I'm finally ready, guys. I've been looking for the source material online for months, and I finally found it. I know what you're thinking; "Why didn't you just wait until the movie came out and then looked?" Well, what can I say? The meaning of the phrase "Patience is a virtue" seems to be lost on this generation. Either way, let's get right into it. And just so you know, any text inside parentheses is me, the author talking. Okay, let's go.

When an evil unicorn with a broken horn arrives and takes over Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle and her friends must journey south to the Badlands outside of Equestria to find help from some unusual creatures. Hopefully, it will help to have a hero from another dimension there. That hero, of course, is Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now really quick, a little rundown on the Sonic I'm using here: The design is a more realistic sort of Sonic created by EvanStanley, and I'm making him an absolute badass. Through his career of jumping across the Multiverse as a superhero, he's had plenty of opportunities to train under some of the best combatants in gaming, comic and anime history. In addition to his usual martial art of incorporating high-speed spinning into karate, he's learned Kame-Sennin Ryu from Son Goku in the "Dragon Ball" universe, Goken's variation of the Ansatsuken fighting style from Ryu in the "Street Fighter" universe, the Santoryu Three-Sword style from Roronoa Zoro in the "One Piece" universe, and of course he's learned how to channel the Speed Force thanks to training under the Flash and Quicksilver (I know Quicksilver can't use the Speed Force in canon, but it just makes it a lot easier to say every speedster in the Multiverse shares the same power source). So he's basically unstoppable. Especially when he gets his hands on all seven Chaos Emeralds, which will be in this story.

Speaking of which, let's just get on with it, shall we?

Insert "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" scene here.

Bridgekeeper: Get on with it!

Tim the Enchanter: Yes! Get on with it!

Huge Army: GET ON WITH IT!

Well, I guess a little more exposition wouldn't hurt.

God: GET ON WITH IT!

Okay, okay, fine. Sheesh. There's just no pleasing some people, huh?

Ch. 1: The Hero of Another World

Another beautiful, friend-filled day in the world of Equestria. As one can expect, especially when you live in the capital city of Canterlot, as today was the day of Princess Twilight Sparkle's first ever Friendship Festival. And her assistant, Spike the Dragon of course, who was racing through town with a load of scrolls in his arms as he landed on a blob of gelatin.

"'Scuse me!" he said as he ran through the crowd. "Dragon on the move! Important princess documents comin' through!"

"Whoa!" said an Earth Pony filly. "Everypony from Manehattan to Saddle Arabia is here!"

"I know, filly!" said her friend. "We almost couldn't book a stable!"

"Princess Twilight must have her hooves full with this giant festival," said a Pegasus mare as she and her friend flew past the castle.

"Are you kidding?" asked her friend. "She's smart and organized and cool under pressure. There's nothing she can't handle!" Well, all I can say about that Pegasus' comment is that it was partially true. Princess Twilight is smart and organized, but cool under pressure? Pfft. Extremely rare occurrence to say the least. When she starts rattling off worst-case scenarios, you're not gonna get a word in for at least thirty minutes. And that's if you're lucky. This is behavior we will now observe, as we slip through her plate-glass window in the castle hallway up to the throne room.

"Ommmmm…" she said to herself. (Huh. That's funny. Guess this is one of those rare occurrences). "Ohhh, mmmy goodness! I can't handle this!" (Ah nope, there we go). "Ooh! Nothing is working! I just have to keep it together. Just go in there. And ask. This is your Friendship Festival. Everypony's happiness rests in your hooves." Then she just smacked her face with her hoof and groaned as Spike ran in.

"Okay, Twilight," he said, showing her the charts in his arms. "Got all your charts and graphs."

"Oh, thank goodness you're here Spike!" said Twilight. "I'm just so nervous about this meeting."

"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout?" the dragon asked in a gangster tone.

Twilight sighed. "I'm about to ask the three most royal princesses of Equestria for a huge favor," she said. "What if they reject me?"

"It'll be fine," said Spike reassuringly. "Just remember the most important thing."

"Smile?!" asked Twilight nervously, giving a huge toothy smile that obviously creeped Spike out. Either that or the twitch under her eye, but the jury's still out.

"Eh… no," he said. "You're a princess too."

"Right!" said Twilight in a tone that I still cannot place. I'm pretty sure it's that one when you give a wrong answer to the class and get called out for it but don't want to sound angry or anything like that, but the jury's out on that one too. Anyway, back to the story. Twilight let out a deep exhale as she opened the doors to the throne room and was welcomed by the warm smiles of Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. "Good morning, princesses. Thank you all for seeing me. I have an idea that I think will make our Friendship Festival the most wonderful celebration Equestria has ever seen."

"Yes, Twilight," said Celestia happily. "We are very excited."

"Ponies have been arriving from all over all morning," said Cadence as she glanced out the window.

"I'd like to think it was to see us," said Luna before she chuckled. "But Songbird Serenade might be the bigger attraction."

"Yes, she is the 'mane' event," she said before giggling. (God, I hate puns). "And to make it extra special, I could use your help. Spike?" Spike then wheeled a whiteboard over and hummed a fanfare.

Just then, before Twilight could say anything else, a soldier of the Royal Guard entered. Cadence recognized him almost instantly.

"Knight Watch?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"Forgive the intrusion, Princess Cadence, but I've come with rather dire news," said the guard.

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight. "Songbird Serenade didn't cancel already, did she?"

"No, your Highness," said Knight Watch. "The Guards have captured an intruder in the city, but we're not sure what to make of it. We don't even know what it is."

"I resent being called 'it', just so you know, ya jackass!" called a male voice from beyond the door. Then they heard a donkey bray also outside. "Ooh, no offense, dude."

"None taken," said another voice.

"Anyway, we brought him here so that you might be able to give us some sort of idea," said Knight Watch. "Bring in the prisoner." Then two Pegasus guards walked in pulling some sort of creature in chains. Whatever he was, he had blue fur all over his body except on his chest, arms, muzzle and inside his large ears, which was tan, evident collarbones and ribs in his chest, long limber legs with feet encased in bright red soapbox shoes with white straps held down by gold buckles, along with small green lights in his heels. On his hands were large white gloves with the cuffs rolled up to his wrists. On his back and the back of his head were large spikes, and he had a small black nose and bright emerald green eyes. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Spike were a bit frightened, but Twilight was just fascinated.

"What in Equestria are you?" she asked.

"Equestria? So that's what this universe is called," said the creature. "Good to know. Now I'd be more than happy to inform you of who I am and where I'm from as long as your guards let me go. Seriously, these chains are actually surprisingly itchy."

"Well, you heard him, Knight Watch," said Twilight. "Release him."

"Trust me, your Highness, I would, but we found him wearing this belt," he said, levitating a belt out from behind him. "We're unsure of what these are, but we believe they might be weapons."

"You guys seriously do not understand Multiverse Theory or science, do you?" asked Sonic.

"No, we have Multiverse Theory, but we've just never seen items like these before," said Celestia as she levitated Sonic's belt in front of her.

"Okay, good to know," said the creature. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just liberate myself from these chains and I'll be more than happy to tell you everything."

"And how exactly do you hope to do that?" asked Knight Watch.

"With this," said the being as he closed his right hand into a fist, and then when he opened it, a large blue gem was revealed in it. "Chaos Control!" Then in a bright flash of blue light, the being disappeared and reappeared in front of Celestia, taking his belt back and snapping it around his waist. Then he slipped the gem into the spikes on his head. Everyone was amazed.

"How did you do that?" asked Celestia.

"That, my lady, is the power of the Chaos Emerald," said the creature as he pulled the gem back out of his spikes. "There are seven of these jewels in total, each one a different color, and each one containing the power of the cosmos. When all seven are gathered together in one place, one of two things can happen. Either A: When used by someone with an evil heart, they could bring about the apocalypse. Or B: When used by someone with a pure heart, i.e. me, they empower that individual with enough energy for them to be comparable to Gods."

"And alone, they can let someone teleport?" asked Cadence.

"Well, technically it's not real teleportation," said the being. "I just use this thing to warp the space-time continuum to slow down time and warp myself to another location. Plus, when I use its power, I can enhance my speed, shoot frickin' lasers out of my hands and endure the cold, unforgiving vacuum of space." Then he put the gem away. "But enough about these things, let's get to introductions. Sonic at your service. Superhero, warrior, interuniversal traveler, hedgehog of many talents."

"You're a hedgehog?" asked Luna, confused.

"Mobian, to be precise," said Sonic. "Back in my universe, standard animals like hedgehogs, bats, and foxes have evolved into humanoids, with clothing and insane superpowers."

"Powers? Like what?" asked Spike.

"How bout you ask those guys?" asked Sonic, pointing to the two guards who pulled him in, who looked completely exhausted. "And in case it wasn't obvious, my mother didn't name me Sonic for nothing." Then he zipped out of the room so fast, he just appeared as a cobalt blue blur and sent a huge shockwave echoing through the castle, then he zipped back and stopped with a loud tire-like screech with an ice cream in his hand.

"Whoa! And here I thought Rainbow Dash was the fastest in Equestria," said Spike.

"You would think that, but then again, when you knew her… Rainbow Dash is a her, right?" asked Sonic, to which Twilight nodded. "Okay cool, you did not know I, or my universe, existed."

"You make a fair point," said Twilight. "So then how did you get here?" Sonic scratched the back of his head.

"I'm actually kinda trying to piece that together myself," he said. "Last thing I remember is that I was helping my friend Tails with testing a prototype interdimensional teleporter, I push the wrong button and ba-Boom-ba! Next thing ya know, I'm in a back-alley downtown and there's a bunch of ponies setting up for some sort of fiesta. What's the deal with that anyway?"

"That's my new Friendship Festival," said Twilight. "My friends and I have been planning it for months, and we're finally putting it into action. Oh, by the way, we never did introduce ourselves. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. This is my assistant Spike, and these are my fellow princesses; Celestia of the Sun, Luna of the Moon and Cadence of Love."

"Well, nice to meet you all, but if I'm interrupting something, I can easily leave," said Sonic.

"No, please," said Celestia kindly. "I insist. Stay."

"Alright then," said Sonic as he leaned against the wall near a window.

"Now then Twilight," said Luna. "Your plan?"

"Huh? Oh yes, of course," said Twilight, levitating a dry-erase marker to the board and started drawing. "Songbird Serenade's performance is not scheduled to start until after you begin the sunset. And based on my precise calculation, to get the very best lighting for the stage, Princess Celestia, I was hoping you could make sure the sun stays about 28.1º to the south, and, Princess Luna, if you could raise the moon 62º to the north at the same time, it would reflect the sunlight on the other side and really frame the entire stage perfectly!"

"I-" started Luna.

"But wait! There's more!" said Twilight as she continued drawing. "Cadence, if you could use your crystal magic to create an aurora above the stage, the sun and the moon will shine through it and create a truly amazing light show!" Then Spike threw a claw-full of sparkles above the board.

"Introducing…" he said, jumping up to the top of the board with a cut-out of the famous pony pop-star. "Songbird Serenade!" Then he started singing before he lost his balance and fell off. "Ta-da…" he said weakly. Twilight quickly opened her wings to try and hide him from view as she gave a nervous grin. Sonic and the other princesses just stared at the board.

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Sonic, obviously confused.

"So you're saying you want us to move the sun and the moon for the party," said Luna.

"Well, I'd do it myself, except I don't have your magic," said Twilight and she gave a cute snort.

"Can't they just give you their power for the day or something?" asked Sonic.

"Already did that once," said Spike. "And that was an insane emergency."

"Oh okay," said Sonic.

"Twilight, each of us uses our powers to serve Equestria in our own way," said Celestia as she and the other princesses activated their magic around their horns. "You are the Princess of Friendship. You already have all the magic you need."

"So… that'd be a no?" asked Twilight

Ch. 2: The Friendship Festival

"YES!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she shot through a large group of clouds. "Sky's cleared and ready for the festival." Then she shot back down to the terrace where the stage was being set up. Pinkie Pie was on the side blowing up balloon animals and had just finished one that resembled Discord when, out of nowhere, it started deflating and flying away pushing Pinkie away from it. Quickly, she gave chase as Fluttershy was tuning her songbird choir, which the balloon promptly shot through.

"Heads up, Fluttershy," said Pinkie as she jumped across the rails, scaring off the birds. "Out of control ballooooon!"

Fluttershy let out a breath of relief as she saw the last bird still there was still okay. "I don't think it's the balloon that's out of control, Pinkie Pie," she said.

"Hey Y'all," said Applejack as she trotted up with a cart of cider casks. When Pinkie and the balloon almost hit her, she just ducked and let them shoot over her head. "Anypony up for some free samples of my family's apple cider?" This sparked Rainbow Dash's interest as she always loved the Apple Family cider.

"Thank you!" she said quickly, zipping past and grabbing the mug from Applejack's hoof. Then she shot back and put it back where it was. "Loved it!" Applejack was surprised as she looked into the mug and saw it empty.

Over near the stage, Rarity was humming while centering a diamond-shaped gem in a bow on the side of the gem.

"Wow Rarity," said Applejack. "It's a fine job yer're doin' there." Then she looked down the stage and saw she had only finished one bow. "'Course it might not get done 'til after the concert."

"Applejack, Darling," said Rarity. "Anypony can do 'fine'. Twilight asked me, so clearly she's going for fabulous. And fabulous takes time."

"Fabulous takes forever," said Rainbow, clearly bored. "But awesome…" Then she shot around the stage, loosely setting up the same bow and gem decorations, even tying Fluttershy up in one. "Can get done in four seconds flat. Faster if I do my Sonic Rainboom."

"Aah! Nono, oh no! Don't you dare, Rainbow Dash," said Rarity, looking at the decorations. "It looks wretched enough already!"

"Oh come on, it's fine," said Rainbow.

"If you were raised in a barn!" said Rarity, before she caught her words and cleared her throat. "No offense, Applejack."

"None taken," said Applejack as she filled up flagons of cider, all of which Rainbow Dash quickly emptied. "'Specially since I wasn't raised in a barn. My family just happens to have a barn. Where I was born. And… spent most of my formative years…"

"You were raised in a barn!" said Rainbow quickly as she emptied another flagon.

"Okay, just 218 more things to do and we're ready," said Twilight, stressing over her checklist.

"Hey Twilight," said Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy.

"Hello Spike," said Rarity.

"Uh, hi Rarity," said Spike as he gave a nervous chuckle and blushed.

Sonic let out a wolf whistle as he slid up. "Am I detecting a little bit of a crush factor here?" he asked sarcastically. Then he looked at the others who had all stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing him. "Howdy. Sonic the Hedgehog, nice to meetcha."

"Uh…" said Rainbow weirdly.

"Relax girls," said Twilight. "He's with me."

"Oh okay," said Applejack as they all unfroze. "So how'd it go with the other princesses? They like your idea?"

"I bet they loved it!" yelled Pinkie as she kept chasing the balloon.

Twilight sighed. "Not exactly," she said. "They think I can make today perfect without their magic."

"And they are absolutely right, darling," said Rarity as she retied a bow and recentered a gem that Rainbow had failed to set up. "This festival is your brilliant idea, and we know you're up to the task."

"But what if I'm not?!" asked Twilight terrified. "What if Songbird Serenade hates the stage?! Or nopony makes a new friend?! And if I failed the festival, then who am I?!"

"You do realize that's a worst-case scenario, right?" asked Sonic.

Then Pinkie hopped up and smooshed her face into Twilight's. "Twilight. Look at me," she said seriously, pushing Twilight down into the pavement. "This will be the biggest celebration Equestria has ever seen! As the Princess of Friendship, you cannot fail! This day will define who you are! The pressure is intense! It's almost too much for any single pony to handle!" Then she let out a huge scream and drew the attention of basically everyone in the square.

"Okay, so do you not understand sugarcoating things or what?" asked Sonic.

"What do you think I just did?" asked Pinkie. Sonic just stared at her dumbfounded. Then she hopped back to the others. "But you have us! So stop worrying!" Then the ribbon around Fluttershy fell, Rarity went back to work, Rainbow Dash burped and Spike ate the gem from Fluttershy.

Musical Number – We Got This Together

"Can we worry now?" asked Sonic. Then Applejack grabbed Twilight off the ground.

Applejack: It's time to show 'em what you've got

Rarity: It's time to go and get things done

Fluttershy: But you don't have to do it on your own

Pinkie: 'Cause you've got friends right here to make it fun

Mane 5: We got this
You got this
We Got This Together

Then Rainbow grabbed Twilight, Spike, and Sonic off the ground and flew them up past the clouds as she and the Wonderbolts cleared them away. Then they all swooped back down to Fluttershy's little petting zoo in the plaza.

Rainbow: Sometimes the pressure gets you down
And the clouds are dark and gray
Just kick 'em off and let the sun shine through

And scary as it seems
More help is on the way
'Cause friends have friends that wanna help out too

Rainbow and Wonderbolts: We got this
You got this
We Got This Together

Crowd: It's the Festival of Friendship
And we can get it done
A festival that they won't forget

A party to be proud of
A day of games and fun
Just you wait and see
A magic day in perfect harmony

Fluttershy: You got this

Bird: (whistles with melody)

Fluttershy with bird whistle accompaniment: We got this together

Then Applejack and her family rolled in and started setting up a huge banquet. Sonic had a taste of the applesauce and instantly backed off until he poured a whole bucket of sugar into it, mixed and tried it again. "Perfecto!" he said.

Applejack: With friends and family, you are never alone
If you need help, we've got your back
You can be honest, let your problems be known

Apple Family: 'Cause you got us to pick up the slack
We got this

Big Mac: "Eeyup!"

Apple Family: We Got This Together

Rarity was lining the stage with diamonds until Sonic sensed energy coming from one of them. He saw Spike moving to steal it until Sonic smacked his hand away from it and took it, revealing it to be the light blue Chaos Emerald. Then Rarity slid Spike a gift basket full of gems, which he promptly dug into.

Rarity: Pay attention to the details
Every gem even-spaced
Make the colors perfect

Spike: Takin' one or two to taste

Sonic: "No! Bad dragon!"

Rarity: Inside and out, beautiful throughout
Generosity is what we're all about

Spike (Mouth full): You got this

Rarity: You got this

Both: We Got This Together

Then Sonic ran up to the top of a tower next to where Twilight had flown. "You okay?" he asked. Twilight sighed and explained in song before the two started coasting on a river in the east courtyard.

Twilight: Today needs to be perfect, it all comes down to me
I don't know if I'm ready
For all the things they need me to be
I am the Princess of Friendship
But that is more than just a crown
It's a promise to bring ponies together
And never let anypony down!

Pinkie: We got an awful lot to bake
Each pony needs a piece of cake
Oh, wait! There's something better we can do.

We're gonna need some more supplies
To make a really big surprise
She'll be so shocked – she's sure to love it too!

You got this!
We Got This Together

All: It's the Festival of Friendship
Together we are one
A day we will never forget

And now everything is ready
So when the day is done

Rainbow: The weather

Applejack: The banquet

Rarity: The style

Fluttershy: The music

All: All will be in perfect harmony!

Then Sonic saw a shadow rising above Twilight. He looked behind her and saw a huge light blue cannon going upward. Then five huge layers of cake shot out of it. "Incoming!" he yelled and bolted. Twilight, unfortunately, wasn't so lucky as she was trapped under all five, yelping in pain as they hit her. Then the cake dissolved into a big pink puddle of frosting.

Twilight stuck her head out and looked behind her angrily. "Pinkie!" she yelled. Then a lit candle fell and hit right on Twilight's horn. Then Pinkie stuck her head out of the cannon.

"Oopsie!" she said. "Guess my easy-bake confetti-cake cannon needs a little bit more fine-tuning."

"Ya think?!" asked Sonic. Twilight just nickered and blew out the candle. Then the ponies surrounding them started freaking out.

"Songbird Serenade!" said one. "Is it really her? It is, it is!" Then the crowd parted to reveal two ponies who looked like they belonged in the Secret Service along with a Pegasus mare with a huge head of twin-colored hair over her face. One half was blonde, the other was black, and she had a huge bow in it along with her black clothes.

"Hiya," she said. "I'm looking for the pony in charge." Then Photo Finish shot in out of nowhere and took shots from several angles. "I need to set up for my soundcheck."

"Wow," said Sonic. "The best of timing, the worst of timing huh?"

"Uh, Songbird Serenade?" asked Twilight slipping out of the cake. "Um, I was just going to check on you." Then she gave a nervous laugh. "I'm Princess Twilight, and sorry about the mess. I'm usually not so…" Then she accidentally splattered some of the cake onto Songbird's jacket.

"Caked in… cake?" she asked. Twilight gave a nervous laugh. Then the two guards started talking to each other through earpieces.

"You have visual on buttercream?" asked one.

"Visual confirmed, go for cleanup," said the other as he scrapped it off with his hoof.

"Okay, that's two more concepts that apparently mean absolutely nothing in this universe," said Sonic, taking notes. "Basic physics and overkill. I think I'm starting to like this place."

Ch. 3: Invasion

Out of nowhere, a loud rumbling echoed around the city. The ponies of the city looked and saw a mass of large black clouds sweeping toward the city.

"Storm clouds? I ordered perfect weather," said Twilight. "Rainbow Dash!"

"Uh… I don't think those are storm clouds," said the Pegasus. Sonic looked into the cloud and saw a strange blue sigil that resembled horns.

"What was your first clue?" he asked. "The evil-looking airship?" And just as he said that the sigil parted the clouds to reveal a huge darkly-colored airship. The ponies stared in awe as mothers hid their foals behind their legs.

"Ooh!" said Pinkie jovially. "I bet those are the clowns I ordered!"

"Did you order them to arrive via evil airship?" asked Sonic, pulling down on his gloves. Then the airship began descending, smashing three tall towers and a few crates of clown equipment.

"Or definitely not the clowns I ordered," said Pinkie. Then the ship touched down and a large metal gangplank dropped down and crushed a balloon animal that landed in front of it.

"Brian! NO!" yelled Party Favor. Sonic just stared at him weirdly before he returned to the matter at hand and the Princesses walked out onto their balcony. Something then started walking down from the gangplank. It was obviously very short and carrying some sort of crate. Once it put down the crate, Sonic and the ponies saw it was a short hedgehog-like being with dark fur and a white mohawk, wearing dark armor. Then the crate started transforming into a large speaker system with an attached microphone, which the being then spoke into.

"Ponies of Equestria, I am Grubber," he said in a strange voice with an obvious lisp. "We come on behalf of the fearsome, the powerful, the Almighty… Storm King!" Then a large banner fell from the side of the ship, revealing a large picture of a white satyr in dark armor not unlike what Grubber was wearing. The ponies cowered upon seeing his picture. "And now, to deliver the evil, evil message, put your hooves together for Commander Tempest Shadow!" Then something else walked into the doorway on the ship, also clad in dark armor. But it was nothing anyone was expecting; it was a pony. Specifically, a mare with deep red fur and a pink mohawk, not to mention a scar over her left eye.

"Is that a… unicorn?" asked Twilight awestruck.

"I think so," said Spike. "But what happened to her horn?" Indeed, Tempest's unicorn horn was broken, leaving a jagged, sparking edge on her head.

"What happened to her, period?" asked Sonic. "Even on Mobius, people don't lose extremities like that from nothing." Just then, the other princesses flew down and landed near the ship.

"'Tempest', is it?" asked Celestia. "How may we help you?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked," said Tempest kindly before turning bitter. "How about we start with your complete and total surrender?" Sonic jumped over the princesses and landed right in front of them, taking a martial arts stance.

"Not likely, sweetheart," he said, cracking his neck. The ponies, Tempest and Grubber all just looked at him in confusion.

"And who are you supposed to be?" asked Tempest.

"Sonic the Hedgehog. The guy who can rearrange your face before you can even blink," he said menacingly. Tempest snickered.

"Cute," she said, sending a blast of magic out of her horn and hitting Sonic right in the chest, sending him skidding backward. Sonic groaned as he kneeled and moved his hand away from his chest, to see a large burn on it.

"Ugh," he groaned. "Okay, that was a cheap shot." Then Twilight stepped around on Cadence's right side.

"Hi there," she said, giving a nervous wave. "Princess of Friendship. Not exactly sure what's going on, but I know we can talk things out."

"Don't bother," said Sonic walking up, his healing factor reducing the burn. "This chick's got bad guy written all over her."

"Oh goody, all four princesses," said Tempest walking down from the ship. "Here's the deal, ladies. I need your magic. Give it up nicely, please, or we make difficult. For everyone!"

"And what makes you think we'll kowtow to you?" asked Sonic, having zipped around the crowd. "It's nine-hundred seventy-three against two, our favor. You'd be better off running back your king with your tail between your hind legs." Tempest gave a cruel chuckle.

"I was hoping you'd choose 'difficult'," she said. Then out of the clouds came a whole fleet of airships, and from them, large monsters clad in dark armor dropped and attacked the ponies of the city. Sonic looked around and smirked.

"Finally, some exercise!" he yelled happily as he zipped to a large group of monsters. "Hadouken!" Then he blasted a blue ball of energy out of his hands at one of them, knocking him into a wall, and knocking him out. The other two charged and attacked him, but Sonic jumped and started giving a flying spinning kick. "Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!" He knocked the first one away, but the first jumped above him, about to attack, but Sonic just smirked as he jumped and spun into an uppercut. "Shoryuken!" The last soldier was sent flying until another group came charging at him.

Then he moved both his hands to one side, which he let the Chaos Emeralds fall into before a large ball of energy started forming between the points of the gems. "Ka… Me… Ha… Me… HA!" Then he shot a huge blast out of the gems, blasting the soldiers away into another wall. Then Sonic zipped up behind another soldier, who had just thrown a spear at him and missed.

"Where ya aimin', dugong?" he asked tauntingly before blasting a yellow blast out of his palm into the monster's back. Then a battalion moved to attack him with weapons.

"Oh, so that's how we're playing now, huh?" he asked. "Okay then, let's play!" Then he jumped, avoiding their weapons and pulling one of the gadgets off his belt and pressed a button.

"Weapon select," said a robotic voice from the device. Sonic spun the dial until he found what he was looking for and pressed another button. "Triple katana." Then three katana swords materialized in loops on the left side of his belt. Once Sonic put the device away, he pulled all three swords out at once, grabbing one in each of his hands, and the last one clenched between his teeth. Then he fell down spinning on an axis, slashing all the monsters' weapons to kindling and scrap metal. "Adios muchachos," he said, muffled by the sword in his mouth. Then he kicked and punched them all before he moved on, still fighting.

But then he saw Tempest kick a strange crystal orb with a shifting green core towards the princesses. Cadence tried to stop it with her magic, but he knew it wouldn't hold long. "Get down!" he yelled, knocking Twilight, Celestia, and Luna away, but he wasn't fast enough to save Cadence as the orb shattered open and created a green vapor which started turning Cadence into obsidian.

"Cadence!" yelled Celestia in terror.

"I can't stop it!" Cadence screamed.

"Sonic, help her!" yelled Twilight.

"I can't," said Sonic. "If I damage the stone, I risk breaking off part of her body." Then Tempest walked all the way down the gangplank and jumped again.

"Luna, quick!" said Celestia. "Head south beyond the Badlands!" Then Tempest kicked another crystal orb. "Seek help from the Queen of the Hippo-" She couldn't finish as the crystal hit her and started turning her to stone as well.

"Sister!" yelled Luna in distress. She quickly blasted away the monsters nearby and tried to fly away, but Tempest just kicked another crystal orb at her, shattering and turning her to stone. She almost fell and shattered, but Sonic quickly jumped up and grabbed her landing perfectly.

"Luna!" called Twilight, terrified. Tempest chuckled as she jumped again and readied another orb, kicking it down at her.

"Twilight!" called Rainbow Dash as she shot in just as the orb shattered on the ground. The monsters moving to surround Twilight quickly backed off as Tempest landed nearby chuckling.

"Easy as pie," she said.

"Oh, I love pie," said Grubber. "Oh, you totally got the last princess." But when the vapor faded, it was revealed that it wasn't Twilight, it was just Ditzy Doo wearing a party hat, which then promptly fell off her head.

"That's not the princess," said Tempest angrily, her horn-stump sparking with energy. "Grubber! Get! Her! NOW!"

"Guys, we gotta get the princess!" he yelled as he and his guards ran to find her. Tempest stomped on the crown Twilight left behind, crushing the metal and scattering the gems.

"Over here, guys!" yelled Sonic. "Cmon, let's get the hell outta here!" Quickly, the team ran across a high bridge as fast as they could, but then they were surrounded by monsters. Twilight warmed up her magic, and Sonic knew what she was going to do.

"No-no-no, don't!" he yelled, but too late. Twilight had already blasted a beam at the monsters in front of them, one of whom blocked the blast with his shield, reflecting it back into the part of the bridge they were on, causing it to crumble and let the team fall into the river. They all quickly shot their heads up and took breaths, but then Sonic looked ahead and saw no more land.

"Please tell me this river doesn't fall off the cliff!" he yelled.

"I could, but I'd be lyin'!" yelled Applejack. And they were right. The team was then sent cascading off the cliff down to the lake below. Grubber and two guards walked over to the cliff and looked down.

"Which one of you guys is goin' down there?" asked Grubber. The strange storm creatures growled and walked away. Grubber sighed. "I would but I just had a hearty meal, and I will sink and I will side-cramp. I'm very big-boned. I sink quick."

That might be true for him, but what about for Twilight and the girls?

Ch. 4: To The Badlands

Down at the bottom of the waterfall, the team had taken refuge under a rocky outcropping, trying to get dry after their huge beatdown. Sonic shook the water out of his scabbards as Applejack fished her hat out of the water.

"Everypony okay?" asked Applejack.

"I think my bottom's on backward," groaned Rarity.

"Can someone please explain to me what just happened up there?" asked Sonic.

"We just got our cupcakes handed to us by the worst party crasher ever!" said Pinkie.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," said Sonic, stretching out his neck.

"We gotta go back there and fight!" yelled Rainbow.

"Well, you saw the size of those… goons!" said Spike.

"And how they mopped the floor with me, despite all my training," said Sonic. "You seriously wanna go back, be my guest!"

"So now what?" asked Applejack. "We can't hide here forever. And let's be honest, we can't go back. Look at what they did to the princesses. We gotta keep them from Twilight." That's when Twilight turned around with s serious look on her face.

"The Queen," she said simply.

"Yeah, the queen!" said Pinkie, obviously not knowing what she was talking about.

"The queen of what?" asked Sonic. "If we're looking for the Storm King's ex-wife, I'm pretty sure he either exiled or executed her, so we can cross her off the list."

"Celestia told Luna to find the queen of the… 'Hippos'. Luna can't, so I have to." said Twilight.

"Uh, hippos? Seriously?" asked Rainbow.

"I've heard they're surprisingly graceful for their size," said Pinkie. "Huh, but they're always hungry."

"Hungry?" asked Spike.

"Hippos?" asked Applejack.

"HA-HA!" laughed Sonic. Everyone just looked at him weirdly. "Oh cmon, you get that one, right? 'Hungry Hungry Hippos'? It's that kids' game with the four hippo-heads where you have to get the most of those little pellets to win?" They just kept looking at him weirdly. "What, you don't have that in this universe? Huh, must just be Mobius. Anyways, where exactly are these 'hippos'?"

"They're somewhere south, past the Badlands," said Twilight.

"That means we'll have to… leave Equestria," said Fluttershy in fear and whimpered.

"I'm not even packed!" said Rarity.

"I understand you're scared, and nopony else has to go," said Twilight. "But I have to find this queen. She might be our only hope."

"Oh, if you only knew how clichéd that line was…" muttered Sonic. Applejack nodded at Rainbow, who then flew in front of Twilight.

"Well, you're not getting all the glory," she said. "We're in this together."

"Going into uncharted territory to find super-powerful beings to save the world?" asked Sonic and scoffed. "I do that at least twice a month back home. Count me in!"

"We got yer back," said Applejack.

"Indeedy!" said Pinkie.

"I am ready to save Equestria!" said Rarity.

"Yay," said Fluttershy.

"We're all behind you, Twilight," said Spike.

"Let's go find this hippo!" said Pinkie as she bounced away in a direction. Sonic then pulled out a compass and checked it.

"Um, south's that way," he said, pointing the opposite direction.

Pinkie giggled and bounced away. "Anypony up for a game of 'I Spy'?" Everyone else just groaned.

"Oh, god no," said Sonic.

"No, really! Come on!" said Pinkie. "I spy with my little eye something that is orange. No takers? It's you, Applejack!" Then she giggled again.

"Is every road trip with her this annoying?" asked Sonic.

"No," said Twilight. "Sometimes she's really gritting." The two laughed at that as they continued.

Sonic: Cue "Indiana Jones" style map scene.

Sonic Prime: Can't. Time for a villain sequence.

Sonic: What, really? Okay, maybe next time.

Back in Canterlot, the ponies were doing anything but laughing. Tempest and her storm creatures had enslaved them for menial labor. Tempest was watching from the balcony of the palace where she had the princesses set up.

"All this power…" she said bitterly. "Wasted on parties! When there are far greater uses." Then one of the storm creatures came in with a potion bottle filled with a strange blue liquid that was ringing and vibrating like a phone. "Well? Answer it!" Tempest ordered. The monster poured it into a large cauldron of water in front of Tempest, and then after a few ear-piercing noises, the beast from the poster on the airship appeared in a sort of magic hologram.

"Where am I supposed to be looking?" he asked, trying several angles. "I never understand how this spell works. Tempest!"

"Over here, Your Excellency," said Tempest.

"Where?" asked the king.

"Over here," Tempest.

"Huh?" Storm King.

"No. No, right. Look right?" Tempest.

"My right?" Storm King.

"Yep," Tempest. Finally, the Storm King found the right angle.

"Oh. There you are," he said and moved back to give her a better view. "Here's the deal. I'm in the middle of a big re-brand here. 'The Storm King' is tracking well as 'intensely intimidating', but you know what, I need to back it up. You know what I need to back it up with? A storm! That would be great!" Then he pulled a large wooden staff with a blue crystal in the top into view "You promised me magic that could control the elements, and right now, I'm holding a what? A branch, a twig. Blech!"

"Uh, that would be the Staff of Sacanas, Your Excellency," said Tempest as the King gave affirmative remarks, not understanding anything. "And it will channel the magic of the four rulers of this land. You'll soon have the power of a hundred armies."

"So that would be a yes on you locking down the four Pegacornicuseses, or whatever you call them?" the king asked.

"Give me three days. I'll have everything ready for your arrival," said Tempest.

"Remember Tempest," said the King intimidatingly. "Only I have the power to make you whole. Make this twig work, and you'll get your reward. Fail me, and your horn won't be the only thing that's broken."

"It won't be a problem," said Tempest simply.

"Great! I'm gonna power up, grab some-" Then the king's message was interrupted as the magic hologram fell.

"Sorry, bad spell service," said Grubber. "You want me to call him back?"

"Do you have the princess?" asked Tempest.

"Well uh, funny story," he said nervously. "It kinda seems like she… she might've like, y'know, got away… a little bit." Tempest's eyes narrowed. "I know you're disappointed, but I got one word for you…" Then he reached behind his back and pulled out a slice of… "'Spongecake'." Tempest just shot him with a magic blast, frying him and the cake.

"I need all four for the staff to work," she growled as Grubber ate the cake. (Gross).

"Hey, I know!" said Grubber. "I want the Storm King to fix that crazy horn as badly as you do. It looks like a crackly chipped tooth on the top of your head. And you know you don't look good in hats."

"That princess is not gonna keep me from getting my horn back!" yelled Tempest, her horn crackling with magic. "Prepare my ship!" Grubber quickly ran for his life as she chuckled to herself. "Please. How far could one little pony get on her own?"

Ch. 5: Klugetown (pt. 1)

Obviously not very, but when she's got seven great friends to travel with (including one who knows how to play a slide guitar riff), then she can make it as far as a vast desert. Out in the Badlands, Twilight, Sonic, and the others were plodding through the sand, trying to conserve their water but failing.

"There's… sand in my… everything..." said Rarity tired.

"Just keep going," said Sonic, wiping his brow on his left arm, as he was using his right to hold one of his sheathed swords as a cane. "We're bound to find civilization somewhere. Cmon, we're saving Equestria here, not getting eaten alive by scorpions."

"Saving… Equestria…" said Pinkie, giving a demented laugh and picking up a vulture skull. "Oh! Look! Maybe this guy knows which way to go! What's that, friend? We're lost?" Pinkie laughed some more, before coughing with her dry throat, giving a short chuckle and passing out face-first in the sand.

"She dead?" asked Applejack. Sonic checked her.

"Unfortunately, no," he replied upset. "I think it's just heat stroke. Just give her about an hour, she'll be fine."

The others were just panting at this point as Spike sat down. "We could be going in… circles!" he said exhausted. "Endless… sand… Nothin' for miles… but sand… and this rock… and this cactus… and this roooooooaaaaad… This roooooad…"

"Spike, stop overreacting," said Sonic, trying to seem stoic, but failing. "This isn't the first desert I've been stuck in, and I doubt it's gonna be the last." Then he instantly remembered something Spike had said. "Wait, did you just say road?" He tapped his sword against the ground, and discovered it wasn't sand they were standing on, it was cobblestone, laid out in a long path. Then he grinned. "Y'know what they say. 'Where there's a road, there's usually'…" His suspicions were confirmed as he and the others climbed over the next dune to see a huge, tower-like city. The others were in awe as Pinkie immediately shot up.

"Oooh! A city!" she said excitedly and scoffed. "We are doing it, you guys!"

"You know what they say," said Rarity. "'Where there's a city, there's a spa'!"

"Who says that?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Not even anyone on Mobius has said something even remotely like that," said Sonic.

"'Case you forgot, we're on a mission to save Equestria?" asked Applejack.

"I can multitask," said Rarity. But unfortunately, Rarity wasn't going to get a spa appointment in this city as most of the people were just vendors of unusual items, such as Badlands birds and horns.

"Ooh," the horn vendor said to Twilight. "Hey! You with the horn. You selling?" Sonic then jammed one of his unsheathed swords in his face.

"I could ask you the same thing about your tongue," he said threateningly. "We just hiked down here from the desert, so we're in no mood for this sort of stuff. Now either get lost or lose your voice permanently. Deal?"

"Deal," said the dealer in fear as he backed off. Sonic sheathed his sword like a samurai and kept walking. Then they ran into a large turtle-like being loading a cart with barrels and failing.

"Hi there!" said Twilight, trying to get his attention, but that resulted in the barrels falling again. "Ooh, I'm sorry. Here. Lemme help you with that." What no one noticed was that they had drawn the attention of a cat-like being with a black pompadour wearing a red coat from a nearby outdoor bar.

"Uh, Twilight?" said Sonic.

"Hey!" said the vendor. "No magic around my merchandise!" The team quickly ran away, spiking the cat's interest even more.

"Hmmm… Very interesting…" he said, paying for his drink and walking off after them.

"Okay, I've been in my fair share of towns like this, so just follow my lead," said Sonic. "We just gotta stay together, be careful who you talk to and above all, try to blend in."

"CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?!" Pinkie's voice came from another part of the market.

"Oh, you've gotta be frickin' kiddin' me," said Sonic as he facepalmed.

"CAN ANYPONY TAKE US TO THE QUEEN OF THE HIPPOS?!" yelled Pinkie.

"You want something?" a fish creature asked. "You gotta give something!"

"Well, how about a big warm hug from a grateful pony friend?" asked Pinkie, squeezing him before moving on to other people. "How about this comb that I've never used? A picture of my sister Maud? This breath mint? Seriously, buddy. Help me help you." The pig creature she was talking to just let out a huge belch and sent Pinkie to the ground.

"Phew! I smelled that all the way over here!" said Sonic. "Seriously dude, take the stinkin' mint!"

"Pinkie, you can't just take off!" said Twilight before speaking through clenched teeth. "And you don't need to announce to every…"

"Relax, Twilight! I totally got this!" said Pinkie.

"Yeah, I know," said Sonic as townsfolk surrounded them. "What do you think we're afraid of?"

"How much for the giant gecko?" asked one of them.

"Huh?" said the Mane 6 and Sonic.

"Who you callin' a gecko?" asked Spike.

"Uh, Spike isn't for sale," said Twilight.

"The porcupine, then," he said.

"Hedgehog!" yelled Sonic.

"I want that fancy purple hair!" said another, pointing at Rarity. "I'll give ya two storm bucks for it!"

"Two storm bucks?!" asked Rarity, obviously insulted. "It's worth more than that!"

"Heh?" asked Twilight.

"We have no idea how much storm bucks are worth," said Sonic. "For all we know, they could be worth, like, a piece of tin as big as my pinky-toe's nail." Then everyone started bidding for various members of the team. What they didn't see was the cat from the bar was watching from an alley.

"See this, Pinkie?" asked Sonic as he moved to grab his swords. "This is why you do not announce your presence in a town like this." Then the cat flipped over the horde and landed in front of the gang. "What the-?"

"Back up, everyone! Back. It. Up! Y'all are in some serious danger!" he said in an accent Sonic couldn't place. "Now you didn't touch any of them, did you? Just look at all those colors! You think that's natural? They're infected with 'pastelis coloritis'." Everyone there gasped.

"Now you listen here, Fella, there ain't-" Applejack couldn't finish her thought as Sonic had covered her muzzle with his hand.

"Shut up, AJ, he's doing a thing," he whispered through clenched teeth.

"Don't worry, don't worry, as long as you're not covered in purple splotches, you'll be fine," said the cat as he used his bushy tail to splatter purple paint onto the fish creature from before. "Uh-oh."

The fish thing gasped in fear. "What do I do?"

"Enjoy your last moments, and don't touch anyone," said the cat. "Because parts will fall off." Everyone there screamed and ran off in fear.

"Well, all right," said the cat and purred.

"You. Are. AWESOME!" said Rainbow.

"Mm-hm," he said.

"And quite charming," said Rarity and she giggled weirdly. Spike folded his arms and grunted in jealousy.

"Thanks for the save, man," said Sonic. "So who are you?"

"Capper's the name, charming's my game," he said. "So… to the hippos, then?" He then walked down the alley with the others following him, but Twilight pulled Sonic and Pinkie to the side with her wings.

"I don't know if we should trust him," she said.

"And I don't," said Sonic. "Least not farther than I can throw him."

"We could definitely use a friend out here," said Pinkie. Then Capper pushed down one of Twilight's wings.

Musical Number – I'm the Friend You Need

"You know what? Little Cotton Candy Hair is right," he said. "And, if I do say so myself…"

Capper: This town is not a nice place
For little fillies all alone
There are lots of twists and corners
That could lead to the unknown

Let me guide your way
And I'll be sure to help you through
You could really use a friend out here
And luckily for you...

I'm the friend that you need
When you're lost and don't know what to do
I'm your pal, your amigo
Useful and resourceful, too

And my help, you'll concede
Is a plus guaranteed
You can call and I'll come running
Just follow my lead
'Cause I'm the Friend You Need!

Villager 1: He's a friend

Villager 2: "Quite a friend!"

Villagers: He's a friend indeed *chomp*

Then they continued their walk through town, partly down a red carpet he himself unrolled.

Capper: You need a bud to spot the danger
A pal to stop the creep
A chum and not a stranger to assist

You need a bro who is cunning
That can help you take the leap
A friend who knows what's lying in the mist

Don't fear these darkened alleys
They're scary, yes, I know
Why, you could use a friend
To protect you wherever you go

And such a dazzling beauty
Covered in dirt and muck
But now your fate is changing
Now you are in luck

'Cause I'm the friend that you need
When you're lost and don't know what to do
I'm your pal, your amigo
Lookin' out for friends like you

And my help, you'll concede
Is a plus guaranteed
Just call and I'll come running
We'll say it's agreed...

Eventually, they had made their way out to a large windmill-like building, and Capper had ushered everyone through the doors, before turning to a small villager, and slipping something into his scarf. "Here. Tell Verko, 'My place, twenty minutes'. I've got something that will magically erase all my debt."

'Cause I'm the Friend You Need!

AJ, FL, PP, RD: He's a friend

Rarity: "Quite a friend!"

Everyone but Sonic and Twilight: He's a friend indeed!

Then they rode the large gears on the towers up to the windmill at the top, where Capper then popped out of a trapdoor. "Welcome, my little ponies, to my little manor." The others stuck their heads in and Sonic let out a low whistle.

"Not too shabby, man," he said, checking out some of the decorations. "Kinda reminds me of my place back home."

"Ooh, a sort-of a Roco-hobo-Bohemian hodgepodge," said Rarity. Sonic snickered.

"Sorry, sorry,' he gasped out. "It's just that 'Bohemian' means something else entirely in my universe."

"Apologies for the state of my litterbox," said Capper. "I wasn't expecting guests."

"No worries, bud," said Sonic as he slipped a small guitar-shaped medallion out of his quills. "I basically keep my house the same way. You mind if I play?" Then the medallion turned into a large blue guitar shaped like his head.

"Help yourself," said Capper. Sonic smirked and tuned the guitar as the others looked around. "Now, Y'all sure Y'all want the hippos?"

"Yessirree!" said Pinkie. "The queen of the hippos!"

"Not like the queen of the lions and tigers and bears?" asked Capper.

"Oh my," said Fluttershy. Sonic snickered.

"God, how many obscure references can these ponies unknowingly make?" he asked himself. Then Twilight gasped as she found an interesting book.

Out in the city, Tempest had arrived. Her storm creatures were ripping the market apart looking for the team as Tempest marched through the center of the street.

"You really think the ponies got this far?" Grubber asked as he was eating a caramel apple. Tempest sniffed and found one of Pinkie's hairs on a broken board.

"Oh, they're here," she said. "Attention! A little purple pony passed this way. Tell me where she is…"

"Or sumthin' real bad's gonna happen," interrupted Grubber. Then the large fish creature from earlier approached. Grubber squeaked and slipped away as he came to face Tempest.

"You think we're gonna fall for this again?" he asked. "I don't know what kinda scam you're workin' with Capper and the rest of your friends, but-"

"'Friends'?" asked Tempest, obviously getting angry.

"Poison or no poison, you're gonna pay!" growled the fish as he moved to attack, but Tempest just kicked him away, before tripping him, grabbing his tail and slamming him into the ground.

"Ohhhh, fish-man just got dropped!" yelled Grubber. Then Tempest walked onto his back.

"Now…" she asked, provoking a fearful squeak. "…about this… 'Capper'…"

Ch. 6: Klugetown (pt. 2)

Back at Capper's place, Sonic was providing a little music by playing "The Girl from Ipanema" on his guitar and looking at the two Chaos Emeralds he had found so far as the others talked. He had found the yellow emerald in the desert (inside a cow skull) and the green one in some of Capper's loot.

"Stop playin' me! A Sonic Rainboom?" asked Capper after hearing one of Rainbow's stories. "That's not a real thang. Is that a real thing?"

"I'll show ya!" said Rainbow as she started flying, but Capper stopped her.

"Naw-naw-naw, I don't need you sonic 'rainbooming' up in my place, thank you very much," he said. Then Rarity levitated a needle and thread and two gold buttons up to him, as she repaired his jacket. "Whoa, hey, hold up now. Whoa."

"Here you go," said Rarity as she attached the buttons to his lapels. "I do apologize. If we were back home, I could've done something truly fabulous."

"Looks good to me," said Sonic as he stopped playing.

"Okay…" said Capper. "What's the catch?"

"Nothing," said Rarity. "After all that you've done for use, consider it a 'thank you'."

"Oh. Uh, don't thank me. Really," said Capper in an unusual tone. Sonic grew suspicious, but he decided not to move on it just yet.

"Guys!" said Twilight as she levitated a map over to the table, which the others quickly zipped to. "We've been looking for the wrong queen! We don't need the queen of the hippos. We need the queen of the hippogriffs! Part pony, part eagle!"

"Oh, that makes much more sense," said Sonic.

"Oh! oh, the hippogriffs!" said Capper in a weird tone. "Now, the trouble with that is… no one knows… where they are…"

"Says here they're on the top of Mount Aris!" said Twilight accusingly.

"You mean the mountain right outside the window?" asked Pinkie. The others looked and saw a large form in the distance.

"Objects in windows may be less mountainous than they appear," said Capper and he gave a nervous chuckle.

"One; that doesn't make any sense," said Sonic as he walked over to the window. "And two;…" Then he pulled a pair of "Star Wars"-esque binoculars out. "This is why I have these." Then he looked through them at the large form. "Yep. That's Mount Aris alright." Then he pulled out his other cartography gear. "Judging from its position, I'd say it's about ten miles south-by-southeast." Then he packed up. "If we leave now, we can probably get there before dark," Twilight smirked and folded up the map.

"Let's go, everypony," said Twilight as they all left. Capper gasped.

"Wait!" he yelled and yowled like the cat he was, jumping in front of the door. "You can't- You can't make it by y'allselves. You need an airship! And lucky for you, I can get you a ride."

"I think we can get there on our own," said Twilight. Then Sonic held her back.

"Alright Capper, we'll play along," he said. "As long as you answer a two-part question for me."

"Sure. Shoot," said the cat.

"Who's Verko, and what do you owe him?" asked Sonic. Capper's face fell and he gulped.

"You heard that?" he asked.

"I also hear that Rainbow's about to rip one in three, two, one…" he counted before a small squeak was heard. Everyone looked at Sonic awestruck. "I have insane senses."

"Alright, ya got me. Hands are tied," said Capper. "Verko's a friend o' mine, and I just owe him money. Nothing to worry about. Now then, let's get to the docks." But as he opened the door, he and the others saw a small mole-like creature in glasses and a strange suit.

"Here's Verko!" he said and laughed. Twilight quickly slipped back and Sonic moved for his swords. "These ponies better shoot rainbow lasers out their eyes if they're gonna settle your debt, Capper! Brought the big cage. Let's load 'em up!" The others looked and saw a large wheeled cage outside. The girls gasped as Sonic glared at Capper.

"'Just owe him money', hmm?" he asked.

"You were… You were going to sell us?!" asked Rarity.

"I knew it!" said Twilight. "We gotta get outta here!" Then they all heard a painfully familiar chuckling.

"Silly little ponies," said the voice, whose owner turned out to be…

"Tempest!" yelled Twilight in fear. The others tried to hide in fear, but it wouldn't work. Tempest just kept chuckling.

"Trusting strangers?" she asked. "Big mistake. Big…"

"Huge!" said Grubber.

"Hoo-hoo! My goodness!" said Verko, looking Tempest over. "Well, look at you! With your scary broken horn and scowly eyes. What tricks do you know, my little pony-wony?" Tempest just zapped him, and he weakly coughed. "Not bad…" he said and fainted.

"Retreat!" yelled Sonic as the others jumped onto the windmill blades outside the window.

"Get her. Now!" yelled Tempest.

"You oughta be scared now, ponies!" yelled Grubber. Twilight and Rainbow touched their forehooves to the windmill blade and pushed, but a storm creature grabbed another blade and held it back. Then Sonic saw the gap and smirked.

"Girls, I have an idea," he said. "But odds are you're not gonna like it."

"Then don't do it!" said Rarity.

"You wanna make it out alive or not?" asked Sonic as he slid down to the fan's support beam. "Then let me do this!" Then he drew one of his swords and slashed through the support, sending the fan rolling down the street.

"I'm! Gonna! Be! Sick!" yelled Applejack as the fan made impact on several points in the street.

"Hmm. Y'know, in retrospect I probably should've seen this coming," said Sonic as he stood in the center of the fan. Then he saw a set of scaffolding in the distance. "Here's our stop!" Quickly, they jumped off the fan and ran along the scaffolding, the fan smashing it to kindling just behind them. They quickly ran through a building and Twilight saw a large airship starting to set sail at the docks above.

"We have to get there! To the docks!" she yelled. Quickly, they all ran up to the dock and ran to catch the ship. "Hurry!" Quickly, Sonic grabbed the line and ran in the opposite direction, his legs moving so fast, they looked like they were spinning like a wheel. Then once the ship had slowed down enough, he held the rope to the dock with his brute strength, while the others proceeded to use it as a tightrope.

"That's it," said Applejack, nudging Rarity. "Don't look down now."

"Why would you say that?" asked Sonic. "Now all she's gonna wanna do is look down!" Then Pinkie jumped on the rope, knocking it out from under Sonic's feet.

"Aw crap!" he yelled as Pinkie fell screaming.

"Pinkie!" yelled Twilight as she flew down. Sonic quickly jumped down and grabbed both Twilight's and Pinkie's hooves before Twilight flew them all back up, letting them faceplant on the deck of the ship.

"Best! Escape! Plan! EVER!" yelled Pinkie, shocking Twilight and Sonic.

"WHAT?!" asked Twilight.

"YOU PLANNED THAT?!" yelled Sonic. Then a rope flew around them and pulled them to the others.

"Shh!" shushed Spike. The team looked and saw two bird-like forms.

"Did you hear somethin'?" asked one of them. The other just squawked like a parrot. "Eh, probably just the rats. If we find 'em, we'll eat 'em." Then they left.

"Rats?" asked Rarity worried. Back at the docks in town, Tempest had him on the ground, her horn crackling with energy.

"Now… where are they going?" she asked.

"Okay, no need for violence," said Capper, getting up. "Uh, they're headed…" He couldn't finish the sentence the way he wanted to because he had just remembered the buttons Rarity had generously given him. Before he almost sold them to Verko. Then he decided to cut them some slack. "They headed east! Yeah, to… to Black Skull Island. So uh, glad I could be of service to His Majesty, the Storm King. I'll just be on my way." Two storm creatures, however, quickly blocked his way, making him yowl in fear and turn back to Tempest, concerned.

"When I get my princess," she said. "Until then, your fate is still… up in the air."

Grubber laughed. "Oh, you're gonna go in the skiff! Which is a boat! Specifically, a air-boat!" he said and laughed again. Capper was forced aboard the ship concerned for his new friends.

Ch. 7: Time To Be Awesome

On the ship, the team was doing their best to sneak under the gaze of the birds, but obviously, Rainbow was disgusted by something one of them did.

"Whaddaya think, Twilight?" asked Applejack. "Should we just... ask 'em to take us?"

"I wouldn't chance it," said Sonic. "Last time we trusted someone this far out, he tried to sell us to square a debt." Just then, a crate from above them was moved, exposing them. They all gasped in fear.

"Hey guys!" said the bird who revealed them. He was green and his right hand was gone and in its place, was a brass-plated stump. "Come check this out!"

"Looks like a pack of stowaways," said another. He seemed like a macaw of some sorts with an eyepatch over his right eye.

"What are we s'posed to do with 'em?" asked a third. She was rather fat and had pink feathers. The last one, an obviously mentally handicapped bird with a metal beak, stuck his head in and squawked.

"I think we tie 'em up!" said the first, making Applejack gasp.

"Nah! We clip their wings!" said the third, making Rainbow growl.

"Nah. We scar 'em…" said the second, making Rarity yelp. "Emotionally…" That last comment made Fluttershy cry a bit.

"I can handle anything you got," said Sonic, moving for his swords. "How 'bout something different?"

"Wai-wai-wai-wait!" said the second, turning. "What say the book, Captain Celaeno?" Then up walked a fifth bird with a metal boot on her left claw and a peg leg for her right. She had white feathers mostly, but then large green feathers falling from her head under a black bandana. In her hands was a large book with the Storm King's sigil on it, which she then opened.

"Storm King's rulebook says, 'Throw them overboard'," she said.

"Huh?" the ponies asked.

"Yeah, that's okay, let's go with the scars," said Sonic, a bit scared. He had looked over the side when no one was looking and saw they were right over the ocean, and he had told the others he didn't know how to swim. The second bird pulled down on a loop of rope and a long plank stuck out from the ship. The parrots moved in to grab the team as Sonic started to draw one sword. Then out of nowhere, a clock struck noon and a whistle blared.

"All right! That's lunch!" called the captain and before any of the others could think, they were sitting at a table with bowls of disgusting birdseed slop in front of them.

"What?" asked Twilight. The crew just kept right on eating. Rainbow Dash and Sonic looked around the table, obviously stupefied.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa," said Rainbow. "So you were about to toss us overboard, and you stopped for a lunch break?" Twilight looked over at her with a sour look on her face.

"What?" asked Sonic. "Cmon Twilight, doesn't this seem weird?"

"Storm King only allows one break a day for meals, then it's back to haulin' goods," said Boyle, the handless bird.

"So you're delivery guys?" asked Spike.

"And gals," said Celaeno, tugging on her shirt collar. "These uniforms aren't exactly doing us any favors."

"Then can you 'deliver' us to Mt. Aris?" asked Twilight hopefully, levitating up a map.

"Sorry," said Celaeno. "We do what the Storm King orders or we suffer his wrath." Then she dropped the Storm King's rule book on the table.

"Right," said Twilight bitterly. "Still going overboard."

"Eh, it's nothing personal," said Lix Spittle, the ship's cook. "Pudding?"

"There's pudding?" asked Rarity. Then a dish slid in front of her and was instantly filled with the same birdseed slop as usual. "Aw."

"Waltzed right into that one, Rarity," said Sonic, pulling a chili dog out of his quills and eating it.

"You weren't always delivery birds, were you?" asked Rainbow.

"Yeah," said Sonic. "I mean, what about before you sailed for the Storm King?"

"Yeah, we used to be much more adventurous," said Celaeno. Then she moved a poster of the Storm King and revealed a bird's skull and crossbones on a black cloth.

"Ooh! I met that guy in the desert!" said Pinkie.

"Whoa… You used to be pirates?!" asked Rainbow amazed.

"Um, we prefer the term 'swashbuckling treasure hunters'," said Mullet, the first mate.

"So, pirates," Sonic simplified. The bird beside Spike, known as Squabble, squawked.

"You birds have a choice to make," said Rainbow, smacking her hooves down on the table. "You could let some cloven-hooved Storm King tell you how to live your lives, or…" Then she swooped up and ripped the poster in front of the flag down. "You could be awesome again!"

"Rainbow Dash, this really isn't a good time for a- !" Twilight didn't get to complete that thought as Rainbow had already landed and begun singing.

Musical Number – Time To Be Awesome

Rainbow: I know the world can get you down

"-song." Twilight completed, face-hoofing.

Rainbow: Things don't work out quite the way that you thought
Feelin' like all your best days are done
Your fears and doubts are all you've got

"Eh, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," said Sonic as he started beating on his dish and the table with his spoon and hand.

Rainbow: But there's a light
Shining deep inside
Beneath those fears and doubts, so just squash 'em

Then she stomped on a flagon, splashing water onto Twilight, before moving the Storm King's sigil to reveal a plethora of the crew's past treasure-hunting adventures.

And let it Shiiiine
For all the world to see
That it is time
Yeah, Time To Be Awesome

At this time, the others were joining in with Sonic in beating the table and dishes for a rhythm. All but Twilight who had left to try and understand the map better.

Gang: Ah, ah-ah, ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!
Ah, ah-ah, ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome! (continues in background)

Celaeno: You've no idea how hard it's been
This dull routine we've been forced to do

Then Sonic slid up with a Stetson-style pirate hat, handed it to her and slid back down the table next to Rainbow, where they both pointed at her. Celaeno just smirked, threw off her bandana and put the hat on.

Sonic: Don't let them rob you of who you are

Both: Be awesome, it's all up to you

Celaeno: I feel the light
Stirring deep inside
It's like a tale still yet to be told
(Background: It's Time To Be Awesome)

Sonic, Rainbow, and Celaeno: And now it's time
To break the shackles free
And start livin' like the brave and the bold!

Sonic busted open another chest and revealed it to be full of the pirates' gear. Boyle and the others laughed as they reequipped themselves and the singing continued. Soon the crew burst back out onto the deck, fully equipped and the rest of the team shot out after them dressed as pirates themselves. Then Mullet swooped through on a rope from the mast and grabbed Rainbow. Lix was helping Twilight with the map, and Boyle busted open another chest, revealing it to be full of gold and jewels, a handful of which Celaeno grabbed and held close. Then she jumped out onto the bowsprit and Sonic and Rainbow followed her.

All: It's Time To Be Awesome!
Let loose, be true, so awesome!
It's Time To Be Awesome!
Go big, be you, so awesome!

Mullet: We used to soar through the clouds in the skies!

Lix: Elaborate schemes we would love to devise!

Boyle: We rescued our treasure and stored it away!

Celaeno: Saving those gemstones for a rainy day!

All: We see that light
Filling up our skies

Sonic grabbed the Storm King's rulebook on it and threw it off the ship.

Sonic: So take the Storm King's orders and toss 'em

All: Cause it's the time to let our colors fly!

Celaeno: Hey scallywags, it's Time To Be Awesome!

Sonic: "Dance Break!"

Spike started banging on the crates in rhythm as the others took dance poses across the ship.

All: Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

"Cmon!" yelled Celaeno as she took the helm. "Let's show these little ponies how it's done!" The crew hauled on a group of cables and the front of the balloon opened up to reveal a bright festoon of feather-like sails, which the team stared at in awe.

"Awesome!" said Rainbow. "I knew you had it in ya! And now for the finishing touch!" Then she flew up.

"Oh, I gotta get in on this!" said Sonic as he ran up the main cable to the balloon and jumped after Rainbow.

"Rainboom! Rainboom! Rainboom!" chanted Pinkie. Twilight caught on to what was about to happen and was instantly terrified.

"No, no, no, no, no! No!" she said, but it was too late as Rainbow and Sonic had already begun their descent, with Rainbow gaining more and more speed.

"Sonic Wind!" yelled Sonic, blasting a blue energy arc out of his hand in front of Rainbow, just before she broke the sound barrier and created a huge sparkling ring of colors and a rainbow-colored trail that Sonic started grinding on.

"AW YEAH!" Rainbow yelled and the two started laughing as they circled the ship, surrounding it in color.

"Wow!" said Celaeno in awe. Twilight groaned in angst as she face-hoofed again. Several leagues away, Grubber and Tempest had unfortunately seen the Rainboom and the huge amount of color.

"Looka that rainbow! Looka that rainbow!" yelled Grubber pointing at it. "Whoa, that's so cool!"

"Yeah. Of them to alert us," said Tempest, turning to Capper. "Funny though. They don't seem to be heading to Black Skull Island."

"Like 'ha-ha' funny or… heh, heh…" said Capper, his voice gradually falling. Tempest just knocked Grubber off the helm and knocked the ship's throttle to the floor, sending the ship after them.

Ch. 8: Boarding Call

Back on Celaeno's ship, Sonic and the captain were having a small duel to make sure the captain hadn't gotten too rusty.

"Yeah! Haha!" she laughed, blocking one of Sonic's blade.

"Nice!" said Rainbow.

"Not too shabby," said Sonic. "Your footwork could use some attention though. Let's see." Then he took a step to the right. "If I step here…" Then he swung and Celaeno blocked it, stepping as well. "Good. And now I step again…" Then he stepped to the left, swinging again with Celaeno stepping and blocking once more. "There ya go! Now we're talkin'!" Celaeno laughed a bit.

"You're good, Sonic, I'll give ya that," she said, sheathing her blade.

"Good nothing, I've been trained by the best pirate swordsman in the multiverse," said Sonic proudly, sheathing his katana and looking into the treasure chest nearby to see a large red gem.

"A Chaos Emerald," he said amazed, reaching for it. Mullet was suspicious and raised his uncovered eyebrow. "Sorry, it's just that, this gem is actually a power source from my universe. And if we're gonna beat the Storm King, I'm gonna need it."

"Ah heck, Mullet, let him take it. What's one ruby between friends?" asked Celaeno. Sonic smirked and grabbed it.

"Emerald actually, but whatever," he said. Just then, Squabble started squawking and ringing a bell. Sonic pulled out his binoculars and looked. "Ship off the port stern!" The others looked and saw a familiar sigil through the clouds.

"Storm Guards! Looks like they found ya!" said Celaeno. Then Sonic got a better look.

"That's Tempest's ship!" he yelled.

"Secure the rigging!" yelled Celaeno. "Lock down the cargo! Everyone, prepare to be boarded!"

"You guys, quick! Get below deck now!" yelled Boyle, lifting up a grate. Quickly, the team slid down into the cargo hold and hid.

"Ya think she saw my Sonic Rainboom?" asked Rainbow, nervously.

"Are you kidding me?!" asked Twilight. Then Sonic heard the front of Tempest's ship open and something fire out. Something connected to a long chain.

"Incoming harpoon!" he yelled and ducked. Then the harpoon shot through the ship's hull and knocked everyone around in the ship. Then it hooked into the hole and the ship started pulling itself toward the pirates on the chain, finally making contact, allowing Tempest, Grubber, and two Storm Creatures to jump to the deck, Grubber eating another piece of cake. Upon Seeing Tempest, Celaeno's eyes went wide in fear.

"Where is the pony princess?" asked Tempest as she walked along the deck.

"'Princess'?" asked Celaeno, lying as she grabbed a shipping order. "Princess, princess… Nope. All we're hauling is Storm King Merchandise." Squabble then squawked and held up a small bobblehead of the villain, jiggling it around.

"Sheesh," Sonic said quietly. "Ego check, your highness."

"You do realize that if you were to shelter fugitives, the Storm King would be quite… explosive," said Tempest in a threatening tone, making Celaeno gulp in worry. Twilight started freaking out.

"We have to get off this ship before they tell Tempest we're here!" she whispered loudly.

"Are you kidding?" Sonic whispered back. "We helped them get their spirit back! They're not gonna give us up!" Twilight wanted to believe her, but looking around, seeing Rarity deeply breathing in fear, Fluttershy shivering more than usual, Applejack putting her hat over her face and Pinkie falling into a crate, she was very worried. She looked around to try and find a way out and then saw a lever in the hold. She smirked.

"I've got this," she said. Back on deck, Tempest was getting impatient.

"Now, I'm gonna count to three, and if you don't tell me where they are, your ship is going down," she said. "One…"

Twilight started levitating rope and a tarp with the Storm King's face on it around. "Hold this," she told Sonic passing him the tarp.

"What are you doing?!" he asked. But instead of answering, Twilight just moved her magic around the lever.

"…Two…" said Tempest. Celaeno was getting antsy as she tightened the grip on her sword.

"Oh, this is inteeense…" said Grubber.

"Three!" said Tempest. Then just as she said that everyone heard a loud clank and the team's screaming receding. Tempest looked and saw the hatch to the hold, growing angry. "What?" Celaeno let out a relieved breath as she knew the others were safe. Safe being a relative term of course, as Twilight had opened a cargo drop lever and the team was currently plummeting down through the air with a cavalcade of junk following them.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake!" yelled Rarity.

"Twilight, if this is your plan, then please tell me there's more to it!" yelled Sonic. "I've already had enough face-plants over my career!" Pinkie was screaming as she fell onward, but it gradually devolved into jovial laughing. Down below, the team saw they were falling toward a large forest with a small river running through it, far too small and far away to land in.

"I can't look!" squeaked Fluttershy as she covered her face with her wings.

"YOU CAN FLY!" yelled Sonic angrily.

"Barely!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "We're going too fast even for me!" Rarity just kept screaming until she passed a mirror to check her reflection, but once it passed she got back to screaming. Then Twilight used her magic and pulled everyone together into a large crate, before looping a length of rope around it.

"What in the hay is she up to?" asked Applejack.

"Search me!" yelled Sonic. Then Twilight tied the tarp to the crate with the rope, before grabbing Spike and shooting his fire breath into the tarp, stopping them falling and allowing them to fly, barely missing the top of a tall pine tree. They all gave a sigh of relief as they collapsed in the crate.

"Thank goodness," said Rarity.

"Huh. MacGyver-style hot air balloon done in mid-air," said Sonic impressed. "Quick thinking, Twilight."

"Yahoo!" the princess cheered and laughed.

"That was fun! Can we do it again?" asked Pinkie.

"Maybe later," chuckled Sonic. "In the meantime… Rainbow Dash, get us going toward that mountain!"

"Aye-aye, captain!" said Rainbow, pushing the balloon through the air. "Next stop, Mount Aris!"

"We're home free!" cheered Twilight. Everyone cheered and laughed as they were on their way.

Back on the ship, the Storm Creatures had put Capper with Celaeno's crew and were working on destroying all the cargo. Then Grubber walked up with an elaborate cupcake in his claw.

"There's no ponies," he said. "But I found this. It's a… kind of a cupcake… with sprinkles… Oh yeah, and I found this, too." Then he showed Tempest the map to Mount Aris. Tempest took it and read it over.

"Wow, this is a real artist," said Grubber, looking it over again.

"Looks like they're heading to Mount Aris…" said Tempest, obviously directed to Capper.

"Really?" he said, stuttering and laughing nervously. "Mou- Mount Aris? I… Well, that's my mis—I didn't know that… Mount Ari… My bad, I didn't… That's my… I'm sorry, I'm very, very sorry."

"Now…" said Tempest handing the map back to Grubber and charging her horn. "About your betrayal…" Then she blasted the ship in several places, destroying it and sending it down into the ocean.

Ch. 9: The City

Meanwhile, at Mount Aris, the team had crash-landed at the base and had to climb up to the city. Thankfully, there was a perfectly carved staircase in the side of the mountain, so the climb was easier, but that didn't stop Rarity from ranting.

"We had to crash the balloon at the bottom of the mountain!" she said angrily and exhausted. "That's it! I simply cannot… even! I have nothing! The bad guys have won!" Then she collapsed. "I'm so sorryyyyyyy-y-y-y!" Sonic rolled his eyes and looked down at her from his level.

"We've literally only been hiking for twenty minutes!" he said. "Just keep going!"

"We're almost there!" yelled Rainbow who had flown ahead to scout it out.

Rarity just growled as she got back up. "Will you stop saying that?!" she asked.

"No really!" yelled Rainbow as they made it up to the top and saw a set of large stone gates shaped like hippogriffs. "We're actually here!"

"This is it!" gasped Twilight.

"Finally, we're gonna win this war!" said Sonic happily.

"Well, I'll be," said Applejack and laughed. "Hippogriffs, here we come!"

Rarity sighed in relief. "Time to rest my hooves," she said. But once they walked through the large gates, they saw that the city was essentially abandoned. Buildings were in ruin and mildew and weeds were growing everywhere.

"Are we sure this is the right place?" asked Rarity.

"It's the only place," said Sonic as he looked around. Then he looked into a house and saw the purple Chaos Emerald, which he quickly grabbed and stashed in his quills.

"Hello?! Is anypony home?!" yelled Applejack.

"No hippogriffies here!" said Pinkie, popping up at different points all over the city. "Or here! Or here! Or here! Or here or here or here!" Then she stopped in front of a small rock. "Waaaaaiiit!" Then she lifted the rock, but then moved away. "Nope! This place is Emp-ty!"

"But… Celestia… The map. They have to be here." said Twilight hopefully.

"That map could've been written centuries ago, and it's just wrong now," said Sonic. "And Celestia… I know you Alicorns are immortal demigoddesses, but even someone as old as her could be wrong. Twilight, I'm sorry, but for all we know, the hippogriffs died off eons ago."

"Something bad happened here," said Spike. "Something that turned this whole place into a ghost town."

"A g-g-g-g-ghost town?!" asked Fluttershy in fear.

"Relax," said Sonic, looking around. "People just say stuff like that sometimes. That doesn't mean there are actually ghosts here." Then a faint humming noise was heard, making Fluttershy gasp in fear. "Of course, I could be wrong, y'know." Twilight listened closer and heard the source.

"It's coming from over there!" she said as the team walked toward a ruined door. They went through it, using the green Chaos Emerald for light, and saw a large flooded antechamber with some sort of giant water lily in the middle. Inside it was some sort of yellow light. The humming was getting louder as they got closer to the water, but then Pinkie knocked some loose stones down, causing the humming voice to stop and gasp.

"What was that?!" it asked in a feminine voice before something jumped from the flower into the water.

"Hey! Wait up!" called Pinkie as she jumped down the stairs nearby. "Cannonball!" Then she jumped into the water.

"Pinkie!" called Twilight as they all ran down to the water. Then Pinkie shot up and shot out the water in her mouth.

"She's gone!" she said.

"What? What do you mean she's gone? Where could she have gone?" asked Sonic. Then they heard some sort of mechanical noises.

"Now what?" asked Twilight exasperated. Then the water started rushing, scooping up Pinkie Pie.

"Huh?" she asked, confused. Then it picked up Sonic.

"Whoa!" he yelled, being swept off his feet. Then the flower shot down through the ground and the water started washing down through the hole where it was, the team yelling in concern.

"Oh, boy," said Rarity. "I hate epic adventures."

"Then why'd you come along?" asked Sonic, trying to be realistic. Then they all hit the deeper faster part of the whirlpool. "Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! I'm gonna hurl!" Then they were all shot down into a flooded cavern. The blue Chaos Emerald floated out of Sonic's quills, but he quickly grabbed it and spun around to see the others struggling to talk. Quickly, using sign language, he tried to tell them to save their air, but it was too late. Some of them were already passing out, and his wrist-mounted air counter started dropping down to zero. All he could do was pray.

"Oh dear Chaos, hear my prayer. Help me and my allies in our time of need," was all he could think before he and Twilight slipped into unconsciousness.

Ch. 10: Seaquestria

Then out of nowhere, Sonic found his breath again, as did all the others. They looked and saw their heads were encased in bubbles.

"Way to leave it…" panted Pinkie. "To the last minute, Twilight!"

"I didn't make these bubbles!" said Twilight.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"Then who did?" panted Fluttershy. Then something swam past, causing everyone to gasp in fear and huddle closer. Sonic flipped a switch on one of his katana and drew it, a thin bubble sort-of thing surrounding the blade.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Hello?" asked Twilight. "We're looking for the hippogriffs." Then the same yellow light from earlier floated up.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she said in an almost accusing voice.

"If you don't trust them, then trust me," said Sonic, swimming in front of them and sheathing his sword.

"And exactly what are you?" asked the voice.

"Name's Sonic, but that's not important right now," he said. "What is important is that the Storm King has invaded their realm, and we need their help to liberate it."

"The Storm King?!" asked the voice. Then the light transformed into a bright yellow animal with light arctic blue hair and brilliant cyan eyes. She also had wings colored a sort of shade of scarlet, but what confused Sonic the most was that her top half looked like a pony, but she had the large finned tail of a fish. "I am so glad I saved you guys! I'm totally taking you to my mom!"

"Wait a sec, what are you, some sort of sea-pony?" asked Sonic.

"Yep. My name's Skystar, now come on!" she said, swimming ahead.

Twilight gasped. "Does your mother know where they are?" she asked.

"Oho!" said Skystar before switching to a singsong voice. "She might have an idea!" Then she giggled.

"Hoo-hoo!" whooped Twilight as the team swam after Skystar. She seemed to be leading them further down in the water through large caverns until she swam a little further ahead.

"We're almost there!" she said and swam through a large cave. The others followed her and saw a huge orb-shaped city hanging from the cave ceiling.

"Whoa!" said the team.

"This must be your world's equivalent of Atlantis," said Sonic in awe. He saw a group of sea-ponies below and waved to them, but they just swam away. "Guess they're just as trusting of surface-dwellers too." Then they swam up to the large structure hanging from the ceiling to see it was some sort of throne room. And on the throne was another sea-pony wearing a small festive crown. Her coat was light fuchiaish gray with a bright fuchsia mane and larger, thinner purple wings.

"Mother!" said Skystar swimming up to her. "Look what I found!"

"Is it another shell?" asked her mother.

"Mm-mm," said Skystar.

"Because I am telling you," she said opening her purple eyes. "If it is another shell, I am-" The second she saw the team she let out a huge gasp. "Princess Skystar, what have you done?! You know surface-dwellers are forbidden here! Guards!" The guards moved on the team, making them gasp, but Sonic quickly drew two katana and aimed them at the guards.

"Try anything, and I'll cut you to ribbons!" he said.

"No no n-no! M-M-Mom, please! It is so not like that!" said Skystar. "The Storm King is trying to destroy their home too!"

"We came here to find the hippogriffs," said Sonic. "Skystar here said you knew what happened to them. Is it true?"

"Well, of course I know, I'm the queen," she said. "I know everything."

"Oh, oh it's such a good story!" said Skystar.

"Don't you dare tell them!" said her mother as Skystar swam up to a wall and waved her forehoof over it, making glowing markings appear.

"Once upon a time, like, a while ago, the Hippogriffs did live on Mount Aris," she said. The team oohed at the markings and the story.

"Did I not say don't tell them?" asked the queen, sitting back down. "But hey, I'm just the queen. Don't mind me."

"Fine! I can't tell you!" said Skystar. "But if I could tell you, I'd say that that horned beast did show up to steal their magic!"

"Seriously?" asked the queen, knowing she was still telling them.

"But, to keep it out of his clutches, their brave and majestic leader, Queen Novo, hid them deep underwater where he could never go! We are… Well, we were the hippogriffs! Ta-da!" Then she laughed and moved to whisper to the others. "But I totally did not tell you that!"

"Wait a second, so then does that mean…?" asked Sonic, pointing at the queen.

"Well, I guess the pearl is out the oyster now," she said. "I am Queen Novo."

"Cool," said Sonic in awe.

"Hold on now!" said Applejack, swimming over. "Lemme get this straight. When the Storm King came, you just abandoned your entire city and fled?"

"We didn't flee, we swam!" said Skystar. "Y'know, in order to flee."

"But you just said- Ah, forget it," said Sonic.

"But… how?" asked Twilight.

"Oh! Can we show them? Huh?" asked Skystar. "These are the first guests we've had in like, foreveeerrr!" Then she began tapping on her mother's chest. "Can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we?"

"Well, I suppose I should make sure it still works," said Novo.

"Make sure what still works?" asked Sonic. Then Novo swam around a large jellyfish near the ceiling and a strange collection of tentacles wrapped around something floated down, opening revealing a large glowing pearl.

"This," she said and chuckled. Skystar giggled and clapped her hoof-fins together giddily. "Careful now." Once it touched her fins, the pearl started giving off some sort of magic energy which flowed to the others, surrounding them. The bubbles around their heads popped, their wings thinned, and their hind legs and tails merged into large fish-like tails. Twilight's and those of her other friends were like Skystar and Novo's but Sonic's turned into that of a swordfish.

"Whoa!" they all said and laughed.

"These fins are divine!" yelled Rarity.

"Hey Applejack, Sonic! I'll race ya to that coral!" said Rainbow, pointing in a direction.

"Ye're on!" said Applejack, slapping her hat down on her head.

"You will lose!" said Sonic and shot ahead, laughing. Pinkie was having the time of her life, swimming around in circles.

"Whoo-hoo!" she giggled. "Ooh! Try it, Fluttershy!" Fluttershy gave a weak giggle and "yay", twitching her tail a bit. Then the others grouped around Spike who had turned into some sort of fish.

"Guys? Guys? What is…" he said before he puffed up, revealing himself to be a pufferfish. "…happening?!"

"Okay, I guess that's fair," said Sonic.

"Aw, so cute!" said Fluttershy.

"This is amazing!" said Twilight, reaching for the pearl. "With this, we could transform everypony at home into something powerful enough to face the Storm King's army!"

"Or it could end up in his greedy claws!" said Novo, holding it back and swimming upright.

"But…" said Twilight.

"Honey, I'm sorry about your home," said Novo, putting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I truly am. But my responsibility is to protect my subjects. The pearl…" Then she gave it back to the jellyfish. "is not going anywhere." Then she sat back down.

"But…" said Twilight.

"Cmon, your majesty," said Sonic. "We came all this way for your help. And you can't just hide down here, trapped under the ocean forever! There's so much up on the surface you're missing!"

"We are one hundred percent okay with that!" said Novo. Then a tiny little octopus swam up and chittered to her. "Yes, Jamal?" Jamal chittered again, and Novo's expression perked back up. "Ooh! Time for my seaweed wrap." Then she swam off.

"But-!" yelled Sonic. Jamal just chittered to her again.

"Yes, a massage too, Mama needs her deep tissue," said Novo. Then the others swam up.

"So that's it? We left home for nothin'?" asked Applejack.

"So it would seem," said Sonic.

"Oh… my gosh," said Skystar. "Best… idea! You can stay with us! Forever!" Then she laughed. "There are so many things we can do! We can make friendship bracelets out of shells and... picture frames outta shells and... decorative wastebaskets out of shells... Oh, I have so many projects that involve shells, haha! Now I have someone new to share them with!" Then she pulled up two shells with googly eyes attached to them. "I mean, aside from my friends, Shelly and Sheldon. Right? 'Shelly'? And 'Sheldon'?" She chuckled. "Get it?" She just kept chuckling and snorting as she shoved the shells in front of them.

"There really isn't a lot to do down here, is there?" asked Sonic.

"No," said Skystar.

"Yeah, thought not," said Sonic.

"That sounds lovely, darling, but you must realize, we can't stay," said Rarity.

"We've gotta get back to our families," said Applejack.

"Oh. No. Of course, of course," said Skystar sadly. "Of course you have your own friends back home. It's fine, it's fine. Heh." She whispered the next part. "Shelly and Sheldon get jealous anyways." She chuckled. "It's probably for the best. Yeah, I'll just, um… I'll get Mom to, uh, turn you back so you can go home." Then she swam off. Pinkie was upset for her and swam after her for a bit before she went back to the others.

"I know we have to go, but you guys saw how disappointed Princess Skystar was," she said. "Couldn't we stay for just a little longer?"

"Pinkie, we just don't have for-" Applejack began.

"Oh, no. No, no. Pinkie's right." said Twilight in a weird tone of voice.

"Say what now?" asked Rainbow.

"Howzat?" asked Sonic.

"Well, we still need to come up with a plan to get back. A few minutes won't make a huge difference," said Twilight. "'And if there's anypony who can cram a lifetime of fun into a blink of an eye, it's Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie smiled hugely and gave a happy "Squee" noise. "So go ahead and show Skystar the best time ever!"

"I won't let you down!" said Pinkie saluting as she and the others swam away.

"I'm counting on it," said Twilight. Sonic seemed apprehensive about this, but he wasn't going to mess with it as he followed the others, leaving Twilight alone in the throne room staring at the jellyfish… and the pearl.

Ch. 11: One Small Thing

In another part of the castle, Skystar was quietly sobbing out bubbles, but she just kept telling herself "It's probably for the best."

Musical Number: One Small Thing

Then out of nowhere, Shelly and Sheldon popped up. Pinkie was using them as puppets. Skystar looked and saw her and the others.

Pinkie (Shelly): Hey now, don't be sad
Pinkie (Sheldon): I know we cannot stay
Pinkie: But we've got a couple minutes
And a little time to play

Skystar: I know you have important things
So it's okay, just go

Pinkie: But we can still pick one small, little thing
To do with you, y'know!

Sonic: "Cmon, let's have some fun! Ha-ha-ha!"

Pinkie: One Small Thing doesn't seem like a lot
One Small Thing, work with the time you've got
Soon One Small Thing becomes two
After two, perhaps another few
Then One Small Thing is not so small
One Small Thing can be the biggest thing of all

Sonic: "So? Whaddaya say?"

Skystar: *giggles* All right now, since you're here
Let's see what we can do
Swim with the flow until you go
Together, me and you

Pinkie: I got necklaces for every fish
So what else do ya got?

Skystar: Well, we could play the bubble-fish
You'll like this one a lot!

Then Sonic whipped out a trumpet and started playing.

Pinkie and Skystar: One Small Thing, it's a good place to start
(Everyone else: Just One Small Thing)
One Small Thing and we don't seem so far apart
(Don't seem apart)

Then the others all started getting the other sea-ponies in the city in on the action.

All: Soon One Small Thing leads to more
It's so much more than there was before
Just One Small Thing, and you will see
The start of something big for you and me

Sonic started beating on coral and rocks for a beat as Queen Novo swam out to see the ruckus.

Pinkie: One Small Thing
(Sea-ponies: Just One Small Thing)
Skystar: Or a tall thing
(Just one tall thing)
Fluttershy: Or a sing thing
(Just one sing-y thing)
Rarity: Or a bling thing
All: Just one bling-y thing

Applejack: A conga thing
All: Yeah, a conga thing
Rainbow: Or a longah thing
All: Just one longah thing
Pinkie: A blue thing, true thing, you thing
(Sea-ponies: Oooh-oooh)
Skystar: A we thing, sea thing, me thing!
(Oooh-oooh-oooh!)
Both: So many things and everything until our time is done
There's One Small Thing for each and everyone…!

Then Queen Novo swam over and the gang got her in on the last of the jam session.

Skystar: One Small Thing, so much we can create
You and me, we started something great
It's so amazing, look around
At all the happy sights and sounds
One Small Thing is big, it's true
You did this all for us
I just wish there was One Small Thing
An extra special kind of thing

Skystar and Sea-ponies: That we could do for you!

All: One Small Thing!

Sonic: "Yeah!"

"Woo!" whooped Novo and laughed.

"Yeah, ya feel that?" Sonic asked, chuckling as the others moved for a group hug. "That's what ye're missin' out on up at the surface."

"Well, I guess there is one small thing we can do," said Novo.

"YES!" said Sonic and laughed grabbing the others. Then some sort of alarm started blaring, making everyone gasp. "What's that noise?"

"That's the alarm for the pearl!" said Novo as she swam back to the castle.

"The Pearl?" asked Sonic. Then he heard someone yelling from the castle. Then he remembered; The only one left in the castle was Twilight! "Oh, tell me she didn't!" Quickly, everyone swam back to the castle and saw Twilight trying to grab the pearl from the jellyfish, and getting stung every time she struggled. "Twilight, are you out of your mind?!" Novo just growled and grabbed the pearl away.

"No! Please!" yelled Twilight. Sonic quickly swam up and grabbed her away from the angry queen.

"All of this so you could sneak in and take the pearl?!" she asked angrily. Then she pulled Skystar up to her. "This is why we don't bring strangers into our home!" Then she turned back to Twilight and Sonic. "You don't deserve to be one of us." Then the pearl's magic started flowing over them again.

Ch. 12: Failing at Friendship

Back on the surface, the team shot their heads up, back to normal, and gasped as they swam up to shore and coughed.

"I hate water," mumbled Sonic. Twilight's friends wasted no time getting right to business in railing the princess.

"What were you thinkin'?" asked Applejack incredulously. "I mean, stealin' their pearl?!"

Twilight sighed as she turned to them. "It was the only way to save Equestria," she said.

"Except it wasn't!" said Pinkie. "The queen was going to say yes! We did what you told us, and that's what made her realize we were ponies worth saving!" Then Sonic realized it and snapped his fingers.

"That's what she was planning," he said. "She didn't want us to show Skystar the best time of her life. She just needed a diversion!" The others gasped, and Twilight started to get pissed.

"I never would've done it, but this isn't Equestria!" she said. "We can't just dance around with con artists, make Rainbooms in the sky and expect everything to work out! It's not enough. We are not enough!"

"No Twilight," said Pinkie seriously. "We stuck together. We were gonna get the help we needed. The only thing that stopped us, was you."

"Well, I'm doing the best I can!" yelled Twilight.

"Yeah, and your best sucks!" said Sonic bluntly.

"Look, it's all on me," said Twilight as she walked away. "I'm the one Tempest wants. I'm the last princess…"

"You're also the only one who doesn't trust her friends!" said Pinkie.

"Well, maybe I would've been better off without friends like YOU!" yelled Twilight, magic sparking around her horn. Pinkie gave a shocked, upset gasp and Sonic moved for his katana. Pinkie looked down and Twilight realized she screwed up as she looked at her friends. Fluttershy had closed her eyes, Rarity was staring at her, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash just scowled at her. Pinkie walked away, still staring at the ground.

"Pinkie…" said Twilight, turning to her. "I…"

Pinkie sniffed, obviously hurt. "I just can't talk to you right now," she said simply and continued walking. The others followed suit, all giving Twilight the cold shoulder. Then Sonic bumped her shoulder on purpose and stopped, looking at her with an angry look in his eye.

"Well. You did it," he said bitterly. "You doomed Equestria all by yourself with a single sentence. And all it cost you was six meaningful friends. Congratulations. I'm sure your friends in the Storm King's army will throw themselves off a cliff to get you a promotion. After your magic is stolen." Then he kept walking. Spike walked up to try and say something, but no one listened. Twilight turned the other way and walked off, leaving Spike alone on the beach.

A short time later, Twilight was sitting alone on a high stone cliff overlooking the ocean. The waves beat the rock, and every piece of washed-away sediment became, in her eyes, just another innocent bystander that had been harmed by the Storm King's actions, or roped in to help him against their will. But most of all, they became the relationships she had made and failed since the Friendship Festival; Capper, Captain Celaeno, and her crew, Princess Skystar, Queen Novo, Sonic, her friends, all of them were lost to her; the cliff.

Spike walked up behind her to try and comfort her. "Twilight?" he asked. "It's okay… You'll figure it out."

Twilight just sobbed. "No…" she whimpered. "I can't." Tears flowed to her eyes. "I ruined everything. There's no chance to save Equestria now." One shining tear rolled down her muzzle and dangled near her chin. "It's all my fault." Then the tear fell from her chin and down to the ocean, but not before catching a reflection of Sonic and the others on the beach below.

Then out of nowhere, she heard muffled struggling. "Spike?" she asked. She looked behind her and saw a Storm Creature holding Spike. She tried to blast him free with a spell, but a cage fell on top of her and trapped her. She screamed as she could feel it rising. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no! No!" She looked up and all she could see was Tempest's airship. "SPIIIKE!"

Spike quickly breathed fire on the Monster's arm to make him let him go and ran to the edge of the cliff as Tempest's ship flew away. "TWILIGHT!" he yelled.

Ch. 13: Open Up Your Eyes

Twilight had been winched up into the bowels of Tempest's ship. She tried to blast her way out of the cage, but her magic barely even scratched the bars. Then Tempest walked down to the cage, smiling cruelly.

"Aww, the 'Princess of Friendship'. With no friends," she said and chuckled. "And no way out."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Twilight. "You're a pony! Just like me." That obviously struck a nerve as Tempest struck the bars with her hooves and sent magic energy coursing through them from her horn.

"I'm nothing like you!" she growled. "I'm more than you'll ever be!"

Musical Number – Open Up Your Eyes

Tempest: It's time you learned a lesson
It's time that you understand
Don't ever count on anybody else
In this or any other land

I once hoped for friendship
To find a place among my kind
But those were the childish wishes
Of someone who was blind

Open Up Your Eyes…!
See the world from where I stand
Me, among the mighty
You, caged at my command

Open Up Your Eyes…!
Give up your sweet fantasy land
It's time to grow up and get wise
Come now, little one…
Open Up Your Eyes!

Then she used her power to show Twilight a flashback of her childhood, from when she still had her horn and she had two young friends. They were playing with a ball when it bounced into the Everfree Forest, into a blocked off cave. She was unsure of what to do, but her friends said she should go in. She scowled at them as she walked in. She found the ball, but she also found something bad: An Ursa Minor, the same one, in fact, that Twilight had handled when Trixie first came to Ponyville. It attacked her and shattered her horn.

We all start out the same
With simple naïve trust
Shielded from the many ways
That life's not fair or just

But then there comes a moment
A simple truth that you must face
If you depend on others
You'll never find your place.

She had to recover for a few weeks, and even when she did find her friends playing again, when she tried to use her magic, all she could muster were lightning bolts and sparks. So her friends abandoned her and found someone else to play with. After that, she ran away from her hometown and found herself working for the Storm King in the Badlands.

And as you take that first step
Upon a path, that's all your own
You see it all so clearly
The best way to survive is all alone

Open Up Your Eyes…!
See the world from where I stand
Me, among the mighty
You, caged at my command

Then she threw a switch on the side that started raising Twilight's cage up to the main deck, but then she stopped it for a moment with her hoof.

Open Up Your Eyes…!
And behold the faded light
It's time to grow up and get wise
Come now, little one,

Open Up Your Eyes!

Open Up Your Eyes…!

Twilight's eyes quickly adjusted to the light of the main deck, but when they did, she stared in awe and fear at their destination; what was left of Canterlot. Then Tempest walked up to the deck next to her.

"I'm so sorry you felt so alone," said Twilight.

"I saw the truth," said Tempest bitterly. "My 'friends' abandoned me when times got tough. Looks like I'm not the only one. Face it, Princess. Friendship has failed you, too."

"Friendship didn't fail me," said Twilight, tears coming to her eyes again. "I failed friendship."

Ch. 14: Helpful Friends

Back with the others, they were on another side of the beach, poking at the ground. Sonic was trying his best to shine the buckles of his shoes, but he just found himself sighing. Then he looked at the others, to see they were just as miserable.

"This whole journey was such a mistake!" said Fluttershy. "All we wanted was somepony to help us."

"Well, we had a few allies, but look how all that turned out," said Sonic. Applejack sighed.

"Ya think maybe it's time we talk to Twilight?" she asked.

"After what Pinkie and I said?" asked Sonic, and he scoffed. "Good luck." Then Spike ran up out of breath.

"She's! Been! Taken!" he shouted.

"What?!" asked Rainbow as she zipped up.

"Twilight's been taken!" Spike said quickly. "Tempest – She grabbed her and took her on her ship!" Everyone gave a horrified gasp.

"We gotta get her back!" said Rainbow.

"Are you kidding?" asked Sonic. "She's got way too much of a lead on us. Even at my top speed, I might never catch up to her, much less make it back to Canterlot in time."

"And we got no way to defeat those monsters…" said Applejack. They all gave another upset sigh and looked around at each other.

"Well, good thing I happen to know of a group of mighty heroes that could handle this easily," said a familiar voice. The team looked up and saw Capper standing on a rock above them.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in…" said Rarity. "Himself."

"Y'know, on Mobius, that sort of statement is kinda racist," said Sonic. "But you have me interested, Conman Capper. Elaborate."

"These heroes have faced the Storm King's army, and escaped!" said Capper dramatically. "I've seen them tackle the streets of the roughest towns, break out of the tightest situations, and inspire others to join their cause!"

"Ooh!" said everyone, impressed and excited.

"Now don't get too excited," said Applejack bluntly. "He's just talking about us."

"Aw…" said the team again.

"Seriously, man?" asked Sonic.

"They even escaped certain doom at the hooves of Commander Tempest!" said Capper as he slid down the rock, ramped off it and landed in front of the team.

"Yeah, that was pretty great," said Rainbow.

"Are you kidding me?!" asked another voice. The team looked and saw Celaeno and her crew. "That was AWESOME!" Squabble squawked loudly behind his captain.

"Whoa!" said Sonic. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Figured you could use a claw," said Boyle, snapping the removable claw on his right wing.

"We're all onboard to help you fight the Storm King!" said Celaeno. "Just not on board our actual ship…"

"Yeah, sorry about that by the way," said Sonic.

"Not yer fault, mate," said Mullet. "That crazy unicorn sunk it, but you got back our arrrgghhh! And we're ready to kick some booty!" Celaeno drew her sword in confidence as the rest of the crew yelled and growled. Then Sonic saw something bubbling out in the water.

"Uh guys?" he said, pointing to it. They all looked and saw a strange yellow light. Then something floated out of it. Something glowing yellow. Then it stopped moving and was revealed to be Princess Skystar in her hippogriff form, spreading her large pair of yellow feathered wings.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Capper in awe.

"Yes. Yes, it is," said Sonic. Then Skystar landed on the rocks nearby.

"Hellooo!" she said in a sing-song voice before returning to normal. "Me again." Then she chuckled. "I am gonna get so grounded… but I talked things over with Shelly and Sheldon and they pointed out that you were just trying to help your friends! So I wanna help too!" Then she flew up to Pinkie in one flap. "Cause ya know, one small thing… can make a really big difference." That last part she whispered to Pinkie, but Sonic heard her anyway and smiled.

"That's it, right? We didn't make friends with anypony else?" asked Spike.

"Guess so," said Sonic, flipping out the white Chaos Emerald he found in Seaquestria. "But now that I've got all seven Chaos Emeralds, we aren't gonna need anypony else."

"All right, Y'all," said Capper. "I think our course is clear. Y'all ready to do this thing?"

"Oh yeah!" said Sonic.

"We're coming, Twilight!" said Pinkie and everyone cheered. "As soon as we bake up a plan!"

"'Bake'? Aha! Now there's an idea!" said Sonic. "I've got our plan! All we're gonna need is a cart, a disguise for Capper, a fake shipping order, and a big-honkin' cake."

Ch. 15: Back to Canterlot

Back in Canterlot, Songbird was trying to practice her singing, but the Storm Creature guarding her slammed on the cage and shut her up. She sighed and looked in sorrow as Twilight was carted through town with Tempest leading the way to the palace. Once inside, she was placed on the corner of a sigil with the other princesses, who were still statues. Grubber closed the door and gave a cruel laugh.

"Tempest, don't do this," said Twilight, still trying to reason with her. "Don't give the Storm King-"

"Your magic?" asked Tempest. "Did you think you'd keep it all to yourself? Time to share. Y'know, I'd really love for everybody out there to know what I can really do."

"Ooh, fascinating!" said a voice that was painfully familiar to Tempest. "What can you really do?" They all looked and saw the Storm King, in all his villainous glory, walk through a small door in the back of the room, the Staff of Sacanas in his claws.

"Your bidding, of course, your Mighty One," said Grubber, kowtowing to him before running out of the room.

"Coward," Tempest said under her breath.

"Bidding's good. I like bidding," said the King. Then he saw Twilight. "Um, what are you supposed to be?"

I'm the Princess of Friendship," she said standing her ground.

The king just laughed. "Oh. That's nice," he said before turning bitter, facing Tempest. "Why is this one still moving?"

"She and her friends put up a bit of a fight, but she's alone now," said Tempest. "She won't be a problem."

"Yeah," said the king, walking past Tempest and rubbing her head. "So, speaking of problems, this place, it seems a little too- oh, I don't know- cute! I don't like cute! I never did like cute! Doesn't really go with my whole 'big bad powerful magic guy' thing, does it?! Deliver the punchline, Tempest, because this has gotta be a joke!" Then he stabbed the staff down into the center of the sigil in the floor, which then started glowing to the corners. "Huh?" Then lines of blue magic started appearing on the princess' statues, and on Twilight's legs sending their magic to the staff.

"No!" struggled Twilight. The Storm King laughed as the magic shot to the staff.

"Check out the light show!" he said. Outside, all the bright color left in the city was drained to the staff as the Storm King ripped it from the ground. "Wow! Wow!" Twilight gasped in pain as she fell to the ground.

"Let's get this storm started!" said the king. "Ooh, hey, that's good, I should trademark that." Then the staff started ringing and he used it to blast Twilight out of her cage and out onto the balcony. He followed her out and chuckled at the destruction. "Not bad. Actually, kinda first rate. What else does it do?" Tempest quickly trotted out after him.

"Your Excellency, you promised to restore my horn and give me-" she began.

"Deh-Deh-Deh-deh-deh, okay," he said. "Hang on." Then he lifted the staff, and the sun instantly rose. He then proceeded to wiggle it around on its orbit. "You gotta be kiddin' me! I can move the sun?!" Then he laughed for a bit, and rose the moon as well, walking over Twilight. "Wow! Now, this is what I'm talkin' about! Haha! Time to play." He cycled the sun and moon a few times over. "Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday! Day, night! Day, night! Day night! Day night! Day night! Sunrise, sunset!" Then he gave a jovial humming. as Twilight looked at Tempest pitiably.

At the gates of the town, the other ponies were walking to the city hauling a cake with Spike on top breathing fire pretending to be a candle. Inside, the rest of the team was waiting for when they got to the castle.

Then the guards were met with Capper dressed as a chef with a fake shipping order in his hands.

"Uh, yeah, I gotta delivery for a mister 'The Storm King'," he said. "I was given explicit instructions to bring this here cake to this here castle's throne room." The guards growled and looked over the cake, then they aimed their spears at Capper.

"Alright then. Look here. Could one o' Y'all go be a pal, go tell your boss he's not gettin' his 'congratulations on subduing defenseless pastel ponies' cake? 'Cause I don't wanna be the one responsible for the big guy missin' his special dessert, you know what I'm sayin'?" Then he walked back to the others, Pinkie looking very disappointed.

Capper just smirked and counted down from three on his fingers before pointing his thumb to the gate, to the guards moving, and Pinkie instantly perked up. Capper winked at her as they walked through. "Thank you kindly, fellas. Imma be sure and put in a good word for the botha Y'all." Then one of the guards saw something amiss with Pinkie still smiling.

"Pinkie quit lookin' so happy," whispered Applejack. "Ya ain't foolin' nopony!"

"Oh! Okay!" she whispered back and let her face fall. In what was left of the main market, Grubber was filling himself up on pie from a nearby stand. Then he saw the team.

"Oh, hello cake!" he said as he jumped up onto the cart. "Ooh! Don't mind if I do!" Then he grabbed a handful and ate it, revealing one of Squabble's eyes. "Mmm! That's some, like, gourmet icing." Then he saw Squabble's eye. "Who puts eyeballs in filling?" Then Squabble blinked, scaring him. "Guards!" he called, just before Squabble shot out of the cake, grabbed him and pulled him in. Quickly he and the others tied him up and gagged him.

"We're dead in the water now guys," said Sonic. And he was right. The guards quickly ganged up and blocked them off.

"Uh-oh," said Capper. "Plan B?"

"The jig is up!" yelled Rainbow and kicked the cart. Once she did, the others exploded out ready to fight. Once they did, everything started going in slow-motion. But once they landed, time went back to normal.

"Come on!" growled Celaeno. The crew charged and attacked, disarming the guards. Sonic jumped into a large group of them and spun around slashing, sending them all flying. Then he grabbed Applejack's rope and hogtied another one of them.

"Yee-haw!" the cowpony yelled. Then Pinkie shot up to one with a present in her hooves.

"Surprise!" she said and zipped off. Once the storm creature opened it, he was shocked to see Pinkie somehow inside with a cupcake, which she then threw in her face. "Double surprise!" Then she spun her forelegs around throwing cupcakes at him like a machine gun. Then one of the guards stabbed his spear into the ground in front of Fluttershy, growling at her

"You seem tense," she said. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Huh?" the creature asked.

"Huh?" asked Sonic nearby. But then she got back to helping Celaeno with the fighting. Then he smirked.

"I got an idea!" he said. "This is gonna be trippy, but bear with me!" Then he crossed the two blades in his hands and brought them closer to him. "Kyutoryu Nine-Sword Style!" Then out of nowhere, two more faces appeared on his head, and four more arms around his body, all with swords. Then he jumped right into the fight and slashed away to his heart's content, even cutting through the armor of a whole battalion, forcing them to run off in their underwear. Then the extra parts faded and he sheathed all his swords.

"What was that?!" asked Rarity.

"The Kyutoryu Nine-Sword Style," said Sonic. "It's just an illusion, but as you saw, it somehow has physical presence. I know, it's weird but ya can't argue with the results.

"Quick! Head for the castle!" yelled Celaeno. "We'll hold 'em off!"

"Let's go!" yelled Sonic and the girls followed him. All but Fluttershy, who was comforting that same Storm Creature from earlier.

"Let it all out," she said.

"Fluttershy!" yelled everyone else.

"Oh, sorry, our time is up," she said, flying after them. "Buh-bye!" Quickly, the others charged up the large staircase, but more Storm Creatures had broken the line and were throwing spears and firing crossbows up at the team.

"Oh no, they're shootin' at us!" yelled Applejack.

"Good thing the bad guys are such terrible shots," said Sonic.

"Man, these guys are elusive," growled one of them, failing to shoot them, even when he was aiming right at them. But they kept coming. Skystar spread her wings as a sort of faue barricade.

"Keep going!" she yelled. Then she pulled out her shell friends. "Shelly? Sheldon?" Then she tossed them both at one of the guards, both of them clamping down on his eyes, knocking him down. Then she grabbed the rest one by one in her talons and threw them away. The others managed to make it up to the door but saw more guards in the way.

"Uh-oh," said Applejack. Then Capper had an idea.

"Hey," he said to Spike. "Ain't you a fire-breathin' dragon?" Sonic and Spike smirked.

"I like the way you think, Capper," said Sonic flipping down a pair of sunglasses and letting Spike jump up into his arms. "Hey! Monsters! Say hello to my scaley little friend!" Then he let out a guttural yell of fury, as he pushed down on one of Spike's hind legs, using him as a flamethrower to keep the guards back. Sonic and Capper laughed as the guards ran away burning. Tempest was on the balcony watching the whole thing.

"What?! How?!" she asked. Twilight gasped.

"It's… It's the Magic of…" she said.

"Yeah, yeah!" said the Storm King grabbing the two of them. "Friendship and flowers and ponies and bleh! I am so totally over the cute pony thing. This! Ends! Now!" Then he used the staff to shoot a huge beam of energy into the sky, laughing as clouds rolled in. On the ground, Sonic had finished scaring away all the guards when he and the others saw the clouds amassing.

"Uh-oh," said Sonic. The wind swirled loudly around them as it started to form into a tornado.

"Move them hooves, ponies!" yelled Capper and everyone ran as fast as they could. The Storm Creatures were almost blown away, but one of them grabbed Rarity as he flew off.

"RARITY!" yelled Spike.

"I got this!" yelled Sonic as he whipped out the green Chaos Emerald. "Chaos CONTROL!" Then he disappeared and reappeared up with the monster that grabbed Rarity. Then he grabbed her hoof and looked at the guard.

"Hi!" he said simply before punching the guard in the face, sending him away before shooting down to the ground with a high-powered stomp, creating a shockwave knocking all the other monsters skyward. "You okay, Rarity?"

"I am now. Thank you," she said. Then the team looked up at the tornado.

"Twilight's in there somewhere! I'll go in and grab her!" yelled Sonic as he curled up and spun in place several times before shooting into the tornado, but he was just bounced back. "Well, that didn't work."

"You'd need to be flying faster than a speeding Pegasus to break through that wind!" said Rainbow. Then Pinkie gasped as she got an idea.

"Excellent idea, Rainbow Dash!" she said, pulling a helmet down onto her head, sparking worried looks from everyone.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's a bad thing when she says stuff like that, correct?" asked Sonic.

"Yep!" said Rainbow. Up on the balcony, the Storm King was laughing.

"Now I truly am the Storm King!" he bellowed. "And the entire world will bow to my Ba-ba-ba-boom, baby!"

"Yes, yes, you are every bit as powerful as I promised, Sire," said Tempest. "Now, restore my horn and I swear to use my magic to serve you!"

The king just laughed. "Who cares about your dinky little unicorn horn?!" he asked as he pushed her aside.

"But… we… we had an agreement!" said Tempest.

"Get with the program! I used you! It's kinda what I do!" said the King as he zapped the ground she was standing on. She dodged several times and fired back at him, but the blast knocked them both away, sending Tempest dangling for her life from the railing and the Storm King into a wall, letting the staff fall out of his grip. Twilight realized she had a choice to make; Either grab the Staff and doom Tempest or save Tempest and risk destruction. Thankfully, being who she was, she grabbed Tempest's hoof just as she lost her grip.

"Hang on!" she yelled.

"Why are you saving me?" asked Tempest.

"Because this is what friends do," said Twilight. At that moment, Tempest had her revelation as Twilight dragged her back to the balcony.

"Awwww!" said the Storm King sarcastically. "Isn't that just so sweet!" Then he laughed. "Yeah. See ya!" Down in town, Sonic and the others were all in a cannon with Squabble on the plunger.

"You sure about this?" called Boyle.

"Just do it!" yelled Pinkie. "Thank you! I'm excited! Who's excited?! Aaah! I've never been so excited!"

"Is it too late to opt out of this?" asked Sonic.

"When it comes to Pinkie Pie's schemes, usually the only way to opt out is to stop 'em altogether," said Applejack.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that," said Sonic. Squabble squawked outside and pushed the plunger shooting the team out screaming in fear, but Pinkie just laughed. But then they started turning into the wind.

"We're not going to make it!" yelled Rarity.

"Yes we are!" yelled Sonic as he fell down behind the others. Then he summoned the Chaos Emeralds to him and they almost instantly fused into his body, curving up his spikes, turning his blue fur gold and his emerald green eyes blood red. Then he shot back up to the others and grabbed them.

"Sonic?" asked Rainbow. He just smirked. Then he shot through the wind down toward the balcony, but then he accidentally lost his grip on the others, letting them fall towards the balcony.

"Oh, they're gonna kill me for that." he groaned, biting his lip.

Down on the balcony, the Storm King was laughing until the others crashed into him and sent him flying through the hole in the wall, and embedding the staff in the large window above. Pinkie rolled a bit before crashing into Fluttershy.

"Bulls-eye!" she said weakly. Sonic flew down and helped her and the others up.

"My bad! That's on me! Right here! I'm gonna take that one!" he said. Then Twilight walked in.

"Pinkie! You all came back! I'm so sorry! I was wrong to-" She didn't finish as Pinkie grabbed Twilight in a hug.

"I'm sorry too," she said. "Friends mess up sometimes, but we never should've-"

"Uh, make up later!" yelled Rainbow. "This isn't over!" Then they looked and saw the staff in the window.

"Oh yeah, that," said Sonic. Then Twilight looked at him.

"Wait. Sonic?" she asked. Sonic looked back at her and smirked. "What happened to you?"

"I just accessed the full power of the Chaos Emeralds," he said. "As long as I'm in this form, my name is Super Sonic." Then the Staff shot a beam toward him, but he raised his hand and blocked it with ease, accidentally bouncing it up into the ceiling, bringing it down. "Oops." Tempest ran through the throne room dodging supports as best she could, but she was boxed in. Twilight got up and looked up at the staff.

"I've gotta get control of it!" she yelled.

"Go! You've got this, Twilight!" yelled Pinkie.

"No," said Twilight as she and the others stood up. "We've got this. Together." Applejack threw her rope around a large stone nearby and Sonic held onto it for all he was worth, holding the others in his other hand, letting Twilight float up on the end like a kite. Then the Storm King pulled himself loose from the rubble and climbed toward the staff.

"The staff belongs to me!" he yelled menacingly.

"I don't think so, pal!" yelled Sonic as he clenched the rope between his teeth and launched energy blasts at him, which he quickly dodged. "Twilight! Hurry! Grab the staff!" He moved the rope back to his hands and slid down to the end of it, letting Twilight get as close as possible, straining to reach it.

"No! That's my staff!" yelled the king as he leaped for it. Twilight barely managed to grab it before him, but he impacted with the window and was sent flying out along with Twilight.

"Twilight!" called Sonic.

"Nooooooo…!" yelled Pinkie. At last, the wind died down and the team fell to the ground. Everyone hoped she would show up at the last minute, but she didn't. Pinkie started crying and Applejack quickly moved to comfort her, but then everyone saw a light glistening through the clouds. They all looked and saw Twilight herself, gliding down with the staff wrapped in her forehooves.

"Yes!" yelled Sonic as everyone ran out to the balcony to welcome home their heroic friend.

"Group hug!" said Pinkie and they all moved to grab Twilight. She sighed, and Tempest walked to the top of a pile of rubble and smiled at them. But then she saw the Storm King climbing over the railing, and in his claw was one of the crystal bombs she herself had used on the princesses. He threw it at the team, but Tempest jumped in front of them and took the blow herself, spreading the mist to the Storm King, turning them both to stone and letting the Storm King fall to the ground and shatter on impact. But only he fell as Sonic had grabbed Tempest just before she could and carefully lowered her to the balcony.

"Wow. Cannot believe she just did that," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I can," said Twilight. Then Sonic ripped the stone from the staff and used it to fire a blast of magic at Tempest, turning her back to normal. She was surprised but then she saw Twilight and the others.

"You've earned your place at the table, Tempest," said Sonic, and he and Twilight smiled at her. She took a breath but then she smiled back.

"Now what?" asked Fluttershy. Everyone looked down the line until it ended with Sonic and Twilight, who then looked at Tempest.

"Now… we fix everything," she said.

"Just leave that to me," said Sonic. Then he levitated the stone from the staff in front of him and took a meditative position before he started floating higher. "The Servers are the Seven Chaos. Chaos is Power. Power Enriched by the Heart. The Controller is the one that Unifies the Chaos. O mighty Master Emerald, incredible Chaos Emeralds, grant me the strength to release the power from this stone, and restore this universe to its full former glory." Then he took the crystal in hand shot a beam from it into the sigil in the castle. Turning the princesses back to normal, each taking breaths as the normalized and then Celestia looked and saw her student and her friends.

"Twilight!" she yelled happily.

"Princesses!" Twilight said just as happily and grabbed her and the others in a hug. Then the power from the stone spread outside the castle to the rest of the city, rebuilding and recoloring it, even turning Ditzy Doo in the square back to normal. At last, Canterlot was back to normal. But there was still the Friendship Festival to take care of.

Ch. 16: Friendship Festival

That night, the festival was ready and Spike was onstage with a mic emceeing the event.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" he said. "Get ready for a little…" Then onto the stage swooped… "Songbird Serenade!" Everyone in the crowd, including Sonic and the others, cheered.

"And now to celebrate the fact that we're all still here in one piece, give it up for Princess Twilight and her friends!" Everyone turned to the team and cheered even louder. The other three princesses walked up and bowed to the team and they bowed back, showing common courtesy. Then the light turned back to Songbird as she started singing.

Musical Number – Rainbow

Songbird: I know you, you're a special one
Some see crazy where I see love
You fall so low but shoot so high
Big dreamers shoot for open sky

So much life in those open eyes
So much depth, you look for the light

Rainbow bumped her hoof against Celaeno's claw and Sonic's fist and all three smirked.

"Ooh!" said Capper, as Rarity levitated him a cape and top hat.

"And perfection!" she said.

But when your wounds are open, you will cry

Pinkie and Skystar laughed for a minute until Skystar saw her mother flying in in her hippogriff form. "Mom!" she said and ran to hug her.

"You are so grounded!" said Novo and laughed, making Skystar's eyes shoot open in fear.

"Saw that coming," chuckled Sonic.

You'll cry out now and you'll question why

I can see a rainbow
In your tears as they fall on down
I can see your soul grow
Through the pain as they hit the ground
I can see a rainbow
In your tears as the sun comes out
As the sun comes out

Then Sonic saw something. He pointed Twilight to it and she saw Tempest standing alone near the ledge. The two quickly zipped over and saw her gazing out into the last remnants of the sunset.

"Hey," said Sonic.

"Hey," said Tempest and she chuckled. "Well, that's one thing that never changes around here. A party."

"Well, I hope you'll stay," said Twilight. "More friends are definitely merrier."

Tempest sighed and looked up at her forehead. "But, um…" she said. "My horn."

"Well, it might not look great," said Sonic. "But y'know what, it's pretty dang powerful. Just like the pony it belongs to."

"I did tell you I wanted to show everypony in Equestria what I could do, right?" she asked Twilight.

"You sure did," said Twilight. "Go ahead." Tempest walked for a bit before she shot a blast into the air, which exploded into a barrage of fireworks.

"Whoo!" yelled Sonic.

I can see a rainbow
In your tears as they fall on down
I can see your soul grow
Through the pain as they hit the ground
I can see a rainbow
In your tears as the sun comes out
As the sun comes out

"Nice touch, Tempest!" said Pinkie from the stage. Then Tempest looked over her shoulder nervously.

"Actually, that's not my real name," she said.

"It's not?" asked Sonic.

"Oooh! What is it?" asked Pinkie as she and the others zipped up. Tempest moved close to Pinkie's ear, but she hadn't accounted for Sonic's strong sense of hearing.

"It's 'Fizzlepop Berrytwist'," she whispered. Sonic and Pinkie's eyes went wide and they both gasped, but for completely different reasons.

"What?!" asked Sonic, almost cracking up.

"Okay!" said Pinkie. "That is the most awesome name ever!" Then she and the others just laughed at that.

"And on that bombshell, I think I should probably be heading home," said Sonic.

"Aw come on," said Twilight. "At least stick around for the party." Sonic thought about it for a second, but then he just shrugged.

"Ah, what the hell? Let's do this!" he yelled and they all ran in to have the time of their lives.

I can see a rainbow
In your tears as they fall on down
I can see your soul grow
Through the pain as they hit the ground
I can see a rainbow
In your tears as the sun comes out
As the sun comes out

I am here and I see your pain
Through the storms, through the clouds, the rain
I'm telling you, you can not escape
You can do it, just feel, baby

I can see a rainbow
In your tears as they fall on down
I can see your soul grow
Through the pain as they hit the ground
I can see a rainbow
In your tears as they fall on down
I can see your soul grow
Through the pain as they hit the ground
In your tears as the sun comes out
As the sun comes out

Here comes the sun smiling down
Here comes the sun smiling down
Here comes the sun smiling down
Smiling down

I can see a rainbow
In your tears as they fall on down
I can see your soul grow
Through the pain as they hit the ground
I can see a rainbow
In your—
As the sun comes out

Then the music stopped. Everyone looked up at the stage and saw Sonic with his guitar and a few robots that looked a lot like him.

"My turn, folks!" he yelled and hit the first cord hard.

Musical Number – Off to See the World

"All right, now when I point to you guys, clap okay?" he asked into the mic.

"Yeah!" yelled the ponies.

"Okay, let's do this!" he yelled as he and the robots started playing.

Sonic: So, we wanna stay
But can't find peace while sittin' still
I guess we never will
We're on the way
We won't hurry back again
The journey is the end (Robots: oh)

I love this very moment
We're speedin' up, not slowin'
We might know we can't win
But we're dumb enough to try
We're going, there's no maybe
That's why they call us crazy
And we'll say if anybody asks us

"Hey (hey!), where you gonna go?" [clap clap]
We're off to see the world
We don't need to know (oh)
"Hey (hey!), where you gonna go?" [clap clap]
We're off to see the world
We don't need to know

We never need to know
Seekin' boundaries to break
Let's forget the ones we've made
So we carry on
Don't let good things pass us by
The time we're gone will be the best time of our life

I love this very moment
We're speedin' up, not slowin'
We might know we can't win
But we're dumb enough to try
We're going, there's no maybe
That's why they call us crazy
And we'll say if anybody asks us

"Hey (hey!), where you gonna go?" [clap clap]
We're off to see the world
We don't need to know (oh)
"Hey (hey!), where you gonna go?" [clap clap]
We're off to see the world
We don't need to know

So go tell 'em we won't stop
We know they can't change us
We're gonna go way off the map
To get ourselves back on the track

Go tell 'em we won't stop
We know they can't change us
No need to worry so much
We do whatever we want (oh)

"Hey (hey!), where you gonna go?" [clap clap]
We're off to see the world
We don't need to know (oh)
"Hey (hey!), where you gonna go?" [clap clap]
We're off to see the world
We don't need to know (oh)

Ponies in audience: Ohhhh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh
Ohhhh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh
Ohhhh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh
Ohhhh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh

Then everyone applauded and cheered. "Thank you Equestria!" yelled Sonic. "I am Sonic the Hedgehog! Peace out!" Then he zipped off the stage to the edge and waited until the others showed up.

"Where are you going?" asked Twilight.

"Home," said Sonic. "If I can get going fast enough, I can open a rift back to Mobius and I'll be there in less than three seconds. Still, it was good getting to know all of you."

"You too, Sonic the Hedgehog," said Twilight.

"I hope we meet again, Princess Twilight Sparkle," said Sonic as he stepped off the ledge. "Adios!" Then he hit the ledge and ran so fast he appeared like a blur to everyone in the city before he disappeared in a flash of light.

Back on Mobius, he instantly reappeared in Tails' workshop and skidded to a stop.

"Sonic!" said his little brother. "You were gone so long, what kept you?"

"And why'd you come back through a rift?" asked Knuckles.

"Well, as it turns out, your transporter still has some bugs to iron out, little buddy," said Sonic. "Instead of sending me to Earth-1, it sent me to another universe altogether."

"Which one?" asked Knuckles.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Sonic smirked.

"Try me," said the echidna.

The End

Whoo! God Damn, that one took ages. Still, I am so glad I got this done. And to those of you reading. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. See ya round!