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!