Author's notes

Welcome…I think I finally recovered from my block last chapter, now I'm back to full swing. It's a bit of a short chapter, but it's preparing what's to come.

Now, before I do my shout outs, I would like to take this time to say that I deeply thank every single one of you for your support, encouragement, and time. I swear, typing this is so much better than sitting around my house and doing nothing. I'm actually getting a bit of practice here as well...My only regret is posting the heat chapter. When I look back at it now, it did seem a little ridiculous. Some of you still enjoyed it but I know rape should never be taken lightly. My apologies to all of my readers.

I'll be a little more careful with my bonuses from now on. I won't use dirty skits unless I absolutely can't resist. It's cheap.

I have a small announcement to make about the poll. I won't change anything, but after the story is over, I have another proposal to offer. An idea that I feel needs to be done for the Brony community…All I have to say is that the idea is inspired by Those Lacking Spines from the Kingdom Hearts section of Fan fiction net. If you're a fan of Kingdom Hearts…By God, You need to read it! It's original, it's hilarious, it's everything a fan fiction wishes to be! In fact I might do it first before doing the viewer's choice.

I'm telling you, readers. For me to go against your wishes like that…The idea is just that urgent! I know it's going to be a challenge to do it without ripping off the story, but it's a challenge I'm willing to take.

Shout outs.

Gman56: Patience, grasshopper…I had that planned from the very beginning, and it will come to pass soon enough.

Nelson: To answer your question, what Luna cast on him last chapter was a reform spell. His emeralds didn't protect him from Discord's delusion spell, and couldn't cure him either.

Statche 38:…Have you really reviewed 25,000 stories? Impressive. How long have you been on fanfiction? I would private message you about that question, but I couldn't.

Sniper red: Read back, Shadow has completely annihilated his body, but his very being remained.

ImmaRainbowDash:…I have a little story to tell to answer your question. I'll tell it later on in the story.

Stache38: To answer your question. If Sonic or Shadow possess the six emeralds, they'll be close to super form but not quite there. That's why their fir and trail is giving a bit of a gold color. And each emerald added makes them much more powerful…Think about this for a second, if it took two emeralds to defeat a weaken alicorn and defeat most robotic enemies, three to truly challenge an alicorn at full strength…What do you think six Emeralds did to Discord's body? Talk about over kill!

ultimateCCC: (read that Gerald Robotnic is GRAND father of Eggman)...DAAAAAAAA! (Bang my head against a concrete wall) WHY! WON'T! TYPOS! JUST! LEAVE! ME! BE!

"Ah ha!" Typo laughed, "Once again, I've sabotaged your story! Now readers from all over the world will stumble!"

"Just leave me alone!" I yelled at it with a raised hand, turning my head away, "Just leave me and my readers alone! All we want to do is simply enjoy a good story!"

"I'll never leave you!" It yelled while putting his hands on his sides, "No matter how much you proofread, no matter how cautious you are…I will always lurk in the darkest corners of your paragraphs!"

"Go away, typo!" I cried.

"I doesn't matter if you do correct me," it continued, "The damage is already done! BWAHAHAHAHA!"

Uh…Anyways, enjoy the chapter. I hate for these introductions to get this long, but the shoutouts are optional. I do recommend reading the notes at the beginning and end, however. That's where I make my announcements.

Oh! Wait a minute. If you have a history of your head exploding from exposer to excitement, please skip a couple of scenes down…Thanks.

---

As soon as Cyber X took to the skies high several meters above, it morphed its talons into a complex cluster of cannons and chain guns pointing directly at the ponies and creatures. Thinking fast, Luna flapped her wings hard and charged her horn, pumping all the magic she could to a large powerful screen that covered her and everyone else below. A series of flashes and fire roared from the machine as it fired its weapons at once, a swarm of screeching rockets and thousands of bullets about to rain down upon them. As soon as the bombardment struck the screen, fire and shrapnel covering their entire view point. Luna was sent tumbling to the ground, but the shield just managed to absorb the attack and shatter. Sonic took aim at Eggman, who was completely exposed with the machine readying for another shot. Unfortunately, Eggman pushed the button to teleport back to his base as soon as the hedgehog jumped.

"Sonic, look out!" Amy shouted from below.

The hedgehog, still helplessly dangling in the air; turned its body and saw the mechanical bird staring dead at him with its beak wide open. A low rumbling sound erupted from the machine, a small speck of light blue light forming inside its mouth.

"SONIC!" Rainbow helplessly shouted.

Just a second later, a wide beam shot from its mouth; covering the ponies' point of view and completely obscuring the hedgehog. The beam continued to roar, completely disintegrating any tree or rock that stood in its path. The fox and everyone else around him did nothing more but stare, seeing their friend completely vanquished by the blast. They were about to mourn until they saw the hedgehog standing right by Twilight, and seeing her horn illuminating.

"Nice save," Sonic kindly complimented, panting profusely while still feeling the effects of the teleportation spell.

"Sure," Twilight ensured him, "Just don't attack without thinking next time."

Sonic looked on and saw the machine staring at him, "You don't have to tell me twice."

Cyber X began to spread its wings, its weapons beneath it morphing back into talons as the small jets beneath it elevated it. With a high pitch screech, it angled its body at him and began to charge; diving straight for him and everyone else surrounding him. Sonic and the others began to duck or run for cover until a bright yellow sphere upper cut it, veering it off course and roaring just over their heads. The machine crashed into Canterlot's concrete gates, completely destroying it and crashing the gigantic machine.

Shadow hovered in the air as he saw the machine recovering from its crash, perching back on its talons and spreading its several story wings outward. It was astonishing, he put all of his energy to his charge, and it wasn't enough to even chip it. Strangely enough, the machine wasn't aiming for Canterlot, or even the most dangerous target on the field…It was again aiming at Sonic.

Before the Machine had a chance to fire another beam at him, Shadow teleported to its side.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

With a loud boom, a wide yellow blast struck the machine's side; sending it tumbling to its sides before it could fire its beam. Shadow then teleported by Sonic, ready to intercept again.

"This fight is hopeless," Shadow grumbled, "Even my most powerful attacks won't damage that thing."

"Then what are we going to do?" Knuckles asked out loud, seeing the machine standing back up, "We can't let this thing destroy the city."

Sonic and the others pondered while Shadow zipped back to the robot, fighting it restlessly to keep it from firing at the crowd…Then a thought hit him.

He suddenly zipped away from the crowd, hollering and waving its hands to get the machines attention. Just as he thought, the colossal bird completely ignored the empowered Shadow and took aim at Sonic; opening its beak and firing another wide blue beam at him. Sonic zipped out of the way while the beam continued to roar.

"It's not aiming for Canterlot!" Sonic shouted, "The machine is only after me!"

Cyber X hovered high in the sky and morphed its talons into its weapons. While a barrage of missiles and cannon fire roared towards him, Shadow teleported in front of them and summoned a thick wall of floating Chaos Spears, hundreds of them. When Shadow pushed his hands outward, the miniature shards shot in front of him, zipping towards the barrage roaring towards them. A large series of explosions erupted, fire and shards of metal violently roaring outward. Every single shot fired by the machine was successfully intercepted.

"Twilight!" Sonic shouted, seeing the machine recovering, "Do you know the direction to Tartarus?"

"It's towards the south somewhere," Twilight quickly answered, "But-"

Sonic quickly sprinted behind the machine to dodge its targeting, "Shadow! Throw me the Chaos Emeralds!"

Shadow grinned his teeth then he readied another Chaos Blast, "Let me fight him, Sonic! I can ward this machine better than you can!"

"I have an idea!"

With no time to think, the black hedgehog unleashed his attack on the machine; thwarting it from the air. He zipped to the blue hedgehog and summoned his six emeralds, levitating them to the other hedgehog.

"Your plan?" He grunted, looking over and seeing the machine standing right back up.

"Simple," Sonic answered with a small smile, "Run."

"What!?"

Sonic bolted several meters in front of the machine, waiving his hands and wolf whistling to taunt it. Although the machine couldn't comprehend emotions, it basically got the idea of what he's doing.

With a loud screech, it flapped its wings; morphing its talons to what looked like large advanced jet engines. A loud Sonic Boom erupted when it fired off, a large sound wave shooting around it as it roared towards the tiny target. Using his six emeralds, Sonic jumped above it; levitating himself towards the clouds above. Before the machine crashed into the city, it drastically pulled down its wings; the wind pushing it up and off the ground just in time to miss the tallest buildings. Seeing the machine still trying to target him, Sonic boomed through the skies, a bright trail of blue shooting behind him. The machine took off after him. Shadow and the others looked on as Sonic disappeared out of sight, the machine becoming a large silhouette until it disappeared.

---

Everything became nothing but a blur as Sonic blasted well beyond the sound barrier, shooting through clouds and flying around flocks of birds faster than anybody could blink. The hedgehog glanced behind and saw Cyber X right on his tail…Just as he planned, but by the rate he's going, the machine will lose him.

He had to restrain himself from going any faster; in order for his plan to work, the mechanical bird has to be chasing him. Unfortunately, for as long as he's within sight, the machine can target him.

Sonic heard a series of loud cannon fire behind him, one of them making contact with Sonic and thwarting him off course for a second. He recovered just in time to avoid another rain of heat seeking missiles.

Flying just fast enough for the machine to keep up, Sonic cast his eyes down and saw the mouth of a volcano; black toxic fumes flittering above and completely covering the sky. Seeing the wall of smoke in front of him, the hedgehog banked and began to fly around. He's not for sure if his emeralds will protect him from poison, but he's not taking any chances. This maneuver left his back completely expose, and the machine made sure to take aim at the now flatten body. With heavy machine guns ready, Cyber X unleashed a string of bullets at him with deadly accuracy. The thick rounds managed to find their target, bouncing off the empowered hedgehog but violently knocking him from the air. With a loud cry, the hedgehog was knocked to the cloud of smog; completely engulfing his body. The machine jetted after him.

Luckily for Sonic, he managed to hold his breath before tumbling through the wall of black gas. Before he could recover however, a large metallic talon swatted him from above and pounded him with extreme force. Sonic struggled to regain control as he spun violently downwards, the smoke becoming thicker and thicker until he could see a hint of red forming below him. Intense heat began to hit his face, and he felt his lungs becoming more constricted by each second he held his breath. Just seconds before entering the mouth of the volcano, he managed to pull up and recover and as soon as he did; he bolted out of the smog, taking in a huge breath of air and letting his lungs take in the sweet oxygen. Cyber X, still inside the smog, turned on its heat sensitive scanner and immediately found the floating hedgehog just several meters from him. When Sonic heard the sound of a jet booming, he circled around the fumes and continued heading south, knowing the machine was chasing right behind him.

---

When Sonic noticed the skies around him becoming darker and the grass beneath them losing their luster green color, he knew he Tartarus was just dead ahead. Cyber X was still hot on his tail and kept its remarkable firepower on him. Every shot the machine fired would miss the tiny target, as long as Sonic kept his path straight he could dodge the barrage of missiles, gun, and cannon fire the machine could fire at him. After a couple of short seconds, he saw a massive castle looming over the horizon; reaching as high up as the skies with dark stained windows decorating the front. The castle was surrounded by a massive fence, reinforced by metal and razor sharp spears sticking out from the top. There was also a large gate stationed at the front. Snickering, Sonic ducked down and charge straight for the entrance; just ducking under a wide beam fired by the machine. He made a complete ninety degree skydive, plummeting straight to the ground while the machine above him began to fire explosive bullets at him. Sonic pulled up just inches from the ground and boomed forward, a series of loud booms erupting behind him. The machine arched its wings and blasted after him. There was a Cerberus guarding that entrance, no bigger than a large building simply napping at the foot of the gate. In its sleep, it rolled over to its back and its paw shook a little; as if something was rubbing its gigantic belly. Suddenly, a supersonic boom erupted above it. The three headed dog yelped and instantly jumped up, snarling and looking around for anything that would dare attempt to pass him. When it looked it, it saw a faint goldish-blue stream above it; leading straight to the heart of the castle…The three heads just looked at each other.

"What was that?" The left head thought, being understood by the other two heads. Little is known that if one shares the same body, they share the same thoughts. This may not be true for mutated animals, but the Cerberus is the only true mammal that is truly born with three heads. A hydra is born with just one head, and if something was to happen to it, it grows another and a new one in its place.

The middle head cast its eyes towards the castle, raising its eyebrows in complete shock. The trail disappeared just seconds later.

"I think we're just seeing things," The middle head suggested, "I mean it disappeared as soon as we laid our eyes on it."

The right head shook its head and snorted, "Well, I don't know about ya'll, but I'm going back to sleep! I was in the middle of getting my belly scratched by Fluttershy!"

The three heads dreamily exhaled and began to shift their body downward to a sleeping position.

"I miss Fluttershy," The middle head sighed

"I know," The left head agreed, "I mean, who's evil and heartless enough to not love Fluttershy? The pony is like the most adorable thing we ever met during our thousand years of guarding this Godforsaken gate."

The right head suddenly snorted, commanding its body to stand.

"Wait, What are you doing?" The right head demanded.

The other two heads kept their body still by their own will, overwhelming the right's.

"What's it look like I'm doing!? We're going to march right out of here and go see Fluttershy! I don't care what our duties are!"

"But we have to stand guard!" The middle head thought, "We can't let anything in here!"

"Oh! Who's crazy enough to enter a giant prison that captivates the most dangerous creatures to ever roam this planet?" The left head sneered, "I mean what are we doing guarding it in the first place!"

"We have to stay here!" The right insisted.

"I don't care! I wanna be loved!"

The two heads firmly held their ground while the left head struggled to move its shared body.

"Listen, right head!" The left head shouted in his thoughts, "You're not thinking clearly."

A loud high pitched screech roared, but went unnoticed.

"What is there to think of?" The left thought, "Nothing's going to try to infiltrate this place!"

The mechanical bird began to swoop down, aiming for the gate.

"They'll simply drag us back here!" The middle thought, "Besides, I'm loyal to Princess Celestia! It was only because of you and your idiot brother beside me decided to sneak out of here and explore the world! Me and lefty is going to stay right here and guard this senseless gate until maybe one day; we'll catch a little break. If Princess Celestia ordered us to stand here while we slowly rot, I'll happily-"

A loud boom ruptured above them, and their hearts skipped a beat when they saw a metal bird, bigger than life, bigger than any creature they have laid eyes on, screeching and charging right for them with a blinding light forming inside its mouth.

"…You know what, screw this. Let's get the heck out of here!"

The Cerberus wisefully ran alongside the wall, hitting the floor just in time to dodge the machine's body as it folded its wings in and dived through the gate.

---

Sonic began to slow down as he made his way to the interior of the castle. It was dark, husky, the scent of musk and defecation stuffed the hedgehog's nostrils as he slowly floated through; waiting readily for the machine to barge through the entrance. There was only one path throughout the entire structure, and Sonic began to briefly explore. The sides were lined up with cages, not a single space alongside this long narrow hall didn't have a cell built within it. The bars were thick, quietly and lowly buzzing with some type of aurora reinforcing each cell. Sonic quickly glance within these cells; most he couldn't see from the blackness behind the bars. In some cells he could see claws or disfigured hands yanking and pulling the bars, trying in some type of attempt to escape from imprisonment. After floating around for just a couple of seconds, he began to grow curious of what lurked inside these cages. He carefully approached one and peered through the bars, using the illumination from himself to see. The light didn't completely shine through the cage, just enough to see a large shadow lurking in the back. It was still, slowly breathing in and out as it stared at the floating hedgehog with tiny glowing red eyes. Even with the powers of the six Chaos Emeralds, Sonic felt his heart being gripped when this creature smiled. It wasn't just an everyday smile, it couldn't even compare to a malevolent grin. He heard a sickening crickle when it smiled, with its beany red eyes glowing darker with excitement. Sonic knew he could defeat this thing in a fight with his emeralds, but just looking at it through the darkness would forever haunt in his dreams to come.

To simply put it…It was just the presence of pure evil. No good could ever come out from this creature.

Suddenly, a high pitched screech echoed through the entrance of the castle. That was Sonic's cue to fly.

He flew through the hallway, everything becoming a blur as he approached the sound barrier. He saw no turns, no banks, no cutoffs or any kind of branch; just a simple long hallway filled to the brim with cells, all occupied by one creature. Sonic heard something echoing behind him, and one look back was all it took to get him to fly as fast as he could. The machine was charging its beam, light shining forth from its beak as it gathered energy. With a loud boom, the mechanical bird opened its mouth and fired. There was no dodging, no turning, and no fighting; the hedgehog was completely trapped in the long hallway.

Sonic gunned it as fast he could, shaking the very foundations as he boomed forward; a shockwave shooting out of him as he breaks the sound barrier. Even while flying as fast as he could, the beam behind him was slowly approaching; closing the gap foot by precious foot as each second ticked by. Even flying as fast as he was, the hallway never seemed to end. Suddenly, as the beam began to come within meters from him, Sonic could make out a glowing amberish light glowing at the end. With the bright blue beam inching closer to him, he flew forward with everything he and his emeralds had. As soon as he was in a clearing, he banked up; letting the beam behind him roar forward and slamming against a rock. The beam slowly dissipates, letting him see where he was at.

The first thing Sonic noticed that he was surrounded by a large circular wall of rock, some glittering with a sapphire sticking out. The next thing he noticed was that there was a roof about him, metal; as if to close this section of the open castle to the outside with special care. The last he noticed, and the most important of all, was the bubbling lava several hundred meters below him. Sonic felt heat seeping up, it wasn't natural to say; there was something about this heat that made his spines stand up on end. The lava was boiling, gently hitting the rocks around it and sticking to whatever diamond it touched and melting it in an instant. It was like a calm pool of water; patiently waiting for someone to swim in its depths.

He smiled, knowing this was the place he was aiming for. This was Equestia's most notorious location on the planet. It bared several names, The Sun Pool, The Pit, The Cave of Blood, but most ponies refer to it as the Mouth to Hell. During his stay, he has heard only horror stories of this place; stories about barbaric tribes long ago kidnapping mares and hurling them over the pit for sacrifice, stories of researchers trying to extract the lava to only being burned alive just from simply standing too close to the yellowish red liquid. Even one story told where a totalitarian Alicorn executing his political rivals by kidnapping them and throwing them into this pit, only to be a victim of mutiny from his own party and being thrown in. As powerful they may say he was, some say to be more powerful than Celestia herself, he didn't stand a single chance when the very tip of his hoof touched the lava. There was no smoke, no ashes, no toxic fumes coming from below, just a simple pool of lava bubbling below. Whoever built this castle, they put in a lot of effort concealing this area.

Sonic heard a high pitched screech and saw the machine shooting out of the hole he came from. Before it hit the wall, it shot out its massive wings and flapped; letting its talons press against the rocks and pushing itself outward. Just recovering, it took aim at the hedgehog; morphing its talons to a complex series of guns and cannons to fire upon the tiny target. Sonic thought fast and flew straight down, diving straight for the lava below while Cyber X dived after him, shooting its guns and firing its cannons at him.

Sonic waste no time to dodge the incoming fire, maneuvering the rains of bullets and violent explosions going off around him. The lava was still several hundreds of meters below, but even that far down; Sonic could feel the heat hitting his face, and by each passing second the heat greatly intensified. He's not for sure if he could even get close to it without hurting himself.

The machine diving after him suddenly fired a series of miniature heat seeking rockets, shooting straight to the hedgehog at blistering speeds; even rivaling Sonic's. Thinking fast, he zipped to the side of the circular gave, letting the rockets home in just inches from impact. The empowered hedgehog then zipped like lightning from range, letting the rockets explode against the cave. As the small fiery explosions erupted one at a time in quick succession, the cave trembled; pebbles and small shards dripping alone side the walls from the sudden shockwaves…At that moment, while watching the rocks fall into the oblivion that waited below, an idea came to him.

While the machine was charging another powerful beam inside its mouth, Sonic dived as fast as he could; trying to home in on the scorching lava as close as he could. The heat began to spread over to his body, almost to the point of burning when he became just meters from it. For the lava to be so hot to affect Sonic with his six emeralds…It couldn't be normal.

Cyber X unleashed its beam, but was easily dodged by Sonic's quick movements. The lava splashed when the beam struck, sending scorching hot droplets raining down upon the two intruders. When a drop of lava just nicked Sonic's leg while trying to dodge the lava, he screamed in pain; the droplet sizzling and smoking while it began to burn through his skin. He was quick to shake it off, but the damage was done. There was a deep burn mark on the side of his leg. It astounded him, even with the powers of the six Chaos Emeralds, this lava managed to burn him, even in normal circumstances he could dive into a sea of lava with the powers of the emeralds without getting burned. What astounded him more was seeing Cyber X screeching out loud while small specks of white smoke emitted from its body, small strains of red drops running alongside its armor. It was the first real damage the hedgehog has seen since facing it.

Putting his plan into motion, he began to ram his body against the walls as hard as he could. The cave shook again, pebbles falling from the sides. He rammed the walls again, shaking the cave with more pebbles falling. When the machine began to fire upon him, he began to consecutively ram the walls while dodging the endless stream of bullets and cannon fire. Larger masses of rock began to slide down from the side of the cave and splashing to the lava below. Suddenly, loud crashes began to echo above the cave. When Sonic cast his gaze beyond the machine, he saw several series of large boulders raining down. Knowing his plan is coming to a full circle, he stayed low and kept dodging the machine for as long as he could, buying as much time as he could for the rocks to reach the gigantic bird. As soon as he heard rock beating against metal, he shot strait up; bypassing the machine and dodging dozens of crumbling boulders raining down upon them. When Sonic managed to fly above the carnage, he looked down and saw the falling debris slamming down on the machine's extended wing. It didn't by no means damaged it, but it was just enough to tip the machine off balance and keep it off balance while the boulders continued to hit him. Suddenly, Sonic heard a splash from below and heard the machine's high pitch cry.

When the rocks cleared, he saw the machine hovering frantically in the air in a state of panic. On closer inspection, he saw one of its talons stuck below the lava's surface. White smoke began to rise as the machine was somehow being sucked into the deadly liquid. He heard several high pitched screeches and roars, but all was in vain to this monstrous bird. Soon both its talons were under lava, then its legs…Then its wings.

Sonic continued to watch as the lava continued to suck the bird helplessly downward, now beginning to cover the top half of its body. In one desperate attempt, Cyber X opened its mouth and summoned all the energy it could; taking aim at the floating hedgehog and firing. The beam spread wider than any shot it fired, just about covering the entire cave as it shot upward. With little time to react, Sonic boomed upward as fast as he could and shot to the entrance of the cave; escaping the blast just in time and began shooting towards the entrance of the castle. He quickly glanced behind and saw the entrance to the cave being blocked by a boulder. After a couple of minutes of traveling, he flew out of the only entrance of the castle and flew through the gates.

He suddenly stopped and took one last look of what happened. The pit was the only place he knew that could possibly defeat the machine. He saw the damage been done to it, he saw the machine struggling for its life as it being sucked down by the hellish lava. Sonic took in a deep breath of relief and began his flight back to Ponyville. There was no way that thing could survive that…Nothing could.

---

It was a very awkward walk back to Ponyville. No one said a word to each other when Sonic disappeared with the machine taking off after him. Thick blanket of clouds began to roll above them, completely covering the sky and scheduled to rain with a couple of hours. Shadow didn't bat anyone an eye while walking in front of them, didn't look back, didn't look to his side, but looked straight ahead with his slit eyes only focused on the road. After a couple of minutes of hair-splitting silence, Tails decided to break it by raising a question that wandered in almost everyone's mind.

"So…Where do ya'll think Sonic ran off to?"

That question wasn't enough to break the tension, but it was enough to get an answer.

"He said something about Tartarus before flying off." Twilight mumbled before her mind was able to contemplate her statement, "…Wait, did he-"

"Flew off to Tartarus in a chance to bury that machine into The Pit." Rarity finished, surprised by her own answer.

Rainbow Flew in front of Twilight's face, "Is he crazy!? No one has ever come out of that pit alive! It's located in the most dangerous section of Equestia and it's in the heart of Tartarus! There's even a law restricting anypony from going anywhere near the place."

"He's not crazy!" Amy shouted, "I'm confident that my boyfriend will come back with that machine turned to nothing more but liquid metal. He's sure of himself, and he always has a scheme to win the day! In fact, I'm making renovations for me and him at a five star restaurant when he comes back."

Rainbow cringed. Looks like their date will have to post pone for another time…If he ever does come back, that is. The thought of not seeing him again strained at her heart, but she made sure no one saw that. The pegasus did have high hopes that he would return, but there will always be a hint of doubt.

"…I would have to agree with Amy with this one." Knuckles chimed in, "I couldn't think of a better place to destroy that machine. Even six of the Chaos Emeralds couldn't even chip its armor."

"Sonic will be just fine."

Everyone fell silent when they heard a deep-gruffed voice from the front. Shadow didn't care to look back, but huffed and continued.

"In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the bastard already flying back to Ponyville. He always slips out of trouble like a little snake."

Tails, Knuckles, and Amy felt a flick of hatred radiating from the six mares. Even though some tried to hide their resentment from him by keeping a blank face, the three just FELT the daggers bearing on him. Even though the mares knew that Shadow was tricked, they couldn't help but hold resentment against him for fatally wounding the princess and mercilessly and needlessly killing dozens upon dozens of guards during his rampage. Things fell quite again after his comment.

It took five minutes before Amy decided to pick up her pace and walk beside the black hedgehog. Even from the side she could see sorrow in his eyes. She knew what he was thinking, and decided to attempt to council him; even though more than likely he'll just push her away.

"This isn't your fault, Shadow," She softly said to him, about to put a hand on his shoulder but decided against it.

Shadow glanced at her for just a second then sneered away, "I didn't ask for your sympathy."

"You don't have to." She huffed with her hands on her hips, "Now, why won't you stop your moping and open up a little to us. Hm?"

He completely ignored her question and kept walking. Tails and Knuckles ran up next to him.

"You know, it can't be good holding all of those emotions inside of you." Tails said to him, "Let us help."

"I don't need anybody's help." Shadow simply answered, "Step away and leave me in peace."

Of course, the three didn't comply.

"Common, Shadow." Knuckles pressed, "You were tricked. You can't be held accountable for what happened to Celestia."

Rainbow has heard enough. She flew up high and shouted below at the top of her lungs, "Why are you three trying to sympathize with him!? That hedgehog is a ruthless killer!"

Shadow completely stopped in his tracks, causing everyone else to stop behind him. He turned his head and sneered at her.

"I'm no hedgehog, pony…I am The Ultimate Life Form."

He turned his attention back to the road and kept walking as if nothing happened. This only provoked the other mares.

"My teacher is in a life or death struggle all because of you!" Twilight shouted at him.

Shadow just kept walking, showing no emotions.

"Hey! Turn around so I can see your face!" She scorned.

He continued to ignore her. Twilight picked up her pace, making sure he was just an ear shot away from him.

"I don't care if Discord tricked you or not! You've needlessly took so many lives since you arrived! It's not just the Royal Guards you've hurt! Did you know those solders had families, Shadow!? Families that will never see their fathers again!"

"Hey, knock it off!" Knuckles snapped at her, "I know you're worried about Celestia and everypony's lives he affected, but you can't completely hold him accountable!"

"Bull!" Rainbow shouted at the red echidna, "He could have just by passed those guards when he was in Canterlot!"

"That's right!" Rarity agreed, "He didn't kill them for self-defense! He wanted to prove to everypony that he's more powerful than the princesses!"

Even Pinkie showed no pity, "He's mean! No, scratch that, he's more than mean! He's a creature that deserves to be thrown away in Tartarus!"

Tails stood between them and Shadow…Although he was more subtle than his other two friends when defending him, "Listen, everyone. I know you're all upset at him for what he did, but I'm sure he's sorry for causing so much trouble."

This started a long argument between Tails, Knuckles, and Amy with the six mares. They were shouting at each other to the top of their lungs until after five minutes of nonstop shouting-

"I COULD CARE LESS IF CELESTIA LIVES OR DIES!"

Everyone hushed at that second, giving a blank stare at the agitated hedgehog. His fists were trembling, his eyes were on a blaze with rage.

"IT WAS HER FAULT HER INJURIES ARE UPPON HER, SHE HAS GOTTEN EXACTLY WHAT SHE ASKED FOR WHEN SHE CHALLENGED ME! AND THE ROYAL GUARDS WERE UNFORTUNATE ENOUGH TO STAND IN MY WAY! SO WHAT IF THEIR FAMILIES MOURN FOR THEIR LOSSES, THEY'LL LIVE ON LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD!"

One could hear a pin drop as he settled himself down, turning around and ready to skid ahead of them.

"It's pathetic that life mourns over another," he growled, "No amount of tears could ever bring them back. It's better for the dead to be forgotten."

Before anyone could say anything to him, he skidded off; leaving a small dust trail behind as he disappeared over the horizon. Rainbow was about to chase after him, but simply held herself back and shook her head in discuss.

"…It's those kinduf' being that dusn't deserve to exist." Applejack mumbled.

Knuckles and the other two said nothing else…With an eerie silence covering them, they continued to walk down the path. Suddenly, as they were walking; they saw a faded golden blue trail shooting across the cloudy sky, heading straight for Ponyville.

"Sonic!" Rainbow, Amy, as well as everyone else shouted together.

They began to pick up their pace, with the cyan pegasus shooting off to welcome him back.

---

Author's notes.

I think this will do for the time being.

So…What does everyone think so far? Does it suck? Was it good? Was it 'bleh'…As I said before, I can't answer those question. It's is up to ya'll to answer. If ya'll spot any (clutch fists together)...Typos...Let me know.

Deadline: Again, one or two weeks.

Well, I guess I have nothing more to say than that I'm working on the next bonus. And so far, I'm very pleased with it. I'm working with someone to help with his or her story for fictionpress…Let me tell you, I have just a mere fraction of the talents he or she have. (I use he or she so I wouldn't reveal the reader's identity easily…The writer is shy like that.) I'm just his assistant.

Signing out…I got a lot of positive feedback about the bible verses, I think I'll start doing this with every chapter for now on. Before anybody asks, no; there not cannon to the story in any way whatsoever. It's there just for ya'll to look into. And it's a way I could witness a little bit while I type.

And trust me, don't ever take me as an example of a Christian…I'm a terrible example! Don't ever follow man! Especially me!

Anyways, God bless. My prayers are with you all!

Harry.

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"For God so loved the world, that he gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes on Him is not condemned: but he who believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the Only Begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the Light, neither cometh to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he who does truth comes to the Light, that his deeds maybe made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

John 3: 16-21