Chaos and Discord: Infection
Chapter 3: 3. Chapter 2
Previous Chapter Next ChapterChapter 2: Cloudanium (What ever happened to Shadow?)
Tails moved towards the throne room, he had been personally summoned by the Princesses, for what reason Tails didn't know. He slowly opened the large doors, peeking inside to check if the Princesses were present. "Tails I presume?" Celestia asked, startling the yellow fox. "Please, come in. Do not be afraid." Luna spoke softly, knowing that her voice could get extremely loud, which might scare the poor fox more. He opened the door fully and entered the room, he moved towards the Princesses and asked "You needed me? Did I break some law or something? If I did I'm really sorry!" Tails said, he felt nervous and didn't know what had happened. "No, no! Do not worry. We called you here to ask you a few questions is all. We understand that you and Twilight were working on a cure separately from the main research group, correct?" Celestia asked. Tails nodded, he felt a little more relaxed.
Luna began to ask the next question. "Have you made any progress?" Tails slowly shook his head before saying "I had a theory for a form of armor made of dragon scales… However the rabbit was able to bite through them quickly… I'm not sure if there is any substance stronger than dragon scales here…" Celestia frowned. "There is one substance, but gathering it is very dangerous… It can be found near Cloudsdale. You would have to get past a very dangerous beast, so I do not want anypony going after it." Celestia replied. Tails was curious but knew that he should let it go. "You know Sonic don't you?" Luna asked, making Tails feel a twinge of sadness. "Yes… I'm his brother… Not by birth… He took me under his wing as both a sidekick and a family member… My special ability helped him out a lot." Tails answered.
"Special ability? Could you show us?" Luna asked, leaning forward. "I guess… I mean it's nothing special…" Tails muttered before spinning his tails quickly, he felt his feet leave the ground and knew he was airborne. Luna and Celestia were shocked at this sight, a literal flying fox. "That's incredible… You may actually be able to set foot on Cloudsdale." Luna said, her tone was void of emotion, not from fear or depression, but from awe. The small fox landed, he seemed confused about something. "What do you mean?" Tails asked, raising an eyebrow. "Only creatures with the ability of flight can walk on the clouds that make up the floating city… If you will… We might find out sooner or later…" Luna answered, while Tails began to shuffle nervously. "Do not worry, we are almost finished. Are you aware of the latest events?" Celestia asked. Tails shook his head, the two Princesses exchanged uneasy glances. "Sonic… Had turned… He plans on leading these… Infected… On an attack against all of Equestria." Luna answered, Tails was shocked. He couldn't believe what he had heard. "This can't be true! It has to some form of cruel, cruel joke!" Tails shouted, beginning to back away from the royal sisters. Celestia frowned and replied "I'm sorry… It isn't. We aren't sure when he hill attack but his threat has been made clear. We need to prepare for war if it comes to that… It seems war is more common these days… Eggman… The Changelings… Now… These zombie like creatures…" Tails turned and ran, the Princess called after him, but he didn't even glance back. Celestia could see something glinting in the light behind him, the tears hit the floor, leaving small wet spots. "I'm worried about him… He might do something foolish…" Luna said, her tone was sad. Celestia stared at the place he had once been, and then began to whisper "We've reduced him to nothing but a scared child, searching for comfort in the cold, dark, world full of danger…"
Tails stood next to Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Speedy, and a Pegasus who knew Twilight. He had a tan bag that was strapped over his shoulder. "Tails… I'm not sure this is smart… I mean fighting the Cloud Guardians just to get a material… Doesn't really sound like a good idea…" Twilight said, looking at the yellow fox. "You said they attack ponies right?" Tails asked, getting a nod from Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was scowling, she faced a section of the clouds and said "They attack anything that they feel like attacking, not to mention they mess with the weather a lot, which makes the Pegasus reputation bad!" Tails looked straight ahead, he then said "That's enough for me. Sounds like taking these things down would be doing everyone a favor." Twilight walked in front of him and shouted "We don't even know if you can step foot on clouds!" Tails smiled before saying "We're about to find out." Tails began to fly off towards a nearby cloud, he floated above it, gently lowering himself until he felt his feet the cushy surface, he stopped spinning his tails and let out an excited cry. "I can walk on clouds! I can! I can! This is amazing!"
Tails began leaping from cloud to cloud, grabbing onto the edges, pulling himself up, and leaping to the next one. "WHOO! YEAH! THIS IS EPIC!" Tails shouted, until he noticed the others ahead. "You ready to find these things?" Rainbow Dash asked, getting an arrogant nod from Tails. Tails began to fly and moved along with the others. They searched for about ten minutes when Rainbow Dash noticed something. Tails was starting to fall behind in the group, he was panting and covered in sweat. "You all right?" Rainbow Das asked, getting no response from the young fox. He landed on a nearby cloud and collapsed onto his stomach. Rainbow Das rolled her eyes before moving over to Tails. "You tired already?" She asked, poking the fox with a hoof. "I've never… Flown this… This long… Without… Without a… Break…" Tails said between breaths, his eyes were shut, but not tight. "You want me to wait…?" Rainbow Dash asked, landing on the cloud.
"No… Go ahead without me…" Tails said, filling his lungs with air. Twilight, Speedy, and Star Mane, as Tails learned her name was, had landed on a nearby cloud and watched. "Maybe we should all take a break…" Twilight suggested, which made Rainbow Dash groan in frustration. Twilight had a pair of satchels and opened one, pulling out a bottle of apple cider. "Is that…?" Rainbow Dash asked, feeling her mouth start to water. Tails sat up and began digging around in his own bag, he pulled out a bottle of water and began to drink. "You want to take a break now?" Twilight asked, smiling at her friend.
A single figure walked through the forest, he cut apart branches with a machete, and he heard a growl and dodged an attack made by a decomposing pony. He frowned and swung the machete decapitating the pony in a single motion. The pony's body rose onto its feet and placed the neck stump near the head, the muscle began to grab onto each other, pulling the head back onto the body, the muscle began to mend, he let out a gasp and accepted that he had only on option. As much as it pained him to do so he ran, he ran until a hiss broke him from his concentration. A Cockatrice glared at him, it stared dead on, but nothing happened. He had spent a long time in this forest, he found he was immune to many things, one of them being the stare of a Cockatrice. It began to back away when it realized its gaze had no effect. He quickly slaughtered the beast, its blood covering his blade and the ground. He heard the growl again and turned to face the pony. It moved closer to him, until it stepped in a puddle of Cockatrice blood, it yowled in agony, as bits of its leg began to fall off, melting into a gray slime. He rushed forward and sliced the pony's throat making fall to the ground, slowly melting into a gray goo. He looked at the blood then at his blade. He knew this might have been of some importance, but he'd have to research it first. The Dark One moved through the forest again, searching for another Cockatrice.
Tails finished the bottle of water and the sandwich he had brought with. A little picnic in the sky. Tails looked at the others and saw them still enjoying their apple cider, and food. He placed the empty bottle in his bag and brushed the crumbs off his lap. "Any time you're all ready to go!" Tails shouted, giving them a thumbs up. Twilight emptied the bottle of cider and placed it in one of her satchels, before looking at Star Mane, Rainbow Dash, and Speedy. "Uncle Tails?" Speedy asked, getting Tails' attention. "Yes?" Tails asked, looking at his niece. "Is this going to help Dad?" She asked, gazing up at him with her miss matched eyes. "It'll help us, so we can help Sonic." He replied, looking off at the sea of clouds ahead. "Does anyone even know what these things look like?" Tails asked, placing his hands on his hips.
"Well, there are four in total. Stormus, the lion of rain. Clapus, the crocodile of thunder. Flashus, the shark of lighting. Then the leader, Cloudus, eagle of clouds." Rainbow Dash said with pure excitement in her voice. "How do you know all this?" Tails asked, perplexed at how Rainbow Dash would know so much about ancient creatures. "It can all be found in Daring Do and the battle of the Cloud Guardians." Rainbow Dash replied, she gasped and pointed out where a pure white fin was poking out from the clouds. "THAR SHE BLOWS!" Star Mane shouted, with a goofy smile on her face. "Technically that was used when a whale is spotted." Tails said before noticing the fin was moving towards them. The large shark jumped out of the clouds, that's when Tails noticed why it was one of the Cloud Guardians. Its entire body was made from clouds, its eyes however were a deep ocean blue. It let out a loud roar before diving into the clouds, and disappearing beneath them.
"We need to keep our eyes peeled. It could be anywhere!" Tails shouted. He then saw the fin rise from the puffy "water" it was moving at a steady rate towards them. Tails waited as it jumped at him, teeth flashing ready to devour the young fox. Tails jumped onto the back of the beast and felt it jerk around wildly. "Tails?! What are you doing!?" Twilight asked, she was clearly in distress. Rainbow Dash attempted to tackle Flashus, but was smacked away from the shark's giant tail. Tails took his knowledge about regular sharks and did the most logical thing. He jabbed his pointer and middle fingers into its right eye, making it yell in pain. It tried to fling him off, jerking and throwing its body in every possible direction, but Tails managed to keep his hold on it. Flashus let out a roar before diving into the clouds, taking Tails with him. It was impossible for Tails to see through the clouds, he would have to wait for Flashus to surface. Flashus broke the surface of the clouds and Tails shifted his weight to his left side so he was leaning to his left. Flashus looked at Tails and was soon fully blinded when Tails' fingers once again were jammed into its eye socket. Flashus fell onto its side, sitting on the clouds, taking heavy gasping breaths. Tails began to run past it, leaving Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Speedy, and Star Mane rushing to catch up. Tails avoided the talons of Cloudus, which nearly grabbed him by the head. He kept running though, when a single thought came to mind. SHIT! I don't even know what this stuff looks like! How can I find it!? He ran past Clapus who snapped his jaws together making the loudest thunder clap Tails had ever heard. He had to cover his ears while Clapus snapped his jaws repeatedly, making the sound over and over. He noticed something peculiar ahead it was small clouds, however they were a forest green. He grabbed one and threw it behind him. It hit Cloudus dead on, and an audible CRACK could be heard.
Cloudus began to wobble, she was unstable making her crash into the clouds below. Tails still ran on, not looking back for anything, he was soon confronted with Stormus who charged at him. Tails jumped over the lion and kept running. He heard sounds of fighting and dared to take a peek behind him. He the four guardians lying in a pile, with Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Speedy, and Star Mane waiting. "Thanks guys… I don't think I could have ran much longer…" Tails said nervously. "Might warriors… You have proven yourself worthy of the Cloudanium…" Cloudus spoke, her voice was smooth and beautiful. "However you must decide which one is the real Cloudanium… Should you choose wrong you will be slaughtered immediately…" Cloudus added, making five large different colored clouds appear. "Choose wisely…" She said to the group. Rainbow Dash flew in front of her and said "I have a better idea…" She turned around and bucked Cloudus in the face knocking her out. "Grab the clouds! Quick! Grab the clouds!" Rainbow Dash ordered, the group didn't hesitate and each one grabbed a cloud. "Now let's get out of here before they wake up." Rainbow Dash said flying off with the others following close behind.
Tails was in the library, he inspected each of the clouds carefully. "Red appears to be some form of hard candy, strawberry… Yum! Blue is nothing but water… Purple is just a regular cloud colored… Yellow is very sticky, but has a nice lemon flavor… That means green must be Cloudanium!" Tails shouted he smiled and attempted to break the material. He found that his current tool couldn't shatter the metal. He let out a loud sigh and looked through the large selection of books searching for the material. He threw several books across the library floor, he hadn't found anything but he wouldn't stop searching. Spike entered the room and felt anger rise in him. Tails was very nice to the young dragon but one thing he didn't do was clean up the books he flung across the room in his search for the right piece of textual evidence. Spike was expected to clean up the mess that was his job after all. He began picking up after Tails, placing each book in its proper place. "I clean up all the time and I never get a 'Thank you Spike.' Is that so much to ask for?" Spike grumbled to himself. He watched as Tails looked through book after book, trying to find the information. "Why don't you call Gizmo? He might be able to help." Spike suggested, making Tails look up. "Great idea! Spike could you get him for me? Please?" Tails asked, the small purple dragon rolled his eyes before moving for the door. "Don't worry I'll clean up the mess." Tails shouted after him. Spike smiled before stepping out into the town.
Spike walked through the town until he found himself at a green house. He moved forward and knocked on the door, he could hear metal clanking as somepony came to answer the door. "Just a second! I'm almost there!" Gizmo shouted from inside the door. Gizmo opened the door and looked at the small dragon. "Spike! How you doing my little buddy? Please come in!" Gizmo said stepping to the side allowing Spike to enter. Spike noticed the various metallic machines around the house and felt uneasy. "Sorry about the mess. My latest invention didn't work out so well… Let's move into the living room, it is a lot cleaner in there." Gizmo muttered, leading Spike through the metal clogged hall. They entered a room with green wallpaper, a large fireplace, and two comfy looking chairs. Spike noticed a picture on the wall and asked "Who is that?" Gizmo looked at the photo and smiled. "That is my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great Grandfather. Gizmo Inventington the seven thousand and twelfth. All the sons in the family were named Gizmo Inventington, it's sort of a family tradition." Gizmo explained making Spike gasp. "You're an Inventington!? One of the richest families in Equestria! The only one richer than them is Filthy Rich himself!" Spike shouted.
Gizmo sighed before saying "That's why I didn't tell anypony… Once ponies began finding out that I was an Inventington they treated me better than they did before all because of my family's money." Spike frowned before saying "Gizmo, it doesn't matter what amount of money you have… Think about all your family has done! All the things they've invented!" Gizmo looked up and said "It doesn't matter… Promise me you won't tell anyone…" Spike nodded and began to explain why he had come to visit. "Tails needs my help? Well let's not keep him waiting!" Gizmo shouted, rushing out of his home. Spike followed with a large grin on his face, he had met an Inventington.
The Dark One found himself at a shack. "What's this doing in the middle of the Everfree Forest?" The Dark One wondered. "Back stranger go away! You will not harm me today!" A voice shouted, making the Dark One turn. A Zebra stood there, she was glaring at him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just wondering why you would choose to live in a place as dangerous as this." The Dark One responded. The Zebra seemed to calm down, but she said something that startled the Dark One. "Through the doom and gloom you wallow… I'm surprised to see you out here, Shadow." The Dark One took a step back and asked "How do you know my name?" The Zebra moved forward and said "It is known throughout all the land, the one who gave the Changelings a hand. You went into self-exile, but the ponies of towns haven't spoken of you in a while. Zecora is my name, brewing potions is my game." Shadow looked at Zecora and sighed. "I apologize for scaring you. I don't suppose I could stay with you could I? My attempts at shelter are almost always destroyed, or I have to move on due to wild animals."
Zecora nodded and said "You may stay as long as you want, just the wild animals try not to taunt." Zecora said with a smile. "I can find some way to help you." Shadow said, Zecora seemed to think before saying "Perhaps your form of rent, will be fetching me he occasional ingredient." Shadow let out a nod before Zecora opened the door to her home and led Shadow inside.
Gizmo and Tails began moving the metal spike towards the Cloudanium, it made contact but didn't break the substance, making the two groan in anger. "We've tried everything!" Gizmo shouted, he looked at Tails who stared at the green cloud. "Wait! We need a pegasus!" Tails suddenly shouted, running out of the library. He returned a few moments later with Rainbow Dash who had been woken up. "Did you really have to interrupt my nap? This had better be pretty important!" Rainbow Dash shouted her mane was a mess, but she didn't care. "It is! You said Pegasi had the ability to control clouds right?" Tails asked getting a nod from Rainbow Dash. "Well then you should be able to break the Cloudanium!" Tails finished. Rainbow Dash looked at the green and bucked it, the cloud shattered like glass, revealing something inside. It appeared to be a glowing gold metal that was already in ingots. "The cloud was a form of chest! How did you figure it out?" Gizmo asked, Tails smiled before saying "It sounded hollow when we tried to break it." Gizmo smiled before muttering "There's enough here to make a full set of armor for seventy times seventy amount of soldiers in Canterlot!" Tails grabbed one of the ingots, it was surprisingly light. He held it out to the rabbit, it bit down on the ingot and whimpered in pain. The rabbit let go of the ingot and its teeth then fell from the mouth.
Tails reached out a hand to the rabbit and felt its gums attach to his hand. "Harmless now… The real question is… Will we have time to make enough?" He asked looking up at the others who as well looked around nervously. "We should get started right away then." Gizmo said quickly, he got nods from everyone and they began to lift the light ingots and make some armor.
Sonic moved forward, he led the group of Infected, they marched through Canterlot, not harming anypony, but the streets were deserted. Sonic moved towards the castle, the guards let him pass, fearing to become one of them. Sonic pushed open the doors of the throne room, startling the three Princesses and the captain of the royal guard. "Hello, did you all miss us?" Sonic asked, walking forward. "Why are you here Sonic?" Luna asked, she glared at him not once taking her eyes off his movement. "Relax Luna. I'm not here to hurt anyone… At least not yet." Sonic said his cocky smile changing into an angry frown. "Then why are you here?" Cadence asked, she look worried, not scared. "To negotiate. I've infected how many of your people Celestia? About three thousand? This could all stop, the pain, the wars, the death…" Sonic replied with a grin. Celestia looked at him and saw the changes where horrifying. The fangs that prevented his mouth from closing, she could see his heart it was beating signaling that he was alive, she saw his eye it had become a reptile like slit.
"Explain." Celestia ordered. "You obviously don't want to go to war again. You don't want them to suffer. You don't want anypony to die. I can make all that stop. You just need to join us willfully." Sonic said, telling the details. "Never!" Celestia shouted. Sonic began to laugh. "You really think this will get you on our good side?" He asked. "Leave. Don't ever return!" Celestia shouted, getting onto her hooves. Sonic now was angry he stood and moved closer to the princess before saying "You've just dug this entire city's grave." He then turned and walked out from the room with the others following.
Tails placed on the armor and moved forward. "Lightweight… Easy to move in… We may have done it! The perfect armor to use!" Tails shouted. "That would depend… How many bites will it take to break the armor?" Gizmo asked, getting some nervous glances. "We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there." Tails replied, taking off the armor. "Now what do we do?" Gizmo asked. "We work on a cure." Tails replied.
Shadow moved through the forest, he avoided the Manticore's claws before kicking it in the jaw. "Back off!" He shouted, while the beast reared back and pounced at him. Shadow took the green Chaos Emerald and shouted "CHAOS CONTROL!" He disappeared in a flash of blue light and reappeared behind the beast. He landed on its back and grabbed the mane, yanking upwards. The Manticore yowled in pain as it ran forward. Shadow jumped off as the monster hit a tree, causing a large bee hive to fall on its head. The hive shattered, scattering larva, chunks of the hive, and globs of honey in several different directions. The adults swarmed the beast, it roared in agony before running off into the deep forest. Shadow looked at the broken hive and held up a list. Green Honey was written there, he bent down to get a better look at the substance. It was a shade of light green, almost the color of the Chaos Emerald he owned. He took a wooden bowl and scooped a small amount of the honey into it. Shadow watched as a deer emerged from the woods, it stared at him but realizing that he was no threat moved closer to the fallen hive. It stuck out its tongue to lap up the leftover honey. "I wouldn't if I were you." Shadow said to the animal.
The deer licked the sticky green substance and quickly back away gagging. It took heavy breaths and began to wobble. Its knees shook before it collapsed still taking the heavy breaths which were now slowing. Shadow rolled his eyes and moved to the fallen deer. He had a small sack with him, opening it he placed a small purple leaf in his mouth. He chewed until it had become a paste, he then spit it into his hand and placed it into the deer's mouth. The deer began to take slow shallow breaths as it started to recover. Shadow stood up and began walking away, he had remembered Zecora's warning. "This honey you must not taste, your throat will swell without haste. Making it hard for you to breathe, to stop it eat this purple leaf. Chew it until it is a paste, then your life you will not waste." He couldn't help but smile. Zecora showed no fear of him, no matter what he did she seemed to mind him none. He noticed the animals didn't really mind him either, of course he was speaking about the non-predatory animals. The Manticores, Cockatrices, and various other creatures still saw him as an enemy, they attempted to attack him on sight.
Shadow moved through the thick plants, and found himself at something very peculiar. It appeared to be some form of container made entirely from stone. He grabbed and edge and began pushing, it was heavy even with his amazing strength. He pushed it off and heard the stone slab break, bits of rubble skittered across the ground. He looked inside and saw what appeared to be a skeleton. It wore a lot of jewelry, almost the same style as Zecora wore. "Is this some form of grave?" Shadow asked himself, until he noticed the bracelets and a necklace that were different in color. They were black and red, the bracelets had symbols that made something in his mind stir. The necklace had several different charms on them, very familiar charms. He gasped as he realized they each were something he had seen before. The symbols on the bracelets was his own symbol, the one he had adopted from the Black Arms. The charms matched those that Black Doom wore exactly. Even the tattered clothes on the skeleton resembled Black Doom's robes. He reached inside the stone coffin and removed the bracelets.
He removed the golden rings from his wrists and placed them on the Zebra's stomach, or at least where the stomach should be. He put the bracelets on and began to walk away. Shadow… A raspy voice whispered. Shadow turned to see the skeleton was sitting up. Brother… You have arrived… It spoke to him. Shadow took a step back and stared. Brother…? You do not speak…? Is something wrong…? Shadow found his voice and shouted "Who are you? How do you know my name?" I am one of you… One of the Black Arms… They have watched this planet from afar… Shadow was shocked he then asked "What do you mean?" I was created by our father… Black Doom… "He is NOT my father! He is one of my ancestors, but not my father!" Shadow shouted. I am one of you… You can keep thee bands… They will increase your power… We need only wait for father to come… It began to crumble into a cloud until it was nothing but dust blown away from the wind.
"What did he mean? Wait for Black Doom? Impossible… I killed him… I need to get back to Zecora. She needs this green honey…" Shadow said with a shake of his head. He moved towards the location of Zecora's shack, knowing that something horrible would happen in the future. He found Zecora standing outside of her house, she looked at Shadow worriedly and asked "Shadow, are you all right? A spirit has given me a fright." "What do you mean?" Shadow asked. "A strange creature who claimed to know you. Shadow what should we do?" Zecora asked. Shadow stared in the distance, he could swear that he had seen something move. He shook his head and replied "Nothing, for now. I got you that green honey."
Hey all, just wanted to apologize for the long gap, I just wanted to spend Thanksgiving relaxing with my family. After that I wasn't well… But I've gotten this chapter done and it is time for an update. My Wind Waker thing will not be created due to me never having completed the game and my copy of the game breaking. So instead I will be publishing a different crossover. I am a fan of the show "Hero 108". They had all sorts of different animals, but not a single hedgehog. You all know by now that Sonic is a king… Can you see where I'm going with this? For those of you who do… Congrats! Look out for "Hero 108: Rise of Chaos"!
Another little side note, I have been getting complaints about Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Gates to Equestria. It is currently on hiatus, I need to work on some other things first, so don't worry I will be working on it again. What else is there to say now except I really appreciate all the support I'm getting for this story! I'm going to be making a fourth story in the Chaos and Discord series! BYE!