be seen, among other things.

This made Amy gasp and cover her mouth, Knuckles frown and grind his teeth, and Sonic stood up, walked closer to the screen and kept reading the same lines over and over again to see if he could think on anything that could build up what's Eggman up to.

"Dimensional traveling?" Sonic muttered under his breath. "Is he trying to leave to a new reality?"

"Like that "Smash" world, or the Mushroom Kingdom? That kind of dimensional traveling?" Knuckles questioned.

"Maybe even beyond that!" Tails pointed out with concern. "And if all these information I've been gathering from each destroyed machine says something is that Eggman looks for some powerful source. More specifically––"

"Magic?" Amy asked, and Tails just nodded.

Sonic kept reading lines for a few seconds more, then growled and closed his hands into fists. "Seems like Eggman's planning to expand his control. Seems like our world is not enough anymore, so he's looking for other ones to go to!"

"I also thought that, but... It seems like that's not the case," Tails revealed. "When I entered Eggman's database from the Egg Pulveriser before his system took me out, I found archives about a recent experiment he made. Guys... He has the Chaos Emeralds. All of them."

Now that made Amy and Knuckles gasp, while Sonic turned to him with wide and shocked eyes.

"So all these time, he was distracting us! He was gathering the Emeralds for his own sake!" Knuckles said, smashing the table in anger.

"That, or Sage gathered them on her own," Sonic suggested. "I mean, she's the one that dragged them to the Starfall Islands in the first place. Maybe she did it again?"

"Whatever's the case, Eggman's not using the Emeralds as weapons, but rather conduits to send a message." Tails explained. "At least that's what the last report of the experiment said."

"Conduits?" Amy questioned. "What does that mean?"

"Uh... How do I put this in words that are not so complicated to understand?" Tails muttered under his breath. "Eggman wants to send a sign to a powerful source with magic. That sign is an "order" to transport the original source to whatever dimension that magic source is located. This experiment was Sage and him trying to do that, and while it didn't transported them away, Sage managed to connect with that magic source Eggman's looking for."

"Crap!" Sonic said with anger, clenching his hand on a fist again. "And what is that source, exactly?"

"The report describes it as three Crystals: One looks like a horn, the other one like a pair of open wings, and the last one is just a circle," Tails replied, then he frowned. "But despite the lame description, if Eggman's after it, then it's a really powerful source!"

"But if the contact almost worked, then what failed?" Amy asked.

"The Chaos Emeralds are not stable enough to make such a process without affecting Sage," Tails explained. "Eggman's after something that can hold the Emeralds' power on line and lets Sage send the order properly. In other words..." He then looked at Knuckles.

The echidna immediately understood what Tails meant, then he frowned, growled in rage and smashed the table again, but this time he literally split in on half. "That son of a gun is going after my Master Emerald!"

"Not if we can stop him!" Sonic declared with a confident smirk. "Tails. We got any specific date where Eggman will make a move?"

"The database said that they'll put their plan in action the day after the sixth attack," Tails replied.

"So Eggman's heading to Angel Island tomorrow," Amy said with a frown, getting up and bring out her Piko Piko Hammer, which se rested on the ground. "Seems like we have an ambush to prepare!"

"More than that, sweet Ames," Sonic said, making Amy blush slightly at the comment. "We have a rotten egg to crack!"

Author's Note

So, how's it going, people?

Since we're meeting new versions of these characters, let me establish this from now: No, none of them have electric powers like in the movies nor in the previous saga. They're full on the Game cast. That also means there's no previous connection to Equestria.

I want to leave it clear because I know someone's gonna ask. Anyways, I'll see you all next week. Bye!

Chapter 2: Guardians of the Crystals

Equestria - Maretime Bay

One of the biggest advantages of living in a small town like Maretime Bay is the fact that you can pretty much find whoever you have to anytime and anywhere.

Is literally impossible not to know everyone that lives in town. Constantly seeing them everyday for years, sometimes even memorizing their routines even if it's by mistake; or simply being a guy that just exists and everyone loves him already, doesn't really matter because you'll still get to know everypony who's everypony.

And that's precisely the case for the important ponies from our story. In fact, two of them are looking for the other two. Pipp Petals and Hitch Trailblazer were looking for their unicorn friends, Izzy and Misty. Pipp was a pink Pegasus mare with purple mane, a musical note with a crown as a Cutie Mark, cozy wings that looked like clouds, green eyes like emeralds, and a golden bandana that almost looked like a tiara.

On the other hoof, Hitch was a yellow Earth Pony stallion with a golden shield that had a turquoise horseshoe inside like a Cutie Mark, aquamarine mane, brown eyes, and a sheriff belt with a badge since he's Maretime Bay's Sheriff. On his back, he's got a little turquoise baby dragon named Sparky Sparkeroni, his adopted son.

As the two ponies walked down the street, Pipp was checking her phone and decided to flap her wings and fly for the rest of the short trip. "You sure you know where those two are, Hitch?"

"I pass across the exact same corner every 3 hours during my rounds, Pipp, and I always find Izzy diving in the trash." Hitch replied. "If anything, it'll be weird she's not there. And if I know Misty, she probably tagged along to help however she could."

"Or she wants to be with somepony to ease her concern," Pipp rolled her eyes slightly. "I don't wanna sound harsh or anything, but does that mare ever stops feeling so anxious over everything?"

"She stopped a long time ago, actually," Hitch pointed out. "I mean, she even went to face Opaline, not even caring if she would lost her Cutie Mark that she earned after so long. She's gotten anxious again over the past two weeks, ever since her little incident with that door and the magic room."

"Yeah, well, a magic door with a book that can speak sounds kinda crazy..." Pipp pointed out, then she noticed Hitch and Sparky's deadpans. "But considering that we literally travelled to another dimension when we helped out Starlight Ridge... I guess a magic book that talks isn't that crazy."

"We can deal with what's gotten into Misty later," Hitch declared. "Right now, we have another thing to discuss. And you know that it's as important, if not even more."

"I'm leaning to believe it's actually more important..."

With everything said and done, the Sheriff and the younger princess turned to an alley and entered it. While the alley had nothing but trash containers, they saw one of the figures they were looking for, right in front of a trash container that wouldn't stop rumbling and moving.

The mare in front was a unicorn with light blue fur, her mane seemed like the dawn of a new day, she had certain pink zones on her body, a bracelet on her left hoof with her friends' Cutie Marks, and her Cutie Mark was a purple with orange butterfly. She was Misty, but she also had a strange homemade doll at her side. It was made of tennis ball, two nuts, a crystal, some cotton and a button. Misty called it "Madame Taffytail", and it was the result of Misty's isolation in Opaline's old liar.

Soon enough, from the trash container she was in front of came another unicorn mare. This one was a purple one with blue mane, a friendship bracelet on her left hoof, another one tied on her mane, purple eyes, and her Cutie Mark was a blue heart with a button in the middle and three needles in the top. But of course, since she came out of a trash container, there was some trash over her. This was Izzy, the other mare Pipp and Hitch were looking for.

"Oh, hello, friends!" Izzy told Pipp and Hitch with a huge smile, also waving her hoof. "Are you here looking for something long and sharp to cut metal as well?"

Pipp had ti resist the urge to puke right here and now after looking - and smelling - at Izzy like that. Meanwhile, Hitch smiled nervously and looked around, as if he wanted to ask for help.

"H-Hey, Izzy!" The Sheriff greeted back. "Um, no. We're not here looking for trash. We were looking for you, actually."

"Both of you," Pipp added, now looking at Misty with a sheepish smile.

"You were?" Misty asked a bit nervous. Not that she really minded if her friends were looking for her, but considering she's been feeling concerned lately, is no surprise she's this nervous.

"And why are you looking after something to cut metal, Iz?" Pipp asked confused to the other unicorn.

"Well, turns out that making a brand new slide for Hitch's critters is harder than I thought, and in order to make the slide the perfect size for them, I have to cut some strong metal!" Izzy explained with a smile.

"Can't you just borrow a flamethrower to melt the metal? Or buy a chainsaw?" Hitch questioned.

"Ooh... Yeah, that could work!" Izzy smiled, then she got out of the trash can. "Thanks, Hitchy! You're always a live savior~"

Hitch blushed slightly after hearing that and chuckled, scratching his neck a bit, then shook his head and focused again, also clearing his throat. "A-Anyways. I think that, now that the four of us are gathered, we should talk about the elephant in the room that Sunny and Zipp refuse to acknowledge."

"You mean the fact that they spent too much time together lately?" Misty questioned confused.

"The fact they spent more time together is not important, Misty," Pipp pointed out with a concerned frown. "Where they spend it is."

"Those two have been monitoring the Unity Crystals for three weeks!" Hitch said. "If they just went in there, I don't know, twice a week and that's it, I'll definitely believe those two are in some kind of secret romance or something. But three straight weeks, everyday, pretty much every two hours? Now that can't be normal."

"Well, didn't Zipp used to research on a daily basis about the Unity Crystals before the Maretime Bay Day incident?" Izzy pointed out. "Back then, she said magic was failing, and none of us noticed that."

That actually made the other three gasp, although Pipp did it more dramatically, and Misty gulped nervously, hugging tightly her doll while looking down in concern.

"I'm not saying magic's in danger again!" Izzy rushed to make herself clear, which made Hitch and Pipp sigh relieved, but Misty still felt unsure. "I'm just saying that, if Zipp and now Sunny as well are watching over the Unity Crystals, maybe something strange happened."

"But if it did, then why haven't they told us anything?!" Hitch questioned. "Sunny and I've been best friends since we were foals! She'll never hide this stuff from me... Would she?"

"Maybe none of them are sure of what they saw, and want to make sure they're not wrong before telling us why they were doing all of that," Pipp suggested. "I mean, last time, Zipp didn't had enough evidence to prove magic was failing, even though she was right. Maybe this time she's just gathering enough clues before telling us the rest!"

"...I don't know..." Misty finally spoke after remaining silent for most of the time. "I... I kind of feel like something's actually up with the Crystals, but I'm not sure..."

"What do you mean, Misty?" Izzy asked, confused but also concerned since she's been noticing Misty's attitude for days.

Misty bit her lower lip and hugged her doll a bit more tight than before. "...Any of you have noticed I've been more like my old self lately?"

The other three ponies looked at each other with wide eyes after she asked that, and none of them knew how to approach this subject as delicate as possible.

"You guys can be honest with me, really. I won't be mad or offended."

"...Well, now that you mention it... Yeah, it's been really hard to ignore," Izzy confessed with a sheepish smile.

"I mean, I didn't wanted to say anything, but if you're fine with it, then yeah. It's been a bit obvious," Hitch said next, chuckling sheepishly.

"It's been painfully evident, yeah," Pipp deadpanned, gaining glared from Hitch and Izzy. "What? She told us to be honest!"

"It's okay, Pipp. I'm not mad." Misty assured with a little smile. "I guess... I didn't wanted to tell this yet because I thought it was nothing, but if Sunny and Zipp are always checking the Crystals, then... I may have to say it now."

"Misty, what are you talking about?" Hitch asked confused.

"You're starting to scary us now..." Izzy confessed with a slight concerned frown.

"...Well... Look, for the past three weeks, I've been having strange nightmares," Misty confessed. "In all of them, a floating island comes out of nowhere, then someone really, really bad comes from that island and makes a massive chaos across Equestria. They even steal the Unity Crystals and all! And I... I... I thought it was just that, a nightmare..."

The other three ponies looked at each other, all of them both concerned and afraid of making the same question.

"...But?" Hitch finally spoke to cut the tension that was just raising up by the minute.

"...But I've been worried that it isn't one. I mean, a nightmare replying nonstop for three weeks can't just be that, can it?" Misty asked concerned. "And now, the fact that Zipp and Sunny are always watching over the Unity Crystals... It just makes me more worried that my nightmare's gonna turn out to be true!"

"...Well... A floating island sounds kinda cool, but someone evil coming out of it? That's not," Hitch said with concern.

"And it wanting to steal the Unity Crystals is bad, too," Pipp added, to which both Hitch and Sparky agreed.

"Why did you kept this for yourself?!" Izzy asked Misty. "We are your friends, Tea. We would never judge you nor think you're crazy! If anything, you should've told us this after the first time!"

"I know that, Izzy! But I was afraid that I would just worry you all with some dumb nightmare that might not mean anything... At least that's what I thought at first..."

"Well, you said it yourself," Hitch spoke before Izzy could do it again. "The same nightmare coming back for three straight weeks is everything but normal."

"And while I agree with Izzy that you should've told us this earlier, I can understand why it worried you telling us this," Pipp said with a little smile, then she frowned. "But now we still have to deal with our main problem: Sunny, Zipp and their strange routine of checking the Unity Crystals without telling us why."

Hitch seemed to be a bout to say something, but before he could, the four ponies felt their phones beeping. They all looked at each other confused, then proceed to take out their phones, noticing they received a message from Sunny in their group chat with Zipp and her.

The message said, "Everypony, come to the Crystal Brighthouse and meet us in the Crystal Room in 10 minutes. Zipp and I have something to show and yell you."

After they read the message, they looked at each other again. "Well, that's pretty convenient, but it's the good kind of convenient! Looks like we're finally getting our answers!" Pipp said with a smile.

"Maybe..." Hitch muttered with concern.

"But are we sure this is about the Crystals?" Izzy asked.

"Only one way to find out!" Misty said, putting her doll on her back. "Let's go to the Brighthouse."

The four ponies nodded, then they rushed towards the Crystal Brighthouse to meet with their friends.

Crystal Brighthouse

The whole group as a whole, known as the Mane 6, were in the Crystal Room of the Brighthouse, with the Unity Crystals floating behind Sunny and Zipp while the other four ponies and baby dragon looked at them.

"Thanks for coming in as fast as possible, everypony," Zipp choose to speak first. "We could've choose any other time to tell you this, or even wait until night to do so, but it's extremely important that we do it right now!"

"But before doing that, we wanna apologize first for our behavior these past three weeks," Sunny interfered with a sheepish smile. "We know all of you have noticed, and we also believe you all want an answer regarding that."

"Oh thank hoofness!" Pipp sighed in relief after hearing that.

"About time!" Hitch said with a deadpan.

"What took you so long?" Misty asked next.

"And here I thought you wouldn't tell us, sillies!" Izzy added with her usual cheery smile.

"The reason why Sunny and I've been checking over the Crystals everyday for the past three weeks is because the weirdest thing happened..." Zipp started.

She then brought out her phone and played the video she recorded of the Crystals vibrating and changing colors, then she showed it to the others, earning gasps from Pipp and Misty, while Hitch just raised an eyebrow confused and Izzy could only think on how pretty the lights looked around the Crystals.

"Aww, why didn't you showed me this before?! That lighting looks so good!" Izzy asked.

"Because we had to investigate and make sure that the Crystals were not suffering anything before telling you all," Sunny explained with a little smile.

"That, and we also were trying to figure out why the vibration seemed to affect our Cutie Marks and Sunny's Alicorn form," Zipp added, now showing a video she barely managed to record of her own Cutie Mark vibrating and "extending" into different directions, then switched to a video where Sunny's Alicorn form was glitching out of control.

"Oh... So I did saw you crashing against the Brighthouse that day..." Hitch cringed with low ears. "I thought I was just seeing things."

"Wait... Your Cutie Marks reacted like that, too?!" Pipp asked in shock with wide eyes.

Hearing that made Zipp and Sunny look at each other, also with wide eyes, then back at Pipp. "What do you mean with "too", sis?" The former asked.

"I was at Mane Melody doing Posey's mane, but when I went to look for some mane conditioner, I saw in the mirror that my Cutie Mark was doing the exact same thing yours is doing in the video!" Pipp explained. "And when I looked at everypony else in the salon, I saw theirs doing the same as well. We were all confused on why that happened, until it stopped."

"Now that you mention it, when I saw Sunny crashing into the Brighthouse while doing my rounds, I also noticed that my Cutie Mark was glowing." Hitch confessed. "I thought it was nothing, though, but if it happened to everypony else, then I guess I did wrong..."

"My Cutie Mark also glowed like that!" Izzy said. "I mean, it was pretty, but I thought that was just because I was really focused on my Unicycling project!"

"Mine also reacted like that, and I thought it was because it was failing or something!" Misty confessed as well. "But everypony was having these, too?"

"Hmm..." Zipp muttered, rubbing her chin with a hoof while thinking on all the possible conclusions to their current situation. "So everypony's Cutie Mark was reacting to the Crystals' vibration... And it also seemed to affect your Alicorn magic, Sunny."

"But was it only my magic specifically?" Sunny questioned, then looked at the rest of her friends. "Did any of you felt your magic failing as well?"

"Hmm.... Nope!" Izzy replied cheerfully.

"Nu-uh," Pipp shook her head.

"Me neither," Misty added next.

"I wasn't even using it," Hitch pointed out.

"Then something's definitely up with the Unity Crystals," Zipp stated, and that seemed to worry everypony else as well, but Misty and Sunny seemed to be the most affected ones.

On the one hand, Misty feared more and more that that horrible nightmare that kept repeating itself in her dreams incessantly every night would become a reality. Although she could not recognize what that evil creature that appeared was, she knew that it was the one who stole the Unity Crystals. Just thinking that such a thing could seriously happen was frightening, and even more so considering that Opaline's attempt to keep all the magic for herself was still recent, even if it was months ago.

On the other hand, Sunny was terrified at the thought that something could be wrong with the Crystals again. The last thing she wanted was to go back to those days where she was nothing more than an insignificant pony who dreamed of a better world. That world had been improved thanks to magic and the Crystals, and losing them would be bad for everyone, but especially for her.

She had already ignored a fault with them in the past. She wouldn't allow herself to do the same idiotic thing twice.

"How can we be so sure about that, though?" Pipp questioned. "They just vibrated and glow in different colors, but it did nothing to us!"

"Maybe not, but it did affected our Cutie Marks, as well as my Alicorn magic," Sunny pointed out. "We cannot allow ourselves to low our guard if we're before a possible new failure!"

"...Um... Sunny, Zipp?" Misty called out, making the two mentioned mares turn to her. "I don't think this is really gonna help with what's up with the Crystals, but I've been having a horrible nightmare that I'm not so sure if it's just that, or a warning."

This made Zipp and Sunny look at each other, then back at Misty. "What do you mean?" Zipp asked, also taking out her phone to record her words.

"Every night, for the past three weeks, I've been having the same nightmare," Misty confessed once again. "I see a floating island coming out of nowhere, then someone that comes from the island makes chaos in Equestria, and then they steal the Unity Crystals! I-I can't say for sure what is that bad creature, and I kept this to myself because I thought it was nothing, but..."

"Let me guess: The fact that it keeps repeating itself every night, plus everything we just shared about the Crystals vibrating, makes you think it can be some kind of premonition?" Zipp finished for her.

Misty blinked a few times, then shook her neck sheepishly. "Yeah... I wasn't going to use those exact words, but it's pretty much where I wanted to go, anyways."

"So someone evil that comes from a floating island could be after the Unity Crystals..." Sunny muttered concerned, then she turned to see said Crystals, and then she nodded with a determinate look. "I know that you say is just a dream, Misty... But I'm not going to take risks. Not after what happened before Maretime Bay Day. We gotta keep the Unity Crystals safe from anypony that tries to steal them! They're the symbol of friendship and unity all across Equestria, the very reason why everypony got back together! And most importantly, the source of our magic!"

As she declared this las thing, her Alicorn form was summoned. No one was really surprised for this at this point, since they're already used to her transformations, but they were still impressed all the same.

"If somecreature is after our Crystals, we must protect them as the new protectors in Equestria!" Sunny declared determined. "And we're not gonna let anypony steal our Crystals. As long as we're together, there's nothing we can't do!"

"Yeah!" Everypony else cheered in unison, all decided to keep the Unity Crystals safe.

If only they knew that this is going to be their hardest task so far...

Author's Note

It's still gonna take a while before the groups meet each other, I'm gonna warn that.

There's really nothing else I can say, so thanks for reading. See you next episode! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 3: Ambush on Angel Island

Earth - Dr. Eggman's Hidden HQ

Doctor Eggman stared with glee at the capsuled Chaos Emeralds, now fully recharged after three weeks of resting.

His most recent failure against Team Sonic was just three hours ago. Well, he wouldn't call it a failure per say, because he had to loose since that was his plan. Distracting Team Sonic with "pointless" attacks, give them enough info to figure out his intentions, making them prepare to protect the Master Emerald... All was going accord to plan!

Sage was definitely right: Making Team Sonic believe they've got the upper hand by giving them everything they need to "stop him as usual" was probably the most risky, yet most successful plan so far.

"Oh, to be young and smart, dedicating yourself to villainy..." Eggman said, as he happily spin on his chair, while Sage supervised the Emeralds' status on a monitor screen, Orbot seemed to be supervising the badniks production, and Cubot was cleaning the Chaos Emeralds' capsule. "Sage, you're making me so proud, and you're just a few months old!"

"In human years, I'm technically five," Sage pointed out.

"And with such a short age, you're already doing more for me than anyone ever has in 55 years!" Eggman said happily, then he stood up from his seat and approached the capsule with the Emeralds. "Thanks to you, I'm closer than ever to obtain that source with magic. I never thought I'll come to a point where I'll relay in such a fantasy thing... But the Chaos Emeralds themselves are magical, they're simply not enough to achieve my goal."

"The Chaos Emeralds are made of Chaos Energy for the most part," Sage said, then she turned around and floated to stand right besides her father. "While there's some magic in them, it's not enough to fulfill your desire of building a whole empire with just a snap."

"And that's precisely why I need that source of magic!" Eggman declared. "That blue pest is always messing up with my plans, but not this time! Because I will remain as a distraction for him and his friends until we know exactly where are those crystals in that new dimension to get them! And when I get my hands over them... Ho, ho, ho! Hell will look tame with all the chaos and destruction I'll unleash!"

"Uh, I hate to brake it to you, boss, but if Sonic and company are also coming to the island, how exactly are you supposed to take over this new dimension if that's the plan?" Orbot questioned.

"Yeah! Wouldn't Sonic and his friends remain as a problem?" Cubot added as well.

"Dragging Sonic and company along is not an inconvenience anymore," Sage replied. "It is true that they have defeated Father before, but that's precisely what we'll use against them: Their over-confidence on thinking they've got the upper hand when, in reality, we're 10 steps ahead of them."

"We've got at least 187 plans ready to put into action once we get to this new dimension!" Eggman declared. "No matter what Sonic and his friends do, we're gonna be ready!"

As Eggman started to laugh maniacally, Orbot and Cubot turned to each other. Cubot scratched his head uncertainly, and Orbot facepalmed. They're both so used to all this chattery that it's hard for them both to believe in their boss and creator anymore.

"One of these days, his own ego will backfire at him..." Orbot muttered.

"Like usual?" Cubot questioned, to which Orbot nodded.

But then suddenly, Eggman stomped hardly behind them, startling the two robots and making them hug each other terrified. "Stop wasting your time and go back to work, or I'll turn your bodies into replacement parts for future badniks and machines!"

"S-Sir, yes sir!" Orbot and Cubot replied, then they bumped into each other and fell backwards, before standing up again and resume their respective labors.

As all of this happened, Eggman facepalmed and shook his head disappointed. He'll probably never stop question why he even made those two in the first place...

Angel Island

The next day, Sonic, Tails and Amy arrived into Angel Island, where Knuckles was already guarding over the Master Emerald, but this time, more aware than ever.

Angel Island is a landmass of miracles and mysteries that floats high in the sky using the eternal energy of the Master Emerald; without it, the island will inevitably plummet from the sky. This is precisely why Knuckles protects it from Eggman, who's after its power from time to time, and from a thief-spy-agent named Rouge the Bat, who's always getting on Knuckles' nerves just to make him flustered or, as he says, distract him to low his guard and let her steal the Master Emerald.

Since Tails was convinced that Eggman would try to go straight to the Master Emerald, he spend the whole night awake, building up an electromagnetic shield that he was now installing in the Altar of Emerald. Said Altar is where the Master Emerald rests and gives its power to the island, and it's also the place that Team Sonic will protect the most.

"With this electromagnetic shield, no badnik nor Eggman machine will live to see the light of day!" Tails declared, activating the shield that surrounded the altar, the Emerald and Team Sonic. "I wanna see Eggman trying to pass this thing up!"

"I wouldn't tent destiny, buddy," Sonic said, as he sat over the Master Emerald while flexing his knee and resting his arm over it. "Eggman has outsmarted us in the past. And considering he's after the Master Emerald, we're gonna have to be xtra careful with whatever he throws at us."

"I don't need to be careful!" Knuckles stated with a frown, then he hit his fists together in anger. "I just need to punch that stupid asshole off my island!"

"We're gonna be prepared for Eggman," Tails stated. "And even if were not, is Eggman we're dealing with! We're used to his shenanigans already, so what's gonna change this time around?"

"Hmph. Fair enough." Knuckles said, crossing his arms.

"I cannot argue against that logic!" Sonic said with a confident smirk, then he got off the Master Emerald.

Yet, as Tails brought out his Miles Electric to check that everything's in order, and Knuckles made absolutely sure that the Master Emerald was on its place, Sonic couldn't help but notice that Amy was sitting over the stairs that lead to the top of the Altar, resting her cheek on her hand and looking down a bit concerned.

He gently approached and sat at her side. "Yo, Ames. You okay?"

Amy was not startled in the slightest. In fact, she allowed herself to sigh and stretch her fingers further, then she rested her head on Sonic's shoulder. He did blushed slightly, but he didn't seemed to mind that much.

"...I don't really know..." Amy confessed. "I guess... I'm overthinking some stuff without motive..."

"You concerned about what could happen with Eggman at any minute now?" Sonic questioned, then he placed his hand over Amy's and caressed it, which made Amy blush a little, but she still smiled. "If I recall correctly, you said a long time ago that sticking together was our best plan ever, so I know for sure that if we do just that, we'll keep Eggman away from the Master Emerald and, therefore, from invading a parallel universe with magic. And if sticking together doesn't work, well, we can all kick Eggman's butt on our own any day of the week!"

Amy giggled a bit after hearing this. "Is not Eggman I'm worried of, silly." She said, pushing his shoulder slightly, before sighing and look down concerned. "...I just been wondering... do you believe that I have really changed?"

That question made Sonic blink twice, confused. "The what now?"

"You know that I have... toned down, to put it some way, about how I express my feelings towards you, right?" Amy asked, and while that made Sonic chuckle sheepishly and look around nervously, he eventually just nodded. "I did so not because anyone in specific told me so, but because I wanted to change, to be a better person... to be a better friend. In the end, you just wanted to have your space, but I was always trying to drag you into something I wanted, but you didn't. I want you to know that, even if it's been years since the last time I tried to drag you on a date you don't want to have, I still love you the same I've always done since the first day we met. "

Hearing Amy say he loves him with absolutely no shame nor embarrassment made him blush like mad, and he started to laugh nervously while scratching his cheek. He really didn't minded the reassurance, but after so many years of not hearing her say that, it felt kinda weird... Then why did it made him so incredibly happy as well? Ugh, feelings are confusing.

"And is because I love you that I choose to change, to stop being so... noisy about how I feel, to finally give you that space I know you desired." Amy explained.

"You didn't had to change who you are, Ames," Sonic told her with a little smile. "I... I gotta confess that, even if I did felt awkward with you being so over me... I kinda miss when you used to do it. I guess a part of me, despite hating the sudden and forced hugs, was also kind of expecting it sometimes... Weird right?"

Amy's eyes sparkled, her heart beat and her cheeks were so red anyone could confuse her with Knuckles' long lost sister or with a tomato. Still, she shook her head and took a deep breath to focus again.

"I-I wouldn't say is weird, per say..." She confessed, still blushing slightly. "Rather, considering how much you used to avoid me back then, I'll say is unexpected."

"Well, unexpected or not, it's the truth," Sonic stated. "But what does your choice to show your love towards me in a different way has to do with your initial dilemma?"

"I guess is just the kind of random thoughts that don't really matter, but you can't help and give them more importance than they deserve..." Amy said. "I just wondered if you really thought I had changed for good, or if anyone else thought so..."

Seeing why she was feeling so unsure, Sonic smiled, then he straight up grabbed Amy's hands and caressed them, which made Amy look down at their hands with wide eyes and a huge blush.

"Amy, even before you changed, I never for a second thought anything bad about you," Sonic assured her with a smile, but it was the type of smile he only had for her, a smile only she could recognize, a smile that always made her heart bump like if she ran a marathon, while blood raised over her cheeks. "Sure, you used to get on my nerves years ago, but come on! You really think I could ever believe you're a bad girl? No way! If I had a nickel for everytime you saved my butt when I was in trouble, I'll own you a lifetime of dates!"

Those words were making Amy feel like if the sun was literally right besides her, because she starting to sweat while her blush increased even more, if that was even possible.

"I've seen how insanely strong you are as well, both physically and emotionally," Sonic added. "Sometimes I'm scared of you! I-I mean, Shadow once said you lifted a car like if it was just a toy!"

"I mean, Eggman messed up with Cream and Cheese, so of course I couldn't just stand there and do nothing!" Amy raised her hands in defense.

"I'm not saying it was wrong, I just... I think it's impressive how far you're willing to go in order to protect those you care for, just like me and the rest of us!" Sonic said with a smile. "Amy, I admire you, because unlike many other people would do, you actually recognized that you had something to change and choose to change it. I know you say you did it for me, but I also believe you did it for you."

"What do you mean?"

"You changed the way you acted with me because you wanted, true, but I believe you also wanted to improve for yourself. I mean, I'm not the only goal in your life, am I?"

"Pff, of course not! I have a lot of hobbies beyond fortune reading. Helping out people in need, babysitting Cream when Vanilla is busy, check out how things are going on Resistance HQ from time to time... If I ever had free time and want to spend it with you, you know you'll be the first one to hear it." She pointed out with a smile.

"You see? You have changed for the better!" Sonic said with a smirk. "And I like the new Amy... Just as much as I liked the older one." He added with a slight blush, but now with that smile he only had for her, as well as moving part of her hair aside to see her face better.

Amy's eyes sparkled again, but this time she let herself smile a bit as well, also giving away a smile she could only make to Sonic, and she also looked away. Sonic pulled his hand away, but he still chuckled at Amy's adorable reaction. To say that he felt the same was an understatement. Truth to be told, he thinks he always felt the same for her, but he refused to embrace those feeling because, deep down, he was scared he wouldn't be enough for her, so he kept running away.

Those days are far behind now days, though, and he has gotten over that fear. However, he's not sure if he wants to take the next step just yet. He never had a girlfriend before, and he was concerned he could screw things up with Amy. Amy herself was not sure if ask for him to be his boyfriend, either, because she wants to wait until he is ready. If only she knew...

As the two hedgehogs acted like the pair of lovebirds they are, Tails and Knuckles stared as they lay on the Master Emerald. Tails had a smug smile and was making the shape of a heart with his tails, while Knuckles grinned with his arms crossed and nodded in approval.

"Looking at these two is adorable, yet also painful," Tails commented.

"Agreed. Is like if those two were a couple already, yet everyone but them know that." Knuckles noted.

But even if the scene was adorable and all, they soon realized that it wouldn't last anymore, because in the distance, a set of giant ships, some with the shape of fishes, were approaching the island, making Knuckles frown, while Sonic and Amy stood up from the stairs and stared with frowns at the ships ahead.

"Seems like Egghead has arrived," Sonic declared. "Alright, Tails. You and Knuckles will stay here to protect the Master Emerald."

"You got it!" Tails said with a determinate look and his thumbs up.

"That's literally my job!" Knuckles declared, punching his fists together.

"Ames. You and I will deal with Eggman, face to face!" Sonic stated with a smirk.

"Let's wreck down his ego as usual!" Amy said with a determined smile, bringing out her Piko Piko Hammer.

"Be careful out there, guys!" Tails said, opening a small door on the electromagnetic shield to allow Sonic and Amy to get out.

As Amy did that, Sonic stood behind and laughed at Tails' words. "Careful? Where's the fun in that?"

With that being said, Sonic got out there and stood with Amy in front of the Altar's stairs, while the Egg Float stopped moving right above the island. Soon enough, thousands of badniks were falling from the sky, and all of them landed one by one around the Altar of Emerald, surrounding it along Team Sonic and the Master Emerald itself.

And then, Eggman came out of the main ship: The biggest one that looked like a giant red Chopper, which could only be compared to Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier.

The doctor launched himself from that height, which surprised all Team Sonic since he was not inside any of his machines... But soon enough, around Eggman started to approach several metallic pieces that eventually started to build up around him like a suit.

The armor overall was very similar to his original Death Egg Robot, but this one had just as much mobility as if he didn't even have the suit. Additionally, the arms could be converted into weapons, as one was originally a laser cannon and the other was an extendable hand with spikes, before transforming into metal gloves. The last part to be covered was the face, which was just Eggman's face but in metal as usual.

Soon, the doctor pointed his feet to the ground and turned on his thrusters, slowing his fall and eventually slowly descending until he landed in front of Sonic and Amy. It's like a Metal Eggman had landed, but this was the real Eggman with an armor that made him look as much of a robot as his own inventions.

"Now just look at that..." Sonic said, genuinely impressed, but still smirking in a mocking way. "Dr. Eggman has finally upgraded from low-budget Hulk-Buster suits to a full own Iron Man rip-off. Took you long enough!"

Eggman's helmet was removed, showing Eggman with a frown as he looked at Sonic and Amy. "The couple of the year is here to stop me, huh? I'm gonna guess that good for nothing echidna and your little foxy friend are up there taking care of the Master Emerald."

"And what if they are? Even if they were not here, we're more than enough to take you down as usual!" Amy declared confidently. "That's how the game goes: You show up, get the upper hand at some point, then we turn the tables on our favor, we kick your butt away, and that's it!"

"Yeah, you're gonna need more than a fancy copy of Iron Man's suit to defeat us!" Sonic added as well. "Also, we kinda know about your entire plot of traveling to another dimension to do your thing, which is mess up everyone's lived because you have nothing better to do, so we gotta stop you and all of that stuff. You know, the usual!"

To Sonic's surprise, however, Eggman grinned and started to laugh maniacally, which actually startled him a bit, and it also made Amy take a step back. Eggman never reacted like this before, so whatever he has under his sleeve must be something that could actually make everything go north for him.

"Oh, Sonic. You always talk about my ego and how it gets on my way, but you're not realizing that your ego is getting in yours!" Eggman said. "I've been dealing with you long enough to know that if there's something I can destroy in seconds, is your little fragile ego. So go on! Talk about how humiliating my defeat will be this time as usual. But when I actually crush you down, we'll see who laughs best in the end!"

Sonic and Amy looked at each other for a moment after hearing this, then they nodded before looking back at Eggman. "Show us what you got, Egghead!"

"Game on!" Eggman stated with a sinister smile that actually sent shivers down Sonic and Amy's spines. Right after this, he put back his helmet and pointe with a hand at the two hedgehogs. "Badniks, destroy them!"

With the order given, the badniks proceeded to head towards Sonic and Amy. However, they didn't even see them as a challenge, because Sonic charged up his Spin Dash and accelerated towards several of the robots, while Amy climbed the steps a little before jumping into the air and then slamming her hammer against the ground. , releasing a small shockwave that destroyed some badniks and pushed others back.

However, Amy and Sonic alike knew that fighting the badniks would be a waste of time, because the one they really wanted to reach was Eggman, who was slowly and without any rush walking towards the steps that would take him to the Master Emerald.

Noticing this, Sonic growled lowly and proceeded to charge his Spin Dash at Eggman. Usually, this would cause the doctor to be sent backwards along with five and the machine... But what happened in the end no one saw coming: Eggman raised his hand and, without making the slightest effort, managed to stop Sonic's Spin Dash. . Amy, who had just crushed a Moto Bug, was shocked to see that Eggman was blocking Sonic's Spin Dash, an attack that no one believed was dodgeable.

Knuckles and Tails, who were watching from the top of the Altar, were also surprised to see that Eggman was able to stop Sonic.

"Your Spin Dash has always been a pain in the ass for my machines... But to me? It's starting to get RUSTY!" Eggman declared, then he throw Sonic against a tree, and Sonic crashed on his back, letting out a painful groan as he slid down and lay on the tree.

His friends were stunned to see what just happened, but Sonic himself was stunned and didn't quite understand what had just happened. How did Eggman stop his Spin Dash? No one had ever done it before!

"H-How did you...?" Sonic tried to ask.

"Chaos Energy! Thanks to the Chaos Emeralds, I can allow myself to make things most would had consider impossible in the past!" Eggman declared with glee. "For example..."

Eggman then proceeded to speed up and grab Sonic by the neck, then threw him so far in one shot that he was literally already reaching the limits of Angel Island.

"SONIC!" Amy shouted in fear, but then she groaned in pain when Eggman zoomed behind her and grabbed her neck as well.

"Don't worry, Ms. Rose. You are joining your boyfriend!" Eggman shouted, then he threw her as well without mercy.

"Sonic! Amy!" Tails shouted in panic with wide eyes as he saw his friends flying away. "Eggman's got a lot of power now, and he threw our friends away!"

"Then go after them!" Knuckles declared, braking the barrier that Tails made at first. "I'll take care of Eggman."

"But the Master Emerald––" Tails tried to argue.

"I am the guardian of the Master Emerald and Angel Island, Tails. It is my duty to protect both of them from threats like Eggman." Knuckles said decisively. "If I die here, I die fulfilling my destiny and my duty. You go and save our friends, I..." He bumped his fists and smirked. "Will have fun with the intruder!"

Tails instantly hated the idea of leaving Knuckles alone, but he knew full well that the echidna was stubborn and wouldn't let him stay. Sighing regretfully, Tails nodded in agreement and flew out of there to go after Sonic and Amy.

Knuckles, for his part, waited patiently for Eggman to arrive, as he climbed the steps of the Altar without haste. Coming face to face with the Guardian of the Master Emerald and the Emerald itself, he removed his helmet and smiled sinisterly.

"Looks like your friends had left you behind in your own, Knucklehead," Eggman said with glee. "Anything you wanna share before I take the Master Emerald?"

"Just one thing..." Knuckles replied, then punched Eggman in the nose and left him stunned. The doctor took several steps back as he clutched his nose and grunted in pain. "If you go into combat protected, don't expose your weak points!"

After saying this, Knuckles threw Eggman back with a punch, and then proceeded to glide from his spot to then fall on Eggman and begin punching his face incessantly. He also tore off parts of the armor to leave him even more exposed and sore.

On the other hand, Sonic and Amy finally fell and started to roll painfully on the ground.

Amy used her Hammer to slow down a bit, since she noticed that they were near the border of the island and could fall, but then she saw that Sonic was not stopping, and that he was about to fall from the island.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted, literally launching herself into a Spin Dahs to approach faster.

Once she was, she grabbed Sonic's hand, and then smashed her hammer to the ground again to slow down and stop moving, but the hammer only stopped them both when they were hanging over the edge of the island.

"I-I don't know if I should be relieved that we're not dead, or terrified that we could be at any second now!" Sonic commented with a nervous chuckle.

"Now's not the time to make jokes, Sonic!" Amy scolded him with a frown.

"Joking eases my nerves down!" Sonic countered, also with a frown.

"Ugh... Just hold my hand and resist, okay? Maybe I can..." Amy said, then she tried to pull herself up along Sonic, but she could not do it. It wasn't because she wasn't strong enough, but because the more she moved, the more her hammer seemed to be about to fall as well. "Oh boy..."

"Well, if this is game over for us, guess I should make a little confession..." Sonic said suddenly once he noticed their current situation.

"Huh?!" Amy asked with wide eyes. "What do you––"

"Amy... You've been kind of the only girl I hang around the most with, and you know? I really like when I spend my time the most with you..." Sonic confessed with a slight blush, making Amy blush as well.

"S-Sonic, I swear that if you're gonna do this right now––"

"What I'm trying to say is... Amy Rose... I L––"

"SONIC! AMY!" Tails' voice suddenly cut him off, and the two hedgehogs looked down to see that Tails was approaching with a red plane that Sonic owned, named the Tornado. "I'm right here, guys!"

"Huh... Look at that. It isn't the end after all!" Sonic said with a smile, then he looked up to Amy. "Forget it, Ames. We're living to see another day!"

Amy's eye twitched after hearing this, but then she sighed and smiled. Even though she suspects what Sonic wanted to say, she's not gonna pressure him on it and will wait until he wants to talk about it.

Soon, Amy dragged her hammer un purpose so they both would fall. And then, Amy landed on the empty seat behind Tails, while Sonic landed on the plane's wings and hold on them with a smirk.

"Thanks for coming, bro! But where's Knuckles?" He asked Tails with a frown.

"He told me to come and look after you." Tails replied. "He's dealing with Eggman on his own!"

"Well, not for so long!" Amy said with a determined smile, one that her teammates shared. "Let's go back to the Altar, Tails!"

With a nod, Tails spun the Tornado in the air to go back with Knuckles and help him with Eggman.

Knuckles was fighting against Eggman, who managed to get up from his punches and fight back.

Despite the fact that the armor was damaged, Eggman was still quite the match, and he was not gonna let Knuckles have all the fun. After all, thanks to the upgrades, the armor could make gloves as big as Knuckles' and return the punches, but none of them seemed to be affecting the last equidna warrior at all.

But what Knuckles didn't know, however, was that Eggman was only distracting him, since breaking the shield that Tails made only gave Sage access to use the Master Emerald. She placed the Chaos Emeralds around the enormous green jewel, and then closed the electromagnetic shield around the altar again and finished once and for all the task that her father entrusted to her.

When Knuckles sensed through the Master Emerald that something was wrong, he turned around and gasped when he saw that the shield he had broken was active again. "NO!" He screamed, then tried to go towards the Emerald, but Eggman grabbed him by the neck and held him in place to not let him go.

"You won't do anything this time, Knucklehead!" Eggman declared with a laugh, while Knuckles struggled to get free.

For her part, Sage had already begun contacting the crystals of that other dimension again, and thanks to the extra power provided by the Master Emerald, communicating with the crystals was so easy that it even seemed as if she had them in front of her. When she opened her eye, it was completely white, then she levitated the Chaos Emeralds, which danced for a while around the Master Emerald.

Finally, when the power of the 8 emeralds synchronized, a white flash became present and expanded in the form of an explosion, swallowing the entire Altar and everyone around it.

For its part, the Tornado was already close to the altar, but as soon as the explosion occurred, the three friends were shocked and could not even process what happened.

"What the f––" Sonic tried to say, but he couldn't finish his sentence.

As soon as the white flash swallowed them, it expanded until it covered the entire island, and then the flash disappeared along with it and its inhabitants, as if it had never been there, ever.

Author's Note

And with this, Team Sonic and Eggman are now in Equestria! Kinda... We won't know until next episode.

Thanks for reading, people! See ya next time! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 4: Nightmares Come True

Equestria - Crystal Brighthouse

Sunny couldn't sleep all night.

After she and Zipp explained to the rest of her friends about the situation with the Crystals that occurred three weeks ago, she felt a huge burden lifted from her shoulders. And yet, deep down she was still terrified at the thought of losing the Unity Crystals. Those Crystals were the reason why Equestria was united now, they were the reason why she had powers with which she could protect her friends and all of Equestria.

Without those powers, without those Crystals, who was she really? Just another helpless pony from the crowd. She couldn't go back to those days where she was nobody, and she wouldn't.

She found herself staring at the Unity Crystals, at the top of the Brighthouse. No matter how many times her friends told her that everything would be fine and work out in the end, a part of her couldn't believe it. She had a strange feeling, a feeling that something would eventually go wrong and affect all of Equestria. It's such an specific and odd feeling, but is there, and she can't do anything about it.

The fact that Misty shared her nightmare with them didn't helped, either. She was not mad with the unicorn mare for doing so, and she wouldn't blame her for anything, but a part of her kind of wished that Misty kept that to herself, 'cause it only made her fear of loosing her magic and the Unity Crystals even harder.

She really never thought that loosing her powers would worry her. A few months ago, she wouldn't had doubted on giving them up to Opaline if she came to a deal with her where her friends could remain free from her reign, and have her as her only minion around... Now? The simple thought of loosing her magic, what makes her special, terrified her whole being.

Maybe the fact that so many ponies months ago only seemed to like her because she's an Alicorn has something to do with it. Even if her friends told her they love her for being Sunny, a part of her thinks that it is better to be an Alicorn than just little old her... That, or Opaline's words are getting into he head more than ever.

Opaline... For some reason, Sunny couldn't help but feel kind of bad for her. Yeah, she was a tyrant that wanted to steal all the magic in the world as a whole, and considering she didn't felt any remorse on removing Misty's Cutie Mark, she was also a heartless monster... Then why does she feels like she could've done more? Why didn't she though on finding out further behind Opaline's actions? Maybe she could've redeemed her, or die in the attempt, but still... The shot would've been worth it.

Is too late to think about that now, though. Opaline is gone, but Allura is still out there. She cannot help Opaline nor understand her reasoning because she's dead, but she can definitely still help Allura out. She can reform her, or at the very least try. After all, this is Equestria, and everyone deserved a second chance, no matter who they are or what they've done.

"Um... am I interrupting something?" A voice called out suddenly.

Sunny felt a bit startled and looked at her left with wide eyes, but then sighed relieved and smiled when she saw that it was just Misty.

"Hey, Misty," Sunny said with a smile. "No, not really. I'm just here, reflecting about... so many things."

"I figured," Misty said with a smile, then she approached Sunny and sat at her side, looking up at the Unity Crystals as well. "You couldn't sleep last night, could you?"

Sunny only chuckled slightly and sighed again after hearing that. "No. Not in the slightest. After everything we talked and revealed yesterday, my mind couldn't simply just doze off. What about you?"

"I couldn't sleep, either. That damn nightmare came in again..." Misty replied with a frustrated sigh. "And I really love sleeping, but these last three weeks I cannot even do that without that nightmare playing on loop. I think I'm coming to a point where it plays out and I just roll my eyes 'cause I know what's gonna happen already."

"Like when Izzy accidentally spoiled the ending of that book you were reading?" Sunny asked with a playful smile.

"Ugh! Even worse! At least with the book I didn't know how it'll happen, just that it would," Misty replied with an eye roll. "With this nightmare, I know everything about it!"

Sunny laughed slightly after hearing Misty complain, and deep down she also thanked her arrival. It at least managed to put aside those thoughts and fears of loosing the Crystals for a moment.

"...I've been wondering if whoever might be after the Crystals is as bad as you say it is..." Sunny commented suddenly after a moment of silence. "A part of me thinks that, maybe if we can talk with whoever's after them like civilized ponies, maybe we could make them change their mind."

"And what does the other part of you says?"

"That it would be useless because the last pony that tried to steal the Unity Crystals and our magic was irredeemable."

"Well, Opaline was alone her whole life. When she went to stole my Cutie Mark, even thought it hurt me she did so, a part of me felt bad for her, because she would be alone her whole life. And she died the same way she always lived... Alone. Maybe if she met you or any of our friends at some point, then maybe all her dilemma on taking over Equestria and beyond would've been over."

"Maybe, but we can only imagine now. Opaline's gone..." Sunny pointed out, strangely, with sadness. "I still wished we could've done something for her, though..."

"Well, maybe we can't for Opaline... But like you said, maybe things will be different with Allura," Misty said with a little smile. "And who knows? Maybe you're right, and maybe we can help whoever could be after the Unity Crystals as well. If me, a unicorn that spied on your for months, could redeem herself and regain your trust, then who says some actual evil force can't redeem itself?"

"Exactly!" Sunny said with a smile, then gave Misty a side hug. "You get it, Misty! We can definitely make this work out!" She declared, then she walked outside to the balcony and stared at Maretime Bay ahead. "Everypony who's everypony counts on us, on me, to keep them and their magic safe. As the guardians of the Unity Crystals, and the new protectors in Equestria, is our duty to make sure that no one comes off to disturb our peace!"

As Sunny go on her "inspirational mode", Misty only smiled at her friend, but then, she felt something weird on her flank. When she turned to see her Cutie Mark, she gasped as she noticed that it was glowing and expanding on different directions. She then turned to see Sunny and noticed that her Cutie Mark was reacting as well. Her Alicorn form also activated, and she would've believed it was just because Sunny was being herself right now, but since her horn and wings were glitching, then that's clearly not the case.

She then turned and gasped when she noticed in person that te Unity Crystals were vibrating again, and it was surrounded by a colorful aura that changed colors: Red, blue, yellow, green, purple, light blue, white, and then a brighter green before switching back to red and follow the same pattern.

"Sunny!" Misty called out, which made the mentioned mare turn to her. "Look!"

As Misty pointed her hoof at the vibrating glowing Crystals, Sunny gasped with wide eyes. She then finally noticed that her Alicorn form was glitching, as well as her Cutie Mark glowing and expanding.

Panicked, Sunny took out her phone from her saddlebag and marked Zipp's number. When she finally picked up, she shouted: "Zipp! The Crystals are glowing again! Bring everypony right here, right now!"

Around 10 minutes later, the Mane 6 and Sparky were reunited at the top of the Brighthouse once again.

Zipp began to record the Crystals again, but this time with the extra brighter green glow. She also recorded everypony's Cutie Marks glowing, herself's included, as well as Sunny's Alicorn form glitching. She wanted to see if she could find any kind of link between them.

"Hmm... It seems that whenever the Crystals glow in certain color, not only our Cutie Marks glow in the same color and follow the same pattern, but Sunny's horn and wings glitch for a moment." Zipp explained.

"And what does that mean?" Hitch asked.

"It means that whatever happens to the Crystals could also affect us, and not only that, but our magic as well!" Zipp replied with concern. "Right now, only Sunny's Alicorn form is suffering from the Crystals' strange behavior, but soon it could also affect Pegasi wings, Unicorns horn, and Earth Ponies hooves!"

"And how do we stop something we don't even know how it started?" Pipp asked worried. "Our magic might be in danger, and it seems like we can't do anything about it!"

"That's not true, sis," Zipp denied with her head. "It is true that we have no idea what's going on with the Crystals yet, but maybe there's something that our Cutie Mark magic can do!"

"Um, Zipp? Didn't you just said that our magic's the affected one here?" Sunny pointed out. "How's our magic gonna do something if that's what's getting affected in the first place?"

"Our Cutie Mark magic has demonstrated to be powerful enough even when we don't have our Cutie Marks!" Zipp pointed out. "It worked when we were against Opaline. Why wouldn't it work now?"

"Hmm, she's got a really good point!" Izzy agreed with Zipp while smiling. "Who says that our magic won't work this time around? If it did once, it definitely has to do it again!"

"I don't know... It sounds too simple and easy," Misty pointed out. "Is there any guarantee that it'll even do what we want it to do? What if it just gets worse?!"

"It won't happen, Misty," Zipp assured with a determinate look. "Like Sunny said: So long as we're together, there's nothing we can't do!"

Yet as she said this, Hitch turned to see the Unity Crystals, and his eyes widened. "Yeah, uh, tell that to the Unity Crystals..."

As he pointed at them, the five mares turned to them and gasped with wide eyes when they noticed that the Crystals were now vibrating and glowing in just one color: White. Said glow kept getting brighter and brighter, until nopony could do anything but cover themselves from the intense light.

"What is going on?!" Pipp asked in panic, also hiding behind her sister.

"No clue, but..." Zipp started, as she managed to look at the corner of her eye that her Cutie Mark was glowing in the same intense white light. "It seems like our Cutie Marks are feeling the same that us!"

Everypony ducked down and covered their eyes with their hooves, and Hitch kept Sparky protect by hugging him in a way that his eyes wouldn't get affected by the glow. Soon enough, the ground rumbled, startling the Mane 6 a lot as they tried to stand on their hooves, but keeping their eyes closed to not get blurred by the light of the Crystals.

"Another rumble?!" Zipp questioned. "This is making less and less sense––"

Yet Zipp's words were cut short when she heard a painful groan. She turned and opened her eye slightly, only for both of them to shot open when she saw Sunny struggling and suffering, tears running down her cheeks and all, because her Alicorn form was glitching nonstop, like if it were torturing her.

Zipp wanted to help her, but then she noticed that the glow became a bit less intense. She thought at first that it was because it finally was stoping, but that's not the case: What actually happened is that the Crystals were turning around to face the ocean instead of Maretime Bay.

Everypony else noticed this as well, even Sunny herself, despite still feeling in pain because of her glitching Alicorn form. When Hitch finally noticed what was happening to his best friend, his eyes widened in panic.

"Sunny!" He screamed, immediately rushing to her side as he let her lay on him for support, since she barely could stand on her hooves.

The others noticed Sunny's stated as well and gasped with concern, but then, everything suddenly stopped. The glow from the Crystals, the one from their Cutie Marks, and Sunny's Alicorn form even stopped glitching. All pain she was suffering moments ago had dissipated.

"...I-Is it over?" Sunny herself asked first, then she looked around herself to check that she wasn't hurt. Hitch did the same, and she silently thanked him for worrying.

"Seems like it..." Zipp replied, then she checked over Pipp to make sure her sister was fine. Izzy made the same with Misty, and Hitch also checked that Sparky was not hurt nor stunned.

Yet the small moment of relaxation they had was interrupted when all the Crystals turned white and then shot a massive laser that destroyed the zone of the Crystal Room it was looking at, sending the laser right above the ocean. Of course, this startled the ponies and baby dragon, whom all ducked down again to protect themselves in case any broken glass reached any of them.

Meanwhile, the laser stopped in a certain place and started to expand and get bigger, as if it were a round explosion happening above of the ocean. No city was close from this explosion, so no one would get hurt, but the fact that the explosion was happening at all was concerning on its own.

"What the hey is happening?!" Pipp asked in panic, as everypony stared to the ocean and the massive explosion expanding over it.

And before anypony could answer, the Crystals stopped and returned to simply float in the air, once again facing Maretime Bay, like if nothing happened. However, the explosion above the ocean kept getting bigger, until it finally stopped... Just to reveal a giant floating island instead.

This island, for the most part, looked like a bunch of mountains put together with some green forests around, but a pair of waterfalls could be seen as well. In what seemed to be the front of the island, however, there were red, blue, yellow, green, purple, light blue, withe, and brighter green glows showing up.

Yet this last detail didn't seemed to really matter for the Mane 6, who were all staring with wide eyes and jaws dropped at the sight of a floating island in the middle of the ocean. It was not only because such a thing was impressive, but also because this is precisely what Misty warned about: A floating island coming out of nowhere, just like in her nightmares.

"...Okay... Turns out you were right, Misty..." Sunny was the first one to speak, then she turned back to see the Unity Crystals, which were acting like they usually do once again. "Someone's after the Unity Crystals after all..."

Angel Island

As soon as the white light dissipated, Knuckles opened his eyes again, and realized that he was still being held by Eggman. Whatever had happened to the Master Emerald seemed to be over already, but he couldn't stay here and wait to be saved by a miracle. He didn't even know if that strange light had reached his friends, so he was alone as far as he knew.

However, that was never a problem. He has been alone for much of his life. Why would he burst into tears at a time like this?

Knuckles noticed that his legs were right in front of Eggman's crotch. This made him smile, and then he proceeded to kick that area of the doctor hard, making him groan in pain and let go of Knuckles to cover that area and fall to his knees. Knuckles took advantage of this to send Eggman flying towards his Egg Fleet with one blow, and then proceeded to move as fast as he could up the stairs of the Altar.

Upon reaching the top, he noticed that Sage was there in front of the Master Emerald, in turn that the Chaos Emeralds surrounded her. They descended until they touched the ground again, while Sage snapped her fingers to make the shield around her disappear.

Bad idea.

Knuckles decided to take advantage of this by launching himself at Sage with a warrior's cry, raising his fists in the air and everything. Hearing the scream, Sage barely managed to turn around and activate a shield with her powers that protected her from Knuckles, who growled furiously as he tried to push his fist against her.

As he struggled to gain the upper hand on Sage, he realized that the Master Emerald had not been moved from its spot, which left him baffled. If Eggman didn't come to take the Master Emerald, how is he gonna open a door to that other dimension?

He didn't have time to process that, however, as Sage took advantage of his distraction to throw off her shield and then send Knuckles flying away from his own island.

For his part, Sonic opened his eyes when he saw that the strange white light from before was gone, just in time to see Eggman being sent back to his Egg Fleet thanks to Knuckles' blow.

"Uh... What the hell just happened?" Sonic asked confused.

"I have no idea..." Tails said, looking around both sides of the plane. "It seems there was a power surge that covered the entire island."

"But why?" Amy asked. "Knuckles didn't let Eggman use the Emerald, did he?"

"I don't think Knuckles fell prey to Eggman's tricks again..." Sonic shook his head. "And if he did it, I don't think it was to turn him against us, but to..."

"Get him away from the Emerald! Sure! That's probably what Eggman wanted to do in the first place!" Tails realized with wide eyes. "We have to get down there before––"

But just as Tails wanted to explain himself, Amy saw something that made her eyes widen, and she gasped in panic. "TAILS, BE CAREFUL!!"

Both Sonic and Tails were going to turn to see what had happened, but they couldn't because Knuckles collided with the blade of the plane and in the process pushed it back, causing it to start spinning in the air out of control, in turn. It was moving away from Angel Island and began to approach a beach with which it was soon going to collide.

Knuckles fell unconscious from Sage's earlier blow, while the other three screamed in terror from the sudden crash with the echidna, until they stopped when they finally crashed onto the beach.

Maretime Bay - 5 Minutes earlier...

Chaos broke out in Maretime Bay as what appeared to be a white explosion at first became noticeable, which in the end turned out to be a huge island floating in the sky.

Seeing the panic caused, Hitch and Sunny—her activating her Alicorn form—rushed to make an emergency group meeting in the village to inform all the ponies of the situation and calm them down as much as they could. Seeing Hitch act like the Sheriff he is, as well as Sunny with her Alicorn form, the chaos stopped for an instant while all the ponies approached the two Earth Ponies.

"Everypony, calm down!" Hitch called out first. "I want you all to pay us attention for a second!"

"We know you all wonder what's that giant, floating Island doing here, as well as where it came from." Sunny stated. "To be honest, we wonder the exact same time, but we ask you all to remain calm and be patient! We're gonna help out Detective Zipp solve this mystery, and when we have an answer, you all be the first ones to know it!"

"Uh, wouldn't you six technically be the first one to know it?" Somepony in the crowd asked.

"Uh..." Sunny had no idea on how to answer that.

"What Sunny means is that once we know for sure the origin of that island, as well as if it's dangerous or not, we'll tell you all right away!" Hitch declared. "Until then, we beg you all to wait for an answer and continue with your usual routine."

"As the protectors of Equestria, we'll do our job to keep you all safe! So sleep tight, you are in very good hooves!" Sunny stated with a determinate smile, while her wings glowed brightly.

The sight was enough to make anypony inspired and protected, so they all began to cheer for Sunny, who smiled warmly at everypony that trusted her.

Soon, Sunny and Hitch went to the beach, were the rest of their friends were looking up at the floating island ahead. Well, Zipp and Misty were doing it, with the former recording with her phone the island while the latter had a very anxious expression. As for Pipp, she's taking selfies with happy and also surprised faces, while Izzy's knotting up something, and Sparky was too busy making a sand castle with two storks and a crab that follow Hitch all the time.

One of the storks had a cup as a hat and was named Kennet; the stork without anything over them is called Steven, and the crab is named McSnips-A-Lot.

As Hitch and Sunny approached their friends, they also stared up to the floating island, that seemed to be so far from where they're standing, yet so close at the same time.

"You've got anything from that island, Zipp?" Sunny asked first.

"Beyond the fact that it floats in the sky and defies all known law physics? Nope," Zipp replied, lowering her phone to take down notes. "But I think I saw some lights glowing when we were on the Brighthouse. I can't see them anymore, though."

"I think I also noticed those lights..." Hitch spoke. "I may be imagining things with what I'll say now, but weren't those lights the same color than the changing color glow surrounding the Crystals?"

"Hmm... I think so..." Zipp nodded to Hitch's hypothesis. "If only I took a picture of the island when the glow was still there! Ugh!"

"Oh, you need a picture of that? Well, lucky you, sis!" Pipp said happily suddenly flying at her sister's side and laying on her shoulder while showing her phone. "I've got tones of them, with so many filters and all!"

Pipp scrolled pass her pictures she took of the island from the Brighthouse's balcony, and while she was kinda annoyed about her saying quiet about it, she choose not to fight over something so silly and limited to play the video of the Crystals vibrating and glowing in colors to compare it with one of Pipp's pictures. Thanks to this, she realized that the glows that came from the island matched colors with the glow that surrounded the Crystals earlier.

"Hitch, you're right! They're the same colors!" Zipp confessed. "Your detective skills are getting better~"

Hitch deadpanned and rolled his eyes annoyed. He was so used to Zipp's teasing at this point that he couldn't care less even if he tried.

"Well, we know that the colors match, but what does it mean?" Sunny questioned confused.

"It means that, somehow, whatever's in that floating island is what affected the Crystals!" Zipp explained. "Well, that's what I think at least. It's just a theory, but if true, it could at least answer why the Crystals reacted like that!"

"But it doesn't explains why our Cutie Marks glow as well, nor why it affected Sunny and her Alicorn magic," Pipp pointed out. "She was even slightly tortured back then!"

"Yeah! Are you sure you're not hurt, Sunny?" Hitch asked her with concern.

"I'm fine, ponies, really." Sunny assured with a little smile. "I don't know why I suddenly felt so much pain, but it didn't affected me physically, so I'll be fine. Right now, I'm more concerned about why this island suddenly came out of nowhere!"

"And I'm worried that the evil creature from my nightmares will show up..." Misty spoke suddenly, calling her friends' attention. "The island is here, and it looks exactly like in my nightmares..."

"Misty, we don't know––" Zipp tried to point out.

"Yes, you don't know how it looks, but I do!" Misty raised her voice suddenly, surprising her friends. She only did that when she wanted to say something important and nopony let her speak, but this is the first time she snaps right from the start. "I've been having the same nightmare playing on my mind every night. I know how the island looks, and it looks like this!" She pointed at the floating island ahead. "You know what that means, right?! Nightmares come true! Just as true as dreams do..."

Nopony said anything for a while after Misty said all of that, and they even looked at each other for a moment.

"...It also means that they will come for us... For the Crystals..." Misty added eventually.

"You mean the evil creature?" Pipp asked concerned, gaining a nod from Misty.

"Well, even if they come over here, we'll be ready!" Sunny stated with a determinate look, and everypony else but Misty turned to her with smiles. "Remember: As long as we stick together, nothing's gonna stop us!"

"And if using our magic is not enough, I made these!" Izzy aid happily, as she levitated a couple of purple shirts with blue text in the middle, all saying "Welcome to Equestria, outsider!".

"Uh... I'm not really against you making them, Iz, but... Why four of them?" Zipp asked confused.

"You never know how many friends we could make from that mysterious floating island, so I'm just making sure!" Izzy replied cheerfully, earning an eye roll from Zipp and Pipp, but smiles and head shakes from Sunny and Hitch.

Misty, however, remained terrified the whole time. She trusted her friends with her life, more than she could ever had trusted Opaline, but for some reason she couldn't trust her friends right now... She felt like if whatever was coming was something none of them could ever deal with. They could barely stand on their own against threats like Opaline, so why standing together against a new one could be different?

Soon enough, however, the group noticed a red point that suddenly fly away from the island. Said red point was getting closer and closer. It started to look like a strange vehicle... A plane, to be precise. None of them could really tell from here, but they couldn't wonder anymore because they heard screams coming from said object, and then, it suddenly crashed in the beach. A bit far from them, but it crashed regardless.

"What the hey?!" Pipp exclaimed confused.

"Is that... a plane?" Zipp asked.

"It seems like it..." Hitch commented.

"Huh... I thought there were no other flying vehicles in Equestria anymore, besides our Marestream," Izzy pointed out.

"I thought that as well!" Sunny said, then she approached Misty. "Does this plane appeared on your nightmares as well?"

"...No... It didn't..." Misty replied nervously. "I don't know if that's goo or not, though..."

Sunny choose not to stay there and keep wondering stuff, so she approached to the vehicle, and soon, her friends were following up, although Misty stood behind hesitantly, before she went to pick Sparky up and follow the rest as well.

When they arrived with the crashed vehicle, they saw that a large part of the front area was buried in sand. The back seat was empty, however, and both a wheel and the tail of the plane appeared intact. On the side you could see "Sonic" written, and on the tail a drawing of a circle with a star in the middle, and wings extending outwards.

"Sonic..." Zipp read, also taking a picture of the plane's tail. "You guys think that could be a name, either for the plane or its owner?"

Her friends shrugged at the question, but then they got startled when they head rumbling sounds coming from the sand. They all stepped back, and Sunny activated her Alicorn form just in case... Just for a pair of ears and three stripes of hair to come out of the sand, confusing the ponies. Then, a full on creature came out of the sand, which seemed to be some kind of yellow anthropomorphic fox. They could fly, for some reason, because something behind them spin and elevated them from the ground.

The fox then started to pull up with effort, and soon enough, other three creatures were dragged out of the sand, the three of them lay on the ground, while the fox landed and panted heavily.

As they stared at them with wide and shocked eyes, the Mane 6 could only wonder one thing: Who the hey are these guys?

Author's Note

Well, another chapter's done! Cool!

Next time, our group of heroes finally meet each other! Who's ready for more chaos to unleash?

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading, and see you next chapter! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 6: What We're Made Of

Crystal Brighthouse

The Mane 6, as the ponies call themselves, lead Team Sonic to their home. It was a very large lighthouse, painted in pastel blue with a turquoise ceiling and white trim; around it there were pink trees that gave it a more lively touch; the front door was pink and framed by an arch of stained glass. It was the Crystal Brighthouse, as the ponies called it.

On top of said "Brighthouse", there was a room where three floating Crystals spread their magic all across this magical land. The Crystals were a purple one with the shape of a unicorn horn; a turquoise one with the shape of spread wings; and a round white one... These crystals matched the description of the ones Eggman is looking for.

"Okay, let's recap again this 'cause I'm getting a headache..." Sonic spoke, rubbing his forehead a bit. "You, Misty, had a nightmare where a floating island came out of nowhere, right?"

"Then, someone with not so good intentions descended from that island and started to cause panic and chaos all across this land..." Tails kept going. "It's, uh... Sorry, what it is called, again?"

"Equestria," Sunny remarked.

"Right..." Knuckles rolled his eyes annoyed. "And then this evil guy just comes over here and gets your floating crystals filled with magic away..."

"And lately, those same crystals have received weird signals that made them vibrate and glow in different colors... The same glowing colors you say come from Angel Island when it first appeared."

"Yup, that's everything that's concerning us so far," Zipp nodded. "As for you, there's this "Dr. Eggman" guy that's been looking for a powerful source of magic for months."

"His daughter, Sage, is the one that was making the Crystals vibrating and glow since she was trying to send some kind of message to them," Pipp added.

"And then he went to the island that's right in front of our town, Angel Island, and used the power of seven gems called "Chaos Emeralds", plus this Master Emerald Knuckles as to protect," Hitch kept going.

"When Sage made the contact with the Crystals, it dragged you all to Equestria, with the floating island included!" Misty added in surprise.

"And now that you're all here, it means that Eggman could come after the Unity Crystals and our magic at any moment now!" Sunny finished with panic.

"And he always chooses the worse moment to show up..." Sonic crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"So you all were trying to stop Eggman, but he used power from those Chaos Emeralds to out-power you all and then let Sage do her work to contact with the Crystals so they'll bring over the entire island..." Zipp resumed again. "Well, it definitely confirms you're not our enemy. But then what's Eggman's goal? Why does he want to steal our magic?"

"To get what he desires the most: Build an empire to his image and obligate everyone to serve him and his machines for eternity!" Sonic replied with a frown. "I always thought that an empire of egg-shaped people and robots wouldn't be so bad, but that would private everyone from their freedom, and that won't happen as long as I'm around!"

"So he's basically the equivalent of Opaline in your dimension..." Izzy pointed out while rubbing her chin. "How's that you haven't defeated him yet?"

"The son of a gun is a really good escapist." Knuckles replied with a frown and his arms crossed.

"We did put him on jail once, but he escape like two hours later." Tails pointed out with a deadpan.

"And even though he tents to disappear for months before showing up again, we're never really at ease knowing he could strike with attacks at any minute." Amy finished. "So yeah, Eggman's a big pain in the ass."

"Well, maybe things could be different here in Equestria!" Sunny suggested with a smile. "You know, we could try talk to him and make things get better! Give him a second chance to redeem himself."

Team Sonic stared at Sunny with confused expressions, and they all blinked a few times. "...Give him a second chance?" Tails asked first.

"To redeem himself?" Knuckles kept going.

"To Eggman?" Sonic finished speaking, as he looked at his teammates, and they looked back at him.

And right after that, the four of them bursted out laughing with no shame nor remorse. Seriously? This random girl from another dimension thinks she can redeem Eggman of all people? If Surge, the Deadly Six or even the Babylon Rouges came instead of Eggman, they would probably give it a shot... But Eggman? This girl was delusional, and nothing she said could convince them otherwise.

As Team Sonic laughed, the Mane 6 stared at them confused, although some like Zipp and Hitch frowned. They probably think that they're laughing at Sunny, which is the case, but Sunny herself is confused on what's so funny.

Once Team Sonic stopped laughing for what felt like hours, they looked back at the Mane 6 and noticed their confused/angered expressions, which made their eyes widened as they turned back at Sunny.

"Oh, wait, you're talking seriously?" Sonic asked.

"Uh, yeah?" Sunny replied. "I don't know how things have gone in your dimension, but Equestria is a land of second opportunities! I know that at the very least we can try!"

And that was followed by Tails and Knuckles bursting out laughing again, while Amy snorted and Sonic simply smiled while shacking his head. He was convinced now that she's that delusional.

"Just from that sentence alone, I can tell you're the most delusional girl I've ever met in my life," Sonic said with a smirk. "Because you have to be a misunderstood genius or a complete idiot to even think that Eggman has redeemable traits."

Now that made Sunny frown. "Excuse me?! What's idiotic about wanting to help someone get down a better path?"

"Nothing, the problem comes up when the one you wanna redeem is Eggman," Amy pointed out.

"Let's put a clear example here: You think a guy that comes back over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again is even redeemable?"

As Sonic asked this, he showed big and very detailed images of all the times Sonic has fought Eggman in the past: When Eggman used his Death Egg Robot on his Death Egg; when he stoled the Master Emerald from Angel Island; when he tried to collect the time stones from Little Planet; when he tried to control Chaos on its Perfect form; when he freed Shadow and together tried to wipe out the Earth; when Neo Metal Sonic took Eggman's place on his own plan; when he split the planet into the seven continents to awake Dark Gaia; when he built an amusement park to kidnap aliens; when he travelled back in time with his younger self to erase Sonic from existence; when he took over the world for 6 months; and when he tried to gain power from dreams.

As the last image was moved away, Knuckles hold it and took a look at it, with Tails holding the other ones on his hands, and Sonic holding the image that showed their adventure on Eggman's dreams.

"You always keep those with you?" Amy questioned with a little smile.

"You never know when you have to teach some history to new people!" Sonic replied with a smirk, as he also heard an impressed whistle coming from Knuckles.

On the other hand, the Mane 6 either were confused, anxious, or with their jaws dropped after seeing each drawing that Sonic kept passing over to Knuckles.

"...I have like a thousand questions, and all of them require context..." Zipp spoke anxiously.

Sunny, however, shook her head and focused again. "Okay, I get it. This Eggman guy is irredeemable. So what? He's not gonna step on my home and get this Crystals! My friends and I faced somepony that wanted to steal them and our magic as well, and we defeated her together!"

"Yeah! All Equestria helped on that!" Izzy added cheerfully.

"Mmm-hmm!" Pipp nodded with a smile. "Everypony who's everypony reunited across the country to bring our magic to the Together Trees through a song, all in order to defeat our greatest foe!"

"And now she's trapped inside a new Together Tree forever!" Hitch added with a smile, while Sparky on his back raised his arms excited at his dad's words.

Yet said excitement was not shared by Team Sonic, who all stared at the ponies with anxious looks.

Sonic then started to chuckle nervously, and then he approached the Mane 6 while putting his hands together, with his index fingers touching his mouth. "Um, I think I miss-heard something here... Did you guys just said that you defeated your greatest foe... with a song?"

"Yeah?" Zipp replied with a raised eyebrow.

"We combined the magic from our Cutie Marks and sent it towards Opaline, which made her loose her power," Misty added.

This made Team Sonic feel even worse, and now they actually were terrified. If these guys' greatest enemy was defeated by singing a song, then Eggman already had conquered this dimension, and he hasn't even made a move yet!

"Well, if Eggman dares to attack us right now, you six are so dead..." Knuckles deadpanned.

Right after saying this, the ground grumbled, startling the entire group inside the Crystal Room. They all turned around to see a bunch of ships coming towards Maretime Bay, and they all came from Angel Island. At the side of one of those ships, Eggman's logo was seen, and that sign alone made Team Sonic frown.

"Oh, come on! I was just joking!" Knuckles growled in anger, then he turned to the Mane 6. "About Eggman arriving, not you six dying. I actually mean that."

"Um, excuse me?! Our Cutie Mark magic is very powerful!" Zipp pointed out with a frown. "We could take down that "Eggman" guy all together with it!"

"Zipp's right! Because when we work together, there's nothing we can't do!" Sunny declared with a smile, while her friends nodded and cheered in agreement.

"...Yeah, Knuckles is right. You six aren't going to last five minutes out there once Eggman sends in his badniks." Sonic deadpanned.

"Um, are we gonna take care of Eggman now, or..." Amy asked.

"Yes we are!" Both Sonic and Sunny spoke at the same time, then they both looked back at each other with wide eyes.

"Uh, really? You are gonna take care of Eggman?" Sonic snorted. "What, are you gonna attack him with glitter, or sing another song, or talk about your feelings? Because he's gonna wipe your tattooed butts before you can even try!"

"We can do things the hard way, too!" Sunny declared with a determined look. "I bet we could do them even better than you!"

That actually made the Mane 6's eyes widen, and they all looked at Sunny nervously, but mostly Pipp, who even chuckled nervously. "Now, now, Sunny. We haven't seem them in action, but if they have lost against this Eggman dude 1 against a millionth times, then we definitely are not better than them!"

"Not to mention, Opaline could've actually defeated us if not for our magic. But we're not that good on our own!" Zipp reminded by whispers.

However, Sonic ignored the princesses comments and grinned, then he zoomed at Sunny's face with his super speed. The other ponies were startled at how insanely fast he moved, but Sunny's determined look remained intact the whole time.

"What's that, Starscout? Are you challenging me?" Sonic asked with a dangerous glare, yet also with a grin.

"Maybe I am!" Sunny replied confidently.

"You talk a lot for a little pony..." Sonic mocked up.

"You'll find out that this pony is average size..." Sunny countered.

The Earth Pony mare and the Blue Blur kept staring intensely at each other for a while, before Sonic eventually stepped back, but still grinning. "Alright, then. If you're as thought as you say to be, then show me what you're made of!"

After saying this, he boosted away at top speed in direction to Maretime Bay and the Egg Fleet approaching.

"Heh. Let's see what are you guys bragging about!" Knuckles declared with a smirk, before he jumped from the balcony and then glided towards the town.

"Excuse him, ponies. Sonic can be a little competitive sometimes..." Amy said with a sheepish smile, then she took out her Piko Piko Hammer, impressing the ponies as their eyes widened. "Anyways! I wish you look on the battle that will unfold. I feel like you're gonna need it..."

After that, she jumped from the balcony, and soon, a pink blur was seen from afar, leaving Tails alone with the Mane 6 and Sparky.

"Um, Sunny?" Zipp called out with a chuckle, then she frowned. "What were you thinking?!"

"Relax, Zipp! I know what I'm doing!" Sunny stated with a confident smile.

"You just dared a guy that can move than insanely fast! That's nuts!" Hitch pointed out with wide eyes.

"Not to mention, he seems like he is determined to win!" Pipp added with concern.

"Don't worry ponies!" Sunny assured, still smiling. "I know what I did what I did. Sonic doesn't thinks we're capable of handling some robots, we just gotta prove him otherwise!"

"Um, levitation, flying, and growing plants... How's that gonna work against a bunch of KILLER robots?!" Misty asked in panic.

"Eh, I'm sure they're just exaggerating. He can't be that bad!" Izzy said cheerfully.

"Actually, we're being kind when describing Eggman. He's a lot worse," Tails spoke with a sheepish smile, since he hasn't ;eft yet.

"Well, I still think we can probe your friend wrong!" Sunny declared, still confident on her words.

"Girl, you have thrown yourself into a dangerous area, and trust me: You're gonna regret it later, because when Sonic plays serious, he plays. Serious." Tails declared with a warning frown, before spinning his tails and fly away from there.

That left the Mane 6 with wide and panicked eyes, then they turned to Sunny, although Zipp did with a glare, and Sunny couldn't help but chuckle nervously.

Maretime Bay

In Maretime Bay, things seemed to had calmed down after Sunny and Hitch told everypony to be patient until the Mane 6 could find out about the origin of the floating island in front of the town.

However, no pony expected that they would suddenly be attacked by what seemed to be a gigantic group of ships, all coming from that floating island. Panic was immediate and some ponies began to run for their lives in fear. As soon as the largest ship stopped just above the town, radio transmissions, cell phones, and television screens were hacked.

Each screen, no matter what device they were, was affected by a strange signal sent from the ship, and soon, the same logo that was on the side of the largest one was displayed on these screens, and then began to show static and finally introduce who was behind the hack: Eggman.

"Greetings, pony citizens from this magical dimension!" Eggman spoke with a grin and his hands together.

Soon enough, Team Sonic arrived into the scene and looked up to the sky with frowns. Nopony in town seemed to have noticed the new anthropomorphic creatures, but even if they did, they'll probably wouldn't care since they're too busy being afraid of Eggman's sudden appearance.

And soon enough as well, the Mane 6 also arrived into the scene, although they stopped in front of a shop that sells TVs.

"Uh, what the hay is that thing?" Pipp asked confused, since she's never seen anyone like Eggman before.

"No idea, sis..." Zipp replied with a raised eyebrow.

However, as soon as Misty saw Eggman's face, she gasped in panic and hid behind Sunny with terrified eyes. This is something none of her friends ignored, as they all turned to her instead.

"Misty?" Izzy called out first, approaching her and wrapping a hoof around her for comfort. "What's the matter?"

"I-It's him..." Misty replied nervously.

"What did you said?" Sunny asked, since she didn't heard her.

"It's him!" Misty replied, louder this time. "That's the man that's been haunting my nightmares! The evil creature that's after the Unity Crystals!"

This made the other five ponies gasp, but it also made both Zipp and Sunny frown. "Sonic and his friends were right! Eggman is the one we have to be careful with!"

"I have come from another dimension with a simple mission: Steal your magical Crystals and take over your world!" Eggman declared as he kept speaking through his message, clenching his hand and still grinning. "With those Crystals, I'll finally rise my empire over your pitiful world of colors and rainbows! Now, hand me over the Crystals by will while you still can... Or try to keep them for yourselves, and suffer the consequences!"

He then snapped his fingers, which made a bunch of machines launch from the Egg Fleet towards the town. Moto Bugs, Crabmeats, Buzzers, Buzz Bomber, Caterkillers, Snail Blasters, Spinners and Egg Pawns landed in the streets of Maretime Bay, and as soon as any of these robots saw ponies, they started to chase them down with no mercy.

"This is just the beginning of what's to come!" Eggman declared, still grinning. "If I don't get those Crystals in the next 24 hours, I will blow up this damn town, until nothing but ashes remain! Tick, tack, ponies. You might have no much time left to live!" He grinned even more, then laughed like a maniac and cut the transmission.

With that being over, the badniks started to do more than just chase ponies around: They threw trash cans, turned around stand in the streets, spread trash across the floor, broke windows from stores and homes... They were not limiting themselves this time, and Team Sonic noticed this.

"Is it just me, or are these badniks more violent than usual?" Amy pointed out first.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird... But let's figure that out later! We gotta take those things down!" Sonic declared with a grin.

Meanwhile, not so far, the Mane 6 saw that Team Sonic was ready to take action, and that made Sunny grin as well.

"Alright, everypony. I know you're scared of these things, and quote honestly? I am too..." Sunny confessed. "But don't let fear win over you! We have to protect our town and everypony else! Are you with me!"

Although doubting at first, her friends eventually nodded back at her, and soon enough, the Mane 6 launched themselves to fight against the badniks.

With the badniks on the loose, Team Sonic got to work and split up to cover more ground and save more ponies in no time. They worked very well together, but each on their own would make focusing on a few ponies to save much easier.

I don't care what you're thinking
As you turn to me
'Cause what I have in my two hands
Is enough to set me free (set me free)

First we have Sonic, who jumped into the air and charged up his Homing Attack to destroy a group of badniks who had chased some fillies into a corner. Sonic then proceeded to charge his Spin Dash against those machines that had barely escaped the first time, but couldn't keep up with the hedgehog's speed.

I could fight the feeling
To resist it over time'
But when it's just too much to take
You sneak up from behind

Now we're with Tails, who rose into the air to take care of the flying badniks. With his tails, he managed to cut some of them in half, as these worked as exposed blades. Then, he took out a small plasma gun with which he disintegrated several more of them, and in the process threw a boomerang with blades that pierced some Buzzers and Buzz Bombers before leaving them on the ground dying until deactivated.

Then, he took out a drill and launched himself to the ground, replicating the Stomp Attack that Sonic usually does, but instead of using his feet, he used the drill, thus destroying some Moto Bugs that were bothering a chubby pony with an orange mane and fur. sky blue. He also wore a tie. Soon, Tails charged a Spin Dash against more badniks that approached, allowing the pony he saved to escape.

Is it me, you say, you're looking for
Let me show you who I am and what I'm here for...(here for)

With Knuckles, we see how the echidna charges his fists with fire and begins to mercilessly beat any badnik that crosses his path. Destroying them for him was as simple as flexing his muscles in the morning: Just one hit and the robot was shattered. Sometimes she even allowed herself to enjoy watching the metal melt in his mere hand, while the sparks sizzled in the air and made it clear how badly burned he had left the robot.

However, when he heard a call for help coming from a yellow earth pony mare with a pink mane and a green bow in her mane, Knuckles launched himself like a drill, literally becoming one, and destroyed the Caterkiller that was about to attack the mare. In the end she fainted from the shock of the situation, or perhaps from the shock of seeing someone like Knuckles. Whatever the case, he lifted her onto his shoulder and carried her to safety.

Try to reach inside of me, try to drain my energy
Let me show you just what I'm made of

Next was Amy, who destroyed robots with her hammer with such ease that it had already become something as memorized as arranging her fortune cards. She swung the hammer in such professional ways that she could leave anyone stunned. Sonic was one of them, and while he finished crushing a Spinner, he smiled like an idiot in love when he saw Amy move her hammer so fiercely and, at the same time, with an elegance and delicacy that only she could exude.

Still looking at her as if he had been under a spell, Sonic moved his fist behind himself, hitting a Crabmeat right in the face that tried to attack him by surprise and failed in the attempt. In the end he shook his head and continued with his thing, while Amy crushed a few Egg Pawns that surrounded a few ponies to let them flee.

Simple curiosity tries to take a bite of me
Let me show you just what I'm made of now...

Sonic proceeded to launch a Homing Attack against several badniks, then passed under Tails, who jumped on Sonic and charged his own Spin Dash against a Moto Bug and then launched his boomerang into the air, which Knuckles dodged while jumping in the air and then hit a caterkiller with a fist surrounded in fire. Finally, Knuckles jumped over Amy, who was spinning her hammer wildly around her, before looping in the air and then slamming her hammer into the ground, releasing a small slingshot of sonic expansion that destroyed several badniks.

Like a million faces
I've recognized them all
And one by one they've all become
A number as they fall (as they fall)

However, Team Sonic was not the only one making progress destroying the badniks, as the Mane 6 were also doing their part.

To start, we have Zipp and Pipp, who despite not being physically involved, using their flying skills seemed to be enough. The sisters kept flying back and forth to keep the flying badniks busy, and would reach a certain point where they would purposely launch themselves into each other and then swerve into the sky, causing the badniks chasing them to collide and be destroyed by each other.

In the face of reason
I can't take no more
One by one they've all become
A black mark on the floor

For their part, Hitch and Izzy had teamed up to form a fairly solid defense: Hitch, with his Earth Pony magic, would grow vines that would grab any badniks and destroy them into pieces. However, having several open areas to be attacked, Izzy intervened by creating small weapons with her unicycling skills that could throw off the badniks. To give an example: She made a slingshot that she used to launch spaghetti at a Moto Bug's face, confusing it and making it collide with a pole several times.

Where did she get the spaghetti from? It doesn't matter, the trick worked.

Is it me, you say, you're looking for
Let me show you who I am and what I have in store... (in store)

Then we have Sunny, who made her Alicorn form appear and began to fly over the skies. She levitated several badniks with her magic and threw them hard to the ground, leaving them in pieces. Then, she protected herself in a kind of golden shield, which she then stepped out of, and then moved the shield around her to trap several badniks.

When the shield was full, Sunny closed her eyes and focused her magic on making the shield small, which made the badniks disappear completely, as if they had never even existed.

Try to reach inside of me, try to drain my energy
Let me show you just what I'm made of
Simple curiosity tries to take a bite of me
Let me show you just what I'm made of now...

Lastly, Misty was terrified of even seeing those machines, but the fear was such that closing her eyes and levitating the badniks and then unconsciously hitting them against each other seemed to work. It was as if her magic had gained consciousness of its own to defend her, and even if that was the case, it seemed that Misty didn't mind too much letting her magic do the work for her.

Try to reach inside of me (Let me show you what I'm made of)
Try to drain my energy (Let me show you what I'm made of)

Finally, each of the 10 combatants (the 4 members of Team Sonic and the Mane 6) crushed or hit one last badnik, realizing that they had finally finished them all.

Let me show you just what I'm made of

As soon as Sonic turned to look at Sunny, who stood over the destroyed body of a Crabmeat, he smiled smugly and scratched his nose. "Not bad... for a little pony."

After hearing this, Sunny turned to him and rolled her eyes, although still smiling. "I think you didn't did so bad yourself, either... Hedgehog."

Sonic snorted, then stepped down and stretched his arms, before looking up at the Egg Fleet with a frown. "Alright, Eggy. I know you're next..."

And just like he suspected, a massive robot jumped from the Egg Fleet, before landing in front of Team Sonic and the Mane 6. This was a big, red robot with three spikes instead of hands, yellow decorations around, and the robot's face resembled its creator, who opened the capsule he was in and grinned down at his enemies, as well as to the new faces.

The sight made Misty gulp and instinctively hide behind Izzy, while the unicorn mare choose to protect her friend.

"Well, well, well..." Eggman spoke, followed by a slight maniac laugh. "My favorites pests are on the house! And looks like we have some new faces... It's so nice to finally meet some new objectives to destroy after so long!"

Author's Note

Before anyone says it: No, I'm not being rude nor hateful over the Mane 6. This is all necessary in order for the character development I have planned.

They depend too much in each other and in their magic. With Opaline it was understandable why, but this story is about learning to be on your own when situations are so extreme you have nothing and no one but yourself and your skills.

Over the course of the story, you'll get my point. Until then, I'll keep doing what I'm doing so far with the Mane 6.

Also, this chapter was split in two because this was WAY longer than I expected it to be... Hence why this was left on such a cliffhanger. I apologize for that, but I don't want this to be longer than it should.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading! I'll se you all next chapter. Bye! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 7: Rotten to the Core

Maretime Bay

Sonic rolled his eyes and shook his head after Eggman finally showed up, as usual, making a big scandal.

"You can't ever make an entrance without calling everyone's attention, can you, Egghead?" Sonic deadpanned.

"And where would the fun be in that, Hedgehog?" Eggman asked with a grin. "If anything, you're one to talk! Aren't you the one that loves to make dramatic entrances?"

Sonic rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Touché. By the way, you really seem to feel nostalgic lately. This is the second time in two months that you use the OG Death Egg Robot."

"What can I say? I'm feeling nostalgic!" Eggman replied, and soon, he turned to see the Mane 6, and while he raised an eyebrow, seeing Misty hiding terrified, plus the other five ponies standing over his badniks made him grin. "And looks like these little dolls for sale can strike quite the punch!" He mocked up. "I gotta admit that's impressive... For walking merchandise that barely gets sold out, that is!" He laughed maniacally.

"Should we be offended by that? I feel like we should," Hitch commented with a slight frown.

"Well, I guess you're for the usual, right? A little beat on your ass before throwing you away as you curse my name..." Sonic asked, stretching a bit to warm up.

"You think you can beat me up?! Ha! Don't make me laugh, Hedgehog! I gave you a humiliating defeat before even arriving into this pitiful land!" Eggman reminded with a grin.

"Great, now he's never getting it over..." Tails rolled his eyes annoyed.

"So? It's your first win against us versus a thousand!" Sonic reminded this time with a cocky grin. "We had beat you down so many times that loosing once feels like a little, meaningless trip!"

"Except for the fact that, I don't know... YOU TOOK MY ISLAND FROM ME!" Knuckles screamed in rage.

"Then why don't you come over here and make me return it, huh?" Eggman challenged the echidna.

"Oh, and I will!" Knuckles declared, punching his fists together and trying to approach Eggman... Only for him to be stopped.

"Wait!" Sunny spoke, as she suddenly got in-between Eggman and Knuckles, confusing everyone else.

"...What?" Eggman questioned first, completely confused.

"The hell?" Knuckles asked as well.

Meanwhile, Sonic turned to Sunny's friends. "Guys, sorry if I offend you or her, but is your friend stupid or what?!"

Although Hitch did seemed to take offense by the question, both him and the other four mares had no idea on what to answer, because even though they were fine with the idea of giving anyone that's done terrible things a second chance, they had to admit that Sunny was choosing a TERRIBLE moment to try and do that.

"Um, sir?" Sunny called out with a little smile, as she stepped closer to Eggman. "I wanted to ask... Had you considered that everything you do is not helping anyone and it's actually harming a lot of people?"

"...Is this real?" Eggman asked confused, now looking all over the place. "I'm not being recorded for some kind of dumb sitcom or TV comedy section, am I?"

"No, this is unfortunately real..." Sonic replied from behind with a deadpan, then he facepalmed on disbelief.

"Look, sir. I don't know what leads you to think that conquering us all is gonna do any good, so how about you tell us how you really feel? Or at the very least why you do this!" Sunny suggested with a smile.

Eggman had no clue if he had to laugh at her or cry, but one thing's for sure: What she said just makes him believe there's no brain on her head. Or maybe there is one, but is not really that smart.

"Well, I don't know what you wanted to accomplish with that little speech, but..." Eggman spoke, then closed the head of the robot and extended one of the Death Eg Robot's arms to crush Sunny down.

Seeing this, Sonic quickly ran and grabbed her to take her away, just in time before the arm actually crushed her.

Eggman retracted the arm back and then tutted a bit. "That's a great disappointment from your part, little pony. Did you hoped that sharing that would make me feel bad or regret my actions?"

"...Kinda?" Sunny replied with a sheepish smile while Sonic put her down.

"Well, let me disappoint you, then: People like me don't change. And if we do..." Eggman began, then he started to spin both arms of the robot. "WE DO IT FOR THE WORSE!"

After saying this, he launched the two arms of the Death Egg Robot towards everyone else, making them retreat or jump back. The arms hit the ground instead, but instead of retracting them, Eggman used them to propel himself towards his enemies, forcing them to separate: Izzy, Misty, Hitch, Tails and Knuckles on one side; and Sunny, Pipp, Zipp, Sonic and Amy on the other.

As they all stood up, Sonic looked at Sunny with a frown. "Did I told you, or did I told you?! What where you even thinking?!"

"I thought I could get through him somehow!" Sunny countered. "I mean, he can't really be that rotten to the core!"

"My gosh, you are stupid!" Sonic said with anger. "Get the news, Carly: Not everything's solved with a stupid song, huggies and glitter! Sometimes, when you have to do the job, then you DO the job!"

After saying this, Sonic charged up his Spin Dash and accelerated against Eggman, jumping in the air and then making a Stomp Attack, something that Eggman blocked by placing the left arm of his machine over him for protection.

However, Sonic was not giving up that easily, and after Eggman pushed him back into the air, Sonic charged up an attack called Homing Shot, where he curled into a ball and got surrounded by several spheres that looked like his Spin Dash. Then, he threw the spheres at Eggman and hit him in the chest, making him step a bit backwards.

Soon, Knuckles hit him from behind out of surprise, knocking the robot to the ground and making Eggman grunt, both in pain and anger. And before he can get up, Knuckles lifts the robot from the side where he fell and throws it towards Amy. As Eggman screams, Amy smiles holding her hammer, and then swings it to hit the robot and knock it back.

Eggman dug the spikes of the robot's arms into the ground to slow its fall, which worked, but he was so distracted that he couldn't see Tails hit his robot's right arm with a drill, and then the arm fell off the machine, with sparks flying from both sides.

Eggman growled and look at Team Sonic with anger, as they stood in front of them ready to fight with grins, except Knuckles who is frowning in rage.

"You four are always gonna be a pain in the ass..." Eggman said, then he looked behind and saw that the Mane 6 were helping out the only ponies left that haven't got to safety just yet, and that made him grin. "But I fight you everyday, and I know none of you would ever let anyone DIE!"

After saying that, Eggman jumped and landed right behind Misty. She let out a sort of squeal, and slowly turned around, only to feel the air leave her lungs and her ears droop as she saw Eggman's machine right in front of her. And although the robot's eternal smiling face covered her pilot, she was sure that the doctor smiled the same way, and perhaps even in a more macabre way.

"Hello there, little pony!" Eggman said with glee, and Misty gulped, as her pupils trembled and she stepped back, but each step she took backwards, Eggman took it forward. "I saw your soul when I showed up. The terror in your eyes was just blissful! You seem to be the only little girl of your group that actually fears me."

Misty stepped even more back, but then she tripped with a Crabmeat's pincers, and she fell on her back, which just made her panic increase as Eggman got closer.

"Your fear only makes me stronger, little pony. The more you try to get away, the closer I'll get!" Eggman declared happily, then stopped once he had Misty cornered against a overturned stand. "I am what every kid sees on their nightmares, but to you? I am real! As real... AS THIS!"

Eggman then raised the still-intact Death Egg Robot's arm and attempted to crush Misty. She closed her eyes and covered her face, waiting for the blow that would kill her... But the blow never came, and instead of her, she heard the sound of something metallic hitting.

Misty opened her eyes, confused to still be alive, then turned around and was surprised to find Tails holding a wrench larger than himself as he used it as a shield to contain the robot's arm.

While Tails continued doing this, he put his feet up and began to push with all his might. "Misty! Go! I'll hold him back!"

She didn't had to be told twice, and she ran away desperately, while Tails managed not only to push the arm of the Death Egg Robot thanks to a small impulse from his tails, but he was also able to use them as a saw to cut off the arm and thus leaving the machine unarmed... or so the young fox believed.

Eggman took his robot back several steps and growled angrily as he saw Tails cut off not just one, but both of the Death Egg Robot's arms. "Well played, little brat..."

However, the doctor soon turned to see Sunny, who was using her Alicorn magic and levitating several pieces of badniks to free a small trapped colt, and that made him smile sinisterly inside the robot.

"But I have new toys I want to try!" He declared, followed by a maniac chuckle.

Soon, the doctor pressed several buttons on his machine, and with that, managed to make the robot's eyes light up, before launching laser beams aimed at Sunny and the foal alike.

Noticing this, Sunny barely managed to make a shield with her magic that kept her and the foal protected, but Eggman began to walk in her direction in order to intensify the attack and, hopefully, kill them both.

Sunny, for her part, could barely keep her hooves steady, so she caught a glimpse of the colt next to her, who was trembling in terror at the situation. "G-Go! Get to safety!" The Alicorn said, while she continued trying to keep the shield afloat.

The colt obeyed and ran to hide in the Sheriff's station, where Hitch had put several ponies to keep them safe in that place. Eventually and unfortunately, Sunny didn't last long and she was thrown backwards, rolling several meters and leaving herself all dirty and beaten.

"Sunny!" Hitch screamed in panic upon seeing this, and quickly moved towards her to help her.

Eggman just laughed after doing this, but then he felt something hit the robot from behind. Soon, more objects trickled in, and the doctor finally turned around to find Izzy levitating whatever he had near her and throwing it at Eggman.

"Get away from my friend!" Izzy said in anger.

Eggman just laughed lightly. "Have courage, girl. Something the other horned pony falters in. But no matter how brave you are, you're still mortal!"

He shot laser eyes at Izzy, but Sonic came and saved her by pulling her away from the fight, and then ran back to Eggman with a scowl. Seeing this, Eggman grinned, and then began firing more eye lasers in an attempt to roast Sonic.

"Laser eyes? Really?!" Sonic exclaimed, jumping up and doing a Homing Attack against the robot's head. "This is already too much, Eggman!"

"You talk like you don't know me, you disgusting blue rat," Eggman replied, while he blocked a Homing Shot with what was left of the robot's only arm. "For me, there is no limit!"

Eggman continued to try to destroy Sonic with his laser eyes, but soon stopped attacking as soon as he received a call signal coming from Allura.

"You couldn't call at a worse time!" Eggman complained angrily.

"Well, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have the pegasus city your daughter mentioned in my sights," Allura replied.

And then, Sage surprisingly joined the call. "Father. I am in the unicorn forest with my brothers."

"No one even knows we're here," Orbot's voice added.

"Everything is very colorful, boss!" Cubot also commented.

"So everyone is in position... Perfect!" Eggman said with a sinister smile. "Then get to work, and stick to the plan! I'll stay here to ensure that everything works as it should."

Receiving nods, the calls were cut off, and Eggman then fired up the Death Egg Robot's rockets to begin rising into the air.

"It was fun messing with you, but I have an empire to prepare and Crystals to steal." Eggman declared as he left. "Until then, you bunch of idiots!"

And so, Eggman fly away back to his Egg Fleet, but while three of the ships returned to Angel Island, the other four moved in the opposite direction, and then two split to move into a different direction as well.

Noticing this, Sonic raised an eyebrow confused. "Where are those two going?"

Yet he choose to ignore that for the time being and approach Sunny, who was surrounded by her friends as she hardly stood up and shook her head.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Hitch asked her concerned.

"No... Just really beat up, but that's it..." Sunny replied with a weak smile. "I'm fine, ponies. Really."

"Yeah, because whoever you adore as your God in this dimension had mercy," Knuckles said with a frown and his arms crossed, while he and the rest of Team Sonic approaches.

"Rather, because you have incredibly good luck as a protagonist, otherwise Eggman would've killed you," Sonic said with a bored expression.

"I keep wondering why you eve thought that talking with Eggman was gonna work..." Amy rolled her eyes.

"I just did what I thought was the right thing," Sunny replied, not angry nor frowning, but kinda hurt and annoyed at the remark.

"Hey, no one's saying you did bad for trying, you just tried at the worse possible moment," Tails pointed out.

"See? Even he knows you choose a bad time!" Zipp said with a worried frown. "That guy could've killed you!"

"And now, he's on his way to whoever knows where to bring more chaos down..." Sonic said with a frown. "Eggman's moving part of his Egg Fleet to whatever's beyond this town."

That made Misty gasp, since she remembered that the evil creature of her nightmare, know with a name face in Eggman, made a lot of chaos across all Equestria, and Maretime Bay is just the beginning.

"He's aiming at Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood as well!" Misty exclaimed out loud in panic. "That's the next thing that happens in my nightmare!"

"Which I actually believe is a premonitory dream, considering everything from it has happened so far..." Tails commented.

"Wait, so he's going for––" Pipp tried to add, then she gasped in panic. "Mom could be in danger!"

"And so could be my dad!" Misty added in panic.

"Wait, you think you know where Eggman's heading?" Amy asked.

"Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood are the other pony towns in Equestria," Sunny explained. "They accept all ponykind, just like Maretime Bay, but ZH is mostly Pegasi, and Bridlewood is mostly Unicorns."

"And Eggman's aiming after them too..." Sonic muttered with a frown. "But why? He wants your magic crystals, so it makes sense he attacked this place, but why go to two cities where there's nothing he can gain?"

"I don't know, and I don't care!" Zipp said with a frown. "I'm gonna go and save my mother, and I don't care if this Eggman guy is in my way!"

"Ditto, sister!" Pipp declared with the same frown.

And so, the two pegasi took flight and went towards their home without waiting for anyone else's answer.

"Pipp, Zipp! Wait!" Sunny called out, but the sisters were already too far to hear her.

"Ugh, they're really just gonna go in and hope they can beat Eggman without a plan?" Sonic asked on disbelief, but then his eyes widened as he realized something, then turned to his friends. "Wait, is that how you guys feel with me all the time?"

All his friends deadpanned and nodded, with Knuckles even saying, "About time you realized, jackass."

"Huh... Now I feel kinda dumb..." Sonic scratched his neck a bit. "Anyways. Tails! You think you can lean a hand and two tails two those two, even though I feel they won't want your help?"

Tails nodded with a smile. "Count we me, Sonic!" He declared, then fist-bumped with him and started to run away to prepare and fly. Yet as he was about to leave...

"Tails!" Misty's voice called out, and Tails stopped moving to turn around and see that the mare was approaching, and she barely stopped before accidentally crashing on the young fox. "Hey! Um, first of all, thanks for saving me back there when that robot almost crushed me."

Tails smiled after hearing this. "Helping is my pleasure, Misty! I just did what I know I had to do."

"Well, um, if that's the case, then... Can you take me to Zephyr Heights, too?" Misty asked with a sheepish smile. "My dad told me this morning he was gonna meet with Zipp and Pipp's Mom, and I need to make sure he's fine!"

"Um... Sure, I can take you, but are you absolutely sure you wanna go? You seemed scared from Eggman before..." Tails pointed out. "Nothing wrong with being afraid, but I'll hate if something happened to you because of your fear."

"And I'll never forgive myself if something happens to my dad and I'm able to help him, but then I'm not there..." Misty countered with a slight frown.

That actually seemed like a really good point for Tails, so he smiled at her and nodded. "Alright, then I'll take you with me." He then approached her and picked her up bridal style, which seemed a bit strange and awkward for Misty. "Now hang on! This is gonna be a little shaky ride!"

After saying this, Tails propelled his tails and flew into the sky at top speed, making Misty scream a bit startled and panicked.

"I'm going to Bridlewood! My fellow unicorns could be in danger, and I cannot allow it as long as I can do something, or die in the attempt!" Izzy declared, then she dashed towards the town's exit to head to Bridlewood.

"Well, Eggman's right: She's got the guts!" Knuckles pointed out with a little smirk.

"Yeah, but he's also right that he's as mortal as everyone else around." Sonic pointed, then turned to Amy. "Think you can bring her support with your hammer, Ames?"

Amy smiled and nodded. "Whatever Eggman's got on his head, I'll smash the idea out of him!"

She then was about to leave and follow Izzy, but then Sonic grabbed her from her arm and stopped her, which made her turn to face him slightly confused.

"...You probably don't need to hear this, but... Be careful out there..." Sonic told her, and his eyes sparkled with worry.

Amy's heart skip a bit after hearing this, and her cheeks flushed slightly red as well, but she still smiled back at him and nodded. "I will." She assured.

She was about to leave now that Sonic let her arm go, but then she quickly zoomed to him and kissed his cheek slightly, before letting him go again and now rush after Izzy.

This, of course, left Sonic stunned and blushing, as he chuckled like an idiot for a minute before shaking his head and clearing his throat. He did noticed Knuckles mocking grin, as well as Hitch and Sunny's, but he choose to ignore them. He didn't really cared for their opinion.

"Well, I'm staying around. Someone's gotta clean all this mess," Knuckles pointed out. "Once I'm done, I'll keep an eye on Angel Island. I may have no wait to reach it yet, but I'm still its guardian. I'll fulfill my duty, even from afar."

"You do you, Knucklehead." Sonic said with a grin.

"I'm staying, too. I gotta check on everypony that's hiding around town and tell them danger's over for now," Hitch declared. "Maybe I can even convince some to help Knuckles and I clean all this mess."

"Then I guess that leaves you and me to watch over your magic floating Crystals." Sonic told Sunny with a mocking smirk.

"They're called Unity Crystals..." Sunny deadpanned.

"They could be called the Elements of Harmony or some bullshit name like that, and I wouldn't give a damn." Sonic replied, then he turned around and started to run on his place, making the shape of an 8 with his feet. "Come on, Ballerina Math Monitor! Try to keep up!"

He then boosted away, leaving Sunny behind groaning annoyed. "Does he ever stops nicknaming everyone?!"

"No, and get used to it. You don't have other choice," Knuckles told her with a bored expression. "No, seriously: You don't have."

Sunny groaned again, then made her Alicorn form appear and spread her wings to follow Sonic towards the Crystal Brighthouse and watch over the Unity Crystals.

As they did so, Hitch approached Knuckles. "Hey, um... Sunny said something about Eggman not being so rotten to the core, but after what he did today, I gotta ask... Is he capable to be even more dangerous than this?"

"Eggman once took the Master Emerald off from its pedestal and made the island fall into the ocean," Knuckles replied. "That almost killed the entire wildlife and ecosystem in the island. If Sonic didn't helped me recover the Emerald, I would've eventually died as well. That should tell you everything you need to know."

As Knuckles finished, he picked up some badniks' scraps and started to pile them up as he usually does, but his words got right through Hitch, who gulped nervously and couldn't help but wonder... What awaits Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood if Eggman is this heartless?

Author's Note

Yeah, I have nothing to say this time around, more than next chapter on is fully focused on how the characters will interact within each other.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading, and see you next time! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 8: Trip to Zephyr Heights

Daisy Field

When Tails reached Zipp and Pipp while carrying Misty, the sisters were surprised to see them both arrive.

However, they all had to land into the ground when Pipp got exhausted of flapping her wings, plus Misty was about to throw up since she wasn't used to travel at the same speed than Tails.

"Sorry about that, Misty," Tails apologized with a sheepish smile while scratching his neck. "I'm not used to carry anyone along, and got too excited when I took flight."

Misty had a slight panic attack combined with the urge of throwing up, but she eventually managed to calm down, then she looked at Tails and smiled slightly. "It's okay, Tails. If anything, I'm sorry for making you landing."

"Eh, it's fine, Misty. I need to stretch my legs, anyways. Can't always be flying even if I tried!" Tails replied with a smile.

That, however, seemed to earn a mix of a chuckle and a mocking laugh from Zipp, who was behind "resting" in the air while Pipp checked her phone, sitting on the ground.

"Sounds like you're stamina runs out after flying for what? 10 seconds?" Zipp mocked up with a laugh.

"No? And even if it did, no one has that much stamina to make the same action for so long..." Tails pointed out. "Except maybe Link, depending on the incarnation."

"Uh, who?" Pipp asked confused.

"No one important." Tails replied.

"Uh-huh... And why are you two here again?" Zipp asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm taking her so she can make sure her dad is fine, and I'm here to crush badniks down and whatever Eggman might throw ahead," Tails explained. "I can't really do a Homing Attack like Sonic, but I'll figure out something! I always do!"

"I have no idea of what is a Homing Attack..." Pipp said confused.

"The thingy Sonic did when he jumped and threw himself against Eggman? That's a Homing Attack," Tails explained again. "By the way, if no one told you this earlier, then I'm gonna be the one: I'm really impressed on how you two took down those badniks! Using your flying skills to attract them and then make them crash at each other? I don't know why I never thought on that before!"

Hearing Tails congratulate them both made the sisters' eyes widen, but they still smiled back at him after he did so.

"Well, thanks!" Pipp spoke first. "I mean, I'm not really the fighter type of mare, I just followed Zipp's strategy..."

"Don't be so humble!" Tails said while moving his hand. "The strategy might've been from your sister, but the stunts and the moves where all you!"

Pipp blushed embarrassed at the compliments, but still smiled back at the young fox.

"Well, I gotta say it: You were actually pretty cool against those things, too!" Zipp spoke.

"I agree on that!" Misty added, joining into the conversation. "All those gadgets and strange abilities you pulled out where really cool!"

"Oh, that? Is nothing!" Tails said with a slight embarrassed blush. "I just did what I had to do to keep everyone safe, and destroy those badniks. But most of the credit goes to my friends. They crushed more of those things than me."

"Look who's being humble now!" Pipp said with a smirk, as she got into Tails' side as well and slightly pushed him on his shoulder. "You also got down a bunch of those things, probably even more than us!"

"And if you wanna talk about numbers, you and your friends destroyed more badniks than us and ours!" Zipp pointed out, finally landing in front of Tails with a smile.

"Well, with those statistics in mind, I can see your point," Tails smiled, then he turned to Misty. "And if you think I have nothing to say about you, you're wrong. Crushing badniks 'till they're nothing with your eyes closed and with your own magic? I don't know if I should be impressed about you, or deeply scared."

"Um... Thank you?" Misty replied awkwardly. "It was kind of an accident, but thanks for the compliment, anyways."

"Well, I don't believe accidents exist, I'd rather see them as experiences to learn." Tails said with a smile. "Speaking of experience, and I don't want any of you to jump at me for what I'm gonna say, but how about warming up your magicless skills a little bit?"

That comment, instead of offend the three mares, made them look at each other confused. "Magicless skills?" Pipp asked.

"Yeah! You know, the things you can do that do not involve magic?" Tails pointed out. "You cannot rely on it forever, just as much as I can't rely on my gadgets nonstop, either."

"I see your point, Tails," Zipp spoke. "But, I mean, wouldn't that kind of thing be applied on Misty only? No offense, Tea, but you kinda need to rely less on your levitation power."

"I know..." Misty admitted with shame.

"No, I actually say that to you two as well," Tails admitted to the pegasi sisters.

"...I'm kinda lost here..." Pipp admitted. "What skills should we warm up, exactly?"

"That's what I wanna help you figure out!" Tails said, then he brought out two ropes and grinned. "But first, let's block your magic!"

Zipp laughed and snorted a bit after hearing that. "A rope? Really? No offense, little man. You're skills in battle are good and all, but how's a rope gonna block our magic?"

Zipp deadpanned as Tails tied her wings onto her back with one of the ropes, then proceed to move with Pipp and do the exact same thing.

"Me and my stupid mouth..." The older pegasus complained.

Tails then tied up the rope on Pipp's back with a knot, making Pipp squeak a bit. "Ow! Can't you be gentle?!"

"I could, but if I wanna make sure you both develop your magicless skills, I gotta block your magic source." Tails pointed out. "And no, I don't mean your butt-tattoos, I mean your wings! You couldn't fly without magic before, right? That means they're your real magic source! So it's gotta stay like that for a while!"

"I don't get how our wings being tied on our backs is supposed to help us improve..." Zipp said with a deadpan.

"That's precisely what you two have to work on!" Tails replied with a smile. "There was a long period of time where none of you had magic, right? That means you had to develop some kind of skills meanwhile!"

Now realizing what Tails meant, the sister's eyes widened, and they both exclaimed "Oh!", followed by sheepish smiles.

"Okay, so you want us to be able to fight without having to fly all the time?" Pipp asked.

Tails nodded at the question. "You have to be prepared for all possible scenarios. We might defeat Eggman and avoid he steals the Unity Crystals, true, but someone else can always arrive in the future and be after the exact same thing. Trust me, it's gonna happen, like it or not."

"Well, thanks, that makes us feel so safe..." Zipp rolled her eyes annoyed.

"And if that someone else does succeed on stealing the Crystals, and therefore, your magic, then you're gonna need to be prepared to fight back without it!" Tails explained. "Hence why I tied up your wings: If that day where you're left without magic comes again, then you're gonna be prepared to defend yourselves already!"

"I guess all of that makes sense, but how are we exactly gonna develop our skills? Rather, with what can we try to do that?" Pipp questioned confused.

"Glad that you asked!" Tails said with a smile, before he pulled out some small orbs from his tails.

The orbs were gray with yellow lines and a red button on top. Tails pressed the buttons on all 8 orbs and then launched them into the air. As the orbs fell, they quickly began to grow larger and transform, until they became badniks but silver and with yellow stripes, as well as green eyes.

The badniks where a Crabmeat, a Moto Bug, a smaller Caterkiller, a Spinner, a Buzzer, a Buzz Bomber, a Balkiry and an Egg Pawn respectively.

"These babies will be guinea pigs to exploit your non-magical abilities!" Tails declared with a smile. "They have all the functions of a normal badnik, with the difference that their attacks don't kill, but they can seriously hurt you if you're not careful. And they rebuild themselves when they're broken!"

"Whoa, what?!" Zipp exclaimed with an impressed smile. "That sounds cool, but is it really possible?"

Tails responded by pulling out a plasma gun with which he shot at the Crabmeat, destroying it. Several seconds later, however, the pieces of the destroyed robot began to slowly reassemble, until the Crabmeat was once again complete and looking intact, as if Tails had never even shot it. This left not only Zipp impressed, but also her sister and Misty.

"It took me like 20 failed tests to get that to even work, but I did it!" Tails said with a smile, proud of himself. "Now, which one of you's gonna show me what they can do without flying?"

"O, I think that's your cue, Zipp!" Pipp said with a smile, also slightly pushing Zipp ahead so she could get closer to Tails.

"Um, why me?" Zipp questioned.

"You're kidding me, right?" Pipp deadpanned. "You spent practically your whole life learning to do stunts and flexing up your muscles everywhere just to feel like you were actually flying and not dragged up by cables! I'm convinced you can take down those things!"

"I see your point, sis, but it's been ages since the last time I did stunts without flying!" Zipp pointed out, a bit nervously even though she didn't wanted to admit it. "What if I lost that spark in me?"

"You'll never know until you don't try it!" Tails said, then he pulled out his Miles Electric and started to press several buttons that made the badniks react, and soon, they all turned to see Zipp and only Zipp. "There! My badniks are now programmed to attack you, but only when I give them the order."

He then flew and landed in-between Pipp and Misty. "I'll have them go and charge at you when you're ready!"

As he said this, Zipp took a deep breath and started to stretch her hind legs a bit. She would've stretched her wings, too, but she knows they're tied up on her back, so that idea is out.

"You can do it, sis!" Pipp cheered for her sister with a smile.

"You've got this, Zipp!" Misty cheered for her as well.

Zipp thanked her friend and sister with a smile, then looked back ahead at the badniks. "Alright, Tails. Hit me with what you have!"

Tails nodded, and then pressed a button on his Miles Electric that said "attack." Immediately afterwards, the badniks moved towards Zipp at full speed, and the pegasus princess began to carefully study the movement of each of the badniks, how they marched, and after having seen their attacks out of the corner of her eye when Eggman's attacked Maretime Bay, It was already well known what they could do.

So she decided to put into action the plan that her mind managed to formulate in about 15 or 20 seconds, and then she proceeded to head to the Crabmeat first. This pointed her pincers at it and charged up some sort of mini beam, then fired, but Zipp dodged the beam and dove under the Crabmeat, making it tip over, then used her hind legs to crush the robot.

She then went to the Moto Bug, which approached her quickly and tried to hit her with its small claws, but Zipp skillfully avoided being cut, although there was a movement that she barely managed to avoid and grazed part of her cheek, but only He cut off some of his fur, but his skin was left intact. This made Zipp growl and then turn around and kick the robot into the sky, causing it to crash into the Buzz Bomber, killing two birds with one stone.

Soon, Zipp jumped back as soon as she heard a loud shot from the Buzzer, which moved alongside the Balkiry through the sky, stalking her as if she were a prey they were looking to hunt. However, Zipp always saw herself as more of a predator type, so she began jumping over the remains of the other badniks and doing various stunts in order to avoid the lasers that the two flying badniks were launching. She did this since she was heading towards the Caterkiller, which was also heading towards her simultaneously.

Soon, Zipp jumped on the Caterkiller, then used her hind legs to lift the robot and move it from one leg to the other like a soccer ball. And like a ball, she kicked the Caterkiller into the air, where the robot split neatly in two, crashing into the Buzzer and the Balkiry respectively, also destroying them in the process.

Finally, only the Spinner and the Egg Pawn remained. However, Zipp didn't even have to try very hard, as he made a jump in the air that caused her to quickly fall onto the Egg Pawn, crushing it. As for the Spinner, well, all he had to do was rip off Egg Pawn's head with his mouth and then throw it like a frisbee at the robot, also breaking it in the process.

"Ha ha!" Zipp laughed with a confident smirk. "Who would've guessed? After all this time, I still got it!"

Zipp then closed her eyes and began to walk ahead, something that made Tails grin as he pressed a button on his Miles Electric, making the Egg Pawn she just destroyed rebuild again and raised, then pointed at her and shot. However, Zipp smirked and then made a backflip, landing right over the Egg Pawn to crush it down again.

"Nice try, little man, but that trick's so old I saw it coming from a mile away!" Zipp said, still smirking.

"Okay, yeah, you got me." Tails accepted her point while shrugging.

"O.M.P!" Pipp exclaimed, then she rushed to her sister's side and side-hugged her. "I knew you could still strike quite a punch, but that was..." She squealed. "I told you you'll got this!"

"Thanks, sis. It felt kind of relieving to do that, you know?" Zipp replied with a smile.

"Glad you felt that way, Zipp." Tails said with a smile. "Alright, Pipp. Wanna go next?"

Pipp's eyes widened after hearing this, and she started to chuckle nervously while stepping a bit back. "Um, how about letting Misty take some training as well? I-I'm not really that skilled like you, sis..."

"Pipp..." Zipp deadpanned.

"No, seriously, I could never take those things down even if I wanted to!" Pipp argued.

"Yes, you can." Zipp assured, but she could see Pipp's insecurity in her eyes, so she smiled and nuzzled her cheek a bit. "You need some encouragement? Be still, don't move. It's easy to smile with you by my side..."

While Zipp began to sing, music began to be heard in the background, but it seemed the only one who felt disconcerted by this was Tails, who began to look around completely confused.

"Where does that music come from?" The young fox questioned.

"Don't blink." Zipp kept singing.

"Don't blink." Pipp joined in with a little smile.

"Big smile."

"Just being with you, my heart opens wide." The two sisters sang together, as their background switched to a purple-only one and a light illuminated them both.

Of course, these events only confused Tails even more, since he couldn't stop looking everywhere as the scene suddenly changed, and as soon as the light shone on Zipp and Pipp, he lost his temper.

"HANG ON!!!" Tails shouted, and the whole ambience that Zipp and Pipp created when they were about to sing disappeared to return everything back to normal. Tails didn't seemed relieved about this, though. "W-What the hell was that?!"

Zipp and Pipp looked at each other confused. "What was what?" Zipp asked.

"T-The sudden music, the background change, the lights!" Tails replied, almost in panic. "None of you even saw that?!"

"Uh, yeah, we did," Pipp replied. "But that's totally normal! We, like, do that all the time."

"That somehow only makes me feel worse..." Tails said anxiously, then choose to shake those feelings. "Look, if you worry because you think that you're not strong enough to beat the badniks, then how about you visualize them as something that makes you mad so get the strength to deal with them?"

Pipp seemed more confused after Tails said that, but apparently, both Zipp and Misty did got his point and smiled. "Yeah! That could do the trick!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Pipp questioned.

But before Tails could explain himself, they all heard screams coming from afar, so they all turned to see Zephyr Heights, which was now covered in the skies by the silhouette of the two Egg Fleet's ships.

"I'll explain you when we get to ZH!" Tails declared, picking up Misty bridal style, then removing Zipp and Pipp's tied wings so they could fly again. "Come on!"

Tails flew at top speed towards the pegasi city, and after both Zipp and Pipp stretched their wings after having them tied for quite a long time, they fly right behind Tails.

Zephyr Heights

In any other situation, seeing a city inhabited by ponies as modern as Zephyr Heights is would have impressed Tails, especially considering how many brands he recognized in the form of parodies of brands from his own dimension.

However, the fact that the entire city was in chaos with so many pegasi fleeing for their lives while the badniks caused destruction comparable to that of Maretime Bay.

"Looks like we arrived just in time!" Tails declared, as he put Misty down on the ground while the sisters landed behind him. "Alright, Pipp! Time to teach you how to crush badniks down!"

"The what now?" Pipp questioned with wide eyes.

Tails then pushed her to face the badniks, and 8 of them noticed her, so they turned and prepared to charge at her.

"Imagine this: Those aren't badniks, nor killer robots of some kind," Tails whispered. "Those... are your haters!"

Pipp gasped after hearing this, and that made her eyes widen and her pupils shrink. The whole background went black, and only she and the badniks remained... But two of them turned into two ponies that booed at her.

"Those are dislikes..." Zipp added as she whispered in her ear, and so, other two badniks switched to represent a couple of dislikes.

"Those are bad reviews for everything you release..." Misty whispered next, and soon, two other badniks turned into cellphones with bad review for her songs and beauty products.

"Those are your rivals that want to steal your spotlight..." Tails finished, and the last two badniks changed to represent the Filly Three and Carotang.

Anger filled Pipp's entire being all of a sudden, and so, she let out a warrior cry before launching herself against the badniks. Thing to notice: She didn't spread her wings, but rather kept them closed the entire time.

Pipp stomped on a couple of Crabmeats in fury, then jumped into the air and dragged a Buzz Bomber towards her by grabbing its stinger with her mouth, then slammed it into the street pavement, and launched the stinger at an approaching Moto Bug. to her from behind.

"Nopony messes with my achievements and lives to tell about it! NOPONY!" "She said the young pegasus in a fit of fury, before launching herself against more badniks.

Watch this was a massive surprise for Zipp. "...I've never seen her that mad before... Should I be worried?"

"So long as her anger is released over the badniks, eh. We'll be fine," Tails assured her with a smile.

"Well, if that's the case, then I better start catching up with her!" Zipp declared, as she also kept her wings closed and started to make stunts around the city while destroying some badniks.

"Now you girls get it!" Tails said with a smile, and he was gonna turn to Misty, but he found himself surprised when he didn't saw her at his side anymore.

He looked around in search for her, until he spotted her hiding on an alley. He quickly rushed with her and felt bad when he saw her covering her ears with her hooves, closing her eyes and taking constant deep breaths.

"Misty?" Tails called out, kneeling at her side. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I'm sorry, Tails, but if you wanna inspire me to go out there and fight, then give up! I'm too afraid to even try!" Misty said concerned. "That Eggman guy's grin is haunting me in my nightmares, and those robots might be small, but I can't look at them!"

"Hey, remember what I said earlier? There's nothing wrong with being afraid," Tails reminded her with a smile. "But if I were you, I'll go out there and face those things. You know why?"

Misty looked at him and shook her head. "Not a clue..."

"Because there's peop–– ponies counting on you." Tails declared. "They count that you can bring help and protect them, specially your Dad."

Misty's eyes widened after hearing this, and her ears perked up as well.

"I don't know your Dad, true, but I'm sure he knows you're strong and brave enough to face whatever challenges life throws at you!"

"But I can barely looks into Eggman's eyes! How can I face his machines?!"

"Bravery isn't the lack of fear, Misty, but the ability and will to face it straight up." Tails explained. "If I gotta be honest: I am terrified. I'm on a new dimension with its own rules where magic's everywhere! I'm barely orienting myself if it wasn't for your friends... But I also know that if we don't stop Eggman, millions could die. I face off my fears because it's gonna help so many lives... And I know you can do the same!"

With that being said, Tails took out a device and pressed a button on it, which turned it into his driller, which he turned on just to make sure that it still works properly.

"I'm going out there to open our way towards the castle, where Zipp's sure Eggman's waiting for us." Tails declared. "If you wanna stay, you'll be safe. But if you go out there and face those robots, then you'll be what I like to call a heroine!"

And so, Tails left the alley and began destroying badniks mercilessly with his inventions to make his way to the throne room... Being followed by Misty. The short but emotional words that the young fox shared with her seemed to be enough to fill her with a courage that she had never felt before, not even when he went to face Opaline on his own.

Watch her jump on badniks like they were disgusting little cockroaches, grab pieces of broken glass with her hooves and then throw them at the flying badniks, and directly use her sharp horn to do significant damage or outright render the machines useless.

Tails couldn't help but feel proud about her, and so, he proceed to keep smashing down badniks as well to keep open the way towards Zephyr Heights' castle.

Zephyr Heights - Castle

The doors leading to the throne room were frozen. In fact, the entire throne room itself was frozen, as if it had gone from a throne room to a freezer.

Soon, however, the doors finally opened to give way to Zipp, Pipp, Misty and Tails, although the latter almost started skidding as soon as she realized that the ground was frozen. This detail, added to the fact that the entire room was like entering the North Pole after spending almost the entire day in the hot hours of the day, disconcerted the 4 friends.

"This is gonna be a dumb question, but your parents didn't ordered a frozen room now, did they?" Tails asked.

"Of course not!" Zipp said with a frown, then she let out her breath and realized it was so cold even that was freezing.

"How did this happened?!" Pipp asked concerned.

"Is this Eggman's doing?" Misty questioned a bit worried.

"No... Eggman tends to do stupid stuff, but never this stupid!" Tails replied with a slight frown. "Something's not right..."

Suddenly, Pipp let out a big gasp when she saw her Mom, standing on the ground, but with her eyes closed and her body freeze'd. At her side, Alphabittle was in the exact same state. Tails looked around after noticing those two and saw that there were some pegasi dressed with armors freeze'd as well.

"Mom!" Both Zipp and Pipp exclaimed in panic, flying towards their mother.

"Dad!" Misty shouted as well, and she skated the best she could towards her frozen father.

Seeing the despair on how the mares called to their parents but got no response, Tails approached and scanned them both with his Miles Electric. After analyzing the data he got, he smiled.

"Well, good news!" Tails stated. "Your parents are alive, and everything on them seems to be okay!" He added, earning relieved sighs from the three mares. "They're just in some kind of deep sleep... Besides freeze'd, that is."

"Well, it's good to know they're fine, but how did they got like this?" Misty asked, both confused and concerned.

Suddenly, a figure flew past them, making them look at the ceiling in confusion. The figure passed again, and then again, and as it passed a fourth time, Tails took out not only his plasma gun, but also a kind of bomb that all he had to do to activate it was to press the big red button at the top.

The girls didn't know if it was really a bomb or just looked like one, but none of them cared much. Pipp and Zipp were determined to protect her mother, while Misty stood in front of her father with a frown. It was rare to see Misty angry, but when she did, it was something to fear.

And then, the flying figure finally landed in front of Tails with a loud stomp, making the room tremble. This also made the four friends almost loose control of where they step, but they all managed to elevate themselves from the ground: The sisters and Tails by flying, and Misty by levitating herself.

The figure that landed turned out to be none other than Allura, who grinned at the sight of the four adversaries that had arrived.

"Allura?!" Zipp exclaimed with wide eyes in a mix of confusion, surprise and anger.

"You know her?" Tails asked, first looking at Zipp and then at Allura.

"More than that, we defeated her before!" Pipp added with anger. "She had control over a town from another dimension called Starlight Ridge, and after we kicked her out of there, she somehow followed us to Equestria!"

"And this is the first time she chooses to publicly show up..." Misty pointed out with a slight and concerned frown, then she looked at Allura in anger. "What are you doing here?!"

"Not your business, ponies," Allura replied, although she kept grinning. "I'm just glad to see that the doctor's plan worked out as well as he said it would."

"The doctor's plan?" Tails said confused, then his eyes widened. "Hang on, you're helping Eggman?!"

"I'd rather say I'm using my services on his favor," Allura replied. "And now that I have the two princesses where I want them, it's time to keep going with the plan!"

After saying this, Allura just took one step further, and just like that, more ice spread to the group's direction at such a fast paste that none of them could avoid what came: Their bodies slowly started to get frozen as well, and they couldn't even scream for help.

Zipp and Pipp hold into each other's hooves, for starters, before getting completely freeze'd, and Misty choose to get frozen while giving a hug to her dad. Tails, however, pressed the button on the "bomb" he was holding right before getting frozen as well, and soon, a small screen appeared on the object that shoed a time of 10 minutes that started to count down.

Meanwhile, Allura laughed after seeing her plan - or rather, Eggman's plan - worked, then she turned around and looked at Twitch, who remained silent on her back the whole time.

"Let's go now to Bridlewood. The next ships should be there already!" Allura stated, with Twitch nodding in agreement.

Author's Note

I know many of you might be expecting Allura to act more, and don't worry: She'll get her time to shine, just not yet.

Also, we're officially half-way through the story! :pinkiehappy:

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading! See ya next time! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 9: Glitter is the Best Weapon

Bridlewood

Amy expected a lot when she decided to help Izzy protect Bridlewood from the imminent arrival of Eggman's Egg Fleet ships.

The simple fact of having arrived earlier was in itself a great - although pleasant - surprise for both of them, since they would have plenty of time to prepare any defense against Bridlewood... The problem is that the only thing Amy did not expect was That Izzy's defense plan... was to use a lot of glitter.

Izzy dragged Amy into her old cottage on Bridlewood. It was a big beautiful tree entirely decorated as a house. There wasn't really much to say about the outside, but there seemed to be interesting stuff inside, like a portrait of colorful macaronis, which startled her when it looked at her, or an instrumental object with colorful glass bottles hanging by strings. When she cranked the lever, it played a familiar tune, courtesy of spatulas and spoons attached to the roller.

Yet as interesting as all this was, it wasn't what dragged Amy's attention in the end: The fact that Izzy has a closet with 4 shelfs of 40 glitter bottles MINIMUM is what finally made her jaw drop into the floor.

"...Izzy... Why do you have this much glitter?" Amy asked, not sure if she should feel concerned about Izzy having this much glitter, or just believe that she sells it to explain why there's around 120 glitter bottles in there.

"One can never have enough glitter!" Izzy replied with a smile. "Besides, this is just my backup closet supply. I have, like, thrice the bottles somewhere in the house."

That made Amy's eyes widen even more, and she looked at Izzy like if she was completely crazy. "...You're sick if you really think you need that much glitter..."

"Oh, Amy, Amy Amy..." Izzy said, closing her eyes and patting Amy's back. "There's not such a thing as that much glitter. It's never enough!"

"Izzy, who in their sane sake would need this much glitter?!" Amy asked confused. "And what do you wanna use it for, anyways?"

"Well, my original plan was to save all this stuff for a big fashion party where everypony would use glittery clothes! But considering there's a creep out there after our magic, then I had a change of plans!" Izzy replied.

"So you wanna use this much glitter as some kind of weapon against Eggman and his machines?" Amy asked confused. "That's not a really good idea––"

"Oh, I'm gonna make all kind of weapons with this much glitter!" Izzy declared with a smile. "I'm not talking only about bombs! I'm talking sharp objects, heavy ones, and even more explosive than just a simple bomb!"

"...Izzy, there's nothing more explosive than a bomb..." Amy pointed out, still feeling confused.

"Have you ever tried putting some mints on soda?" Izzy asked, still smiling, which started to make Amy believe that she smiles even when someone's dying right in front of her.

Amy raised a finger to replicate, but then she thought better on Izzy's words and then shut her mouth, realizing she was right. "Huh... You have a really good point... Still, I believe there's a lot of stuff we could use instead of glitter, Izzy."

"Well, I can hear suggestions, but they'll have to wait!" Izzy declared, then she brought out a pair of goggles and put them over her eyes. "First of all, I got weapons to create and a trap to plan!"

"You have a plan?" Amy questioned, and she was not getting lost at this point.

Suddenly, the scene transitioned when Izzy threw some glitter into the air, and once it went away, Izzy was now melting something metallic with a welding while some strange music began to play out of nowhere.

What up
Look out, it's Sneaksy
Style is on fleek, see?
Take something dull and go all masterpiece-y

As Izzy began to sing, Amy looked around confused, not really because of Izzy singing since she kind of expected something like this to happen eventually considering her friends stated they defeated one of their villains with a song. What has her confused was the fact that both the music and the lyrics came out of nowhere, since Izzy's voice was singing, yes, but she herself was not.

"Where the heck is that music coming from?" Amy questioned confused. "Hey, Izzy, you––"

Gonna take something average and make it shine
Gonna add that beauty to the Maretime

Amy was cut off when Izzy moved a piece of metal in front and made another transition, now showing Izzy building up a whole catapult with actual wood and, and the piece of metal from earlier was now the part from the catapult that throws the stuff one puts in there.

This made Amy's eyes widen, not only because of the transition, but also because of the catapult showing up out of nowhere. "H-How and when did you built that?! And seriously, where's the music and lyrics coming from?!"

Make these dreams a reality
Gonna turn this place into a gallery
Just let it all out for all to see
'Cause we know art's for everypony

Another transition followed as Izzy grabbed Amy's hand with her hoof and dragged her away, causing her dress to change the scene to see the two of them cutting a huge log of wood with a double-handled saw.

Amy, however, was confused as to how she even got to this point, since she doesn't even remember grabbing the other end of the saw on her own. "This is getting ridiculous..." She said with a deadpan.

It goes round and round, yeah
We know that art makes the world go
Round and round (makes the world go round and round)
'Cause art is for everypony

Soon, another transition occurred as Izzy levitated a piece of cut log with her magic and threw it away. The log changed the scene and now Amy was wearing a welding bag, just like a solder, and she stopped abruptly to even see where she was. She apparently built a stronger catapult made only of metal.

For her part, Izzy began to spin several bottles of glitter around her, as well as large enough bags to fill with the glitter. This, coupled with the fact that she was welding part of the catapult, confused Amy greatly, as she lifted her helmet and looked at Izzy in confusion.

"How are you doing that?!" The pink hedgehog asked.

You dye it
You paint it
You draw it
You shade it
We know that art makes the world go round and round

Soon, Izzy made another transition thanks to her tail passing in front, and was now scattering glitter like crazy around a giant ball of spikes.

When Amy noticed that she was now filling a large sack with glitter, she scratched the back of her neck, but then she noticed the spiked ball that Izzy was filling in glitter, and that made her eyes widen. "And where did you get that from?!"

You dye it
You paint it
You draw it
You shade it (round and round)
Art is for everypony

Finally, Izzy placed all of the glitter bombs, large bags of glitter, catapults, and balls with glitter spikes in the middle of her house, smiling and nodding happily at the result.

Amy, for her part, didn't understand how they had done that in such a short time, nor when they had done it, and she was still baffled by the number of times he moved from place to place, as well as the sudden music and lyrics that I still didn't understand where they had come from, or how Izzy sang if she was busy the whole time.

"Phew! That was a lot of work, but we did it!" Izzy cheered with a smile.

"...How did we even did it?" Amy questioned anxiously.

"Oh, you mean building this up in short time, even though we actually lasted like an hour, as well as the sudden music and song?" Izzy asked, still smiling. "That's how we do things in Equestria!"

"I was expecting a song coming out eventually, but... this is not how I expected it..." Amy confessed.

"Eh, you'll get used to it." Izzy assured. "Oh, and by the way, I made a little addition to your hammer!"

Izzy brought out Amy's Piko Piko Hammer with her magic, and as Amy grabbed it, she checked it up and down, but it seemed exactly as usual.

"...What did you added, exactly?" Amy questioned.

Izzy replied by pointing at a hidden button on one side of the hammer. Amy pressed it, and then one of the sides of the hammer, the one facing Amy, opened and literally threw glitter straight on her face, covering it up entirely.

"Ta-dah!" Izzy sang. "Now no one will expect a surprising glitter attack!"

Amy had lots of things in her mind she could tell Izzy right now, but all of them were offensive, so she choose to remain calmed and polite, followed by a resigned sigh as she spit some glitter of her mouth and opened her eyes, deadpanning.

"...Thanks, Izzy..." Is what she ended up replying.

Angel Island

After the fight in Maretime Bay, Eggman returned to Angel Island to monitor that everything was going according to plan.

Allura already informed him of how successful the plan was to attack Zephyr Heights with robots and freeze the leaders of ZH and Bridlewood alike. That dragged their daughters, and apparently Tails too, managing to freeze them in the same way.

Now that Allura was heading to Bridlewood to apply the same thing on the unicorns; Sage, Orbot and Cubot have returned to Angel Island as well. Allura could take care of the unicorns on her behalf, and if it's true that one of Sunny's friends and Amy are there, then he would get two more birds off his back. The fewer rivals were close to the Crystals, the better.

True, Sonic and Sunny were currently watching them, but he's already managed to beat up Sonic in the past, and Sunny is inept and very weak when it comes to magical and combat strength, so she's not a problem... Although it does have him intrigued.

The fact that she seemed to want to redeem him was laughable, and if what Sage told her when she was scanning all of Equestria is true, even Team Sonic thinks it's a bad joke... But part of him is also curious to know why did she even believe that it would reach him, that it would make him change his mind just by saying a few nice words.

Whatever the case, he didn't care. Eggman enjoyed seeing the hope of others being destroyed to pieces, and when he got the Crystals, he would destroy Sunny's hope, he would shatter it mercilessly. He wanted to see that smiling face be replaced by a terrified one, that would make her see then that someone like him cannot be redeemed, that not all villains can change for the better.

The problem was the magical barrier around the Brighthouse, however. Sage said that she tried to listen closely to everything Team Sonic and the Mane 6 had talked about, but that there was a magical barrier around the Brighthouse that wouldn't allow her.

"There's gotta be a way to pass such a thing..." Eggman muttered while rubbing his chin. "Even the most powerful of the shields can shatter, no matter how resistant it is. But then how am I suppose to brake a barrier that's pretty much made of pure magic?"

"Father," Sage's voice called out from behind, and Eggman turned around to face her. "I think I have the solution to your dilemma."

"Which is?" Eggman questioned.

"Better show you what it is." Sage declared, then turned around and left the control room of the Egg Fleet's main ship, since that's where Eggman's been standing.

Eggman himself raised an eyebrow, but still choose to follow up his daughter outside.

Sage guided Eggman back to the Altar of Emerald, where both the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald rested.

"The barrier around the Crystal Brighthouse is powerful, made of magic on its purest state..." Sage began to explain.

"Pretty much courtesy of those crystals..." Eggman deadpanned, while he had his hands on his back.

"However, if we were able to use the fused power of the Chaos and Master Emeralds to open our way into this dimension, with enough power, we could also create a strong enough force to brake down the barrier around the Crystal Brighthouse and get the Crystals." Sage explained.

Eggman rubbed his chin as he analyzed her words. "And how exactly are we gonna do that?"

Sage snapped her fingers after her father asked that, which made the Egg Beater show up. However, the robot didn't had the wrecking ball it could throw around, but instead it had some kind of giant golden glove with seven small empty tubes and then a bigger one over them.

"This Egg Beater has been updated. The glove will contain the Chaos Energy coming from all the Emeralds." Sage explained. "I will charge the glove when you tell me so."

Eggman grinned after hearing all of this. "Excellent. Then charge it up, dear! We got some Crystals to steal!"

Sage nodded, then she pointed her right hand at the Emeralds and started to drag some Chaos Energy from them, before pointing her other hand at the glove and pass the energy on, filling the tubes with all that Chaos Energy.

Bridlewood

Amy never thought that Bridlewood would have such an original and functional defense system, even though the weapons used were mostly made of glitter. Maybe, if she was still that somewhat immature girl who chased Sonic around and didn't let him have his space, she would have thought that using glitter as a weapon was the best strategy of all.

However, having experienced firsthand a war where Eggman controlled the world for 6 months has made her mature. She knows that the glitter won't do anything against the badniks or Eggman himself, so unless the unicorns actually know what they're doing, she has a lot of doubts about this plan.

She choose to approach Izzy after a while, since the unicorn mare was trying to put a catapult in a certain angle. When she finally did, she sighed relieved and then nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Izzy?" Amy called out, and Izzy turned to her with a smile.

"Hey, Amy-loo!" Izzy greeted happily.

"Hey. Um, look, I'm not doubting you nor your unicorn friends' abilities, but... Are you entirely sure that you guys know what you're doing?" Amy questioned. "I really hate to doubt you all, but when you're told the best weapon one has is glitter, well––"

"Oh, Amy. I understand why you doubt us. If I were you, I'll doubt all this operation as well," Izzy confessed, and for the first time, her smile didn't looked kinda creepy nor forced, but it actually looked like a genuine smile.

"...Really?" Amy asked, and she was genuinely surprised to hear Izzy saying that.

"Our last enemy, Opaline, was attacked by all of us in an attempt to keep her away from the ones we still had a Cutie Mark," Izzy started to explain. "We failed, true, but we managed to hold her back for a bit! Ever since, we decided to strengthen our defense forces against any kind of evil that would come our way. It may not be what you expect, but you know what they say: Never judge a book for it's cover!"

Amy chuckled a bit after hearing that last thing. "I guess you have a point. And I gotta admit something: Those spiked balls covered in glitter? As ridiculous as they sound... I actually like the idea!"

Just hearing this made Izzy gasp with sparkling eyes and out her hooves on her own cheeks, then she proceed to hug Amy a bit, and Amy felt startled by this, but she limited to smile and pat Izzy's back a little bit.

Soon, however, the entire forest was covered by a huge shadow. Looking at the sky, the unicorns and Amy realized that these were the two ships of the Egg Fleet. From them, hundreds of badniks jumped, and all - except for the flyers - landed on the empty streets of Bridlewood, and soon began marching towards the ponies.

Izzy frowned at this, and then ran in a certain direction, with Amy following close behind.

"Okay, ponies! They're here! Stick to the plan!" Izzy reported, before throwing herself behind a bush next to Amy. "Cupcake Squad, your turn!"

The Cupcake Squad, made up of two mares and a unicorn stallion, was present when they came out of the bushes and began throwing glitter bombs with their magic. When the bombs exploded, they completely covered the badniks, leaving some disoriented as they crashed around.

Amy was going to comment something about it, but she was stopped by Izzy as soon as she was there. She raised her helmet and covered her mouth, then pointed it at the badniks so she could see more carefully. As she did so, Amy realized that there were electrical sparks electrocuting the machines, before causing them to fall to the ground and rendering them useless.

"...Electric... glitter?!" Amy questioned completely surprised. "That shouldn't even be possible!"

"I told you not to judge a book by its cover!" Izzy said with a confident smile, then looked ahead again. "Okay, Needle Squad, your turn!"

After saying this, a group of several unicorns came out of their hiding places and pulled ropes, thus activating the catapults that began to launch the balls with glitter spikes. The badniks most affected were the flying ones, such as the Spinner and Buzz Bombers, but others such as the Caterkillers and the Egg Pawns were also crushed by those balls, literally remaining like metallic pancakes on the ground.

"Horn Squad, attack!"

After hearing Izzy's orders, several unicorns, dressed as if they were charging into a war, came out of the bushes and levitated some of the large bags of glitter, then began to throw it at the badniks and then threw themselves against the bushes again. This caused more badniks to be covered in glitter, but at the same time, that glitter began to shine, and soon, the covered badniks exploded into confetti.

Seeing this, Amy was speechless. If she had known what kind of effect the glitter was going to have, she wouldn't have said anything about it. Izzy was right, and she was wrong to judge her.

"Okay, Izzy. I owe you a big apology. To you and your unicorn fellas, that is." Amy said with a little smile. "You were right all along: Never judge a book by its cover. Who would've though that glitter is that effective?"

"Apology accepted! Although again, I don't blame you for doubting us," Izzy remarked with a smile.

Now that there were fewer badniks on the road, Amy pulled out her hammer and decided to take some action of her own. She walked up to a Moto Bug and smashed it with her hammer, then threw the hammer at a Buzzer, deciding to put it aside for a moment to charge up her own Spin Dash and then speed into several badniks. Then, she took the hammer from her that had landed on the ground and began to spin it while she stood on one foot.

With her movements, every idiot robot that approached her ended up being crushed by her hammer, since it keeps spinning in her place. And just when she finally stopped, she put her hammer on her shoulder with a smile. Suddenly, however, an Egg Pawn jumped at her, but Amy didn't even turn around. In her place, she pressed the button on her hammer which opened the face of the hammer facing the badniks and released glitter. Shortly after, the robot exploded into confetti.

As the confetti fell, Amy placed her hammer on the ground and lay on it with smile. "I'm just gonna say it: Glitter is the best!"

Izzy gasped dramatically after hearing this, and then she went to hug Amy once again, but this time, Amy did returned the hug. "You actually mean that?!"

"Sure thing!" Amy nodded with a cheery smile.

Izzy squealed excitedly after hearing this, but then, the two of them felt a figure flying above them. Looking up at the sky, they saw a flying figure, and soon, said figure landed in front of them. It was Allura, and behind her was Twitch, both watching Amy and Izzy with sinister smiles.

Izzy gasped at this, and then frowned. "What the hay are you doing here, Allura?!"

"Doctor Eggman's orders." Allura replied. "To get what I need from him, I must freeze this stupid forest until nothing but your frozen bodies remain!"

"Oh, you sided with Eggman?" Amy asked with a frown. "Well, too bad, because you messed with the wrong ponies!"

"And hedgehog!" Izzy added, since she wanted Amy to be a part of the sentence. "Come on, unicorns! Let's show this winged kitty what we can do!"

The unicorns and Amy cheered in agreement, then they all charged against Allura, with some of them even levitating more bags and bombs with glitter.

Allura growled at this and spread her wings. "Bring it on!"

And so, the leopard launched herself against Amy and Izzy, throwing a sound wave with a roar, while the unicorn mare lightened her horn, and Amy raised her hammer to mercilessly hit Allura with it.

Author's Note

Allura's time is not here yet. But I promise: After next episode, she'll show off what she's made of!

Also, based on your comments so far regarding Sonic's personality, you're either gonna love or despise him next chapter.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading, and see you next episode! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 10: Clash of Ideals

Maretime Bay

Knuckles stood still as he watched Angel Island from afar.

He just finished helping Hitch clear Maretime Bay of so many badniks. Now that that job was done, he was standing near the many balconies that were around the town, more specifically the ones closest to the beach, which in turn are the closest to Angel Island.

As guardian of the island and the Master Emerald, Knuckles had to fulfill his role. Maybe he couldn't access it at the moment, but he was close to it. He would do his duty no matter what. Furthermore, Eggman seems to be more interested in obtaining those damn Unity Crystals and not so much in the power of the Master Emerald.

However, Knuckles knew well that Eggman would not waste any opportunity to use the fearsome power of the Emerald if necessary. And if his instinct didn't fail, he would definitely use it whenever it suits him...

"Hey!" A male voice suddenly called, breaking Knuckles out of his thoughts and irritating him.

The echidna deadpanned and shook his head, then turned around and found Hitch, who was still carrying that baby dragon on his back. Didn't he have a babysitter, or was no one trained to take care of a fire-breathing baby? That makes you wonder who the real baby is: The dragon, or who is supposed to take care of it.

"What do you want? I'm kinda busy over here," Knuckles replied with a frown and his arms crossed.

"Busy watching over your floating island?" Hitch asked with a bored expression. "That thing's not going anywhere! You really think your bad guy's gonna move the whole island away when he has his grand price near by?"

"I don't give a damn for those Crystals of yours," Knuckles stated, then turned back to see Angel Island. "The island is my home, and protecting the Master Emerald is my duty. Off the island or not, it'll always be. I'm just doing what my tribe is cursed to do until the very day I die. If you wanna tell me not to do my job, then get lost."

"I was just gonna say if you could move over to the left, man..." Hitch deadpanned. "We need to put Sunny's smoothie stand on its place again!"

Knuckles turned to Hitch's side and saw a unicorn mare levitating a big white stand that had pink stripes. It also had a giant smoothie sign on top. Knuckles decided to obey to the petition and moved more to the left, allowing the unicorn mare to place the stand back on place.

The mare let out a relieved sigh before turning around and leave. Hitch waved her with a thankful smile, but when he looked back at Knuckles, he got kinda concerned when he noticed he kept looking at Angel Island.

Curious, the Sheriff approached and sat on his side, although Knuckles didn't reacted to this. "So... How powerful is this Master Emerald you talk nonstop about?"

"Powerful enough to wipe out entire civilizations," Knuckles replied, and that sentence alone made Hitch's cool drop away.

"...I'm sorry, what?!" The Sheriff exclaimed in panic.

"That's what it did to my ancestors, the Knuckles Clan, ages ago." Knuckles stated. "We were cursed to watch over it as a punishment, and destroy anyone that tries to take it away. If they do so, they kill Angel Island... And eventually me as well."

"...Wait, so that thing about you being the last echidna... It is true?!"

"Unfortunately..." Knuckles nodded, and his expression actually reflected some sadness. "At least I got my friends now, but... a part of me kinda wishes I wasn't the last echidna around. It's probably for the best that's the case, though."

"How could be the last of your own kind be a good thing?" Hitch asked in disbelief.

"You get space for yourself. Lots of space. And time to think as well." Knuckles replied, then smiled a bit. "When there's so many people around, they notice you're down and wanna know why, but sometimes you're just not in the mood to talk. You just want space, a lonely moment with your own thoughts, and some people don't seem to understand that."

"But if you've been lonely your whole life, doesn't the crushing loneliness eventually gets to you?" Hitch asked.

To this, all Knuckles could really do was let out a sigh. "Yes. It does. More times than I'll like to admit."

Hitch said nothing this time, and limited himself to stare into the island along the echidna. This short conversation seemed to make Knuckles a bit mad, although it wasn't with Hitch. As he saw Sparky suddenly approach to his leg and hug it, Knuckles felt kinda awkward, although he really didn't minded the gesture.

Hitch did, though, and his eyes widened in panic, so he quickly picked Sparky again. "Sorry for that, Knuckles."

Knuckles just shrugged, then decided to walk away. He was getting mad the more he thought on his loneliness in Angel Island, so he choose to leave and do what he does best on something else before hurting somepony by mistake.

"Uh, where are you going?" Hitch asked, but he got no response. So, to make sure Knuckles wouldn't do anything stupid nor get in trouble, he put Sparky on his back and followed the echidna.

Beach

Eventually, the last echidna warrior, Maretime Bay's Sheriff and Sparky reached the beach.

There, Knuckles began to hit a rock with his bare fists. He was releasing all his anger over the rock, imagining it was Eggman's face that he crushed for taking away his island and his Emerald.

"What are you doing?" Hitch asked confused.

"What does it look like that I'm doing to you?! I'm hitting this rock!" Knuckles replied, then hit the rock harder and managed to make a small crack.

"I know and can see that, but why?" The Sheriff questioned again.

"A, Because it's good for my muscles. And B, Because this is how I unleash my anger to de-stress!" Knuckles replied, then hit the rock one last time and split it in two. "Eggman's got my island and my Emerald. The least I can do is imagine this rock is his face."

"Don't you think imagining the rock is someone's face just to inspire you to hit it harder is a bit overkill?" Hitch questioned a bit concerned.

"This is the same guy that almost killed your best friend after she tried to offer him another exit, and also attacked your town with his robots." Knuckles pointed out. "If anything, you should be joining me."

Hitch was taken a bit aback after hearing this, but before he could tell anything, Knuckles brought out another rock and put it in front of the one he already shattered.

"Here. Give it a shot."

"Um, I don't know, Knuckled..." The Sheriff took a step back. "I'm not really the kind of violent guy, more the one that stays on line and follows the rules. Besides, I don't think I'm as strong as you to brake a rock, you know?"

"Then let me inspire you." Knuckles declared with a grin, then he zoomed to Hitch's side and made his face focus on the rock. "Based on everything you told me, that piece of crap called Opaline kidnapped your son and then came to your town to spread fear, chaos and steal your magical butt-tattoos. She also made your best friend feel hopeless, then this guy - Eggman - comes over to do the exact same thing, but with a difference: He will kill your little friend if he wants to."

Just being reminded about Opaline kidnapping Sparky made Hitch feel mad already, but with everything else Knuckles was mentioning, he was getting more and more mad. And finally, when Knuckles mentioned Eggman would kill Sunny if necessary, he lost his cool, and with a loud warrior cry, Hitch rushed against the rock, imagining it was both Opaline and Eggman, then proceed to kick the rock with his hind legs, making a slight crack on the rock.

Then, followed by this, Hitch turned around and kicked the rock with his forelegs, finally braking it in half. Hitch panted heavily after releasing his sudden anger, then when the realization of what he did finally kicked in, he... Smiled.

"Huh... That felt... So satisfying..." Hitch said with smile. "Is this how you always feel when fighting this guy? Or anyone in general?"

"Oh, I feel even better than that!" Knuckles declared with a grin. "If anything, I recommend you to try and imagine the badniks as either Opaline or Eggman. You know, to release your anger even more. It can also help you to depend less on your magic. You never know."

Hitch smiled after hearing all of this. "I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the tip, Knuckles!"

Crystal Brighthouse

Sonic had faced many adversities throughout his life, some much harder than others.

His patience rarely wore thin unless his friends were messed with. He liked to relax, sit on the beaches watching the sunset and sunrise, eat Chilidogs with all the patience in the world, go out with his friends and do anything... He even loved to read! For a common athlete, reading could be boring, but for Sonic it was an interesting activity.

However, this pony - Sunny - was managing to do something he thought impossible: Exhaust his patience just by existing.

Well, just existing wasn't the problem, but Sunny seemed to be very amazed by the idea that everything could be achieved with the power of unity and friendship. Sonic had to hold back rolling his eyes every time he heard Sunny say that.

She was recounting the adventures she has had with her friends so far, as well as explaining in more detail how she managed to confront Opaline with her friends and... beat her with a song. Sonic hoped that part was a bad joke when she and her friends first say that, but in the end it turns out that it is true that the "greatest threat of Equestria" was defeated... with a damn song.

And to make matters worse, it seems that Sunny is very determined to protect the Crystals because she doesn't want to lose their magic. Sonic feels like it's just an excuse to not openly say that she doesn't want to lose what makes her feel special, when that shouldn't be the case. If Sonic lost his speed, he wouldn't care, because he would continue doing what he always does and confront Eggman no matter what. What makes him stand out is not his power, but his heart of gold willing to help anyone in need because that is the right thing for him.

Maybe that's why he tries not to be so hard on Sunny, because even though her little fantasy world was idiotic, he knew she had good intentions... But the fact that she's so focused on protecting something that doesn't make her who she is made him upset.

"And then the Together Tree grew and trapped Opaline inside of it, forever!" Sunny finished narrating her story.

"...So that thing about beating your villain with a song actually happened?" Sonic questioned, laying on a wall of the Crystal Room. "And here I was hoping you were just messing with me..." He rolled his eyes. "Although I'm not surprised. You said you could use brute force better than me, and yet Eggman kicked your ass big time."

"I know, I know..." Sunny rolled her eyes after hearing that for what felt like the millionth time that day.

"Not to mention, your dumb attempt at "help him redeem himself"," Sonic added with a deadpan. "Seriously, what's with you and helping out everyone that's done terrible things? Like it or not, not all the villains can change, and this Opaline gal should've shown you that already!"

"It doesn't stop me from trying!" Sunny said with a determinate look. "And can you please stop rubbing in my face what happened with Eggman? I get it! It wasn't the right moment to do so!"

"No, it just wasn't the right thing to do at all," Sonic remarked, now frowning. "If you still believe that Eggman can change, then you're more delusional than I give you credit for."

"Of course he can! There's a little bit of good inside anyone!" Sunny declared, then she passed by Sonic and looked at Maretime Bay from the balcony with a smile.

"Oh boy, here comes the monologue..." Sonic groaned and rolled his eyes again.

"Equestria is a land filled with second chances," Sunny declared. "Everyone has a spark in them that pushes them to do something good. That tiny spark can expand and fill anyone with joy! I know it may be hard for you to believe, Sonic, but I know from the bottom of my heart that Eggman can change for good..."

Sunny closed her eyes with a smile and let the wind caress her fur and mane alike. She looked like she was about to open her mouth, but then Sonic stood up from the Crystal Room, staring at Sunny blankly as he shook his head in disbelief.

"If you let loose singing, I'm going to throw up..." Sonic said in a tired voice.

Sunny's eyes snapped open, then she deadpanned and turned around to look at Sonic. "Hey, I'm just saying that I have nothing to lose by trying. One can always change for the better!"

A tune started playing in the background, and as soon as Sonic noticed this, he rolled his eyes again. "Actually, you have a lot to lose by trying, like your time, your dignity if you still have any, and if you continue to insist on helping him, you will only make Eggman want to come for these Crystals of yours even more."

"But I––" Sunny tried to add, a few musical notes playing in the background and all.

But Sonic just put his finger in Sunny's mouth and silenced her, interrupting the background music in the process. "Don't push the issue, girl. Eggman is far from redeemable, and if the fact that he always comes back for more doesn't make that clear to you, maybe you're just a naive, dreamy girl playing adult."

Sunny frowned after hearing this and removed Sonic's finger from her mouth. "Excuse me?! You think it's easy for me to think that someone as bad as Eggman wants the Unity Crystals?! The last villain that tried to do that almost succeeded! I-I thought all Equestria was doomed the moment Opaline took my Cutie Mark away!"

"All that drama just for her to be defeated by a song?" Sonic deadpanned. "And I thought the Deadly Six were pathetic..."

"Ugh, why do I even bother talking with you?!" Sunny exclaimed irritated, walking back inside the Crystal Room, with Sonic following her. "All you do is remark in my face that Opaline was defeated with a song!"

"Well, sorry for thinking that stopping a hungry-power tyrant with a little song is stupid!" Sonic remarked with a frown. "Although I'm not surprised, either. You couldn't resist a fight with Eggman, so of course you were not a match for this Opaline girl. How's that Equestria hasn't fallen to any baddie's hands yet is beyond me!"

Sunny turned to him with a fierce look on her eyes, but Sonic didn't felt any intimidated. To him, all these ponies trying to be angry and look like they could snap you in a half is the equivalent to a puppy fighting with his little paws against their owner just 'cause it's not getting enough attention.

"Look, I'll admit that you having Alicorn powers goes hard, no doubt!" Sonic admitted while raising his hands in defense. "But that just makes you loosing your magic butt-tattoo––"

"Cutie Mark," Sunny corrected, not really happy right now.

"It could be literally called "Magic Tattoo in my Ass" and I wouldn't give a damn!" Sonic said stressed. "The fact that you lost it, that Eggman wiped the ground with you, and the fact that you're a freaking Alicorn makes it a lot worse! You say you wanna protect Equestria, but how are you gonna do that if they wipe your ass?! You don't even qualify as a leader!"

Oh, that did made something ignite in Sunny. "That does it!" She screamed, then tried to launch herself against Sonic, but the blue blur moved aside, which made Sunny crash into the glass of the Crystal Room.

"Bold move from your part, by the way," Sonic mocked up with a grin.

Sunny groaned, then separated her face from the glass, shook her head, and then turned around to see Sonic again. "What do you mean I don't qualify as a leader?"

"A leader is supposed to make the hard choices and put the others' lives first," Sonic pointed out. "They also are willing to give up their own desires just to sacrifice themselves and let the others live how they want. But most importantly, a leader has a plan! You just went blind into a fight with Opaline, and then what? You were gonna give her your little speech on how she can improve and be better?"

"I... Well, kinda––" Sunny tried to add.

"Exactly my point!" Sonic zoomed into her face with a frown. "For everything you're telling me, Starscout, you wanna give irredeemable monsters second chances because why not? You also seem devoted to protect your floating Crystals with magic because they're powerful... Oh, wait! That's not it! You wanna protect them because it gives you a couple of wings and a horn that make you feel like some goddess! Come on, Sunny. You think you can fool me?"

Sunny's eyes widened after hearing this, and she looked around the room, but then tried to chuckle and shrug Sonic's words off. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Then why did you stutter to speak?" Sonic questioned, now crossing his arms. "We have very different concept of what's wrong and right, and that's something we can't change. We can live with that, right?"

"Yeah. As much as I disagree with you and highly believe Eggman can change, though..." Sunny rolled her eyes.

"Again, we can't change that," Sonic remarked. "But then explain me what's so special about your little powers that you don't wanna loose them to Eggman so badly. Because for what I saw, you can only levitate stuff and create golden bubbles and shields. Didn't you said Opaline tried to blast your butt with a fire beam or something? Why not do the same but with a light beam, or whatever your magic's made of? That would be cool! And more useful than a little bubble that can be popped with a magic needle!"

"Where's anypony gonna get a magic needle?!" Sunny questioned with wide eyes.

"You've got trees with magic, special crystals with magic, normal crystal with magic and, if that little incident of you turning into a kid is true, magic glitter," Sonic pointed out with a deadpan. "If you think a magic needle is impossible, you're just summing up another thing more to my "Why I'm disappointed in this talking horse with a rainbow streak" list."

"You really are making a list now?" Sunny deadpanned back, and as Sonic nodded with a grin, she groaned and rolled her eyes again. "Remind me why are you helping me out to protect these things?"

"Because I want and can," Sonic replied, still grinning. "Well, that, and because I do what I think is right. Helping you out and avoid your town getting reduced to ashes by Eggman is the right thing. I just do what I gotta do!"

"Even if you go against the rules?" Sunny arched an eyebrow.

"Girl, I have two policies in life: Live life to the max, and just follow MY rules!" Sonic declared while raising his fingers. "If people like it or not is not my problem, I just let the wind tell me what to do."

"...You talk with the wind?" Sunny deadpanned.

"Your Sheriff friend talks with animals, what's your point?" Sonic deadpanned back.

Suddenly, however, the entire ground rumbled, startling the hedgehog and the Earth Pony mare.

They immediately rushed to the balcony and saw outside at a red, black, and chrome robot with a yellow metal mustache and spikes all over its body. It has a star bumper shield and rocket launchers on its back, as well as a big white glove with eight tubes. Seven of them were small and had red, blue, yellow, green, purple, light blue and white energy, while the bigger tube had only light green energy.

The robot was hitting some kind of shield forming around the Crystal Brighthouse, a shield that also showed the image of a pink six point star with five white sparkles around it.

"Uh... Ever since when this place has a shield?" Sonic asked confused.

"Ever since forever!" Sunny replied. "Twilight Sparkle put a spell on the Crystals to keep them save from anyone that comes after them. Opaline managed to destroy it when she got all the Cutie Mark magic she needed, now it seems Eggman's trying the same!"

"...Who in their sane mind would call their child "Twilight"?" Sonic asked confused, earning a slight glare from Sunny. "Anyways. It seems like you do know your game, kiddo. I just hope the shield is strong enough to resist that robot's Chaos Energy..."

"What's Chaos Energy?" Sunny asked.

"Basically, the energy Eggman used to hack into your magic Crystals and drag us all to Equestria––" Sonic explained, but as both him and Sunny realized what he was saying, their eyes widened.

"Ah, crap!" Both of them exclaimed, turning back to the robot - the Egg Beater - with frowns.

Author's Note

Cliffhanger!

Don't worry, we'll see how this ends up in the next two chapters. And trust me: Shit's going down hard.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading! Bye! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 11: Villains Assemble

Zephyr Heights - 10 Minutes Earlier...

Zephyr Heights Castle was quiet. Very quiet.

Allura arriving and freezing the entire throne room was unexpected, but having everyone residing inside frozen was even worse. Zipp and Pipp were holding each other's hooves, as if they had decided to freeze to death together; Misty was hugging her father, frozen. After spending a lifetime in solitude, she decided that, if she was going to die, she would do so next to her father.

Queen Haven and some guards who were supposed to protect her were also frozen, and everyone was on her own. It was ironic to think that they should have been frozen together, or at least as close as possible, but that wasn't the case.

Finally there was Tails, who only arrived unexpectedly from another dimension with the aim of preventing the greatest villain he knows from gaining a power that would allow him to create that long-awaited empire made in his image and likeness. Now he was here, frozen with a group of ponies he didn't belonged with, and if there was a multiverse out there, he doubted that in any of those worlds he could fit among pegasi.

Luckily, Tails sensed that he might find himself in such a situation, so he came prepared. Remember that "bomb" he managed to activate just before Allura completely froze him? The one that had a countdown starting from 10 minutes? Well, that same object was now 3 seconds away from activating.

When it reached 0, the bomb glowed and illuminated the entire site. Anyone would think it was a bomb and that it was going to explode, but no: It was a temporary recalibrator. And no, I don't mean that it turns back time or something, but it returns the temperature of the entire room to its original state. In other words: There was no ice anywhere anymore, and therefore, everyone Allura froze was now free, even though they were now lying on the ground all wet.

Soon they began to stand up and shake themselves dry. Zipp and Pipp were the first to see their surroundings in confusion, not only because they were no longer frozen, but because everything around them was free... Everything, including their mother.

"Mom!" The two sisters exclaimed in excitement, Pipp even with some tears in her eyes, as they quickly rushed with their mother, who was barely standing up, and then embraced her into a tight hug.

Haven was taken aback by this, and it took her some time to process that the ones that hugged her were her own daughters. "Zipp, Pipp?! W-What are you girls doing here?!"

"We saw ZH under attack, so we rushed as fast as we could," Zipp started to explain. "But then we came here, and saw you freeze'd!"

"W-We thought we lost you... We were so scared!" Pipp added in-between tears, also trying to dry them off.

"...I... I can barely remember how it even happened..." Haven confessed. "All I remember is that Alphie and I were fine one second, and then the next one, everything was frozen!"

"We kinda know how it happened, but... We'll explain you later," Zipp said with a smile.

"For now, we're just really happy that you're fine!" Pipp said, and she hugged her Mom once again.

Surprisingly for Haven, Zipp did the same, but she didn't decided to question this and smiled, hugging her daughters back.
On the other hand, Misty hugged her father like if her life depended on it still, and Alphabittle was hugging her back and trying to calm her down a bit because, well, she was crying a river.

"Ssh... It's okay, kiddo. I'm here now, I'm okay. And I'm not going anywhere." Alphabittle muttered into her ear so she could breath in and out to calm down.

Misty did so, but even if she was not breathing a bit more normally, tears kept coming out of her eyes. "I-I was so afraid... I thought I was loosing you for the second time, Dad..."

Alphabittle felt his heart skipping a beat, then he smiled warmly at her and caressed her cheek softly. "My little brave girl, there's nothing to worry about. You won't loose me ever again, just as much as I won't loose you."

Misty sniffed with a smile and then hugged her father tightly, as Alphabittle hugged her back.

"I'm glad that strange event is over..." Haven said once she broke the hug with her daughters. "But I must ask... How were we free'd, exactly?"

Right after she asked this, Tails groaned as he sat up on the ground and shook his head, feeling a bit dizzy. He looked around confused, but then saw that he still had the round object on his hand, and he smiled, since it meant that it did worked.

"Oh, my beautiful baby. You were a success, after all!" Tails said with a smile, then he stood up and shook his entire body, tails included.

Yeah, they all puffed after he was dry, and while Tails deadpanned, he shook again and went back to normal. And soon after, Misty came by and hugged him tightly, something that kind took him off guard.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed, but then smiled when he saw it was Misty. "Oh. Hi, Misty. Did I, um, missed something?"

"No! You just saved us all from being frozen forever!" Misty replied with a huge smile.

"You are a hero, Tails!" Pipp added, also joining into the hug.

"Just a question: How, did you do it, exactly?" Zipp asked, although with a smile.

Tails replied by showing the device he activated before being frozen. "This little thingy here. It's a temporary recalibrator. In simple words: If the temperature of certain place was affected, this thing returns it to normal. Is just a prototype, though. I want it to have immediate effect, but so far, I could only make it work after charging for 10 minutes. Sorry it didn't helped us to get free immediately."

"Are you kidding?!" Pipp asked, still smiling. "It's a minor details, Tails! Your invention saved us regardless of how much it lasted to do so!"

"Yeah! You saved us at the end of the day," Zipp added with a smile.

"You also helped us to save our parents!" Misty added, as she and Pipp finally let Tails go.

After she said this, both Alphabittle and Haven approached Tails, both of them smiling. "So you're the young fella that save us?" The former unicorn asked.

Tails chuckled sheepishly while scratching his neck after hearing this. "I-I just do what I can to help..."

"All the same, you have accomplished a brave accomplishment, young hero," Haven said with a smile. "For that, we are eternally grateful with you."

Tails smiled after hearing this, but then he frowned and looked back at a small piece of ice that hasn't entirely melted yet. He picked it up and thought back on Allura and her power to freeze the ambient around.

"We gotta return to Maretime Bay, before Allura tries to go after the Crystals," Zipp suggested.

"If she's working with Eggman, then we gotta hurry!" Pipp agreed with her sister.

"Allura is the last of my concerns..." Tails confessed, then he turned to the sisters and Misty. "I'm more worried about what could be of our friends if they encounter her..."

Bridlewood - 5 Minutes Earlier...

Remember the cliffhanger that was Amy, Izzy and the unicorns' fight against Allura? Well, let's see how that fight breaks out!

Amy and Izzy flew backwards, stopping on the ground and sliding to a stop. For her part, Allura inhaled air and let out a very loud kind of roar like a sonic slingshot that shook the entire forest. Several unicorns were sent flying due to this, but Amy and Izzy alike stayed together and held on as long as they could: Amy buried her hammer in the ground and held on to it, while Izzy used her magic to create a purple barrier around her and thus remain as safe as possible.

When Allura stopped her attack, Amy immediately took her hammer and jumped into the air, ready to hit her on the head. Seeing this, Allura barely managed to jump back a little, but if she hadn't, Amy's hammer would have crushed her head. Growling in fury at this, Allura inhaled again, but this time, she unleashed some sort of freeze ray at Amy. The pink hedgehog gasped and used her hammer as a shield. This helped, but at the same time, her hammer became frozen, and her hands became stuck in the ice.

Seeing this, Izzy levitated several glitter thorn balls that were still nearby and threw them mercilessly towards Allura. The leopard, however, did nothing more than dodge the first two through the air. As for the third, she blew her freezing breath against it, and then used her sound wave power again to send it towards Izzy.

Seeing this, Amy stood in front of Izzy and, still with her hands and hammer frozen, she hit the ball with spikes to send it in another direction. This incidentally caused both her hands and her hammer to be freed from the ice... But while her hands came out unscathed, her hammer became broken, and the only thing left intact was the stick.

Amy panicked at this, and when Izzy noticed it, she didn't hesitate to get in front of her and activate another barrier with her magic, as Allura launched herself at them with another sound sling. Izzy dug her hooves into the ground to hold still, but Allura put more and more pressure into her attack, and Izzy was beginning to lose strength.

For her part, Amy looked at the stick of her now destroyed hammer anxiously. She felt like a part of her had just been destroyed along with the hammer. Hearing Izzy complain about trying to keep her shield up made her looked at her, then saw Allura behind her, who was still pushing her attack hard.

However, Amy only felt anger when she saw the leopard. Therefore, she let out a very loud cry of frustration, surprising not only Izzy, but also Allura herself. Then, Amy pounced on the leopard like a wild animal, wrapped her legs around her neck and then began to beat the winged leopard mercilessly. Allura was so caught off guard by this that she couldn't even think of how to defend herself against her, so she tried to shake her off of her, but Amy just sat on the leopard's back and started punching the leopard's head above.

Twitch, noticing what was happening, climbed up Amy's back and tried to hit her to make her let Allura go, but Amy just had to grab Twitch like a stuffed animal and throw him against a tree, then continue hitting Allura.

Big mistake.

Twitch crashed into the tree with a screech, then fell to the ground in pain, his eyes spinning non-stop. When Allura noticed this, her eyes became oval, and she finally managed to get Amy off of her by throwing her in front of Izzy, although Amy rolled and skidded a little before stopping and glaring at Allura. She, however, went to see that Twitch was okay. When she noticed that the rabbit was just dizzy, plus he gave her a thumbs up to indicate that he was okay, Allura sighed in relief and hoisted Twitch onto her back.

However, he still saw Amy with anger coursing through his veins. "How dare you attack him?!"

"At least this way we're even, you bastard leopard!" Amy responded, showing the club of the destroyed hammer at her angrily.

Allura growled upon seeing this, and was about to launch another attack at Amy, but then she was hit by a purple lightning bolt that caught her off guard. This attack came from Izzy, who then launched another one, but this time Allura dodged it.

"I'll only say it once, Allura: Get out of here, or I'll do more than just beat up your little friend!" Izzy said angrily, a rare sight for Amy, as she had never seen Izzy upset.

Allura growled again, but then more and more rays from other unicorns came to confront her. Seeing herself overwhelmed, she decided to accept defeat, spread her wings, and then flew away from there.

The unicorns around Bridlewood began to celebrate since not only had they managed to defeat all the badniks that Eggman had sent, but they also managed to defeat the doctor's ally.

Izzy had joined the celebration along with the other unicorns, but stopped when she noticed Amy looking at her stick and her destroyed hammer with a grim expression. It was like a part of her had seriously died when the hammer was also destroyed.

"Aw, Amy. I'm sorry Allura destroyed your hammer." Izzy apologized. "I know it doesn't fix anything, but..."

"It's okay, Izzy," Amy said with a sad smile. "It's just that... Well... Sonic gave me that hammer years ago. When I decided that I wanted to become strong enough to protect him and return the favor for doing the same for me so many times... The fact that Allura destroyed it makes me angry, but... I can't do anything anymore. I just hope Sonic doesn't get mad at me..."

"I'm sure he won't," Izzy assured her with a little smile. "Maybe he could fix it, even!"

Amy chuckled a bit after hearing this, and she appreciated that Izzy was trying to cheer her up. "Maybe he can..." She smiled sadly once more, but then her eyes widened in panic as she realized something. "Sonic! Allura is heading back to Maretime Bay, which means––"

"She's going after the Crystals!" Izzy realized as well, then she made a dramatic gasp and put her hooves on her cheeks. "And Sunny is probably watching after them!"

"So must be Sonic!" Amy added, still panicking a bit, but then she put a determinate look. "We gotta go back to Maretime Bay and help them out!"

"Then let's not waste our time!" Izzy declared, taking Amy's hand with a hoof and then rushing out of Bridlewood as fast as she could.

Maretime Bay - Crystal Brighthouse

Eggman hit the shield around the Crystal Brighthouse with all the strength his Egg Beater could offer.

Nothing was going to come between him and the Unity Crystals. He had already waited too long to steal them, and now he would act to fulfill his dream. Along the way he would also show Sunny the harsh reality of who he really is. Maybe that will make him mature and take things more seriously instead of seeing everything as if it were a world of roses and rainbows.

"Eggman!" Sonic's voice suddenly called out and then, the Egg Beater was sent backwards by a Spin Dash.

Eggman grunted in pain, and used the suit's hands to stop his thrust. When he stood up straight again, he frowned inside the robot as he saw Sonic in front of him, ready to fight, but as soon as Sunny arrived in her Alicorn form, Eggman smiled sinisterly.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the blue rodent and the Captain of Redemptions!" Eggman scoffed. "What a detail to come and greet me just before I steal your Crystals. You shouldn't have! You'll make me blush with excitement!"

"Stop with the mocking!" Sonic said with a frown. "I know why you're here, and you're delusional if you think we're gonna let you get close to the Crystals!"

"The joke's on you, 'cause Imma gonna get those Crystals, one way or another!" Eggman declared. "Now out of my way!"

Eggman fired a laser from the glove charged with Chaos Energy, causing Sonic and Sunny to equally move to the side. Eggman took the opportunity to try to hit the shield around the Brighthouse again, but Sunny arrived and surrounded Eggman's machine with her magic.

It took a lot of effort, however, since she was not used to lifting such heavy things. Still, she succeeded, and soon launched the machine several meters into the sky. Eggman exclaimed in surprise as he spun around, but soon ignited the machine's rockets and then accelerated towards the ground, landing with a huge crash that made the earth shake for a moment.

This, however, did not stop either Sonic or Sunny from continuing to try. Soon, they both launched themselves at Eggman again, and he released another beam of Chaos Energy. However, Sunny used a shield to protect herself and Sonic, which worked, because then Sonic did a Homing Attack followed by a Wild Rush, and then Sunny slammed her hooves into the ground, which glowed green while a magic line of the same color.

Soon, a series of vines with thorns grew from the ground and began to hold Egg Beater's legs, arms, and torso, making Eggman try to get rid of them, without success.

Sunny smiled at this, then looked at Sonic. "Do you do the honors?"

She made several magical shields appear with her magic around the robot. Sonic immediately understood what she was suggesting, and with just a smile she confirmed that he liked her like she thought.

"Who knew? Your magic shields are of some use after all!"

After saying this, Sonic charged up his Spin Dash and shot out, hitting the Egg Beater in multiple weak spots, making Eggman growl more and more. When the hits had already exceeded 300, Eggman lost his temper, charged Chaos Energy into his glove again and then fired in one direction, conveniently hitting Sonic and Sunny equally, sending them backwards.

Sunny was the first one to shake her head and stand up, then look ahead at Eggman with a frown. "Eggman! Please! I don't know why you're obsessed with creating this entire empire, but it is not the way!"

"Ugh, save your breath, stupid horse!" Eggman said with anger. "Your adorable yet annoying attempts to change my heart won't do anything! Now hand over the Unity Crystals, or watch me burn your little town!"

While Eggman was laughing like a lunatic at the idea of burning the town, he didn't see a vine coming that suddenly pulled him from behind and knocked him to the ground, only to be hit in the back by Knuckles, who came out of the ground. Following this, a plasma beam passed through the robot's right shoulder and damaged it, since the beam had been launched by Tails. The robot's head was then kicked by Zipp, half crushed by Pipp, and then hit with a levitated mailbox by Misty.

All of this already made Eggman angry, but the final straw was when Amy came from behind with a Homing Attack, and then Izzy went under to throw glitter at the robot's left arm, followed by the glitter shining and exploding the arm. That was what made Eggman explode in rage.

"That's it! No more playing games! This time, I won't leave without my prize!" Eggman declared in anger. "You'll have to do more than damaging my robot to get rid of me, little pests! And I won't be satisfied with get you off my way. I'll burn down each one of you, even if it takes me until night!"

"Too bad for you, Egghead." Sonic said with a smirk, also punching his fists together. "After all, Sunny was right in one thing: We're gonna take you down, together!"

Sunny smiled after hearing this. "Now you speak my language!"

"Too bad for you instead, hedgehog!" Eggman declared, and soon, Allura landed right besides him. "I also got my own allies around here!"

"Allura?!" Both Sunny and Hitch exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Who's the giant kitty with wings?" Knuckles asked confused.

"Don't know, don't care. She's on Eggman's side, we take her down too. End of the story!" Sonic declared, now cracking his knuckles a bit.

"You four should be frozen..." Allura told Tails, Zipp, Pipp and Misty, as they all looked at her with frowns, and she frowned back, although with a smirk. "Doesn't matter. I'll put you back where I left you!"

"She speaks too fancy..." Knuckles pointed out. "I'm surprised she's not using an accent."

"Well, I don't know of accents, but I do took a single class of Spanish and only learned one sentence: ¿Dónde está la biblioteca?" Sonic replied, before grinning again. "Which translates to: I'm gonna kick the crap out of you!"

"No it doesn't, but that's beside the point!" Tails stated as well.

And then, Allura and Eggman charged towards Team Sonic and the Mane 6, each either running towards the opposing side or jumping into the air to begin the battle to see who would have full control over the magical Unity Crystals.

Author's Note

I had to made up some powers for Allura because by the time I wrote this chapter, I only have 'till TYT Season 2 Episode 6 as references for what she can do, so I had to improve.

Alright, people. Be prepared, because next chapter, things go to hell.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading! See you next chapter! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 12: Things Go Wrong

Crystal Brighthouse

Having 10 creatures fighting for good take on two naturally evil forces should be an advantageous battle for the good guys, right?

Well, when those two forces of evil are an evil genius with an incredibly durable robotic suit, and a winged leopard who has the ability to hypnotize, break, and freeze things... The battle really isn't as unfair as anyone would believe.

Right now, Doctor Eggman was fighting Sonic, Knuckles, Sunny, Hitch and Zipp to get them off his back and obtain the Unity Crystals. If he wanted to rise his empire and make Equestria the first of many dimensions to fall under his rule, he had to hurry to get these pests off his back long enough to break the barrier protecting the Crystal Brighthouse and get those Crystals at once. once and for all.

On her side, Allura the Leopard was fighting Tails, Amy, Izzy, Pipp and Misty. Her alliance with Eggman was nothing more than a quick route to freeing her brother. Once he was free, together they would bring chaos and discord to Equestria. They were born for it, and they would not rest until everyone was at their mercy. They would get rid of Eggman together later, but for now Allura had to follow the plan if she wanted to free her brother.

Sonic ran around the Egg Beater and charged up his Homing Attack to try to knock the robot off balance, while Knuckles ran across the ground and moved like a mole, then came out and hit the machine by surprise. At the same time, Zipp alternated between flying over the robot to crush the head, and then running on the ground to flip over, do a backflip, and kick the machine.

For her part, Sunny tried to use her shields to stop the laser or missile attacks that the Egg Beater launched, and sometimes she tried to stop so she could talk to Eggman, but this ended with Eggman trying to crush her like a mosquito. Finally, Hitch used his Earth Pony magic to grow pods with thorns that scratched the metal frame of the machine.

On the other hand, Tails throws several sharp boomerangs at Allura, who simply freezes them and breaks them into pieces. Amy tries to do what she did in Bridlewood, but Allura always blasts her away with sonic waves when she roars. Izzy and Misty had a hard time getting off of her, as Misty jumped and slid on her in a professional manner, while Izzy took out so many glitter bombs that they constantly blinded her.

The latter gave Pipp the opportunity to jump on her and kick her with her hind paws or slap her with either of her front hooves. Pipp just wanted to take it out on Allura for freezing her mom and almost killing her, as well as her and her sister. He would never forgive her, and he didn't care if Sunny continued with the stupid plan to "redeem" her. She wasn't going to let Allura harm her family or her friends, ever again.

Soon, however, Eggman and Allura began to lose patience, so they decided it was time to get rid of these pests. Therefore, Eggman charged up some Chaos Energy, and then released it with a slam on the ground, which released a sling of expansion that sent Hitch, Izzy and Knuckles backwards, while Sonic and Sunny barely managed to stop, just being on the other side of the barrier that protects the Brighthouse.

For her part, Allura simply released a sonic wave that made Pipp fall and collide with Misty, knocking them both out instantly. She then grabbed Tails on one of his tails and made him fall, causing him to crash into Amy, and then they both crashed into Izzy, rolling a little on the ground and becoming scratched and dirty. They were still conscious, but now they were also very sore.

Seeing this angered Sonic and Sunny, who glared at Eggman and Allura.

"Do you still think you can redeem everyone?" Sonic asked Sunny, though it seemed more like a rhetorical question.

"I'm beginning to have my doubts." Sunny responded, surprising Sonic a little, but he decided not to show his surprise and focus on the villains.

"This is the last chance I'm gonna give you both to hang over the Crystals, or I'll wipe out your friends!" Eggman declared in anger.

"Don't make things more difficult, and give up!" Allura added with a growl.

"I'll go for Allura, you go for Eggman," Sonic muttered to Sunny. "Let's make them think we're going for the opposite."

"Sounds good to me..." Sunny muttered in agreement.

And so, the two attacked Eggman and Allura without remorse. Seeing Sonic heading towards him, Eggman prepared to fire another Chaos Energy laser, while Allura inhaled and prepared to freeze Sunny... But then, the two changed direction.

Sonic charged his Spin Dash into Allura's face and held the attack for a. moment. Then, when Allura was in the sky, grunting in pain, Sonic jumped off her and kicked her in the stomach, sending her backwards and making her hit her head hard enough to fall unconscious. Twitch, who was hidden away from the fight on Allura's orders, screeched in panic and jumped towards her, then began moving her face in an attempt to wake her up.

For her part, Sunny slammed her hooves against the ground again to grow vines with thorns, which she used to start surrounding the entire robot and tying it up like that. Eggman again tried to swat Sunny as if she were a mosquito, but he failed and ended up completely entangled by Sunny's vines.

"Huh, look at that!" Sonic said with a smile. "That was actually a really good idea, Sunny! I'm genuinely impressed!"

"Well, what can I say?" Sunny smirked confidently. "When I wanna show off, I just do what I gotta do!"

"Now that's more like it!" Sonic said with a grin, slightly pushing Sunny on her shoulder.

But their small victory was cut short when Eggman growled angrily again and not only broke free of the pods, but pointed his gloved fist at Sonic and Sunny, who quickly positioned themselves to fight again.

"Not this time, you stupid hedgehog!" Eggman said angrily.

He then charged the entire gauntlet with ALL the Chaos Energy he had accumulated, and then fired the entire gauntlet at the two of them. Sunny tried to make a shield to protect them both, but Sonic saw the glove coming in a hurry. So, without thinking twice, Sonic rushed to cover Sunny.

This resulted in the gauntlet hitting them both, although directly affecting Sonic. The glove then flew straight towards the shield, and what came next was seen in slow motion: The glove passed through the shield, breaking the powerful spell that Twilight Sparkle had placed almost effortlessly.

Everyone who was still conscious watched this in shock. Sonic and Sunny's friends are shocked and distressed not only by the fact that the shield was destroyed, but by what was going to happen to their friends; and Eggman watched with a sinister smile on his face, seeing with total satisfaction how his plan worked flawlessly.

Soon, the glove also collided with the entrance of the Crystal Brighthouse and left a huge hole in the middle of it. Inside things were no better, as the crash caused the glove to go through the television and the back wall, while some sofas and a table were destroyed, with Sonic and Sunny falling to the floor in pain.

"Sonic!" Both Amy and Tails shouted in panic for their friend.

"Sunny!" Both Hitch and Izzy did the exact same.

Now that the shield had been destroyed, the Crystals shook a little, and the rainbow beam coming out of the Brighthouse glitched. Seeing this, Eggman smiled and laughed, then turned on the rockets, passing through the hole in the entrance and making it even bigger because of the robot.

"We have to stop that thing!" Knuckles said, running towards the lighthouse, with Hitch, Amy, Zipp and Izzy following him.

"Stop what?" Pipp asked groggily as she and Misty woke up, only to gasp in horror as they saw the entrance to their home destroyed.

Soon, the two hurried to follow the others, although Misty stopped to help Tails up, since his tail was somewhat damaged. Likewise, Tails managed to walk alone, and together they entered the Crystals Brighthouse with his friends.

Inside, Eggman looked at Sonic and Sunny with amusement, as they both struggled to get up while complaining about the pain, although they soon turned to see the doctor.

"I tried to be as kind as possible in my own way, but you filthy pests exhausted my patience!" Eggman stated with a mix of amusement and anger. "Now I'll go claim those damn Crystals once and for all!"

"Eggman, things don't have to be this way..." Sunny spoke weakly. "There must be some way to fix this without you––"

"OH, SHUT UP ALREADY!" Eggman yelled in frustration. "You've got me up to my neck with your damn attempts to make me change. Get the memo, stupid girl: I DON'T CHANGE FOR THE GOOD! And it's time I showed you!"

After saying that, Eggman looked at the ceiling, turned on his machine's rockets, and then flew, crossing the ceiling and reaching not only the bedroom, but also crossing another ceiling that reached the Unity Crystals.

Seeing this, Sunny gasped and immediately activated her Alicorn form to barely follow Eggman. The problem was that she felt weak, and her Alicorn form was glitchy, but she didn't seem to care. She just wanted to get to Eggman and prevent him from taking the Crystals at all costs.

"Sunny, wait!" Sonic shouted, but then realized that the other Mane 6 and his friends were heading up the stairs.

Determined to help the rest, Sonic stood up with some effort and then jumped from his place to the top of the ramp that leads to the Brighthouse bedroom.

The problem is that, once there, the roof began to crack and release several large pieces of debris. This meant that in the end the group had to retreat instead of advance. Sunny, who barely fell on part of the ground that was still intact, saw firsthand how a huge piece of debris was about to crush Izzy and Pipp, if not for Knuckles managing to move in time to catch the piece of debris and try to push it backwards.

Izzy and Pipp saw Sunny looking at them and begged for her help. Sunny was about to do it, but then she heard Eggman's sinister laugh, and then noticed how the rainbow light was glitching again. This made her forget about her friends and activate her wings again and then barely rise into the air and head to the Crystal Room in her place.

"Sunny! What are you doing?!" Hitch screamed in panic and surprise when he saw that Sunny refused to help Izzy and Pipp, something she had never done before.

This caused him to get distracted and almost get crushed by another huge piece of the ceiling, but Tails reacted in time and managed to get the drill out to split that piece in two and save Hitch. Following this, Tails saw that Misty was stuck under some rubble, and together with Hitch and Amy they ran to help her. Since Hitch's magic didn't seem to work, as did Misty's, the four of them had to work together to get the unicorn out of there and lift the ceiling. When Misty's forelegs were free, she quickly crawled off of it, and the other three dropped the debris, which broke into more pieces.

For his part, Knuckles was still trying to lift the piece of ceiling that almost killed Pipp and Izzy. Zipp joined the echidna in saving her friend and sister, using the strength of her hind legs to try to push the roof piece back. In the end, Sonic arrived and helped push in the same way, finally getting Izzy and Pipp free. Knuckles helped Izzy to her feet, while Zipp checked to make sure her sister was okay.

Soon, however, more and more debris began to fall rapidly, alerting everyone else.

"You guys get out of here before this place falls apart!" Sonic said to everyone else.

"And what about you? You're not coming?!" Knuckles asked in a panic, though he was frowning.

"I'll go after the stupid girl who abandoned her friends to their fate before Eggman kills her!" Sonic responded, then proceeded to run towards the side of the bedroom where the hole leading to the Crystal Room was. "Get out of here. Now!"

Sonic began to use some of the rubble as platforms to jump from one at a time to reach the top. For their part, the others rushed to leave the Brighthouse as fast as they could, although the ponies except Hitch watched with melancholy as the bedroom that was supposed to be their home was destroyed little by little.

They ended up getting out, anyway, and just in time, because not only was the entrance to the bedroom blocked, but when they left the lighthouse completely, the already destroyed main entrance was also blocked.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at coming out alive, although not unharmed. However, now they worried about what was happening on top of the Brighthouse with Eggman, Sunny, and Sonic. And soon, seeing that Allura had woken up and taken flight towards the Crystal Room, their worries increased.

Crystal Room

When Sunny took flight and arrived at the Crystal Room, she gasped as she saw that the Crystals were no longer in place, and then forced herself to land since her Alicorn form was no longer even responding.

She looked in all directions for Eggman, and eventually she found him with his back facing Angel Island from the balcony. However, he soon turned around and saw Sunny with a macabre smile while she held the Unity Crystals in one hand.

"You're late to change things, little pony," Eggman scoffed. "But just in time to see the beginning of a new era!"

After saying this, Eggman did not wait for any response and placed the Crystals on his chest, almost as if he were burying them there. Soon, the Crystals began to cling to the doctor and glow brightly, and then, Eggman began to writhe in pain, just before letting out a scream of agony, while his entire body was engulfed by some sort of purple, turquoise, and silver barrier.

Sunny watched this in horror, as she slowly backed away in fear. Soon, Sonic arrived and stood next to her, seeing her upset, but upon seeing her terrified look, he looked in the same direction, and then felt the same terror as soon as that barrier dissipated: Eggman was now wearing silver pants that shone in that same color. He no longer had a shirt, but instead of looking like a fat old guy, he had ripped muscles everywhere.

The Unity Crystals were stuck to his chest, as if they were part of his skin, and his veins were visible and the same color as the Crystals. Lastly, his mustache was turquoise now, and his eyes…his eyes seemed to be those of the devil himself. His sclera was black, and his eyes were purple, but his smile was so sinister that it made him look like an evil out of hell.

Sunny had never felt so scared before, and although Sonic was still angry at her for leaving her friends behind, he had to admit that he was also terrified by the image of Eggman in front of him. He would definitely have nightmares about this.

"Hehehe... I've never felt so much power as I do now..." Eggman stated with a smile. "This is radical. I finally have the strength to build my empire... AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!!!"

Sonic then growled and lunged at Eggman in an attempt to hit him, but Eggman stopped him with the unicorn levitation magic, and then threw him against a glass, causing him to go through it and crash into the balcony, falling to his knees. to the ground and in pain.

"Sonic!" Sunny exclaimed in panic.

However, she made the mistake of turning her back on Eggman, and he took advantage of her distraction to punch her in the face just as she turned around. Sunny rolled on the floor in pain, and in the process, she dropped her blue bag that her dad had made for her when she was a filly all those years ago.

Then, Eggman levitated Sunny's bag, and with a sinister smile, burned it with the magic of the unicorns, which he's now using on its full potential. Sunny watched helplessly and desperately as her bag with Twilight Sparkle's Cutie Mark, as well as the three badges that had Twilight's Cutie Mark, Fluttershy's, and Rainbow Dash's, was reduced to ashes before her very eyes.

"NO!" Sunny screamed desperately, tears running down her cheeks.

With the bag reduced to nothing, Eggman walked up to Sunny and saw her completely satisfied when he noticed her expression. "You still think someone like me deserves another chance, you stupid brat?"

There was no answer. Sunny just shook and cried, curling up into a ball as if she were a scared little dog.

Eggman laughed loudly upon seeing this. "I thought so. Look at you, so weak, so fragile, so pathetic... Pathetic enough to let you live. Killing you isn't even worth it."

Sunny only kept crying and shaking. She realized to late that Sonic was right: Eggman was irredeemable. It costed her home, the Unity Crystals, probably her friends' trust considering she left them behind to save magic instead, and now it also costed the bag that her dad made for her... She should've listened to Sonic.

Soon, Allura arrived and landed behind Eggman. When he turned to see her, she was surprised by the doctor's new appearance, but when she saw that he had the Unity Crystals stuck to his chest, she smiled.

"I see you accomplished your goal, doctor," Allura spoke with a grin, then walked forward. "I guess then now we can pass to my reward––"

But her sentence was cut short when Eggman laughed maniacally and levitated her all of a sudden along Twitch, then dragged them closer and grabbed them from their necks, starting to make pressure and cutting their breaths. Both of them tried to get free from Eggman's grip, but it was useless.

"Oh, you're more stupid than this kid, Allura," Eggman mocked up with a grin, and his devilish eyes made Allura try to get off his grip even harder, but she could literally feel his gaze penetrating his soul. "You really thought I was on your side? Well, get the memo: I work with NO ONE! I never cared for you nor your stupid brother! I only needed to have your power away from me! But I have nothing to fear anymore. Now, you are useless to me!"

After saying all of this, Eggman threw Allura with his newfound strength away of the Brighthouse, and no one can really tell how far he throw her 'cause her figure could not be seen anymore. Soon, Eggman launched Twitch as well, then turned to feel even more satisfaction at Sunny's horrified expression. She can't believe Eggman is this heartless, yet she just saw him throwing his allies away.

"As for you, little pest... It's time to finish up my business with you!" Eggman declared, then laughed maniacally, and then proceed to smash the ground, making it shatter even more.

Sunny gasped and screamed in terror as she saw the ground break, so Sonic quickly came and picked her up like she was a giant stuffed animal, then curled up into a ball and threw himself from the balcony to the ground. Once Sonic hit the ground, he let go of Sunny and they both rolled around for a bit before stopping, only to then see the Crystal Brighthouse crumble from Eggman's blow.

The last thing that finished collapsing from the Brighthouse was the upper part that was shaped like the Crystals, which broke as soon as it hit the ground, then slid along the ground until it was right in front of Sunny, before breaking right in half. This made Sunny bite back a sob, then she saw Eggman floating right where the Crystal Room used to be as he laughed maniacally.

Immediately afterwards, Eggman snapped his fingers and disappeared, turning into a purple light that floated back to Angel Island, above which clouds appeared that released purple, turquoise and silver rays, all forming the logo with Eggman's face while his laughter echoed around all of Equestria.

Now that the worse was apparently over, Sunny looked with melancholy at her home, now destroyed for the second time. The first time hurt as hell because so many memories with her dad were gone that day... And now? So many new memories she made with her friends were destroyed before her very eyes.

Remembering her friends finally made her turn around, finding the rest of Team Sonic and the rest of the Mane 6 as well. She smiled a bit, relieved to see they were all fine, but her smile faded as soon as she noticed not only her friends' sad looks over the destroyed Brighthouse, but also the deadly glare Zipp was giving her. Not that she was surprised, though... She did left Pipp behind to save the Unity Crystals, and failed all the same.

And guess who else is mad? Yup, our blue hedgehog isn't happy with this, either.

"What the hell... is wrong with you?" Sonic finally asked, glaring at Sunny and almost staring at her soul.

Sunny didn't felt the same kind of fear she felt with Eggman back in the Crystal Room, but she definitely didn't liked to see Sonic mad. After seeing his cocky and goofy attitude, this sudden change was not appreciated in the slightest.

"...What do you mean?" Was everything Sunny managed to reply without feeling stupid, even though she immediately realized how stupid was her question.

"Oh, now you dare to ask the stupidest thing ever?!" Sonic shouted in rage, and he approached Sunny.

No one in Team Sonic has ever seen Sonic this mad before, not even with Eggman himself. However, none of them tried to stop him, because even if Sunny was trying to stop Eggman, leaving her friends behind to their luck was wrong.

Sunny's friends were not in a better state, either. Zipp was furious because Sunny left her sister behind; Izzy and Pipp were hurt - both slightly physically and definitely emotionally - because of this, Misty had no idea on what to think, and Hitch couldn't come with a logical solution on why Sunny would do such a thing, because quite frankly: He believes that saving the Unity Crystals was just a lame excuse.

"You know what you did wrong, Sunny. You left behind your friends to die when they needed you!" Sonic scolded.

"I know that, but I could've reached Eggman and stop him from getting the Crystals!" Sunny said, now frowning a bit. "And I don't mean redeem him, I mean get the Crystals far from him! I was just trying to save our magic, it's what I always do! It's what I've been doing for moons, even before I knew it was gone!"

"Protect? Protect?!" Sonic spat, almost disgusted to hear her say that. "You call "protect" endangering your friends' lives and ignoring their pleas for help when they're on the brink of death? You call "protect" ignoring every damn warning that screams at you to think and listen before acting? You call "protect" holding onto something that you never needed before to be worth something and feel useful?! Because it seems to me that you just want to save your magic and not feel like a helpless little girl that no one listens to because you think differently.

I have met many people throughout my life who have come as far as you, and even further, without the need of magic. People who believed they were worthless, but who showed the rest who they are and what they are made of without a pair of wings and a horn THAT ARE NOT EVEN REAL! They are a damn projection of your body! If you really are an Alicorn, why don't you look or act like one, huh?!

You are supposed to have the power of a god! You can use magic that hasn't been seen in centuries, spells so powerful they could literally save our asses from the situation we were in! But guess what?! You're so useless with that magic, you had to turn to a damn song that made magical butt tattoos glow to defeat the "greatest threat you've ever faced"... YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! A song defeated your most powerful enemy! What's next?! A snowball fight and a song? Just listen to what I'm saying!

You were given a gift, Sunny. The gift of protecting all of Equestria, and you don't even know how to take advantage of it! You're just moving around, handing out smoothies, and wasting time when you could be strengthening yourself to be better than you already are, to prevent someone worse than Opaline from sweeping the floor with you again! Because yes, Opaline swept the floor with you, she broke you into pieces and took away your magic! If you can't protect your own magic, how do you expect to protect your friends?!"

Sunny didn't even know what to answer. There was enormous helplessness building up inside her. She wanted to scream in anger, but also cry in frustration, because she felt that Sonic was right, and maybe he was.

As Sonic said this, he then turned to the rest of the Mane 6. "Would you guys, any of you, trust your lives on her? Considering she consciously left you all to die, would you let her be your protector? Your so called "Alicorn guardian"?"

The other five ponies seemed taken aback by the question. All of them, even Zipp, felt offended that Sonic could even ask such a thing... But after he added the fact of what happened today, all of them went silent and looked away from everyone else. None of them dared to say what they thought, and Sunny felt heartbroken when she saw her friends refusing to answer Sonic's question.

Sonic himself sighed frustrated and looked at Sunny with a frown. "Equestria needs a guardian who can stand up to the greatest of adversities no matter what. Instead, they have you. Having wings and a horn that don't exist doesn't make you a hero. You earn that position, but you have only proven that the Crystals were wrong in choosing you as an Alicorn. If magic is what makes you so special, if you truly are nothing without it, then you don't deserve it."

Those last four words, "you don't deserve it", those finally shattered her soul. All Sonic said so far was harmful, but she could get over it. However, being told she didn't deserved to have magic if that's what makes her special... That hurt like a thousand blades stabbing her heart, one by one, each one more painfully than the last one.

Her ears fell flat against her head, and she could do nothing but look down in shame and sit down. Sonic, realizing that he might had gone too far, only sighed frustrated and turned around to face his team.

"...Let's go, gang," He declared, then began to walk towards the beach. "Let's fix up the Tornado and... Get the hell outta here... We'll get the ponies' Crystals back and kick Eggman's butt as usual, I guess..."

That sounded like a terrible plan, and everyone - Sonic himself included - knew this... But there was not much of a choice.

So, one by one, each Team Sonic member followed Sonic: First Knuckles, who said nothing to the Mane 6; then Amy, who looked at them with a sad smile and wave, one only Izzy returned with the same expression and feeling; and finally Tails, who looked at them all before sighing.

"Farewell, friends. I'm sorry things went like this..." He said, then sighed again and followed his teammates.

And so, Team Sonic went on their way, while the Mane 6 were left behind with their destroyed home.

Author's Note

Well... I know what people might be thinking. Why did Sunny acted the way she did? That'll be answered next chapter, so don't worry. This whole plot of Sunny being afraid of loosing the Crystals wasn't made for nothing.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading! Bye! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 13: Live and Learn

Maretime Bay - Behind the Brighthouse's Rubble

There are few times that Sunny has felt so empty inside that nothing could cheer her up no matter how hard she tried.

When her father died, a part of her died with him. Few could say that Sunny was not the same since her father's death, like Hitch. Things as simple as the wagging of her tail when she walked, or her mannerisms, were not the same since Argyle died.

Then, the time Hitch warned her that she would lose her friendship if she continued to immerse herself in the fantasy world created by her dad discouraged her too much. Luckily, the sheriff had already apologized for saying that a long time ago, but Sunny would be lying if she said that it didn't hurt her to remember those words.

Finally, the last time she felt like this was when she went on a whole journey with her friends to restore the magic, only for the end that joining the crystals came to absolutely nothing. She felt that her entire life was a vile lie made by her father, she felt betrayed. It was nice to discover that the Crystals didn't have to be together for magic to return to Equestria, but it was of no use anymore... Eggman now had them under his power, and the truth was that he completely doubted that Sonic and his friends could stop him.

"If magic is what makes you so special, if you truly are nothing without it, then you don't deserve it."

Sonic's words bounced like an echo in her mind, and the tears came out once again. Her eyes were already red and swollen from crying, and her cheeks must have been so marked with tears that it would be difficult for a while to hide the fact that she was crying.

She sat at the border of the cliff that faces to the ocean, right behind where the Crystal Brighthouse's remains are. She wanted to be alone, and even if she didn't wanted to, she was convinced her friends wanted her away after what she did. Not that she blamed them, anyways. Is what she deserves for acting so selfish instead of staying at her friends' side when they needed her.

They were there for her in the good and bad, why couldn't she do the same?

Speaking of her friends, they watched her from afar to leave her alone. Frankly, the only pony that probably wants nothing with Sunny is Zipp, but not even her can stay mad forever, and she does feels kinda concerned for Sunny. What she did is wrong and nothing can change that, but she was her friend at the end of the day.

Izzy and Pipp hold no grudges against her, either. Yes, she left them behind, but considering how powerful Eggman seems to have become, maybe it was for the best that she went after the Crystals instead. Maybe.

Misty was conflicted on what to think. She did believed that Sunny did wrong, but she also understood the importance of the Unity Crystals not only for her, but for all Equestria. They were their source of magic, after all, and now it was in the hands of someone as cruel as Eggman.

Finally, Hitch was mad, but not with Sunny. He was mad with himself because he didn't jumped to defend her from Sonic. Maybe if he did, all the others would've join him, and they would've all show Sonic he was wrong... But that had him wondering if Sonic was wrong at all.

He couldn't just sit around and keep wondering this, so he gave Sparky to Izzy and then headed towards Sunny, sitting at her side. She didn't seemed to notice, or maybe she did, but doesn't really care.

"...I won't bother into asking how you feel because I know the answer," Hitch spoke after a minute of awkward silence. "But I do wanna know... Is it true? What Sonic said, about you being afraid of loosing magic because you wouldn't feel special anymore... Is that actually why you went after the Unity Crystals?"

Sunny said nothing. What could she reply, anyways? Is not like Hitch is wrong, true, but that didn't made her feel any better. So, to keep it short, she just limited herself to nod. She had no words to share, because Sonic said it all earlier.

"But... Why do you feel like that?" Hitch asked confused. "I thought you learned that everypony loves you not because you're an Alicorn––"

"But because I'm just me... I know that, Hitch. I know everypony loves me for being just me..." Sunny replied. "But I don't."

Those words surprised Hitch, making his eyes widen in surprise. "...You... You don't love yourself as who you are?"

"How could I?!" Sunny said, now raising her voice a bit, but it also sounded broken. "Hitch, I spent my entire life being mocked and insulted for believing in something that everypony saw as delusions or a fantasy far from being fulfilled. Nopony ever respected me until I got those wings and horn. Everyone in Maretime Bay just adored me for that! And although over time they valued me just for being me, that left a mark on me... Since then, I can't stop thinking that I'm only useful or special if I'm an Alicorn..."

"Huh... Lily's words really got stuck with you, didn't they?" Hitch asked concerned.

"They never left. At all," Sunny replied, then sighed. "I know what I did is wrong, and I will spent the rest of my life regretting what I did... But a part of me feels I should've tried harder to get to the Crystals, to get to Eggman and keep him away from them... That or I'm still in denial that we have no magic again..."

Hitch had no idea on what to say to all of that. What could he really say, anyways? His best friend just confessed all her insecurities are the reason behind her strange behavior. It makes sense, though: Her sudden fear of loosing the Crystals, the strange emphasis on loosing her magic, and how often she watched the Crystals along Zipp... It all made so much sense now.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Sunny asked to the air, since she was not looking at Hitch, but he was listening. "We lost our magic, Eggman's on that island planning who knows what, and... I don't think any of you would even follow me if I choose to go after him..."

"Now what kind of nonsense is that?!" Izzy's voice called out, and that made Sunny's ears perk up, so she then turned and saw herself surprised when she saw the rest of her friends approaching.

Except for Zipp, who had a slight frown still, all of them seemed to be smiling at her, as if she never did anything wrong.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sunny asked. "I... I thought you hated me..."

"Whoa! Hate is a really strong word, girl." Zipp was the one to speak first for everypony's surprise. "Mad for what you did because it was stupid? Totally, and I won't forgive you left behind my sister that easily. But hate you? Let's not go that far, Sunny."

"Yes, what you di was very wrong, and nopony can change that, but what would life be about if we didn't made mistakes from time to time?" Pipp said with a smile.

"What matters is what you do with those mistakes." Misty added with a smile as well. "You're gonna let them define who you are, or you're gonna learn from them? You taught me to do to the latter, all of you, and I think it's time you make your choice, Sunny."

"And know that it doesn't matter if you are not an Alicorn anymore, we're staying at your side until the end," Izzy stated with her usual cheery, smile, then she hugged Sunny from behind.

"Because that's what best friends do, they stay at each other's sides no matter what," Hitch finished, slightly nuzzled a bit with Sunny.

That single movement, Izzy's hug, and all of her friends' words seemed to have ignited a spark inside of Sunny that she thought it died when Sonic hurt her feelings. Not all her insecurities left, but some definitely did. She felt her hope shining brightly inside of her again, and she smiled.

"...You ponies are right... I gotta learn from my mistakes and not let them bring me down." Sunny spoke, standing up and facing her friends once more. "It is true I don't have my magic anymore. None of us have it, but there's one thing that hasn't changed at all for me: We can do anything, on our own or together. Doesn't matter! And know that this time, I'm not separating from any of you!"

"So what's the game plan, captain?" Izzy asked with a faked deep voice, also making a salute like a soldier, which earned laughs from everypony else.

"Well, Izzy, we're gonna get our magic back!" Sunny declared. "And I think I know just how to do it..." She added, as she stared to the way that leads to the beach.

Maretime Bay - Beach

Knuckles pushed the Tornado out of the sand, digging into it to make a hole big enough to allow him to push the plane.

Tails started to check on the plane's state, and it looked worse than he thought: From the back seat to the tail of the plane everything was in order, but as for the rest... Well, the plane's transmission was a mess, the rudder turned but did not respond to the wheels, the wings were broken, and the propeller wasn't even in place. The fact that the rest of the plane was still intact was a miracle, or so Tails believes.

He can easily fix everything BUT the transmission, which he's already checking out to see if he can do anything at all.

Meanwhile, as the young fox did this, Sonic was sitting on the sand, reflecting on everything he told Sunny when he got so incredibly mad at her for leaving her friends behind. Even he got more worried about their safety than her, and that's something that escapes his comprehension.

But even if it was confusing, he had to admit that it was also somewhat hypocritical of him. After all, he was indifferent to what his friends said in the past and ended up paying a very high price. Destroy the entire reality, leave his friends in a ghostly state, fight a somewhat evil variant of his best friend... And almost die trying to right his wrong. All of this happened when he broke the Paradox Prism, and there isn't a day that goes by since then that he doesn't want to go back in time and just listen to Tails when he tried to warn him that Eggman's Egg Crusher was empty and was actually a trap.

He thought he would get over it with time, but that's not the case. His friends almost ceased to exist because he couldn't listen. And he paid the price a second time when Nine destroyed his original reality. When things returned to normal, Sonic promised himself that he would never let anything happen to his friends again... A promise he broke several times.

Time Eater took them all and left them stuck in space-time; Tails was kidnapped by the Deadly Six, and on top of that Amy and Knuckles almost died when they drained all the energy from the Lost Hex; he was defeated and kidnapped by Eggman, leaving his friends at his expense for 6 months; His friends almost became ghosts inside Eggman's dreams... And last time, they almost became digital ghosts forever because Sage wasn't able to explain to herself about the danger that The End represented.

He broke that promise too many times, and he still hasn't forgiven himself for it... Maybe that's why he got so angry at Sunny, because she left her friends behind when she could have done something. He saw his own stupidity reflected back at her, and he blamed it on her... He did wrong and he knows it, but part of him thinks he did the right thing. It was hard to tell if he was sorry or not, he just knew that he made that mistake too, and he doesn't want anyone else to do it, nor this, nor in any other dimension.

Soon, Amy came by and sat at his side. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but then the words died out, so she went silent once again.

"...You think I was too harsh on her, don't you?" Sonic decided to ask instead. He knows Amy enough, so he has an idea of what she wanted to say.

"W-What? No! No, Sonic, that's not what I––" She tried to deny with a nervous chuckle, also raising her hands defensively.

"Come on, Ames. We've known each other since we were kids. I know when you wanna ask and, sometimes, what you're gonna ask. You're not the only one good at reading people."

Amy had no idea if feel praised or offended for what he said, but considering he only sounded kinda tired, she choose to believe he was simply giving a point, and a very fair one, she must admit.

"Okay, yeah... I do think you were harsh on Sunny." Amy confessed in the end.

"And there it is..." Sonic snorted.

"However, I don't think you did wrong on telling her all of that, either."

Hearing that made Sonic's eyes open wide, then he looked at her confused. "The what now?"

"Sometimes you have to tell others things as they are so that they learn to mature and improve." Amy explained with a little smile. "Whether they want to do it or not is up to them, but you were right to point out to Sunny what she did wrong. If she's the kind of girl I think she is, she'll learn quickly from her mistake and prove that it was a one-time thing."

"But it doesn't changes the fact that I may had crossed a line..." Sonic pointed out concerned.

"Maybe you did, but again: Sometimes, we have to cross lines if we wanna help others improve and be better," Amy said, then she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Although I also feel you could've hide your own frustration for your past failure a little better." She winked.

Sonic's eyes widened at hearing this, but then he chuckled a bit and scratched his neck ashamed. "Guess I'm not as good hiding what I feel as I thought, huh?"

"What did you just told me? Oh, right! You're not the only one good at reading people!" Amy mocked up with a laugh.

Sonic groaned at hearing this and rolled his eyes, making Amy giggle even more and wrap her arms around his neck to get closer. In all honesty, he didn't minded her doing this at all. Not only did he loved to have her close to him, but he also enjoyed the sound of her laugh. It was music to his ears.

However, her laugh suddenly stopped, concerning Sonic a bit as he looked at her. "I, um... Sonic... I gotta tell you something, a-and I hope you don't get mad, but..."

She then brought out the stick of her destroyed hammer. Sonic recognized that stick really well, and his eyes widened at the sight. He remembers he had some help from Tails to build that thing up and give it to Amy. Seeing it now destroyed meant that, whatever happened to shatter the hammer had to be strong.

"When I was fighting Allura in Bridlewood, she froze my hands to the hammer..." Amy started to explain. "Then she tried to hit Izzy and I put my hammer on the way. That broke the ice and set me free, but... It also shattered the hammer. And I'm really sorry because I know you worked hard to give me this, and I don't want you to be mad at me, but––"

"Whoa, whoa! Ames, relax!" Sonic cut her off with a little smile. "I'm not mad at you. This was something you could not control. And even if you could, I know this hammer isn't indestructible, which is definitely a failure on my part..."

Amy was surprised at how well Sonic took this. "B-But you made it for me! I-I thought you'll be mad because I broke it!"

"Please, it's your hammer! Whatever you do with it, is your business." Sonic said with a smirk, then he gave her that smile he only has for her. "Besides, I'm sure Tails and I can have it good as new in no time! Once we defeat Eggman and return home, of course."

Amy squealed like an excited little girl and hugged Sonic tightly, and Sonic didn't hesitated into hugging her back.

"Well, sorry to cut your little moment, you two, but it seems we're gonna have to find a plan B if we wanna defeat Eggman at all," Knuckles spoke, approaching them both with his arms crossed and a deadpan.

"Now what the heck are you talking about, Knucklehead?" Sonic deadpanned back.

Knuckles replied by moving aside and point at Tails, who hold the destroyed plane's transmission on his hands.

"Well, this is gonna be harder than I thought..." Tails spoke, then he approached the others. "The transmission is partially dead. I can repare it, sure, but it won't take a few minutes, nor even a few hours. It could take me a few days!"

"A few days?!" Amy exclaimed in panic.

"But we don't have a few days!" Sonic pointed out. "Eggman's gonna come out of that island with God knows what and kill us all!"

"Then you better have a plan B!" A female voice spoke, and soon, Allura landed right behind Team Sonic.

This made the whole team prepare to fight back, but Sonic stopped them before they could even position to fight. "What do want, giant winged Kitty Katswell?"

"I'm not here to fight..." Allura replied, with Twitch showing up by hoping over her head. "Not this time."

"So? What are you here for? An apology?" Amy spat with anger.

"If that's the case, go and get a chair to put yourself comfy, 'cause that's gonna be a long wait!" Knuckles declared, cracking his knuckles.

"Guys, now's not the time to act so hostile," Sonic said, earning disbelief looks from his friends. "I'll probably regret this, but... I'll give Sunny's ideal of second chances a shot."

With that being said, Sonic approached Allura and stopped right in front of her. He crossed his arms, but he also grinned, which made Allura rise an eyebrow and Twitch frown.

"Let me guess: You wanna join us to take Eggman down for tricking you?" Sonic asked with a mocking smirk.

"I want to make him pay for lying to me!" Allura replied with anger. "That rotten egg's gonna find out what happens when he tries to mess with me!"

"He kicked your ass big time, I was there," Sonic kept mocking up, but then he scratched his nose. "But I like your attitude! Even when your ass was kicked, you still wanna get your payback! That's some good enthusiasm. However, I'm not really happy with the number you pulled on my friends earlier, nor when I was there, nor when I wasn't."

"So? You want to get a round two?" Allura challenged, getting her face right into Sonic's.

"That sounds fun! But no." Sonic replied, still grinning. "I wanna make a little deal with you, just to be sure everyone ends winning."

Allura glared a bit at Sonic, before step a bit back and away of his face. "What kind of deal?"

"You're gonna help us take Eggman down, and you'll be at our side ALL THE TIME!" Sonic said with a frown. "In exchange, I'll let you give the final blow and do whatever you want with Eggman. He did mentioned something about not caring for your brother or something, right? I think that gives you - and Sunny considering he destroyed her house - the right to deliver the final blow."

Now that was tempting, simple and fair. Allura was impressed with how good the offer sounded, so she grinned and nodded. "Deliver the final blow to that traitor... That sounds delightful! Alright, Sonic. You have a deal."

Allura extended her paw, and Sonic stretched it with his hand, sealing this short yet fair deal between them.

"Huh. Looks like you did followed my advice after all!" Sunny's voice spoke, as she arrived alone with the group, weirdly, with a smile, which changed to a teasing one. "And here I thought you didn't believed in second chances."

Sonic thought he'll feel mad at her, but surprisingly, he just smiled. "What can I say? Like Amy said when we met, I can be a jackass sometimes."

"You're still being humble!" Knuckles said with a snort, earning a smack in his head from Amy, while Tails chuckled.

"Well, jackass, or not, you were right on a lot of things..." Sunny confessed. "But I'm willing to go 'till the end of this. Magic or not, I'm the protector of unity in Equestria. Is time I act like such!"

"So long as you don't leave me, my friends nor yours behind, you're welcome to the "Let's beat the shit out of Eggman" crew!" Sonic said with an honest smile, earning one from Sunny as well. "The only thing is, Tails and Allura can reach Angel Island, but we can't. The Tornado needs days to be fixed, and we don't have that much time."

"Well, luckily for you, we lost our Unity Crystals' magic... But not all of it is gone~" Sunny said with a smirk, singing the last word.

Before Sonic could ask what she meant, they all heard an engine roaring, then they looked upwards, and while everyone's eyes widened, Tails let out a hight pitched gasp that could be confused with a girl's.

Above them, a flying vehicle was slowly descending. This vehicle had Pegasus wings on it's side, a big window in front for the driver with a door with a heart window at the back. The windows on the side are light blue, purple, pink and white, as well as they have a symbol of the Unity Crystals on the front of it.

This vehicle was named the Mare Stream, and it was powered with a lantern that had similar magic to the Unity Crystals', but it could work on it's own without them.

"Okay... You guys have a lot of weird stuff and you cannot change my mind..." Sonic told Sunny at his side, before looking back at the flying vehicle with a smile. "But this? I gotta admit it: This thing totally rocks!"

Sunny only smiled at him, while Tails suddenly fainted in the ground from the massive impression he got.

Author's Note

Okay! So things are starting to go a bit better now... But don't celebrate yet, it won't last forever.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading! See you next chapter! :twilightsmile: