"Action trumps depression. Confronted with a situation in which our feelings of powerlessness are more than just feelings, we choose to fight the odds, as an existential statement. We bellow our savage war cry in the face of the Roman Legions. We swim against the tidal wave. We attack Goliath with a slingshot, and throw stones at a Sherman tank, and ravage ICBMs with our ball peen hammer. We actively reject the reality of our helplessness; and as we assert defiance, we fan the embers of humanity wherever they live within ourselves and our brothers and sisters."

Josh Mitteldorf

"At last, after many years of research and effort, I have finally gathered all seven of the chaos emeralds to power my dimension portal."

Dr. Robotnik tweaked the last two nobs on his machine, and stepped back to behold the most sophisticated machinery he has ever assembled. It took his entire interior of his space carrier to store this machine. The Chaos Emeralds were statistically inserted on the outer rims of the gaping oval, in order to channel its energy to the portal. His robot assistant slowly rolled right beside him, holding a power button in its claws.

"I should warn you, master. There is a chance that the energy from the portal could rupture, annihilating the ship and create a vortex that can destroy existence as we know it."

Robotnik smiled slightly, "Every great expedition has its chance of failure, my little friend. Activate the machine, unit 021."

"As you command, Lord Robotnik"

The robot clamped the button down. Blinding white light blasted from the machine's inner oval and hurled small bolts of white lighting through the room. The carrier trembled greatly when the emeralds began to glow. After minutes of anticipation the shaking stopped, and the vortex forming in the oval began illuminating dark colors mixing with white. The bolts stopped forming as well. The robot stored the button in its inner compartment.

"Sir, the machine is stabilized." It reported.

The robot looked up at its master and noticed a tear running down his cheek. Realizing what has been achieved, Robotnik opened his arms as wide as he could, smiling from cheek to cheek.

"I have opened a path into a new future. I can finally create a world where suffering no longer holds a meaning, and I will be standing as their sole leader. No longer do we have to fight diseases or wage wars…I will be held as a god!"

Just then the large metal door that sealed them in slammed opened behind him. A robotic soldier stumbled into the large room, with his cannon-like arm smoking and a sparking-gaping hole on its stomach.

"C-Commander…bzzzzz…They're here…bzzzzz…It's Son-."

Its beaming red eyes dimmed as it toppled to the floor. A flash of blue appeared over the metal corps, with four other figures appearing behind it.

"Sonic!" Robotnik yelled with anger, "I won't let you stop me, not this time!"

"That's what you always say before I send you packing, Eggman!" Sonic boasted as Tails, Knuckles, and Amy ran beside their longtime friend.

Robotnik began to slowly back away, laughing menacingly, "I'm afraid you're too late. My machine is completed, and there is nothing you can do to stop me once I step inside my portal. Unit 021, annihilate Sonic; I want his blood sprinkled all over the floor when you slash his throat."

"AS YOU COMMAND!"

The robot began shifting its own body wildly into an undefinable shape. Sharp metal points swirled within the robot. The only parts of the robot that Sonic and the others could make out are its deformed legs and arms. Tails began to step back when he saw its head form, its teeth sticking out; longer than half its head. A small metal dagger shot from its arm, dripping oil from its sharp tip. It screeched a bone-chilling shrill and charged. Before Sonic had time to react it jumped on him, if he didn't put his hands in front of himself it would have stuck it's dagger through his skull right then. Sonic felt pain shot from his hands when he held it.

"Somebody get this thing off of me!" He pleaded.

Amy thought quickly and swung her giant hammer at it, knocking it back several feet. It quickly recovered though, and Sonic began side stepping to avoid being chopped.

"Shadow, grab an emerald! We have to shut it down before he steps into the portal!" Sonic shouted just dodging a swing.

Robotnik looked to his left and saw Shadow mysteriously appearing at the side of the machine. He grabbed the emerald farthest away from the portal, yanking it with all of his might. It popped out; the Carrier trembled wildly, jerking in all directions, small pieces of metal began sheering from the sides of the room, exposing the very vacuum of space.

"You Imbecile!" Robotnik shouted at him, just inches from the machine, "You've doomed us all!"

Robotnik began running from the machine as the portal hurled white lightning all over the room, heavy duty cranes and small high-tech air fighters came crashing down. The emeralds ceased shining, and the portal began changing colors.

"We have to get out of here!" Knuckles shouted.

Loud, chronic noises roared from the machine. The portal expanded, engulfing the machine. The next thing Sonic knew is being blinded by a bright light…Before blacking out.

---

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I know this chapter is a little short, but read on. I have a lot more in store than just this. I also noticed on my charts that a lot of my readers are dropping when they first read the prologue.

I am urging you, please give this a chance.

Stargazing…To Twilight Sparkle, it's the pony derby for rednecks. Spike has observed her for hours, amazed that his lavender friend has stared through her telescope for hours without pause or break. Piles of books flooded around her; books about stars, books about group of stars, books about how a star is formed, books about shooting stars, books about constellation of stars ; if it's about a star, there's a good chance that it's somewhere around here hoofs. If she spots a new planet…Sweet Celestia help her! Spike can only exercise so much patience around supper time.

"For goodness sake, Twilight! Don't you think your eyes can pop out of your head and run off if you abuse it?"

She didn't hear him and didn't care to. Her mind was in a totally different world, and leaving it was the last thing on her agenda. Spike suddenly saw her back hooves bounce up and down in excitement.

"You found a new planet?" Spike asked aggravated.

"I-I think I see a new galaxy forming!" Twilight squealed.

Spike rolled his eyes and started picking up the piles of books around her.

"Oh my gosh, I never seen anything like!" She continued, "Particles swirling around in a whirlpool of gasses and light as matter begin to define its properties…THIS IS SO AWESOME!"

Suddenly she stopped hopping, seeing the whirlpool getting bigger and bigger until her telescope couldn't fit it in its view. She backed up and looked through the window, and her eyes widen with surprise. The object in the night sky can be seen in plain sight, still growing in size. Spike took notice and looked out of the window with her.

"What in the heck is that thing?" He asked astonished

"I don't know…I've never seen anything like it."

In a split second, they were blinded by a flash of brilliant white light. Twilight felt something rushing through her, something she hasn't felt since she used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord a long time ago. They took a moment to regain their sight, and then looked out the window again. Their jaws dropped when they found the object in the sky to have vanished out of thin air. Twilight took a peek through her telescope to see if it was still in space…Nothing can be seen but a beautiful consolation of stars.

"What was that all about?" Spike asked still blinking to fix his eyes.

"That was way too weird for it to be a galaxy." Twilight answered.

She rushed to the bottom floor of her tree house, skimming through her library for any information. She eventually found a book called A History of Paranormal and Unfamiliar Sightings in Equestia. The book was a couple of inches thick, but to Twilight it was like reading a children's book. After a quick minute, she found nothing; absolutely nothing.

"I wonder if anypony else saw that thing." Spike said thinking aloud.

"There's a good chance. Let's ask around Ponyvill to see if anypony else knows anything."

It took them a little while to reach the heart of town. Although most ponies would be indoors during this time of night, it was already clear that everypony have witness the phenomenon. They were scattered around town, staring up into the night sky trying to recall what just took place. Pinkie Pie happened to be there with a cart full of sweets behind her, staring up with her mouth slightly opened. As always, her non-fading smile was across her face.

"Did you see what happened?" Twilight asked her franticly.

Pinkie didn't move; her eyes were fixated upwards. Twilight gently pushed her to get her attention.

"Pinkie, What happened?!"

"OHMYGOSH!" The pink earth pony finally responded, hopping up and down where she stood with her curly hair bouncing like jello , "Therewasthis HUUUUGGEEE thingyinthesky, with all these colorsmixingwithwonderfulcol orfulcolors. It was blowing up like a bigballisticballoon. Theneverythingturnedwhite…Then…Then." Her ears flopped down, Pupils expanding, "It was gone…"

"Uhh…So did you see it?" The purple pony asked confused.

"Well, duh! Of course I saw it." Pinkie answered rather annoyed, "That's what I told you before, silly!"

Every pony in the area started chatting among themselves, wondering what has happened or what it meant. Suddenly, they heard Spike burp up a small-green flame. A scroll appeared, lightly landing on the ground.

"Maybe Princess Celestia knows something." Spike suggested clearing his throat.

Twilight unraveled the scroll. No doubt, Celestia's signature was signed at the bottom of the message. She had her assistant read it aloud.

My most faithful student Twilight:

Just minutes ago, there has been a strange occurrence over Equestia. My Loyal Astronomers are not sure what took place, but my sister and I sensed a strong energy emitting from the vortex. I am writing to you to see if you knew anything, since I've known you for being passionate about the stars above. Please write back.

Princess Celestia

"Even Celestia didn't know what happened." Twilight sighed disappointedly, dropping the scroll.

"Did you sense anything when that thing appeared?" Spike asked rereading the letter.

She recalled back, "I did feel something, Spike…I can't really describe it, but whatever it was, I felt power; an unbelievable amount of power. What took place up there must have been huge."

"Hey! Maybe we could gather Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity together." Pinkie cheerfully suggested, "See if they saw it too."

"Good thinking, Pinkie." Twilight praised her, "Rarity's house is not too far from here. We should go to her first."

After sending a response letter to Celestia, Spike hopped on Twilight's back and made a dash for Rarity's home. Pinkie was happily skipping behind them, humming a cheerful tune.

The three seemed were a little bewildered when they opened the door. They found Rarity crying out loud on her luxurious red sofa, with her little sister right by her with a hoof on her shoulder.

"Rarity! It's just a misplaced thread! You can always patch another costume!" Sweetie Bell wined.

Rarity rest her own front hooves on her little sister's shoulders, "Do you know how long it took me to stitch that dress?"

Sweetie Bell thought for a second, "Uh, I think it was like ten minutes-"

"It's going to take me that long to recreate something I have originally thought of. If I do it again, it will not come out the same! My customer wanted it exactly as she described it. If she doesn't get it exactly she wanted it, she'll spread rumors about how Irresponsible and Def I am. Everyone will stop buying my fabulous clothes. My career is ruined!"

She threw herself back on the sofa and broke out crying again, not even realizing that her friends were at the door.

"Out of all the worst possible things that can happen." She hollered, "This is

THE

WROST

POSSIBLE

THING!"

Twilight took a couple of steps back, "Uh, I can see we came at a bad time."

She realized then that her assistant was no longer on her back, instead she saw him standing by Rarity side.

"Listen, my lady. I know what it feels like to have worked on something for so long just to have it ruined." Spike lied using a sympathetic tone, "Just to let you know, I am right here for you."

She paused for a second, then without warning, she grabbed him by both hooves and hugged him…Tight.

"My little spiky wikie, always sensitive about a mare's feelings."

He would have savored the moment if she wasn't crushing him to the point of suffocation. He was surprised how strong she was when her hooves contract. Right then, Rarity noticed Twilight and Pinkie Pie standing at the door way.

"Twilight, Dear…How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." She answered honestly.

She mindlessly dropped Spike to the floor and approached her, who was still struggling to catch his breath.

"How have you been, dear?"

"Just fine." Twilight answered, "Listen, we have to talk to you about something, is that O.K?"

"Sure, Twi. Anything to help a friend."

Pinkie Pie noticed poor Spike hunched on the floor, breathing heavily. Sweetie Bell fell on her back, laughing uncontrollably at him.

The white mane took a sip of hot tea while her friend finished her story. Twilight saw her eyes widen when she brought up the flash.

"Yes, I can recall that incident while I was working on my client's dress." She said, "I was stitching her skirt until for just a second, a bright flash blinded me…It threw my concentration just long enough to ruin my master piece!"

They couldn't believe what they were hearing, "You were inside?"

"Well, yes." Rarity answered shocked of her own answer, "I didn't know there was a crazy vortex swirling above us when that flash appeared."

Spike had a claw on his chin, trying to appear to be in thought, "What time did the flash hit you."

"I'm not sure." Rarity paused for a bit, "I would say fifteen minutes ago."

"That was the same time I saw the flash." Pinkie Pie remarked, "What a cowinkadink!"

"Princess Celestia also mentioned feeling a strong force at that time." The violent mane brought up, "Did you feel anything?"

"I did. I felt something going through me when I saw the flash. It was like when we defeated Nightmare Moon, but this was so sudden; I literary lost my breath."

"I didn't feel anything." Pinkie added in a voice of betrayal.

Twilight stood up and paced the floor. The same way she would be thinking when she's trying to compose a schedule in her mind or trying to prove or disprove a theory. Spike didn't see her in this much in thought since the time she tried to disprove Pinkie's early warning system. There was a knock on the door; Rarity stood up and answered it. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were standing there, along with Skootaloo and Applebloom.

"Let me guess, all of you saw the flash too?" Rarity asked

"Eyyup." Applejack answered.

Fluttershy stepped up, but had her head somewhat hidden among her long pink hair, "uh…R-Rainbow Dash wanted to gather everyone together when she saw that thing."

"Then you came to the right place." Rarity said, "Twilight is here with me."

"Does she know about anything that has happened?" Rainbow asked, "Since she's good with space, and uh, all that stuff."

"I'm afraid not." Rarity answered.

The colorful mare let out of large breath of frustration, "Dagnabit! I flew around like a maniac looking for someone that might have a clue. Equestia could be at stake."

"We don't know nothin' Sugar Cube." Applejack said in her all familiar southern tone, "It could just be somethin' that happened all the way out there. I don't even see why we should be worried."

"I…I don't know Apple Jack." Fluttershy spoke up, "Um…That flash was pretty scary."

Rarity stepped back to make room for them to walk in, "Well then, we're not going to solve anything out here in the blistering cold. Come inside, I have some of my famous hot tea made."

Author's notes

Well, when I finished this chapter, I became really excited to continue on. So many ideas coming to my head, I want to do it all!

Here's how I'm going to do this story. Every week or two, depending on how long the chapter is, I'll post a new chapter. It'll give me enough time to work on the novel and give you, the readers, a little something to look forward to. PLEASE let me hear your opinion. I love critisism, either good or bad, I'll read it all and take it to consideration. I'm kind of making this up as I go along.

To be honest, my next chapter is already ready to be posted...I'm just waiting a couple of days. If you want to mark it down, I'll say on November 6th. It just started off and I want to know how good this will be. Sound good enough for you?

And I had this updated too to fix some of the typos.

A statue of a strange being stood in the in the mist of the Everfree forest, buried in a chamber deep within the earth, Its long snake like body rearing itself back to brace itself for an inevitable doom. Its mouth gaped open in a scream of terror and its eyes wide open take in its last sight, a sight of six mares raising themselves to vanquish a formidable foe. Its conscience was still present, but sees nothing but darkness. It patiently waited for the right time to be reborn, the time to take its revenge on its six slayers and capture back that was rightfully his. It felt energy all of a sudden, an all familiar energy. Something that has awoken it the last time it was stoned…Chaos.

It was able to slightly clutch its yellow paw; a fresh breath of wind tickled its horn. When its dotted red pupils regain its colors, it realized what was happening, and HE couldn't be more happy feeling air brushing against its face. He never felt more alive; when the last bit of him was restored, he phased through the earth and soared to the sky. Laughing menacingly at his own luck.

"I'm free! I'M FREE! I AM FRRREEEEEEEE!"

There was only thing that dominated his mind; revenge. Revenge on everyone who has dominated and imprisoned him for so long. He flew straight for Canterlot, ready to give Princess Celestia a piece of his mind. He stopped for a second, seeing a shield covering the city.

"Well, this should be nothing." He said to himself in a deep majestic voice, "One prick of my talons and the bubble will pop like a stray balloon."

He couldn't have been more wrong when he touched it. A colorful electric shock swept him, punching him back several feet before knocking over a tree. He groaned in pain for a little while, but slowly levitated himself back up

"Well, the princess is not as stupid as I thought she was. Least she had enough sense to use the elements when that chaos rift took place."

That was going to be a problem. He remembered fighting Celestia and Luna a long time ago. They were too powerful to take head on, and he can only predict how much powerful they have become over time. Then he remembered Twilight and her goody-toody friends. Sure, he can have a little fun with them by spellbinding them and wreak a little havoc on their defenseless town, but that would only mean facing the two sisters again when they get word. He crafted himself a hammock by manipulating the fluffy clouds around him and rests himself, sipping glass from a strawberry shake. His mind paced itself to figure out what to do. He was about to take a little nap until he felt a presence. It was the same thing that freed him, but a fraction of it; he also felt someone wielding it...A light bulb lit above his head. He chunk his drink behind him, exploding into a fire-ball when it hit ground.

"Well, it looks like we have a visitor. I better give him a warm welcome."

The light bulb above his head dimmed suddenly. He grabbed it, observing the little wires inside, and decided to smack it into the ground. It slowly deflated until it was flat as a board.

Shadow's muscles began to twitch as he awakens from unconsciousness. Pain shot throughout his body with every movement he made. The Emerald he was holding began to sparkle, instantly soothing his aching muscles. He stood to his feet as soon as his strength returned. His eyes widen when he realized he wasn't in the space carrier. By looking around him, he realized he was on a hill-top. The moonlight shimmered a light blue ray; revealing the world around him. The stars above him twinkled as the crickets beneath him sang their soothing melodies. Anyone would have taken a date on a night like this…But Shadow wasn't impressed.

"Where am I?" He asked himself.

"Why, you're on the outskirts of Ponyvill." A deep majestic voice answered him, "Personally, not my favorite place, but it does offer some interesting characters."

Shadow frantically checked his surroundings, trying to find the source of the voice.

"I'm up here." Discord called to him.

Shadow then found peculiar looking cloud above him, shaped like a couch and a little fluffy stool beside it. He saw something putting a bowl of popcorn in a cloudy microwave. It was the most obscured looking figure he ever saw, something that he could have sworn he saw in a children's book. Discord brought his charade down to his level, greeting his new visitor by summoning a pink cloud with his eagle-like hand.

"Care to try some of my specially made cotton candy?" He offered him.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Shadow growled at him in his deep voice.

"Ohh, I've never met such a grumpy hedgehog!" Discord playfully remarked, "I can surely tell, you won't like this world too much."

The pink cloud in his hand suddenly thundered, soaking Discord's claw with water.

"Huh, now it was supposed to be dripping chocolate." Discord remarked disappointingly, chunking it away.

The microwave made a binging noice; He immediately hovered to it, grabbing the bowl inside. Shadow noticed that the popcorn in the bow popped into seeds.

"That doesn't make any sense." Shadow commented with a raised eyebrow.

"Why does it have to?" Discord answered him chuckling, "It's more fun when you don't expect it, now is it?"

Shadow already had bells going off in his head; having already worked for Eggman and met plenty of shady characters in his walk of life. This thing in front of him was definably one of those shady characters, and the strangest he ever met.

"I need to find my way." Shadow said to him walking away from him

"Now, wait a minute before you take off. I just thought I could talk to you; you know, become pales."

"I don't have time to make friends, now if you excuse me I need to get going."

He skid towards town, but stopped when Discord popped in front of him.

"But I really need your help. My Kingdom has been taken over by these two terrible tyrants and they set fire to my once beautiful kingdom."

"Well that's your problem, not mind."

Shadow was about to skid away again until Discord popped beside him, with paw and talons put together to beg.

"Oh, please. Help me Mr. Shadow!" Discord pleaded, "You're my only hope of recapturing my kingdom and freeing my poor citizens from enslavement!"

"I don't see anything on fire." Shadow sneered at him with an angry voice, ready to blast him with his emerald, "Do you?"

Discord hovered a little closer to him, "You just need to see things from my point of view."

Shadow felt something ting from the side of his head, making him disoriented and dizzy. What he saw next is something he would never forget. He saw the city below him on fire, dark and red clouds circling over it. Terrifying blood filled shrieks filled his ears and the smell of death nearly choked his lounges. He felt diseases crawling over him as the black smoke engulfed him. Shadow stepped back from the horrific sight, completely bewildered.

"Wha…What is this?!" Shadow asked in shock.

"Something I'm afraid that has to be fixed." Discord explained, grinning when he saw Shadow's petrified expression, "The two princesses, Celestia and Luna, have the five elements of harmony, which is responsible for keeping peace throughout the Kingdom. The two have abused it since they got their hooves on it and their using its' energy to shield their capital to keep out anybody bold enough to take them on. With that little diamond on your hand, you can pass the shield with ease; and save the lives of thousands, if not millions."
Shadow was still staring at the horrific sight. Discord put his paw and claws on his shoulders, lowing his head to his ear.

"It is your purpose. Is it not? To use your powers for the greater good?"

Without saying another word, Shadow skid off to Canterlot with a blistering sprint. With his Chaos Emerald shining in his hand, he disappeared in a burst of energy.

"Oh, this is so much fun!" Discord doubled back laughing, "Now I have a puppet to use that Emerald for me."

"This must be the shield Discord mentioned earlier." Shadow said to himself skidding along the concrete path with his jet like shoes.

Even though he was a still a good way from the bridge, tall white towers were already obscuring the view of the horizon behind it. Through Shadow's eyes, it was worse than he imagined. Just behind the dark-blue shield were mares and stallions pulling large carriages of bricks, their bodies shriveled up to the point of exposing their bones. One of the mares passed out, collapsing on the cold-unforgiving concrete. A little filly ran to her side, sobbing out loud when she felt her mother's head go limp; breathing out the last air of her life. Shadow didn't phase from the sight, but skidded straight to the bridge. They were countless of guards at the entrance, so Shadow teleported to the side of the entrance, just beyond the lake. His emerald sparkled when he came within hand's reach of the bubble.

I can feel the emerald charging its power, He thought examining it, Could it really…"

To put his theory to the test, he reached his hand out and touched the shield with his emerald. His eyes widen when it phased through like a hand through a waterfall. Boldly, he pressed the rest of his body through, reaching the other side without so much as a scratch. He saw the shield behind him regenerate itself, sealing the little gap the emerald has made. Most of the white and purple buildings he saw were either on fire or destroyed. He teleported himself to the side of a roof top to avoid being spotted by traveling guards, and scanned around as hard as he could, his vision being obscured from the smoke coming from the shops below. In reality, the ponies below were enjoying a peaceful night, although some whined about the shield around them obscuring the night sky.

I need to get to the highest point of the city if I want to find the source of the shield. Shadow thought.

He teleported from tower to tower, escalating when the smoke cleared itself enough for him to see the buildings above. Before he knew it he found himself high above the carnage below, wrecked carriages and fire littered the streets. No doubt, he wanted whoever did this pay for this senseless destruction. When he reached to the top of a watch tower, the smoke began to clear. The taller buildings seemed untouched by the chaos below, still maintaining its' form and stark paint.

"Leave it to two tyrants to put themselves before the people." He hissed

He spotted a colorful wave of light emitting from the centermost part of the city, levitating to the sky and dispersing when it reached the bubble.

That has to be it. He thought

He saw an open window at the side of the tower and made a flying leap inside, making a flawless landing inside the dark room. The Chaos emerald he was holding began to glow; just bright enough for him to see in the darkness. He found himself in a storage room, boxes piled on top of each other.

"Hey! What are you doing here?!"

Shadow looked behind him and saw an armored stallion staring dead at him. In a flash of black blur, Shadow zipped right towards him, throwing a sucker punch to the exposed part of his forehead. He dropped to the floor instantly, knocking him out cold. Shadow found an opened door just beyond the unconscious guard, and he zipped himself out as fast as he could, closing the door just as quickly. The hallways were heavily decorated with metal suits and weapons; although it was never used for centuries. Before Shadow would go around a corner, he would peak his head around first to see if any guard was walking by. He was surprised how packed the building was with soldiers. Every part of the building had at least two white unicorns on duty. Navigating the castle would have been near to impossible if that emerald wasn't with him. He moved around the building undetected, looking for the room that held the six elements of harmony. Finally, after several minutes, he found a rather large cage door. Eight white unicorn guarded the entrance, four on each side with golden plated amour covering every inch of their body. That has to be it; there is no other reason the entrance would be so heavily guarded. He didn't see any alternate way in; the gated door was the only way in, and it looks inevitable to do this mission without a blood bath. He was about to ambush the guards with a chaos sphere until the gate opened suddenly, two figures walking out of the gate way. Thinking fast, he teleported to the ceiling; suspending himself between two tiles.

"Guards, Leave us." One of them commanded with a stern-female voice.

They saluted and departed from the floor. The two figures were more built than the guards, one of them was pure white, with a long horn on her head and a golden crown on top of it, beautiful feathered wings and a golden sun painted on her flank, her lightly colored tail and mane was flowing carelessly beside herself. A large diamond was incrested on her chest of her outfit, signifying her magisty. The other unicorn he saw was less built, dark-blue fur, resembling the night outside. She was wearing an outfit showing a crescent moon on her chest, and a moon surrounded by darkness on her flank.

"Do you think the shield might be unnecessary?" Luna asked her, "We could be stressing this over nothing."

"I'm not going to have another disaster befall upon us." Celestia answered, "If there's just a slight chance that a siege can befall over our kingdom, I want the elements of harmony properly secured to face our foe."

The darker pony frowned, obviously with something troubling on her mind.

"Our subjects are becoming worried. It pains me to see everyone in such a state of discomfort…Especially Twilight and her friends."

The white unicorn let out a deep sigh of dissatisfaction. She approached the dark unicorn, putting her hoof on her shoulder. She spoke with a deep and passionate voice.

"You have shown such love towards your subjects, dear sister. I'll leave the shield up until morning; if you're correct and nothing takes place, then my apologies to you and everyone in Equestia."

The dark unicorn sincerely smiled, "Thank you sister."

The white unicorn began to walk back towards her bed room. When the darker unicorn walk back into the chamber, Shadow silently dropped to the floor and crept right behind her, just inches away from her majestic night-like tale to make sure of himself that the gate will close with him passed it. He teleported behind a statue to safely see the room. It was a huge-ballroom sized room, and no doubly, the elements stood prompted on a pillar in the center of it, with the crown hovering in front of the other five elements, emitting a beam of colorful waves through a small hole in the dome-shaped ceiling. As soon as the dark unicorn had her back turned, Shadow made a mad dash for the crown; leaping high enough to land on the white pillar they rested on. The crown was floating right in front of him, and as soon as he grabbed the base of it, a loud-deep boom echoed throughout the room. The dark unicorn spun around and saw a figure holding the element of magic in its hands. The light beneath him prevented the dark pony from getting a good glimpse of him

"Who are you!?" The dark unicorn demanded as her horn began to charge with magic.

She saw his sharp-cold eyes staring down at her. She had his only exit blocked, and he knew she had him cornered. The gate re-opened as her sister galloped beside her, followed by dozens of highly ranked guards; their horns began to charge.

"If you come down quietly, we won't hurt you." The white unicorn called to him, "Drop the crown and surrender."

He stretched his hand holding the Chaos emerald, ready to charge up and slay the very rulers that have caused so much pain to so many ponies in Discord's kingdom. Something was wrong, though. He didn't feel any power surging through him. He quickly observed the emerald he was holding; it didn't glow like it should.

What's going on? He thought frantically, why has the emerald lost its power?

"I am aggressing you!" The white unicorn called to him, her whole horn glowing white, "Drop the crown or suffer the consequences!"

Shadow quickly observed the crown he was holding. The star on top of it was glowing, and he felt a strange energy comming from it. At that moment, he realized what was happening. The crown was somehow neutralizing the power of the Chaos emerald. Shadow stared back at his oppressors with vengeful eyes; he was not going to be captured alive. He had a duty to fulfill.

"This is your last chance!" The dark unicorn called to him.

With eyes taking dead aim at the white princess, he chucked the crown straight into the air. His emerald began to shine again. He leaped up and pointed the emerald at her.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

A ray of yellow energy shot from his hands. The white Princess summoned a quick shield just in time to block the attack. Smoke covered them as the dark unicorn fired a pitch back lighting volt at her target. She couldn't tell if she hit him, but the next thing she heard was her sister screaming out in pain and the sound of a body hitting the floor. The guards opened fired, but had no visibility to hit their target. When the smoke cleared, she saw a bright energy shard stuck on her sister's upper leg. The lightning volt she summoned created a big hole on the wall, and her target was nowhere to be found, alone with the crown. The dark unicorn ran to her sister's aid.

"N-No Luna." The white princess told her with blood pouring out from her wound, staining her white coated fur, "You must get the crown. The fate of Equestia depends on it!"

With a quick nod, Luna flew through gaping hole she created while the guards galloped to her aid. She scanned around in the darkness and just caught her target skidding through the street, heading straight for the gate. She teleported in front of him, ready to hit him again with a black lightning bolt. Right before she was about to fire he began wall jumping from building from building to avoid the strike, escalating until he landed on a roof top, and skidded in the opposite direction. The volt left a big smoking hole on the side of a shopping corner, mares and stallions began screaming and running in every direction in a state of panic.

She flew right alone his direction and quickly caught up with him, flying below him. She charged her horn with magic; Instead of a lighting volt, she began firing an endless stream of blue energy spheres at him. He dodged every shot as he skipped alone the roof tops, eventually grinding on a rail that took him to higher elevation. Luna tried not to hit any of the buildings as she tried to hit her elusive target, but some of the orbs found themselves crashing against the roof tops above, exploding on impact. Ponies around her were already taking cover under anything they can find, realizing they were coming under attack.

Shadow looked to see if he lost his pursuer; and found her hot on his tail as she soared through the air. This would have been a lot easier if he could draw energy from his emerald. She charged her horn again, ready to fire a small powerful beam at him this time. This will slice him in half if it hits, but he left her no other choice, he has to be stopped from escaping with the crown. She teleported behind him and waited for the right time to use it as he hopped back down to the ground, skidding with long stokes as he hits top speed. She struggled to keep up with him as she glides alone the ground. She saw her chance when he took a leap through the air in front of her, about to zip in another direction. There was no way he could dodge her in midair, the beam was sure to hit him. She fired, a small-red laser shooting from her horn. Shadow looked behind him and realized he was in trouble. The beam was going right for him, and he had no time to dodge it. Out of instinct, he swung his emerald right in front of the beam as fast as he could, just in time to block the beam. What happened next was simply unbelievable to both of them.

The beam, instead of going right though as Shadow predicted, ricashaed wildly to the side. The beam sliced through small buildings beneath him, loud crashing noises erupted throughout Canterlot as the crumbling buildings collapsed to the ground in a cloud of smoke. When the beam vanished, he zipped to a roof top and took off, hopping from roof to roof. Anger built inside of Luna, hearing screams of terror below as her subjects took cover from the crumbling buildings. This hedgehog wasn't just a thief, he was mad! Shadow continued to skid as fast as he could while Luna fired bolt after bolt at him. Her horn began to sore from the amount of stress she has put on it

Finally, it came to a head. Shadow continued to skid until he found himself at the very edge of Canterlot, out of land and out of luck. Luna landed a meter from him, with her horn charged for the last time. She was panting heavily, completely exhausted.

"Now I have you!" She screamed at him with her Royal Canterlot voice, "You will finally pay for what you've done to this Kingdom!"

Shadow stared back at her, his beaming eyes piercing into her soul.

"It will be you who will pay, princess…" He said in his deep-rough voice, "This Kingdom will return to the hands it rightfully belonged."

At that, he stretched out his hands…and jumped back first off the cliff. He felt cool air breeze behind him as his dark and red spikes flow in front of him. Luna dived right for him, with wings fully expanded and accelerating to him with her whole horn glowing. This was going to end; rather he dies from her dark-lightning volt electrocuting him or hitting the unforgiving ground beneath him. She was ready to fire, ready to save her Kingdom.

Shadow chunk the crown under him and teleported right before the bolt hit him. She looked in every direction beneath her, her target nowhere to be found. The crown was left free-falling towards earth, and she made a desperate dive for it. Suddenly, she felt something land on her thigh. She looked back and saw the hedgehog summoning an energy shard, and began stabbing her flank repeatingly with it, trickles of blood spitting out of her wound with every lunge. She screamed in pain as she felt an unbearable burning sensation fire inside her leg. This was too much! She realized she was going to die if she stuck with him as they sped closer to the earth. With no other option, she channeled the rest of her strength to her horn and disappeared in a puff of magic. Shadow then realized how close he was hitting the ground. He tried to put his feet in front of him so that his jet books could hover him, and did so just in time. He slowed down somewhat, but toppled over when he hit the ground.

Seconds turned into minutes. Shadow never ran for his life like that before; surely, these two rulers were a force to be recognized. Bruised, he raised his head, seeing that the crown was right in front of his face. After a minute, he staggered up and grabbed it by the base. With one last look at the burning city, he slowly skidded into the cover of night.

author's notes

I never realized how many people were already reading this story right after I published it. All I have to say is, yikes!

I know every reader is aware by now that I have never majored in any English class. If you are bothered by this, than my apologies. I'm trying everything to make this as full proof as I can.

Now, if you find this exciting. Just wait! I have plenty of tricks up my sleaves that you keep you over the edge...And wait you must. I haven't began on the next chapter yet, and I'm going to need a little time to get it done. I'm going to say...November 13. I'm going to try my best to meet that dead line, and I would hate to leave any of you dissapointed.

Until then...Brohoof, peace out, high five, and all of that good stuff...And don't forget to leave a comment on your way out. I need to know if this sucks or not.

In the Chamber, Celestia focused all of her magic to seal the wounds of her beloved sister as Luna's body lay flat on the floor, who was pushed to her physical limits. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Celestia's wound on her upper leg still dripping with blood. Luna tried to speak, but only managed a low whisper.

"Sister…Your wound. It's untreated."

Her older sister only smiled, "You need this more than I do."

Slowly, her multiple stab wounds were healing. The bleeding stopped, and the holes left by the energy shard began to seal. Celestia stumbled a bit when a spit of pain shot from her upper leg.

"You're going to be fine." The white princess ensured her, her voice a little shaky, "I have medics on her way to treat me as well. Just rest; that's all I'm asking you to do."
Even though the princess's words were kind and sincere, Luna refused for her conscience to slip by her hooves, not after everything that has happened. An elite guard appeared at the door, standing tall with a salute; his words stale and disciplined.

"Your majesty. The nurses you requested just arrived at the tower. They will be here within minutes."

"Thank you for the report." Celestia said still focused on her younger sister's wound, "When you see us come out; have that artist come to my bedroom."

"Yes Mam!"

He left to return to his post. A little while later, the two sisters heard hooves galloping to where they were at. The nurses she requested were rushing to Celestia side, unpacking their packs to treat it with special herbs and dressings. By the time Luna's wound was completely healed, Celestia's horn was aching; she forgot how much magic it took to treat a wound, let alone multiple cuts and slashes. Celestia lay on her side to let the nurses get a better handle on her leg. They instantly cleaned the blood at the best of their extent, mixing the herbs in a little bowl and sprinkling the powder on the bandages. Celestia let out a small moan of pain when she felt the soft bandages making contact with her long cut. She smiled when she saw her little sister's eyes closed, asleep.

Hours later, Luna began to wake up. Her energy was still gone, but her body was in a relaxed state this time. She was greeted by her sister and a strangely dressed mare by her. The mare had the most curious black hat on, wearing black and white stripped dress. Her lips were heavily glistened with red lip stick, and black stocking covered her legs. She was holding a pencil with her mouth, sitting behind a canvas.

"Now, Lady." The mare called with a weird French accent, "Can you describe dissss…Character for Ms. Adelle, this hedgehog character your sister has depicted."

Luna gave her older sister a strange look before Celestia gave her an innocent shrug.

"It's Princess Luna to you, loyal subject." The younger sister noted to her in a disciplined voice.

"Yes, yes. Dear Prinzess. Now describe diz hedgehog for me, please."

Luna simply rolled her eyes, "I never got a good glimpse of him. His hair was spiked backwards, much like a hedgehog would. The one thing I remember much about him was his shoes. They were huge, and he was standing upright."

The artist was homed in on her canvas, drawing and erasing at will, "Yes, yes. Go on."

"His body was oval like. His arms and legs were very thin, and I could have sworn he was wearing gloves."

Luna only saw the artist drawing, completely focused. She saw sweat dripping from her forehead; who knew that artist can get tired out from their work?

"ADELLE HAS IT!" She screamed.

It made Luna and Celestia jump. The artist revealed the picture to Luna. She was surprised how accurate it was, it looked exactly like him.

"That's him." Luna confirmed.

Celestia leaded over and saw the drawing.

"Well done, my most faithful illustrator. Once again you have surprised me."

The artist puffed out her chest in a proud stance, "It is my pleazure to be working by your side, dear prinzess." She began packing, "If you would excuse Adelle, my excluzive talent is needed elsewhere."

"You're excused." Celestia kindly dismissed her, "Be sure to see the loyal publisher before you leave."

She made her way to the exit. As soon as she was gone, six other ponies came in, wearing goggles. They stood in a single file, formally standing on their four hooves and puffing out their chest. Luna already recognized who they were. Spitfire, Soarin', Fleetfoot, Blaze, Wave Chill, and Misty.

"Wonder Bolts reporting for duty!" They shouted saluting.

"I'm glad you're here." Celestia addressed them, "I have called you here for a great importance."

Morning came, and Rainbow Dash never felt so drowsy getting out of her fluffy bed. She dragged herself to the bathroom. Her mane was all scuffled up, like anypony who just got out of bed after an all-night party.

Least that flash incident was more than likely just nothing. She thought rinsing her mouth with water, while making a high pitch gurgling sound, still, how am I supposed to try out if I'm half asleep!

She splashed her face with cold water, trying to wake herself up with little success. She didn't want to begin her morning at all to tryout at all, she much rather sleep…Then she realized something very important.

"Wait…What am I doing? I don't have tryouts in the morning!"

She slammed her blue towel to the floor and marched straight back to her room, completely infuriated at herself. Just about to hit the bed, there was a loud knock on her door.

"What now?!" She groaned out loud.

She didn't even bother flying to her door step, she just stomped her hooves to the door way. When she opened the door, her eyes exploded open, pupils dilated.

"Hey, uh…Rainbow Dash." Spitfire greeted her, "Princess Celestia asked us to come get you; we need your help with something."

She didn't respond, only staring at them like a creepy statue.

"She said that you have exceptional flying skills we need to bring somebody to justice." Misty continued, "The element of magic has been stolen and she's offering a huge reward for her capture."

A little bitty smile crest on Rainbow's lips.

"She also offered a ceremony to knight his capturers." Fleetfoot added, "The highest honor she can bestowal."

They didn't hear her breathing at this point.

"Uh…Rainbow Dash?" Wave Chill asked her concerned.

She toppled over like a board, not a part of her body moving a single inch, not even her colorful mane. They stepped inside her house, surrounding her.

"Is she O.K?" Blaze asked looking down on her.

Wave Chill inspected her closely, trying to figure out what's wrong with her.

"…I hope so."

Sunlight poured into Sonic's eye lids as they begin to slowly open. He felt sore, not knowing why, but whatever his body had to endure earlier, it sure didn't like it.

Can't Eggman just take a hint for once? Sonic thought, remembering the portal that engulfed him.

He lie there for several minutes, letting the sores sooth at least a bit before even thinking about moving. After a couple of minutes, relief suppressed his pain somewhat, but Sonic just went ahead and stood up anyways. He stumbled but managed to ignore the pain and support himself on his two skinny legs. He almost fell again when he realized where he was at.

"What am I doing in the middle of a field?" He asked himself, letting out a little cough.

It sure was a change of pace for him. He was in middle of a dirt road, leading to a destination unknown since his sight was obscured by trees…Apple trees; that's all he saw was apple trees, rows of them; countless of apple trees along the path. The leaves on them were turning yellow; which was very unusual because before he left earth to confront Dr. Eggman, it was in the middle of winter. Then he remembered something; his headset was still attached to his ear. He held the little button on it down, trying to pick up his team mates.

"Hello?" He called, "Can anybody read me?"

Sounds of crackles and beeps filled his ear for several seconds, with no answer.

"Tails! Knuckles! Amy! Shadow!...Anybody! Come in!"

Miraculously, he heard someone talking on the other line. Sonic hear in closely as he could to make out the words.

"Sonic? Is that you I'm receiving?"

"Tails?" He cleared his voice, "Is that you?"

The voice became much more clear.

"Sonic!" Tails almost screamed with enthusiasm, "Thank goodness you O.K!"

"Wish that was true." He commented, rubbing his shoulder when he felt a little pain resurface, "That portal did a number on me. Where're you at?"

"I-I don't know." Tails answered, sounding a little panicked, "I think I'm in a swamp. I would fly but it hurts just to twitch my tails."

"Do you have any contacts with the others?"

"I'm picking up a signal from Amy and Knuckles' communication relays." Tails answered, "But I can't pick up Shadow's signal at all. He's either out of range or…"

Tail's voice cut off, too scared to complete his sentence.

"Shadow went through a lot worse than this, Tails." Sonic sighed picking up on Tail's tone, "Besides, he's was holding a Chaos Emerald when we were engulfed. If we survived, then surely he must have too."

"Your-Your right Sonic. Sorry…"

Sonic paced a little back and forth, trying to break in the sores on his legs.

"O.K…Tails, we need to regroup. Try to find your way out of the swamp and maintain contact with the others. I'm going to try to find higher ground."

"Roger that!" Tails answered like a pilot, "Over and out!"

Sonic let go of the button, praying in his head that he will be seeing him very soon. After being friends for so long, he would hate to see anything happen to him. He began walking down the path, hills and slops slowing him down as he climbed. This surely wasn't his speed, but he began to jog a little when his sores began to dull. The sun sure was out and shinning over him. He realized how refreshing it felt; there was something soothing about jogging through a field, instead of blazing through an area like he usually does. He saw a large barn over the horizon.

"Maybe I can ask some of the locals where I'm at." He said to himself.

"My, mister; you sure are fast." Someone commented to him.

Sonic checked around his environment and saw a little pale filly approaching him from the side. He stopped to get a better view of the creature. She happily walked over to him, panting. Her pinkish-red mane seized when she stopped right in front of him. There was a huge pink bow on top of her head, giving her a real impression of a little girl.

"You from around these parts?" She asked him curiously.

Sonic's eyes just dilated in complete astonishment, and a little drip of fear.

D…Did that adorable little pony just talk to me?

He kept a straight face a much as he could, "Uh…No."

"What's ya name, Stranger?"

His voice became a little broken. "S-sonic…Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Name's Applebloom." She cheerfully said to him, stretching out her little hoof, "Nice to meet ya."

He very hesitantly stretched out his hand to shake. She began to walk in front of him, as if trying to lead.

"Let me introduce you to the Apples Family." She said to him, "You look more exhausted than a turtle runnin a marathon."

She really didn't give him much of a choice, because that was the direction he was heading anyways. Still, he can take this chance to get some information; even though he much prefers to keep his mouth shut during the walk. Carrying a conversation with a little filly…It's not natural.

"Where am I anyways?" Sonic asked

"You don't know whut this place is?" She answered surprised, "This here's Ponyvill, or if you wunt to get more technical, Sweet Apple Acres!"

Well, that makes perfect sense. Sonic thought.

"Where did you come from? You sure do look like one of them foreigners."

"I'm, uh…Not from around here." He answered scratching his head, wishing to not go into detail.

The sores on Sonic's body began to fade away after a long walk to the barn. He could go ahead and run, but courtesy forbids. Apple Bloom ran ahead of him all of a sudden, disappearing from sight for several seconds before coming back with some pony else with her. Her long-golden ponytail trailed behind her as she ran alone side her sibling. She had freckles on the sides of her cheeks, and had a surprisingly built body. As soon as she got a good glimpse of him, she bucked backward; completely terrified of what she was seeing.

"Sis, run back to the barn as fast as you can." She mumbled to Applebloom, "Don't look back for nothin'."

"What's tha matter, Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked worried.

"Don't ask any question." She continued, staring straight back at the hedgehog, ready for any sudden movements, "Run."

Apple Bloom did what she was told, but still curious what was going on, so she hid behind a tree to observe what was going on. The cowgirl stood her ground, readying the rope in her mouth. Sonic can feel the tension in the air.

"You're that runt that stole the element of magic!" She growled at him.

Now he's more confused than ever, "Wait…What did I do?"

She hurled the rope at him, attempting to lasso him, but he dodge rolled out of the way. Sonic had just about enough! He blasted in the opposite direction, running as fast as his legs can carry him. One second he was there, another second gone. Applejack's mouth dropped open.

Sonic needed to get back to his objective. He can see a mountain just beyond town, and according to how fast he was going, he will be there within minutes. He ran through the center of Ponyvill in a flash of blue, passing and dodging pedestrians at will. The ponies around him only looked on with astonishment; never once have they seen someone run that fast. He was running at a speed well over a hundred miles an hour until he saw a shopping center coming right up ahead. Pinkie Pie was just having a regular stroll to her home, carrying a huge birthday cake on her back until Sonic squealed to a halt to make a tight turn. Dust followed behind him, covering her delicious cake with dirt. She just made out what it was before it took off. The pony now realized that somebody's after birthday party was completely ruined. If there was a time she became more furious than someone breaking a pinkie promises…This was one of those times. She put on a happy face, though; simply bouncing towards his direction. Sonic continued running; passing by a couple enjoying their coffee, which was completely ruined by a rush of wind that whirled their hot coffee onto the stallion's face. Finally, Sonic was out of town; running up alone the mountain. He contacted tail as soon as he reached the top.

"Tails, do you read me?"

"Yea." He answered, "I'm still at the swamp. I'm getting ready to take off the ground."

"Great, I should be able to see you."

Sonic then noticed a little piece of paper floating towards him. He grabbed it and glanced at it, beholding a sketch that looked exactly like him; then he read the text.

Wanted

Stolen the Element of Magic and attempted of the princesses.

If you have seen this hedgehog, Contact the Wonder Volts or Rainbow Dash Immediately

Do not approach. Suspect is extremely dangerous.

Sonic didn't really know how to react to this poster. He just awoken from unconscious and they suspect him for theft and assassination. He stood there, trying to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, he heard something behind him, something slowly breathing, getting closer and closer by each breath. He looked behind him and beheld the most terrifying pony he has encountered yet. Her pink hair was curled, pupils about the size of peas and a VERY angry-trembling frown across her face. She seized him, knocking him on the floor and pinning him down.

"How DARE you ruin a little fowl's fifth birth day after party!" She screamed at him in the highest pitched voice she ever raised.

Sonic was scared for his life at this point; apologizing profusely even though he had no idea what she was talking about.

"I-I-I-I-I didn't see you! I swear it!"

"Well, SOME hedgehog has to pay for the mess HE caused!"

"I-I don't have any money with me!"

Sonic suddenly saw her cheerful smile, her angry expression completely vanished, "Oh…Then I guess you would have to help me bake it again then."

He didn't answer her, whether he should just take that request or fear that there's something sinister behind it. When Pinkie didn't hear an answer, she narrowed her eyes at him.

"…Will you?"

Suddenly, while still pinned down to the ground, he saw seven flying creatures coming his way. They landed where they were at. They were ponies with wings at their sides; all of them had the same colored fur except for one, who had more of a lighter blue color and her hair was wildly painted, like the colors of a rainbow.

"Pinkie! You caught him?!" The colorful pony asked who couldn't believe her eyes.

"Who?" Pinkie asked Rainbow Dash innocently.

"The guy who stole the crown and tried to kill the Princess." Spitfire answered, "His wanted posters were all over town. You didn't see one?"

Pinkie stared at her in a complete state of confusion; then gave her a simple answer with a clueless smile on her face, "Nnnnope, never seen one!"

Sonic took advantage of this break and kicked the pink pony off of him with his giant shoes; jumping up and taking a fighting stance. The pink pony quickly stood back up and began to approach him, crouched down like a stalking tiger as the other seven ponies began to circle him.

"Listen! I have no idea what's going on." Sonic said out loud to them, trying to reason, "I've just came out of unconsciousness in an apple tree field and-."

"LIES!" Rainbow Dash shouted at him, "You tried to kill the Princess!"

"I don't know who she even is." He said defending himself, "I've just got here!"

"Don't try to trick us!" Fleetfoot shouted, "You know what you did!"

Sonic can feel space between him and the ponies around him shrinking, "If you would just listen, I can explain!"

"I've heard enough!" Rainbow Dash cried out taking flight, "We're taking you straight to the princess!"

"And you're going to be baking the biggest cake you've ever backed when I get my hooves on you!" Pinkie added

Rainbow Dash charged; Sonic just dodged her tackle just in time for her to miss. Before she had time to turn around, Sonic began running in circles at lightning speed, whipping up a tornado large enough to cover him and his soon to be pursuers. Dust flew all around in his path, choking Rainbow and the rest of the ponies as they try gasp for air. A few seconds later, and the dust settles. Sonic has disappeared.

"I can see him running to the canyons!" Soarin' called out just catching his dust trail.

At that, the seven pegasus took off after him; leaving a trail of smoke, except for Rainbow Dash who left a trail of Rainbow behind her. Pinkie Pie just simply bounced alone to their direction, humming a playful tune with a big smile on her face.

Sonic gained a pretty good distance from the mountains; a series of steep hills was just in front of then, followed by his destination. If he can reach the canyons, he has a good chance to lose them in the mess of dips and turns in it. Suddenly he heard a lighting strike, a bolt shot from above and missed him by just a few feet. He soon discovered that his pursuers were meters above him, shooting through the dark clouds.

"Huh, think they can catch the fasting thing alive?" He asked himself.

He blast off in a blue blur, readying himself for the most intense chase he ever had to face. Fleetfoot swooped down and tried to tackle him, but was way off target because of Sonic's quick acceleration when he saw the attack. When the pegasus flew out of the way, the other six began bumping into a cloud in front of him, hurling down countless of lightning bolts in front of him. Sonic's eyes widen in terror and turned his body sideways, and made a sharp ninety degrees turn that sounded like a car drifting around a corner. Fleetfoot regrouped with his team, and they split the formation, taking different clouds in an attempt to box him in. When Sonic tries to sprint at top speed, a lightning volt will block his path and force him to turn. The plan they were executing kept his speed at bay, Fleetfoot saw this chance and swooped down at him, this time heading straight for his target. Sonic couldn't accelerate, so instead jumped clean over her. While in midair, he executed a homing attack on the would-be tackler. The Wonderbolt never saw it coming. It sent her crashing into the ground; the impact was solid enough to knock her out of commission. Sonic tried to dash out of the trap. When no lightning bolt blocked him, he hit top speed; just like his next attacker wanted. Blaze was in the distance, patiently hovering in the mist of clouds; waiting for him to run. When she saw him, she swooped down and flew as fast as her wings can take her. She had her hoof out, flying head-on to her target like a missile. Sonic only had a split second to react. He formed a fist and flung his body sideways. He smacked her in the head at least ninety miles an hour. The impacts shattered her goggles and send her toppling to the dirt, knocking him out…Cold. Sonic was out of their trap and resumed running to the canyons. Rainbow Dash and the remaining four Wonderbolts regrouped high in the air, trying to keep up with him.

"He's awfully fast for a runner!" Wave Chill commented, observing his target.

"We'll never find him if he makes it into the canyons!" Rainbow Dash shouted out loud, trying to speak up against the rushing winds, "We only have three miles of hill tops to stop him. It'll slow him down enough for us to get ahead of him."

"All right! Wave Chill; Misty!" Spitfire called to her teammates, "Rainbow Dash is going to assist you two in ambushing him behind the hills." She looked to Soarin', "You're going to follow me to the clouds up ahead and try to knock him out with a bolt, are we clear!?"

"Yes Mam!" The rest saluted.

The hills did prove to be a problem for Sonic. The constant change of elevation slowed him down significantly as he kept going up and down like a rollercoaster. When he going over one of the hills, Misty popped out from the other side and tried to tackle him head on; Sonic side stepped to dodge her. She turned around and tried to tackle him again from behind. He thumped backwards; when she flew under him, he performing a flip and landed square on her back; saddling her.

"Oh, no you don't!" She hissed at him.

Sonic grabbed on to her light-blue mane for dear life as she flew straight into the air, performing twists and corkscrews as she elevated. When she flew downwards, she felt sharp pain on her neck as her mane was pulled. No matter what trick she performed, her mane was still clutched in Sonic's white gloves; even a full double loop didn't shake him.

"Some pony come help me!" She screamed in pain, "He's on my back!"

Wave Chill heard her cry. He flew up into the air charged at full speed at him, with his hoof stretched out. He was just high enough to miss Misty's head as readied herself to fly under him. Sonic thought fast and jerked her mane upwards as hard as he could.

THUD

Sonic hopped off of her backwards as they fell lifelessly to the ground; knocked out. The two ponies crashed to the ground, alive but not moving. Sonic didn't have much of a decent landing either. He landed belly first, dazed for a couple of seconds. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash were quick to jump on this opportunity as they flew to a cloud above him. Sonic rolled over just in time as a lightning bolt try to hit him. He quickly hopped to his feet and took off towards the canyons. He was almost out of the hills, just several hundred meters away of being home free.

"That's is it!" Spitfire shouted in anger, "Rainbow. How fast can you form a twister?"

"In my sleep! But it won't be big enough to stop him." She answered.

"It will with my help." Spitfire said to her before taking off, "Soarin', get behind me!"

Taking advantage of the terrain, the three ponies flew ahead of their target; flying several meters ahead of Sonic. They began flying in circles close to the ground, and after a second a violent-colorful twister formed, throwing smoke and small arcs of lightning around its surroundings. Sonic didn't have time to turn. It dragged him in with considerable force, and he found himself inside in the heart of the tornado. During his time inside, he felt electricity shocking random parts of his body as Soarin' and Spitfire's trailing black clouds engulfed him. His screams of pain were drowned out by the sounds of whirling winds and cracks of thunder. After several seconds of brutal electrocution, the three ponies broke the formation. Sonic was sent flying upwards into the air, completely disorientated. Rainbow Dash Soarin, and Spitfire took a final charge at him, ready to bring this scumbag to justice. Just second before hitting him, Sonic formed into a ball. They hit him, and he bounced to the last direction they want him to go…To the canyons. As he prepare to land, he disappeared inside the gaping mouth of the series of cracks. They hovered where they were at, shaking their heads in disappointment.

"We're never going to find him now." Spitfire moaned, realizing that the element of magic was forever gone.

Rainbow Dash was completely quite for several seconds, refusing to comprehend what the three just did. Spitfire and soarin' was just about to fly back to her teammates, until they heard Rainbow Dash let out a scream of frustration.

"NO!" She screamed, "We've got to look for him!"

"It's over, Dash." Soarin' spoke putting his hoof on her shoulder, "The Canyon goes on for miles and miles without end, not to mention the countless of channels it has. He could be anywhere in there."

"I SAID NO!" She screamed knocking his hoof off, "I am not going back to Princess Celestia empty handed! To be kneeling before her majesty just to say that HE got to the better of us!"

"Our team is injured, Dash!" Spitfire said raising her voice.

Rainbow Dash just looked ahead, not giving her another glance.

"Leave if you want, I'm not going to let him get away with this…Never."

She flew off, leaving a colorful rainbow behind her. Spitfire and Soarin', completely taken back by her reaction, flew back and checked on her team mates; one by one to check on their condition.

Sonic, his body aching from the electrocution, ran to a nearby cave inside the huge canyon. It was surprisingly a cozy place, damp and dark, but he surely wouldn't mind making it a home to call his own. Maybe he can rest here to let his body catch a break. He was praying inside his head that he would never have to endure something like that again. That GUN truck was brutal, he remembered running for his life from that thing, taking countless of turns to avoid being run over like a stupid dog crossing a road. He thought back and remembered some of the fun he had with it, but that was just a jog around the street corner compared to what he had to endure today. Ponies that can manipulate the weather? This is surely a crazy world. He sat down on the cold-rocky ground, staring at the sunlight seeping in through the entrance. It was surprisingly peaceful to look at, seeing the orange colors at the mouth of the cave. He can rest here for a minute, let himself wind down and take a break from all of the running, jumping, and fighting he faces almost every day…Until he heard slow-constant breathing behind him; a pink hoof laying on one shoulder and a butter knife creeping to his side. His eyes widen, feeling warm air breathing down his back neck. A high-pitch whisper tickled his ear

"We're going to be backing plenty of cupcakes when we get home."

"…AAAHHHHHHHH!"

He didn't even bothered standing up; he spun out of the cave, hitting the rocks in front of him. Rainbow Dash just happened to be flying above him, and she couldn't believe her luck when she heard him scream. He spotted her and took off in the other direction; she followed suit, more determined than ever to catch him.

Rainbow Dash felt her heart thump in complete fury as she gained speed. Sonic was hopping off the rocky sides and sprinted every chance he had.

"You think you can come into our world and do whatever you want!" She screamed.

She escalated into the clouds, bumping feverously into them as it sent dozens of lightning strikes down below. The bolts struck the rocks in front of him as he ran, causing a rock slide. Sonic jumped and hopped around to his best ability, dodging them all.

"You think you can try to kill our Beloved princess and believe we won't go down without a fight!"

She flew back down at lightning speed, performing dips and swoops through the canyons, trying to hit her target. He countered by wall jumping out of the crack, dodging her attacks in the process. His feet found solid ground and he took off along the canyons. If he can just run straight and hit top speed, he can lose her. He was met by a colorful mare flying head on to him, hoof out.

"AND DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE PIBLEGE OF HARMING MY FRIENDS!"

He side stepped, just inches away from her charge. She flew up high up into the air, screaming from the top of her lungs as head straight to him from the side. He found himself at the edge of the cliff. He jumped, feeling his shoes just skimming the tip of her head. The next thing he heard was her voice cutting off, followed by a loud crash at the bottom of the canyon. Sonic leaped clean over the gape, sprinting straight, running as fast as he could in a blue blur. Sonic looked behind him, seeing the canyons becoming nothing more but a speck.

"I think I lost her." He said to himself.

He slowed down to a cruising speed, letting himself catch somewhat of a break while running. He was about to contact Tails with his device in his ear until suddenly, he heard a faint boom behind him. The next thing he saw was a brilliant wave of colors passing above him, something truly spectacular, and he will never forget it. He looked behind him and saw the last thing he wanted to see…A charging cyan Pegasus. He tried to side step, but he was way too late. She him at full force, grabbing hold of him as they crash into the ground together, skidding along the dirt. When the dust settled, Sonic found the Pegasus on top of him, pinning him down with her front hooves. He never once saw a more angry and determined face, and he never felt so exhausted after enduring so much.

"You…Are finally going to pay." She mumbled.

He felt his eyes getting heavy, his energy completely deserting him. He made out six other pegasus and a pink ponie approaching him as his vision began to fail…Finally, his body began to shut down; ready to rest.

Author's notes

Man...That chapter took a lot out of me! Still, it's for you're viewing pleasure.

I'm rather surprised how many talented writers I've met on this web site. Sometimes the best fanfictions isn't on top of a list. Give some of these writers a chance.

O.K. About the dead line. I like to warn my readers ahead of time when the next chapter will be out. I'm thinking next Sunday; November 18th. I'm going to try to post the next chapter before then, but I guantee that the next chapter will be out before or during that date.

And for the record...Let you voice be heard! Post a review! How am I supposed to know what's everyone is thinking if they don't tell me anything. Don't be shy. Let me know if you like the story or not. I aim to please. Brohoof and peace out!

NEXT TIME ON WHEN CHAOS STIRS:

Sonic will be bowing for mercy before the mighty Princess Celestia...Will she pass judgement? Follow this story to find out!

From author

Allright, I've discovered a button that lets you put a line between each scene. I hope you like it!

PLEASE READ

I've been getting a lot of comments about why Rainbow Dash was faster than Sonic during the big chase scene…To be truthful, Sonic is faster than Rainbow Dash, but she has a couple of advantages over him.

For one, she can fly. Sonic has to move along with the terrain while Rainbow Dash can simply fly over them. That's explaines why The Wonderbolts were able to cut in front of him while he was running through the hills.

Second, in the story, Sonic can't freely use boost like he can in the game; he needs an emerald before he can break the sound barrier and beyond. All of that extra energy has to come from somewhere. That's why she was able to catch him while performing the Sonic Rainboom, because all she has to do is fly completely straight while decending to break the sound barrior.

Third, and I know I'll be getting hate mail for this; Rainbow Dash in the story can turn a lot sharper than he can. Sonic has to slow down before making a sharp turn, while Rainbow can pull her wings to one side and keep her speed.

Now that I've cleared this, please enjoy the story...Things are just getting good!

---

Sonic didn't feel any weight when he awoken. He opened his eyes, only to find himself mysteriously floating off the ground, heading straight. He felt light as a feather, but at the same time, movement was impossible; he can only watch as a long-red rug passed beneath him. His ears picked up clopping noises from both sides. A mysterious force lifts his head suddenly, and he beheld two tall horses; one white and tall and the other shorter, but dark blue.

"Guards, Let him go." A deep, feminine voice commanded.

Sonic suddenly felt himself hit the floor, gravity returning to him. He stood up and observed his surroundings, finding himself in a large room. There were ponies surrounding him, including his captures; most of them looked outraged and vengeful.

"State your name." The voice demanded.

He looked up, and saw tall-white alicorn standing before him, staring down at him with sharp, pink eyes. Disorientated, he answered her with a scuffed voice.

"S-Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."

She waited for him to regain his awareness before asking him another question. Sonic can defiantly feel tension mounting around him, especially from the alicorn standing over him.

"What business do you have with us?"

He was now standing up straight, checking his environment before staring into her very eyes, which gripped his soul.

"What business?" He asked confused about the question.

"Why did you take the crown?"

He began to back up, giving himself a little room, but not making any attempt to make an escape.

"I've just awoken in a middle of an apple field. I have no idea what you're talking about."

She stared at him for a second with a raised eye brow; then continued, "What fools do you take us for? We saw you taking the crown right in front of us. You even tried to kill us."

"I never have intentions of harming anybody!" He snapped.

Sonic felt his body levitate all of a sudden. Luna stomped to him, staring at him with glowing white eyes, just inches away from his face.

"EIGHT OF OUR SUBJECTS HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!" She screamed in her Canterlot voice, "WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO SEND YOU TO THE SUN TO LET YOUR CORPSE BURN LIKE THE MISERABLE CRETANT YOU ARE!"

"Sister, stand down!" Celestia shouted, "Let me handle him."

Luna glared at her for a second before rudely dropping him. She walked back to her throne, with her glowing white eyes still staring dead him. Sonic stood back to his feet.

"Please. Listen to my story. I'm not from this world; my team was fighting a notorious master mind that took over my home. He tried expanding his empire by building a machine that will let him travel between dimensions. When we confront him, the portal grew unstable and-"

Princess Celestia interrupted him, "Wait a minute, did you say portal?"

"Portal? Y-yea."

That explains the rift incident. Celestia thought while others took notice, whispering among themselves. She raised her hoof to silence them.

"There was a strange occurrence over our world just yesterday. Unicorns felt a strong energy emitting from it. Can you explain?"

"That must have been the Chaos Emeralds your kind felt." Sonic said while explaining what they are and what they do.

Celestia and the others were intrigued by this information.

"If my team is here right now, then Dr. Eggman must be somewhere in this world too, plotting right now to claim this world as his own." Sonic continued, "Please, I beg of you, let me go. Your mistaken me for somebody else."

"Who?" Celestia demanded.

Sonic gulped when the one other hedgehog came into mind, "Shadow, he was with me when that portal took place. He looks exactly like me, but with dark and red spikes and rings on his wrists. I don't know why he would steal the crown, but you have to believe me; I have no intentions of harming anybody."

The spectators didn't believe him. The princesses really didn't get a good glimpse of the perpetrator last night, but an evil twin? That would be something a fowl will lie about.

"We really didn't get a good look of our attacker last night." Celestia mumbled with Luna over hearing, "If he did have a twin, the Wonderbolts would have easily mistaken him; but I'm finding that hard to believe."

"Me too." Luna growled still staring at the hedgehog.

Celestia thought for several seconds. If he was telling the truth about the rift, then there's a good chance he's honest about that master mind as well. She has security to hold back against any threat, so that really didn't concern her. But this 'Shadow' character. Sonic could be making that up to get away. No one in the room would believe that for a second. After a minute, she has reached a decision.

"I'm afraid I can't release you." Celestia said.

Sonic's heart sank to his stomach, "but-"

"You're the only creature we know that can run the speed as my sister depicted." She explained, "We have no idea if you're the one who stole the crown or not, but you're the only suspect we have knowledge of…Until someone proves that your innocent or you decide to confess and give us the location, you will be sentence to the dudgeon."

Sonic wanted to argue, in fact, everybody wanted to argue since almost everypony wanted him executed, but in his head, he didn't have any ground to stand on but his own words. She had the decency not to chain his hands or legs, but the guards by him levitated him; carrying him to another room.

---

"Wow! What are the odds of that portal throwing us into civilization?" Tails thought scanning a little village below him, "And on top of that, a civilization made up of intelligent animals."

He spent hours searching the last place he received transmission. The device was equipped with a tracking system that reveals the location of someone's last signal, but found no trace of him after sweeping through sweet apple acres. Tales tried calling him with his ear set, but no answer.

"Hope he's O.K." Talks said to himself.

Tails also checked the mountain top, but no luck. The sun was beginning to set.

Maybe I can talk to the locals below. He thought, Maybe they might have saw something.

There was a large tree house right below him, standing on a hill top. He landed at the door step, politely knocking. After several seconds the door opened, but he saw no one in front of him. He looked down and saw a little white rabbit staring at him with a stern look.

"Uh, Hi." Tails greeted, "I was wondering if I can ask you a couple of questions."

Of course, the bunny didn't say anything, only glaring at him with an aggravated expression.

"Well, you see? I'm looking for somebody. Have you seen a blue hedgehog? About my height, runs really fast."

The bunny's eyes widen in surprise. It raised a paw at him to signal him to wait while it hopped back inside the house. It came back out seconds later holding a newspaper in its hands. Tails took it and read the front cover; he couldn't believe what he was reading.

"But…Sonic would never do anything like that! I've known him for years, he saved me and my world countless of times. This must be come kind of mistake."

The white bunny studied him for a couple of seconds. It can tell between a liar and an honest creature simply by glaring into a strangers eyes. It grabbed Tails by the hand and led him inside. Animals gathered around him, curious of their new visitor. Fluttershy, who was upstairs caring for a sick snake, came down to see what the commotion was about. When she saw a brightly colored two-tailed creature standing in the middle of the living room; she flew down to him, completely astonished of what she found.

"Oh…My." Fluttershy quietly mumbled staring at the exotic creature.

Tails took notice of her and smiled. Her pink mane was covering half of her face.

"Are you the owner of the house?" Tails asked.

Fluttershy squeaked in fright and took off upstairs…The thing talks!

"Wait, I'm not going to hurt you!" He called, "I just needed to ask you a couple of questions."

The white rabbit went straight upstairs, dragging the little pony down by her long tail, then pushed her to him by her back leg, thus blocking her from running back up.

"M-maybe we got off from the wrong foot." Tails said to her, "I'm Tails."

The pale pony only mumbled something, he couldn't even hear her.

"I'm sorry, can you come again?"

She mumbled again, but a little louder.

"I can't hear you. One more time."

He still couldn't hear her. Tail's brought his ears closer to her, "Can you speak up?"

The rabbit lost its patients and kicked her back leg.

"FLUTTERSHY!" She screamed in pain.

Tails jumped back, her shrill almost shattered his ear drums. He regain his friendly poster, "N-nice to meet you too."

They stood there for a second in silence. The white rabbit grabbed a newspaper from the floor and gave it to Tails, reminding him why he was there.

"Oh! I need to ask you a couple of things, is that O.K?"

"Um…" She noticed that Angel was behind her again, glaring at her with its foot reared back. She turned her attention back to Tails, "O.K."

Tails took a seat on the couch while Fluttershy sat on a wooden chair beside it. He explained his story, going into detail about fighting Dr. Eggman, waking up in a middle of a swamp, and asked about the newspaper of Sonic being carried away unconscious by two soldiers

"S…Someone stolen the element of magic yesterday." Fluttershy explained, "It's a sacred crown that assembles five other special artifacts to keep harmony throughout Equestia. When it was stolen, the whole kingdom went on high alert before finding your friend."

"But why would they arrest him, though?" Tails asked

"…The attacker was a hedgehog as well." Fluttershy answered rather hesitantly, "As I'm sorry to say, he's the prime suspect at this time."

There is only one other hedgehog I know that has done this. Tails thought, But…Why?

"…Shadow."

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

"He has to be the only hedgehog from my team to have done this." Tails explained, "His speed is almost as fast as Sonic's. He has the same shape and features of him…Did anybody get a good look of him."

"Oh, no. Princess Luna only made out his shape during his escape; he was way too fast."

"Then that's why they arrested him instead." Tails concluded, "Where is he now?"

"I believe he's in the Canterlot Dungeon." Fluttershy answered.

Tails stood up and paced the floor, deep in thought. He tried to contact Sonic again with his head set, but no answer. "I need to find a way to prove his innocents. Is there any way I can talk to Sonic so I can get a little more information; maybe there's something we're missing."

"I-I'm afraid you can't do that." Fluttershy said to him, "No citizen can visit a prisoner in the Canterlot dungeon, but I know someone who might be able to help you."

"Who?"

"Twilight Sparkle." Fluttershy said to him, "She's Princess Celestia closes subject. If you want a chance to talk to Sonic, she's your best chance."

"O.K." Tails happily agreed, about to walk out, "Can you take me to her."

"O…O.K." She sheepishly agreed.

Luna's moon was out in full view when they began walking outside. Fluttershy was about to fly away before she remembered the yellow creature.

"Um…Sorry."

"What?" Tails asked.

"I…I forgot you were a land creature."

"Oh! Wait a minute."

Tails rotated his tails until they were fast enough to push him off the ground. A little wind blew underneath him as he escalated above her. Fluttershy's mouth dropped open, as well as every creature below her who saw him.

"Oh…LY CRAP!"

---

After walking on a dirt path; Knuckles and Amy came upon a kingdom built on a side of a mountain. They read a sign greeting them, reading:

"WELCOME TO CANTERLOT"

"I hope we can find somewhere to sleep here." Knuckles said yawning, "We've been traveling around this mountain for hours looking for a place to rest."

Amy didn't say anything; she was gazing upon the city.

"…Sonic's in there." She said suddenly.

He gave her a curious look, "How do you know? We just woke up from unconsciousness a couple of hours ago."

She placed a hand on her chest, "I…I FEEL him."

Knuckles slowly backed away from her, and kept that distance walking over the bridge. Rows of armored guards blocked their path, but let them in when they didn't see them as a threat. Knuckles and Amy became bugged eyed when they realized what this world is colonized by, but kept their poker faces when they pass the guards.

"Foreigners?" One guard asked whispering.

"Probably." Another answered.

Knuckles and Amy strolled down the concrete path of Canterlot. If Amy was five years younger, she would be hopping off of walls. She outgrew her inmaturity (well, some of it), but still stared around in awe.

"We need to find someplace to stay." Knuckles said to her, unimpressed, "It's getting dark."

"No." Amy firmly denied, "We need to look for Sonic."

"We can ask someone around here for information." He combated, "If we come up empty, we're checking in."

"Hmp!" Amy pouted

No sooner, they came across a well dress Unicorn sitting by a stool; sipping hot tea while reading a newspaper.

"Excuse me, sir." Knuckles greeted him approaching, "We were wondering if you saw a blue hedgehog. Spikey hair, giant shoes."

The stallion took one glance at him, and then rudely turned his head back to his papers.

Knuckles clamped his teeth together, but forced himself to smile, "We're only going to take a minute of your time."

The stallion kept his eyes on his papers, but answered him, "Sorry…I don't speak to commoners."

"Commoners?!" Knuckles raised his voice, "We're not even citizens!"

"Did I say commoners?" The stallion said in an elegant tone, "I meant, dare I say…A dirt shoving peasant . I can smell your filth from here."

Amy put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from smacking him silly. The stallion simply stood up and walked off, holding his head up high. The newspaper was left on the table. Amy grabbed it and skimmed through it.

"Hey, Sonic's on the front paper!" Any shouted.

"Huh?"

Knuckles snatch it from her and read it. He read the details on the bottom, just as shocked as she was.

"That doesn't make any sense." He said thinking, "Why would he steal a precious artifact?"

"My Sonic is not a thief!" Amy shouted.

Knuckles continued to read through the material. After reading everything on the front page, he chunked it aside.

"He's hold up in the Canterlot Dungeon." He said, "We need to see if we can get inside and talk to him…Maybe bust him out if we need to."

"Couldn't agree more to that!" Amy answered him.

While they were walking towards center of town, a tall-brown pony bumped into Amy; knocking both off their feet and hooves. They slowly stood up, and the mare sneered at her through her glasses.

"Excuse me, young lady! You need to-"

Then the mare took notice of her dress.

"Sweet Celestia! That's the most disgusting dress I've ever seen! I've seen fowls dress themselves better! It look like you were about to strut around In Las Pegasus looking for some Stallion to pay for you to stay with them in a cheap hotel! Do you even consider modesty? Any filly can simply walk over and peep up your skirt!"

Knuckles saw Amy's eyes twitching…But the only thing she simply did was step closer to her, and pulled out her giant hammer, gently knocking it on her hands.

"You ever seen on of these?" She asked smiling.

"My word, what is that thing?" She asked adjusting her glasses, "That's a very big ma-"

WHAM!

The loud smack echoed for miles; spectators looked on as they found a mare's head and shoulders buried underneath the cold-hard concrete. The next thing they saw was a very satisfied pink creature walking away with a mallet hanging over her shoulders, as well as a red creature walking beside it, covering its eyes with its fist in disgrace. Everypony just simply returned to their day as if nothing has happened.

---

In the essence of space above, Dr. Robotnik finished repairing the last of his med bots, ready for service. Unit 021 rolled by him, opening his compartment to reveal a pile of neatly stacked papers.

"Master, I have finished scanning the world below us for life forms. It's heavily vegetated and thriving with animals. Oxygen is present and the world is rich with precious ores."

"Any sign of intelligent life?" Robotnik asked.

"Affirmative. Our scanners have visual conformation of large castles and villages. We are far more technology advanced, but the ship detected a very powerful energy source one day ago."

"What kind of power?" He asked curiously, reading the papers.

"The information can't be evaluated." It answered, "But a large portion of that energy is emitting from a large island, specifically a city built on a side of a mountain. The energy source's presence drastically dropped just last night. Further investigation is needed to confirm the source."

Robotnik read through the last piece of the report. His eyebrows spiked upwards when he saw the charts. Whatever the ship detected, it was huge. What puzzled him the most was the drastic drop…He thought for several seconds, then drew a conclusion.

"This energy chart is too much like the emeralds." He explained, "They are at its highest peak together. If they were separated, that connection is lost." He turns back to his med bots, "Repair the surviving solders; if the animals inside them are dead, count it as lost."

They hover above him and went to work.

"Now, unit 021, we will be paying this city a little visit tomorrow. I believe they have something that belongs to us."

Meanwhile, in the cover of darkness floating above them, was a strange snake like being; ease dropping on their conversation.

"Oh. This is priceless!" Discord laughed while popping another popcorn seed in his mouth, "I don't even have to get Shadow to fetch the other elements; this idiot will be doing it for me!"

He disappeared in a clear smoke, teleporting back down to Equestia. Shadow was waiting for him in the ever free forest; sitting on a log while staring at his Chaos Emerald. No pony would even consider walking through this forest at night, but it was a child's playground for Shadow. A timber dog strutted to his location earlier and tried to make a meal out of him; it's nothing more but a camp fire after he dealt with it. Discord appeared in front of him.

"I must say! You had the decency to fix us up a campfire." He pleasantly commented while sticking a burning marshmallow through a stick, putting it over the fire.

"Are we going to overthrow those two princesses?" Shadow asked in a deep voice, "I'm ready to thrash them."

"Oh, but I'm afraid you can't do that yet." Discord answered him, "Even with that curious little diamond in your hand, you're still not powerful enough to take them on."

"If only you've seen me; you'll think twice. I gave that dark-blue pony a good thrashing."

The burning marshmallow over the fire was put out suddenly. Discord at the whole thing in one bite…Just the right temperature.

"Well, that's because you've caught them off guard." He explained, "You're talking about two alicorns that can raise the sun or moon with a flick of their horns. You looked really exhausted skiing back here."

"I would have taken them out if I wanted too." Shadow grunted standing up.

Discord grinned, "Common, Admit it."

Shadow then let out a deep breath, "…I don't have to answer your question."

---

PLEASE READ THIS!

Allright. I have a poll out on my profile that I need every reader to check out. It's concerning about plans about my next work when I get through with this one. IF YOU CAN VOTE, VOTE! I REALLY NEED TO HEAR YOUR OPPINION, DON'T PASS THIS BY.

Another chapter down, dear readers. I would like to thank everyone for reading, it's very encouraging to read everybody's comments, whether good or bad. I will say that my next chapter will be posted next friday. November 23. I always promise to meet the deadline. (no need for threats, sondash fan.) XD

A shout out to Vinsfield and his wonder mlp crossover, Almost Human. It's freaken hilarious and very interesting to read. Give him some encouragement, readers.

New MLP Episodes Saterday morning on the HUB. Don't miss out!