Author's notes

This is it, the final installment of paradise city…I'm so sorry this chapter was late, dear readers; this chapter nearly drove me off the walls!

I'm going to go ahead and tell ya'll something. This next bonus is really shaping itself up to be a knock out. I'm now working with three ideas and I'm having a blast writing them. Thank you all for your suggestions; this would have never happen if it hasn't been for your comments…It might take me a little while for the bonus to be typed, though. As soon as it's finished, I'll publish it.

Daily shout outs

S.R.A.R.: Thank you for your honest review. If you haven't commented, I would have never spotted my grammar mistake. To clear some confusion regarding Mr. Felix; he has no immediate family…Mobsters treat their own members as 'family'; that's why he treats his henchmen like relatives.

Guactar: I've heard everything about it, and I'm outraged…For those who don't know, the spinoff is called Equestria Girls, and it's a spinoff of MLP from Hasbro that has the humanized version of the MLP characters. Normally, I would be apathetic about it, but have any of ya'll seen the pics? Look it up on Equestia Daily; they look terrible! Their skin color matches the furs of the MLP characters. Twilight has purple skin, Applejack has orange skin, and Rainbow looked like something that came out of Avatar!...And don't get me started on poor Pinkie!

Their intention of making the spinoff is to rival Monster High, a popular product produced by Mattle. Their audience with the product is targeted towards young girls. Now, Hasbro has this crazy idea that they can compete with this giant by humanizing their characters…There's some problems with that.

1. Monster High already has a solid foundation of fans and a slowly growing franchise. For Equestia Girls to suddenly make an appearance, it'll be tough to even compete for their audience.

2. The reason why MLP has such a large fan base to begin with was because of the brony community. I'm browsing around the internet and finding a lot of fans displeased with the new spinoff. The advantage of MLP's unattended audience won't be with the Equestia Girls. The first few episodes might get high views, but as soon as the community check out the show; they'll instantly drop it. Monster High may not have much of an older audience, but it more than makes up for it with children and teenage girls. Equestia Girls won't have a chance without their advantage…Unless the series pulls a bunny out of its hat like its predecessor, it won't stand for long.

3. The appeal of Equestia Girls won't appeal their attended audience as with Monster High…Think about it, would a little girl either be more interested in something that's a rip off of a series, or something that has ghouls and monsters?

You know what I would have done with the spinoff? Have the mane 6 as cute little fillies and stuff them in kindergarten…BAM! You have an instant spinoff I know every boy and girl will watch. Screw competition! Hasbro already have a spot no company can rival; why venture to new territory if there's so much to harvest on your current land? Why hop the fence if your side is greener? They have something no one can rival, and their not taking full advantage of it.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter…I need to stop ranting.

---

A baby rabbit was taking a long peaceful hop through the rocky plains, just on the side of the dirt path leading to the city. From the corner of its eye, it spot a carrot firmly planted on the ground, and it began to hope it's way to it. The carrot proved to be a worthy contender when it refused to be pulled from the ground, but the baby rabbit mustered all of its strength and yanked. The carrot popped out and sent the rabbit falling on its back. It regained its poster and sunk its little teeth into the vegetable…Then suddenly felt a violent shock.

It perked its head up and turned its head in every direction. The ground shook again, this time more violently. Its heart began to thump against its chest, survival instinct beginning to kick in as it continued to search the unknown disturbance. Another tremble erupted, this time the sound of clanking metal echoed through the open space.

Seeing a nearby rock, it hopped as fast as it could and ducked behind it. The trembles became more frequent and with the sound of metal came the sound of a platoon of jet engines…At that moment, it saw it.

A bear like creature rampaged through the road, followed by a swarm of flying and running metal creatures. The trembles were so violent that it became impossible to stand on its legs. On closer inspection, the rabbit beheld the beast. It stood five stories from the ground, four metallic paws firmly planted on the ground with large curved claws sticking out from the front. It had a large armored body, layer upon layer of steel covering the back and sides. It slightly gaped its mouth as it pounded through the path, thick black liquid dripping from its lips; revealing a row of metallic teeth. The little bunny didn't see any eyes on the metallic monster; it's eye sockets were hallow, slit and round as an angry bear ready to tear its prey. It suddenly stopped, and began to rear back on its hind legs; standing tall. A large army of metallic creatures and robots charged in front as the beast stared ahead. It stared up into the sky and let out a high pitch war cry; so loud and ire that it shook the rocks near that stood near it. The rabbit hightailed it in the opposite direction, its heart beating a mile a minute as it hopped into a nearby hole. Just for a second, it popped it's head up to see where this beast and the other creatures were heading…They were charging straight for the city.

---

Sonic zipped and ram the steel door down with a spin attack, shooting it open with a loud bang as he unfolded himself inside. The room was completely dark, impossible to see even with the door open.

"Tails! Twilight!" He cried out, "Where are you!"

The rest of the gang followed him in, with Amy's hammer drawn and Knuckles' fists clutched and ready for action. Rainbow was hovering in midair with her magic wing extended.

"Show yourselves you cowards!" She shouted.

Even with Rainbow's magical wing, it was impossible to see two feet ahead; as if the room itself was covered in darkness. Suddenly, the door shut itself up; sealing the party inside the room. For several seconds, the gang waited; prepared to face any kind of ambush. Sonic began to draw power from his two emeralds…He will make sure that whoever did this will be ripped to shreds.

"It's about time you showed up," A voice called from nowhere, "And you decided to bring some friends; how surprising."

A bright flash engulfed them, blinding them until their eyes adjusted. The first thing they noticed was that they were in a large room, walls, floors, and ceiling covered by a rusted metal cover. When they fully regained their eyesight, they found a wide window in front of them, and behind that glass stood five stallions; two unicorns and three earth ponies. Sonic began taking steps towards them, his emeralds charging him to full power. The stallions stared blankly at them.

"Where are my friends!?" He shouted at them, clutching his fists together "Where are you hiding them!"

"I wouldn't take a step closer if I were you," An earth pony spoke through the mike.

They moved over and revealed Twilight and Tails knelt down to the floor, tied by hands and feet and gagged by a white cloth. There was a strange ring on the unicorn's horn, preventing her from channeling any kind of magic. Sonic watched as the two slowly looked up.

"Twilight!" Rainbow called, "Are you alright?"

The lavender unicorn weakly nodded, but was punched in the gut by a nearby stallion to keep her quite.

"YOU LITTLE-"

The pegasus was about to charge through the glass until a unicorn lowered his glowing horn to her neck; stopping Rainbow in midflight.

"Now, here what's not going to happen while we talk," A unicorn spoke through the mike, "None of you are going to take a step closer towards us; if you do, we'll fry these two saps to ashes."

Sonic readied himself to charge, "You have no idea whom you're dealing with! I can beat you to them before you could put a hoof on them!"

The unicorns charged their horns; red sparks dripping from their tips.

"May I also warn you that I have a shield reinforcing this glass," The stallion lowly hissed, knocking on the window to reveal a clear ripple, "casted by three powerful unicorns when we were building this place."

Rainbow positioned her wing behind her, "I will slice you all in half before your horns could ever harm them!"

The stallion noted the unicorns to get ready to execute, "Are you two willing to take that chance?"

Tails and Twilight looked over and saw the tips of their horns; it was as if death himself was looming right over their shoulders.

Sonic and Rainbow stared at them for an intense minute, seeing their friends staring through the barrel of a gun…Finally, with a long sigh, they lowered their stance. Rainbow hovered back to the ground while Sonic kindled his energy. The unicorns on the other side of the glass kept their horns pointed at Tails and Twilight, but no longer sparking. The stallion on the other end adjusted his tie, clearing his throat before continuing, "We want to make a deal with you, Sonic the Hedgehog. We are willing to let your friends go if you give us something in return."

"…What do ya'll want from us?" Sonic growled.

"The emeralds." He simply answered, "You have two large emeralds with you, correct?"

The blue hedgehog summoned those emeralds in his hands.

"Here's what we're offering," The stallion continued, "We will spare the lives of these two individuals in exchange for those emeralds."

Sonic shook his head, "I can't do that."

The stallion noted the unicorns to charge their horns, "You refuse my offer?"

The hedgehog took in a deep breath to suppress his anger; maybe he can talk them into letting them go, "You have no idea what these emeralds can do. You read on the news about me fighting off an army of metallic creatures. Correct?"

The stallion nodded.

"Well, that wasn't just in my power alone. These two emeralds you see powered me to defend the city."

Sonic demonstrated by drawing power from the emeralds, slowly rising to the air with a blue aurora surrounding him. The two unicorns stood ready for any kind of surprises. After a second, he lowered himself back down.

"No one can harness these Emeralds but me." He continued, not wanting to go into detail about Shadow, "If I were to give you these emeralds, I won't have the power to defeat those things when they strike again."

"Well, that's none of our concern. Now is it?" The stallion sneered.

Rainbow spoke up, trying to keep her wing concealed for the sake of her friends, "Listen, you knot head! I know you have heard of attacks in Canterlot. What makes you think they won't attack here?"

"All we have to do is simply move somewhere else," The stallion answered, "This city is nothing but a rotting corpse anyways. Why should we care about several hundred of pointless lives being crushed by those thing? It's nothing more than this city deserves."

Sonic and the others felt a flick of hatred towards those mobsters.

"You have nothing to gain from my emeralds." Sonic said, "What would your gang have to gain from them? You can't harness their power."

"No, but we sure can sell them to a clueless mob ruler," The stallion chuckled, "Now…I'm growing impatient," He noted the unicorns to get ready, "Give us those emeralds or these two die."

Amy stepped up, "They have nothing to do with this! Let them go!"

The stallion sneered at her while raising a hoof in the air, "On my mark, gentle colts…One."

The group continued to stare at them.

"Two."

Twilight and Tails closed their eyes.

"Thre-"

"WAIT!" Sonic yelled, just seconds before the stallion put his hoof down. The hedgehog closed his eyes and put his head down, "You win…You can have the Chaos Emeralds, just let them go."

The unicorns raised their horns, pointing them away.

"…Sonic." Knuckles whispered to him, "What are you doing?"

"I'm not going to let my friends be killed," He simply answered, "These two emeralds are not worth a life."

"What if Shadow were to attack again?" Knuckles continued, "We won't have anything to hold him ba-"

"We'll just going to have to track the emeralds down again." He answered, "Let them win for today."

The red echidna nodded and stepped back. Sonic faced them again, this time seeing a small compartment under the window. The unicorns began to hold Twilight and Tails up to their feet, lining them up to the door.

"Just slip the emeralds through the compartment, and I'll untie them." The stallion said.

Sonic began to approach the window until the door suddenly flew open. The stallions looked behind and instantly knelt. The God Father stood right at the door, huffing as he stomped his way to the window.

"Hold the two back to position!" He commanded the unicorns.

They instantly knocked back Twilight and Tails to the floor, pointing their horns at them.

"No deal, hedgehog!"

---

Deep inside a jungle far away from Canterlot, two elite guards were searching in the very heart of the tropical jungle; teleporting from tree to tree in search of the missing emerald. Heavy rain blanketed the forest; even with the cover of the thick trees above, the guards heard repetitive tings from their golden armor. The energy tracker was still with them, levitating by them by magic.

"We're close." The elite spoke, "This thing is beeping faster and faster by each second."

"Teleport down and see if that thing beeps any faster." The other suggested, "I have a feeling that emerald is somewhere on the ground."

The elite teleported down, and no doubt; the energy tracker began going nuts. The numbers on screen began spiking off the charts.

"Where right on top of it!" The guard shouted above.

The elite standing on a thick branch teleported down to him; scanning around and finding nothing.

"Why is thing so hard to find?" He huffed, charging his horn with magic until he emitted a magical pulse, "I'm calling the others to search with us."

Just seconds after casting the spell, dozens of Royal guards appeared; standing tall and saluting to their superiors.

"Sir!" They shouted.

"The emerald is close by," The elite announced to them with his deep voice, "search near our position for the emerald."

The guards went right to it; teleporting from ground to the tree tops, scanning high and low for that emerald…This continued for several minutes until-

"I found it!" A guard shouted from afar.

The elites and the Royal Guards instantly teleported to his position; and no doubt, they found him standing over it. The emerald was tucked away in a thick bush, impossible to see from a distance…It was by sheer luck that the guard managed to find it.

"Excellent," One of the elites mumbled under his breath, "Let's get out of here and alert Princesses of our finding-"

Suddenly, they heard a twig snap from behind. They charged their horns and pointed to that direction.

"Who's there!?" One of the guards shouted.

Within the dense trees, a figure emerged holding a shining object in both hands. His eyes were slit, breathing heavily as he began to approach them…The guards stood their ground.

"That emerald is mine." He spoke in a cold, angry voice.

The figure came into full view. The guards saw his fur; which was jet black while a red stripe running from the top of his head. Suddenly he charged, a yellow aurora engulfing him as he took off from the ground. An elite managed to cast a powerful shield just in time to block the attack. It was a good thing the guard was trained in defensive magic, because the shield shattered after the attacker bounced off. The figure stood on his knees, the two objects in his hands imbedding themselves into him.

"It's Shadow!" A guard shouted.

---

"Wh-what is this?" Sonic asked, completely caught off guard by his sudden appearance, "You're gang wanted the emeralds, right?

"You let me ask the questions!" Mr. Felix snapped, huffing out a deep smog from his cigarette as he huffed. He tapped his hoof to the ground, and then suddenly; the unicorns that pinned Tails and Twilight jolted them by the contacts of their horns, emitting a quick spark. The two yelped by the sudden pain.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Sonic shouted at them, seeing his two friends in a state of panic.

"Something that's about to escalate if you don't answer my questions!" The God Father shouted at him, "Where's lady Rarity?"

"Rarity?" Amy suddenly spoke up, "You know about Rarity?"

The God Father tapped his hoof again, signaling the unicorns to jolt the captors again. Sonic gritted his teeth as his anger began to boil.

"Don't you act stupid!" The God Father shouted, "You lot know where she is!"

"How do you know Rarity is even with us?" Knuckles shouted at him.

The mobster reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small device; no bigger than Sonic's thumb. On closer inspection, they instantly recognized it.

"Found this ear piece in my room the night she escaped. I only know one group that can craft something as sophisticated as this, and that's your little friend over there."

"Rarity wuz with you tha entire time?" Applejack asked.

Mr. Felix began pacing back and forth. Again, he exhaled a thick smog through his nostrils, his breathing calming down somewhat, "She was the most graceful mare I've met during my stay in this rotting city. I spotted her walking down the street wearing a dazzling outfit that reminded me of what this city use to be during its day."

"That's OUR money she spent!" Amy growled.

"I couldn't resist the temptation of letting the lady experience the luxury of my wealth, or 'living the highlife' one might say. I took her in to my private carriage and let her stay at my mansion…We talked for hours, so deep were our conversation that I almost felt like I fell in love."

Spike narrowed his eyes at him.

"…It's funny." He exhaled, "A mind can be so bewitched by one's essence of the past and the need to coax an empty heart that a pony is willing to blind himself to the elements," He stared directly at Sonic, who was giving him a death glare, "This night, while I was on my way here; a messenger told me that Ms. Rarity disappeared. I rushed over there as fast as I could, and when I got there; my stallions were already searching high and low for her." He let out another deep breath, toxic smoke seeping down his nostrils, "When I trotted to my room to get my jacket, I saw that my emerald was missing…And it just so happened that I found one of my outfits missing to, alone with finding the earpiece."

The God Father began breathing heavy again, his anger beginning to build up, "That whore betrayed me! When I found that ear piece, I knew that she was with you to snatch that emerald away from me!" He began to lift his hoof, "And you're going to tell me where she is!"

"I have no idea!" Sonic shouted, "We've been looking for her too!"

The God Father tapped his hoof to the floor, and as signaled; the two unicorns jolted the captors. Sonic heard another yelp from them.

"Leave them alone!" Sonic shouted, breathing heavily.

The God Father raised his hoof, "You're not making this any easier, Sonic! Where is she?"

"I don't know!"

The mobster slammed his hoof to the ground, and the unicorns jolted them again; this time with more force. Twilight and Tails screamed in pain, almost collapsing to the floor from the electricity shooting through their body.

"STOP!" Sonic shouted in a deep unnatural voice.

Knuckles and the others around him felt his voice penetrate through their chest, like a pulse.

"Tell me where she is or I'll execute them!" Felix shouted.

Sonic began to pant heavily, his body shaking in pure anger, "YOU WILL NOT HURT THEM!"

The mobster stomped his hoof to the ground, this time keeping it planted to the ground. The unicorn discharged a continuous shock to the captors. Electric arcs shot through their bodies, their screams deafening the room.

"Where is she!?" Felix shouted.

Sonic clinched his fists together; a dark-blue aurora beginning to radiate around him. Rainbow looked to her side and saw his eyes clutched together, as if he was trying to hold himself…Or something back. She felt something radiating off of him, and she wasn't alone; the others behind him began to back off. She was still in a fighting stance, but her attention was solely on him.

"LET…THEM…GO!"

Sonic's unholy scream echoed through the room. Everyone in the room felt dread and fear as he intensified; even the unicorns discharging on Tails and Twilight began to have second thoughts. The only pony that didn't waver was Mr. Felix; his stare and stance was still firm.

"Where is she, Sonic!? I know you know!" The mobster shouted.

"LET…THEM…GOOOO!"

Mr. Felix continued to stare down the hedgehog. Twilight and Tails can feel their throats drying out by their agonizing screaming. They felt their conscious slipping away from them.

As the God Father continued to stubbornly hold his stance against him, he saw the hedgehog eyes open…And saw nothing but white.

Suddenly, a burst of energy pulsed out of him; the glass that once separated them shattered. The shield that has kept them safe from them began to violently ripple until it disappeared. At that instant, the God Father and two persecutors felt an overwhelming state of panic taking hold of them; like their hearts are about to leap out of their chest.

In a twinkle of an eye, Felix was knocked back to the wall by an extreme force, and found himself pinned against by a hand against his throat. When he opened his eyes, he saw the two unicorns crouched against the wall; shaking and trembling with wide terrified eyes. The mobster looked forward, and found himself staring eye to eye with the hedgehog. Mr. Felix saw the eyes of many stallions, and he recognized the stare of this hedgehog all too well.

It was the stair of a mad, sadistic killer.

Sonic kneeled him in the stomach, making him hunch over and punched him in the face. Just those two hits were all that was needed to knock the notorious mobster to the floor. He didn't get a chance to stand up as he felt his neck being grabbed by the looming hedgehog. The God Father screamed as his attacker began to punch him in the gut repeatedly.

*RUMBLE*

The ground beneath them suddenly shook; a loud pounding rupturing from outside. Knuckles and the others almost tumbled to the ground.

"…That came from outside." The echidna mumbled, looking up at the ceiling.

All of a sudden, the roof above them began to collapse. The foundation held up, but light began to seep in through the open cracks. Everyone looked up, and saw mechanical flying wasps zooming through the city.

"An invasion!" Amy shouted, "Now?"

One of wasps suddenly zoomed down and saw the creatures below, and fired an energy ball through its stinger. It exploded on impact, knocking the party off their place and to the ground. Sonic looked up…And smirked.

"We're going to have a little fun, MR. FELIX!" The hedgehog spoke in a cold deep voice.

With the Mobster's neck in his hand, he jumped; carrying the mobster with him. When the group regained to their feet and hooves, they immediately ran towards Twilight and Tails. When they began to untie them, they saw their eyes barely opened; thankfully still conscious.

"Thank goodness you two are O.K." Applejack exhaled, embracing her tightly. The rest of the ponies soon followed.

They were still too weak to speak, but were smiling back.

Rainbow looked up and saw a swarm of giant metallic wasps looming over the building. She hovered in front of them, shielding the party below.

"Don't relax just yet!" She shouted, "This is just the beginning!"

"I'm going to the city to protect the civilians!" Amy shouted, making her way to the door, "Whoever wants to help is welcome!"

Pinkie ran after her; Rainbow decided to fly outside as well, having her powerful wing give her the edge the outsiders need to ward the riot. The rest stayed back, defending Tails and Twilight from the invasion above as the two began to recover their strength. The two persecutors took this time to make a break for the door.

---

Shadow began to hurl Chaos Spears at the elites, who retaliated by teleporting to the treetops and discharging a small read sphere at him. The magical projectile managed to hit shadow dead on, sending him toppling over but recovering quickly. The Royal guards took this time to teleport to the treetops as well; standing right by their superiors…One of those guards were carrying the emerald.

"You call that an attack?" Shadow growled, simply brushing the dust off of him, "You lots are a pathetic excuse of protecting the princesses. This is going to be easier than I imagined."

Shadow summoned two white shards in his hands, hurling them at the guards above. They teleported out of the way as the shards exploded into a fire ball on impact. The guards reappeared on different limbs; seeing the trees caught on fire by the blast.

"We need to get out of here!" An elite shouted to the others, "He'll burn the whole jungle down!"

The guard holding the emerald began to teleport away from them, "Try to slow him down while I lead him out of here!"

Shadow looked on as a guard carrying the emerald by his mouth began teleporting from tree to tree away from him. With a keen eye, the hedgehog began to ski after him. Suddenly, a shot rang out from his side. He teleported just in time to dodge a laser fire from one of the guards.

"You're not going to get that emerald!" He shouted at him.

In a blink of an eye, Shadow hurled a chaos spear at him; sticking to his chest. He fell to the ground with a thud; and Shadow was about to finish him off until he saw his target slipping away among the trees. The hedgehog took off after him while a couple of guards stayed behind to treat the wounded.

The two elites as well as a dozen guards where in hot pursuit of the mad attacker. They fired whatever spell they had in their arsenal; lighting bolts, lethal pulses, even fire at him in a desperate attempt to hit him. Shadow dodged every shot gracefully, jumping and twisting his body to avoid the deadly spells being discharged. While sprinting, he spun around and hurled white shards at the guards, but they stayed sharp; either levitating the shards away from them or dodging them completely. Explosions set off around them, fire and smoke beginning to form around them. Shadow has been throwing chaos spears and white shards at the escapee, but the guard's teleporting made it hard to even target him. Shadow finally kicked himself off the ground, jumping off a tree and onto a thick branch. He began to jump from tree to tree with the elites and several guards firing spells from below and behind. He thought about teleporting in front of him and chaos blasting him, but with the guard teleporting so frequently, it's impossible to even hit him. Thinking fast, Shadow teleported to the bottom with his two chaos spears in hand.

"CHAOS SLASH!"

With a powerful thrust, he swung those spears outward. A dark, radiant slash violently shot forward as it effortlessly sliced through the thick trees in front of him.

*CRUMBLE*

Loud pops and creeks echoed through the thick jungle, then all of a sudden; every single tree that were in his path began to timber down; sliding off their foundation and hitting the dirt with a loud bang. A wide open clearing was left it its wake, even the edge of the river could be seen, and they were in the heart of the forest. Shadow squinched his eyes and looked ahead; and among the thick leaves and limbs, lay the escaping guard unconscious body lying on a log, the chaos emerald just right underneath him. The guards behind him were in awe…How powerful is this hedgehog?

With the guards right behind him, Shadow immediately teleported to the unconscious guard and grabbed that emerald. He felt that emerald charging him, the two emeralds already embedded inside growing stronger with the emerald's presence. He began to float off the ground from the sheer energy building up inside of him, a light-yellow aurora radiating off of him. He looked up from the ground and saw his opposition; two completely armored ponies and several other guards with horns charged and ready to kill. Shadow took in a deep breath; taking in every sensation of sheer power and exhaling.

"We're going to protect Equestia with our lives!" An elite shouted, "Your madness ends here, Shadow!"

Shadow sneered at them, his pupils dimly glowing a deep crimson red.

"As soon as you chased me…You were already dead."

---

Rarity hooves began to ache as she continued her journey back inside the city. She's been walking the dirt path for almost two hours, and things weren't getting any better when dirt began to seep up to her thighs.

"This is simply dreadful!" She moaned, "It'll take me hours to clean my coat when I get back home!"

The Chaos Emerald was clutched tightly in her mouth; sparkling brightly in the sunlight. She's going to miss the luxurious life only a few ponies can experience in their life time, but she held her friends more dear. Even if the old stallion was a crook, she still felt guilty for stealing the emerald from him. He treated her kindly, showing her all the respect and meekness he could towards her, and she steals from him. The mare took in a deep breath.

"It's not even his to begin with. This is Sonic's emerald and I'm going to return it to him."

As she began to approach the city limits, she began to smell something. A stench that only grew stronger as she approached the metropolis.

"…Is that smoke?"

She looked up and saw a trail of black clouds streaming from the city; smothering the sky above it. At closer inspection, she saw the tallest building loaming over on fire.

"The city is under attack?!" She shouted in shock.

With her friends in mind, she galloped as fast as her soar hooves could carry her; passing the city gate and galloping to the main street. She looked around and saw the city in complete chaos; ponies were running inside buildings as swarms of heavily armored robots ran up and down the streets firing their guns wildly. Strangely enough, ponies were crouched under stools and stands in the robots' plain sight, but they didn't pay them a single bit of mind. Those robots were looking up, shooting their guns at the top of a nearby building. Rarity looked up and gasped.

"…Is that Sonic?"

When she looked closer, she made out his blue spines and red shoes…It was definably him, but something was off; way off. She felt a haunting presence of dread and fear when she laid eyes on him, she almost took off in a panic if she didn't hold herself back. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a whole swarm of robotic wasps charging right for him; hundreds of them with their stingers pointing at the lone hedgehog. To her surprise, the hedgehog stood completely still; his eyes closed and his hands clutched tightly.

"UUAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

He began to float unnaturally in the air, and shot his arms to his sides while his body burst with energy; a dark blue field pushed outward. Rarity shut her eyes when a bright flash shot from him. When she gazed back up, every single robotic wasp near him was whipped out…Gone.

Sonic's eyes shot open, pure white and burning in intense fury. He cast his gaze to a nearby street and saw it littered with robotic solders shooting wildly at his direction. The enraged hedgehog drew his hands back and shot it forward with open palms; a sudden bright blue beam exploded from his hands. The beam roared through the streets as he lift his palms up, every building remotely near the beam decimated to nothing. Rarity cast her gaze to the street and saw everything in its path completely decimated, nothing but ashes remained in the street.

With another bloody war cry, Sonic shot forward; a dark blue aurora surrounding him as he boomed through the air with lightning speed. Rarity was about to chase after him until she caught a sight of an unconscious stallion laying on the payment. She rushed to his aid; turning him over to his back and checking over his body…She gasped when she recognized this stallion.

It was Mr. Felix, his body scared and bruised beyond recognition.

With compassion sweeping over her, she tried to awake him by tapping his shoulder. The old stallion stirred, his eyes slowly opened.

"R…Rarity?" He coughed, so quite that only she could hear him.

She carefully levitated him and set him on her back; balancing him so he wouldn't fall.

"Stay with me, deer." She commanded him, "I'm taking you somewhere safe."

The God Father coughed painfully, his whole body in complete disarray.

"N-no." He whispered, slipping in and out of consciousness, "Leave me…Ms. Rarity…"

She looked back at him.

"I-I don't deserve to live," He coughed, "I've caused so much heart ache to so many ponies...I've lived my life to the fullest, live yours."

"…I'm not going to simply leave you here to die." She addressed him.

She began to gallop, the sores around her legs becoming numb knowing there's a life on her back. Mr. Felix simply laid on her back, completely bewildered.

"…Why?" He asked her.

She stopped, staring at the ground as her mind processed the question, "…I care." She simply answered.

The mobster didn't speak another word as she galloped through the street. Suddenly, a chariot pulled up in front of her and stopped. The doors swung open to reveal two dressed unicorns.

"Father!" They yelled.

Rarity immediately levitated him in, "Take this stallion somewhere safe and get far away from this place!"

They stared at her, seeing the stolen emerald inside her mouth. Before they could advance towards her, the God Father spoke up.

"L…Let her be," He spoke, "That…Emerald means nothing to me now."

They stared at him for a second, "You sure?"

"…Go."

They continued to stare at him for a second, then looked to Rarity and bowed before taking off; the ponies carrying to breaking off to a full gallop.

The white mare looked up and saw Sonic unleashing another beam down a street, crumbling buildings in his blinded rage. Suddenly, A large shadow passed over her; a sudden gush of wind blowing her mane and tail. When she looked to see what it was, she saw a large mechanical beast charging for that chariot; each step it took shook the ground. Rarity was shook when it jumped over her, but fine. While it was charging, she inspect it closer by squinting her eyes; curious of what animal was in it. Her eyes widen when she made out the machine's shape.

"...No way…An ursa minor?"

---

Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo were galloping down the chaotic street with a robotic solider chasing them. They cut a corner to another ally just in time to dodge a laser fire. They screamed to the top of their lungs, galloping as fast as their hooves can carry them.

"This is just what I always wanted!" Scootaloo shouted to the top of her lungs, "Galloping the streets of Fillydelphia with a killer robot chasing after us!"

They cut another corner to dodge another laser fired by the robot. They charged head on into the heat of town, laser fire and spells zooming over their heads. An explosion above them came close of impacting them.

"Where are we gonna go?" Applebloom shouted to the others, "We can't be runnin' like this forever!"

Suddenly, a large fiery explosion erupted in front of them; completely engulfing two small buildings in front of them. They looked up and saw something surrounded by a dark blue aurora.

"...Is that Sonic?" Scootaloo asked.

When they ran further down the street; a sudden sensation of fear and dread swept over them. Their throats began to dry; their hearts began to beat against their chest. Still running from the robot, they continued to gallop while staring at the figure above…His eyes suddenly shot open, revealing Sonic's blazing white eyes as he sneered at the street ahead of them. He reared his hands back and pushed forward, a deep and loud pulse booming.

"MOTHER OF CELESTIA!" Sweetie bell shouted.

They instantly jumped out of the way as a wide blue beam struck the ground. The fillies landed in a dark ally, and they watched on in horror as the devastating beam passed by them. Their sight was blinded by the bright flash. Just a second later, they heard a terrifying shriek from those robotic monsters…Then nothing at all.

They peaked their heads around the corner and felt their hearts stop by the sight. Where the machines once stood was replaced by ashes; a black trail covering the street with smoke seeping outward. Scootaloo looked up and saw Sonic floating above the carnage; letting out a blood curling screech as he boomed to another section of town.

"…Sonic?" She whimpered.

Suddenly, a stray robotic wasp caught glance of them while buzzing around a building. It fired a bright yellow sphere at her, and she zipped back just in time to dodge it. The wasp hovered its way towards their path, blocking their only exit. The three fillies cowered back as far as they could until their backs bumped against a wall.

"We're toast." Scootaloo whimpered, "We should have never come."

The wasp began to charge its shot.

"It's been uh pleasure working with ya two." Applebloom mumbled to them; covering her face with her hooves.

The machine took aim.

"…Scootaloo I used you're toothbrush without washing it!" Sweetie bell shouted.

"WHAT!?"

*BANG!*

They saw a large hammer lodged at the wasp head; sending it smashing down and exploding on impact. When the dust cleared, they saw Amy standing in front of them; picking up her hammer from the rubble.

"What are you fillies doing here!?" She shouted, "You three were supposed to be in Ponyville!"

"Yeeaa…supposedly," Scootaloo stared while scratching the back of her head.

They heard another explosion erupting on the street; sending a robot's head spinning towards them.

"Well…J-Just stick close and follow me!" She shouted, "I'm leading you three out of here! It's not safe!"

The three fillies followed the pink hedgehog out of the ally and to the open space.

---

"Just keep going straight!" The unicorn yelled at the stallions carrying the chariot as he clipped the first aid kit open, "Mr. Felix's mansion is just three miles ahead!"

The unicorn took out an ointment; squeezing it in his hooves and rubbing the most bruised parts of the God Father's body. The mobster wheezed in pain; his stomach and flank burning as if he was on fire.

"…Why did I…live in ignorance?" Mr. Felix choked out, "Why didn't I…See it before?"

"Father, just hang with us!" The unicorn yelled, "You're going to be fine!"

Suddenly, a bone chilling roar boomed outside the chariot; shaking the ground beneath them.

"What was that?" The unicorn asked.

His partner peeked out the back window and literary jumped back; his heart hitting his stomach as he thrashed his body around.

"GALLOP!" He shouted at the stallions, "GALLOP AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"

The chariot took off in a full sprint, the carriers in front pushing the wagon as fast as they could.

"What did you see?" The unicorn treating his boss asked, wrapping another wad of bandage around his stomach.

Another vicious roar ripped through the chariot; making it tremble as it rolled down the dirt path.

"GALLOP FASTER!" The unicorn yelled as he peeked through the back window, "IT'S GAINING!"

"Where going as fast as we can!" One of the stallion huffed, his lungs hyperventilating.

Suddenly, the chariot's wheel struck a rock that blocked its path. The wagon began to wobble violently from side to side, then topple over. The unicorn that was treating the God Father thought fast and summoned a quick shield around him; blocking him from the flying debris as the chariot slammed on its side; cracking open with scraps of wood falling around them. The shield did its job of protecting the God Father from further injuries, but the two stallions inside found themselves scared and pierced by scraps of wood; laying on their sides as the scarce sunlight struck their face. The stallions that carried the chariot had their backs thrown out when it toppled over.

With the chariot busted wide open, Mr. Felix and the other ponies found themselves paralyzed; their bodies either too ached to move or broken all together. They looked up, and almost fainted when the creature that chased them stood right over them. It's head was just a couple of feet from them; it's metallic lips slowly seeping open to reveal its roles of sharp teeth. The robotic beast growled lowly; then roared as it stood on its two hind legs, ready to bring its weight down on them.

*CLING!*

The beast toppled backwards as a white slash suddenly appeared. The metallic monster stood back on its four legs, looking around frantically until it was struck again by another white slash; this time on the head. It was undamaged, but the slash violently jerked its head to the side...The beast saw a cyan pegasus crouched over, her extended wing shining pure white while her colorful mane and tail dramatically waved with the wind.

---

Shadow hurled another white shard as the guard teleported just in time to dodge the fiery blast. The trees that covered them above were on a blaze, fire and smoke surrounded as the Royal Guards hold out against the hedgehog as long as they could. It was a hopeless battle, even greatly outnumbering him proved to be nothing compared to sheer will and power. Some of their brothers were already slain, their bodies lying motionless on the ground with blood sipping out of their wounds.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

Shadow leapt high to the air and pushed his hands forward, summoning a yellow beam with green lightning arching around it. Two royal guards stood their ground as they tried to take aim at him while he was in the air, but before they could charge their horns; they were engulfed by a flash of energy. The two elites and a handful of guards watched in horror as the beam dissipate, revealing skeletons where the guards once stood.

The two elite charged their horns and fired a storm of lasers at Shadow as the others teleported behind him. With two chaos spears in his hands, he blocked the shots in rapid succession; his bright purple spears becoming nothing but a blur. The guards behind him butted their horns together and summoned a massive fire ball; pulsing it outward at the black hedgehog. With a sneer in his eye, he waited for the fire ball to be just inches from him; then jumped backwards while striking the inferno with his spear. The fire ball bounced backward; crashing right into the guards that summoned it. Their bodies lit ablaze, scorching them for several seconds before collapsing.

With his chaos spears still in hand, he hurled them at two guards with precise accuracy. One managed to teleport just in time to dodge it, but the other had the spear skewering his skull; killing him instantly. The only thing that stood in his way was the two elites and three lucky guards. Shadow turned around, his dark fur blending in to the fire and smoke behind him, his milky white eyes glimmering while his red pupils illuminated.

"It's like he's not even trying!" A guard shouted, "He'll kill us all if we keep this up."

The elites had just one chance to end him, just one chance to end his murderous rampage. But the risks involved were great…Very great.

"He's not leaving us with no other option!" An elite shouted through his helmet, "I want you three to hold him off as long as you can while we use the Last Resort!"

"That's suicide!" A guard shouted, charging his horn and aiming at the hedgehog, "You know how unstable the spell is!?"

"We know!" The elite shouted while butting horns with his partner, "It's our only chance of stopping him!"

The three guards stared at them with worried eyes; then glared back at Shadow with charged horns.

One summoned a magical charge around his body and galloped towards their threat; the hedgehog quickly side stepped, throwing a chaos spear at him but missing. He turned around and saw a barrage of red shots flying towards him. With an idea in mind, he blocked the shots with his chaos spears while backing up. Suddenly, Shadow teleported to the recovering guard that charged earlier; grabbing him by his wings and yanking him forward in the line of fire. The shots ripped him to shreds, dead just seconds after being grabbed. Using the body as a shield; Shadow pulsed it forward, ramming the two guards and slamming them over to their sides. While they were down, Shadow teleported to one and struck him in the head with a chaos spear. When the other stood, he teleported away from him and reared his two spears.

"CHAOS SLASH!"

He swung his two spears outward, a dark slash zipping ahead of him. Before the guard could teleport out of the way, he was sliced in half horizontally; also cutting several trees behind him. The attack only took just a second to execute. When Shadow turned his attention to the two elites, he saw a white light radiating from their horns; then suddenly found himself engulfed by it.

---

Applejack lassoed another robotic wasp around its waist and yanked it down; jumping around and bucking it's head clean off. Knuckles leapt to the air and punched a flying wasp in the chest, sending it shooting backwards and exploding against a pack of flying robots. They just kept coming though, slowly gaining on the two fighters and closer to Tails and Twilight; who were still recovering.

"It's like I kill one and three of them take its place!" Knuckles shouted, punching an abdomen clean off a wasp's body.

Applejack lassoed one of the flying creatures and spun her body in a circle, swirling the robotic wasp helplessly and simply letting go when it gained enough momentum. Another explosion erupted shortly afterwards, "Just hang in there, sugarcube!"

Meanwhile in the back of the room, Fluttershy were looming over the two; coaxing and treating the two with a nearby med pack. They were already untied, but were too weak to even stand.

"Must…Fight…"

Tails was struggling to stand to his feet, but was quickly stopped by the pale pegasus.

"No, no, no, no Tails. You need to let your body rest."

"I can't…Just sit here!" The fox shouted.

Knuckles and Applejack jumped just in time to dodge a laser shot from above. Spike saw his chance when a robotic wasp flew just a little too low to the ground. He leapt, mounting it as the mechanical bug took off from the ground and into the crowd in a panic. Spike held his two claws out and breathed fire into them; igniting them in a vibrant green flame as he slashed the wasp's back viciously. With his legs balanced on its back, he jumped off while the wasp clashed to the ground; bursting in green flames then into ashes. While in the air, he clanged to another wasp and slashed its back; sending it toppling to the ground as Spike leapt leaped off. He repeated this process to several wasps; some unluckily wobbling to a pack and exploding, taking several out at once. Twilight, with the ring removed from her horn and unrestrained; watched her little assistant fighting the crowd of robots with his bear claws…She would never let him in a fight, just the thought of the baby dragon being in any kind of fight was simply traumatizing to the mare. But deep down inside; while watching his assistant slash a robotic wasp before it could fire a laser on Knuckles, she was strangely proud of him. He was protecting his friends, and he's willing to put himself on the line to fight the swam off…And doing a dang good job of it.

Little by little, with Spike on the front lines while Knuckles and Applejack chipping in for support; the swarm slowly began to die down. Eventually, and strangely; the rest fled at once, flying towards one direction of the crumbling city. When they were sure none would return, they ran towards Tails and Twilight's side.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled, running towards her and hugging her by the waist, "Are you O.K? How badly are you hurt? Are you-"

Twilight held him back, "I'm fine, Spike…You were so brave out there, I'm so proud of you."

Knuckles stood by Tails and lowered himself, letting him lean on his shoulder.

"Can you stand?" He asked.

Tails almost tripped when he put pressure on his feet; wincing in pain, but while using the echidna as support; he was able to limp.

"…We need da go outside and assist Amy and the others." Applejack said to them while looking outside, seeing laser shots flying outside.

Fluttershy knelt down and supported Twilight to her hooves, almost carrying her, "Um…We'll catch up with you, just give us a little time to catch up."

With everyone agreeing, Applejack, Knuckles bolting outside; throwing themselves in the line of fire. Spike chose to stay back; igniting his claws and staying right by Twilight's side, ready to tear any metal that dared to approach her.

---

The injured mobster watched on as the colorful pegasus performed another nose dive at the mechanical beast. A sudden dark flash illuminated when she struck its neck, a white slash blinding the mobsters just for a second before regaining sight. The machine was knocked to the floor, but no mark was made. The pegasus made another slash on him, knocking it to its side. The mobsters looked closely if any damage was done on it…Nothing.

A earth quaking roar rumbled through the air as the machine stood back to its paws. It reared on its two back legs, swinging wildly as the pegasus tried to home in on it. She flew back just in time to avoid a fatal slam. Her breaths became heavy; she's been fighting this beast for nearly thirty minutes and haven't even put a dent on it.

"(pant, pant) You just won't go down. Will you?" She smirked, finding a bit of pleasure fighting the abominable machine, "I'm going to have to resort to drastic measures."

With a flap of her wings, she instantly took off to the skies; leaving behind stray white feathers. She flew up, flying as high as she could; beyond the puffy clouds and black smoke. With her normal wing tucked in and her other wing extended outward, she began to nose dive towards her target; spinning her body rapidly as she penetrated the smoke and clouds below her. While speeding towards her target, vapor began to spin around her; a clear barrier forming in front of her. The drop greatly increased her speed nonstop until a sudden boom echoed through the air. A colorful wave pushed outward as a rainbow trail shot trailed from behind. Her spinning became nothing but a blur, the rainbow trail she left behind twisting itself. The air in front of her began to twist itself like a drill; enlarging itself as she charged towards the robotic beast.

*CRASH!*

She hit the robot at full force, hitting him square on the side as it flew several meters away from the impact as a sickening boom shattered the mobster's eardrums. The beast weighed tons, but it soared like it was an everyday kickball. The pegasus crashed to the ground; bruises covering her body from the impact of the attack. The trick she did sure drained her of her strength…But boy was it worth it!

She looked up and saw the mechanical robot lying on the ground; several meters away from where she was at, almost a speck from where she was at. Rainbow tried to make heads or tails of what it was as she stared at it; it reminded her too much of an ursa minor back in Ponyville, its body build surely resembled it. From her view point, she looked back and finally saw the ponies she saved from that monster. Her eyes widen when she realized it was Mr. Felix, along with the unicorns that persecuted Twilight and Tails. She tried to stand on her hooves, but her body was too badly bruised to even let her move. Suddenly, she heard something, something distant, something moving. She looked forward; her mouth gaping when she saw the cause of the disturbance.

The machine was standing itself back up.

"H…How?" She asked herself.

On its four paws, it slowly approached the cyan pegasus; its metallic teeth snarling as it stood over her. Not a single scratch on could be seen on it, even the very place she impacted didn't even leave as so much as a dent. It raised its paws in the air, ready to strike them down as it roared.

With pain screaming through her body, she flapped her wings; pushing herself backwards as the machine brought its appendages down. It looked up; seeing its target flapping frantically away. With one long drag on the ground, it charged.

Suddenly, as Rainbow was trying to get away from the machine; a blue ball suddenly struck the beast with sheer force, sending the beast tumbling backwards, but unharmed. Rainbow squint her eyes and saw Sonic standing before the machine. He charged again, this time jumping in the air and forming itself to a ball. A dark blue aurora formed around him when he charged towards his target. A violent explosion erupted when he struck it; sending the machine back even further.

Rainbow was about to cheer, but…Something was wrong. She didn't know why, but she felt a sudden sensation of panic taking over her, like her mind and instinct was telling her to run for her life. The machine stood back to its feet and reared up, ready to swipe at him…Then he began to float in midair; not an energy charging float when he was facing Shadow, but floating like he was possessed.

He zipped to its side, throwing his hands forward as a sudden burst of energy shot forward. It boomed against the beast, scorching against its thick armor. It was the first actual damage actually done to the machine.

Still blinded by an unkindled rage; he zipped to the robot's face and drew his fist back, a blue flame bursting inside his hand as he punched the side of its head. He drew its other hand back and began to repeatedly beat it until he gave one final punch to its forehead. It fell backwards, deep dents embedded on the machine's head. With a screeching roar, it reared its paw back and swiped at the hedgehog.

Sonic simply grabbed it as if it was nothing.

He constricted his hand when he grabbed that paw, crushing the armor plate that protected it. With another war cry, he charged and head butted the machine; sending it several feet backwards as it crashed on its back. A gaping hole was left on its stomach, a countless stream of sparks flying outward like blood. Sonic leapt in the air again, throwing its hands forward as chaos energy began to charge in his palms.

Before the machine had a chance to stand up, a bright blue beam engulfed it; earth and dirt kicking up in the air as the beam concentrated on that one area. The machines cries and roars were drowned out by the booming noise of the blast. After several intense seconds, the beam finally died down…Rainbow saw a knocked out ursa minor in its place, every trace of metal disintegrated. For the first time, the cyan pegasus saw the eyes of Sonic…Blazing white, his fur darken and pulsing. Fear took hold of her, even if she could move; her body was gripped by his presence. His wondering eyes looked until he saw the God Father as well as the two persecutors lying helplessly on the ground. With his eyes blazing, he dashed to them and grabbed Mr. Felix by the throat, holding him up and cutting off his air supply. The stallion's body was limp, if the unicorns didn't see his lungs softly pumping; they would have thought he was already dead.

"I thought I finished you!" He shouted, his demonic voice cracking in disappointment and anger, "You're going to learn what it means to suffer! You hurt my friends, I'LL HURT YOU!"

"NOOOOO!"

Suddenly, something rammed to Sonic's side; making him drop mobster and stagger a couple of feet away. The raged hedgehog gave out a war cry, holding his hands in front of him and ready to blast whoever dared to oppose him. Rainbow watched on in disbelief and horror…It was Rarity that charged into him. If Sonic didn't see her, he would have blast her at that second.

"This is not you, Sonic! You will never kill anyone!" She shouted at him, boldly holding her stance against him even though every fiber of he being is screaming for her to run.

"He has every right to die!" He roared; crackles of electricity coursing through his body, "I'll make him suffer for hurting my friends, he and everyone with him!"

Even with all the courage the unicorn had, she couldn't help but take a couple of steps back. Mr. Felix, with the so little life he had left; looked up and saw the mare standing between him and the abomination.

"You're no worse than what they are!" She shouted, "You're going to take their lives just to get revenge!?"

Mass of energy began to form in his palms; a malevolent smile stretching across his lips, "Looks that way, don't it!?"

He began to slowly approach, smashing his hands together with small arks of dark blue lightning shooting outward, "MOVE!"

Rarity stood her ground while the hedgehog slowly approaching her, "I won't let you kill!"

"You stand with them, you treacherous snake!?"

She briefly looked back, seeing the two unicorns weakly looming over their boss and trying to coax him to stay awake. She may now know Mr. Felix is a murderer, she may know he devalues life more than anypony she knew. But even after he broke every law in the book, there was good in him…She saw it.

"As I may know that these stallions are crooks. Murders that purge for any kind of loot they can get their hands on, stallions that backstab their own brothers for their own selfish intentions, liars to live in a life of luxury," She looked back and sneered the mobsters she was protecting, "Even if their hearts were sold to the devil…Good still dwells in them."

Rainbow, still bruised from the impact of her spinning attack; looked on in disbelief as her white friend charged her horn and pointed it towards him, "You will have to get through me first, my dear." She said to him.

In that moment, he hesitated. Those stallions deserve to die, nothing could right this wrong more than their deaths. Rarity has to know who these stallions were; killers, thieves, liars…Why defend them at all? Why try to save their lives?

"…They tortured our friends and YOU'RE STANDING BY THEM?!"

"As less sense it makes to you, Sonic" She sighed, closing her eyes when his words pricked her heart, "…Yes…"

Sonic stood at that spot for several seconds, disbelieving that his friend is standing between them and judgment. With his unquenched anger still roaring inside of him, he began to draw energy from his two emeralds; his spikey fur illuminating pitch black darkness.

"IF YOU WISH TO DIE WITH THEM…SO BE IT!"

In one swift motion, he raised his hands in the air; power building around him as he readied himself to deliver judgment. The ground began to shake, stray pebbles and rocks floating in midair. Rarity discharged whatever attack she charged, the magical ball simply shot around him; like a small asteroid shooting around a planet. Sonic had his attack charge, blinded by rage, his mind possessed with obsession of revenge…He was about to bring it all crashing down until something suddenly grabbed on to him; two hooves wrapping themselves around his stomach. Sonic looked down to see what was trying to stop them...He saw colorful hair blocking his bottom view. Hesitation hit him again, just stopping him from unleashing his stored energy.

"STOP, SONIC!" She shouted at him, embracing him even closer, "PLEASE…stop!"

She began to choke up, tears running down her cheeks as she pressed her head against his stomach.

"Revenge will accomplish nothing!" She pressed on, trying to fight back her sorrow, "You're becoming something horrible! I want to see those stallions pay as much as you do, but it's not going to be done by a killer!"

Sonic completely froze as the pegasus began to cry…The rocks around him began to settle back down, his dark illumination fading.

"I know Twilight and Tails don't deserve it. No one deserves to be tortured," She continued, her throat beginning to dry, "Revenge won't take back what's been done; revenge won't right the wrong they've done...Revenge will never quench your anger."

His terrifying presence began to fade from him. Rainbow buried her muzzle against him.

"Let go of your grudge…" She cried, "Don't become what you always fought."

Rarity and the mobsters looked on as the pegasus continued to embrace the hedgehog with all of her might. Suddenly, he embraced her back; tightly pulling her in by his arms. He dropped to his knees, his eyes slowly dimming back to its original state to reveal his green pupils…He let out a long cry, not holding anything back as streams of tears ran down his cheeks.

"I'M SORRY!" He screamed out loud, "I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!"

He couldn't support himself anymore as he chanted those words. Rarity watched on, the display of affection continuing for several long minutes; almost felt like an hour. She eventually trotted to him, rubbing her muzzle against his cheek.

"We all have demons, darling," She almost whispered, "We can only tame them by the choices we make."

The stayed huddled together while the war within the city began to tame down…Eventually, they heard the last laser shot before a sudden silence swept the open field.

---

One hour later

Knuckles and everyone else with him were exhausted, fought with every breath they had when they were defending every citizen they could. The city was in smoke, buildings and markets either burned or in complete rubbles. Scrap metal littered the street, not a single block had at least a small pile of scrap lying on the road or the sidewalk; ponies that were taking cover in the buildings slowly poked their heads out and saw their beloved city in complete ruins. Some of those streets had a long trail of ash and scattered flames from Dark Sonic's blast.

Now, the heroes were united on a dirt road leading out of the city. It was relatively quiet, though; Sonic was still recuperating from his breakdown. He was leaning against a tree while staring at the ground, holding the emerald that Rarity stole. Even after a full hour, grief and regret still weighed down his shoulders. They were a band of Royal Guards talking among each other, and he felt a painful ting at his heart when he heard that some of the ponies died when a powerful blast swept through the street. Amy would normally try to cheer him up, but…What could she do to ease his guilt?

The only ponies that were talking was the God Father and Rarity; The mobster made somewhat of a recovery; not able to stand but not threatening to slip into unconsciousness either. Twilight and Tails accompanied them.

"Again, I cannot express my regret of hurting you two," Mr. Felix sorrowfully mumbled, "I wish things could have been different."

No matter how many times he apologized, they will always hold resentment against the stallion and his executioners. They can still feel the electricity jolting their bodies, and they will always feel it.

"...It was just a misunderstanding." was Twilight's only reasonable response.

The mobster turned his gaze to the hedgehog, who was several feet from him, "My deepest and most humble apologies to you, Sonic. If I have been reasonable, most of these events would have never happened."

The hedgehog made a quick eye contact with him then simply nodded; returning his gaze to the ground. Rarity trotted a little closer to him, but took care to keep a little space.

"Mr. Felix…Even though I am great full of you letting me live in your mansion; I'm still disgusted of whom you are. You had a chance to live your life, and you chose to take others'."

The Royal Guards began to carefully levitate him.

"I understand," He said to her, "But let me take this opportunity to thank you, Ms. Rarity."

The mare's ears perked up. He thought for a second, trying to put his thoughts into words.

"You have shown me life from a whole different perspective. For all these years, I only thought of myself. I was the only thing that mattered to me when I was a fowl, a colt, and just hours ago. Now, I'm beginning to understand the values of life and what it really means to treasure it…Thank you."

The Guards began to carry him off to their carriage, locking him securely inside along with the two unicorns. By a deep yell, the carriers began to trot along the dirt road. Rarity watched on as the guards began to charge their horns, then with a flick; the carriage disappeared in a puff of smoke.

---

Things began to cheer up just a bit when Sonic and the others began to hit the road. With the third emerald obtained, they were ready to get back to Ponyville and begin to make plans to find the next emerald. The group felt a little more comfortable talking, and it was the usual. Sonic and Rainbow Dash talking side by side, even though the discussion was a bit stretched between sentences. Tails found it a bit more comfortable to talk to Twilight…When she tried to tell the fox her flank size in a cleaver matter to make it look like she was just giving him information about her dresses; he instantly cut her off by talking about the briefing when they got back. Knuckles and Applejack were talking about the apple farm, cutting jokes so vulgar that it made Fluttershy deeply blush. The cutie mark crusaders were moping while following from behind; they were going to be in SO much trouble to disobeying.

And the worst of all...They sill haven't gotten their cutie marks for their courageous act!

...For Amy, there was just one matter she needed to address.

"Oh, Raritiiieee!" She sweetly called.

The mare looked back and saw the pink hedgehog drawing her hammer out, "Uh; Yes, Sweetie?"

She dangerously approached, lightly tapping her deadly weapon on her hand, "You owe someone one hundred bits…You got a debt to pay, you thief!"

Rarity began to trot faster, "I'm sorry, but I don't have the bits right now; if you wait I can-"

"UNACCEPTABLE!"

The mare broke off in a full fledge gallop as Amy gave chase with her hammer pulled back to her side. Spike, with a chest puffed out to represent a warrior; stood in the hedgehog's way with his little arms outstretched. The little dragon was just about to yell something courageous until something red flew over his head.

"I'LL SAVE YOU, MY LADY!"

Spike spun around and saw Knuckles holding Rarity; Amy knocked the little dragon out the way and swung, missing the echidna by a mile as he leapt backwards. Knuckles landed on top of a tall rock while holding the lady, a wide trollish smirk spread across his lips.

"Stay back!" He shouted, pointing at a FURIOUS Amy below, "For I, Knuckles the Echidna, will save Ms. Rarity from the abomination that dares to cause harm."

"YOU GET DOWN HERE YOU LITTLE-"

She hurled her hammer at him, but missed widely as Knuckles jumped down with Rarity in his arms. The weapon continued to soar, going on for several meters before finally dropping...The throw was meant to knock someone out!

Now with no weapon to whack him with, she helplessly chased him with flailing arms; screaming mad as the smirking Echidna ran effortlessly from her. Rarity looked up and saw her 'hero' looking down with a somewhat of a charming smile. Normally, she would have jumped off and ruthlessly slam against the rocks and dirt for handling her in such a rude matter.

But...Why ruin the fun?

She rolled her eyes and wrapped her hooves around his neck, clearing her throat to get into character.

"Oh, thank you Knuckles!" She playfully cheered as he sat her down, "I was so helpless and defenseless when that 'thing' Attacked me. You my hero, my brave knight!"

"As long as my love lingers in this fiery night," Knuckles played along, thinking on top of his head of epic things to say when a hero saves a damsel in distress, "My marshmallow will never be harmed!"

...Now he took this time to run before HE became a damsel in distress. Rarity chased after him, but was quietly giggling while doing so. She began to see the fun behind his antics, and felt no shame taking in the guilty pleasure.

The group looked on, trying to suppress giggles as they saw Knuckles being violently pulsed against a rock. The echidna shrugged it off, laughing as he took of down the road. He took worst hits than that, but he knew she was more than capable to make him squeal in pain.

Every mare and creature may have been laughing, but there was just one certain cowpony that wasn't laughing at all while watching on. Applejack deeply sighed, staring disappointingly at the ground as she trotted on. She had Applebloom carrying a apple flavored pie she herself bought at a store...It looked like she'll be only sharing it with her family when she returned.

---

The Royal Guards opened their eyes after they discharged their Last Resort...The burning stopped, the smoke froze in the air, the burning leaves that fell upon the ground suddenly froze in mid air. No sound was made, movement around them completely halted. Soft and gentle ripples appeared around them...Time itself has been distorted. They checked over their own body, relieved that not a single limb was missing while casting the powerful spell.

When they scanned their environment, they didn't see the black and red striped hedgehog anywhere; not in front of them, not behind them, not on their sides, absolutely nowhere to be found.

"I think that did it," One of the elites said, his voice echoing, "I hope we didn't damage anything else when we performed this spell."

"We'll have to explain to the princess of our actions, though." The other said, "Even though this has only an immediate range, there's a still a chance we'll damage the space-time continum...Or whatever the heck they call it."

"They'll understand. If we did any damage, the princesses can repair it. I'm just finally glad we finally got rid of him...He was insane."

They were just about to deactivate the spell until a dark light illuminated in front of them. The guards shield their eyes until the sudden blackness dulled, and suddenly heard footsteps in front of them. When they opened their eyes...They trembled back.

"Th...That's impossible!" The elite shouted.

Shadow was walking towards them with three Chaos Emeralds circling around him. A smirk escaped his lips.

"Surprised?...Don't be."

He jumped high in the air, his three emerald spinning around him as massive power and energy coarse through his body. He curled himself to a ball and slammed right in the middle of them. A violent explosion erupted, covering the two guards in sparks and fire.

---

Discord was watching from affar, sitting on a makeshift chair with a glass of lemonade floating by him. This has surely been a spetacular show; fire, destruction, simply pure chaos his twisted mind have came to adore since the beginning of time...Was a little dissapointing at the end, though; one second he saw the two elites charging their horns with a powerful spell, the next second he saw them laying over dead with the grumpy hedgehog looming over them. He didn't see what happed to the two guards...Whatever happened, though; they suely weren't getting back up.

He slithered himself over to him, and almost immeditally notice a strong sense of energy radiating off of him. Discord then noticed three shining emerald floating around him. He thought he would be a little happy of his victory, but he just stood there; staring at the bodies laying around him. True to his nature, Discord teleported to his side holding pom-poms, a hat with two soda drinks taped to its side, and wearing a shirt that read 'Shadow's number 1!'.

"You're truly a spectacular warrior!" Discord cheered, "Even I have a hard time dealing with the elites thousands of years ago and you took them out like they were nothing!"

The pom-poms disappeared and was replaced with a large golden trophy with Shadow standing on top, smiling widely and holding a helmet over his head...He offered it to the hedgehog, but he just ignored him; standing completely still while walking over to a dead body.

"Common, Shadow!" Discord continued, "Aren't you happy you've won?"

Shadow completely ignored his rant...For several minutes, he walked from one body to the other; staring at the ground with his mind deep in thought.

"...These guards don't deserve this." He mumbled.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Discord asked, completely baffled by his statement, "They chose to die by the princesses; this is exactly what they deserved."

Shadow looked up and sneered at him, his slit eyes staring deep within Discord's consciousness. The draconequus felt his scales shiver; so much power was radiating from this hedgehog. Fear was a very rare emotion for him, and for the first time ever since his second imprisonment; fear was all over on him...He could take him on in a fight if he wanted to.

"...You're right." Shadow shook his head, "They chose to live by the sword, they died by it."

Shadow teleported out of the jungle, standing on the outskirts while staring at the horizon. Canterlot could be seen in plain view; the extravagant palace and watch towers looming over the city. Discord teleported by him, it can be rather annoying tracking the hedgehog's location. An image of Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy flashed through his head, his once only and trusted comrades; tricked by these two monarchs to hold their own power. Through his diluted eyes, he can still see the city on fire, black smoke whirling above it...Shadow growed at the very thought of those two alicorns.

"I'm ready." The hedgehog growed.

Discord's mind just malfunctioned at that statement, "Excuse me?"

"I'm going to make those two finally pay for what they have done."

The draconequus was about to say something until a burst of energy swept over him. Shadow was drawing energy from his emeralds, his dark fur slightly illuminating. Discord has never been more afraid of this hedgehog than ever.

"I'm going to finally fulfill my purpose."

---

Author's notes

...FINALLY FINISHED THIS FREAKIN' CHAPTER!

I tell you, I never worked so hard on one chapter in my life. So much material to keep up, so much to type, so much to edit. Even a research paper wasn't this bad...This chapter was twenty pages long! Still, for the sake of entertainment, I will push on.

Let me know what you think; any problems let me know...If you hate this chapter let me know...If you love this chapter let me know. I feed on criticism.

Deadline: again, one or two weeks. The next chapter shouldn't be too bad.

Signing out...My prayers are with you all!

Harry