A long time ago, after the creation of the world, there lived an entire civilization of Alicorns. This civilization was known as the most peaceful in the olden world, much like it is today. Unfortunately, peace only lasts so long.

In this civilization lived an all black Alicorn. His name was Chaos, and he was what was known as the black sheep of the group. He reveled himself in the torture of those he deemed lesser than himself, which was just about anything, and some even thought he was a killer. They say he was born evil, that he had not a single shred of humanity in him since his conception. However, it is said that he felt love in his heart for a young mare by the name of Hearthstone, a kind girl with a pure heart. But she was already betrothed to another, a warrior and guardian by the name of Harmony.

Chaos considered Harmony a lesser being, for in his eyes he was stealing something that was rightfully his. Knowing he couldn't win against the warrior in a straight fight, he slit the stallion's throat in his sleep, took the body, and fed it to the local beasts to dispose of the evidence. He had hoped that with his romantic rival out of the way, he would be free to court the mare, but this was not to be.

Unfortunately for him, Hearthstone discovered his plot and became mortified with him. She couldn't even look at him, she called him a monster. That was the last straw, and he left that night for parts unknown.

This is where stories differentiate. Some say that he immediately took to black sorcery to solve his problems, others say he met a demon while he walked away from his home. Even others state that he walked into what is known today as Tartarus and found a river that lead to hell itself. These details matter not. What does matter is that in all stories, the outcome is the same. Chaos met a demon by the name of Iblis, and the demon became so infatuated with the boy, that she decided that they should become one.

And so, merging together, they became true chaos, wreaking havoc among all lands and species whenever and wherever they wanted. The greatest warriors could not do anything to stop the demon, and many thought that the end was nigh.

But out of the darkness came a new light, in the form of six Alicorns, Hearthstone included. They knew that fighting him individually, they stood no chance, but together there might be a chance to stop the creature he had become.

According to legend, the battle between Chaos and the six lasted for days on end, with neither gaining any advantage over the other. Eventually however, the six found they were running out of magic, and that they would soon be destroyed.

It was then that Hearthstone, lover of Harmony, found the road to victory. Having used all of her natural magic earlier, she turned to a different magic, a magic inherent in the very land, in creatures and all living species. Using this 'life magic', she knocked Chaos to the ground in a single blow. After this, she quickly explained what she had done and how she had done it to her friends, and they prepared to use this power against the evil force. It took another day before the others could master this power, but when they did, they attacked Chaos all at once. What happened then was a true wonder to behold.

When the six attacked, their magic became one, forming a large rainbow as it hurtled towards the demon. When the beam hit the demon, they split back into two different beings, and the fight was over.

The six debated on what to do with them, some even considered a death sentence for the monsters. But Hearthstone took pity on Chaos, despite all he had done to them, and it was her pity that stayed their judgment. Instead, using their newly found magic, they banished Iblis into the black abyss, and sent Chaos into a wandering exile.

No one truly knows what happened to Chaos after that, but many stories suggest that his time fused with the demon had turned him into one, and that he made his way into hell. Anyway the story went, in the end it's all the same. Chaos' very presence had changed the world, making it into a much more violent and volatile place. Some even say that he left physical manifestations of his power to poison the world, make it burn.

The six became known as the guardians of the Alicorn civilization, but even this was soon to be made arbitrary. As they lived and fought, the threats they faced became more frequent and sometimes more dangerous. They began to realize that they could only keep up their positions as guardians for so long.

It was at this time that calamity struck the Alicorn civilization, a calamity so large that the entirety of the world was changed. Because of this, the six could find no ponies able to receive the training to use this magic…

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up! What kind of calamity are we talkin' about here?" asked Rainbow Dash, truly curious as to what had happened.

The one to answer her was, curiously enough, Twister Tail. "I do actually know what she's talking about. See, the story of Chaos is mentioned in the (Equestrian) Bible, though only briefly. This 'calamity' the princess is talking about is actually the story of the Tower of Babel."

"OOOH! I love towers! And I love stories about towers! Can you tell it to us, pretty pretty please?" asked Pinkie Pie, who had (somehow) gotten a bowl of popcorn.

Twister nodded and obliged. "See, back in the day, a lot of ponies were religiously fervent. Many of them even believed that there were none closer to God than them. In their hubris, they one day decided that they should also be the closest physically to him as well, and they began building a tower so that they could reach heaven from earth."

Twilight interjected. "Now that just sounds stupid. What kind of ponies would build a tower to some place they didn't even know existed?"

"Belief is a very powerful thing Mrs. Sparkle, and some of the stupidest things imaginable have been done because of people's willingness to act on their own beliefs. Anyway, the point is God didn't very much like what they were doing and gave them a punishment for their hubris."

He reached into his pack and pulled out a medium sized book in a blue binding and opened it up. "What are you doing?" asked Dash, who was confused by his actions.

Twister answered "Looking through the bible, trying to find the passage I'm looking for … Ah ha! Here we go, Genesis, Chapter eleven, Verses six and seven. 'Then the Lord said "If now, while they are one people, they have started to do this, nothing they presume to do will be out of reach. Come, let us go down and confuse them"

He looked up from the bible. "It was at this point that God changed the Alicorns. Some lost their magic, others lost their wings, but the most arrogant of them lost both. Furthermore, after this division, the former Alicorns split off from each other and left to settle at different parts of the earth."

"Wait wait wait, are you seriously trying to suggest that the god they worshipped was punishing them for working together? How messed up can you be anyway!?" asked an angry Twilight.

Twister laughed "You know, I used to think that too, but a friend of mine explained it like this. He did it so that we would not think of ourselves as God. See, it wasn't working together he was punishing, it was essentially knocking us off of our high horses. Anyway, I think there's still a bit of the legend that needs to be told. Princess, if you would be so kind?"

She nodded and continued.

The six had tried to convince their race that their plan was folly, but they heard none of it. The race scattered to the wind, but the six had stayed as Alicorns, so some stayed with them and followed their lead.

It was then that they realized their problem. None of the unicorns had enough power to use the magic they had used to defeat Chaos, and they knew that if the world did not have this power, the world would surely crumble. Eventually, they found a way to pass this magic down from generation to generation. After gathering five smooth stones, and crafting a sixth, they poured the life magic, along with their personal magic, into them. Then, they took the stones and put them into the boughs of a tree, which turned into crystal the minute it touched the bark.

According to legend, Hearthstone said this. "Here in this tree lies the greatest weapon of our people, its last defense in times of need. It shall stand here till it is needed again, for the battle against evil that surely comes ever closer. And this weapon, this gift from God, shall henceforth be known as Harmony, for it will keep the people together till the end times."

"That is the tale Chaos and Harmony, and the story of how the Elements came to be. Now you know why I was so surprised by this 'Mephiles', yes?" asked Luna. The others nodded, understanding completely.

Then, they heard a clapping coming from down the hallway. "Well, that was a good story your Highness, and while I do like that, I think we should get back to the script, don't you?"

When they looked at who it was, they saw a human with latino skin and black hair and eyes. He was tall and had a scar on his chin, making him look a bit imposing.

Pinkie Pie suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of him, popcorn in tow. "Hi Knowny, how's finding the princess going? Would you like some popcorn? Are you as confused by this teleporting trick as I am? Am I asking too many questions?"

He chuckled and answered "First, the princess has been found and she is safe. As a matter of fact she and the other people who went missing are out in front of the castle for now. Second, yes I would." He then opened his mouth wider than anyone physically should have and chomped down on the buttery treat, only to spit out flames when he found it to be spicy.

"Do you like it? I made it myself, it has hot sauce and everything!" she said in a tone that sounded like Pinkie's pride.

He coughed and finally answered "Well, to be fair I should have seen that coming. Honestly though, I think that little teleport trick is neat. Hey Cap, any more of that for me?" He asked to a person who, if he was there, would have been on his left.

No one heard anything, but that didn't stop him from answering. "What do you mean 'don't answer that'? Are you talking to the author behind my back? That's low even for you man."

It was then that Francis (who had been staying quiet the whole time) remarked "I think this guy belongs in a looney bin."

He turned around and said "You know, I thought about turning myself in once. ONCE. Anyway, to your last question, that might have been too many questions, but who cares? I'm here, the princess is right outside, and so if you'll just follow me, we'll be advancing the plot on nicely."

The group, confused as they were, decided that they had better follow him, at least so that they could find out whether he was telling the truth or not. So they left down the hallways and corridors of the palace.

Pinkie Pie followed the others as closely as she could, but soon found herself stuck in a janitor's closet. How exactly that one had happened, she had no Idea, but she decided she'd take her best option, which happened to be screaming for help.

"HEY! ANYPONY! I NEED HELP! Is anypony out there? HEEEEEELP MEEEEE!" she yelled.

Lucky for her, a guard happened by her at that moment and opened the door. He was a gray unicorn with a white mane and gold armor. "Are you okay miss?" he asked.

She took a strange look at him. "I don't recognize you. Soldier, what's your name and rank?"

He looked at her strangely. "It's Whitewash ma'am, Private Whitewash. And, if I may be frank, of course you don't know me, you don't live here, do you?" he asked.

She answered "No, but there's something off about you Whitewash, something really really off. Almost like a carton of spoiled milk in the fridge. Don't you hate it when that happens? I know I do." She stated the last part cheerfully, almost as if she wasn't grilling him for information.

He felt his face scrunch up a bit, and then he answered "Um, okay? But I really don't see why I have to be interrogated here. I mean, what did I ever do to you, besides pull you out of a closet?"

Just then, a voice penetrated the air like magic. "All units, assemble in front of the palace. I repeat, assemble in front of the palace. We have unidentified civvies in the area. All guards, report to the front of the castle."

He breathed a small sigh of relief and said "Listen to me pink, I've got a job to do, so please stop interrogating me and let get back to my duties, okay?"

She nodded. "Alright, but I'm still not sure that you're not a spy. Trust me bucko, I've got my eyes on you!" She then left for the front gates, but he could swear he saw an eye popping out of the back of her head after it had turned around.

As they got the front gates of Canterlot city, they heard a voice talking to someone. "You know, it's a good thing you pulled us out of there when you did, none of us would have survived if you hadn't. By the by, Unknown never did seem to introduce you dear. What's your name?" asked a tan colt with a brown unkempt mane and a green tie.

A turquoise furred mare with a blonde mane answered him. "The name's Lightning Sky, Doc. Fastest thing in the universe." She boasted, puffing her chest out a bit.

Unknown, slightly deflated because of her comments, then asked "Oh really? Then what do you call me hot shot?"

She thought a moment before saying "Oh I don't know, fastest in this galaxy maybe? I really didn't pay that much attention to the details."

He gripped his heart and said "Touché girly. Seriously though, I brought Princess Luna and the others out here, so let's get these folks reunited shall we?"

Luna looked around and saw that on the ground before them lay hundreds of beings, mostly of the unicorn variety lying on the ground in front of them. "What is this? What did you do to these citizens of Equestria you lying snake!" she shouted.

He held his hands up, "Whoah there calm down! I didn't do anything to them, this is just a normal reaction to inter dimensional travel, nothing more. Most of them will be up in a few minutes, give or take an hour or so. Anyway, just be glad they weren't swallowed up by the void before we got there. Hey Doc, mind doing me a favor and scanning them again, you know, just to make sure nothing's wrong with them?"

He replied 'No probarooni, I'll just reach into my pocket and…" he stopped himself when he realized he had been standing on two legs and had hands with fingers. "Well fancy that! I never thought I'd see my hands again, especially after that last regeneration. Oh well, less talking more sonicing!"

Suddenly a blue blur popped up from behind the wall. "You talking to me? What am I supposed to help you with?" asked Sonic.

He shook his head. "No not you, you big blue hedgehog creature, I'm talking about this!" he yelled, pulling out a silver metal tube.

He then went wide eyed and looked at the hedgehog more intently. "Okay, seriously, someone's going to have to explain what's going on, because that doesn't make any sense at all. Oh well, best get the sonicing done first." He mumbled. He then held the tube and did a general sweep with it, and it made an unearthly noise as it did so.

The Doctor held the tube up to his eyes and said "Yep, everyone here is just fine, no broken bones, no colds, no Atraxian viruses, we're all clear. They'll be just fine once they wake up."

Luna shook her head and said "Alright fine! But you said my sister was here. I neither see nor sense her, so where is she?" she asked angrily at the traveler.

He gave her a solemn look and said "She's here, but, she isn't doing too good. Something attacked her in the void and, needless to say she was banged up pretty badly. She's sleeping in her bed right now."

Luna's eyes widened, and somehow her feet had started moving her towards her sister's bedroom. She hoped that she was alright. 'Don't let me lose you too sister, I couldn't bear it.' she thought as she ran up the stairs.

The group was surprised by what they had heard. Twilight, shocked though she was, asked "What do you mean? What happened, what do you mean she's sleeping?"

He sighed. "She's gone into a little thing called the sleep of the ancients. It's an ancient healing technique that can save you from death and heals your wounds. The only problem is, you are asleep while the wounds mend, and she's not waking up until her wounds are fully healed. In other words, she's probably going to be sleeping for a while."

Twilight nodded. She had heard of this 'Sleep of the Ancients' before, but to have actually needed to use it? That would take some doing, especially to take Celestia down to that level of emergency. Had Chaos been the one to attack her? Just how strong was he?

Metal walked up to him while saying "Thank you for bringing her back. I must ask though, did you bring everyone that belongs here back?"

Before he could respond, the one known as Lightning shouted "You!" and charged at an incredible speed, knocking him to the wall and pinning him there by his throat.

The others tried to react, but Galahad stopped them by putting his hand up in front of them, stopping them there.

Her brown eyes smoldered with intense fury. "What you did to my family is inexcusable you metal freak! You took them away from me, and you dare try and show your face here?"

Metal stared evenly at her and said "I don't know you. I don't know your parents. I haven't killed anyone in Equestria. You must be from a different world where I did. I'm sorry for my look-alikes' actions, but I must ask that you don't do anything you might regret."

She smashed her fist into the wall next to him. "Don't you dare patronize me! You're Metal Sonic. Every single version of you I've met has disgusted me, and there's no real difference here. I'm gonna kill you right here, save this world some misery!" She then pulled out a giant buster sword and put it up to his throat.

Twilight then screamed out "No! You don't know what you're doing! This must be some big mistake, please stop it!"

The words had no effect on her however, as she kept the sword right where it was. Metal on the other hand asked her something. "You'd risk your life on this?"

Lightning was confused by the thing's question and asked it "What are you talking about?"

He continued in a cold and menacing tone. "You've forgotten one very important thing about weapons miss." He pointed to her sword. "This isn't a toy, and we're not playing a game."

She gritted her teeth and said "Shut up you stupid piece of metal, what right do you have to tell me that I'm being a child?"

He ignored this comment. "With this sword you risk not only your life, but other's lives, and rule one of weapons is to never draw yours unless you intend to use it."

Lightning then said "What? You think I'm not going to use it? Think again iron for brains. You and all those other robots like you are all guilty, and you're going to pay for what you did to my family!"

Metal then calmly explained "I never said you weren't going to use it. The only thing I am saying is that, even though we are guilty as you say, why should you stoop to our level so easily? Is vengeance really what you want, or do you think this will fix your family? It won't. Your family will stay the same, and all you will have done is gotten rid of a robot who offered no resistance. I will say only this more. You do what you think is right, but think hard before you do it. I will accept my fate either way."

She thought back. She wanted to do it, she wanted to destroy this thing right here and now. But, did she really want it to happen to this robot? All he had really done was show up and ask a question. And he was right, he hadn't offered any resistance to her, nor tried to blast his way out of her grasp. On the one hand, he might be trying to trick her, but then, on the other hand, why would he use such articulate words if it was just a trick. Why not just tell her that she was making a mistake and leave it at that?

And then she thought back to her parents. Neither her mother nor her father had been the most reserved of people when it came to violence, but they always kept it to bot bashing. This, something about this felt wrong to her. Then she realized something. Aunt Twilight had told her that it was a mistake. She never would have done that without having put at least some trust in him. She was having her doubts.

Then she heard the voice of another female, the one they called Nimue. "You have doubts young one, so many that they are palpable. Perhaps you should take this time to evaluate him. Use the Third Eye Technique, and you will soon see the truth." The voice spoke in her mind, as if she didn't even have to talk in order to speak with her.

She looked back, and her mind asked one question. "How do you know the Third Eye Technique?" She asked her through her mind.

Nimue smiled knowingly. "I know many things dear. Now go on, just take one glance. You will see what is needed to be seen shortly." And so, breathing inwardly, she opened her senses.

The Third Eye Technique was developed long ago by monks in a long forgotten world. The technique was developed so that the monks could see the true nature and essence of the being before them. In layman's terms, you could see into their very souls to see their true intent. Although this was a waste of time on Metal Sonic, she was sure. Robots had no souls, so the technique would only show her a blank space in his place.

But, when her third eye opened, she saw something that would change her mind immediately. Instead of a blank space, she saw a being who, though covered in the gray of moral ambiguity, held in his center a bright light. She dropped him then and there, too shocked to do anything but back away.

How did he have a soul? How could he have a soul? This didn't make any sense at all, robots are not alive, and they don't have souls. So what was up with this one? How did he have a soul. She quickly walked over to Unknown. She hoped he'd have some answers for her, she needed to know just what was going on.

The others walked over to Metal and started making sure he was alright. Twilight looked a little pissed at the girl and said she wanted to claw her eyes out, but Metal managed to calm her down and talk her out of it. He then looked and saw that the girl had dropped her large sword. He picked it up and walked towards her.

When he was walking up, he heard the man known as Unknown say "…and you can't tell any one of them about this. They're going to have to find out about it on their own. Now don't say a word, he's heading your way."

She turned around to him. For a moment, her face looked shocked, but the shock soon gave way to a neutral look. She then asked him. "What do you want?"

He held her sword up to her. "You dropped this when you let me go. I think you should hold on to your weapon, don't you?"

Lightning slightly smirked at the comment. "You're lucky I decided to spare you boyo. Don't push your luck just yet." She then took her sword back and placed it into her sheath. She turned away, but looked at him for a moment. She moved her lips as if she was saying something, but didn't make any noise. She turned away for real this time, not realizing that Metal had mouth reading abilities, and not realizing her message had been understood. 'I'm sorry.'

Soon afterward, Twilight came up to them and asked "Are you sure you got all of the people stuck in the void? You didn't miss anyone did you?"

Unknown shook his head a bit and answered "No way. These people all had a pretty unique scent that I was able track, so I was able to bring them back to their original homes. Well, most of them anyway. There were a couple of humans, ponies, pegasi, mobians and even a griffon I had some trouble placing. Fortunately though, almost everyone is in the right spot. Speaking of which Doctor, your blue box is behind those bushes, you can leave anytime.'

The Doctor exclaimed "Right! Well Unknown, it's been an adventure, but I ought to get back to Derpy and hope she's not too mad about all of this. Farewell!" The strange man then walked into the bushes and was not seen again, though his departure was marked by an odd whooshing noise that perforated the palace gates.

Our heroes began looking around for any familiar faces. Rarity nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw an unconscious Prince Blueblood on the ground in front of her. Sinbad noticed a few of his crew members, specifically a large purple cat who had apparently been his first mate, and was ironically named Big. Santa and Francis noticed a few horses they had briefly encountered in their past lives.

Twister Tail tripped on the unconscious form of a pegasi guard. His coat was yellow and his mane was dark blue. Twister's face scrunched up and he asked "You again? We've gotta stop bumping into each other like this."

Rainbow Dash looked over to him and asked "See someone you recognized?"

He answered "Like you wouldn't believe. Rainbow Dash, this is Flash Sentry, guard extraordinaire and my personal bad bit. No matter where I go, he always finds his way back here, just waiting for me to literally bump back into him."

She chuckled. "Sounds like you don't like this guy that much." she stated.

Twister shook his head. "It's not that. He's not a bad guy, but he really should keep a better eye on where he's going so he doesn't run into anything or anyone else. I mean geez, in flight school it's one thing, but getting hired into the same army on the same day and constantly bumping into each other on opposite shifts? That's a bit more than a coincidence if you ask me.

Dash responded by ruffling his hair a bit and saying "Just don't try and do anything stupid. Remember, it's me you're trying to date here, not him." He sputtered and fumed a few times because of the comment, but never said anything about it. She then walked off towards some of the other people, to see if there was anyone she recognized.

She passed Soarin of the Wonderbolts, who had already garnered the attention of some of the ponies in Canterlot. She then walked until she saw something familiar. On the ground lay a brown feathered creature with a lion's tail and an eagle's head. The face of this creature was feminine, and Dash knew who it was. "Gilda?" she asked in confusion. She quickly sprinted over to her and looked at her. From this glance she could tell that the Griffoness was thinking terrifying thoughts in that head of hers.

"I have to get out of here!" said Gilda to herself. She found herself stuck in the void that had long since swallowed her whole. She knew she had to leave; there were things in the ever dark expanses, things which had no right to exist, things that would eat you alive, chew you up and spit out the bones. She was distraught, clawing at anything and everything that looked like an exit, but it was all in false hope. In her mind, she knew there was no way out of this eternal darkness.

She just wished she was out of this damned evil dark. She wished she was back in the real world, back with someone familiar like her mother, or even Rainbow Dash for that matter. She was regretting everything she had done in her miserable life, for someone was surely punishing her for all of her misdeeds by putting her in this gods forsaken hellhole.

Suddenly she heard the gurgling sound that marked the coming of an abomination, and it sounded hungry. It appeared this time as an eldritch horror, something that looked like a cross between a demon and a squid, and it was massive! It stood at least ten feet tall, and it looked at her with deadly intent. She ran away until she hit what felt like walls. She tried to fly upwards and away, but her wings felt like they were on fire and refused to move. The walls closed in on her, and the beast marched forward. Eventually, everything that was happening culminated in a final scream of terror.

"SOMEONE!? ANYONE! HELP ME! SAVE ME!"

Little did she realize that this was but a nightmare, and her scream had carried her to the waking world, where her once best friend stood. Rainbow Dash suddenly sprang into her helpful friend mode without even realizing who she was helping. Gilda seemed to be trying to claw at something, so Dash sat on her stomach held down her shoulders so she wouldn't accidentally maul someone. "Gilda? 'G' it's me, Rainbow Dash, calm down, you're not in any danger here, just sit still and open your eyes!"

Gilda did exactly that, and found Rainbow Dash on top of her. Without thinking, she jumped up and hugged her 'uncool' friend. "Dash! Help me, their out to get me! They won't stop till I'm dead and they're eating me! You've gotta help me!"

Dash looked at her sorrowful friend and said "G, we've been through this already. Whatever you saw, it was just a nightmare. There's nothing coming to get you, no monsters under the bed, and definitely no one trying to eat you. They'd have to get through me first."

Gilda, for all her fierce exterior, now had tears falling straight out of her eyes. "Thanks Dash, you always were there for me weren't you? Never stopped trying to keep me from doing stupid shit, unless of course you were part of the act."

Dash smiled. "That what friends are for, right G?"

It was only after this moment that they both realized just what they were doing. And then they realized who they were doing it with. Gilda was the first to react, looking at first confused as all hell, then shocked. She turned around and started running away from the castle. Dash, unsure of what was happening herself, followed after her to try and get a talk with her former friend.

Sonic, who had heard this exchange, walked over to Unknown and asked "Say, the rest of these guys won't do that, will they? I mean, they won't wake up after having nightmares, will they?"

He shrugged his shoulders and answered "I dunno. I guess it all depends on how their experiences in the void went, or maybe whatever their subconscious decides to show them. Either way, there's either gonna be peaceful sleepers or people with nightmares waking up, so be ready just in case. By the way Sonic, how's that whole clone thing coming anyway?"

Sonic raised his eyebrow and asked "How did you know about that?"

Unknown answered "I know a lot of things. Seriously though, you feelin' weird? Maybe, feeling the need to kill people?"

He replied "Well I think I feel fine. I haven't felt the need to kill anyone, and it feels good to walk around and do stuff. Though everyone knowing me without me knowing them is a little unsettling, but what can you do about it? I mean, I'm a clone of some big hero that everyone loves, and I don't know anything about him. *sigh* Do you ever feel like you're trying to fill someone's shoes, but it's gonna take forever because every time your feet get bigger the shoes start growing?"

The stranger shook his head and answered "No, not really. I do understand what that feels like though, and I'm just gonna say this. Do whatever feels right to you. If you end up filling the shoes of your predecessor, that's fine. If you don't, then at least you did your own thing too, right?"

Sonic nodded. "I guess you're right. Thanks for the advice man." He then walked off to do who knows what.

Unknown thought to himself 'You're welcome hero.'

Dash had finally caught up to Gilda, and to say that she was pissed was an understatement. "Leave me alone you traitorous BITCH! Why don't you go hang out with your real friends and leave me the fuck alone!?"

She called back "Gilda wait! Can't we just talk about this for a minute? I know we didn't leave each other on good terms, but maybe we can still fix this…"

Gilda turned around and exclaimed "Not on good terms?! I think you made it pretty clear what you thought of me when I left Dash! Get outta here and get your stupid pony nose outta my face!"

Dash looked hurt after that, but she still kept trying to talk it out. "Gilda listen to me. What I said when you left Ponyville, I didn't really mean it. I said what I said, but I didn't really mean it. Please Gilda, you're still my friend and I'm sorry for saying you weren't. Can't you forgive me?"

She seemed to bare her claws. "Forgive you? Forgive you! I can't look at you without you makin' me sick! You left me for a bunch of fuckin' dweebs, and you broke your promise! You told me we'd be friends forever, and then you left me! I'm never forgiving you, and I'm never going to speak to you again!" She turned around and started walking.

The Pegasus got mad and smacked Gilda on her shoulder. "You bitch! Here I am trying to tell you I'm sorry and what do you do? You freak out on me! Do you know how bad I felt after you had left? I didn't even enjoy Pinkies' party after you were gone, and I always enjoy her parties. Stop trying to get away from me and talk to me goddamnit!"

At this point, Gilda jumped on top of Dash and started pummeling her in the face with her fists. Dash retaliated in kind. They hit each other with as much force as possible, like they were trying to kill each other. Fortunately, this only continued for a few a minutes before they both started slacking off on their hits and laughing at each other. The reason for this sudden change was that they used to do this all the time when they were younger. Gilda, after laughing a few more seconds, said "Oh man, we haven't done that in ages."

Dash laughed as well and said "Yeah man, that was fun wasn't it? Man, I remember whooping your ass all the time whenever we did that."

Gilda looked at her and said "You and I remember things quite differently. I beat your ass all the time when we were kids." She chuckled a little bit more before sobering up. "Hey Dash, what you were saying, about, you know, not meaning what you said, does that mean we're still friends?"

She looked at her and said "Of course G, I'd never let one of my friends go as easily as all that. Besides, you were one of my first friends; I don't think I'd be able to forget about you if I tried."

Then Gilda asked her this question. "What about the dweebs? Do you think they'll let me be your friend, especially after what I did back there in Ponyville?"

Dash replied "You know, I actually thought about that, and you know what? You're my friend; you don't have to be friends with my friends to stay that way. If they don't like it, well I can deal with it. Besides, between you and me, I think you need more friends than they do anyway."

Gilda asked "What, you think I can't get friends on my own Dash? You think I'm not friendly enough?"

She shrugged. "You never were very friendly to ponies. Hell, it took a fight to get us to be friends, and there aren't many ponies who'd be willing to do that to get a friend. I don't mean you don't have any, but you aren't exactly friendly."

Her head nodded. "Can't argue with that I guess. So, what do I do now?"

Dash thought for a moment before saying "Well, I guess you could come back to the castle for a little bit before you go back home. By the way, how's your mom been doing?"

"Well you know, she's as paraplegic as ever. Still, she doing well for an old bird, if I do say so myself. Still bit of a crank though." she remarked.

"Yeah, I hear that G. Welp, let's get back to the castle then, shall we?" and so they did.

It was not long before the rest of the group started waking up. Some greeted friends with warm welcomes, others were shocked by the sights before their eyes, and some ran off screaming like wild chickens when they had gotten to their feet. Flash Sentry had a most amusing reaction. When he woke up, he first greeted his friend Twister warmly. He then screamed in surprise when he realized that his friend's body had changed. Twister remarked that his body had changed as well. At this point, poor Flash screamed his head off until he eventually ran out of breath and collapsed onto the ground.

"Is that guy okay?" asked Twilight.

Twister replied "He's fine. Honestly he took it better than I thought he would, considering he just woke up in a different body. Still though, I hope we don't have to explain everything to everyone all the time. I'm pretty sure that we would run our throats sore just trying to explain it all over again and again."

She looked like she was about to reply, when the voice of Unknown cut her off. "Well, looks like our job here is done. We'd better be getting back to our adventure. See ya later dudes." With that, he snapped his fingers, and both of them disappeared from sight, not to be seen again for a long while at least.

Pinkie then said "Okay, so now that we got everyone back from their little displacement adventure, what do we need to do now?"

Shadow scratched his chin before saying "I believe that our next move should be to gather allies. There are dozens of nations who will most certainly wish to defeat Dr. Robotonik as much as we do, and their help will be needed if we seek to survive in this new world."

Metal nodded. "Correct, though that is merely in the worlds that we inhabit. I wonder how many allies we could get by asking the nations of this world?"

Twilight then interjected "Well we might get a few, but we'd have to be diplomats to do what you're suggesting. Do you know how hard it is to be a diplomat? I've read tons of books on the subject, and if we make one wrong step in trying to get their help, we could screw things up forever!"

Sinbad then said something along the lines of "Well then miss bookworm, sounds like you're the perfect girl for the job."

She looked at him and yelled "I'm not going to be a diplomat! There's way too much at stake to send someone who isn't ready to do the job into such a position!"

Metal looked at her and said "While that is true, we're the only ones who understand just what is happening right now. The world needs to know the danger it's in, and we know the best out of just about anyone here. Unless of course we could persuade Lady Nimue to see each and every one of the leaders of these countries and talk to them about the plight we're in."

It was then that Nimue voiced her opinion. "I could indeed appear before the leaders of this world, but it would do me no good as I have not gained their trust. If they do not trust me, it will be hard to get them to listen to what I have to say, wouldn't you agree?"

The echidna nodded. "She's right. I think we're going to have to split up into groups again, only smaller this time around. We need to get at least one pony to each of our Mobian nations and one Mobian for the pony nations, or at least the ones that need visited. As for which nations those are, I think we'd better take a look at that map and see what's what and where's where." he said, pulling the map from his satchel.

After taking a look at the map, they decided their best bet was to talk to the leaders of several Nations. The nations were as follows: Camelot, Shamar, Griffinheim, and the assorted leaders of the Gaurdians of the United Nations. Every other major nation it seemed could be contacted near these nations, or might even be in contact with them, if only to settle border disputes between them.

Rainbow Dash and Gilda managed to find their way back to the group, who were in the middle of discussing who should go where. Twister, seeing the bruises on her, asked "What happened to you Dash?"

She shrugged and answered "Not much. Me and G were having a friendly disagreement back in the bushes, we're totally fine now."

He shook his head and remarked "If that's what you call 'a friendly disagreement', I'd hate to see what you call a straight fight."

Shadow said "Alright, enough idle chit chat. Now, let's find out who's going where. First question, who doesn't think they should leave Equestria?" Tails and Francis both raised their hands

Trixie was the first to speak. "Trixie would love to help you guys, but she would prefer to stay here a little while before going out on yet another adventure. Is that alright?" Shadow nodded his head.

Rarity was next. "I really should be getting back to my business guys; you never know when someponie's going to come over asking for dresses, and I want to be with my sister for a little while."

Fluttershy then said "I, uh, want to stay behind. I do have some animals to take care of back at home, and I don't think I'd be any good at any negotiations."

"Oh Ooh Ooh! I wanna stay behind, ME ME ME!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

Metal asked "And why is that?"

She answered "Well there's two things. First, I'd like to stay on the Cake's good side and keep my job. Second, I'd like to keep my eye on that Private Whitewash guy, something seems off about him…" The others shook their heads, giving up on trying to understand her reasoning.

Sonic then said "Well guys, if it's alright with you guys, I think I'll stay here and acquainted with the locals and locales, after all, what's the point of running fast if you don't know your way around?" The others nodded in agreement and decided to let him stay.

When no others said anything, Shadow began talking again. "Alright then, let's see… I suppose that I'll be heading back to G.U.N., that much is certain. Sinbad should head to Shamar, Percival should head towards Camelot. What about Griffinheim, what do we know about them?"

Twilight answered "Griffinheim is the second strongest nation in Equestria, they live in the mountainous Northwestern part of the world. They put their cities in giant strongholds in said mountains, and it's almost impossible to get there on foot. We'd need someone who could fly to get there, but there's more than that. The Griffons are a proud race and they do not like strangers in their land. They barely tolerate strangers, and will not allow anyone to see their king without the approval of someone at the palace. We'd never be able to get past the first gate, let alone into the audience chambers of their king."

Rainbow Dash then thought of something. "Hey G, your mom used to work in the palace, right?"

Gilda, who had been kind of skulking in the corner, suddenly popped up and said 'Dash, you'd damn well better not be suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

She replied "Look, I'd never ask this if it wasn't important. We're trying to save the world here G, I'm sure your mom would understand."

Gilda then angrily said "My mom's not going back to that bastard, you can't make her. That bastard was the one who broke her back, made it so she couldn't fly anymore, and you'd ask her to go back? You can be a real bitch Dash, a cold hearted one too."

Dash then said "Well at least I'm trying to help find a solution to our problem here, what do you think we should do instead?"

She sputtered for a moment, and then started actually thinking about the problem. She thought for a full minute before finally saying "Take me instead. I've got the same access my mom has, and I'm sure I could get you into the palace so you can have your little pow-wow with the head asshole."

The others were shocked to hear this. Rarity remarked "My word, who'd have thought a woman as brusque as you would have royal connections… anywhere really?"

Gilda then shot her a look and replied "Listen miss Priss, I ain't in a tellin' mood. It's not like I wanted to be no diplomat anyway."

Rainbow added "I'll be going with G. I won't take no for an answer."

Then Galahad spoke up. "Indeed fair maiden, but I shall accompany you. No offence meant to you of course, but diplomacy is a very delicate thing, and you are not exactly the most delicate thing when it comes to… well, most things really."

She shrugged. "I guess not. Welcome aboard Mr. Fancy Knight." She then shook his hand for good measure.

Shadow then said "Right. Now, we need to get at least one pony representative for each of us. Who want to go with whom?"

Twister said "Well, I guess I'll go with Metal, wherever he goes."

Metal stated "I'll go with you Shadow. After all, when you go into the forest on your road, it'd be better to have more protection then not against whatever rests in it."

Twilight quickly responded. "I'll go with you too. I will be Equestria's representative in this matter." Shadow gave her a strange looking smirk, but said nothing.

Fuega stated "I'm going with my Lady Percival. Wherever she goes, I will go."

It was then that Sinbad remarked "Say Applejack, I haven't heard anything from you as of yet. Where do you think you're gonna go?"

Applejack shrugged. "To be honest, I have no idea. I mean, I'd like to be back with my family, but I'd also like to help out here. I mean, what do y'all do when ya get into a situation like this?"

Sinbad said "Well, I'll tell you what. You can come with me to represent Equestria, and if you feel like leaving afterwards, I'll explain to the king that you couldn't stay long. He'll understand. That sound good to you?" She nodded.

"Right, well, it looks like we've got our teams. Two things we need to do though. First is talk to the Princess and get her to go along with this idea. Second is to find a place to rest up." Shadow remarked.

Twilight said "I'll talk to Princess Luna." She then walked off toward the castle.

Metal then asked "Hey Tails, do you think you could help reattach my arm?"

Tails replied 'well, I think I could do it, provided that I'm not stumped by some new piece of technology I haven't seen before."

He then said 'Well you should be fine then, it's just some wires that need reattached and metal that needs welded. You should be able to fix me up in no time. Shall we get to the operating table?" With that, they both walked into the castle to find the armory.

Twilight had managed to find her way to Celestia's chambers. She hadn't seen this place since she was a little filly, and she wondered how much it had changed since her last excursion. In short answer it hadn't really changed all that much. The room was still a purple color with a golden trim around many of the room's fixtures, and held a tapestry decorated by a simple shooting star with several constellations behind. The fire, which Celestia had said that she kept going for many a year had turned to ashes.

The only light in the room appeared from Luna's mane, glowing slightly in the fairly dark room. Celestia's head lay on her pillow, and she was totally oblivious to what was happening around her. Luna spoke to her sister. "Hang in there dear sister, your people need you… I need you now more than ever. Please, please come back to me soon."

It sounded almost like she was crying. Twilight was unable to bear the tension and, opening the slightly ajar door, asked "Princess Luna? Can I come in?"

She looked up from her sister and wiped her tears. "Yes Twilight Sparkle, you may enter."

When she did, Twilight said "Look, I'm sorry for intruding on your private family moment your highness, but we need your help. We want you to appoint our group as delegates to the new nations so we may acquire their help in the coming battle, and we'll need you to help us in actual diplomacy since we know so little of the subject. I hope I haven't made you angry."

Luna shook her head. "No young one, I am not angry. I will trust your and help you in this matter. Gather your friends to me and I will appoint them to this role you wish to grant them."

Twilight nodded and turned to leave, but Luna stopped her. "Wait, I must apologize to you."

She asked "Apologize? For what exactly?"

The princess bowed her head and answered "I have been so selfish. I've been mourning my sister's unfortunate position, but I never even thought that someone else might feel as I did. I should have known better. You are her star pupil, and she talked of you all the time when you had returned me to my sister, she expects greatness from you. Surely you must have had some kind of deep connection with her, if she feels so strongly as she seems to. So, in recompense for past transgressions, I want you to go in and see my sister. "

Twilight was taken aback at her abruptness for a few moments, but then she answered "Your highness, I will take you up on that offer." And she walked toward Celestia's chamber.

Then Luna said again "She will be able to hear what you say, so choose your words carefully young one." Twilight nodded and continued on.

When she stood at the foot of her mat, she kneeled down in front of her mentor. For a few moments, she looked at her mentor's peaceful frame. Then she started talking. "Hello Princess Celestia. It's good to see you again, even if you can't talk back to me. I…" she thought and then suddenly slapped herself on the forehead. "I'm an idiot. Here I come to talk to you and I can't even think of what it was I wanted to say to you."

She then thought back to when she was a filly, about all the times she would have trouble talking to her mentor, and then she remembered what she would tell her. "Oh Twilight, you need not be afraid to speak to me. I am your friend, and anything you wish to say, I will hear with open ears. So, what do you wish to say, my faithful student?"

So, she began speaking of what had happened to the world while she had been away, after apologizing for not sending her a letter for a while. This 'conversation' went on for a while until she caught up to the events of today. "I hope you heal soon princess, the world's going to need your wisdom and guidance as much as I did when you were teaching me."

She paused here and asked "can I tell you something? It's something I've wanted to tell you since I was little, but I don't think I knew how to say it till right now." She knew Celestia wouldn't answer her, so she continued on any way.

"When I was a little filly, I wanted to be your student. I read and studied everything I could to get into your school for gifted unicorns, and, on the day I got into the school and got my cutie mark, you were right there. Ever since then you've done everything you can to teach me what I needed to know and how to understand my problems and confront them. You've also been there for me when I needed support, when I was hurt or when I just needed somepony to talk to… I guess, what I'm trying to say is, thank you for being my first friend Princess Celestia. I'll never forget the time we've spent as long as I live."

After this small speech, she turned around to leave, but before she did, she said this. "Rest well princess Celestia. I look forward to talking to you once you have recovered. Get well soon." She then left the room quietly as a mouse.

She had started looking around for the rest of her friends to get them to join Luna so she could make them into diplomats. But on her way, she heard the sound of metal beating on metal. Curious as to the noise, she turned to it and headed in that direction. When there, she found Tails beating Metal's arm back into shape, probably so that he could put it back in.

Tails finished hammering the arm and said "Well Metal, looks like we're ready to reattach your arm. By the way, do you have anything that will switch off your power for a little bit so I don't get electrocuted by the wires?"

Metal nodded. "Dr. Robotonik built a maintenance button into me for such a purpose. It should be located near the space between my spines on the left side."

Twilight asked "So you're fixing him up right Tails? Do you mind if I help you out? I'm curious to see what's under that metallic shell of his, plus it might be a great learning experience in the science of robotics."

If he weren't a robot, Metal would have smirked at her comment. Plus, she had the face of an eccentric mad woman scientist, the kind those types only make when they see something truly new, which made her look priceless. Then again, she had only reacted like this at the prospect of opening him up. Maybe he should begin doubting his friendship with her… then again, who was he kidding? He liked her too much to stop being her friend.

Tails responded "Sure, just give me a second and we can put his arm back on in no time. Just try to remove the panels instead of cutting him up when you take your examination." He then searched the left side until he found a small sliding panel. He opened it and found a red button inside. Pushing it, the robot deactivated and his red eyes went black.

She was startled slightly by this and asked "Is he alright?"

He replied "Don't sweat it, all we did was shut off the power to most of his functions, he's still, well, I guess you could call it alive. Now, let's get this arm back on hi…"

He never finished the sentence. At that time, there was the sound of a pop, followed by a hissing noise and the movement of panels. Tails turned to look, and when he did, he gasped, dropping Metal's arm in the process. It hit the floor with a large crash and stayed there for a while longer.

Twilight, who was at the wrong angle to see exactly what was happening, asked "What happened? Is there something wrong?" She then walked forward until she saw exactly what Tails had seen. Suddenly, her eyes shot to the size of saucers as she looked upon the horrifying secret behind Dr. Robotonik's artificially intelligent machine.

It wasn't artificial at all.