Various tools littered the floor on the second floor of the Ponyville Library, the upstairs area having been turned into Tails' temporary workshop. The fox himself was sitting in the middle of the floor, his toolbox next to him as he made some repairs to his radar. "That blast from the Chaos Emeralds sure took care of the changelings and restored quite a bit of color to Ponyville, even affecting Whitetail Wood, but it also fried out my new handheld. I'm glad it didn't completely destroy it, or I'd have to totally start from scratch again," he murmured to himself. He looked over at Twilight's writing desk, where he had laid out the Chaos Drives and Power Cores he'd collected and said, "Still, this gives me an excuse to make some improvements to it. I should be able to make the radar more accurate at least."

He turned his attention back to the radar, focusing on getting it repaired quickly and correctly. As he worked, he allowed his mind to wander to recent events. "With the changelings gone, everybody's busy doing something. After he returned the Master Emerald to Angel Island, along with Chaos and Tikal, Knuckles went with Big to help the ponies start repairing the damages caused by the changelings. Amy, Cream, and Cheese went with Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders to look for Granny Smith and any other ponies that might have been brought back. Team Dark is making sure that the changelings don't come back, along with Espio I'm sure, and Fluttershy went to check on her animals. With Gilda gone who knows where and Rainbow Dash checking on her home and Tank, that just leaves me, Sonic, Twilight, Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie together at the moment. I wish we could help out too, but everybody has their own thing to do for now, and right now somebody's got to keep working on restoring Ponyville and the rest of Equestria to normal."

At that thought, he looked up and glanced out the nearby window, saying, "Now that I think about it, I wonder what Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are doing right now. Are they still talking with the Mayor? I wonder how they're taking things."

While Tails turned back to his radar, out in front of the library, Mayor Mare was indeed still talking with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. After everyone had split up, the princesses had come across the tan mare while they were going with Twilight and the others back to the library. Celestia had given Twilight the Elements of Loyalty and Honesty and told her that they would come find her and the others at the library once they discussed the situation with the Mayor. The discussion quickly turned into the earth pony telling them what Twilight and Tails had deduced back at the town hall following the Nightmare Moon encounter.

When the Mayor finished talking, Celestia asked, "And that is everything that Twilight and Tails told you, Miss Mayor?"

The tan mare replied, "Yes, your highness. I'm afraid I don't know how they came to that conclusion, but as strange as it sounds, what they said does seem to make sense. I certainly couldn't come up with a better explanation for why Ponyville is in this… unusual white world or why there are suddenly human-like animals here."

Luna spoke, "Perhaps we should ask them ourselves, see if they have made any changes to their theory. Would you like us to tell you if they have, Miss Mayor?"

The Mayor shifted a bit nervously. She'd accepted Luna just like the rest of Ponyville on Nightmare Night, but even with the Lunar Princess' quiet demeanor, she still carried a certain air about her reminiscent of olden times. It gave her a certain authority that the tan mare wasn't used to; even her older sister didn't have it, or at least it didn't seem to hang around her. "Er, only if they have made any serious changes to it, Princess Luna. By which I mean if they've discovered anything that could be particularly dangerous, of course! No need to tell me if they've only made minor adjustments!" she quickly said.

Celestia nodded, "As you wish, Miss Mayor. If you'll excuse us…"

The earth pony bowed, saying, "Of course, your highnesses. I am going to go check on the reconstruction efforts." The Princesses nodded at the Mayor as she stood up and they watched for a minute as she trotted away from the library. A moment later, they turned to the front door of the library and walked towards it, Celestia using her magic to open it.

Inside, they saw Sonic, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike gathered in the lobby of the library. Pinkie was happily bouncing around the room in a circle; as the sisters watched, they heard her spouting, "And then those beams came out of that big shiny emerald like ZING! Then Sonic and Tails and Shadow all lit up like colorful lights and then the emeralds floated up, up, and away! And then they came together and they were all like SHOOM and then BOOM!"

Taking a look at the others, Celestia and Luna noticed the others were doing an excellent job of tuning the hyperactive pony out while she spouted random matters of interest. Sonic and Twilight were standing by the table in the center of the library with all the collected Chaos Emeralds and Elements of Harmony laid out in front of them. Twilight was using a quill to write something on a scroll and Rarity and Spike were standing off to the side, Spike's eyes secretly fixed on Rarity while the white unicorn's eyes were looking at the emeralds on the table.

Sonic, while looking over the emeralds and necklaces, noted, "Three Chaos Emeralds and three Elements of Harmony… We're roughly halfway to a full collection, huh Twilight?"

The lavender unicorn, while keeping her eyes focused on the scroll in front of her, absently replied, "Uh-huh."

Sonic looked over at her, watching the quill dance across the paper under the influence of her magic. A moment later, he asked, "What are you writing, anyway?"

Twilight, still focused on the scroll, replied, "Just making a checklist based off of what I've heard from you and Tails."

Sonic leaned over to get a look at the list she was making. At the top of the of the checklist, divided into two columns, was a list of his and Twilight's missing friends, each of them identified by a little drawing of their respective heads (she'd even done one for herself!). Except for Blaze, Zecora, Vector, Big Macintosh, Charmy, and Derpy, each of them had a little checkmark in the box in front of their heads. Below that list were two more columns, one for the Chaos Emeralds and one for the Elements of Harmony, both columns having three checkmarks in them. Sonic couldn't help but take note of her thoroughness.

Shaking his head, he asked, "Why are you making a checklist?"

Twilight finally looked up at him, smiling as she said, "It… well, it's just something I like to do. It helps me feel more organized." She looked past him and noticed Celestia and Luna stepping inside, Celestia pulling the door closed behind her. "Oh! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" she exclaimed. Looking back at Sonic, she murmured, "Uh, can you excuse me, Sonic? I should, uh…"

Sonic nodded, "Sure, no problem." Twilight nodded gratefully and walked over to the two Princesses, greeting them. Sonic watched her for a second before looking back down at the table. He looked over at her checklist; it seemed normal enough. He could believe that it was something she did often. Looking back at the emeralds and necklaces, he thought to himself, "What was it the Changeling Queen said? Something about my friends being like 'her' friends? Was she talking about Twilight? I don't know who else she could be referring to if not Twilight or one of her friends, but… Twilight mentioned her brother's wedding to me earlier, and the changelings tried to take over Canterlot on her brother's wedding day. Is there a connection?"

He was brought of his thoughts when he felt a poke and looked up to see Spike standing in front of him on the table. "Oh, hey Spike. What's up?" Sonic asked.

Spike glanced around, seeing Twilight talking with the Princesses, Pinkie still bouncing around the room, and Rarity keeping her distance for the time being. Seemingly satisfied, he turned back to Sonic and said, "Oh, not much. I was just wondering if you had any dating advice you could share with me."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "Dating advice? What makes you think I'd know anything about dating?"

Spike scratched his head as he replied, "Well, I thought you were holding out on me when the Changeling Queen was posing as you and acting all close with Amy."

Sonic asked, "And you're assuming I know anything about dating on that alone?"

Spike shrugged, "The way Amy was acting made me wonder. I mean, listening to her, you'd think you two have been dating for a while."

Sonic crossed his arms, "We have… in her mind. I stand by what I said, Spike. Until Amy stops with the whole 'heavily infatuated' thing, she's not my girlfriend."

Spike kept prodding, "Well, then you've thought about it, haven't you?" He turned and nudged Sonic with his elbow, grinning, "It's cool, dude. Even if they're just ideas, you can share them with me."

Sonic deadpanned, "Dude, talking to me about this sort of thing is a waste of time."

Spike leaned back and pleaded, "Aw, come on! There's nothing wrong with two guys talking about that sort of thing! I won't tell anypony, I swear! Not even if it turns out you really do like Amy!" He looked up at Sonic's face to see the same deadpan expression on his face; he held his claws up, muttering, "Okay, okay, I get it. Sheesh…" He then turned and walked to the edge of the table, hopping down onto the library floor.

Sonic watched him for a moment before shaking his head. "Wonder if he's looking for advice to get Rarity to notice him?" he wondered.

Speaking of the white unicorn, she sauntered up to his side and spoke, "You're just shy about admitting you like the dear girl, aren't you, Sonic?"

Sonic looked at her and groaned, "Not you too, Rarity…"

The white unicorn insisted, "Oh posh, darling! I've seen the way she talks and carries herself around you. You two would make quite the couple!"

Sonic replied, "Yeah, a high-speed hedgehog and a girl who, whenever she sees said hedgehog, gets stuck in squeal mode. Definitely a match made in heaven."

Rarity waved a hoof, "Oh, don't be so crass. She really likes you! You just need a proper gift to show her how much you care." Looking down at the Chaos Emeralds, she added, "And I can certainly help with that."

Sonic followed her gaze and said, "Don't tell me you already have plans to make a dress or a ring or something with the Chaos Emeralds."

Rarity looked up at him and replied, "Oh, perish the thought, Sonic! They're beautiful, yes, but even I wouldn't go so far as to use them as though they were no different from any other gem."

Sonic shrugged, "I think Rouge said something similar once."

Rarity looked at the emeralds again as she said, "I wondered why my gem-finding spell was acting so strange around you. I thought it was acting up, but it was actually responding to the gems you had! But I digress; I do not see why they are called 'Chaos' Emeralds. They certainly don't appear to be causing any chaos. Also, the purple and yellow ones look more like an amethyst and a topaz to me. Are you really sure they can be referred to as 'emeralds'?"

Pinkie suddenly popped up behind Sonic, surprising both him and Rarity as she spoke, "Oh Rarity, you're so silly! Of course they can be called emeralds! They were probably all green at one point and ended up changing colors! That's why you call them emeralds, right Sonic?"

Sonic looked back at her and replied, "Uh… maybe. I got to see into the past once and they were all already different colors by that time, so I don't know." Looking back at Rarity, he said, "As for why they're called the Chaos Emeralds… They were named after Chaos, the water creature that saved you and the others from the changelings."

Rarity gasped, "That's right! Twilight and Princess Celestia both said its name was Chaos! But… it seemed so… so docile!"

Sonic nodded, "Yeah, he's a nice guy. Except when someone manages to make him really angry or when the world is in danger. Then he lives up to his name."

Pinkie eagerly asked, "Really?! You mean he can make cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk?! Because that's what Discord did that I really liked!"

Sonic looked at her oddly before replying, "…No, he doesn't do that, Pinkie. At least I've never seen him do it."

Pinkie looked disappointed, "Aw…" She then asked, "What about you, Sonic? You know what these emeralds are; can you make cotton candy clouds?!"

Sonic shrugged, "I don't think strange happenings are all there is to chaos, Pinkie."

Princess Celestia's voice floated over, "Indeed. There is much more to it than that." Sonic, Rarity, and Pinkie looked over to see Celestia, Luna, and Twilight coming over, Twilight apparently done answering the two princesses' questions. Pinkie, while walking backwards, edged around Sonic while Rarity took a step back and Spike looked up from where he was sitting on the stairs. Sonic maintained his calm composure as the Princess of the Sun stood in front of him while Luna and Twilight stood back, looking on somewhat worriedly.

Celestia spoke, "I am not particularly fond of chaos, not after everything Discord caused before Luna and I used the Elements of Harmony on him all those years ago. If you're collecting them as Twilight says, then I'm afraid I require some information about them. Normally, I would have all of Equestria to think about, but right now, all I have is Ponyville."

Sonic scratched his head as he replied, "Well, they're not going to turn all Discord on us, if that's what you're wondering. I mean, I can't claim to know much about the guy, but I've never seen the Chaos Emeralds do anything like what Twilight's told me about."

Celestia asked, "Then why? Why are they called the Chaos Emeralds? And why is that water creature called Chaos?"

Sonic answered, "Chaos used to be a normal Chao, like Cheese, but when he came into contact with the Master Emerald, the big green emerald Knuckles had, it turned him into what he is now. He wanted to protect his fellow Chao, but Knuckles' tribe wanted the emeralds for themselves. They… well, they didn't try to take them nicely, let's just put it that way, and that made Chaos angry. In his anger, he used the negative power of the emeralds to become Perfect Chaos and destroyed most of Knuckles' tribe. Tikal managed to stop him and seal him inside the Master Emerald before he could destroy the rest of the world, but since then, they've been known as the Chaos Emeralds."

Celestia looked at him in silence for a moment; she then spoke, "You mentioned that the emeralds have negative powers, but when Knuckles used that… Master Emerald, he called upon your positive feelings. If their power is negative, how could he have done that?"

Sonic looked over at the emeralds and picked up the yellow one in his left hand. He then turned to Celestia and said, "Here, hold it." The Princess of the Sun looked down at it, eying it warily as she lifted a hoof out of one of her boots and took it out of the hedgehog's hand. As soon as she held it up, her wary look disappeared as she felt the power within the emerald. It didn't beckon to her, mess with her mind… it felt warm, life-giving. This was unexpected.

She looked up at Sonic as he explained, "The Chaos Emeralds are essentially alive in their own way. They can sense the feelings of whoever uses their power. And their energy is changed depending on the kind of feelings they can sense. Negative feelings, you can bet nothing good can come of it. Positive feelings… well, miracles happen is the only way I can think to phrase it." He then held a hand to his chin as he pondered, "Maybe Discord was able to do all those things he did because of the way he used his own power."

Celestia nodded, "Perhaps. It doesn't forgive some of the things he did, though. But I understand what you are saying." She then held the emerald out to Sonic, saying, "If you're as familiar with these emeralds as you say you are… well, I'll listen to what you're saying."

Sonic took the emerald back and smiled, "Thanks, Celestia. Er, I mean Princess Celestia." She placed her hoof back in its boot and held it up, waving it to indicate she understood he meant no offense. Twilight and Luna smiled at this.

Celestia then looked behind Sonic, noticing Pinkie Pie had walked up behind him and was flicking one of his quills absently. "Excuse me, Pinkie Pie, but what are you doing?" she asked. Sonic turned around to look at the pink earth pony at that.

"I thought I saw a shiny on Sonic's back! I wanted to see it again!" Pinkie explained. Confused, Sonic ran a hand back through his quills. After a minute, a crystal came loose and fell on the floor of the library.

Everybody looked at it. "What's that?" Twilight asked.

"Looks like quartz. Must've ended up in my quills without me even realizing it," Sonic replied. Running his hand through his quills again, he dislodged some smaller crystals, all of them landing on the floor as well.

Rarity looked at them all with sparkling eyes. "Ooh, simply exquisite! I don't believe I've ever seen such pure, beautiful crystals before!" she exclaimed.

"And I don't believe I've ever tasted one before!" Spike said, leaping up and dashing down the stairs.

Rarity held him back from grabbing one of the crystals, saying, "Now, now, Spike. They wound up in Sonic's fur; he gets to decide what to do with them. Still…" She closed her eyes and walked over to Sonic, opening her eyes and giving the hedgehog one of her best looks. "You wouldn't happen to be willing to part with these crystals, would you, Sonic?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

Sonic shrugged, "Sure, go ahead and take them."

Rarity looked confused, "Really?"

Sonic nodded, "Yeah, no problem. I doubt I'm gonna use them for anything." Although she was still confused about why her charms didn't seem to have an effect on Sonic, Rarity began to gather up the quartz crystals, giving a few to Spike to munch on.

Suddenly, the front door burst open and Rainbow Dash flew inside. She landed on the wood floor and said, "Hey guys, I'm back! My house is okay, Tank is doing fine and…" She then realized the two princesses were there and exclaimed, "Oh! Princess Celestia, Princess Luna! I'm sorry! I was so caught up in the moment I almost didn't notice you!"

Princess Celestia came over and said, "That's quite all right, Rainbow Dash, just as long as your house and your pet tortoise are okay."

Luna and Twilight walked over to Sonic, Luna whispering, "This has been quite a day for surprises."

Sonic replied, "Yeah, that's one way of looking at it."

The door leading to Twilight's study opened and Tails stepped out, peering down at the scene below him. "Uh, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked. His question caught everybody's attention and they all looked up at him.

Sonic spoke first, "Hey Tails. What's up, bud?"

As the fox started to come down the stairs, Twilight asked, "Were you able to fix your radar?"

Tails, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, answered, "Yeah, I managed to get it working again thanks to all those parts I picked up. I was also able to add a few things to it."

Sonic grinned, "Can you play Tetris on it now?"

Tails gave him an odd look, but smiled, "Not yet. I'm still working on that." He then held up the radar in his left hand and said, "But I did make the screens bigger, added a map of Ponyville and the surrounding areas, and improved the radar's ability to pinpoint the location of portals." He then held it up in front of his face and turned it on. A few seconds later, he spoke, "Hey, look at this!"

Sonic, Twilight, Rainbow, Celestia, and Luna came over, looking over the fox's shoulders (or in Rainbow's case, over his head) at the dual screens. The bottom screen was displaying all sorts of numbers that were rapidly cycling while the top screen displayed a detailed map of Ponyville. They all soon noticed a blinking dot in the corner, Luna asking, "What is that?"

Tails replied, "That should be where the next portal has appeared. With the improvements I made, I should have its frequency soon."

Rainbow asked, "Hey Twilight? Isn't that the spot where we watched the meteor shower from?"

Twilight looked at the spot carefully for a moment before replying, "I think you're right, Rainbow. That looks like the same hill."

Princess Celestia looked at Tails and asked, "What is this frequency you mentioned, Tails? What do you need it for?"

While watching the numbers cycle, Tails replied, "Well, each portal we've come across leads to a specific location set in a specific point in time. With the frequencies, we can pinpoint their locations and know when new ones open up so we're not running around aimlessly looking for them."

Celestia nodded, "I see. I can see how that wouldn't be easy to do, especially now with all the ponies being brought back."

Tails looked up at her and replied, "That's right, princess!" A sudden beeping caught his attention and he looked at the bottom screen of the radar to see the frequency had been recorded. "Got it… Huh?" As he spoke, both screens suddenly went black.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"I think you might have a bug or two to work out, Tails," Sonic noted.

The fox looked up at him and replied, "Yeah… That might be because I replaced the old power unit with those Chaos Drives I picked up, or maybe something else needs to be replaced."

Luna asked, "What can we do?"

Tails rubbed his head as he answered, "I don't know. I'll need to open it up again and see if I can find the problem."

Rainbow said, "Well, at least it showed us where this new portal is. We should go check it out!"

Twilight asked, "Yeah, but… what about the radar?"

Tails shrugged, "Guess I'll be sitting this one out to fix it."

Sonic asked, "You sure, buddy?"

Tails nodded at him, "Yeah. It's helped save us a lot of time. And once I know what the problem is, it should be easy to fix. Besides, I'm sure you guys will be able to handle whatever is on the other side of that portal without me."

Rainbow said, "Probably, but… it's not going to be the same without you, you know?"

Tails smiled, "Hey, it's not like I'm dropping out for good, Rainbow. I'll be back in it with you guys before long. You guys should get going."

Rarity spoke, "But Applejack and Fluttershy are not back yet. We can't leave without them at least knowing where we're going."

Sonic stepped away from Tails and leaned back against the table in the center of the room, resting his elbows on it as Rainbow landed next to him. "Yeah, I guess you have a point, Rarity. We can't just leave them hanging," he said.

Princess Celestia, who had stepped back along with her sister, spoke up after a few moments, "I have an idea." Everybody looked at her at that. She continued, "I am curious to see where these 'portals' lead, so Luna and I will go with Sonic and Rainbow Dash to investigate."

Even Sonic was surprised to hear this, the hedgehog standing up straight and asking, "What?!"

Celestia smiled at him, "What? After helping face down the changelings, you don't think we would be able to help?"

Sonic replied, "No! I already know a princess who knows how to defend herself. I just didn't know you were so forward, princess."

Luna looked at Celestia and said, "Sister, you… are you mad?! I understand that, as rulers, we don't get out often, but traveling through time and space was not exactly high on my list of things I'd do on a day off!"

Celestia looked at her and replied, "Luna, I understand why you are worried, but as rulers, we have to be ready to manage a crisis when it appears. And Twilight was right; our world and Sonic's world have both been caught up in this crisis, and the only way to resolve it completely is if we all come together. I'm sure Sonic and his friends can fill us in, but perhaps we could understand better if we experienced what Twilight and her friends have been doing with Sonic so far firsthoof."

Luna gave her sister a hard look for a minute before relenting, "Well, when you put it that way…"

Rarity asked, "Princess, what shall I, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Spike do?" Spike looked up when he heard his name, bits of quartz sticking out of his mouth.

Celestia looked at him for a moment before saying, "Spike may do whatever he wishes for now. As for Twilight, I believe she could most certainly help Tails with his repairs in some way."

Tails looked at the lavender unicorn and said, "Sure! It would definitely go faster if someone was willing to stay behind and help."

Twilight looked down for a moment, thinking before she looked back up at the fox and replied, "Okay, I'll help. Although I'm not sure my magic will be able to help you here. When we were fixing those devices, the only thing I really did was charge them up. I'm not really sure I know how to control my magic for precise work with machinery."

Pinkie Pie piped up, "Machine work? Hang on!" She zipped over to one of the bookcases and grabbed a book with her teeth before zipping back over to where she had been standing and throwing the book in Twilight's direction. "'Floodgate Control: A Unicorn's Guide to Managing Magic and Machinery'," she stated proudly.

As Twilight held the book up and flipped through it with her magic, Sonic looked over at Pinkie and asked, "How'd you know where that was?"

The pink party pony replied, "It was the last book I saw before I came over to talk to you and Rarity!"

After a minute of flipping through the book, Twilight said, "Hey Pinkie, this is perfect! Thank you!"

The pink pony bounced up and down happily, "Whoo-hoo!"

Tails looked at Twilight and asked, "So you'll help?" Twilight looked at him and nodded, so Tails said, "Great! And while we're working, maybe you could tell me a little bit about unicorn magic. I have to admit, I'd really like to know more about it."

Sonic nodded, "Me too! If saving two worlds wasn't at the top of our to-do list, I'd totally stick around and listen." Looking up at Celestia, he asked, "Speaking of which, is it safe to assume that Rarity and Pinkie Pie are going to be the ones who tell Applejack and Fluttershy what's going on right now?"

Celestia nodded, "If they don't mind, that is."

Pinkie Pie spoke, "Oh, absolutely, Princess Celestia! We'll tell them! Besides, I should totally see how Mr. and Mrs. Cake and Pumpkin Cake and Carrot Cake and Gummy are doing! I can do that before I go see Fluttershy! Ooh! Should I give her a singing telegram?!"

Twilight smiled weakly, "Whatever you prefer, Pinkie."

Rarity said, "And I shall go inform Applejack of this turn of events as soon as I take these crystals back to the Carousel Boutique." She and Pinkie then started for the door, but Rarity stopped partway and looked back, saying, "Oh, before we go… when you're all done, we'll all meet over at Sweet Apple Acres." She then opened the door with her magic and trotted out gracefully with Pinkie Pie bouncing along behind her.

Sonic looked at Rainbow and asked, "Sweet Apple Acres, huh?"

The cyan pegasus looked at him and said, "Yeah. Makes sense; Rarity probably wouldn't want to just walk to the farm, tell Applejack what's going on, and then go back the way she came to meet up at, say, the park where we have our pony pet play date."

Tails nodded, "Okay. A walk will probably do us some good after we finish." He then walked over to the table and picked up the Chaos Emeralds and Elements of Harmony on it. Looking at Sonic, he said, "Twilight and I will hang onto these for now. Do you still have the Warp Ring?"

Sonic reached into his quill and pulled the ring out, twirling it on his left index finger as he replied, "Got it."

Tails nodded, "Good. I want you to have it with you just in case anything happens." Sonic nodded; Tails then walked over to Twilight and said, "Come on, Twilight! Tell me about unicorn magic while I work!"

Twilight smirked; how could she pass up a chance to go into lecture mode, especially with someone so eager? She conjured up a pair of glasses as she followed Tails up the stairs. As the upstairs door closed, everyone downstairs heard her saying, "All right, then. We'll start with the basic theory of magic…"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and smiled, "Eggheads."

Sonic shrugged, "Eh, what are you gonna do?" He then put the Warp Ring away and asked, "So, would you happen to know where this hill is?"

Rainbow nodded, "You bet! Follow me!" She then cantered towards the library's still-open front door, Sonic and the princesses following behind her. As she stepped out, Luna used her magic to quietly close the door.

Spike, still sitting on the floor, eyed the door for a minute. He then looked upstairs, Twilight's voice carrying somewhat through the closed wooden door. He then glanced down at the quartz crystals in his claws and on the floor before shrugging, "Well, the princess said I could do whatever I want right now, so…" He proceeded to toss a crystal up, catching it in his mouth and crunching noisily, his eyes closed in bliss.

---

Sonic, Rainbow Dash, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna found themselves in a hallway exactly like the one that the portal in the town hall pavilion had led to. Sonic and Rainbow looked around; even though they had clearly entered the portal floating above the hill, it seemed as though it had led them to the same place. Even the stained glass windows along the sides of the room were the same.

Rainbow Dash soon asked, "How did we get back here? We went through the portal on the hill, not the one in the pavilion!"

Sonic shrugged, "Maybe it just looks the same as the hallway that the pavilion portal led to. You said there was an image on the door at the end of the hall, right, Rainbow?"

Rainbow looked at him and said, "Yeah! It had, uh... you-know-who on it!"

Luna raised an eyebrow, "Who is 'you-know-who'?"

Celestia looked at her younger sister and said, "I believe she's referring to the apparent encounter with Nightmare Moon that Twilight, Applejack, and Sonic had." Luna looked a little uneasy at that.

Sonic nodded, "Right. So if the door looks different, it must lead to somewhere different!"

Rainbow said, "I gotcha! Let's go check it out!" She and Sonic then ran towards the opposite end of the hall. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna followed them at their own pace, after Celestia gave Luna a little nudge to shake her out of her thoughts. When they reached the end of the hall, they found Sonic and Rainbow standing in front of a door that displayed an unusual-looking lizard on it. Rainbow looked at Sonic and asked, "Any idea what that is?"

Sonic held a hand up to his chin as he said, "It's hard to tell since it's a rough design, but it looks familiar. I think..." Before he could finish, the door started to open, a white light shining out from behind it and forcing everybody to cover their eyes for a moment. When they could look again, they saw that the door was open all the way and the white light seemed less harsh. Sonic and Rainbow looked at each other for a moment before running into the light. Celestia and Luna hesitated for a second before walking through the door themselves.

---

The four of them stepped out of a portal into a decagon-shaped room that Sonic instantly recognized, the portal instantly closing up behind them. There were four sheets of glass underneath them and several windows and some kind of computer at the opposite side of the room, the windows all allowing a clear view of both Earth and the stars. They all walked forward on the non-glass part of the floor, Sonic walking slightly ahead of Rainbow Dash and the princesses. "Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked as she came to a stop.

Sonic continued walking forward, coming to a stop in front of one of the windows. He pointed out and, looking back over his shoulder, said, "Check out the view."

Rainbow, Celestia, and Luna walked over and looked out the window. All three of them were struck speechless when they saw the blue planet below. "Is… is that…?" Celestia started.

Sonic nodded, "Yep. That's my world. And with that, let me be the first, and maybe the only one, to welcome you all to Space Colony ARK."

Rainbow looked at him with wide eyes, "Wait… You mean… this is THE ARK? The same one we saw earlier? Where Shadow was born?"

Sonic nodded, "The very same."

Rainbow exclaimed, "Oh man, this is so awesome! I wish everypony was here to see this, especially Twilight! You know she'd love to actually set hoof on this thing!"

Celestia looked at Sonic in surprise, "You mean… your world is so advanced that you can actually live in space?"

Sonic replied, "Not really. The ARK is the only one of its kind right now, and it was meant to only be used for scientific testing and experimentation."

Luna asked, "If this is a 'research center', why is it so quiet and empty?"

Rainbow said, "Because they shut it down fifty years ago over an 'accident'! It wasn't an accident; they weren't thinking when they heard about Gerald's experiments!"

Sonic asked, "Did Tails tell you and Applejack about that?" Rainbow nodded, so he said, "Okay then, because I told Twilight, Spike, and Scootaloo about it. I was wondering if you knew about the whole accident too, but I never got around to asking you."

Before Celestia and Luna could ask what they were talking about, a sudden sound outside caught everyone's attention. "What's that?" Celestia asked.

Sonic looked towards the window, "It sounds like the Eclipse Cannon is opening up!" He pressed his hands up against the window, looking out as Rainbow Dash pressed her forehooves up against it and looked out as well. Celestia and Luna looked out the window, though they kept their forehooves on the floor.

Outside they could see the Eclipse Cannon's cover opening up, exposing the weapon that destroyed the Black Comet. As they looked out at it, something began to appear along the length of it, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. When it was done, they could see a massive, two-legged lizard attached to the Eclipse Cannon!

"What in the name of Tartarus?!" Luna exclaimed.

"Luna!" Celestia admonished her younger sister.

Rainbow looked at Sonic and asked, "What is that thing?!"

Sonic looked back at her, asking, "Did Tails mention anything about Gerald Robotnik's experiments prior to Shadow's creation to you and Applejack?"

Rainbow nodded, "Yeah. I think he mentioned something about lizard research."

Sonic looked back out the window and said, "Well, there's the end result of that research. That thing out there is the prototype of the Ultimate Life Form!"

Rainbow looked back out the window in shock, "No way! That's what they had before Shadow?! That thing?!"

Celestia looked at Sonic and asked, "Is it dangerous?"

Sonic replied, "Well, the last time it attached itself to the ARK, it was trying to keep the colony on its crash course to Earth to destroy the planet."

Rainbow grimaced, "Not cool. Not cool at all."

The Biolizard swung its neck back, its head raised as it let out a roar. "What is it doing?" Luna asked.

Sonic replied, "I don't know. But it doesn't look happy, so I'm not waiting to find out." He reached into his quills and pulled out the Warp Ring. Turning around, he tossed it up, the ring expanding with a *PHVWOW*.

Rainbow asked, "What are you doing, Sonic?"

The hedgehog replied, "I'm going out there. The ARK has an extensive array of platforms on its underside that can be stood on. And it was designed to have an artificial atmosphere; no need to worry about the vacuum of space as long as you're near the ARK."

Rainbow said, "Well, in that case, I'm going with you!"

Celestia spoke up, "And Luna and I will accompany you as well."

Luna looked at her sister with wide eyes, "Celestia?!"

Sonic asked, "What? You seriously want to go up against a mutated lizard-thing?"

Celestia nodded, "Yes. Now that your world is caught up in this, Luna and I are responsible for it as well. I know you're more familiar than we are with that creature, but there would be no point in us coming with you in the first place if we did not help out, correct?"

Luna glanced out the window nervously at the Biolizard, murmuring, "I don't know, sister…"

Celestia looked back at her, giving her a reassuring look as she said, "Don't worry, Luna. I will not allow any harm to come to you."

Luna looked down at the ground, thinking, "It's not my own safety I'm worried about…"

Celestia turned to Sonic and Rainbow Dash, asking, "So, shall we fight alongside each other once again?"

Rainbow replied, "Hey, if you're sure you'll both be okay, princess, I don't have a problem with you and Luna coming!" She looked at Sonic and asked, "What do you think, Sonic?"

Sonic shrugged, "Sure. I know an old path that leads directly to the Eclipse Cannon." He walked over to the Warp Ring and placed a finger on it, saying, "I just need to adjust the Warp Ring so we don't run the risk of having no floor underneath us."

Rainbow said, "That's not really an issue for me or the princesses. I mean, we have wings and all."

Sonic replied, "But I don't. And we're close enough to Earth that its gravity will try to pull us down. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to risk a reentry into the atmosphere."

Celestia nodded, "A valid point. So how does…?"

Sonic stepped away from the ring and gestured towards it, "All you have to do step through it. It'll send you from point A to point B in a second."

Celestia stepped towards it, examining the shining surface on the inside of the ring. "Interesting… And this will take us directly to this path you mentioned?" she asked.

Sonic nodded, "Yep. It's already set, princess. We're good to go." Nodding, Princess Celestia stepped through the ring, her majestic form vanishing as she passed through the shimmering surface on the inside. Sonic and Rainbow looked at Luna, the Lunar Princess looking back at them uncertainly for a moment before walking over and following Celestia through the ring. Sonic and Rainbow looked at each other for a moment before Rainbow went through the ring and Sonic followed her.

Upon stepping out of the other side of the Warp Ring, Sonic held up his left hand as the ring shrunk down. It then floated up and dropped down into the palm of his hand. He slipped it back into his quills and then looked around. He saw that he was standing on one of the rectangular platforms outside of the ARK along the path to the Eclipse Cannon and saw that Celestia, Luna, and Rainbow Dash were all standing nearby. Despite what Sonic had told them, both Rainbow and Celestia both looked amazed that they were actually standing out in space while Luna looked less impressed (though considering what Twilight had mentioned about her, Sonic guessed that that made sense).

They were all dragged back to the present when they heard a roar above them, all of them looking up to see the Biolizard looking down at them. "Whoa! He's even uglier up close!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"I bet he looked nicer before he was experimented on," Sonic commented.

Celestia looked at Sonic and asked, "Do you remember how to calm this creature?"

Sonic pointed up at the Biolizard and said, "There's a life support machine on his back. If that gets damaged or destroyed, he gets really weak."

Rainbow grinned, "No problem, then! I'll build up a little speed and fly right up there and take it out!" Before anyone could stop her, she spread her wings and took off, flying around the protrusions from the underside of the ARK as she built up speed.

Luna asked, "Should we go after her?"

Sonic nodded, "Yeah. I don't know what she has in mind, but it's going to take more than one hit to take that thing out."

Celestia looked back at Sonic and asked, "What do you propose we do?"

Sonic replied, "You and Luna can fly on ahead after Rainbow. I'll go the long way around and start working on a plan. I should have a better idea of what to do after I take stock of the situation. The ARK was falling to Earth the last time that thing appeared, after all. There was no need for a plan then."

Celestia nodded, "Understood. Come, Luna, we must hurry if we are to catch up with Rainbow Dash." She then spread her wings and leapt off the platform, flying in the direction Rainbow Dash had been going. Luna hesitated for a second, looking back at Sonic for a moment before following her sister.

Sonic, meanwhile, leapt on a nearby grinding rail and began to grind along it, heading for the Eclipse Cannon. As he reached the end of the rail and began to move on foot, he looked up at the Biolizard and thought, "He may not be as weak as he was the first time, but that life support machine is still the only part of him that's not protected. As long as we keep it together, we'll be able to defeat that thing, even without the Chaos Emeralds."

Soon, with Rainbow Dash…

Rainbow glanced at the Biolizard as she zipped around another tower, building up speed. She eyed the device strapped to its back, noting the dome-like protrusion on top of it. "That must be the weak spot Sonic mentioned. All I gotta do is pop that bubble and we're done here. As I thought, one good Sonic Rainboom should be all it takes!" she thought. She faced forward again, planning to fly towards the Biolizard.

Before she could get far, however, she became aware someone was calling her name and looked back to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flying behind her (though they were still some distance away). Noticing a square-shaped platform below, she landed on it and waited for the princesses. Once they were in hearing range, Rainbow asked, "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, what are you both doing here?"

Celestia and Luna landed a second later, Celestia replying, "To watch over you, Rainbow Dash. Sonic is not so sure whatever you are planning will be enough to stop this… this creature."

Rainbow asked, "What?! How can he say that?! I wrecked a barn once with my flying! A Sonic Rainboom should be more than enough to trash that thing's life support system without putting anypony in danger!"

Luna spoke, "Your dedication to others is admirable, Rainbow Dash, but surely you don't think you can do this by yourself?"

Rainbow replied, "Of course, princess! It'll be just like the royal wedding!" Without waiting for a response, she spread her wings and took off, flying up again.

Luna looked at Celesta and asked, "Sister…?"

Celestia nodded, "We'll continue to keep watch. Make sure she is able to pull off a Sonic Rainboom in space. It feels as though something about this artificial atmosphere is very different from the atmosphere we're used to…" She then spread her wings and took off, Luna following behind her.

As they flew after the cyan pegasus, they could see she was flying around the floating platforms and the protrusions from the underside of the ARK to build up her speed again. Once she was sure she had built up enough speed, she started flying towards the Biolizard. As she flew under a walkway leading directly to the Eclipse Cannon, she saw Sonic running along it. Coming up on the other side of it, she shot him a grin and a wave of her hoof before she began to fly up above the Biolizard. This was it; the barrier break was coming…

It never came.

As she reached the height of her ascent and changed direction to fly for the life support system, Rainbow realized she wasn't close to breaking the sound barrier yet. Gritting her teeth, she poured on the speed as she flew for the Biolizard's life support system, sure she was close. She began to feel it, the waves in front and behind her, but it wasn't enough. Not only did she not perform the Sonic Rainboom, but she crashed into the side of the life support system, having not made sure she was spot-on with her target. Sonic saw her crash and started running again, the hedgehog having stopped when he saw her to watch what she was doing.

Celestia and Luna, meanwhile, saw what happened as well and flew into action. Celestia could already see that Sonic was moving to help Rainbow, so she turned to Luna and said, "We have to distract it! Quickly, Luna!" The Lunar Princess nodded and they flew up towards the Biolizard, Celestia unleashing a small beam of magic energy at it to draw its attention away from Sonic and Rainbow Dash.

The beam struck near the creature's left eye and it roared as it turned its head to look at the two princesses. It closed its mouth for a moment and then opened it again, firing a round of pink spheres at them. Celestia and Luna flew around these shots as best they could. They somehow managed to avoid the shots without losing part of a wing or worse. Celestia flew up along its right side while Luna flew up along its left side.

Along the Biolizard's right side, Celestia summoned more magic into her horn and unleashed a more powerful beam of magic energy, aiming for the creature's neck. When it struck, however, it did little more than push against the Biolizard before Celestia stopped using her magic. "It… it completely absorbed my attack…" she thought. She didn't get much time to ponder this as the Biolizard turned towards her and fired a beam of its own at her from its mouth. Celestia managed to get out of the way, though she could swear she had been close to losing part of her ethereal tail.

Pushing it out of her mind, she looked up to see Luna further up the beast's body, fluttering a short distance away from its life support machine. Celestia was confused; was she hesitating to attack? "Luna! Attack it!" she called, hoping her sister would be able to hear her. The Princess of the Night looked at her uncertainly for a moment before channeling her magic into her horn. It took her several seconds, longer than it should have taken for a being such as her, but she unleashed a weak cobalt blue beam from her horn.

It struck the center of the life support machine, but it didn't seem to have much effect, other than attract the Biolizard's attention. It swung its neck around and roared in her direction, Luna looking back at it with wide eyes. Celestia immediately began flying to her sister's side at that. She managed to reach Luna as the Biolizard fired several spheres in their direction. Celestia immediately used her magic to teleport them both away, the two princesses reappearing on the other side of the beast.

As they flapped their wings to remain in place, they heard Sonic call, "Luna, Celestia!" They turned to look. Sonic was sliding down the cable extending from the Biolizard's life support system with Rainbow Dash slung over his left shoulder. He held up the Warp Ring in his right hand and called, "Come on, we've gotta go!" He then threw the ring forward, sending it flying. Luna immediately flew towards him and Celestia flew after her. The ring grew to its full size a second later and Sonic leapt off where the cable split into two, carrying the still dazed mare with him through the ring. Luna followed soon after with Celestia hot on her hooves.

The ring deposited the four of them in a mostly gray room with dim lighting. While Sonic retrieved the Warp Ring, Celestia lit up her horn to provide a little extra light. In front of her, she could see that the room split in two directions. She turned to Sonic a second later and asked, "Where are we?"

Sonic replied, "We're back inside the ARK, near the research area. I remember passing through a little bit of this section when I was up here with Shadow."

Sonic eyes moved in Dash's direction as he heard the pegasus groan. He walked over to a nearby wall and gently set her down, kneeling in front of her. Dash raised a hoof to her forehead as she moaned, "I have a headache."

Sonic snickered and said, "Well, after a crash like that, I can believe it."

He stood up and backed up a few steps as Rainbow climbed to her hooves, still using one hoof to rub her forehead. She lowered it a second later and looked around. "Hey, where'd that thing go? And where are we for that matter?" she asked.

Sonic shrugged, "We're on the inside of the ARK. I figured it would be a good idea to fall back and come up with a plan."

Rainbow protested, "But… I had a plan!"

Sonic nodded, "I know. But you didn't really share it with us. I mean, you didn't abandon us or anything, but you kind of took off to do your own thing, Rainbow."

Rainbow replied, "I knew what I was doing! One Sonic Rainboom and that thing's life support machine would've been toast!" She looked away as she muttered, "Everything should've worked out. I pulled it off so easily at the wedding. Why couldn't I do it this time?"

Sonic held a hand up to his chin, running it back and forth as he thought of what to say. After a moment, he looked over his shoulder and saw Celestia and Luna talking. Judging by their body language, Sonic assumed they were also talking about what just happened. He nodded to himself; he then put his right thumb and index finger in his mouth and whistled loudly. Everypony immediately stiffened up and looked at him, the silence making the noise seem even louder. Sonic then made a 'T' shape with his hands and said, "Time out!"

Celestia asked, "Time out? What…?"

Sonic explained, "I think it would do everyone in the room some good and clear up some of the tension in the air if we switched things up a bit."

Luna cocked her head, "Switched things up?"

Sonic nodded, "Yeah." He walked over to Celestia and gestured for her to lower her head. The princess complied and Sonic started whispering in her ear.

Celestia looked at him once he was done talking and asked, "Are you sure that's wise, Sonic?"

Sonic replied, "I don't know, but I do know that I'm probably not the one who should be talking to Rainbow about her Sonic Rainboom. And I'm sure you've talked to Luna plenty of times in the past. It might be a good idea to let her talk with someone else."

Celestia looked at him for a moment before saying, "Well, Twilight did manage to help her greatly during her first Nightmare Night, when she wanted to be accepted by the ponies of Ponyville. Perhaps… it wouldn't hurt."

Sonic nodded; he then looked at Luna. The Lunar Princess looked back at him a bit worriedly, asking, "S-Sonic?"

Sonic held up a hand and said, "Luna… let's take a walk." He turned and started walking towards the left path, stopping briefly to look back over his shoulder. Luna looked at Celestia when he did, the Solar Princess nodding softly in response. Luna nodded back and then trotted towards Sonic, the hedgehog waiting until she was alongside him before he started walking again. Luna lit up her horn to provide a little extra light as they neared the corner.

After they passed out of sight, Princess Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash and walked over to her. The cyan pegasus began to get nervous at the sight of the princess towering over her and began to tremble and curl up slightly. "P-P-Princess, I…" she started.

Celestia held up a hoof to silence her, Rainbow immediately closing her mouth at the gesture. The princess then said, "It's all right, Rainbow Dash. Sonic holds nothing against you for trying to help, and Luna and I don't either. However, it's clear that stopping that creature will not be easy. So let's talk about your Sonic Rainboom… and what we can do to make sure it will work for the next time."

Meanwhile, with Sonic and Luna…

Sonic and Luna stood at the top of a ramp, looking over the various powered down computer screens and looking at one of the ARK's old Gun Lift tracks. "My, this 'ARK' is certainly an impressive construct," Luna noted in an attempt to make conversation.

"Yeah, it sure is. I bet it was even more impressive when researchers lived here and it was up and running," Sonic said as he started to walk down the ramp.

Luna slowly followed him down, taking great care with each step she took. "It appears to be in rather good condition. Why has it not been resurrected yet?" Luna asked.

Sonic replied, "It's been hidden away from the world for the last fifty years due to the accident that occurred here. I think it's been left alone since the Black Arm invasion as part of the United Federation's homage to Shadow's creator, Professor Gerald."

Looking around, Luna asked, "So Shadow was born here?"

Sonic nodded, "Yeah, in a way. But I didn't want to walk with you to give you a history lesson. I mean, I'm sure you've had enough of those as it is."

Luna looked down as she murmured, "Yes… A thousand years spent in isolation in the Moon… I am still getting used to all the things that have changed since I was sealed in the very thing I am responsible for…"

Sonic glanced back at her as he asked, "Responsible…? You mean you're in charge of the Moon itself?"

Luna nodded, "Yes. I use my magic to raise the Moon every night. My sister uses her magic to do the same with the Sun, and during my banishment, she raised the Moon as well."

Sonic replied, "That's… cool, I guess. Being able to do both at once, I mean. But it sounds like it isn't easy being the Princess of the Night."

Luna said, "It is not. It never has been. Ponies look upon my night now as something wonderful and they even study it. This was not the case a thousand years ago." She sighed, "Nopony really appreciated me or the hard work I put into making my night sky beautiful…"

Sonic stopped and looked back at her sympathetically, the Lunar Princess coming to a stop as he said, "That's rough, Luna. Is that why…?"

Luna nodded, "Yes. That is why I grew resentful of Celestia and tried to bring about nighttime eternal." She sat down on her haunches as she murmured, "A thousand years later, I broke free and tried to make the night eternal once more, only to be freed from my dark power by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Celestia was happy to welcome me back, but the rest of Equestria…" She lowered her head as she closed her eyes, not caring that tears were beginning to gather. "I spent time in the castle learning about this age, learning everything I thought I'd need to know… And when I went out beyond Canterlot, all I learned just made ponies fear me more… As if that night didn't give them enough of a reason to…" She looked up at Sonic and glared at him, "I have never once touched a foal's backside for any malicious reason, Nightmare Moon or not! Do I look like a creature that would eat foals?! Is that the kind of thing ponies have become so quick to assume in this day and age?!"

Sonic, with his arms crossed, replied, "Are they so quick to believe their first judgment based on idle things they've heard and initial impressions? Sadly, yes. I should know; there are a lot of people in my world that are like that." Luna's glare receded, the princess looking at Sonic in silence as he spoke, "As someone who's fought to keep everyone in the world safe and keep the world from being ruled by a megalomaniac, I know what you mean. People didn't always welcome me with open arms. When my friends and I first showed up, we got a pretty negative response too. Some people were afraid of us, some reacted with hostility, and I'm pretty sure some people said things about us. We kept going, of course, but I still know that it can be disheartening to see people react that way instead of looking past the surface."

Luna looked at him with sad eyes. "S-Sonic… I had no idea…" she murmured.

Sonic shrugged, "It's all in the past. And when they saw what Dr. Eggman was like and what he was planning to do, they eventually changed their minds about us. Same with Shadow, once it was finally revealed what Professor Gerald really wanted."

Luna asked, "Shadow? But he's… he's so powerful… and not…" She trailed off at that point.

But she didn't need to continue, because Sonic caught on to the source of her distress. "Luna, are you afraid of your own power?" he asked.

Luna hesitantly nodded, "I… I am."

Sonic said, "But you used it against the changelings! You used it to save Pipsqueak!"

Luna replied, "My sister was the one who mostly used her magic in that battle. I attempted other means, but… when I saw Pipsqueak in danger, my emotions got the better of me. Although it was completely different, it still reminded me of how I became Nightmare Moon in the first place…"

Sonic asked, "You mean…?"

Luna explained, "I was not thinking properly when I saw ponies frolicking in my sister's sun and hiding away from my night. In my anger, I came across a new way to get them to notice me: through power. And… when I lost myself to it, I became Nightmare Moon…" She shuddered, "I can raise the Moon with hardly any effort. I can try to rule Equestria alongside Celestia. But I am afraid of falling prey to that desire again…"

Sonic asked, "Luna… you've tried to reconnect with the ponies of Equestria, right?"

Luna nodded, "Yes. There is an annual celebration called Nightmare Night. It is a festival involving fun activities and harmless scares, all started by the legend of Nightmare Moon. I went to Ponyville on that night to spend time among the common ponies and change what I thought was a dark celebration into a bright one. I had no idea that that's what it was all along."

Sonic said, "Your sister mentioned that Twilight helped you that night."

Luna replied, "Twilight Sparkle was the only pony who did not fear me when I arrived. She did everything she could to help me, even when my temper got the best of me. She… stood strong against my anger to help me again."

Sonic asked, "So she helped you to get accepted by the ponies of Ponyville?" Luna nodded; Sonic then said, "So that's why you'll help your sister rule, but not use your power." He then smiled, "Well, this is the perfect chance to work on that!"

Luna looked up at him in surprise, "What?"

Sonic explained, "You're in my universe now, Luna. There is nothing here that can cause you emotional baggage. What better place to work on getting your own power under control than a place where there is almost nothing to upset you? Learning to control your power while experiencing strong emotions might be a bit much to start with, but learning to control it in the first place is a better place to start. You can start by learning to keep it under control and help stop that prototype at the same time."

Luna stammered, "But… I do not know if I can… I might lose control… Something could happen that isn't supposed to… I don't want that to happen…"

Sonic smiled, "It won't, Luna. If there's one thing standing up against a megalomaniac has taught me, it's that, no matter what, you should never give up. That always seems like an easy way to avoid things you'd rather not remember, but there's always hope, no matter how little. As long as there's hope, you have to keep going, because giving up won't help anybody in the end. I'm sure Twilight learned that lesson too, when that Discord dude was loose."

Luna's eyes shifted down, looking at the ground as she considered his words. Sonic went on, "I know it's not easy, and I probably sound like a self-help book, but doesn't it make it seem easier if you have something to believe in? And Luna, you're not alone; you've got your sister, Twilight, her friends, and me and Tails to help you." Luna continued looking at the ground, her eyes beginning to water again. "Come on, Luna! You said you want to help your sister rule, make the night beautiful, and be accepted by the ponies of Equestria! Do you really want to just give up on all of that and retreat into a shell, hiding away from the world?"

Luna's eyes clenched shut as she shuddered, Sonic's words resonating strongly within her. A moment later, she threw herself at the blue hedgehog, exclaiming, "No!" She surprised the blue hedgehog by wrapping her forelegs around him in an embrace, tears once again falling from her eyes but for a different reason. Sonic remained silent as Luna let out how she felt, placing a hand on the back of her neck and running it back and forth. The Lunar Princess sniffled, "I don't want to give up. Not so easily. I will… try to be strong. Like Celestia, like Twilight, and… like you."

Sonic let her cling to him for a minute before gently pushing her back onto her haunches, a hand still on her side. "Dry those tears, Luna. They're not for you, so save them for someone who needs them," he said.

Luna raised a hoof to her face and wiped the tears away. She then gave Sonic a small smile, "Okay." Sonic smiled back at her.

A second later, they heard Celestia say, "Sonic? Luna?" They both looked to see the Sun Princess and Rainbow Dash at the top of the ramp.

Sonic waved, "Yeah, we're here." Celestia and Rainbow walked down the ramp at that, coming over to the square-shaped platform the two were standing on.

Rainbow asked, "Are you two okay?"

Luna nodded, "Yes, Rainbow Dash. We have talked and come to a consensus, so to speak." She then looked up at her sister and asked, "And you?"

Celestia nodded, "Rainbow and I have talked as well. And we think we have an idea on how to make sure her Sonic Rainboom works next time."

Sonic grinned, "Cool! Then let's see if we can come up with a plan to deal with that prototype!"

Soon, outside the ARK…

The Biolizard roared to itself in confusion as it looked around. Where were the ones that had attacked it earlier? Why did it feel the urge to destroy them when it saw them? Why did it feel like something was off about this situation, like there was something it was supposed to be doing? What was going on for that matter? All these questions swirled in the creature's head, but they didn't stay for long, its animal-like mind unable to focus on them.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash at the edge of its vision. As it turned to look, two beams, one yellow and the other cobalt blue, stuck it in the eyes, irritating them. The creature shook its head and roared, unleashing three lasers from its mouth at the source of the beams. Luna and Celestia flew to the side, dodging the lasers as they flew full speed at the Biolizard. Luna flew up along its right side and fired a bolt of electricity at its head, catching the creature's attention even though it absorbed the electricity. As she flew away from a volley of pink spheres, she screamed, "Come on, you moronic beast! What art thou the end result of?! Some twisted fusion of a lizard, a laser, and a vegetable?!"

The Biolizard flinched as it felt something strike near one of its life support cables and turned to its left to see Celestia flapping her wings to remain stationary, her horn still surrounded by her magic aura. It roared angrily at her; Celestia yelled, "Is that all you've got to say, you… stupid… lizard thing?!" It responded by firing a laser from its mouth at her. Celestia used her magic to teleport out of the way, reappearing above the Biolizard's neck.

As she got her bearings, Luna flew up to her and asked, "'Stupid lizard thing', sister?"

Celestia sheepishly replied, "Hey, I'm new to this!" Both their heads turned at another roar, the Biolizard twisting its neck around trying to get a good look at them. The two sisters separated, flying around it and doing what they could to keep its attention on them.

While the two princesses distracted the Biolizard, Sonic and Rainbow Dash were moving along below the creature, Sonic leading Rainbow down the old path to the Eclipse Cannon that she had skipped over last time. Sonic ran in front of Rainbow Dash, the rainbow-maned pegasus flying behind him and staying in his tailwind to build up speed. She was picking up speed pretty quickly by staying behind Sonic, but she would occasionally get out from behind him, especially when they had to alter the gravity so Sonic could continue. She didn't want to perform her Sonic Rainboom too early, after all.

As they adjusted the gravity once more, they looked up. It looked like there was enough distance for Dash to build up the remaining speed herself and strike the Biolizard while performing the Sonic Rainboom. Sonic called back, "All right, Rainbow! It's go time!" Rainbow nodded and, after a second, broke off while Sonic continued along the path, once again heading for the Eclipse Cannon.

As she flew, Rainbow Dash checked herself. Letting Sonic take the lead had given her greater speed, greater than she had had before. She flew up along the Biolizard's right side, the blur catching the creature's attention briefly before a beam from Celestia distracted it. Once she was at the appropriate height, she pulled a fast 180 degree turn and flew for the life support system. As she started, she could feel the artificial air rushing past her, a nearly invisible aura already forming around her front hooves. And just as the gap was beginning to close, it happened. The pegasus shot forward like a rocket, a rainbow ring spreading out from that point and a rainbow trail following her! She flew straight towards the Biolizard, slamming into its life support system and causing the creature to roar in pain as she pressed her hooves down against it before ricocheting off. While it was distracted, Celestia flew up and unleashed a yellow beam at the life support system, damaging it more.

As it thrashed around in pain and anger, the Biolizard saw Sonic running towards it. Reacting swiftly, it opened its mouth and fired a laser at the walkway he was running on, destroying the path in front of the hedgehog. Sonic managed to slide to a stop, but the rest of the path soon fell apart, the remaining pieces on both sides breaking off and falling and, unfortunately, taking Sonic with them.

While he was falling, Sonic looked around, trying to find something to land on or jump off of. Suddenly, he felt something come up from right under him, catching him. Facing forward, he realized it was Princess Luna! She looked back at him and asked, "Art thou okay, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog held his right thumb up, saying, "I'm fine, Luna. I'm just not fond of surprises like that."

Luna nodded. She then faced forward and said, "Hold on tight. I will get you back up there!"

Sonic placed his hands on her neck and said, "I'm ready when you are, Luna!" Nodding, the Lunar Princess adjusted herself, holding her forelegs out in front of her, pointing her back legs out, and tucking her head slightly down before flying away.

Rather than take the direct approach, Luna decided to try to keep the Biolizard guessing and circle around to attack. This path, still a part of the path Sonic had taken before, consisted of zero gravity debris from the ARK's plummet to Earth and floating barriers. This didn't concern Sonic or Luna very much, though; if Luna couldn't fly around it, she could move the debris or temporarily short-circuit the barriers with her magic. They didn't have to worry about the ARK's automated defenses because they were all shut down.

After a few minutes of flying, they were right under the Biolizard. Luna flew towards its left side and then up, getting above its life support system. As they hovered there, the Biolizard unaware, Sonic said, "You may do the honors, princess." At that, Luna reared her head back and then brought it forward, unleashing a cobalt blue beam from her horn at the machine. The creature roared as the beam struck, sparks flying off of the machine.

Once she was done, Luna bucked forward, sending Sonic flying towards the creature, yelling, "Send this beast from here, Sonic!" Sonic grinned as he flew towards the life support machine, curling up in a ball as he got close. He struck true, pushing against the machine for several seconds before an explosion erupted from it.

Sonic was pushed up by the explosion, but managed to grab onto one of the life support cables when he came back down. Looking back, he saw that the life support was in critical condition; one more good attack would take it out for good. Before he could communicate this to the others, however, the Biolizard suddenly let out a loud roar and all of a sudden, it felt like the pull of gravity had increased dramatically. Sonic suddenly lost his grip and began to fall, many of the platforms surrounding the ARK beginning to fall as well.

As he fell, Sonic noticed the Rainbow Dash and the princesses were being dragged down as well, though it also seemed as though gravity was starting to return to normal. This was proven true as Rainbow, Celestia, and Luna were soon able to use their wings to stop their descent. Sonic, meanwhile, was able to land on one of the falling platforms, which was now being pulled down normally.

Rainbow flew down to Sonic, followed by the princesses, and asked, "Sonic, what's going on?!"

The hedgehog replied, "That thing's gotta be messing with the gravity around it! I think it did the same thing to Shadow when he was fighting it!"

Luna said, "Then we must stop it before there's nothing left for you to stand on!"

Rainbow asked, "But how, princess? If it's still doing that gravity thing, we can't even get close to it!"

Celestia said, "My magic and Luna's should be unaffected by the gravity field. If you and Sonic can get close, Rainbow Dash, we should be able to distract it and get it to stop."

Sonic nodded, "Sounds like a plan, princess. Let's do it!"

Rainbow said, "Yeah!" She then turned to Sonic and asked, "Do you want me to carry you up there?"

Sonic grinned, "No need." He looked up and pointed, prompting Rainbow and the two princesses to look up. Above them, more platforms and pieces of the ARK were falling. Sonic said, "You go on ahead, Dash. I'll use the stuff that's falling to keep up."

Rainbow grinned, "All right, let's go!" She then shot straight up towards the Biolizard. Sonic nodded at the princesses, both of them nodding back, and then dashed to the edge of the platform, leaping to another platform and then another to follow Rainbow Dash. Celestia and Luna nodded at each other and then Celestia used her magic to teleport, both of them reappearing up near the Biolizard.

Looking down, they saw that Sonic and Rainbow Dash were quickly making progress, Sonic surprisingly (to them, at least) easily keeping up with Rainbow, even when he wasn't running straight up a platform. The blue hedgehog came to a stop on the last platform, looking up as Rainbow was unable to fly up any further. The Biolizard was looking down at them, keeping them in its sights.

It was time. Together, Celestia and Luna channeled their magic into their horns, each giving off a brief flash before releasing their magic beams. The yellow and cobalt blue beams twisted around each other as they flew, both striking the Biolizard's life support machine at the same time. The creature roared in pain, the gravity around it returning to normal as it looked around.

Sonic and Rainbow Dash nodded to each other, Sonic leaping up towards the cyan pegasus. She held out her left forehoof and he grabbed it with his right hand. Rainbow then immediately flew up towards the Biolizard, carrying Sonic along. Once they were just about above it, Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and Sonic started them spinning. After a second, they both curled up into balls, one blue and the other cyan and rainbow colored. While spinning, they whipped around the Biolizard, going behind it and then back towards its front. Instead of aiming for its front, however, they aimed for the life support system, both striking it at the same time. Their attack completely destroyed the life support machine, the Biolizard letting out one final roar as it was engulfed by the resulting explosion.

Both Sonic and Rainbow managed to bounce away from the life support system after hitting it, resulting in the explosion sending them both flying. Celestia and Luna saw them and flew to help them, Celestia catching Sonic on her back while Luna grabbed Rainbow Dash with her forelegs. Shaking his head after landing on the Sun Princess' back, he looked at her and said, "Whoa! Thanks for the save, Celestia."

Celestia smiled at him, "It was no trouble at all, Sonic."

Behind them, Rainbow looked up at the Princess of the Night and chuckled, "Heh heh, uh, thanks Princess Luna."

Luna nodded down at her, but as she looked up, she noticed some kind of green light shining down from part of the ARK. Celestia noticed her expression and asked, "Luna, what's wrong?"

Her sister replied, "Look over there. What is that light?" She nodded her head in its direction, Rainbow, Celestia, and Sonic looking.

"Yeah and where's it coming from?" Rainbow asked.

"Let's take a closer look," Celestia said, starting to fly towards it. Rainbow would've flown herself, but decided that shaking free of a princess' hold probably wasn't a smart idea, so she remained quiet while Luna followed her sister. When the two sisters reached the light, everybody looked up at it. It looked like it was leading somewhere. The princesses flew up; after about a minute, they found themselves in a large green room with many flickering lights. "Where is this?" Celestia wondered as she and Luna landed on one of the platforms in the room, Luna setting Rainbow Dash down beforehand.

Sonic slid off of Celestia's back and looked around. "I think we've found the ARK's computer room," he said after a moment.

Rainbow soon pointed at the lone computer terminal on the platform, saying, "Princesses, Sonic, look!" They all looked where she was pointing. There, sitting on the panel of the computer, underneath the screen, was the blue Chaos Emerald and Pinkie Pie's Element of Laughter necklace.

Sonic grinned, "Sweet!"

He was about to run over to the computer, but Celestia stopped him with her left wing and said, "Allow us." Both her and Luna's horns lit up, a yellow aura surrounding the Element of Laughter and a cobalt blue aura surrounding the blue Chaos Emerald. Both of them levitated off of the computer a moment later, floating over to Sonic, who grabbed the necklace with his left hand and the emerald with his right.

Rainbow smiled, "This is great! We found another one of our Elements of Harmony and one of your Chaos Emeralds, Sonic! We'd better tell the others right away!"

Sonic nodded, "Yep. I don't think we need to hang around here any longer." He placed the emerald on top of the necklace, saying "Let me just get the Warp Ring so we can leave."

Rainbow walked over to him and said, "Here, I'll get it for you." She started running her forehooves through his quills before he could protest. A second later, she brought the ring out, holding it in her right hoof. "All right, now all I have to do is toss it, right?" she asked.

Sonic shifted the Chaos Emerald back to his right hand, saying, "Just a second." He touched the ring with the emerald, the ring emitting a bright white light for a few seconds. After it faded, Sonic said, "That should keep it going. Okay, go ahead." Rainbow nodded and threw the ring, causing it to expand a second later.

Sonic and Rainbow Dash walked over to it, standing along the sides of it. "After you, your highnesses," Rainbow said.

"Next stop, Sweet Apple Acres!" Sonic added. Celestia and Luna nodded and walked forward, stepping through the ring. Rainbow followed them and Sonic went in after her.

---

"Thanks again for that lecture on magic, Twilight. I liked it, and I really learned a lot too," Tails said. He, Twilight, and Spike were walking down the path leading to Sweet Apple Acres, having passed through Ponyville to check on how the repairs were going along the way.

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty enjoyable too," Spike commented.

Twilight glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, "Spike, you weren't even there for it. You spent almost the whole time downstairs in the library."

Spike nodded smugly, "Exactly."

Twilight shook her head and rolled her eyes before turning to Tails and saying, "Anyway, Tails, I thought your lecture on the Chaos Emeralds was really good too. Do they really get bigger when they end up in this 'Special Zone'?"

The fox replied, "Not always, but sometimes. Sometimes they even look different. The zone can really mess with your head sometimes. But they always go back to normal when they're brought out of the Special Zone."

Spike scratched his head, "So how do you get to this so-called zone again?"

Tails glanced back and said, "Usually through the Warp Rings. Even though it's separate from our world, there's a barrier between our world and the Special Zone that the Warp Rings can get past. That's also why we've been able to use the Warp Ring that Sonic found; time and space are so messed up right now that it's easy to warp from the points in the past back to Ponyville and vice versa. If it's not possible to overcome the barrier or you can't think of the area you want to warp to, the rings usually don't work."

Twilight exclaimed, "Fascinating! So…"

Before she could continue, Spike pointed out, "Hey, we're just about there."

Tails and Twilight looked forward to see that Sweet Apple Acres wasn't too far away. "Oh. That didn't take long," Tails noted. Twilight nodded in agreement while Spike just rolled his eyes.

The three of them soon passed under the arch at the entrance and saw Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all standing around the barn, Pinkie having a baby alligator hanging onto her cotton candy mane and a brown dog sitting next to Applejack. Applejack noticed them and hollered, "Hey, over here, y'all!"

As they started over, Winona suddenly bounded over to the three of them, causing them to stop. She reared up on her hind legs and started licking Tails' face. "Whoa, who's this?" Tails asked while trying to keep from laughing.

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie came over, Applejack saying, "That's Winona, our work dog." She looked at Winona and said, "Come on, Winona, back off. No need ta scare this fella away." Winona backed off at her words and walked over next to Applejack, taking a seat next to her.

"Ah, it's so good to see you all again! We were hoping that nothing had happened to you," Rarity said a moment later.

Twilight replied, "We're fine, Rarity." She then turned to Applejack and asked, "So did you and Apple Bloom happen to find Granny Smith, Applejack?"

The orange earth pony nodded, "Yup! She got worn out from all the excitement that seein' Amy, Cream, and Cheese caused, so she's takin' a nap in her rockin' chair. Amy took Cream and Cheese back to Ponyville a little while ago and they took the Cutie Mark Crusaders with them." She then asked, "So how'd y'all do? Did ya manage to fix whatever needed ta be fixed?"

Tails nodded, "Yep! The radar's at 100%, Applejack." He pulled the radar out from his left tail, holding it up as he said, "As soon as Sonic, Rainbow Dash, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna get back, we can get back to restoring Ponyville."

Pinkie Pie piped up, "So much of Ponyville has already been brought back! I can't wait until it's all been brought back!" She then pointed, "Ooh, look! More of it is being brought back!" They all turned to look to faintly see, in the distance, sparkles rising up from the hill that Tails had said was where the next portal was.

A few seconds later, they all heard a *PHVWOW* and turned to see the Warp Ring suddenly appear nearby. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped out of it afterwards, startling the ponies. They were all about to drop into a bow until Celestia held up a hoof and said, "There is no need for that right now, my little ponies. You've already bowed to us once." Luna nodded; the two sisters then stepped to the side, Rainbow Dash and Sonic stepping out of the ring afterwards, the ring shrinking down and landing in Rainbow's hoof when she held it up.

Pinkie cheered, "Yay! Everypony's back!"

Rainbow said, "Hey guys! Hope we didn't keep you waiting too long!" She trotted over and gave Tails the Warp Ring, the fox taking it with his free hand.

He then replied, "No, Twilight, Spike, and I just got here too. I don't know about Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy, but…"

Rarity spoke up, "Not to worry, darlings. We haven't been waiting too long."

Winona ran over to Sonic and started licking his face as well, the hedgehog grinning at the dog's affections. Tails giggled, "Looks like Winona likes you too, Sonic."

After Winona had backed off, Rainbow looked at Tails and asked, "So did you get your radar thingy working again?"

Tails nodded, "Uh-huh. We're all set." He powered it up, showing that it was now working properly. He then reached into his right tail and pulled out two small yellow and white devices, saying, "Thanks to Twilight, I was also able to make us a pair of radios with those Power Cores I picked up, just in case we get separated." Twilight chuckled nervously at that. Tails then put the radios away and asked, "So how did you guys and the princesses do?"

Rainbow moved to the side, Sonic grinning as he held up what he had in his hands, "Check it out!"

Pinkie gasped (a regular gasp), "That's my necklace! You found it! Where did you find it?!"

Sonic slid the Chaos Emerald into his quills as he replied, "Oh, we just happened to find it… after we beat a huge experimental lizard that tried to crash a space colony into Earth the last time we saw it."

Spike and the ponies (aside from Rainbow Dash and the princesses) all looked surprised at that, but Tails just smiled, "Oh, really? I never would've guessed that that prototype was going to be brought back."

Sonic nodded, "Yeah, I was surprised too." He then held out his left hand, allowing Twilight to take the Element of Laughter with her magic.

After slipping it into her saddlebag with the rest of the necklaces, the lavender unicorn said, "Well, we're glad that you're all okay, right everypony?" Spike, Tails, and the other ponies all voiced their agreement. Before anyone else could say anything, the ground suddenly started to shake. Everybody looked up a second later to see the mysterious creature appear in the sky above, flying out of a vortex! "Ah, it's back!" Twilight exclaimed.

Taking up an offensive position along with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Sonic said, "Watch out!" Everybody else took on a defensive position, especially Fluttershy, in case the creature came any closer. While watching the creature, Tails realized his radar was pointing at it and noticed the unusual readings it was recording.

The creature didn't seem to be after them, however, as it simply flew over Sweet Apple Acres before flying in the direction of Ponyville. It soon reached the town, scaring all the ponies below, but it didn't seem interested in them either. Before long, it crashed into something, shaking its head as a red wave and a pink wave spread out from whatever it hit. It looked up a moment later and opened a new vortex, flying through it and disappearing.

After a moment, Applejack commented, "Ah hate when that thing does that."

Celestia asked, "So that's the creature that's responsible for all this?"

Rainbow nodded, "Yeah, that's the thing all right, Princess Celestia!" She then asked, "But what just happened? What stopped it?"

Tails slid his radar back into his left tail as he said, "I could take a look from here if I had a pair of binoculars or a telescope."

Pinkie Pie zoomed over to a nearby coop, Gummy still hanging from her mane, and thrust a hoof inside the opening. As she seemingly rustled through it, she called, "Not a problem, Tails! I have binoculars stashed all over Ponyville in case of binoculars emergencies!" She soon pulled out a pair of black binoculars, holding them in her left hoof. She zoomed back over to Tails and said, "Here you go!"

Although surprised, Tails took them, saying, "Thank you, Pinkie Pie!" She grinned happily at that. Tails then held them up to his eyes, adjusting them until he could see through them properly. He then looked where the red and pink waves had originated from, zooming in to get a better look. He soon gasped, "There's a Chaos Emerald up there!"

Fluttershy asked, "Is that what drove that monster off?"

Tails replied, "Well, that accounts for the red wave of energy. I think the pink wave came from that crown that's floating next to it."

Twilight asked, "There's a crown up there?"

Tails looked at her and nodded, "Yeah." He held out the binocular, saying, "Here, take a look."

Twilight took the binoculars and looked herself. She soon said, "That's my Element of Magic crown! But… why are it and the Chaos Emerald completely white?"

Luna asked, "What do you mean they are completely white?"

Tails answered, "They look just like Whitetail Wood did before that blast from the Chaos Emeralds brought the colors back. That Chaos Emerald and the Element of Magic must've been affected by that creature somehow."

Spike suggested, "Maybe there's a way to get them back to normal? You know, like we've been doing for Ponyville and everyone we know?"

Tails looked at him and nodded, "Sounds like a good theory to me. If we can get all the Elements of Harmony and all the Chaos Emeralds, we should be able to defeat that creature and undo all the damage it's done."

Applejack spoke up, "Well, you know what ta do then, Tails! Fire up that radar and let's get ta work!" Tails nodded and, after pulling the radar back out and storing the data it had gathered from the creature, started searching for new frequencies.

While he was searching, Spike looked over at Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and Princess Luna, the three of them standing near each other, and said, "Boy, this adventuring thing is pretty tough, huh? And it sounds like we've still got a ways to go."

Sonic replied, "Well, it's not much of an adventure if it's short and easy." He glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who gave him a nod. The two of them looked back at Princess Luna as she hesitantly raised a hoof. Sonic and Rainbow nodded, Sonic raising his left fist and Rainbow raising her right hoof. The two of them then bumped with Luna's hoof.

---

Okay, I realize this is a technicality, but I really wanted to use this particular boss for the DC Era boss (since the FinalHazard is still one of my top ten favorite Sonic final bosses). Look at it this way: it's a combination of both Perfect Chaos and the Biolizard. Besides, it's kind of a promotional thing for the re-release of "Sonic Adventure 2" later this year.

Originally, the fight was just going to feature Sonic, Celestia, and Luna, but a reader's comment (you know who you are!) made me decide to include Rainbow Dash as well. Looking back, it actually made this chapter work better.

Now I know some of you are probably wondering why I downgraded Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom, considering how easily she pulled it off in "A Canterlot Wedding". I have two reasons for this: first, the writers were probably strapped for time. Therefore, they had to cram the wedding itself into only a couple of minutes in the second part. Second, and most importantly, Rainbow Dash trained to pull off the Sonic Rainboom at the wedding. She's in a different place here, and I doubt she's practicing it all the time. She probably can't do it on command ALL the time. Think about that before you voice your complaints about the Sonic Rainboom here.

Also, I know that "Lost Impact" and "The Doom" were flashback stages, but I'm pretty sure the areas on the ARK where they took place are still there after fifty years. Since Sonic has been up there a few times (according to the Hero path stages in "Shadow the Hedgehog"), he's probably seen those locations before, especially since he and Shadow were running through the ARK prior to "Final Haunt".

Now, before the chapter notes, I'd like to let you all know I'm close to deciding what stage I want to use for the first Modern Era stage. I've narrowed it down to either Flame Core or Coral Cave, though I'm presently leaning towards Flame Core. If you can come up with a valid reason to make me change my mind, I'd love to hear it. Which brings me to my next point: I'm going to switch things up a bit in the Modern Era. So I'd like to know; is there anyone you want to see appear during the Modern Era? I've already got a possible appearance planned for the teenage dragons from "Dragon Quest" for the first Modern Era stage (hence part of the reason why I want to go with Flame Core), and I might bring in the Babylon Rogues and the Wonderbolts if enough people want them to appear. So... let me know!

Now for the chapter notes...

Originally, Rarity was going to use her charms to get the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic, but I changed my mind when I remembered that Rouge, on "Sonic X", said even she wouldn't use a Chaos Emerald to make a ring. I figured Rarity would be better than that as well. Also, Sonic was originally going to mention that the reason her charms didn't work on him was because Rouge had pretty much done the same to just about every male character in the Sonic universe, so they're all pretty much immune to it.

Rainbow's mention of the park where the ponies have their pony pet playdate is a reference to the fact that, originally, I was going to have them meet up there.

In addition to the abandoned research lab, as I'm sure you guessed while reading this, this chapter contains many allusions to ARK-related stages. Here are all the illusions: "Final Rush" (the path Sonic ran along before), "Lost Impact" (and "The Doom", technically), "Space Gadget" (gravity changing devices), "The ARK" (Sonic flying on Princess Luna), and "Cosmic Fall" (falling platforms and the infamous computer room).

Sonic's talk with Luna was kind of tricky to write. I mean, the only time in "Luna Eclipsed" where we see her use some of her more powerful magic is when she's frustrated. Something tells me that she doesn't like to use it often and only really uses it when her emotions get out of hand, so that's where THAT comes from. Also, Sonic's talk was originally going to either be about Shadow (I figured we've brought up Shadow's past enough for now, so I rejected it) or Wreck-It Ralph (mostly a reference to how Ralph is going to be appearing in "Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed", since I'm taking the rumors that Sonic is going to have a major role in the film with a pinch of salt), but I finally decided to make him reference his early days as a hero. This is more of a reference to how Sonic and friends were treated in "Sonic X", both the anime and comic series (they were held at gunpoint by the law, the President initially wanted them captured, and the S.O.N.I.C.X.). When you think about it, it actually makes sense that people might have reacted that way when Sonic initially showed up and started helping humans out.

Sonic and Rainbow Dash's final attack is based on what Sonic and Knuckles did in the "Sonic X" episode, "Trick Sand".

I used the name that the Archie comics give the realm where the special stages are located. Tails' talk about the Chaos Emeralds either looking bigger or having a different appearance is a reference to some of their inconsistent appearances in the games (like "Sonic 4: Episode 2" or the Genesis version of "Sonic 3D Blast").

The radios that Tails made are based off of the radios that Toad and Team Heroes had in the 3DS version of "Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games".

Music:

Tails' Workshop - www. youtube. com watch?v=JgbC35FEnJw

Inside the Library - www. youtube. com watch?v=PWanMMOPiZo

Tails' News - www. youtube. com watch?v=nsbwFoM4XTY

Space Colony ARK - www. youtube. com watch?v=24D8kl5Td28

The Biolizard Appears - www. youtube. com watch?v=zQWvmyZhIA8

Failed Attack - www. youtube. com watch?v=h1H7qSCB4-8

Regroup - www. youtube. com watch?v=0qQJt8yS7c0

Sonic and Luna's Heart-to-Heart - www. youtube. com watch?v=q4hTsVU2Qhk (or if you prefer: www. youtube. com watch?v=bS_-oPMCUIQ)

Sonic, Rainbow, Luna, and Celestia vs. the FinalHazard - www. youtube. com watch?v=JeZAZr0qY28

Meeting Up at Sweet Apple Acres - www. youtube. com watch?v=1LCViSPvMsU

Still More to Come - www. youtube. com watch?v=uGobJ153r78