The shrine expanded as Sonic entered it.

He looked around, still unable to believe that such a large place could be contained in such a small space. The power of the Zonai left him more and more impressed.

As he stopped in front of the entrance, Rauru appeared before him, smiling. "So you've made it here. Now then, extend your right hand."

Sonic obeyed, and extended his right hand forward. This time, he was not surprised to see the greenish energy accumulating in his palm.

For a while, the energy continued to accumulate. It stopped as soon as it formed a sphere, and it had the symbol of a sword with a glow at the tip. The sphere entered his new arm, and Sonic felt its power run through him completely.

"This is the Fuse ability," Rauru explained, and Sonic looked at him with a hint of excitement in his eyes. The mere name of that power gave him an idea of what it did, and that excited him greatly. "It allows you to fuse something nearby to your weapon or shield, thereby enhancing it."

If Sonic could, he would shake hands with Rauru and thank him a thousand and one times for saving him and giving him that new arm. Now he could combine anything with his weapons, and on top of that with his shields too.

He didn't know how much he wanted to have such an ability until now.

"And not only that: You'll be able to combine objects with your arrows when you use a bow," The spirit added suddenly with a knowing smile, noticing how excited Sonic was.

The hedgehog had to hold back the urge to act like a little boy excited by the new world of possibilities that had opened up before him. If Ultrahand had already expanded his options, Fuse made them infinite.

"I see you're eager to try out your new ability," Rauru said with a small laugh as he saw Sonic's eyes light up. "Why not pick up that sword just ahead and then fuse a nearby object to it? If you practice enough, you'll be able to create strong weapons in no time. Use Fuse, and receive the blessing from this shrine."

Rauru then disappeared, and with that, Sonic let out a combination of a cheer and a howl. He felt like the luckiest guy ever to have received such a power.

After calming down, he decided to heed what Rauru said and moved forward. He found a rusty two-handed sword buried in a sort of stone pedestal. He pulled the weapon out with some effort and looked at it, then looked at the pair of rocks nearby.

With the sword in hands, he aimed at one of the rocks, concentrating as he stared at it. His right arm glowed, and he felt the energy run through him until it surrounded the sword completely. Then, a green aura came out of it and made contact with the rock he was looking at.

Sonic then pulled the sword up, and with a snap, the rock attached itself to the tip of the sword.

He lowered the weapon and examined it closely, marveling. The rock had shrunk significantly, and now seemed to be part of the sword, as if they had always been one being. This blew Sonic's mind, and thousands of different combinations began to form in his mind.

He remembered the wooden stick he had and the construct horns. He quickly pulled both out and set the horn down on the ground, while holding the stick in his right hand.

Just like before, he focused completely, aiming the stick at the horn and staring at it as Fuse's power coursed through his arm. He pulled the stick back, and with a snap, the horn attached to it.

He looked closely at the weapon he had created, and still couldn't believe it. The horn looked like it had always been part of the stick, as if what was left of it had always been the handle of the horn. It was surreal, and yet, he loved it.

He put away the soldier reaper, as he chose to call the weapon, and kept the sword with the rock, which now looked more like a really big hammer.

Sonic used that hammer he had created to break some huge stone pillars that blocked the way, and they all fell to pieces in seconds. That combination had been very useful. As soon as he got out, he would thank Rauru for the tip.

He went deep into the sanctuary, and saw a pair of stone pillars to his left. In the one further back, at the very top, there was a chest.

Sonic broke the pillar with the hammer, and the chest fell right in front of him luckily. If it had fallen on him, he would have either hurt his head, or he would have died outright. He opened the chest, but inside he only found a bunch of arrows. He was going to be disappointed, until he remembered that Rauru mentioned that he could fuse the arrows with objects if he used a bow. Then he was thankful that he had obtained them.

He turned to look at the other side of the room, and saw a hallway that led to another room. When he crossed it, he found a bow buried in the ground, and several strange berries in a group of bushes. They were shaped like strawberries, but inside they seemed to have lava.

Sonic didn't really know what to make of that berry, but then, further back in the same room, he saw a chest high up on a wooden platform. Around the platform were dried autumn leaves. He wondered what that chest was doing there, and how he would get it down.

He remembered Rauru's words again, and then he took one of those berries, then combined it with an arrow using Fuse. Now it looked like a fire arrow, so he took out his bow and drew it, aimed high and shot, hitting the leaves right on the bottom.

The leaves caught fire, and soon the fire spread to the other leaves and the wooden platform, which burned for a while before turning to ashes.

The chest on the platform fell to the ground with a thud, and Sonic walked over to the chest. When he made the symbol dissipate with his hand, he opened the chest, finding a small key. It was shaped like the same eye as on his shield, and he was beginning to suspect that it was a Zonai eye. The rest of the key had a very specific engraving that he had never seen before.

He walked back the way he came, and noticed that there was a locked door. He walked over to it and used the key he had just obtained to open the door. As soon as he did, the key disappeared. He decided not to question it and continued on.

He turned left and went up a short flight of stairs. When he reached the top, he saw another room up ahead, and he headed there without hesitation. However, he soon found himself slowing down and getting defensive, as he saw a construct up ahead. This one, unlike the others, had a longer, pointier horn, with edges that resembled curves.

Sonic put away the rock hammer and took out his soldier reaper, equipping his shield as well.

As soon as the construct saw him, it went into defensive mode. It pulled out a green bow with gold details from somewhere, held a rusty sword, and suddenly, combined a rock from the ones on the ground with the sword, turning it into a rock hammer.

The construct initially aimed an arrow at Sonic and fired, forcing him to use his shield to defend himself. Then, he noticed that the construct was approaching him, and he let it. The construct raised its hammer and prepared to hit Sonic, but the hedgehog performed a perfect guard at the last moment, stunning the construct.

Sonic took advantage of the situation and began to attack the construct with his soldier reaper. The damage was significantly higher than he expected. He then realized that the construct's horned weapons also hurt them.

He couldn't waste this information, so he waited for the construct to regain its senses. When it did, it began to spin its arms around itself in a 360-degree axis as it headed for Sonic. He waited for it to get a little closer, and when it was, he did a backflip at the last moment, and felt as if time had stopped around him.

As he hit the ground, he accelerated inhumanly and shattered the construct into pieces, causing it to fall limply to the ground.

With the construct destroyed, Sonic took its sphere and its horn, which now seeing it more closely, he knew would be very useful for a weapon, so he put the new horn away and continued on his way.

At the end of the hallway there were some wide steps that he climbed with some effort, and then, he reached the pedestal with the figure of Rauru and that earth pony mare that he didn't recognize, and he wasn't sure if asking Rauru about her would be a good idea.

He touched the symbol with his hand in front of the pedestal and made it dissipate. Immediately afterward, the chamber with the figures opened, while greenish symbols flew through the air.

"You have done well to reach this place," That voice spoke in his mind. "We offer this light that will cleanse you of evil."

Immediately afterward, the green symbols floating around the figures transformed into golden flashes that entered Sonic.

Just like last time, he felt himself regain some of the strength that was taken from him at the foundation of the castle. A part of him hoped that there would be more shrines in Equestria so that he could continue to grow stronger. With enough light from enough shrines, he would be as strong as ever.

Slowly, the light faded, and Sonic looked at the figures again.

"May the Light of Blessing grant you the strength you seek," The voice said.

Then, the figures were enclosed, and Sonic could no longer see them. He knew what that meant, so he turned around and walked down the path toward the exit of that shrine.

When he came out, the sun was brighter than before. He guessed it was midday.

He looked at his right arm and smiled. He now had the power to create anything with just a wave of his hand, and on top of that he also had the power to combine objects into his weapons. Sunny, and most likely Tails too, were going to study him as soon as they found out, and he was excited by the idea.

"Sonic…" A monotonous, metallic voice suddenly spoke, and Sonic realized that a steward construct was approaching, he guessed the same one who gave him Sunny's phone since it knew his name. "I came because there is something I failed to give you. Please take it."

The Construct opened his compartment again, and with his greenish stone hand, he took out a strange artifact. It was a kind of stone cluster. Eight small capsules that seemed to be filled with a thick, green liquid were attached to the device.

Sonic took the cluster and examined it strangely, then placed it on the left side of his belt so that it wouldn't be awkward to use them.

"What I have just given you are Energy Cells. They are required to make use of the tools known as Zonai devices," The construct said once Sonic accepted the cluster.

"Zonai devices?" The hedgehog asked confused.

"You'll find several of them spread throughout the island," The construct explained. "You can also obtain them through Zonai dispensers. You just have to deposit 1 to 5 Zonai charges to obtain them."

Sonic was about to ask what Zonai charges were, but he deduced it himself when he took out one of the many spheres he had obtained fighting the constructs.

"So that's what they work for..." Sonic said to himself, smiling.

"You can also use construct horns if you run out of charges," The steward construct added. "I cannot demonstrate the cells' utility because there are no Zonai devices right here, however."

Sonic wanted to feel disappointed, but he didn't. "Where can I find Zonai dispensers or Zonai devices?"

The construct turned around, and pointed to a cave to the east of where they were.

"I have associates on the other side of that cave system," The artifact replied. "They can teach you how to use the cells." The construct turned to look at Sonic again. "I hope that the Energy Cells I provided will be useful to you."

Sonic looked at the batteries on his belt, and a doubt crossed his mind. "Do the batteries run out?"

"Their life cycle is long, but if you exceed it, they will run out," The steward construct replied. "Despite that, they recharge again in a matter of seconds."

"...I understand..." Sonic said simply.

Finally, he finished his talk with the construct and set off.

As he made his way to the cave, he came across several constructs. He equipped his Soldier Reaper and shield and faced them all one on one. When they fell defeated, they dropped their horns and Zonai Charges, which he kept.

Once he reached the cave, he found many minerals, which he broke using the rock hammer he had just obtained at the shrine. He obtained a ruby, four flints, a halite, and 3 ambers, which like the first one he found, were shaped like a weapon.

Sonic decided to use one of the ambers, combining it with a rusty sword he found in that same cave. The handle of the sword remained, but the rest of the blade turned into the amber. It was a shiny weapon, and Sonic knew it would be very useful.

He advanced through the cave, and came across a very shiny seed. He had accidentally stepped on one of them, and was about to scold himself for such a mistake.

However, the seed rose and seemed to suddenly light up the cave. It wasn't dark, but that seed made him feel the opposite all of a sudden. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that he was going to need a few in the future, so he collected them.

He went deeper into the cave, and near a chest, he came across a group of winged monsters identical to the ones in the castle's foundations. They were called keese, but Sonic didn't know that. He simply killed them all in one hit with a spin attack.

He also took their eyes and wings that fell off when they died. They could be useful later.

He walked towards the chest he saw, surrounded by some brightbloom seeds, as he decided to call the seeds that glowed, and opened the chest. Inside he found a somewhat old gray toga. It seemed to have a skirt included, with a green cloak on the left side that covered his arm, while the right side had nothing.

Sonic put it on immediately, and despite being a little torn and old from the passage of time, it was also incredibly comfortable, unlike those damn sandals.

At least he would finally stop feeling so cold when night fell.

Not far from where he found the chest, he saw the exit of the cave, and headed there immediately. Upon exiting, he found another very large lake that he couldn't swim across. To the left was another ruined house, with Rauru sitting on the edge. To the right, he saw three steward constructs with several tree trunks and some kind of fan, or was it a turbine? He wasn't sure.

"I see you already have Fuse in your possession," Rauru's voice brought Sonic out of his thoughts.

The hedgehog turned to look at the spirit and approached him. "It's much better than I imagined," He said with a small smile, then looked at the steward constructs. "What are they doing?"

"They build boats to get to the other side of the lake," Rauru replied. "If you already have the cells for Zonai devices, you can use the fans nearby and make your own boat if you need to cross."

"It's... unreal how much power your people had," Sonic said to Rauru, then looked at him again. "How many constructs did you guys make?"

"More than I could count," The spirit replied with a nostalgic smile. "The Steward Constructs were the first to be built. After that, we crafted others suited to different roles. Culinary Constructs, Maker Constructs... You'll find all sorts of them still active in this place. Some became so skilled within their specialties that they surpassed us. We began to learn from them instead."

Sonic assumed that the constructs attacking him were also created by the Zonai. He looked at Rauru in confusion. "The constructs that always attack me, did you make them too?"

"Indeed. We created them to defend these lands from invaders," Rauru said. "To me and the Steward Constructs, you are a visitor. To the Soldier Constructs, you are a threat. But don't worry about defeating them, that is their purpose after all."

It's not like Sonic really felt guilty about defeating the soldier constructs, as they are apparently called, but he still felt relieved when Rauru assured him that there was no problem in doing so.

Once again, he was tempted to ask Rauru about that mare that appeared on the pedestals of the shrines, but he feared the answer. Still, he preferred to dive right in and ask him.

"At the shrines I found an interesting pedestal," Sonic said, looking at Rauru, and he could swear he saw him tense up. "There was a Zonai and an Earth Pony mare. I know you must be the Zonai, but... Who is that mare?"

Rauru didn't answer, at least not right away. However, Sonic could see his gaze darken, and the spirit placed his hands together on his lap, letting out a sigh.

"I was beginning to think you'd never ask me," Rauru said with a sad laugh, then looked at Sonic. "That mare is... was my wife."

'Was?' Sonic wondered in his mind. Rauru's expression became unreadable, so much so that he even seemed expressionless.

He didn't know whether to ask the next question, but curiosity got the better of him.

"...So what... what happened to her?"

"I let myself be carried away by my confidence and pride, which led me to make many mistakes," The spirit said, sighing regretfully. "She paid the price for my foolishness."

Sonic scolded himself for asking. It made sense that the mare was Rauru's wife, considering that the figures held hands, or hooves in her case.

He knew then that he shouldn't ask any more. He would be lying if he said he wasn't curious to know about her, but he didn't want to hurt the spirit more. It was already dead, and deserved to rest in peace.

He decided that he would continue on. He walked over to a group of tree trunks on the ground and, with the power of Ultrahand, he joined them together, thus forming a raft. The thing is, there were no masts with sails anywhere.

However, he watched as one of the Steward Constructs assembled a raft, then placed a fan on the back, then moved the raft into the water and hit the fan, turning it on and making the raft move.

Sonic decided to follow suit, grabbing one of the fans that were nearby and attaching it to the back of the raft. Following that, he put the raft in the lake and climbed on, then hit the fan with his Amber Blade.

The fan turned on and began to move the raft, and along the way, Sonic looked at the cells attached to his belt. He noticed that one of the capsules that were at the end was beginning to wear out at a very slow rate. That construct wasn't lying; they did take a while to wear out.

When he reached the other side of the lake, he got off the raft and climbed up a long set of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he saw a camp of Soldier Constructs on the left, and a cave on the right.

Being the reckless boy that he was, Sonic decided to charge headlong into the constructs. He equipped his Amber Blade and attacked one of the three constructs by surprise. The other two became alert and emitted that horrible warning sound, but Sonic managed to withstand it.

After that, he waited for another construct to approach, making a perfect guard when it attacked, and then impaling its eye with the Amber Blade.

The last construct standing was identical to the one he found at the shrine where he obtained Fuse, with a curved and longer horn. It carried a wooden stick combined with a wooden board, and also carried a bow. Sonic waited for the construct to shoot and miss with the bow. When it did, he tried to get closer, but the construct used the stick with the wooden board and released a gust of wind that sent Sonic flying backwards, crashing back into a wall.

He shook his head, and stood up. The construct's weapon was a large fan, so he would have to be careful now.

He decided to take out his bow and combined one of those lava fruits he found in the previous shrine with an arrow, then he drew the bow and aimed at the construct's eye. He let go of the arrow, and it hit the target right on target, stunning the construct for an instant.

He sped towards it, taking out his Amber Blade again, and struck it in its arms, in its chest, and finally pierced its eye, making it fall limp to the ground.

With the Soldier Constructs defeated, a nearby chest unlocked. Sonic walked over to it and opened it, taking out another opal that he kept. It might come in handy later.

He soon made his way to the cave he had spotted earlier, where he could see almost nothing. He had crashed into the wall on more than one occasion, and he was convinced that this was going to hurt him in the morning, much more than it hurt now.

He went down a slope and found a light behind some rubble blocking the way, but there was a small gap through which he could continue.

He climbed over the rubble and crossed that gap, landing on his feet on the other side, and noticing a Steward Construct right next to an open brightbloom seed, the source of the light he saw earlier.

Sonic approached the construct, who was quick to notice his presence.

"This cave is especially dark," The construct said, and Sonic had to keep from rolling his eyes. As if he didn't already know that he couldn't see anything. "You will need a light in order to proceed to the mining site ahead."

'The mining site?' Sonic questioned. He then noticed the old, rusty rails that were buried in the ground.

He remembered that if he didn't bump into something earlier in the dark part of the cave, he definitely tripped over something on the ground. He didn't know what because it was dark, but now he seemed to understand that they were rails for mine carts.

"Do you have any brightbloom seeds?" The construct asked, bringing Sonic out of his thoughts.

'I got the name by accident,' The hedgehog thought with amusement. "I found some in another cave," Sonic replied, shrugging.

"I feel better knowing that," The construct said in his metallic voice. "These brightbloom seeds grow natively in caves such as this one. It will generally be in your best interest to use brightbloom seeds in dark places such as this.

Sonic thanked the construct for the tip, and continued on his way. Going deeper into the cave, he noticed that it was very dark, so he took out his bow and combined one of the brightbloom seeds to an arrow, then aimed at a random spot and released the arrow.

This caused the seed to stick to a wall of the cave and open up, greatly illuminating the site and now showing the way forward.

He kept walking, shooting more brightbloom seeds at the walls with arrows to illuminate the dark spots, until he finally reached the mine. There were about 3 constructs in that place. One of them was near a cauldron, another was next to a tall pillar that had three spheres on top of it, and the last one was digging an ore that he had never seen before.

The ore had a glow that reminded him a bit of the one he saw with Sunny beneath the castle, which made him think that maybe that ore came from here. But how did it end up underground, then?

'I better keep going,' thought Sonic, shaking his head. 'If I keep overthinking everything, I'll definitely go crazy, if I'm not already.'

Sonic approached the construct near the pillar with spheres to talk. When the construct noticed his presence, it turned to look at him.

"This is a mine-cart station." The construct explained. "Excavated resources can be transported from here." After saying that, the construct noticed confusion on Sonic's face. "Could it be that you have forgotten to bring Zonai capsules?"

"...Zonai capsules?" Sonic asked, feeling somewhat foolish for not knowing what the construct was talking about.

"You have forgotten yours. Or perhaps you may not even know what I mean?" The artifact questioned, and Sonic just shook his head. "Zonai capsules are a convenient means of carrying portable Zonai devices. It is unfortunate that you seem to have none. I will lend you a few spares."

With that, the construct took the three capsules that were on the pedestal next to him, then turned to Sonic and handed them to him.

Doubtful, Sonic took the three capsules, which fit in his hand perfectly. Inside he made out the figure of fans, on all three, and remembered what Rauru said about a Zonai power to contain large places, and he supposed objects too, in small containers.

"The ones I gave you were fan types. You can deploy them at any time. They will generate wind when struck," The construct explained. "Zonai devices are useful and come in many varieties. I always carry several with me for any occasion."

With that said, Sonic looked at the capsules in his hands, then noticed the rails up ahead and the mine carts. He figured he would have to continue that way.

Without further ado, he put away two of the capsules, then used Ultrahand to place a cart on the rails. Following that, he opened the capsule in his hands with them, and the fan inside came out, growing to its normal size immediately.

Sonic took the fan and attached it to the back of the cart, climbed on it, and kicked the fan, turning it on and causing the cart to start moving and traveling along the rails.

When he finished the ride, Sonic got off the rails, and not far away he noticed a strange structure. It was a large machine with several capsules inside, and in the middle of the machine, a closed space that he assumed only opened to release the capsules.

He remembered that the Steward Construct who gave him the cells spoke of Zonai dispensers. This had to be one of them. He hurried to the device, and next to it he saw a Steward Construct, with whom he decided to speak.

"Device dispenser operation confirmed," Said the construct, focused on its work. "On track to meet today's Zonai-capsule production target." Soon, the construct turned to see Sonic, noticing his presence. "Oh? Do you want to use the device dispenser? I have nearly met my target. You are welcome to use it."

Sonic merely nodded, so the Steward Construct stepped aside, giving him room to use the generator. The hedgehog approached a storage area in the machine, then took out 5 Zonai charges and deposited them.

The generator started up, and a green light continued its path until it found the part where the capsules were. That same area rose slightly from the ground, then lowered, and in a few seconds, about 7 capsules slid down a ramp, stopping at Sonic's feet.

He walked over to look at the capsules up close. He had two new fans in his possession, as well as what appeared to be 2 saucepans, if the shape of the capsule object was to be believed, and 3 artifacts that looked like the head of a dragon.

Sonic didn't quite know what those heads were, but he wasn't going to wait long to find out.

Author's Note

I was planning to end this chapter differently, but I'm going to save what I had in mind for next time. I promise the secrecy will be worth it

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading, see you later!