Rainbow Dash squinted and blinked her eyes, trying to clear her vision. All she could see was white… and it felt like she was hovering in the air even though her wings were closed at her sides. Her memories began to flood her mind as the white appeared to be fading… "A monster ruined the picnic my friends and I were having… When I tried to stop it from taking my friends, it knocked me out… and then I woke up somewhere totally far from Ponyville! I met this awesome guy named Sonic whose friends were also taken by that monster, and we worked together to save our friends and we all visited familiar places and got to beat up some old bad guys! We then confronted that monster, the Time Eater… there was a huge fight, and then… then…" Her eyes widened as she remembered what had seemingly just happened, a tear in the white opening up in front of her and pulling her through it.

As she went through the opening in the white, her hooves came into contact with grass as she was set down gently. She looked around and saw a hill, a wooden fence going along the side of it, and several trees nearby. "Where am I?" she wondered out loud. Almost as soon as she asked that question, she saw five white glows appear near her, forming a circle including her. As she watched, each of her five friends were deposited onto the grass, all of them looking a bit surprised for a moment before they looked around in confusion. Rainbow noticed that their coats and manes had returned to their usual appearances, Twilight was back to being a unicorn, Fluttershy's wings were pegasus wings again, and they were all still wearing their Elements of Harmony. Looking down at herself, she saw that she too had returned to normal and she was still wearing her Element of Loyalty necklace.

After a moment, Rainbow looked up at them and asked, "Hey, are you guys okay?"

The others looked at her and Applejack, her and Pinkie standing closest to the cyan pegasus, said, "Ah reckon so, Rainbow. But… what was all that white about?" She looked to the left, behind Rainbow, and noticed that the fence went around until it ended abruptly further down from the girls, standing in front of a patch of flat grass and a lake, and added, "And where are we? Ah'm pretty sure Ah haven't been here before…"

Twilight, who was standing across from Rainbow with Rarity and Fluttershy on her left and right respectively, looked up and murmured, "Hmm…"

Fluttershy looked over at her and asked, "Um, Twilight? Do you have any idea where we are? N-Not that there's a problem if you don't know, I'm just asking."

The lavender unicorn replied, "I can't say I know for certain, Fluttershy, but maybe…" She stopped short and her eyes widened as she remembered something. She looked at her friends and asked, "Wait, what happened to Sonic and Spike and everybody else?" Her friends' eyes widened at that and all six of them started looking around again, searching for some sign that the blue hedgehog and their friends and family were all right.

Rarity soon noticed something when she looked to her right and pointed with a hoof while saying, "Look, over there!" The other five mares all looked where she was pointing to see an empty picnic table sitting near the shade of a tree and a white glow floating directly to the, from where they were standing, right of it.

After a moment, the glow deposited a familiar blue hedgehog wearing a bracelet on his left wrist in front of the table. After shaking his head to clear the slight disorientation, Sonic looked around and quickly recognized where he was. "Hey, this is…" he started before he remembered something. Tilting his head up, he saw his present from Tails falling straight down towards him, flipping end-over-end as it came down. He raised and swung his right hand, cleanly catching the chili dog in it, holding it up to his face and giving it a sniff before taking his long-awaited second bite of it. "Mm, still warm," he commented. He then chuckled as he tossed it up in the air and caught it, "Heh, time travel does have its benefits!"

A second later, he heard Pinkie Pie call, "Sonic!" and turned to his left to look. He smiled as he saw Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack quickly trotting towards him while Rainbow flew and Pinkie bounced over. Twilight reached him first, followed by Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack. They all smiled back at him (or in Pinkie's case, grinned at him). Before anyone could say anything, they all heard a sound coming from the picnic table and turned to see more white glows beginning to appear on the other side of and above the table.

As they watched, all of their friends, families, and rivals, save for Tails and Spike, were deposited before them, the Cutie Mark Crusaders being set down on top of the table while everyone else appeared behind it. They all looked around and at each other for a moment or two in confusion before they saw the seven standing on the other side of the table and many of them began cheering, some of the ponies also whinnying (there was also a distinctive "Eeyup" heard as the cheers began to die down). Luna managed to retain her composure and instead gave Sonic and the Element Bearers a nod along with Celestia while Shadow, Gilda, and the Babylon Rogues simply acted disinterested for their own reasons. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all soon leapt towards their desired pony, giving them a hug.

Knuckles was the first to say something, "I've gotta admit, you guys made one heck of a team back there."

Jet rolled his eyes, "Eh, they were okay."

Amy, who just so happened to be standing next to him, turned and glared at him, angrily asking, "'Okay'? Are you kidding?" Before Jet could react, she slapped him in the face with the back of her right hand, sending him rolling into the nearby tree while she turned back to the group and clasped her hands together, saying, "They were all great, especially Sonic!" Wave shot the pink hedgehog a dark look that she didn't notice before moving to help Jet while Storm, remembering the last time he and Amy crossed paths alone, looked nervous before following suit.

Sonic and the Main Six, as well as some of the others, looked on in surprise at this display before Fluttershy leapt over the table to go help Jet while Rainbow and Applejack shot Rarity a look, as if daring her to comment on how cute Amy's affection for Sonic was, while Twilight and Pinkie looked over at Sonic questioningly, the blue hedgehog glancing down to the right and scratching the side of his head with his left index finger while giving a wry smirk.

After a moment, they heard Spike's voice off to their left, all of them turning to look as the baby dragon asked, "So he always returns to normal after a while? Huh. What happens to the Chaos Emeralds afterwards?" His question was directed at Tails, who was walking alongside him while looking down at him. The fox was carrying his radar in his left hand, though it was in its closed state at the moment.

"They always get split up due to all that energy coming together and being used all at once. And there's no telling where they'll turn up; they could end up in the Special Zone or anywhere in the world," Tails replied. Spike nodded, having missed most of Tails telling Twilight about the Chaos Emeralds earlier. When they got closer to the picnic table, Spike ran ahead to Twilight, leaping up to her and giving her a hug, glad to see that she was okay. This prompted Shining Armor and Cadance to move around the table and join in, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith also moving to join in on the hug Apple Bloom was giving Applejack.

When Tails reached the table, he walked over to Sonic and the two gave each other a high five with their free hands. Afterwards, as the hugging ponies and dragon began to back off and Fluttershy came back over (Wave having shooed her away after telling her Jet was fine), Sonic took another bite out of his chili dog and swallowed it before asking, "So Tails, would you say our little time crisis adventure is over now?"

At that, almost everyone looked at the two-tailed fox, who replied, "From the way things are looking here, it sure seems like it. But if we want to know for sure…" He held up his radar in both hands and flipped it open, typing something into it. After a few seconds, he said, "Hmm, according to these readings, a lot of the damage that Eggman and Discord caused with the Time Eater is healing up nicely. In Equestria, it looks like the recovery is starting in Ponyville, where the creature first appeared, and is spreading out from there. The same thing is happening here too. It'll take a little time, but all the damage should heal on its own soon."

At that, Mayor Mare smiled, "Really? That is indeed wonderful news, Tails! So it won't be long before our quaint little town and the rest of Equestria is fully restored?" Tails nodded.

Scootaloo spoke up, "You guys sure walloped Eggman and Discord way past next week! That was so amazing!"

Sweetie Belle looked at Tails and asked, "We helped, didn't we?"

The fox replied, "Uh, yeah, Sweetie Belle. Everybody helped out!"

The unicorn filly grinned, "I knew it! I knew it!" She giggled happily.

Apple Bloom, while looking at her flank, said, "We tried ta get our cutie marks in moral support before, but we didn't get anythin' that time. Maybe this time we'll get somethin'?" Babs couldn't help but chuckle lightly at her cousin's ever constant hopefulness. While Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's sisters and Rainbow Dash tried to calm the now-curious fillies down, the earth pony filly glanced over at Sonic, Tails, and Twilight and casually blew her mane to the side, acting calm as ever. The three of them simply shared a smile with her, Sonic taking another bite out of his chili dog a moment later.

Pinkie Pie suddenly piped up, everyone's attention shifting to her, "Silly fillies, there'll be plenty of time for cutie marks later! Right now, we need to celebrate!" She then shifted her attention to the other girls, "Instead of a picnic like the one that was ruined earlier, let's have a party instead! And everyone's invited!" At that, most of Sonic's friends began to look bothered as their eyes fell on the picnic table, the empty picnic table. Pinkie and most of the other Equestria residents quickly picked up on this, the former asking, "Hey, what's everyone looking so sad about?"

Before anyone could answer, Celestia spoke up, "Forgive me if I upset the mood further, Pinkie Pie, but our little filly friends have just reminded me of something." She looked at Sonic and asked, "What happened to Discord?"

Sonic shrugged, "He got hit with the Elements of Harmony. It doesn't look like he's around, but the Elements are supposed to do the trick against him, right?"

Celestia leveled a stern gaze at him, "I'm afraid that's not going to be enough. If the power of the Elements of Harmony was somehow offset by the power of the Chaos Emeralds, then Discord could still be out there somewhere, free. I need to see proof that he is not still free and causing chaos somewhere else."

Before anyone could say anything, they all heard a loud crashing sound coming from the other side of the nearby hill, everyone looking in its direction. Sonic and Tails shared a look before they both ran towards it, the Main Six coming up behind them. When they reached the top of the hill, Sonic and Tails looked down towards the other side, the girls looking over or around them to do the same, and they all gasped in surprise. Near the foot of the hill, Dr. Eggman, Orbot, Cubot, and a familiar draconequus were lying on the ground, one of them not moving.

Eggman groaned as he sat up, "Oh, my head… What just happened?"

Orbot and Cubot both popped out of their closed state, the latter grunting and whirring for a moment before saying, "Ah don't know, but Ah reckon it hurt a bit. Mah head feels kind of funny too."

Orbot looked at him and sighed, "It would appear your voice chip is stuck on cowboy yet again."

Eggman, not realizing where he was, began to stand up as he growled, "Ugh… great. As if Discord fiddling with his voice chip all the time wasn't bad enough. He just couldn't settle on something that wasn't annoying and permanently set him to that, no! He had to try EVERY voice setting!"

Orbot spoke, "Speaking of which, Boss, it looks like Cubot isn't the only one who's back to where he started." Eggman turned to look at him, about to yell at him since he was sure he was referring to him, but he stopped when he noticed the red-headed robot wasn't even looking at him. He followed his gaze to see Discord lying on the ground, his body turned back into stone. Looking his petrified partner over, Eggman saw that his pose resembled the one he had been locked in when he had been retrieved from the Canterlot statue garden, except his tail was pressed flat as though he'd been sitting on it, his legs stuck straight out just like his arms, and, while his head was facing forward, his eyes were looking off to the left, possibly at where Sonic and the Element Bearers had been after their attack on the Time Eater. Also, the stone encasing him appeared to be a darker shade of gray and both his arms and legs appeared to be mixed up.

"My, he just can't seem to avoid having his face freeze like that, can he? Still, those Elements do pick such fine stone to imprison him in," Orbot commented.

"Yep, and this here stone looks stronger than the old one, Ah reckon. Still, Ah'm glad the same thing didn't happen ta us," Cubot replied.

"I wouldn't have minded, especially if it would've fixed you two," Eggman grumbled as he stood up straight. He then walked over to Discord and stood at his side, placing his left arm atop the draconequus' chest/neck and leaning on him while looking at his face. He then spoke, "Well Discord, I hope you're pleased. When you agreed to our partnership, I was expecting you to bring your A-game, but instead you spent most of your time free messing around and amusing yourself. Still, you were the best choice out of all of Equestria's villains. Working with Rouge in the past has made me averse to trusting girls with any of my plans, and even if there was anything left of King Sombra, I'd never work with him because he's a psycho!"

He shuddered for a moment at the thought of what he'd learned about the former Crystal Empire king before he continued, "That's why I set you free: to help me and share in the spoils of the end results. Alas, it seems the only thing that really mattered to you was enjoying your freedom, so I hope you did, because you know what? I'm never helping you out again, you clown!" As he was speaking, he raised his right fist up and brought it down on Discord's neck as he finished. A second later, Orbot pointed and started laughing at him as he hopped in place while clutching his hand and crying, "OW! My pinky!"

Orbot's laughing abruptly stopped when a familiar pink pony popped up out of nowhere on Discord's other side, Eggman falling backwards in shock with a yelp and the others, still on the hill, looking on in confusion. "Ooh! I just heard my name! But don't be silly, Eggy; I'm not your Pinkie!" she said.

Eggman glared up at her. "How did you get back there?!" he exclaimed.

"Science… FICTION!" Pinkie grinned. Cubot looked at Orbot in confusion, the red-headed robot shrugging, also confused.

Eggman growled, "Great. I lose one clown just to get stuck with another." Pinkie just continued to grin at him. A second later, Sonic ran up behind Eggman and stood there, prompting Pinkie to wave at him. "What are you waving at?" Eggman asked. He got his answer a moment later when Sonic cleared his throat and Eggman turned his head to look back at him. "Gah! Sonic?!" he cried.

"Hey, Eggman. I don't remember seeing your name on the list of surprise party guests," the blue hedgehog replied while untying the ribbon on his chili dog, holding it between his left index finger and thumb as he raised the gift to his mouth and began taking the last bites of it.

Pinkie looked at him with wide eyes, "Did you say party?!"

Before Sonic could answer her, Eggman turned over, getting on his hands and knees and pointing at Sonic as he yelled, "You cocky little…! You think you've defeated me, but this day's not over yet! You still want a fight, Sonic?! I'll give you one right now!"

After finishing his chili dog, Sonic waved the ribbon in Eggman's direction as he smugly replied, "I think I'll take a rain check on that, Doc. It looks like some of our guests have a few complaints about your brand of entertainment that they'd like to 'discuss' with you."

Eggman looked confused by that statement until he turned his head to look up and to the left at the hill. "…Oh…" he muttered as his anger quickly evaporated at what he saw. In addition to Tails and the other five mares, he saw that everyone else was now standing at the top of the hill, all of them glaring angrily down at him, some, like Knuckles and Gilda, already making it clear that they'd have no problem tearing him a new breathing hole.

Orbot spoke up after a moment, "I believe the expression is 'discretion is the better part of valor'."

Cubot looked at him, "Meanin'…?"

Orbot replied, "As you might put it…" He grabbed Cubot's right arm with his left and suddenly shot away from the gathering, saying, "Let's get the heck outta Dodge, partner!"

Some of the group members stared in surprise at this sudden action. Taking advantage of this, Eggman stood up and ran after them, yelling, "Get back here, you cowards!"

Sonic turned his head in Eggman's direction, watching him run but deciding not to go after him. He looked back at Pinkie Pie a second later when she asked, "Is there a party going on somewhere?!"

Sonic opened his mouth to answer her, but Rainbow interrupted him before he could start with a shout, "Hey!"

Spitfire pointed a hoof, "After them! Don't let them get away!" She, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, and Gilda all spread their wings and took off, flying after Eggman and his henchbots while (mostly) everyone else turned their attention to the new Discord statue.

A few minutes later…

"Okay, he's almost there! You ready over there, Big Mac?" Vector asked as he stood on Discord's left side while the red stallion stood near the other side, Sonic and Espio behind the draconequus, Knuckles and Applejack in front, and Tails and Fluttershy hovering near the head as they tried to fine-tune the angle for Celestia to set him down as she held him with her magic.

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh answered, both him and Vector ready to step up in case Discord started leaning when he was set down. Pinkie was standing at the Princess' side, doing the surveying while Sonic, Applejack, Knuckles, and Espio corrected the statue from the bottom and Fluttershy and Tails corrected it from the top. It was close to touching the ground now, so they wanted to make sure it landed properly.

"Hmm… Okay, a little~ to the left with the tail and slightly to the right up above!" Pinkie called while holding her hooves up in front of her. Knuckles, Espio, and Fluttershy moved forward at that, making the adjustments. "Um… maybe just a smidge back to the right a bit now," Pinkie said when they were done, Sonic and Applejack carefully making the correction. Afterwards, Pinkie tilted her head to the side a bit before saying, "Okay, make sure he goes down like that!" At that, Tails flew a bit above Discord, almost getting his tails caught in the tree branches, and pushed down on his head to simulate the pull of gravity. Pinkie nodded, "Perfect! Okay, Princess, let 'er rip!" Celestia nodded and set Discord down, releasing her magic grip on him.

For a second, Discord seemed to sit just fine on his tail, but then a breeze blew and he started leaning towards Big Macintosh! The red stallion quickly rushed towards him and pressed his side against him, pushing as Sonic, Applejack, and Tails moved to help him. Once they stopped the leaning tower of Discord, Espio, Knuckles, and Vector moved forward to help right him again. "All right, guys, easy… not too much!" Vector called as they tried to find Discord's center of balance. After a few moments, they managed to get him under the nearby tree just enough that the branches and leaves caught his horns. They then backed away slowly, watching, but the branches and leaves overhead helped hold him up. "All right, there we go!" Vector said.

Sonic gave Big Macintosh a playful punch at his side while saying, "Pretty cool, big guy! You're one tough Apple workhorse!" Big Macintosh gave him his usual calm, quiet smile at that.

Celestia nodded, "Very well. That will do for now until we can get a proper pedestal for Discord."

Knuckles stepped away from Discord along with the others and turned to look at him. He wiped his forehead, "I know he's tall and all, but I never would've guessed a guy like him was so heavy." Applejack chuckled at that.

Luna glanced up at her sister, "Celestia, did we really need to prop him up? He would've been fine if we'd left him lying down."

Fluttershy asked, "Oh, but wouldn't it be rude to just leave him like that, Princess Luna?"

Shadow grunted, "Hmph, it doesn't matter. Either way, he's right where he belongs. He has some power, to be sure, but unless he learns how to use it properly, he does not deserve to be free. He'll have to learn his lesson if he wants to earn his freedom." The black hedgehog's words may have been harsh, but nobody wanted to argue with him, especially since he was, to some degree, correct.

Sonic looked up at Discord's face, once again frozen in a look of terror. "He was manipulative, he tried to break ponies apart, he turned their lives upside-down when they didn't want it, he went along with Eggman's scheme, it seems like he's got a ways to go before he'll understand what it's like having friends and feelings, and Shadow's right. He does need to learn a little restraint. Even so…" He continued to stare up at the draconequus with his arms crossed, still thinking he might be, at the very least, a halfway decent guy deep down, but disappointed that, for all the things he wanted to change, it seemed he didn't want to change himself.

Celestia noticed the look on his face and thought to herself, "Hmm…" She'd been quietly listening to everything that was just said, particularly what Shadow had said. The look on Sonic's face, however, reminded her of her reign when Luna was imprisoned in her beloved Moon. It was the look of someone thinking about what had been and what was going to come in the future. Looking back at Discord's statue, she began to wonder to herself, "Maybe…"

Before she could get too absorbed in her thoughts, Rainbow Dash, Gilda, Soarin, and Spitfire returned, Celestia and the others looking up as they landed, all of them looking tired, especially Soarin and Rainbow. Blaze stepped forward and asked, "What happened to Eggman?"

Spitfire panted, "He got away, along with his robots."

Spike and everypony looked surprised at that. "They got away?!" Twilight exclaimed.

Rainbow threw her hooves up, "I can't believe it either! He's a fat guy; how can he run so fast?!"

Sonic sighed, "Never quite figured that one out either."

Gilda stood up straight, walked over to him, and poked him in the chest with a claw, all the while saying, "Yeah? And what were YOU waiting for, an invitation?! Why didn't you try to catch him?! He's your enemy, for crying out loud!"

Sonic shrugged, "I don't know, Gilda. I just don't feel right attacking the guy when he's got nothing to defend himself with." He then lowered his arms, "Besides, given how fast you can fly, what's your excuse for not catching him?"

Gilda growled at that. She then said, "At least I'm not the one showing signs of weakness!"

Espio cleared his throat, causing Gilda and Sonic to look over at him. "To show mercy is not weak; it is a sign of true strength," the chameleon stated while he held his right index and middle fingers up near his horn. Gilda just cocked an eyebrow at this.

Suddenly, Pinkie popped up between her and Sonic, Gilda backing away quickly with a yelp while Sonic stared at the pink pony in confusion. "Super! So now can we go to this party you mentioned earlier?!" Pinkie asked while placing her hooves on Sonic's shoulders and staring into his eyes.

Rarity cleared her throat and said, "Pinkie, darling, I'm sure it was just a figure of speech, just like before."

Before Pinkie could express her disappointment, Sonic spoke, "Actually, Rarity, it wasn't." The pink earth pony perked up again at that.

Tails nodded, "Yeah, um…" He looked over at Twilight and Rainbow and asked, "Twilight, Rainbow, you remember how back when we first met at the library, I said we were having a friendly get-together when the Time Eater showed up?"

The unicorn and pegasus in question glanced at each other for a moment before they remembered and nodded, Rainbow saying, "Yeah, Twilight referred to it a friendly gathering or something. Why?"

Tails replied, "Well, it's just… what I actually meant was we were having a party for Sonic. You see… it's his birthday today."

That little tidbit of information was met with a number of wide eyes and surprised gasps, particularly from the Equestria residents. Pinkie Pie even did one of her famous floating gasps. Rainbow flew up to Sonic and asked, "Your birthday's TODAY, Sonic?! Why didn't you say something?!"

Sonic scratched his head, "Because time being messed up was a bigger thing to worry about than what day it was?"

Marine turned to Blaze and yelled, "Blaze! Why didn't you tell me Sonic's birthy-day was coming up?!"

The cat sternly replied, "I TRIED to tell you, Marine. I sent you a letter, I sent a messenger; I even personally visited you when I didn't receive an answer from you. I tried to tell you then, but you kept talking about your most recent adventure and the newest one you were setting out on and you hardly listened to me. In the end, I was left with no choice but to go without you if I wanted to make it in time for the party." Marine blushed and grinned weakly at this explanation.

Nearby, Fluttershy murmured, "Oh my goodness…"

Twilight looked at Sonic and asked, "How old are you?"

He answered, "Uh, sixteen."

Rarity began panicking, "No, no, no, no, NO! This simply will not do! How could I have not known it was a friend's birthday today?!"

Applejack raised a hoof to her chin as she muttered, "Do we have any cider left over…?"

Pinkie cheered, "Oh my goody goodness! This means we can have a really super duper HUGE party to celebrate!"

Wave spoke up above the noise, "Hm, doesn't look like much of a party, if you ask me." That caused a lot of the frantic and excited talking to die down almost instantly.

"Ooh…! You just had to go and ruin the mood, didn't you?!" Amy angrily said to Wave.

"Well, you can't blame her. If this is where you guys were having a party, it sure doesn't look like it," Jet smugly answered for his teammate.

Blaze spoke up, "We did have a party all set up before. We had everything: the cake, the decorations, the refreshments, and the snacks." Looking over at the empty picnic table, she added, "But when that Time Eater creature showed up, it took everything we'd prepared." She looked down at the ground and said, "And it looks like we're not going to get any of it back." Sonic's friends looked sad or upset at that.

Sonic scratched the side of his head, "Sorry, guys…" In any other situation, he'd do his best to perk his friends up and help them look at the bright side of things, especially if it'd been a party set up for everyone. But his friends had put a lot of work into setting up a surprise party for him, and he knew they all wanted to enjoy it just as much as he did. At the moment, he wasn't quite sure what to say to them.

Tails shrugged sadly, "I guess we'll just have to have a plain party instead. It would take too long to bake a new cake and get new decorations and everything."

Pinkie Pie popped up beside him with a smile on her face and patted him on the head with a hoof while saying, "Don't you worry about a thing, Tails! Your Auntie Pinkie Pie will take care of everything!" She then trotted away, everyone looking at her with confusion and curiosity.

Tails looked at the others a moment later, "'Auntie Pinkie Pie'?" Spike and the girls just shrugged at him, all of them looking back at Pinkie Pie a few seconds later.

Everyone watched as the pink pony happily walked past the fence, towards the lake… and into a portal that was in front of the lake! "Hey, what's she doing?" Vector asked.

"Where'd she go?" Charmy wondered.

Tails opened up his radar and pointed it in the direction of the portal. After a few moments, he said, "It looks like that portal leads back to Equestria. Maybe Pinkie knows that too."

Silver asked, "Why's she going back, then? And after what she said just now."

Sonic shrugged, "Maybe she's going back to Sugarcube Corner."

Blaze held a hand to her chin, "To prepare another party? Surely she must know that it will take time, even for her."

Gilda smirked, "Oh, this should be good to watch." Spike and the ponies didn't say anything; they had a feeling Pinkie would surprise them all.

Seeing that nothing seemed to be happening and everyone else was mostly silent for the moment, Shining looked over at Shadow and (carefully) walked over to him. The black hedgehog had his arms crossed as he looked at the portal Pinkie had disappeared through from under the shade of the tree. Sonic and Twilight noticed what the unicorn stallion was doing and turned their heads to watch him.

Once he was right next to him, Shining quietly asked, "Uh, Shadow?" The black hedgehog turned his head to look up at the stallion, the expression on his face as stoic as ever. Shining winced slightly at this, but he pressed on, "Listen, I, uh… I'm sure it's nothing like what you went through, but I nearly lost one of the most important ponies in my life to Eggman and Discord, and I could do nothing to stop them. I… well, I walked a mile in your… shoes, and it really showed me a few things. So I'm sorry for what I said to you. You didn't deserve a word of it."

Shadow stared up at him for several tense moments, his expression not betraying a single thought going through his head. He eventually turned away and said, "Fine." Shining frowned at that and looked back over his shoulder at Sonic for help. The blue hedgehog shrugged, having not heard what was said between the two, and gestured the stallion to come over.

Twilight glanced at Sonic as her brother walked back over. She understood just as well as Shining did what that gesture meant. She looked back at the white stallion as he came to a stop in front of them. Sonic looked up at him and asked, "So what's up?"

Shining replied, "I was just saying sorry for what I said to him earlier, but all he said was 'fine'."

Sonic gave him a sympathetic smile, "Well, then don't worry about it, dude. That pretty much means he's not going to hold what you said to him against you now. That's about as good as most of us get when he doesn't have something to say." Shining briefly glanced back in Shadow's direction before giving Sonic a small smile.

Suddenly, everyone heard Pinkie's voice call, "INCOMING!" They all looked back at the portal to see her party cannon pointing through it. It fired a second later, causing nearly everyone to get down and cover their heads. As they stayed like this, the party cannon fired several more times, yet nobody seemed to get hit by whatever was being shot out of it. After a couple of seconds, following one last shot, they all heard a loud thump along with several smaller thumps followed by Pinkie saying, "Ta-dah!" Everyone uncovered their heads and began to stand up at that, looking around. What they saw amazed them.

Stretched across the side of the tree facing everybody was a white banner that read 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONIC', each word colored in red, yellow, and blue respectively, and some smaller decorations hanging from the leaves. Pinkie stood across from the tree, in front of a white unicorn mare whose mane and tail were similar in color to Shining Armor, was wearing dark purple sunglasses, had a double quaver for a cutie mark, and was standing behind a turntable, grinning like nothing weird had happened, and a gray earth pony mare with grayish hair who wore a pink bowtie with a white collar, had a purple treble clef for a cutie mark, and was holding a cello with her left foreleg and a bow for it in her right foreleg (she looked considerably more surprised about this whole situation). But what was on the picnic table was particularly amazing.

The table now had plates filled with cupcakes, candies, other sweets, and, amazingly, chili dogs as well as cups and refreshments, including a few jugs of the Apple Family's famous cider. At the center of it all was a large three layer cake frosted and decorated to look like the Green Hill Zone. Topping the cake were what appeared to be the Chaos Emeralds and the Elements of Harmony, most likely made of hardened sugar or candy, and going around the cake atop the layers below were little plastic figures of Sonic, Tails, Spike, the Main Six, and everyone else who was at the party. It may not have been an MMMM, but it still looked delicious all the same.

"What… How in the world…?" Blaze stammered.

She looked at Twilight when the unicorn spoke, "Don't worry about it too much, Blaze. It's just Pinkie Pie."

Sonic looked at her for a moment before smiling, "Yeah, you're right. That is Pinkie Pie." He then looked over at the party pony and asked, "So, what's this all about, Pinkie?"

In an instant, the pink pony zipped around the table and passed Gilda, who was giving her a glare that she probably didn't even notice, and wrapped her right foreleg around the blue hedgehog's shoulders while standing on her hind legs. She then smiled at him, "That's easy, silly! I LOVE throwing parties; it's my special talent, don't ya know! And when Blaze said the party she and your friends had prepared for you was ruined, I just had to fix that! And now we've got a real doozy of a party, and you know why?"

Sonic looked back at her without answering, so she explained, "First, it's your birthday; that's why your name is all over it! Second, everypony and everyone is TOTALLY invited to it! And finally, and this is most important now, you've got such good friends! They put so much effort into preparing a surprise party for you, only to have it ruined by those meanie pants! So this party is definitely for them to enjoy too!" Despite how fast she had explained it all, they all seemed to get it, as Sonic and (almost) everyone else began to smile at her.

Of course, there were a few party naysayers. The Babylon Rogues proved to once again be the sour apples in the bunch as Jet said, "Yeah, uh, no thanks. We helped you guys and all, but that's it for us. We've got better things to do." With that, he, Wave, and Storm (even though he looked like he really wanted to stay) turned to leave.

They didn't manage to get very far, however, before Pinkie suddenly rose up in front of them, causing Jet and Wave to hide behind Storm, both of them peering out from behind the albatross at her, all of them suddenly afraid of her. It was not her sudden appearance that shocked them; it was the grin and wide eyes she was making at them as she stood in front of them. "STAY… FOR… THE… PARTY," she stated slowly in no uncertain terms. Storm, Jet, and Wave slowly began to back away from her at that, Pinkie slowly following them and making it clear that anyone else who tried to leave would suffer the same fate.

Back with everyone else, Luna looked up at Celestia and begged, "Oh sister, can we please stay for this party? Please? It will be a fine private celebration for time's restoration and Sonic's birthday!"

Celestia let out a sigh, but then she smiled to let her sister know she was joking as she said, "Oh, very well, Luna. Sometimes, you can be such a foal." Shining and Cadance smiled at each other at that, figuring that meant they could stay as well.

Scootaloo grinned at her fellow Crusaders, "A Pinkie Pie birthday party! This is gonna be awesome!"

Apple Bloom looked at Babs and said, "Pinkie Pie throws amazin' parties, Babs! You'll really like it!"

The orange filly uncertainly replied, "Uh, if you say so, 'Cuz."

Sweetie Belle asked, "Is something wrong, Babs?"

Babs rubbed the back of her head with a hoof as she replied, "Well, no, but… I kinda told my folks I'd come straight home after me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were done at the meeting. I was heading home when all this happened; how am I gonna explain this to them?"

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle looked sad that they wouldn't be able to hang out with Babs until Applejack stepped forward and placed a hoof on the filly's shoulders. When Babs looked up at her, she smiled, "Now don't you worry about a thing, Babs. Just stay and enjoy the party. When it's over, Ah'll go with ya back to Manehattan, and Ah promise you right now, Ah'll make sure you don't get in any trouble." Babs smiled uncertainly up at her at that, but it became more sincere when she looked back at her cousin and her friends.

Braeburn looked over at Little Strongheart and said, "Say, Little Strongheart, if ya want, when we get back to Appleloosa, Ah'll go with ya ta help ya find yer fellow buffalo. Ah feel mighty awful about you gettin' yanked away from 'em like that. You won't mind, will ya?"

Little Strongheart smiled at him, "Not at all."

Omega whirred, "PARTIES… DO NOT COMPUTE. HOWEVER, I WILL STAY AND OBSERVE A 'PARTY' TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM."

Rouge smirked over at Shadow, "So what are you going to do? Are you going to take a chance and try to sneak past Pinkie Pie?" Shadow just grunted in annoyance, but deep down, he actually did want to stay.

No one else had any major objections to staying for the party, so Pinkie leapt back into the midst of the guests and said, "All right, then!" She pointed a hoof over at Vinyl Scratch and Octavia (who appeared to have recovered from suddenly being fired out of a cannon), the former grinning and placing a record on her turntable, a song already starting to come from her speakers. "LET'S PARTY!" Pinkie cheered.

Meanwhile, in a field far away

Eggman, with his hands on his knees, panted as he looked down at the grass below him. "Blasted pegasi… and that griffon… I can't remember the last time I had to run so fast…" he breathed.

Orbot and Cubot hopped up behind him and opened up, Cubot saying, "It's been a while, ain't it? Ah reckon not since the days o' blast processin', back when you were more involved with Sonic's blastin' and processin' o' yer machines."

Eggman turned around slightly to glare back at him, "What?! What does that even mean?!"

Orbot said, "Boss, please. You just nearly ran a marathon for your latest escape. Don't agitate yourself further."

Eggman growled and clenched both hands into fists, thumping them against his knees. "Rrrgh…! I just can't believe Discord couldn't act serious for more than five minutes when it really counted! Him and his games…" He let out a loud shout to the sky and then exclaimed, "I need something to do! Preparing a new scheme, getting a bite to eat, watching cartoons… anything!"

Orbot perked up after a moment and said, "It sounds like you could use a vacation, Boss, or at least a break from planning misdeeds."

Eggman grunted, "More like I need a vacation from you two."

Orbot wagged a finger at him, "Now, now. Sonic's surely spending time with his friends, both old and new. Why not spend some time with some people you know? For some time now, you've been taking a night off every week to go somewhere that you haven't told us about; you could start by doing that."

Eggman held a hand to his chin, thinking about it for a moment before saying, "That's not a bad idea, actually. I'll have to check when they're meeting next, but that could do me some good. Getting together with old faces, talking about what's been happening lately… and of course imparting a few pearls of wisdom! I always enjoy telling people what to do!" He grinned upwards while Orbot facepalmed and Cubot stared at him curiously.

A familiar voice spoke up a second later, startling them all, "Yes, that's one thing I've noticed about you, Doctor." The three of them turned to look behind them, where they heard the voice coming from.

Orbot and Cubot looked around in confusion, not seeing anything, but Eggman saw a familiar figure standing across from him. "What… Discord?! But how?!" he exclaimed, shocked to see a transparent version of the draconequus standing there at his full height while smirking down at him.

Orbot and Cubot looked up at Eggman in confusion, both of them thinking he was talking to nothing. "Um, Boss?" Orbot asked.

Discord spoke before he could say anything else, Orbot and Cubot hearing him but not seeing him, "Those Elements of Harmony delivered a rather powerful blast. It seems they knocked my spirit clean out of my body." He stretched, "Mm, feels good to still be able to move."

Eggman asked, "So you weren't actually back there, only your body?"

Discord replied, "Well, I'm not going back to it right away! I'm sure it's with Celestia, those ponies, and her new, I suppose, allies right now. I want to listen to as little of whatever they have to say as possible; means less wanting to roll my eyes but being unable to." After a moment, he let his arms drop to his sides and sulked out loud, "Now if only I could use my chaos like this, it would be perfect."

Eggman grunted, "Oh, I feel so bad for you, Discord. I guess that means you'll have to delay the pleasure of doing what you want to do yet again, hm?"

Discord crossed his arms, "Hey, I played my part, Doc! I did what you asked me to do! The only complaint I had was that you weren't thinking big or chaotic enough. So why don't you use that big brain of yours to come up with a way to free my body? Like… oh, I don't know, find six creatures to really make a mess of Twilight and her friends. Make it something really chaotic!"

Eggman replied, "As I already told your body, I'm not helping you out anymore! I thought your chaos would be helpful, but it proved to be just as much help as it was trouble! You spent entirely too much time goofing off when you could've been helping me get started on rewriting history! Well, you can stay in that statue for the rest of time for all I care! Besides, I can't just automatically think up a plan and carry it out! I'm going to have to do some research first! Maybe I'll come across something mysterious that's worth investigating."

Discord rolled his eyes, "Blah, blah, blah! You know, Doc, you think about things WAY too much and don't plan for the unexpected. If that brilliant plan that you came up with had more chaos in it, it would've worked perfectly."

Eggman said, "Don't you start preaching to me. Your chaos caused far too much trouble in the end since even YOU couldn't predict what happened with Sonic and he ultimately burned both of us. A little more thought on your part would have been much appreciated."

Discord turned away from Eggman, his arms still crossed. "Leave it to a scientist to discount the value of unpredictability, despite how common it is," he muttered.

"I heard that!" Eggman exclaimed.

Discord looked back at Eggman, "Tell me something, Doc." He turned around fully, "Have you ever won before?"

Eggman hesitated for a moment before saying, "There are times where I've come close! Very, very close indeed!" Orbot and Cubot looked at each other knowingly at that.

Discord raised an eyebrow, "So… no?" Eggman didn't answer him, instead shooting him a sour look. The draconequus sighed, "Well, that's encouraging. At least I'm not as big a loser as you are."

Eggman retorted, "Oh yes, because sitting as a stone statue for a thousand years is SO much better! At least I've had time to come up with and put into motion many different plans instead of randomly causing trouble and assume that no one can stop me like you did before! The only plots you come up with all have your enjoyment at the center of them! I, on the other hand, have plenty of experience when it comes to plans."

Noting the proud, tall way the human stood, Discord smirked, "Ah yes, what was I thinking? Of course you have experience, not to mention muscle like you said before, because you're constantly being foiled by a meddlesome hedgehog and his friends. Let's see… they've wrecked nearly every base and plan you've come up with, an ancient water monster turned on you, your grandfather nearly destroyed you along with this planet, several of your own creations have turned on you, and…"

While Discord was talking, Eggman's anger had been growing with each word he said, and now he couldn't take it anymore. In anger, he ran towards Discord and swung his right fist at him while shouting, "OH, SHUT UP!" Discord jumped back to dodge it, despite the fact that it would've gone through him anyway, causing Eggman to spin once on one leg before falling onto his back.

Discord laughed, as did Orbot, and said, "Look at that! Another ingenious scheme concocted by the brilliant Dr. Eggman!" He then lifted off the ground and, while floating above it, began to stroke his arms and legs while he was on his back, almost like he was swimming. And he did in fact start floating away from Eggman, who began to stand up soon afterwards. Orbot and Cubot watched in silence as Eggman angrily ran after the draconequus' spirit, shaking his fists and screaming the entire time.

Soon, back at the party

Pinkie happily bounced around the party as an upbeat tune came from Vinyl Scratch's speakers, the kind of song that made her want to move around a lot rather than stay in one place and dance. As she bounced around, she passed the other party guests, who were happily chatting with each other. Celestia, Cadance, and Granny Smith were talking with each other (Celestia was pleasantly surprised to learn that the old mare was the same young mare who'd helped establish Ponyville all those years ago), Sonic and Luna were chatting with Vinyl Scratch and Octavia (the DJ not needing to do a lot of work for this song while the cellist was getting ready), Mayor Mare was having a discussion with Zecora and Marine, Spitfire and Soarin, both of whom had shed their flight suits for the time being, were talking with Tails and Rainbow Dash respectively, and Shadow and Gilda, who were standing off to the side, were quietly talking with each other.

Pinkie grinned to herself as she bounced past Braeburn and Little Strongheart; this was exactly what her parties were all about. They could be loud and wild, quiet and less active, or somewhere in between, but as long as they put a smile on everypony's face, that's all that mattered, and she could certainly see a lot of smiles at this birthday party. She bounced over to the tree and found the Cutie Mark Crusaders all sitting together under it, taking a break and talking. Of course, Pinkie decided to intrude, bouncing close to them without making a sound and then saying, "Hiya, girls! How are you enjoying the party so far, Babs?"

Although the four fillies were surprised by the pink pony sneaking up on them, Babs replied, "Eh, it's… fun. This kind o' thing ain't common in Manehattan, but I like it. Kinda makes me think of the Apple Family Reunion."

Pinkie grinned, "Good! I really, truly, sincerely hope you remember this for a long time to come as well!" She then happily trotted away, Babs raising an eyebrow at how random that seemed while Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle weakly smiled at her. The Manehattan filly shook her head a few seconds later, blowing her mane to the side before the four of them started talking again.

Near the front of the picnic table stood Shining Armor and Big Macintosh, the two stallions talking with each other. Or, perhaps more accurately, Shining Armor was talking to Big Macintosh while the red earth pony mostly listened to him. "The crystal ponies really are quite vibrant, like a lot of ponies outside of Canterlot's elite. It hasn't been that long since the Crystal Empire returned, yet they're really eager to learn all about the new things that have developed in its absence. For example, they're all excited about this year's Equestria Games; they've even asked me to help coach the ones that want to compete. Amazing, huh?"

Big Macintosh nodded, "Eeyup."

Shining chuckled, "I tell you, it's a demanding job to be in charge of an entire empire. Getting the Crystal Empire up to date was challenging enough, but there are still all the responsibilities that come with being a ruler. I definitely don't get to see Twilight as often as I'd like to anymore. Still, I love what I do, and the crystal ponies are much more enthusiastic about what they like to do than some of the ponies I've seen coming into the Royal Guard lately. Cutting out of training to read a book, go to the movies… even learn to play the piano rather than do any of that on their own time! Can you believe that?"

Big Macintosh shook his head, "Eenope."

As the two stallions continued talking, along the left side of the table, Spike carefully snuck around Knuckles, Applejack, Rarity, and Rouge, clambering up onto the bench and then on top of the table itself. He then eyed the cake, or rather the figurines on the cake. He took a quick look around. Applejack and Rarity hadn't noticed him, Twilight was talking with Blaze, Trixie, and Silver, Pinkie and Fluttershy were talking with Cream and Cheese, and Rainbow was still talking to Soarin. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to him. "Perfect," he thought.

He circled around the cake until he found what he was looking for on the left side of it. He carefully reached up and snatched the Sonic and Amy figurines off the cake and brought them down to eye level. He looked at them for a moment before nodding in approval. He had no clue where Pinkie got them from, but they were expertly made.

He then shook the Amy figurine as he murmured in a high-pitched voice, "Oh Sonic, I love you so much! Why won't you love me back? We were meant to be together!" He then shook the Sonic figurine while saying, in a deeper voice, "Oh Amy, I know we belong together. And I've always loved you, from the day I first met you. It's just… you're a very sweet and loving girl, and you deserve only the best! I can't stand the thought of you having anything less!" Spike switched back to his 'Amy' voice, "Do you really mean that, Sonic?!" Spike then used his 'Sonic' voice, "Well, sure I mean it, Amy. The way you swing that hammer of yours around… My heart beats a million times a minute!"

Once again, Spike used his 'Amy' voice, "Oh Sonic, you're so wonderful! But don't be so silly; you're the best, and you're all I'll ever need!" He then went back to his 'Sonic' voice, "Amy… I've dreamed of the day I would hear you say that." He then started to bring the figurines close to each other as he murmured in his regular voice, "And then… they…" He held the two figurines close, his face scrunched up in excitement as he prepared to say the word…

"*AHEM*." Spike shot up straight at that, his eyes going wide at being caught, and by the last guest he wanted to be caught by. He slowly turned around to see Amy standing at the edge of the table, her Piko Piko Hammer already slung over her shoulder. "Excuse me, Spike, but what are you doing?" she asked, sweetly but with a hint that she already knew and didn't like it.

Spike stammered for a moment while he fiddled with the figurines, trying to keep a grip on them before hiding them behind his back. He then shakily spoke, "N-Nothing! I was just… the little figurines Pinkie had on the cake looked like something special, so I wanted to take a closer look at them! That's all I was doing; I wasn't playing with them or anything!" He then grinned innocently at her, trying to give her his best poker face.

After a moment of looking at him suspiciously, Amy's hammer disappeared as she simply said, "Okay. That's what I thought." She then walked away, going over to talk to Cream, Pinkie, and Fluttershy.

Back on the table, Spike breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He then quickly put the figurines back on the cake, all the while thinking, "Geez, she's even scarier than Pinkie Pie when she's serious about something! Maybe Sonic's right about her after all…" Once the figurines were back in place, he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

At this point, Tails came over, Spitfire having left to go talk to Cadance. "Are you okay, Spike? Why did Amy have her hammer out?" he asked.

Spike glanced up at him and sighed, "I… I was just messing around with the cake decorations, just having a little fun with them. Amy apparently didn't think it was so fun; guess she either saw or heard me."

Tails scratched his head, "Uh, okay." A moment of silence passed before Tails asked, "Hey, you want something to drink? I was gonna get something and you look pretty nervous."

Spike answered, "Sure. You want to hang out for a little bit?" Tails nodded and began making his way around to the other side of the table, Spike walking across it to follow him. Tails took a seat on the bench as he poured himself and Spike each a drink, Spike sitting down across from him and holding his drink in his claws as they started chatting.

After about a minute, Vinyl Scratch made an announcement, catching everyone's attention. "Hey everypony, listen up! I know you're all having fun at birthday blue's party, and I know you all love my music, but we're going to take it down a notch for a little bit! Tavi's got a little piece she wants to share with you, and since we're both working this gig, it's her turn! But don't you worry; I'll be back with the jams soon enough!" She then looked over at the gray earth pony, "Take it away, Tavi!" The cellist shot an annoyed look at the unicorn before raising her bow and bringing it to the strings of her cello, balancing expertly on her hind legs as she held her instrument up and began to glide the bow across it.

For the next couple of minutes, everyone listened in silence as Octavia's cello wailed out a tune, accompanied by soft music playing from Vinyl's speakers. Although the DJ was listening, she spent most of the performance lying on her back, her hind legs crossed and a hoof kicking up in the air. As the music from the speakers began to fade, Octavia brought her bow across her cello's strings for one last note and held it before raising her bow. She then bowed to her audience, most of which answered her performance with clapping hands and hoof stomps.

After the applause died down, Octavia placed her cello onto its stand and set the bow down next to it. She then trotted over to the picnic table to grab some punch while Vinyl leapt to her hooves, already changing the disc on her turntable to the next song. While she was doing this, Sonic and Luna split up for the moment, Luna going over to talk to Zecora, Marine, and Mayor Mare while Sonic walked over to the fence and placed his elbows on top of it, leaning on it as he looked towards the lake.

Twilight noticed this and, after Blaze excused herself to go talk to Octavia and Silver and Trixie split up, she walked over to him while Silver went to go talk to Braeburn and Little Strongheart and Trixie decided to get something to drink. Twilight stopped near the fence as Vinyl started playing the next song, something a bit soothing yet still having a bit of force behind it. She cleared her throat and said, "Uh… hi, Sonic."

Sonic turned his head to the left to look at her, "Hey, Twilight."

Twilight asked, "What are you doing over here?"

Sonic shrugged, "I don't know. It's kind of nice over here though, isn't it?"

Twilight noticed that even the music Vinyl Scratch was playing seemed to be a little quieter over by the fence, likely due to the fact that speakers were more pointed towards the party area. That didn't make it annoying, though; quite the opposite, in fact. "Oh yes, very peaceful," she replied. She walked over to Sonic and stood next to him, both turning to look towards the lake. After a few moments, Twilight asked, "So what do you think of your first Pinkie Pie party, Sonic?"

Sonic replied, "So far, I'm enjoying it. I can see why Pinkie's called the party pony. I'll bet she brightens up a lot of ponies' days, huh?"

Twilight nodded, "She certainly does. She throws plenty of parties for everypony, sometimes inviting everypony in Ponyville to them. I like those parties too, though I think I prefer the smaller ones she throws with Spike and the other girls. They can still get loud, but at least I'm having fun with ponies I know."

Sonic turned around, resting his back against the fence as he replied, "I know what you mean. I like those kinds of parties too. Still, a big party is a good thing to go to once in a while in order to meet new people." He held a hand to his chin, "Come to think of it, it's been a while since the last time I went to one. I should go to one sometime, maybe get a little disc jockey practice in."

Twilight looked at him, "You work as a DJ?"

Sonic replied, "I'd say it's more like a hobby than an actual job. I mean, could you really see me working as a DJ on a regular basis somewhere?" Twilight couldn't help but give a small giggle at that.

After a moment, she looked off to the side before glancing back at Sonic and saying, "You know… I never really got a chance to thank you, Sonic." The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow at that, so she clarified, "You know, about my… problem."

Sonic realized what she was talking about and replied, "Oh yeah, that. Hey, it's no biggie."

Twilight looked at him, "Yes it is a biggie. Dr. Eggman and Discord were able to use it against us, and we all could've fallen under Discord's magic or worse just because I wouldn't talk to my friends, who are the whole reason I am where I am today."

Sonic said, "Yeah, you told me a little about all that, back in the jungle and when you were gray. And even knowing that, I just can't figure out why they wouldn't listen to you, especially your brother and Celestia."

Twilight looked off to the side, "It's like I said. I overreact to things. I overreact to everything…" She was silent for a moment before she added, "Just so you know, when Pinkie invited us to help take the Cakes' entry for a cake contest up to Canterlot for them and was going around accusing the other bakers of taking bites out of it, I stressed the importance of having proof." She sighed, "The Smarty Pants incident, the Future Twilight incident, my brother's wedding… I was acting like a foal, like I said, so I should've known what was going to happen, especially when I burst in during the wedding rehearsal without any actual proof…"

Sonic looked at her for a moment before saying, "Twilight, I know we haven't known each other long, but it seems like you overreacting to things is just something that's a part of you. Maybe you can manage it in some way, but that's not important. It doesn't seem like you do it to make anyone feel bad, and if that happens, it's not on purpose. I should know; I've done it before when all I was trying to do was help my friends. I can't help it if I accidentally say something I wasn't supposed to. I do what I have to do to help others, just like you."

Twilight turned her head to look at him questioningly, "What's your point?"

Sonic said, "The point is, Twilight, they're your friends, family, and mentor. They've known you way longer than I have, so if I can tell what you're like after… well, I guess it doesn't matter how much of today has actually gone by. But anyway, if I know that much about you after such a short time, they should know you too. They should know better than to brush off your concerns as nothing right away and not be so harsh. I guess it kind of makes sense that you would be upset and afraid to talk to them about it after all that."

Twilight glanced down at the ground, "I can't be angry at them. Not when they've had similar problems and I've tried my best to help them out with them. I guess… I just thought it all happened because I wasn't being as good as I was supposed to be. I suppose that's why I was feeling the way I did. I figured the only way I could get the feeling to go away was if I changed and tried to be better, especially for them."

Sonic placed his right hand under her chin and made her look up at him. "Don't," he said simply. At Twilight's look, he went on, "Don't rearrange. I don't think there's any need to change anything about who you are. Just stay like you are and keep it all the same. The same goes for your friends, your brother, and Celestia. We all just need to keep an open mind as we move along and not dwell on the past." He let go of her chin, "Eggman and Discord could probably use a bit of adjustment in their lives, but extreme cases like that are the only times I think anyone should consider changing. Otherwise, I don't think anyone should change to suit others' fancies, and I don't think you should either."

Twilight tilted her head, "You think so?"

Sonic nodded, "Of course. Considering what you said about your brother's wedding and how Cadance had been trapped in those caves, what happened was probably the best outcome you could've hoped for. But that's not the point; the point is you were faced with daunting tasks with lots of unknowns to consider, and your friends simply didn't see it that way at the time. You were basically being asked to fix something that shouldn't have needed to be fixed if they had given you the benefit of the doubt. I probably can't understand completely since I don't think the same way you do, but I do know this." He looked Twilight directly in the eyes, "I can trust you with my life, my soul, and everything in between… because you were willing to trust me in the midst of your darkest hour and bare your soul out to me. I'm glad I met you, Spike, and the other girls, but most of all, you."

Twilight looked at him with wide eyes," R-Really?"

Sonic leaned back and nodded, "Yeah. This whole thing's been a lot of fun. I know I'll never forget any of it or any of you."

Twilight asked, "You mean it?"

Sonic replied, "Of course." He then grinned playfully, "How could I forget anyone who gets in as much trouble as you guys do?" Twilight blinked at him and then started to snicker before falling back into giggles again. This quickly escalated into full-fledged laughter, Sonic smiling at her as she felt the last of her pent-up stress over past events leave her.

Vinyl Scratch's music muted the sound of Twilight's laughing to the other party guests (that combined with the fact that Amy was caught up in her conversation meant she didn't notice Sonic talking with her alone), but Shining Armor and Cadance noticed, after Twilight's laughter died down, both her and Sonic talking to each other. The married couple stood together on the side of the picnic table closest to the duo and smiled as they looked on. After a moment, Cadance looked at Shining and asked, "Don't they look cute together, Shining?"

The white stallion chuckled, "Well, I'll admit they make a nice couple."

Cadance looked back at Sonic and Twilight and asked, "Remember what we were like when we first started dating?"

Shining blushed faintly as he replied, "Nothing like those two, that's for sure."

Cadance smiled as she glanced at him, "You know, I could give their relationship a bit of a boost with my magic…"

Shining looked at her, "Uh, I don't think you should, Cadance…"

Cadance turned her head to look at him and asked, "Why not? Twilight's feelings are clearer now that she's got all that off her chest." Shining winced slightly at that, but he kept looking at her as she continued, "Sonic's mind is still completely closed to me for some reason, but he clearly cares deeply for Twilight. You said you wanted to see where they would go in a relationship together; why aren't you interested now?"

Shining replied, "When I said that, I meant if they were both willing to be in a relationship. I don't want them to fall for each other only because you cast a love spell on them. That, and… well, what I mean is…" His eyes shifted as he glanced around to make sure nobody was listening in before he leaned in close to Cadance and whispered, "Remember that restaurant we went to on that one date, the one where we saw that 'couple' that was arguing and you decided to use your magic to help them?"

Cadance's face turned bright red at that and she quickly said, in a hushed voice, "H-Hey, that was a completely different situation! They didn't even look alike; how was I supposed to know they were cousins?!"

Shining replied, "Yeah, well, Princess Celestia still forbade you to use your magic like that when she found out about it. I don't think she would consider this an exception. Let's not find out, okay?" Cadance looked at him for a moment before turning her head away and pouting, probably thinking Celestia would allow her to cast the spell if she asked her. A second later, both her and Shining Armor noticed Rainbow Dash flying towards Twilight and Sonic and looked on to see what was going to happen.

Rainbow flew up next to Sonic and Twilight, both of them looking at her as she landed and said, "Hey Twi', Sonic. What's happening?"

Sonic replied, "We were just talking about some of the highlights from our adventure."

Twilight nodded, "Yes, it certainly was exciting. And I think we all learned a few new things from it."

Rainbow grinned, "I know I did! Watch this!" Sonic and Twilight watched as she ran around the fence and into the flat area past it, running to their left. As she passed in front of them a short distance away, she came to a stop and jumped straight up. She then pointed her body forward like she was flying, a white aura briefly forming around her head as she moved forward slightly… and then it faded. Rainbow's eyes shot open at this and she flailed in midair for a second before she fell straight down onto her face. She groaned as she lifted her head up, placing her right hoof on the side of it. "Ow… That's not what I meant to do! I thought I had the Sonic Boost down. Guess I still have a lot of work to do," she sighed.

To her surprise, she heard applause and turned to her left to see Sonic clapping his hands. He surprised her further when he said, "Are you kidding? That was great for your first time! If you keep working on it, you'll get it down in no time!"

Rainbow stood up and trotted over to the fence and asked, "Yeah?" Sonic nodded in response.

Twilight then added, "I'd have to agree with him, Rainbow. It looks like you've almost mastered the initial burst of motion. Once you've got that figured out, depending on what else you plan to do, the rest might be relatively easy. It'll probably make for an interesting addition to your usual aerial stunts."

Rainbow smugly smirked, "Well, of course it will, Twilight! I'll be the first pony to master a skill in the air that was originally used only on the ground! And when the Wonderbolts finally accept me, they'll all want to learn it from me! Sonic's speed and skills will grace the skies as well as the land!" She grinned to herself while Twilight and Sonic smiled at each other.

After a few seconds, all three of them heard a new song coming from Vinyl Scratch's speakers, causing them to look back at the party area. "Heh, looks like this party's gonna be going on for a while, like all of Pinkie Pie's parties," Rainbow smiled.

Twilight looked at Sonic and asked, "What do you think?"

Sonic answered, "I'm game if you two are." With that, the three of them headed back to rejoin their friends.

As the party went on, everyone moved onto the games and dancing (ever Granny Smith was able to move some, bringing some of her Zap Apple season vigor out) as Vinyl Scratch and Octavia continued to go through their list of songs, Vinyl occasionally inviting the guests to sing when she placed an instrumental disc on her turntable. Through it all, Discord's statue sat where it was under the tree; no one was sure whether he was listening or not, but never once was there any indication that he was trying to break out again.

Shortly after Sonic was finished singing a song, he walked over to the picnic table to join Spike and the girls and retrieve the punch he'd poured himself earlier. After he set it back down, he started talking with the group of friends. "Goodness, Sonic, I had no idea you were such a good singer!" Rarity commented. Twilight smiled to herself, having already been amazed before when she found out the blue hedgehog and Tails were both great singers.

"Yeah, you ever thought about making your own band?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Sonic held a hand to his chin and thought a moment before he shrugged, "Eh, not really. I might've thought about it once sometime after I first met Vector and the Chaotix, but that's about it."

Applejack chuckled, "Heh, good thing ya didn't make a band with them. Their singin' and playin' would probably be somethin' awful!"

Pinkie piped up, "Aw, take it easy on them, Applejack! I'm sure they'd sing just fine, or at least be funny to listen to! Ooh! Next time Vinyl calls somepony up, we should send them up!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Tails ran up to Sonic while saying, "Guys! Hey, guys!" His calls attracted the attention of everyone at the party, causing them all to look at him.

"What's wrong, Tails?" Sonic asked.

The fox replied, "I think we're going to have to cut the party short! Look!" He turned and pointed, everyone looking where he was pointing.

Past Vinyl Scratch and Octavia and beyond the fence in front of the flat stretch of grass, Sonic, Spike, and the Main Six could see the portal back to Equestria still floating in front of the lake… but there appeared to be something wrong with it. "W-Why is it sparking like that?" Fluttershy managed to ask.

"It almost looks like it's… starting to destabilize!" Twilight guessed.

Tails looked back at the group and nodded, "Right!" He held up his radar and flipped it open, typing on it as he said, "According to my radar, the damage the Time Eater caused is almost fully healed! That portal is probably the last thing that, unfortunately, needs to be fixed!"

Applejack asked, "'Fixed'? Ya mean…"

Tails looked up and nodded, "Exactly. That portal is going to close soon! And when it does, there'll be almost no way for any of you to get back to Equestria!" Many gasps were heard at that, as everyone could now see what Tails was getting at.

"So… we have to go now?" Spike quietly asked.

Celestia raised a wing and placed it on his back to comfort him. She then said, "If what Tails is saying is true, Spike, then that is what we must do. We all can't simply abandon Equestria, especially not Luna and I, and the Elements of Harmony must be in Equestria if they are to protect it. We have no choice." She looked down at the ground as she finished speaking, almost everyone else looking sad at her words.

"Oh no," Pinkie murmured sadly.

"We'll never see Sonic or any of our new friends again! Of all the worst things that could happen!" Rarity cried dramatically.

"Now hold on!" Rainbow exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "Tails said there was ALMOST no way to get back to Equestria! That means there must be a way to travel to Equestria and back!"

Luna looked at Tails and asked, "Tails, is Rainbow Dash's rash assumption true?"

The fox kit replied, "Well, in theory, yes. In practice, though… I can't say for sure. The only method I can think of involves the Chaos Emeralds, and that's too risky to chance."

Twilight asked, "What do you mean?"

Sonic spoke up, "Every time the Chaos Emeralds come together in one place, they scatter and disappear all over again. When that happens, they unleashed a huge burst of their energy to teleport away. That's the same energy that turned us Super; if we gathered them again and used them without transforming, they could potentially cause Chaos Control. The problem is that that's a huge amount of energy that, at the moment, isn't being controlled. There's no guarantee it would send you all back to Equestria."

Rainbow asked, "What about the Warp Ring?! We used it this whole time to travel back to Ponyville from your world, right?!"

Tails shook his head, "The only reason we were able to use it so often was because of the Time Eater. Time and Space were so messed up that it was easy to travel with the Warp Ring. Once things go back to normal, I don't think it'll be able to travel between dimensions so easily. Besides, look." He reached into his tails and pulled out the Warp Ring, holding it up. It was still gold, but its overall appearance was dull, looking like it hadn't been polished in some time. "We used up the last of its energy on the train ride to Canterlot. I was going to recharge it, but with everything that happened near the end of the trip, it slipped my mind. We could recharge it, but again, we'd need all seven Chaos Emeralds or the power of the Master Emerald for it to be powerful enough for dimensional travel, and even that's risky."

Rouge looked over at Knuckles and commented, "Guess you should've held onto it rather than putting it back where it belonged, eh Red?" Knuckles just glared at her in response.

Twilight had a thought and turned to look at Blaze. "Blaze, you traveled from your world to get here. Do you think…?" she asked.

The cat princess replied, "I'm sorry, Twilight, but I don't know. The Sol Emeralds originally brought me to Sonic's world when Eggman stole them, and Sonic and Tails were sent to my world due to an unusual storm. Tails built a ship that used the power of both the Chaos and Sol Emeralds to transport them home, and I learned how to recreate the tunnel between dimensions by studying his notes. It works because the Chaos and Sol Emeralds are connected to each other; I do not know if they will be able to travel to Equestria."

With that, the girls, Spike, and their friends truly realized that they would have to say goodbye to their new friends, likely for good. They knew it was the only logical thing to do; they all had lives and responsibilities in Equestria that they couldn't just leave behind, and they couldn't ask Sonic and his friends to leave their world either, especially with Dr. Eggman still on the loose. They all knew that, but still…

"Th-This can't be…" Applejack sobbed.

"There was so much I wanted to learn from…" Scootaloo muttered, trailing off.

"I thought that…" Cadance started before Pinkie burst out crying, tears once again falling from her eyes like waterfalls and her cries drowned out almost anything else anyone could've said, all of them backing away slightly to give her room as she collapsed.

All except for Sonic, though. The hedgehog remained where he was for a moment before he stepped forward, lifting Pinkie off the ground and into his arms. She sobbed onto his shoulder while he patted her on the back and whispered, "Come on, Pinkie, don't cry. I know you've got to go, but what's this all about?"

Pinkie sobbed, "I… I can't lose… any of my best friends! I CAN'T! Not after… not after…" She was unable to finish before she was wracked with sobs again, her head leaning against Sonic's.

After a moment, Sonic asked, "What are you talking about, Pinkie? You're not going to lose any friends."

Pinkie wailed, "Yes I will! Once we're gone… and that portal closes… we'll never see any of you again! We'll be saying goodbye forever!"

For a minute, there was silence as Pinkie continued to cry, making one of her deepest insecurities known to everyone. Sonic continued to hold her, but a certain look soon crossed his face. He let the pink pony sob for a few moments more before holding his arms out so he could look at her. He then said, "Pinkie… that has to be the most ridiculous thing I've heard you say." To say the Equestria residents were surprised by what he said was an understatement; Pinkie even stopped crying to stare at him with wide eyes. While still holding onto Pinkie, Sonic spoke, "Think back, Pinkie. What happened the day Rainbow Dash performed her first Sonic Rainboom?"

Pinkie thought for a moment before asking, "I got my cutie mark?"

Sonic nodded, "Mm-hmm. What else happened?"

Pinkie replied after a moment, "Dashie, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack got their cutie marks too. And Spikey was born."

Sonic nodded, "Exactly. It may have been an event that was felt all over Equestria, but it wasn't special because it showed you and the others what your special talents are. What made it special was the fact that it set you girls on the path to becoming best friends, which ultimately happened during your first adventure together. Ever since then, no matter what's happened, you've all remained best friends. Yes, there have been bumps along the way, but you've managed to overcome them and come back to each other."

Pinkie sniffled, "But we all live in the same world. We can come back to each other. You don't. You and your friends live in a different world…"

Sonic replied, "Blaze and Marine live in a different world too, but you notice they're still our friends. And Silver lives in our world's future, yet he still manages to come back to the past every so often to visit. Just because we live in different worlds doesn't mean we can't remain friends. That's the magic of friendship, and as long as you never give up on that, you'll be friends with someone, no matter where they are."

Twilight asked, "Sonic, are you saying…?"

Sonic glanced back at her as he answered, "I'm saying, this is only goodbye for now. Eggman and Discord may have messed up time and space with the Time Eater, but maybe it was meant to happen, the same way the Sonic Rainboom and Nightmare Moon brought you all together. If that's true, then there's no doubt in my mind that we'll meet again someday."

Pinkie asked, "You really think so…?"

Sonic looked back at her and replied, "Yes. And that's why you should go back to Equestria along with the rest of your friends. Because Ponyville wouldn't be the same without its local party pony, and us meeting again would make for a great excuse to have a party. And after seeing what a real Pinkie Pie party is like, I know you'll come up with an amazing reunion party too." He leaned forward and hugged her, saying, "Thanks for the party, Pinkie." He then leaned back and smiled, "And thanks for being my friend." Pinkie completely froze at that, staring at him with wide eyes. Then, suddenly, a big grin broke out on her face and she began to shake. Everyone looked worried and took a step back as she began to shake even harder, remaining in place despite how hard she was shaking.

Suddenly, with a cloud of pink smoke, she shot straight up into the air, riding on a glittering trail composed of two shades of pink. "WOOOOOOOOOOHOO!" she exclaimed at the top of her flight as she floated in the air. Behind and around her, flashes of light and sparkles appeared and disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Some were shaped like stars while others were glowing balls of colors. As they appeared, they sounded like fireworks firing and exploding as they disappeared. Everyone stared up at her in awe, admiring the show. After about a minute of this, Pinkie suddenly returned to the ground and bounced around several times before catching Sonic in a hug of her own.

"Thanks for being my friend too, Sonic! And everyone else too!" she said as she squeezed Sonic tightly, though not hard enough to choke him. She let him go a moment later and then started bouncing around, hugging Tails and the rest of his friends, even surprising Shadow with a hug.

While watching the pink pony bounce around to the others, Sonic smiled at the girls, "Wow. She really is one of a kind, isn't she?"

Twilight smiled back, "Yes. Yes she is."

Tails raised an eyebrow, but smiled as he spoke, "I have no idea how she did that… and I'm perfectly okay with that."

After she finished hugging everyone else, Pinkie bounced back over to Sonic, Tails, Spike, and the other girls, stopping when she reached them. She then held a hoof to her chin thoughtfully and said, "Oh… I wish I hadn't forgotten the camera. I'd sure love to have something to remember this day by, and I'm sure everypony else would too."

Suddenly, a voice above them asked, "Excuse me, but did somebody say they needed a camera?" Everyone looked up to see a Chao-looking robot hovering above all of their heads with a camera in its hands. They were so distracted that nobody noticed the spirit of a certain draconequus slip past them and into his statue.

"Omochao!" Tails exclaimed.

"At your service!" the robot replied. He held up his camera and asked, "What do you say we make some memories you can all take home with you?" All the party guests glanced at each other and smiled.

Soon…

Sonic's friends were all gathered around the picnic table area while Sonic and Tails stood near the tree, close to the fence. Omochao had left after he had taken the group shot and the individual pictures that some guests asked for, and now they were all saying their (for now) last goodbyes to each other. Gilda, Trixie, Zecora, Derpy, the Wonderbolts, Mayor Mare, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia had finished saying their goodbyes and were waiting by the portal back to Equestria for everypony else. All that left was Spike, the Main Six, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, their family members, and the princesses of Equestria.

Pinkie was first up, bouncing up to Sonic and Tails and giving them both one last hug. She then stepped back and smiled, "Bye, guys! And don't worry; I Pinkie Promise I'll have a super duper reunion party ready for the next time we meet!" She then did the motions as she recited, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

As she trotted away, Tails looked at Sonic and commented, "So THAT's the Pinkie Promise." Sonic smiled back at him at that.

Next was Applejack, her family, and Little Strongheart. Granny Smith was the first to speak, "Thank ya kindly fer stickin' by mah granddaughter and her friends, young'uns. Both o' y'all and yer friends are all right."

Braeburn smiled sadly, "We'll miss y'all. Ah hope we get to see y'all again soon sometime." Little Strongheart nodded in agreement.

Apple Bloom said, "We'll make sure to find out what our cutie marks are so we can show ya next time we see ya." Babs blew her mane to the side and smiled softly at the duo.

Sonic smiled, "Well, don't go growing up too fast on us now, Apple Bloom. At least have a little fun along the way, you and the other Crusaders."

Applejack said, "Next time you're in Ponyville, y'all are welcome at Sweet Apple Acres from now on as honorary Apple Family members, just like all mah friends!"

Big Macintosh nodded, "Eeyup."

After the Apples and Little Strongheart started making their way over to the others, Fluttershy stepped up to Sonic and Tails, shifting her attention between them and the ground. "I… Um, well… It's just…" she stuttered, trying to find the words. When she looked up at them again, she noticed them offering their arms out and took the offer, flying over to them and hugging them tightly. "I'M GONNA MISS YOU!" she exclaimed in a very un-Fluttershy-like cry. Sonic and Tails patted her on the back and, after a few moments, she stepped back and smiled at the both of them before joining the others.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle stepped up next. The fashionista was the first to speak, "Well, while I can't say I particularly enjoyed everything we did together, I will say that it was most certainly fun in the end. When you find a way to come to Equestria again, darlings, I promise to show you as good a time as you showed me. As a lady and the Element of Generosity, it will be my pleasure!"

Sweetie nodded, "Yeah, what Rarity said. Just try not to bring any robots with you, okay? They make me feel kind of weird." She and Rarity then walked over to the others while Sonic and Tails shared a look.

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were next up. Rainbow immediately raised her left foreleg, prompting Sonic to hold up his left hand and they shared a high hoof. Tails looked at Scootaloo and held both of his hands in front of himself with his palms open. Scootaloo took the hint and, while flapping her tiny wings, leapt up and thumped both of her hooves against his palms. When she landed, she grinned, "You guys are awesome! Not as awesome as Rainbow Dash, but still awesome!"

Sonic shrugged jokingly, "Darn! Ah well, I'll just have to learn to live with that."

Rainbow laughed, "Yeah, you'd better!" She then smiled at them, "See you, true blue and egghead." She then lifted Scootaloo up with her hoof and flew her over to the others.

Twilight, Spike, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance then stepped forward. Shining went first, "Sonic, I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for my sister. You really went above and beyond the call of duty. And Tails, Sonic's really lucky to have a little brother like you." He then held his right hoof to his forehead, "I salute you both." Both Sonic and Tails raised their right hands to their foreheads, saluting him back. Cadance simply smiled at this gesture.

After they were finished, Twilight stepped forward, both her and Spike smiling at the duo. "I, uh… I really don't know what to say," Twilight confessed.

"That's okay, Twilight. You don't have to say anything," Sonic reassured her.

Tails nodded, "Yeah. But, Twilight…?" The lavender unicorn looked over at him, wondering what was on his mind. Tails reached into his tails and pulled out the Warp Ring. He then held it out to her, "Here, take it. You guys can think of it like a memento of our first adventure together."

Twilight asked, "Are you sure? What about you guys?"

Sonic replied, "Don't worry. We'll be fine without it. And who knows? Maybe you and your fancy magic can find a way to turn it into a trans-dimensional portal or something." Twilight smiled and took the ring with her magic, holding it up in front of her and looking at it for a moment before looking back at Sonic and Tails.

After a moment, Sonic held his right hand up while Tails held up his left hand. At this, Twilight reared up on her hind legs, Spike holding on tightly, and bumped her hooves against their hands. Once she was back on all fours again, she turned to the side while Spike got back into a normal sitting position. He was about to say something to her when he noticed Sonic and Tails still holding their hands out, this time down low. Spike smiled at this and raised his claws, clapping them both on their hands. With that, they all moved on to join the others.

Finally, Celestia and Luna stepped forward, Celestia holding Discord's statue up with her magic. Celestia spoke first, "No words can truly express how thankful we are for all that you and your friends have done, both for Equestria and your own world, Sonic. Believe me when I say that your actions and the events of this day will be remembered not only by everyone here and in Ponyville, but also the rest of Equestria. This day will long be remembered by all, I assure you."

Luna then stepped up next to her sister and said, "The sky of your world is much like the sky of Equestria. When you look up at the night sky, the stars' bright light will be echoing all of our thanks to all of you." Sonic and Tails nodded; Luna then raised her right hoof up, Sonic closing his left hand into a fist and bumping it against her hoof. The sisters then joined the rest of their ponies, who were now ready to return to Equestria.

Just as they were about to start leaving, Sonic called, "Hey Dash! Next time we see each other, how about we have a real race?"

Rainbow looked back at him over her shoulder, "Sounds awesome!" She then smirked, "It's a date!"

Predictably, Amy screamed, "WHAT?!" Rainbow started laughing as soon as she heard that, everyone else following suit soon after as they realized she was just joking (except for Amy, who was still fuming a bit). The Equestrians then started going back to Equestria while (almost) everyone waved to them, Gilda being the first to leave.

As Celestia, Luna, and the rest of the ponies started going through the portal, the Main Six and Spike looked back at Sonic and the others, getting one last look at their new friends seeing them off. They kept looking until it was just them left, at which point they all walked through the portal together, disappearing into its shimmering surface.

And just like that, it closed up, vanishing and leaving behind some rainbow-colored sparkles that vanished soon afterwards.

While everyone else kept waving at where the portal had been, Sonic simply put his left hand on his hip. As he looked at where the portal had been, he thought to himself, "What a day this turned out to be! I had a huge adventure, got to have some fun with my friends, fought a huge monster, and, most of all, made friends with a bunch of ponies, a baby dragon, a zebra, a buffalo, and got a griffin for a new rival."

He grinned to himself, "Best birthday ever!"

---

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONIC!

Okay, okay, it's probably a little late for that, but I still managed to finish this chapter on his birthday. I wish I could've gotten it up WAY earlier today and I'm sorry that it's being posted now of all times. Still, I finished it, and I hope I didn't sacrifice any of my usual quality by trying to get it done as soon as I possible.

Yes, I admit to altering the story slightly to remove the White Space scene that plays at the end of the credits in the game, but Discord obviously couldn't end up there. Right now, he's all wrapped up and ready to be redeemed in "Keep Calm and Flutter On", so he has to be returned to the present. As for Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot, I realize I could've put them in the White Space, but I don't think it would've been as interesting without Discord. Plus, and this is pure speculation on my part, I don't think Modern Eggman escaping the White Space is going to have much of an impact on the plot of "Sonic Lost World". Unless they pull a "Sonic X" and have Eggman learn about the Deadly Six immediately after escaping the White Space, similar to how he learned about Chaos after the second Chaos Control in the anime, I don't think Eggman escaping the White Space is going to mean much to the story. Yes, they tied in the ending of "Sonic Colo(u)rs" into the plot of "Sonic Generations", but I'm not sure they can do the same thing with the ending to "Sonic Generations".

Also, about the party. I know in the Console/PC version that after the Time Eater is destroyed, everyone is returned to the party with everything back to the way it was even though Sonic's chili dog has still been knocked into the air. I figure they ended up in a slightly alternate timeline where the Time Eater didn't completely trash their party. If you re-read the first chapter, though, I mentioned that the Time Eater sucked up all the food and decorations when it appeared. Since it was destroyed, the party can't be restored to normal here. That's the in-universe reason, but the out-of-universe reason is simply because I wanted Pinkie's talent for making and hosting parties to come up in this story. You can't possibly have a MLP: FiM story featuring someone's birthday without having a party organized by Pinkie Pie, can you? Well, unless it's a party for her, of course.

Anyway...

The opening sequence with Rainbow Dash waking up to whiteness is a reference to the aftermath of "Genesis" in the Archie comics, when Sonic is just waking up after causing Chaos Control and is briefly remembering the alternate Mobius.

Since Discord is ready to be reformed, his statue looks like it did in "Keep Calm and Flutter On". Since it looked different than it did at the end of "The Return of Harmony", this story is kind of a fan interpretation for why it looks different.

Gilda, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Soarin being unable to catch up to Eggman is a reference to how he was able to briefly outrun Sonic in the Genesis games, "Sonic CD", and "Sonic 4". Cubot mentioning blast processing is a reference to the Sega Genesis itself.

The cake Pinkie makes for the party is based off the one seen in the Off-Panel of Sonic Universe #50, just with all the "50" references removed.

Orbot's mention of Eggman taking a night off every week to go somewhere is a reference to Eggman being a part of Bad-Anon in "Wreck-It Ralph". Sonic mentioning going to a party sometime is a reference to one of his cameos in the same movie.

Some of the things Spike says when he's playing with the Sonic and Amy figurines comes from the "Sonic X" episode "Cruise Blues". Some of Sonic's dialogue during the talks with Twilight and Pinkie comes from the episode "Friends 'til the End".

The talk about Sonic having a band is obviously a reference to "Sonic Underground", but Sonic's mention of Vector being a part of a band with him is a reference to the scrapped Sound Test from the original "Sonic the Hedgehog", which was supposed to feature Sonic and Vector together with several other band members playing the songs (the other band members eventually became the members of Mina Mongoose's band, the Forget Me Knots, in the Archie comics).

I'm only guessing when it comes to Pinkie's deepest insecurities, but based on the way she was acting in the episode "Wonderbolts Academy", I think it's safe to say she doesn't like the thought of losing any of her best friends.

Pinkie gets fizzy and explodes like she did in the episode "A Friend in Deed".

Omochao appearing with a camera to take a picture of everyone is a reference to the normal ending of "Sonic Advance 3", where Omochao appears with a camera to take a picture of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Cheese.

Well, that's it, I think. I hope this chapter was as good as the previous chapters, and I'm sorry for making you all wait all day for it.

See you all next time! That's right, this story's not over yet!

Music:

Reboot - www. youtube. com watch?v=jJ9Mahjbl2k

Victory - www. youtube. com watch?v=LKgJhCiAMVk

A Broken Partnership - www. youtube. com watch?v=M_8cv9Fi8K0

Time to Party! - www. youtube. com watch?v=0gfniCDbbzg

Regroup, or...? - www. youtube. com watch?v=0lzBfgbl-vE

Pinkie Pie Party - www. youtube. com watch?v=aVac0HgHWho

One Last Talk - www. youtube. com watch?v=4hXnz_mvAKA

Passing on Knowledge - www. youtube. com watch?v=xTOBM2w3xjc

Sad Truth - www. youtube. com watch?v=aWHPbWIFEXg

The Magic of Friendship - www. youtube. com watch?v=ZDMaNSwQ7d4

Friends to the End - www. youtube. com watch?v=iISymyA3MwE

BONUS! If you like listening to music, here's an extra little treat for you: some of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia's playlist for Sonic's party!

www. youtube. com watch?v=aaojFmFnNKE

www. youtube. com watch?v=HU0Q6ISaV4c

www. youtube. com watch?v=DC9wtpcVm3M

www. youtube. com watch?v=Z6beNl1qCI0 (this is the song that was playing when the story switched back to the party)

www. youtube. com watch?v=lndJB0F4tYc (this is the song that Octavia played to)

www. youtube. com watch?v=vrEEgEVjY0c (this song played during Sonic and Twilight's talk)

www. youtube. com watch?v=SQs8zvhv3cI

www. youtube. com watch?v=5TQAjXSD1PY

www. youtube. com watch?v=p2IaIIKJgiY

www. youtube. com watch?v=O80wOO3dYwg (this is the song Sonic sang)

And finally, here's a deleted track from the playlist, a song that kind of ties into the lesson learned by the Main Six, and finally a 16-bit remix medley of some of the show's songs.

www. youtube. com watch?v=vcjso2HmQqo (this song is not part of the playlist due to its title; just for the record, I do not think Rainbow Dash is gay)

www. youtube. com watch?v=D3ZNtOcY_1A

www. youtube. com watch?v=EnHu3tYXkb4