Episode 22: Charm Training on the Road

In Merlin's home, Orbot explains to Sun, Sonic, Shadow, and Merlin about Mag Melia's actions and about him recording Glittering Sparkle and Mag Melia about what she's been doing behind her back. Of course, reveals that Eggman has plans of his own to double cross Mag Melia.

"Mag Melia took over Eggman's lair and is holding him and Cubot prisoner!" Sonic says, shocked.

"I'm afraid so. I was barely able to escape when she took Dr. Eggman and Cubot captive," Orbot says.

Sun says, "You did the right thing coming to us, Orbot. Even though you work for Dr. Eggman. I'm sorry that he didn't pay heed to your warnings."

"Well, Dr. Eggman ended up having his plans for Glittering Sparkle back fired," Shadow says.

"But still, we gotta do something," Sonic says.

"You're right. We need to free the others who are captured wherever they are and Rouge who is still under Mag Melia's control," Sun says.

"And in order to do that, we need to train you," Shadow says.

"I believe Shadow is correct. From what you and the boys explained, you are the only one who can stop her. You manage to leave a crack on the Dark Chaos Emerald and it might possibly weaken her powers. However, you must train on our way back to Popadopolis," Merlin says.

Sun nods her head, "Of course."

Sonic stands up, "Alright, then let's do some training."

"And I will show you what kind of well… new abilities Mag Melia has developed," Orbot says.

"Thank you guys," Sun says.

"Well start training on our way to Popadopolis," Sonic says.

"What should we do first?" Sun asks.

"Simple, using more of your super speed, and you can try doing it with those wings of yours too," Sonic says.

Sun turns to Orbot, "Orbot, do you think you can show us where Sally and the others are being held? And where Mag Melia are keeping the emeralds at."

"I can show you the exact location of the cells Princess Sally and your friends are captured. However, Mag Melia might have them where the Egg Grapes, but could have moved them," Orbot says.

"It's okay. Just do the best you can to help us on the latter," Sun says.

"Of course. And might I add, you seem like a very good leader," Orbot says.

"A lot better than Eggman," Sonic says.

Sun blushes a little.

Sometime later, Sonic, Sun, Shadow, and Orbot say goodbye to Merlin and pack them some supplies they're going to need for their journey.

Sun waves goodbye, "Bye Merlin."

"We'll see you when everything is calm again," Sonic says.

"Good luck my friends, and do be careful," Merlin says.

Sun and her friends, including Orbot begin to walk through the woods so they can find a better clearing for Sun's flying.

However, Shadow says, "Sun, maybe now will be a good time for you to Pony Up as you say, so you can practice flying."

"Are you sure? With so many trees here, it might be hard for me to fly or for you guys to run," Sun asks.

"That may be, but practicing your speed with our wings will practice your flying in your touch situations like this. You never knew what Mag Melia might throw at you," Shadow says.

"I see what you mean," Sun says.

Then turns to Orbot, "But what about Orbot?"

"I'll carry the little robot until we get there," Sonic says.

Sun then places her hand on her geode necklace, allowing her to gain her alicorn wings, pony ears, and her hair extended into a ponytail. Sun then begins to take flight a bit off the ground. Sun then activates her Sonic Charms and her wings begin to glow blue auras.

Sonic then begins to spin his legs and picks up Orbot, "Last one out of the forest is a rotten egg."

Then speeds off ahead of Shadow and Sun.

Sun giggles, "Again, Sonic reminds me so much of Rainbow Dash."

Sun then takes flight at top speed to catch up with Sonic. Soon, Shadow uses his rocket shoes to skate after them. Sonic continues to run through the forest as he moves around the trees, over a river, and through some bushes.

As Sonic super speeds, Orbot asks, "Um, do you think we could slow down a little? We're leaving Sun and Shadow behind."

Sun and Shadow are going at the same speed right close to each other. Sun turns from the left and then to the right. She then flies over the river Sonic runs over. Sun can't help, but laugh with a smile on her face. Sun turns to see Shadow still looking serious.

Sun says, "Hey Shadow,"

"What?" Shadow asks.

Before he knows it, Sun places her hand in the river she is over and splash some in Shadow's face. Shadow shakes his head from the water and sternly glares at Sun, but calms down with a small smile to see her laughing. He then notices Maria's face over Sun's. Shadow simply turns his head forward and continues to speed along with Sun.

Sun and Shadow super speed over the river and head off through the forest to catch up with Sonic. Up ahead, Sonic continues to super speed while holding Orbot.

Suddenly, he hears Sun calling out, "Hey Sonic!"

Sonic turns his head to see Sun running close to him.

"Hey Sun, about time you catch up," Sonic says.

"Well, I'm not the only one who did," Sun points out.

Shadow turns to the other side to see Shadow has catches up as well. Shadow then speeds ahead of them and reaches out the forest first. Sonic and Sun are able to get out of the forest after them. Sonic looks forward to seeing Shadow standing distances away.

"What's he doing?" Sonic asks.

Shadow's raises his arm and says, "Chaos Spear!"

Shadow swift his arm and creates Chaos Spear to aim at Sonic and Sun.

"What the?!" Sun exclaims.

Sun stops in her tracks. She then uses her Tails Charm to create the tornadoes and swift some of the Chaos Spears away. Then Sun uses her fire powers at Shadow's Chaos Spear to burn them to ashes. Soon enough, Sun is able to destroy the Chaos Spears that has come her way.

Sun asks, "What is that all about?"

Shadow simply answers, "Call it a Pop Quiz… and you passed."

"You could have warned her, Shadow!" Sonic shouts.

"It's oka, Sonic. Shadow didn't mean any harm by it," Sun says.

"With Mag Melia's powers, we won't know what she can do," Orbot says.

"I guess so," Sonic says, crosses his arms.

Sun then turns to Orbot, "Orbot, what can you tell us about Mag Melia? What you explained, she ended up with incredible powers."

"Yes. From what you experienced, she has gained tremendous strength, acceleration has heightened, the flight ability, power of Chaos Control, and so on. Of course, she was able to create those terrible Chaos Creatures," Orbot says.

"Yes. Let's not forget that she is able to use the Chaos Emerald. Then use the White Chaos Emerald to take control of Rouge. We need to find a way to get it away from her. We also need to find a way to get the others out from where they're being held," Sun says.

"Where are they being held?" Sonic asks.

"They're being held in Popadopolis. I believe they are being held in the Prison. They are being kept there tight," Orbot says.

"Is there anything else?" Shadow asks.

Orbot suddenly remembers, "There is. With all that is happening. I never got the chance to give it to you from Sally."

Orbot then brings out the small computer pad from the compartment from his head.

"You gotta be kidding me! You had Nicole the entire time!" Sonic shouts.

"My apologies," Orbot says.

"The next time you have something important, don't forget it," Shadow angrily says.

Sun soon begins to giggle with a smile on her face. Shadow shakes his head with an annoyed expression as Sonic is scolding Orbot. Sun then begins to grow concern and brings out the red Chaos Emerald. Something is beginning to bug her and it's making her very worried. Of course, she already knows what is making her worried… She can't forget about what she saw the other night.

Not long, Sun, Sonic, and Shadow are having lunch. Orbot is in his round form as the others eat the food they made back in Merlin's home. Sun eats her lunch, but only a few bites at a time. She then looks at the charms she gains from the Chaos Emeralds, and her geode necklace. Shadow turns to see Sun is barely eating and is looking at her necklace.

Shadow asks, "You feeling okay?"

"I'm okay. I guess. Just a bit distracted," Sun says.

"Well, make sure not to get distracted so much cause we still have some ways to go before we reach Popadopolis. That's where our friends are being held," Sonic says.

"You're right. Let's talk to Nicole and see what she says," Sun says.

She opens the computer pad and says, "Nicole. Nicole, are you okay?"

Just then, the computer pad turns on and Nicole digitizes herself out of the computer and gains a physical form.

"I'm okay. I'm glad to see Orbot is able to find you," Nicole says.

"We're glad that you're okay. But it's important to know how the others are doing," Sun says, concerned.

"Sally and the others are okay, but they are being held tight in the prison at Popadopolis. Mag Melia made sure that none of them are able to escape using their abilities," Nicole says.

"Not even Silver and Blaze's powers are able to get them out?" Sonic asks, confused.

"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry, but they're sealed in the cells tight. It might not be easy to get them out," Nicole says.

"We'll find a way to get them out," Sonic says.

Shadow places his hand under his chin to think of a plan. Sun does the same and thinks of a way to help the others escape.

"Well, if they can't escape from the inside. Do you think it's possible for us to break them out from the outside," Sun says.

"That might work. But Mag Melia might already know that Sonic and I escaped to find you and Orbot left to warn you. She might make precaution in case we ever come back or other forces might try to fight against her," Shadow says.

"You're right. It's a silly idea," Sun says.

"No it's not. It just a 50/50 chance that the plan will work or not. We just need to find a way to get them out and hopefully find a way to get Mag Melia to cancel out her chaos energy," Sonic says.

Sun turns to Orbot and asks, "Orbot, do you know anything about Mag Melia's plans?"

"I'm afraid I'm limited by that information. She mention that Dr. Eggman saved her the trouble of her getting the Master Emerald herself and already got six of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Even though I managed to get away, I was able to remain hidden until a few things were revealed," Orbot says.

"What's that?" Sonic asks.

"Mag Melia said some things that are… strange to me. She commands the robots to well, reconstruct the Egg Grapes," Orbot says.

"Egg Grapes? Really? Sometimes I wonder if that guy is really into eggs?" Sun says, dumbfounded.

Then asks, "And what in the world are Egg Grapes?"

"They're creepy containers that are made to look like a big batch of grapes. However, those things are dangerous," Sonic says.

"Dangerous how?" Sun asks.

Sonic feels concerned, "Well uh… it's kind of a long story…. But they are… uh."

"They're programmed to be some kind of torture device or something. They're mainly used to drain the life energy of those who are trapped in it. They come in three phases, Mind eraser, toxic infusion, and energy draining. Dr. Eggman used it to capture many mobians and drain their life energy," Shadow says.

Sonic sighs, "Yeah. It's true. Many Mobians died because of those machines, including lots of Knuckles' kind. And if it wasn't for Nicole, we would have been next."

Sun covers her mouth in shock, "Oh my goodness. That… that's horrible."

"It was. Charmy ended up having his memory scrambled and well, nearly lost all of it," Sonic says.

"But… Charmy seems fine now," Sun says, concerned.

"Yeah. Those are just one of the rotten things Eggman has ever done," Sonic says.

"You mean…" sun says, weary.

She gulps, "There's more that he did."

Sonic presents his left hand towards Sun. He then uses his right hand to grab Shadow's hand and presents it to Sun.

"What are you doing, faker?" Shadow angrily asks.

"I think it will be best for Sun to use her magic to see this for herself," Sonic says.

"I could have asked her myself," Shadow sternly says.

"But I beat you to it," Sonic says.

Sun asks, "Are you sure?"

"We're positive," Sonic says.

"I'll be alright. But fair warning, some of the actions Dr. Eggman has committed… they might be… too much for you to bear," Shadow says.

Sun takes a deep breath, "Okay."

Sun then takes hold of Sonic and Shadow's hand. Then activates her magic and looks into Sonic and Shadow's memories, and she sees everything. Roboticizing Mobians, using robots to attack and hurting innocent people. Sun also ends up seeing that other than Dr. Eggman, there are other villains Sonic and Shadow have to face, including Dr. Finitevus. They deal with destructive aliens, hunters, ancient creatures, mercenaries, magical sorcerers, evil counterparts and other evil that has cause harm in this world. Finally, Sun takes her hands away from Sonic and Shadows with a shocked expression on her face.

Sonic says, worried, "I'm guessing you can understand that the situations in your world are different than the evil we've come across with."

"Y-yeah. And well, I still can't believe you had to deal with so many bad guys. My friends and I never had to deal with any of them before. Ixis Sorcerers, Evil counterparts, Destructive aliens like the Black Arms, and mercenaries. I never knew you deal with so many villains besides Dr. Eggman and his robots. How do you manage to handle all that?" Sun says, still shocked from what she has seen.

"I understand how you wonder how we're able to deal with the danger and evil from our world. One of the reasons is because we have so many allies from different parts of Mobius. In fact, we kind of have a special Network of Freedom Fighters, or something like that," Sonic says.

"Yeah. You pretty much got Freedom Fighters or any kind of alley all over the world. Even one from a different zone. You and your friends are amazing. Even after you all have gone through, you and your friends manage to stay strong. I… I admire your bravery and your determination to protect Mobius from danger," Sun says.

"Glad you think so," Sonic says.

Shadow rolls his eyes. Shadow then turns to see Shadow showing a smile, but also shows some distress. Nicole and Orbot begin to notice this as well.

Nicole asks, "Sun, are you okay? You seem concerned about something."

"I have to agree. You've been acting strong since this morning and you were out in the woods last night," Shadow says.

"Yeah. What was that about?" Sonic asks.

Sun sighs and says, "I had trouble getting to sleep last night, so I decided to walk into the woods. I was thinking about how I can free Glittering Sparkle and wonder why she's so resentful towards me. I got so sleepy that I fell asleep. And… well… uh."

"You okay girl?" Sonic asks.

"I… I saw Glittering Sparkles memories and I know why she's resenting me. She resent me because I'm a reflection of her old self. And well… after seeing that… I… I came to realize that the Glittering Sparkle she is now… is somewhat a reflection of the old me," Sun explains.

Sonic, Shadow, Orbot, and Nicole soon become confused. Sun then turns her head and shows a bit of sadness.

Shadow asks, "What do you mean? Her old self?"

"I saw Glittering Sparkle's memories. Turns out she was actually a nice girl and a happy girl at that," Sun says.

"That's hard to believe," Sonic says.

"Still. I saw it in her thoughts. There were these girls… one of them is named Red Rose. They've been taking advantage of Glittering Sparkle's friendship. They used her assignments, and her projects for their own glory," Sun explains.

"That's awful," Nicole says.

"I know. The principal and the teachers were able to figure out what Red Rose and the others were doing, and Glittering Sparkle has to explain to her what they were doing. Red Rose and the others have been picking on her. They wrecked her stuff, vandalized her locker, and almost cut her hair if Ms. Crimson, the principal didn't step in and expelled the girls for what they've done. They're the reason why Glittering Sparkle moved to Canterlot City and transferred to Canterlot High," Sun adds.

Shadow soon understands, "But by that time, the damage has already been done, has it?"

"I'm afraid so," Sun says, sadly.

"So the Glittering Sparkle you come to know was a new self she created because of what her so called friends did," Sonic suspects.

"It seems so. When Glittering Sparkle saw me, she first assumed that my friends were taking advantage of me. However, the more they got to know me, the more she realized that they're my real friends. That's why Glittering Sparkle is really jealous and resentful towards me," Sun says.

"I see. So the reason wasn't just because you're a better person. It is because while you ended up earning friends because of your kindness, she was taken advantage of," Nicole replies.

"But that's no reason for her to go all crazy and cause trouble for Sun and everyone else," Sonic says.

"We know that. However, it matters what she knows. She feels that being kind can never earn real friends, and yet, I earned my friends friendship by being myself. Her friends never cared about her and used their friendship with her to their own, and she hated it," Sun says.

Sun sadly says, "I think her sadness and pain caused her to give up on any friends. So she decided to become this other person that seems full of pride in herself and has no intention of making friends. I'm afraid seeing me along with my friends open old wounds. Her pain soon replaced with resentment towards me. The more she saw me with my friends and how happy we truly are together, it grew into hatred. The Dark Chaos Emerald must have been absorbing her resentment when she picked it up. The more she uses it for anger, resentment, and dark power, the more corrupted she becomes. As a result, it ended up Mag Melia… Glittering Sparkle's shadow."

"That really sucks," Sonic says.

"That it's all the more reason to stop her," Shadow says.

"Yes. I did notice something. I think me cracking the Dark Chaos Emerald allowed Glittering Sparkle's true self to reach me. She was afraid and she came to realize the damages she has caused to everyone. Sadly, her shadow, Mag Melia is making it impossible for her to break out or separate herself from the Emerald. I need to get close to Mag Melia and shatter the Emerald. That, or find a way to reach Glittering Sparkle's true self to make it come to light," Sun says.

"But those options means you would have to find a way to get close to her," Orbot says.

"I know, that is why we must rescue the others first. Then, we need to find Dr. Eggman and Cubot. Since Eggman is the one who created the emerald, he might have a clue how it works, then we can destroy it," Sun says.

Sonic then asks, "Still, why do you say Glittering Sparkle reminds you of your old self?"

"It's a long story, but in short… I was bullied as well," Sun says.

"You were. I must say, I'm rather surprised," Orbot says.

"I know it's a shock, but it's true. When I was little living in Equestria, I was not only accepted into being enrolled in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but I also became Princess Celestia's personal student. She saw my gift in magic and decided to personally train me herself. However, because of that, I… I was being bullied by Falling Star," Sun says.

"But didn't you say that she's your friend?" Nicole asks.

"She is. Both the human and pony versions are my friends. But at first, the Falling Star who lives in Equestria was my bully. Back then, she bullied me because I was the star student. She wouldn't stop no matter how hard I try to ignore her, how much I tried to be her friend. Yet, she continues to bully me and other students around her. One day, she used her magic on a younger student, I told her to stop, but she wouldn't listen. I then used my magic to defeat her and fall into unconsciousness for a short time. By the time I woke up, I found out Falling Star was expelled for misusing her magic and hated me ever since," Sun says.

"That's the problem with jealousy and resentment, it brings out the worst in someone," Shadow says.

"Yeah. However, I gave up on making friends and I studied in school alone. However, when I started living in Canterlot City I made a lot of friends. When I got my memories back, I realized how much my life changed when I gained real friends who accept me for who I am." Sun says.

She sighs, "I understand how she felt. I know what it's like to be pushed around just because you're good at something. But still… that doesn't give her the right to hurt others like that. I need to help her see that."

"And the only way for us to do that is to fight back," Sonic says.

"Then it's best we get going. I also remember that she has something planned big and needs the last Chaos Emerald you have to do it," Orbot says.

"Which is the one Sun has," Sonic says.

Sun takes it out and holds it in her hand.

She then turns to Shadow, "Shadow, can you use the Chaos Emerald to get us there faster."

"Understood," Shadow says, and takes the emerald from Sun's hand.

Everyone gathers together and Shadow shouts, "Chaos Control!"

Soon, everyone disappears and reappears at a hill. They look over the hill to see the ruined city. They need to free their friends and hope they'll stand a chance against Mag Melia.