*sigh* Yes, my first fanfic is a Sonic/MLP crossover. Laugh if you must, but at least read a bit of it before judging. The idea just came to me, then I started expanding on it, gaining some real direction, and before I knew it, I had something I really wanted to write. I just felt like I had to get it on paper-eh, computer screen... You know what I mean -_-'...

Quick warning: this is my first story, so it might be a little rough in some areas. Feel free to point these areas out to me, but don't flame.

Also, quick note: elements from Sonic's universe (mainly Eggman robots) will be based off of the game continuity, not cartoons or comics. Just thought I'd clear that up, seeing as there are SWATbots early on. They're the ones from Dark Brotherhood. Also, Sonic's world will be called Mobius, just because it seems right to me. I honestly don't know if they ever directly state the world's name in the games, but if this raises any inconsistencies, I apologize.

Well, I think I've wasted enough of your time here. Let's get started!

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I do not claim ownership of anything in this story. Sonic the Hedgehog and My Little Pony are owned by Sonic Team and Hasbro, respectively.

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SONIC: CHAOS AND HARMONY

Chapter 1: Assault on the Asgard

If there was a word to describe Doctor Ivo Robotnik, it would be this: persistent. Commonly called by his nickname, Eggman, the not-so-good Doctor seemed to come up with a new plan to pursue the seven all-powerful gems known as Chaos Emeralds on a weekly basis. No matter how many times his plans had been thwarted, he'd always lick his wounds and come back fighting just as hard as ever, with whatever tricks, weapons, or ancient deities he could muster.

This time was no different. Or rather, it was VERY different. Donned in his signature red and black outfit, his trusty goggles fit snugly atop his head with black, circular shades covering his eyes, Eggman cackled to himself with pride from the helm of his newly-built battleship. Truly, this time he believed he'd outdone himself.

"Eggman, you magnificent mastermind! This time you've outdone yourself!" He boasted, stroking his long, orange mustache. "Truly, this plan could only be conceived by a genius of YOUR stature!"

"Erm, Master?" Came a synthetic voice from the ship's speakers.

Eggman's mood soured as he glared at the nearest speaker. "ADAM! I thought I told you to be quiet!"

"I apologize, sir, but I am about to begin the jump calculations, and your repeated ego-stroking is beginning to get distracting."

Eggman groaned to himself. True, installing an on-board AI in his new "Egg Asgard" was yet another stroke of genius, but making it fully aware was proving to be a double-edged sword, as ADAM seemed to have an opinion about EVERYTHING.

"Fine," he said defeatedly, "but make sure you let me know when we're fully calibrated."

"Yes sir." With that, the AI signed off. Eggman's grin returned. Here he stood, about to step head-first into his greatest scheme yet. The new Slider Drive he'd designed required quite a bit of fine-tuning, but he could hardly contain his excitement as he prepared to see if it was worth the blood, sweat, and tears. If this plan was successful, every victory he'd had in the past (few and far in-between they were) would seem like child's play.

"You've truly outdone yourself!" Eggman whispered once more, "Truly, truly genius!"

"Sir!"

"OH, COME ON! YOU CAN HARDLY HEAR ME!"

"Not that, Master." Only then did Eggman note the urgency in the synthetic's tone. "There is a small aircraft approaching us head-on!"

Strangely, the news made Eggman smirk rather than panic. "Let me guess..." He then jokingly raised a hand to his chin. "The Tornado?"

As if on cue, the monitor then displayed the image of a silhouette visible through the cloud bank they'd oh-so-wisely chosen to hide in. Sure enough, that unmistakable X-shaped wing pattern could be seen. "Truly, truly genius, Master."

Eggman chuckled at the AI's joking retort. Looking closer at the image, he noticed an all-too familiar spiky silhouette on what appeared to be the plane's tail. The sight of the figure caused Eggman to grin. "Not even HE can stop me this time." he then turned towards the speaker, once more. "You keep doing what you're doing. I'll handle this!"

"As you wish, doctor." With that, ADAM logged off once more.

Eggman then pressed his finger down on a giant, red button on the console before him. "ATTENTION ALL ON-BOARD FORCES!" The doctor's voice boomed over the ship's mics. "WE APPEAR TO HAVE SOME UNWANTED COMPANY! I WANT ALL FORWARD CANNONS AT THE READY, ANTI-AIR FORCES ON-DECK, AND ALL DRONES DEPLOYED TO INTERCEPT! KEEP THE TORNADO AWAY FROM THIS SHIP AT ALL COSTS!"

The response was immediate, as the screen then displayed a large, red banner reading "ACKNOWLEDGED." The image then switched to several small screens of small fighter planes launching from an open hangar, as well as several turret controls coming online. Another screen popped up, showing several SWATbots armed with long-range weapons moving towards the bridge.

Eggman triumphantly donned his signature grin as he watched his orders carried out across the ship. "Genius," he commended himself. "Truly, truly GENIUS!"

-o-o-o-

The thin, high-altitude air rushing through his long, blue quills had to be Sonic's favorite thing about flying. That, or the feeling of the cool cloud vapor against the bare skin of his muzzle and arms. Enjoying these sensations while riding on the only vehicle capable of matching his incredible speed almost made the young hedgehog forget that he was on a mission.

"HEY!" A gruff voice shouted over the Tornado's engine, "I THINK I SEE SOMETHING!" The red echidna pointed his spiked glove towards the clouded image they were rapidly approaching. Snapping out of his euphoria, Sonic focused his eyes on the image.

There was no mistaking Eggman's craftsmanship, but the ship's size nearly made Sonic's jaw drop. "Ship" hardly seemed fitting for such a juggernaut, as it was easily bigger than an entire fleet of Eggman's previous works. In shape, it was similar to his previous Egg Carrier, with a long nose, and a wide deck extending along its length. However, the rear of the ship seemed much heavier, mostly made up of powerful thrusters to propel the craft, with several smaller ones lining the nose to keep it airborne. Sitting atop it all was the ship's massive bridge, which seemed almost city-like in nature, with several elongated facilities coming out of a single, dome-shaped base. In the front was what Sonic could only assume was the command center, seeing as it was a giant metal structure in the shape of Eggman's head, with two giant windows resembling eyes. In color, it was silvery-gray with "EGG ASGARD" printed in big, black letters along its side.

Sonic let out a whistle, barley audible over the plane's engine. "I gotta hand it to old Egg-head: he never stops making things interesting!"

"TAILS!" Knuckles the Echidna shouted to the two-tailed fox in the pilot's seat in front of him. "I CAN SENSE THE MASTER EMERALD'S ENERGY COMING FROM THAT SHIP!"

Tails nodded in confirmation. Once again, it seemed like Eggman was up to his old tricks. It had been a while, but after months of being quiet, it was only a matter of time before he pulled something like this. Stealing the Master Emerald was usually the first phase to his plans, hoping to harness the boundless energy it contained for whatever invention he'd cooked up. So really, it was no surprise when the Emerald's reluctant guardian reported that it had been stolen.

"YOU REALLY NEED TO GET BETTER AT GUARDING THAT THING!" Sonic chuckled from his perch on the plane's tail.

"BITE ME, HEDGEHOG!" Knuckles snapped.

"FOCUS, YOU TWO!" the two-tailed fox shouted back. "IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE COMPANY!"

The two bickering rivals looked ahead to see a small squadron of Egg Fighters coming at them. The modified Egg Gliders were equipped with a wide wingspan spreading out from their chassis, which resembled the disembodied torso of a SWATbot, but more streamlined with a powerful thruster jutting from the back. Each fighter was equipped with dual rotating turrets on their underside, aimed to kill.

With a playful smirk, Sonic grabbed on to his perch tightly. "THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET INTENSE!" Knuckles re-tightened his harness, content to leave the dog-fighting to Tails.

The fighters shot first, a flurry of rapid laser fire whizzed past the Tornado's frame as Tails nimbly dodged. Tails had to admit, these fighters were better shots than Eggman's usual aerial bots, but there was still nothing that dominated the skies quite like the Tornado. As they fired, Tails corkscrewed out of the way, launching several missiles at the attackers. Three missiles found their mark, as three fighters burst into flaming debris and fell through the clouds. The rest of the fighters scattered, avoiding the remainder of Tails' barrage, but parting their formation just enough for the Tornado to slip past them.

As the small, red plane slipped past its foes, Sonic saw his opportunity. In a move that could only be called suicidal, Sonic leaped off the back of the Tornado, and towards the nearest fighter. He then curled into a ball, as some unknown force propelled him at his target, striking the craft with enough force to knock it out of the sky. He then performed his signature Homing Attack on three more fighters, sending them all plummeting into the cloud bank.

Almost as if he'd practiced, the blue hedgehog then landed perfectly back on the plane, giving a thumbs-up to his friend in the pilot seat. Tails returned the gesture with a smirk. He knew better than to worry about Sonic when he tried something this reckless.

Now, came the tricky part. With the remaining two fighters behind him, Tails would need someone to cover the Tornado's rear. "KNUCKLES!" He shouted, "IT'S ALL YOU!" With that, he pulled a large, black lever on the right side of his dash.

Knuckles was somewhat surprised as his chair rotated around, a joystick and a monitor appearing before him. Thankfully, Tails had briefed him on this, beforehand. Technology usually wasn't the echidna's area of expertise, but luckily, Tails had kept the briefing simple, by giving him one action and two buttons to memorize.

Grasping the joystick before him, Knuckles swiveled the mechanism until one of the remaining fighters appeared on the monitor. Pulling the stick's primary trigger, Knuckles fired the small rotary turret on the back of the ship, taking the fighter down with one quick burst.

Knuckles smirked triumphantly. "Hey, this is easy!" turning the joystick once more, Knuckles took the remaining fighter down in a manner similar to the first. "WE'RE ALL CLEAR!" he shouted towards the cockpit.

"NOT QUITE!" Sonic shouted in response, "THAT WAS JUST THE WELCOMING PARTY!" Sure enough, even more squadrons of ships began appearing, several among them seeming to be fitted with missile launchers.

Not wasting a second, Tails pushed the steering wheel forwards. "EVERYBODY HANG ON TO SOMETHING!" he shouted. With barely enough time to react, Sonic's grip on the body of the plane tightened to the point of making his hands hurt as the Tornado blasted towards the dreadnought at full throttle.

Eggman's troops instantly lost sight of the plane as it breached their formation, piercing through towards the Asgard with a sonic boom.

-o-o-o-

Back in the cockpit, Eggman watched the plane's speedy approach. Luckily, he'd anticipated this, as SWATbots equipped with surface-to-air weaponry were already lining up along the deck. Eggman had to pat himself on the back for thinking so far in advance. It was truly, truly gen-

"Master?"

"I DIDN'T EVEN SAY IT, YET!"

"N-no, not that, sir," the nervous-sounding AI clarified, "there appears to be a strange energy fluctuation within the Master Emerald Core." A large, 3D hologram of the ship appeared before Eggman, a faint, red glow emanating from the core, indicating an anomaly.

Eggman's brow furrowed. "Give me security footage." He ordered.

"There is none, sir." A static-filled screen then popped up to emphasize ADAM's point. "All monitoring devices appear to have been disabled."

Eggman grumbled in agitation. How dare some mystery force show up at the last minute to foil his truly, truly genius master plan? "I'll look into this," he declared. "In the meantime, I want all your attention divided between calibration process and monitoring the situation here. If the Hedgehog makes it on board, you have my permission to go to Defense Plan B, understood?"

"Perfectly, sir." The AI responded. With that, Eggman's control seat detached from the monitors, separating into his iconic hovercraft, the Egg Mobile. Wheeling the Mobile around, Eggman proceeded out the large, sliding doors behind him and began making his way to the Core.

-o-o-o-

More fighters burst into flame as Sonic leaped off of them, once again landing perfectly on the Tornado. He directed his gaze downward to see that they were now flying across the ship's long deck. Alright! Sonic thought to himself, We're making record time!

As Sonic silently congratulated their progress, he couldn't help but notice Knuckles had stopped firing at the ships behind them. Looking down, he saw the red echidna with a blank expression, seeming to stare off into space.

"YO, KNUX!" Sonic shouted. No response. "EARTH TO KNUCKLEHEAD! YOU THERE?"

It seemed being called "Knucklehead" was enough to get the echidna's attention, as he shook his head and looked back up at Sonic. "Sorry," he said, deciding to pardon the insult, "I just thought I felt... Something."

"WHAT?!" Sonic cupped a hand to his ear as he struggled to hear Knuckles' words over the roaring wind.

A vein appeared on Knuckles' head. "I SAID-"

"HEADS UP!" Tails shouted. Knuckles and Sonic both turned their attention forward to see an entire platoon of SWATbots lining the deck of the ship, each one armed with a large missile pod. The platoon opened fire as the heat-seeking missiles all changed direction, homing in on the Tornado. "KNUCKLES, DEPLOY DECOY FLARES, NOW!" Tails commanded.

"THE WHAT?!" A light bulb then went off in Knuckles' head as he remembered Tails' quick instruction from earlier. "OH, RIGHT!" He then pressed the large, red button on the top of the joystick before him.

With precision timing, Tails made the Tornado perform a complete 180, turning its backside towards the approaching missiles as a flurry of bright fireballs were released from the tail. The majority of the missiles were thrown off by the decoys, swerving into them before detonating harmlessly in mid-air. A few missiles seemed to survive, though, as Knuckles then began shooting at them with the rear turret.

"I THINK THIS IS AS CLOSE AS WE CAN GET!" Tails shouted.

With a confident smirk, Sonic responded, "THEN I GUESS THIS IS MY STOP!" Sighting a nearby fighter, Sonic once again abandoned the relative safety of the Tornado to leap towards the small drone.

"SONIC!" Tails shouted, more out of reflex than concern, as he had faith in his big brother-figure to know what he was doing.

Instead of performing a Homing Attack, Sonic landed on the flying mech's back, planting both feet firmly on the enemy's wings and grabbing the top of its head with both hands. "Going my way?" he asked sarcastically. He then pulled on the robot's head with all his might, forcing the drone to alter its flight path and turn towards the bridge.

Tails grinned as Sonic flew away on his makeshift transport. "BE CAREFUL SONIC!" He shouted, hoping the hedgehog would hear. "AND GOOD LUCK!"

Knuckles, however, was deep in thought. What was that feeling earlier? It had felt so familiar. He suddenly found himself suspecting that Sonic and Eggman weren't the only ones on the Asgard.

-o-o-o-

Eggman floated through the core chamber, carefully observing his surroundings. A pair of large Shield Troops accompanied him, their hulking figures making him feel protected.

However, seeing as there was nothing in this room except the Master Emerald glowing brightly in its glass containment sphere, he began to doubt there was anything to be worried about. Still, he knew from experience that strange energy readings are nothing to be taken lightly when Emeralds are concerned, so his nerves were still on high alert.

"Doctor."

ADAM's sudden voice was enough to make Eggman jump. "EEEEEEK!"

"... Did you just scream like a woman, sir?"

Eggman shook off his initial shock. "BLAST IT ALL, WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"I thought you would like to be informed that Sonic has hijacked an Egg Fighter and is making his way towards the bridge." Eggman couldn't help but give a light chuckle at the resourcefulness of his old foe. "Defense Plan B has been deployed."

"Excellent." Eggman grinned sadistically. "How much longer until we're prepared for the jump?"

"Calibrations will be complete in mere moments, sir." Eggman nodded in satisfaction. "How go things on your end?"

"It appears to be a fluke. I'll double-check for energy leaks, then return to the bridge." ADAM acknowledged its master's update before returning to its task. Eggman was about to examine the nearby machinery, when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Due to the room's dull, green illumination, it was hard to make out anything specific, but sure enough, Eggman gad seen one of the many shadows in the room move. "HALT WHERE YOU ARE!" Eggman commanded, his guardians shining light on the intruder.

Eggman only had time to gasp as the intruder was revealed, as two red bolts of energy flew past him and struck his two escorts in the chest, piercing their thick hides before the bots could even arm their weapons. Still, the lights had done their job, revealing the identity of this uninvited guest. Seeing no point in hiding, the figure emerged from the darkness, his metal boots clanging against the floor as he stepped into the glow of the Emerald. His upturned black and red quills swayed behind him, as his right hand crackled with energy, a glowing, green gem held firmly in his right.

Eggman smiled in false courtesy at his favorite traitor. "Hello, Shadow. It's been too long."

The dark hedgehog smirked at the old man. "Hello, Doctor. So where are we headed today?"

Eggman's smile widened into something sinister. "Oh, what a fantastic question. Allow me to fill you in, old friend..."

-o-o-o-

In all his years of fighting Eggman, Sonic found nothing gave him a rush quite like crashing into the deck of the doctor's latest dreadnought. Needless to say, doing so on a modified SWATbot was quite the experience. Ditching the scrapped robot behind him, Sonic sprinted forwards at top speed, a sonic cone forming around him as he ran.

Dang, Sonic thought to himself, Eggman's really outdone himself this time! I might even get a workout! Indeed, the length of the ship seemed to go on for miles. Even at his top speed, Sonic realized it may take him several minutes to reach the bridge. What the heck could Eggman be planning with a ship like THIS?

Before he could question the subject further, a missile soared past him. The anti-air rockets from earlier were now aimed directly at him. Of course, Sonic just grinned in the face of the oncoming danger. "Here we GO!"

The next rocket was aimed directly at Sonic's face, but Sonic avoided the projectile by curling into a ball and using his momentum to roll across the ground. More missiles were fired directly at the spin-dashing hog, but each one only hit the deck as their target skillfully weaved past each and every one. Soon, more fighters from above joined in the assault, as they aimed at the tiny, blue ball with lasers and missiles, but they weren't any more successful.

It didn't take Sonic long to reach the front of the formation of SWATbots, his spin-dash impacting the frontal robot's side with enough force to spin the robot around, firing its already primed missile into the squadron behind it. Sonic seemed to be caught in the explosion, himself, until he emerged from the blast, slightly singed and flying at top speed.

He found himself once again landing on an unsuspecting SWATbot, the mech thrown slightly off-balance and firing a rocket into the air. Sonic made sure to take advantage of his position, bending over and taunting the aerial troops with his blue posterior. Although not capable of being insulted by the vulgar gesture, the drones took advantage of Sonic's momentary stillness to launch a full-force barrage at their target. Sonic leaped off the SWATbot with perfect timing, the resulting explosion decimating the SWATbot platoon and propelling Sonic forward through the air.

Sonic landed and wasted no time in regaining his speed, still dodging and weaving as he avoided fire from the air squadron. Now how to take care of those?... he thought.

The answer to Sonic's question came sooner than he thought. Now free of the threat of surface-to-air missiles, the Tornado swooped in from above, taking out the remaining fliers with its vulcan cannon. Coming in low, Tails gave Sonic a thumbs-up. Sonic nodded and returned the gesture, then increased his pace across the deck as Tails returned to the sky to keep the troops busy.

Surprisingly, the action with the SWATbots seemed to increase Sonic's pace, as he seemed to be nearing his destination much sooner than he thought. Just as he was beginning to wonder how he was going to get in, the hangar before him began to open. "Heh! Laying out the red carpet, Eggman?" Sonic asked no one in particular, "You're too kind!"

Sonic rushed towards the hangar, attempting to make it inside before he was noticed. However, just as the door had opened enough to let him through, Sonic was caught off-guard as a blue and yellow blur rammed into him. Sonic's record pace was ground to a halt as he was knocked several feet back by the powerful blow. He landed hard on his back, groaning in pain from the impact.

"Interception successful." Came a monotone, synthetic voice. "'Defense Plan B' initiated."

Sonic painfully pushed himself up, as he looked upon his attacker. There was no mistaking the similarity between the attacker and himself, both of them sharing similar head spikes and color schemes. The attacker, however, was clearly mechanical, as his optics burned a sinister red, and a powerful jet turbine hummed in his chest. The doppelganger also seemed to be equipped with several upgrades, as he was much bulkier, and stood nearly a full head taller than the organic hedgehog. Still, if that hit from before was any indication, there was no denying his speed. A yellow trim also seemed to accentuate most of his features.

Shrugging off his pain, Sonic stood up and began dusting himself off. "Well, well. Long time no see, Metal. And here I thought you'd been sent to the scrapheap, by now." Receiving no response, Sonic grinned as he looked over his old adversary's impressive new form. "And it looks like you're new and improved, to boot!" Sonic then hunched over and assumed a cross between a fighting and running stance. "Whaddya say we see what the new you is made of?"

Metal Sonic accepted his copy's challenge, the turbine on his back flaring to life. Sonic ducked into his Spinball form as he spun rapidly, building up speed and power. The two then charged at each other, their clash powerful enough to create a shock wave across the deck.

-o-o-o-

"So? What do you think?" Eggman finished. Years of experience had taught Eggman that the self-proclaimed "Ultimate Life Form" was easier reasoned with than fought, so he'd spent the last several minutes explaining his plan to Shadow, hoping the hedgehog would see reason. If not, the conversation still proved a good way to stall for time. "Genius, right?"

After patiently listening with his arms crossed, Shadow chuckled. "I have to admit, you've outdone yourself, Doctor." Eggman beamed at the compliment. "This is by FAR the dumbest thing you've ever done!"

Eggman looked almost hurt at the change in tone. "Oh, come now, Shadow my boy! Surely you must see the potential of this plan!"

"Potential? You're talking about opening an inter-dimensional rift with no idea where you'll end up! The only potential I see is for suicide."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, my dear Shadow. For you see, I have my new EGG ASGARD, and THIS!" He then gestured to the Master Emerald behind him. "You saw it yourself, Shadow. The Twilight Cage; a void prison for the most dangerous races of not just this, but several different planes of reality! And still, you and your little troop of do-gooders managed to win them over to your side and form a rebellion! If a handful of goody-two-shoes could sway such powerful forces, it should be a cinch for one such as myself!"

Again, Shadow chuckled. "If we're comparing your achievements to Sonic's, I suggest you double-check the scoreboard. Have you even questioned what might happen if your new 'army' doesn't appreciate a hostile takeover?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that, Shadow. I've taken into account the risks and provided several contingency plans, just in case. Besides, any risk is worth getting away from that blasted hedgehog! You can relate, right?"

"I suppose," Shadow said with a smirk.

"So what do you say?" Eggman extended his hand towards the ebony-furred hog. "Care to join me?"

Shadow looked at the doctor's outstretched hand for a moment before batting it away. "As much as I'd love to see this plan blow up in your face, I can't let you go through with this." His palm then began to crackle with energy. "This is the end of the road, Doctor!"

Eggman began to look terrified, but suddenly the Master Emerald behind him began to shine radiantly. Shadow had to shield his eyes, only to notice the energy fade from his hand without him willing it to. He grasped his wrist and tried to reignite the spark, but nothing happened. Eggman watched, puzzled, when suddenly ADAM's familiar voice returned.

"Doctor, the calibrations are complete. The Master Emerald's energies are fluctuating in preparation for dimensional jump. I recommend leaving the vicinity of the Emerald IMMEDIATELY!"

Realizing that the Master Emerald's power would cancel Shadow's Chaos powers, Eggman turned to his now powerless opponent with a triumphant smirk. He then pressed a button on the Egg Mobile, causing a pair of large, robotic arms to drop down from the ceiling. They appeared to be carrying some kind of mechanism with two, bulky limbs attached to it. On each limb appeared to be several assorted weapons, ranging from gattlnig guns, to a missile pod, and even a pair of maces. The mechanism attached to the back of the Egg Mobile, where it then wrapped around the small semi-sphere, locking in place to resemble some kind of battle armor with "EGG BRAWLER" printed across the front. The assorted weapons then began to fold inside of the large limbs they were attached to, until they resembled a large pair of arms with three-pronged claws for hands.

"You heard him, Shadow..." The mechanical arms that carried the upgrade ascended back into the ceiling once the upgrade was complete. A protective glass shield then covered Eggman's cockpit as the robot's clawed hands rose up in a defensive stance, before receding into the wrists to be replaced by a pair of maces.. "GET OUT!"

-o-o-o-

Loud crashes echoed across the deck as Sonic and Metal's attacks collided. The two were nothing but two blurs of blue as they continued to clash at the speed of sound. The nearby SWATbots just seemed to be watching the spectacle from a safe distance, no longer sure of what to shoot.

Eventually, the fighters became visible once more. Metal Sonic had a few scuffs and dents, but overall looked no worse for wear. Sonic, on the other hand, was clearly reaching his limit. Dang, Sonic thought as he gasped for breath, I guess those upgrades really aren't just for show.

Metal was about to charge again, when suddenly, something distracted him. It was a large siren, blaring across the ship as the large eyes of the bridge began to flash red. He glared back at Sonic one last time before - almost reluctantly - walking back towards the hangar.

Sonic stood, puzzled for a moment, but the sound of assorted metal clanging behind him got his attention. Turning around, he was met with the shocking sight of a SWATbot stampede heading his way. Sonic instinctively ran in the opposite direction. Only then did he thought occur to him that he was running straight into an open hangar that would soon be filled with deadly, panicked SWATbots. Quickly deciding an alternative route was needed, Sonic began looking for another route.

"SOOOOOONNNNNIIIIIIIC!"

Sonic followed the cry to see the Tornado swooping in from above, Tails applying full throttle while Knuckles leaned out the side with an outstretched hand. Sonic changed course, jumping up to catch the echidna's spiked glove just in time to be swept out of the way of the robot stampede. Knuckles grinned proudly at his save. "NOW WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT BEING A LOUSY GUARDIAN?" Sonic simply smiled and gave a thumbs-up with his free hand in response.

After being hoisted up to his usual spot on the Tornado's tail, Sonic looked down to see a massive number of robots pouring into all open hangars, both from the deck and sky. "WHADDYA THINK'S GOING ON DOWN THERE?!" Sonic questioned.

"I DON'T KNOW," Knuckles responded, "BUT I CAN SENSE THE MASTER EMERALD'S ENERGY ACTING UP! I THINK EGGMAN'S ABOUT TO PUT HIS PLAN INTO MOTION!"

"NO KIDDING! HOW ARE WE GONNA STOP HIM, NOW?"

"LOOK!" Tails shouted. "SOMETHING'S HAPPENING!"

Sure enough, something strange was going on inside the large, dome-shaped area of the Asgard. Several small hatches were opening along its side, a radiant, green light pouring out. "THAT'S IT!" Knuckles shouted, "THE MASTER EMERALD'S IN THERE!"

"TAILS, GET ME TO THE BRIDGE!" Sonic commanded.

Despite his faith in his best friend up until now, this was the time for Tails to be worried. "SONIC, I DON'T THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA!"

"THERE'S NO TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THAT, TAILS! WE GOTTA MOVE!"

Tails looked back at Sonic with concern. "BUT SONIC-"

"HE'S RIGHT, TAILS! THERE'S NO TIME!" Knuckles pointed towards the dome again, where the green glow was beginning to spread across the body and envelop the entire ship.

Realizing his friends' point, Tails gave a determined nod before altering his flight path. Without slowing down for even a second, the Tornado looped around and flew straight for the bridge.

Inside, the navigation robots could only scramble around in their seats in sheer terror as the Tornado approached. Before any of them could have time to escape, the small plane burst through the rightmost window, bringing in a shower of broken glass and freezing wind. The Tornado crashed into a large computer monitor as Sonic was flung from his spot aboard the tail, and into the far wall.

After bouncing back and hitting the ground, Sonic stood up, rubbing his throbbing skull. "Ugh... Not exactly what I had in mind... But I guess it worked!" Letting his vision straighten out, Sonic looked around the room, observing several monitors, gauges, terrified nav-bots on the edges of their seats, but no Eggman...

Seeming to read his friend's mind, Tails hopped out of the wrecked plane and walked over to give his two cents. "Looks like Eggman's not here." The young fox put a hand to his chin in thought for a moment. "I'll bet anything he's near the core to oversee things!"

"Sounds like a heading to me! Let's go!" With that, the dynamic furry duo prepared to take off, but a nearby groan caught their attention.

The two of them turned around to see Knuckles, seeming to be stuck in his tightened harness. "Don't worry about me, I'll catch up." He assured them, cursing a little under his breath. "Just go get the Emerald back!"

Sonic gave Tails a questioning glance. "I'll give him a hand," Tails said, "you just, uh... Do what he said! We'll be right behind you!"

Giving a quick nod, Sonic rushed out the nearby doorway, into the interiors of the ship. Tails, on the other hand, worked his way over to Knuckles, who was still struggling with his belt. "Hang on, Knuckles," the fox said, "it looks like it's caught on something."

Knuckles stopped squirming to shoot Tails a lazy glare. "Really. No kidding. Wow, Tails, you're such a genius." His voice seethed with sarcasm.

Tails glared back at him. "Do you want my help, or not?" He took Knuckles' rolling his eyes as a "yes" and proceeded to get to work. It was really proving to be harder than he'd anticipated.

"What the heck did you make this thing out of, Tails?"

Tails laughed sheepishly at his own foresight coming back to mess with him like this. "Well, see, I wanted them to be safe, so I devised a way to apply subatomic-"

Tails' explanation was cut off, by the sounds of more blaring sirens. "BREACH DETECTED! BREACH DETECTED!" came a synthetic voice, "EVACUATE THE BRIDGE IMMEDIATELY!" The room was bathed in red light as all the still somewhat unnerved nav bots quickly ran for the exit.

"That doesn't look good." Knuckles observed. The two of them then watched as a giant steel plate slid down, completely closing off their only exit. "THAT looks worse!" He then began redoubling his efforts to help Tails get him free.

-o-o-o-

Eggman fired the Egg Brawler's gatling guns at his speedy opponent. Though he was robbed of the power the Chaos Emerald granted him, Shadow was still not a force to be taken lightly. His jet-propelled hover-shoes allowed him to glide across the ground and perform midair maneuvers that made him very hard to hit.

The bullets pelted the ground where Shadow stood seconds before, but the black hedgehog had vanished from sight. "You can't hide from me, Shadow!" Eggman threatened, scanning the room, "It's beneath you, old friend!"

The hedgehog in question was well hidden behind one of the room's generators. Shadow knew Eggman wouldn't dare open fire on such a vital piece of equipment, but it was only a matter of time until he looked there. Shadow glared in agitation at the powerful gem in his hand, now rendered dead weight. There had to be a way to still use it to his advantage, there just had to be!

"WARNING!" came ADAM's voice over the ship's speakers. "INTER-SPACE JUMP IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! ALL PERSONNEL, EVACUATE THE CORE AREA IMMEDIATELY!" Eggman shrugged off the AI's warning as he continued to search the room. "THIS MEANS YOU, MASTER!"

With a dejected sigh, Eggman piloted his floating mech towards the room's entrance. "Alright, Shadow, be that way if you must." He then swapped out his gatling gun for a three-pronged claw from earlier, using its slender digits to punch in a number on the keypad, causing the doors to open with a hiss. "Just know that this is your only chance to run."

The enhanced Mobile then proceeded out of the room, only to be met with the sole of a bright red sneaker traveling at what had to be over a hundred miles per hour. The force of the blow didn't crack the glass dome at all, but it was strong enough to send the hovercraft flying back into the chamber, slamming hard into the Master Emerald's container. After being roughly shaken around the cockpit, Eggman sat upright to look his blue-furred, long-time nemesis in the eye as the door hissed shut behind him. On his face, the hedgehog wore that cocky grin that the doctor had come to despise. "Who said anything about running, EGGMAN?"

"Sonic..." Eggman grumbled. In hindsight, he probably should have seen this coming sooner or later. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Eggman as he quickly turned the mech around, examining the glass chamber behind him. Sighing in relief to find it still intact, he then spun around to face his nemesis once more. "YOU FOOL! Do you have ANY idea what you ALMOST DID?!"

Sonic's grin remained wide as ever. "You mean kick your butt for the umpteenth time? Sorry, Eggman, but I don't do 'almost!'"

"NO! Not here, you little IMBECILE!" he then used the mech's arms to gesture to the large container housing the Master Emerald, causing Sonic to raise an eyebrow. "This container is all that's keeping the Master Emerald's energies in check! If this so much gets a crack, the power fluctuations will become unstable, causing the Slider Drive to overload, and then WHO KNOWS what will happen! We could be atomized in the blink of an eye, scattered like dust in the wind. Or we could be flung to the far reaches of time and space, itself, helpless to do anything but waste away into-"

"Oh hey, Shadow! When did you get here?" Eggman halted mid-sentence to see Sonic was completely ignoring his speech and seemed to be looking above him.

Eggman followed Sonic's gaze, rotating in his seat and looking upwards. Sure enough, Shadow had reappeared, standing several feet above him atop the Master Emerald's glass bubble. The ebony hedgehog then gave the doctor an intense glare, staring him down as he raised the lifeless Chaos Emerald in his hand. Surely, he wasn't about to...

"SHADOW, NO!" Eggman shouted in panic, but there was nothing he could do. Even Sonic couldn't react fast enough to stop the dark hedgehog as he swung his arm downwards, the sharp tip of the Emerald's base shattering the glass container on impact.

In an instant, everything erupted into pure chaos. Green wisps of light flowed from the shattered bubble, quickly swirling around and filling the room completely. A loud, ethereal wail filled the room, as if the Master Emerald itself seemed to be screaming in agony. The large gemstone almost glowed with the intensity of the Sun, forcing everyone in the room to shut their eyes and cover their ears.

"SHADOW, YOU FOOL!" Eggman shouted as loud as he could, "YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!"

-o-o-o-

Outside, the green glow the trio of heroes noticed earlier had almost completely enveloped the Egg Asgard. Suddenly, the Asgard's dome structure began to glow ten times brighter, as an eerie, almost wail-like noise erupted from the ship, along with several long, glowing, ethereal wisps.

Within moments, the radiant light had expanded, making the entire rear half of the ship look like a miniature sun. The light continued to grow as the wailing noise grew louder. Soon enough, the entire ship was enveloped in a ball of radiant green, wisp-like lights dancing around it.

Suddenly, the wail burst into an ear-piercing screech, as a brief flash of light filled the sky. When the light faded, everything was gone. No lights, no eerie noise... No Egg Asgard, and no heroes.

---

WHOO, MAN! I did NOT intend for this chapter to be this long! I literally spent DAYS writing this!

So, yeah that's the first chapter of Chaos & Harmony. Don't forget to rate and review, and don't hesitate to be honest; I love a good critique.

And yes, I know there was a severe lack of MLP content in this chapter, but never you fear, my dear Brony readers, things are gonna get Equestrian next chapter!

- Lates, folks :)

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Questions about this chapter:

M-Tails-P: It wasn't my intention to make Shadow sound like the villain. I tried to make him an anti-hero on his own agenda, since well, that's who he is. The reason I made him and Eggman appear to get along at first is because out of all the Sonic characters, Shadow is the most likely to hear Eggman out and reason with him, a fact the doctor knows and has taken advantage of in the past. I thought I made it pretty clear that he still hates Eggman, though. Also the reason for the "Royal Canterlot Voice" was because they're trying to talk over the plane's engines and high-altitude winds. Again, I thought I was pretty clear about that ^_^'.

Guest1: Again, I thought I made it pretty clear that Eggman and Shadow are NOT on the same side. I guess I need to get better at this -_-'.

masterart: Read and find out :)