Author's notes

Alright, time for another chapter.

Man…It's tough trying to write FOUR different things at a time. This fiction, the bonuses, the other fiction I'm working on, and let's not forget I'm helping someone with their work.

I'm going to be honest about this fanfiction for one second. How is it so far? From my perspective it seems like it's loosing steam, like it's not as good as it used to be. What do ya'll think, because that's what it feels like.

…Oh well. Shoutouts:

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Stopthebonuses: No, I will never stop the bonuses!

Don't fret, next one won't be too bad…Maybe.

Airchi: South Africa? Awesome!

And as he said, hide your Fluttershys!

(eep!)

Misty the hedgho: I'm always putting God first. In fact, I'm helping my father with his ministries by tying his sermon on the computer. I also do my own writing for the church sometimes.

Yet again, it's not what we do for God that will save our soul…It's faith.

Therefore being Justified by Faith we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by Faith into this Grace wherein we stand hope of the Glory of God.

Romans 4: 1-2

Works mean nothing if we don't have faith in our savior.

About the language, I did refrain myself from using the 'F' word if you read back iiiin…Chapter 11.

With the characters using God's name in vain, that itself is a joke. See? Sonic and the others believe in a being of Chaos or some kind of god or goddess that I have no idea what they supposed to believe in (go ahead readers, flame me in the comments). If they're really startled, they'll break character and use God's name. It's like an aggravated atheist talking about Evolution, then under his breath say, "God help me."

Get it? It's breaking the fourth wall, sort of speak.

And I'm pretty sure that my daddy was joking, but…I could never tell with him. Like I said, I'm a terrible example of what a Christian supposed to be; if anybody points out that I'm being hypercritical by the content I'm using here, they're probably right.

But I expect my readers to decipher what is right and what is wrong…Should we stop watching My Little Pony because it has magic?

Ello: Let me take this time to say that I COMPLETELY OPPOSE FLASH AND TWILIGHT RELATIONSHIP! I never seen the movie, but if anything did happen between the two; I hope it stays at the movie. Heck, I hope the character isn't mentioned at all in the usual shows!

As for TwiTails…I have stated before that there is a logical explanation, but I want to keep ya'll guessing.

Enjoy.

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The sun has yet to rise when Twilight awoke from her slumber while snuggled up on a pillow. It was the darkest time of the hour, the hour just before the sun was supposed to rise. Rising from her bed, she slipped on some fuzzy slippers and trotted her way down stairs. She would wake up Spike at this time to get him to fix some coffee.

But something inside her wanted him to sleep.

Now walking pass the library, she found Tails sleeping peacefully on the couch; and her memory instantly took her back when she kissed him on the cheek. Usually, she would be happy that she managed to kiss him…But she feels sorry that he didn't have those kind of feelings for him in the first place.

At this point, while trotting to the kitchen; she even asked herself if it's even worth the trouble still trying to please him. He doesn't have special feelings for her, so why bother?

That answer came when she closed her eyes when looming over the counter. It's clear, she still loves him; she couldn't shake it. Even if he made it clear that he doesn't want to pursue a relationship, something in her is denying that fact.

When she fixed her coffee and just about to levitate another cup for Tails, she began to fix the puzzle inside her own head. She still has feelings for him, but he doesn't feel the same way about her. But since her heart still wishes to please him, it denies. With a conclusion in her head, she began to fix the other coffee with exactly one table spoon of sugar and cooled just two degrees from regular coffee is supposed to be.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw the yellow fox standing at the foot of the kitchen while wiping the sleepys out of his eyes and letting out a big yawn.

So cute!

"Morning Twilight," He exhaled, stretching his arms over his head.

"Morning." She greeted with a smile, levitating the cup of coffee to him and letting him swipe it.

He tilted his head back and let the soothing liquid wash against his tongue and slide down his throat. A low moan slipped from him when he tilted back down. He already felt wide awake.

"This is good coffee," He kindly complimented, "Just the way I like it, not to sweet and not to warm."

She began to blush when she saw him smile. Last night began to rise back on Tails mind, and his smile quickly disappeared.

"Twilight, about last night," He said, "I hope you're not upset, it has nothing to do with you-"

"Don't worry," She interrupted while walking pass him to get a book out, "I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"…Yes," She answered him with a smile, "As long as I see you smile, Tails; I will always try to make you happy."

He didn't say another word as he finished his coffee. Tails couldn't even look up at her as he sat adjacent from her looking through some blue prints he scrapped in his free time. She's going to keep at him, not as oppressively but still keeping dabs on him and giving him whatever he needed on the spot. He knew this beforehand, and he's in no position to complain.

And there will always be that side of him that desires for her undying attention.

*BURP!*

A sudden flash of green light shot from the second floor.

"That must be the princess mailing to us!" Twilight shouted.

The two instantly shot up and ran upstairs. They found Spike with the letter already unrolled, his eyes going back and forth and he read the letter.

When he was finished, he froze. His eyes wide from a sudden shock.

"Spike?"

He unintentionally dropped the letter. Twilight instantly levitated the letter and read it with the fox reading right behind her.

When she was finished, tears formed from the corner of her eyes. Tails hugged her around the neck to let her cry on his shoulder.

---

CANTERLOT HOSPITAL

There were three powerful unicorns present in Celestia's patient room, their horns shining brightly with a magical aurora surrounding the still breathing alicorn. Sonic and the others rushed to this room as fast as they could, either by teleporting or running. They saw her, thankfully; still alive…But not for much longer.

Twilight slowly trotted to Celestia's bed side. The alicorn was covered with a bright, yellow glow from the three unicorns channeling magic to her. Her wound was covered with a white sheet, stitched but unhealed even with the hospital's best efforts. The lavender unicorn was already tearing, and tried her best to speak without choking.

"Ce…Celestia?"

There were a pair of doctors standing near the door, heads low and their hearts torn.

"Those wounds inside her body were too lethal to patch," One of those doctors lowly mumbled, "I'm sorry…We can keep her alive for a week or two, but I'm afraid that's it."

A guard suddenly trotted through the door, head down and just as oppressed as everyone else in the room. When he as well as the other guards heard the rumor from Shining Armor, they couldn't help but fear the worst.

What would come of Equestia if their beloved ruler was dead?

He trotted to her side and leaned forward to her ear.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, your highness," He whispered, "Should the media be informed?"

She nodded and quickly dismissed him. The guard was slow making his way to the door, and closed it with a soft click. He could only imagine how her subjects would react.

The rest of the Elements slowly trotted to her bedside, with Sonic's group hanging back out of respect.

"Celestia?" Twilight softly called, "This…This can't be so."

The unicorn was standing just right beside her, closer than the other five mares. The princess only smiled, "No…life is eternal, Twilight."

Twilight just shook her head, "No! Y-you can't die! W-w-w-we can't live without you; who will raise the sun?"

Celestia became quite. Luna trotted to the other side of her bed, lowing her head close to her and gently nuzzling her neck.

"Sister…The sun possesses more mass than the moon will ever have. I don't know if I could raise it."

The princess of the night looked outside and saw complete darkness, the moon completely settled over the horizon.

"You…Never raised the sun…Before." Celestia wheezed, "You…Have to try."

Sonic watched in complete silence as he watched Luna glancing out the window with wide eyes. He understood that Celestia holds an astounding amount of magic, more powerful than her little sister could ever hold. The only way she could go beyond her older sister was with darkness.

He also understood that Luna herself holds a massive amount of power as well. She could flicker a massive two thousand miles worth of rock above their world with a flick of a horn, a feat not possible to any unicorn. Not even to most alicorns that rest in the past.

But could she really lift something that's hundreds of times bigger?

With a huff, the dark blue alicorn approached the window; with her horn already brightly illuminating. She lowered her head, and began to strain.

Everyone immediately darted their heads to the window, staring towards the east for even the smallest glimmer of light.

One minute passed.

Luna still had her head down, her magical aurora surrounding the massive star.

Two minutes passed.

She pumped all the magic she could around the celestial body.

Three minutes passed.

Everyone saw not even a spec of sun rising, but noticed sweat dripping from the alicorn's head.

Four minutes passed.

No sun, Twilight can hear her grunting. Luna had her legs sprawled in a stance, trying to bear the weight pushing against her back.

Five minutes passed.

…Everyone heard a loud thud as the princess collapsed on the floor.

The six mares rushed to her aid, Rarity lowered her back as Luna propped against her. The alicorn was heaving.

"It's no use," She huffed, "I charged all the magic I couldn't…It's simply too big."

Sonic stepped forward…Very troubled.

"Is there anything we could do?" He asked, "Is there another alicorn we could get, or maybe an artifact of some kind we could obtain?"

"…No." Princess Celestia whispered, "I am…The only known being…That's powerful enough to raise the sun."

"What about the Chaos Emeralds?" Knuckles asked aloud, grasping for straws, "Surely we could use them to-"

"You know that chaos energy is unstable, Knuckles." Sonic answered, "These emeralds are just barely keeping that energy inside. Even if I were to become Super Sonic, I wouldn't know how to move the sun without destroying it."

Tails stepped up, his heart full of sorrow knowing that Celestia was going to die.

"I…Could build a tractor beam that uses the Emeralds to raise the sun."

Everyone just stared at him.

"How long would it take you to build it?" Amy asked.

Tails thought for a second, "If I had the right parts, three months; give or take."

Luna shook her head with her eyes closed. She could already vision Equestia at that time.

"Without the sun rising," Luna explained, "This world will be covered in snow due to the lack of heat, And without the sun, plants would slowly wither away, producing no oxygen for organisms."

His ears flopped down.

"We will be long dead before you could build it." Luna concluded.

Everyone cast their eyes to the floor. From the looks of things, there were no ways to save themselves from a for coming doom. They could see themselves huddling up in houses trying to escape from the cold, slowly dying one by one as the air around them slowly dissipates.

Twilight shook her head viciously.

"N-No!" She shouted, "There has to be a way! There has to be an artifact that hasn't been discovered, or-or-or some Alicorn in a distant land that can lift the sun!"

No one noticed, but Celestia slowly stretched out her hoof until it touched Twilight's back.

"Twilight."

Her nerves were instantly soothed. She turned around to face her beloved tutor.

Celestia could clearly see the tears in her eyes.

"Don't…Worry."

Twilight still shook her head, holding her hoof as she looked into her magenta eyes.

"H-how can I not worry." Twilight choked. Just saying those words were enough to cause an outpour, "You're going to die within a week from now…How-" She lowered her head and whipped her own tears away, struggling to not cry out loud, "You've been my tutor for years…How…Can I go on without you? Without you, we'll just struggle for survival without any hope."

Celestia shook her head.

"When…Did survival become…The main factor? Before…I went into surgery…Or after?"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, with everyone else stepping closer to the two.

Celestia took in a deep breath, fighting her fatigue.

"What…I meant to say was…That even though my life is limited now, I…Don't want any of you to worry what would come."

"How could we not worry if we know what will happen?" Twilight asked, fighting her tears back.

Again, she shook her head.

"For now…My little ponies…Take this time you have…And cherish it."

Suddenly, she began to strain as her horn began to glow.

"P-princess!" Twilight shouted in shock, "W-what are you doing?"

"Enjoy…Life," She wheezed, "For what…It's worth…Take this life I'm giving you…And let it last for eternity."

The three unicorns that were pumping magic into her felt their force push back against them. A bright light began to illuminate from Celestia, blinding everyone in the room as she began to levitate from her bed. For several long seconds, everyone could see nothing but pure white. Then, slowly; that light began to fade. The very next thing they saw was blazing rays of sunshine shooting from the window.

Twilight didn't notice that light just yet, she could only see her tutor lying motionless on her bed.

"Celestia?"

The unicorn gently shook her with absolutely no response.

"CELESTIA!?"

She began to shake more violently. Finally, all of her sorrow burst out in one loud cry as she laid her body over her.

"NO! NOT YET! IT'S NOT RIGHT! NOOOOOO!"

Although Luna did a good job of keeping her poster, she couldn't help but shed a tear as she stretched to the other side of the bed and hug the unicorn's neck.

"Peace, Twilight," She whispered, "Shhhhhhh."

Twilight continued to uncontrollably sob out loud. The other five mares began to sob for their beloved princess. Even the four heroes had to lower their heads to hide their tears.

---

Outside on a roof top just beside hospital window where Celestia lay to rest, hidden in the darkness; two sparkling red eyes were observing the entire event that just took place. He saw her death right before his eyes, his allies and strangers gathering around her bed in a great mourn.

"She gave her life to let the sun rise for another day," Shadow whispered, "…Even though this world is set to certain destruction."

His voice may have been low and steady, but if someone were to be listening closely, they could hear just a small choke in his throat; just a hint of sadness.

And if one where to look closely at his eyes, they could probably them gleaming to the sunshine.

With a long huff and a heavy blink, he turned around and teleported.

---

The Ultimate Lifeform reappeared in the middle of a southern desert, far away from Equestia. The image of the Princess giving the last of her life flashed before his eyes, an image of the guards that guarded the hospital burned into his memory. He began to breathe deeply, his chest constricting.

"It was because of me that she had to give her life," he mumbled.

That didn't ease his conscience a bit. All of this was unnecessary and he knows it! If it wasn't for his ignorance this civilization would still have a chance!

With no Celestia, there will be no one to raise to sun, and with no sun there will be no life. Pony kind, maybe even his allies would freeze from the dropping temperatures, plant life that once thrived widely would be suddenly cut off by the darkness. Food itself would become more and more scarce until every living thing on this planet would die.

He didn't have to worry about those things. Food wasn't a necessity for him, sleep didn't matter, and even his age will never wear from the power of Chaos stirring inside of him. He can survive an extinction, especially with the Chaos Emeralds in his possession.

But every death that would take place would be by his cause. Every drop of blood that will be dropped will be on his hands. All of this took place because some being tricked him.

No, it was because he wanted to kill the rulers. He realized that he was willing to go as far as killing of an entire race just to prove himself. He thought at the time that Discord can raise the sun and the moon, but he realized now that he couldn't care less.

It wasn't ignorance when he shoved his spear into her stomach. It was his own free will that drove him to kill, even if he knew the consequences.

Shadow began to feel something raging inside of him. It wasn't guilt this time, it was anger. More so at himself.

He found his hands shaking, a low grow escaping his lips as he gripped the sides of his head.

Then he grow became a scream.

"Why do I have to be so selfish! Why can't I take pity on everyone around me! Am I just doomed to be nothing more but a ruthless killer?"

He huffed for several seconds, letting his anger reside as his mind began to process his own words. A killer may not be the appropriate word to classify him. A monster seemed to be more appropriate.

But a monster that believes in a purpose? A monster doesn't have a conscience to comprehend a purpose.

O.K. He may not be a monster, but that doesn't clear him as a killer. When something dies in front of an intelligent being they immediately grieve over a loss. Grieving was always a sign of weakness for him, when something dies he simply turns the other cheek.

…He knew his purpose is to do good, that's been proven in his past. But what does 'good' even feel? He has done plenty of good when he teamed up with Sonic, but he realized up to this moment that doing good amounted to nothing to him. Praises from crowds, what does that mean? Someone's opinion doesn't classify of who he is.

He's done what intelligent beings would call 'bad', even while on this planet. Do whatever you want, when you want; no rules, no boundaries, just follow your own desires and just go for it. He has done 'bad', but just as 'good' felt, it meant nothing towards the end. His own desires could be fulfilled and they'll amount to nothing.

Where do you even define 'good and evil' then? Just from how other's view it?

(SCREEEEEECH!)

Shadow suddenly hear a high pitched roar over the horizon, it almost sounded like—

"It couldn't be," He mumbled.

Not a minute later, he saw a colossal silhouette of a giant bird flying above him, several hundred meters off the ground and its shadow covered the entire ground. It flew over him and began its flight towards Ponyville.

"Sonic, you blunderous baffon!"

He was just about to teleport until he caught something from the corner of his eye. When he cast his eyes towards the vast dessert, he saw a mass of dark and mysterious figures running, crawling, and flying after it. When he was trying to make out the shapes of these creatures, he saw something shinning in one of the creature's hand…He felt a familiar energy radiating off of it.

"A Chaos Emerald?"

It was, the last Chaos Emerald being carried by one of the many dark figures advancing towards his direction. He would fight them, but taking on hundreds of mysterious creatures without any information of their power was suicide, especially without an emerald of his own.

With no choice, he began skiing after the mechanical bird and teleported.

---

Author's notes

I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit of a let down, I really didn't have much for this chapter, and I decided to hold everything else off until the next chapter. My editor was busy, so there was typos. I'll update this when she contacts me.

I'm about to announce something that I know will ruffle a lot of jimmies…I know all of you know that I'm dedicated to this fic and that I will never abandon this fic no matter how rough the road gets. This was my first publish work and even though I believe I could have done better with it, I'm still proud of it. I might as well give you the bad news.

I'm putting the story on hold.

Now let's get something straight, I'm not abandoning this fiction! I've worked too long and too hard to simply put it down. Here's the deal, I need a break! I've been really consistent with my updates and broke my back a few times trying to meet them.

But don't despair, dear readers. The story may be on hold, but I didn't say anything about the bonuses, didn't I? I have part one about to be published within a week, and the next one sometime in the future. And here's another thing, I'm working with another fiction called The Missing Sense for FIMfiction.

Seriously, while you're waiting for this story to update, go read it! I'm having a BLAST writing it! The most fun I had on a keyboard, more fun than the bonuses dare I say. I'm putting all of my creativity into it, so you know that it has to be good…I mean common, I wrote this. Didn't I?

Deadline: The bonus is coming within a week from now.

Please don't pout in the comments. I'm going to continue the story in the future, count on it.

See you in the next bonus!

God Bless

Harry