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.