A/N: So, we have a beta now. She currently re-re-editing this chapter so this is the un-beta'd version because Tyro's impatient and he didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. Although I'm still not that happy with it but that's just me...

We don't own My Little Pony and Sonic the hedgehog because we weren't even born when they were invented, and babies can't invent that stuff anyway. Take THAT, lawyers!


Chapter Three: When Harmony Fails.

The two sisters fled, from the oncoming swarm of robots and the blaring alarms. Celestia, now more than ever, felt completely drained, physically, mentally and emotionally. Of course, it didn't help at all that they were running again. The universe seemed to be working against them, and for that, she was convinced that it was her own fault. The pain she felt in her heart upon leaving Discord in his glass prison was more than she could bear; she'd never seen him suffering like that, and the pleading despair in the draconequus' voice echoed in her mind like the declaration of a guilty verdict. Celestia wouldn't blame him if he never forgave her.

They were torturing him to the point where he wished for death, and you abandoned him.

"What's the plan now, sister?" Luna yelled over the screaming sirens.

She was brought out of her self-pity long enough to form something resembling a coherent thought.

"We need to rescue the Wonderbolts, then we return to Ponyville and come up with a plan to free Discord. I gave him my word,"

When she said it, she already knew it was a flawed plan, but Luna still pointed out the obvious.

"'Tia, we are outnumbered! If Chrysalis and Robotnik were still oblivious to our presence we might have been able to attempt a rescue, but now it is simply too risky!"

"We can't just leave them here, Luna! We have to try and save them!"

"Celestia! We have lost too much already and as much as it pains me to say it, we can't risk getting captured too!"

Soon enough, they reached the entrance. Luna jabbed a hoof against the button on the wall and the door slid aside.

"Exactly! We have suffered this evening! How much worse could this mission get?"

They froze, Celestia gasped at the sight before her, and Luna cursed the Divine Forces for answering the question so abruptly, and so ironically.

A sea of robots and changelings had surrounded them, all sights fixed on the two sisters. Chrysalis and Robotnik stood with triumphant smiles at the front. Four of the Pain Six stood beside the Queen and the metallic soldiers stood behind the doctor.

How did so many find them so quickly? Luna scanned the crowd, looking for a weakness, something, anything, that even suggested an opening, but the hordes were packed tightly and buzz bombers, Shadow Flash and Batterfly hovered nearby, preventing escape by means of flight. Magic was an option, but Luna was too shocked to think straight and Celestia barely had the strength to perform a teleportation spell.

They tried to turn back but robots blocked the entrance.

They were trapped.

Chrysalis turned a smirk to her human comrade and two simple words broke the silence:

"Told you,"

Robotnik didn't respond to Chrysalis, or give any indication that he heard her; after all, he didn't want anyone, including the former rulers to know that he had underestimated them. Both hands behind his back, he approached them, and then with a smile he cupped the older Alicorn's chin in his hand, jerking her head up so he could see her face properly behind her matted, pastel mane.

"Celestia, my dear…you look tired,"

Celestia wrenched her head out of his grip, refusing to dignify him with an answer or meet his eyes. She despised merely looking at him, and his spiteful tone was infuriating, but she tried hard not to let it show, keeping her head held as high as she could manage.

Luna snapped out of her paralysis and stepped between them, flaring her wings and pawing at the ground with a hoof: the traditional gesture of warning.

"Do not touch her," she growled. She was becoming tenser by the second, fully prepared to fight the army alone if she had to.

The scientist smirked. "There's no need for violence. We're offering you a choice, and don't think we're going to treat you any differently than the others. Your choice is this: you will submit to us and be roboticized, or you will be executed,"

At the foreign word, Luna was confused, though her defensive stance didn't waver.

"What is…'robo-tized'?"

"Quite a useful method, really," Robotnik replied simply. "Shall we demonstrate?"

Without waiting for an answer he half-turned to the mass of changelings and robots and barked what appeared to be an order, though with the vast numbers it was impossible to tell who he was addressing.

"You three, front and center!"

Three unicorns stepped forward, and two of them were recognised instantly as Shining Armour and Prince Blueblood. The third, Fancypants, they had only met once or twice.

There was something different about them.

All three stood like statues, red pinpricks of light where eyes were meant to be staring into nothingness, no sign of recognition or emotion on their faces. With their movements, strange, whirring sounds had been heard. Their coats and manes held a strange metallic sheen and Luna gasped as she made the connection.

"What kind of magic is this?"

The doctor leered at her. "Science, my dear. My Roboticizer has transformed these three stallions completely into Robots. Without free will they are completely obedient. I prefer it, as opposed to the Queen's ludicrous idea of living slaves. Mechanical beings are easier to control, not to mention they do not require food or sleep"

Chrysalis spoke as she stepped forward and patted her metallic slave on the head. "I honestly would have preferred to keep Shining Armour as my own pet, but at least this way I don't need to worry about him talking"

Robotnik started talking about something else but Celestia had tuned out.

She only saw the steel stallions, and with much effort she tried to hold back tears as she regarded their strange forms. Three of her citizens were now slaves to the madman and the Queen. And two of them were family. She couldn't help but wonder where Cadence was. Had she fled when her husband was captured? Or did Shining Armour sacrifice his freedom for her? Was she even still alive? These questions, among others, flooded her mind and she cast a glance to Midnight Ripple, who seemed completely apathetic towards her brother's transformation.

"Did we hit a nerve, Celestia?" Robotnik suddenly asked, and that triumphant smile spread once more across his features. It was then that she realised that she hadn't hid her expression quite as well as she thought she had. She turned her head away wordlessly as the tears started to fall.

"Were these stallions family by any chance?"

Luna, however, did not crumble under his recognition, and met his gaze with a steely scowl, despite the chill of fear she felt at the sight of the metallic unicorns.

"Let them go,"

It was not a plea, but a demand. The icy calmness of her voice surprised even her, and she pawed the ground again. Celestia tensed, sensing her sister was about to do something irrational and get them imprisoned or killed as a result.

"Luna," she whispered. "Whatever it is you are thinking of doing, don't—"

The scientist chose that moment to burst into hearty laughter, and the younger Alicorn snapped, ignoring her sister's warning.

"You monster, let them go!"

She charged forward recklessly, her horn lowered and aimed at the human's chest, only to skid to a halt as Metal Sonic seemed to appear out of thin air, barricading itself between her and Robotnik. It raised its claws threateningly, and at the same time it shot towards them, only an azure streak, Celestia knocked Luna out of its path, poured every ounce of strength she had left into activating her magic, and the two disappeared in a golden flash.

"Spread out!"

The two tyrants spoke in unison, ordering their minions to scatter.

"Search every inch of Canterlot," Robotnik barked, and the order was aimed not just at the robot pawns, but his three favourite vassals as well. "I want the princesses alive,"

The army scattered, leaving the Pain Six and Robotnik and Chrysalis.

"We'll search the castle," Midnight Ripple offered, and the Changeling queen nodded in affirmation.

"Bring them back alive, as the Doctor said, and don't let them out of your sight,"

"Of course, my Queen. Pain Six, let's go,"

The corrupted ponies took off as one unit, Shadow Flash included. Chrysalis watched them leave, and then she and Robotnik entered the Carrier, on the human's hunch that he knew what, or rather, who, the two Alicorns had been after.

It was a relief, to Robotnik, to find his machine still intact, save for a smouldering smudge on the glass dome, a telltale sign that the Princesses had attempted a break-out. Then his eyes fell on the generator and he let out a irritated growl. The Emeralds lay strewn across the floor: all five of them. He didn't have to count them to realise two were missing.

It's happening again…

He gathered them and put them back in their places, trying to ignore the voice that had spoken in his head. With the press of a button he summoned his keyboard/desk and chair from the floor and sat down to start typing, but he couldn't stop his eyes wandering anxiously to the generator, as if the remaining Emeralds would suddenly disappear without warning.

And they have before, haven't they?

The longer Robotnik stared at the two empty spaces, the more he felt uncomfortably familiar with the situation, and the more insistently his 'other side'—his darker half—hammered at its cage. He shook his head rapidly, as if that would get rid of the voice in his head, because it was dangerously close to taking over again. Normally he never regretted letting it, but he needed to focus: there was a way to compensate for the two missing Emeralds. It was merely an inconvenience, but inconvenience led to failure, after all, and failure was not an option, not when things had actually been going right for once.

Not now, I have things to do.

Oh, of course. But remember how many times this has-?

Not. Now!

Whenever the other side took over, the transition was painless and undramatic, but he was never aware of what happened. Only the reactions of those unlucky enough to witness his 'episodes' told him that whatever he had said—or did—had not been pleasant. Like the way Discord now usually shrank away from him whenever he entered the chamber, rather than greet him bitterly or sarcastically, the serpentine form trembling and raw fear reflected in his mismatched eyes.

And Robotnik enjoyed seeing it, because for the first time in his life someone actually feared him.

Focus…

He let out a sigh, shook his head again as if to clear it and began typing the commands he needed into the system.

commandprompt_attrib

opensystem_ChEm

System: ChEm has detected missing elements

.

..

(2) missing elements detected.

Power output: 80%

Power input: 80%

Amps: 40

manual_alt

Warning! Manually altering the system will increase electrical input and voltage output. Continue? (Y/N) Y

Input command(s)

increasepower_output20%

increasepower_input20%

increaseamps_200%

Processing…

Manual Alteration Complete

Power Input: 100%

Power Output: 100%

Amps: 80.

And that was all it took. No great loss. If anything, the increased power would get the job done quicker.

So long as there are no more interferences…

Robotnik cast another scowl at the generator as he dismissed his computer-hybrid.

A weak chuckle from the glass dome suddenly drew his attention.

"Something funny, draconequus?"

"Last time I checked, Celestia and Luna weren't hedgehogs,"

The scientist hadn't been aware he'd said anything about hedgehogs, at least, not out loud, but he knew his actions were justifiable.

"You sound about as tired as Celestia looked," Robotnik noted with a smile of his own. Discord was facing away from him, but the utter exhaustion in his voice was clear. "Out of curiosity, when was the last time you had any sleep?"

"Can't remember. Are you actually here or am I imagining it again?"

That seemed to serve as an answer. The Draconequus was practically delirious with exhaustion, and in all honesty, Robotnik hadn't intended the insomnia as a side-effect, but the scientist found it fascinating, and would sometimes come down to the Carrier and would observe him for hours, whether or not Discord knew he was there.

No being alive had had yet spent three months straight without sleep, and since Discord was more of a spiritual creature than a physical one, he observed much more than what was typical to a sleep study.

The Draconequus had moments in which he'd forget where he was, he would sometimes speak in a different language without realising it, or say things that didn't make sense at all. He'd even developed a strange bond with the Emeralds, and more than once Robotnik had caught Discord talking to them as if they were companions. The scientist could have sworn he referred to one of them as 'Barbara'.

But Discord also had his lucid moments, though they were drifting further and further apart.

Another giggle sounded, this time from Chrysalis. Robotnik jolted. He'd been so focussed on altering the machine that he'd completely forgotten she was there.

"My, my," she purred. "He really is out of it, isn't he?"

She was wandering the room, fascinated by the strange technology and now content that she knew where Robotnik regularly skulked off to. His constant paranoia ensured that he was secretive about his work, and Chrysalis knew very little. He would leave the castle without telling anyone his whereabouts, and if she asked, he'd shrug it off dismissively. Besides, the Changeling Queen was too busy 'tutoring' Midnight Ripple to really care what he got up to.

He gave her a cursory glance as he approached the dome. "Oh…Chrysalis," his tone mirrored that of someone telling a complete stranger what the time was. "I forgot you were here,"

"You often do," she snapped.

"Don't touch anything,"

Chrysalis gave an apathetic sniff, shooting him a glare. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, Doctor. Especially when there does not appear to be anything worth touching,"

She continued to appraise the machine, specifically the two podiums that held the swirling mass. It was, in fact, the first time she had ever set hoof in the chamber and the first time he had allowed her to follow him.

"What, precisely, does this machine do, anyway?"

Behind Robotnik's tinted glasses, Chrysalis could have sworn she saw a glint in his eyes as he took the opportunity to begin a scientific lecture, gesturing to each part of the machine accordingly.

"It utilises the power of the Chaos Emeralds to extract and collect chaos energy from our 'friend' here and then feed it to our...ahem…little experiment,"

"There's only five…I thought you said there were seven,"

"There are. Unfortunately the meddling hed—mares managed to make off with two of them,"

"Is that a problem, Doctor?"

"Oh, I sincerely hope so," Discord spoke up, though it was unclear if he was actually talking to them.

"Not to worry, I've already calibrated the two apertures and diverted the amplified energy,"

Again Chrysalis' mind reeled with the strange language. What she had actually heard was "Not to worry, I've already bzzzt the bzzt and bzzt the bzzt energy,"

She'd given up on trying to comprehend it, and settled for a simple question.

"And what does that mean? In Equish, if you wouldn't mind,"

Robotnik took out the remote, toying with it for a while, and the look he gave Chrysalis was so casual that it was actually a little worrying.

"We'll just have to zap Discord a little harder,"

Finally the caged Draconequus looked up at him, his mismatched eyes fearful and unfocussed.

"Wait…nonononononono…"

The terrified babble trailed off into a rasping scream as the button was pressed.


The smell of dust and age was cloying as they rematerialized in a colourless flash. Immediately Luna's eyes wandered, scanning every inch of the unfamiliar location and there was an almost insatiable itch to explore. It was a vast cavern, almost larger than the throne room. Almost every wall was a bookcase, every bookcase filled with innumerable books and scrolls. The sight and sound of water, a large pool of it, made Luna salivate, but a small cry beside her snapped her back to the grim reality, as Celestia swayed and buckled. By now Luna was used to acting quickly, and for what seemed like the millionth time, she caught her exhausted sister and lowered her gently to the floor. There was a long cut on Celestia's shoulder, bleeding lazily into the once-white fur, but it didn't seem deep enough to be too much of a concern.

It was everything else about Celestia that was concerning.

An old jug caught her attention and she used her magic to pick it up, making her way to the pool of water. She filled it, took the opportunity to drink from the pool herself, and was relieved to find that for once it didn't taste of mould and algae.

Luna returned with the jug and wordlessly set it down in front of Celestia, and the older Alicorn pushed herself up and drank greedily. An awkward silence passed between them before Luna broke it, trembling with repressed anger.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Celestia's expression furrowed, but she didn't get a chance to reply since her little sister picked up on what she was about to say.

"You know exactly what I mean! You are low on magic as it is; you should not be—"

"Saving your life?" Celestia finished.

Luna caught herself, recalling the bright blue minion with its raised claws, and bowed her head ashamedly. "Oh. I am sorry, sister,"

"I forgive you,"

Celestia's voice was flat and emotionless, and it was clear she was fighting another onset of tears, but Luna really wasn't all that surprised anymore. She sat beside the older Alicorn and nuzzled her gently.

"I am still concerned for you, Celestia. You know that. I am perfectly capable of raising the sun—"

"No. We have discussed this. I can live without my magic if it means the other Harmony Hunters are able to still move in darkness. It's the only advantage we have left,"

Luna looked away, biting back the urge to tell her exactly why she wanted the daylight back, and not just because her sister resembled a dried sunflower. Since the night had lasted this long, the moon's power kept her constantly energised, and she constantly struggled to remind herself that she didn't like it. Would it have been like this if—?

Stop it, Luna.

She shook away her anxiety. Now was not the time to fret about the past. She scanned the room again, and a large statue of a familiar bearded unicorn caught her eye, and it was then that she had some idea of where they might be.

"Are we…? This isn't Starswirl's library, is it?"

"Athenaeum," Celestia corrected, and a weak smile twitched at her mouth despite the lingering monotony of her voice. "I was trying to get us back to Ponyville. Apparently my magic thinks this is the Covert,"

Luna frowned. Celestia had almost never muddled up spells, at least, not since they were fillies. She'd intended to take them back to the underground passages the residents had dug in secret known as the Covert. The two sisters and the three Wonderbolts had taken refuge there in the last week, though it was cold, uncomfortable and rations were scarce. But the entire town had joined The Harmony Hunters and had succeeded in keeping themselves hidden. Now that she thought about it, the Athenaeum seemed like the better choice.

And all those books…there was a reason Starswirl was famous, even if he had been completely insane. Luna stood and approached one of the bookshelves eagerly.

"Maybe this is a good thing,"

"We've failed, Luna," Celestia said flatly, and the tears came again. "You need to accept that,"

Luna stopped, glancing disbelievingly at her. She never expected to hear words of defeat come from her sister. Celestia used to be a vision of confidence and hope, and now, here she was, reduced to a pitiful mess. But the younger Alicorn was a lot more persistent. She fought back the temptation to start screaming obscenities at her and started on the next shelf.

"I will not. There has to be something here that can help us. I refuse to surrender,"

"Maybe we should. We'd have a place to stay; we'd have food and water…maybe they'd even give us a proper bed,"

"Listen to yourself! They wouldn't accommodate us; they would turn us into slaves! Just like Shining Armour!"

Celestia said nothing, silent tears turning to sobs, but Luna still pitied her despite wanting to slap her over and over again and yelling at her to snap out of it. She sighed.

"At least help me look. Please, Tia,"

The Sun Princess looked up at her with streaming lilac eyes. She wanted to protest, to tell Luna that she was wasting precious time because the books were mostly accounts on his travels and reports on ancient relics anyway, but her exhausted mind gave in. She gave a sorrowful sigh of her own and forced herself to her hooves, swaying a little. Without a word, she walked away from her younger sister, but towards a smaller room that held bookshelves seemingly carved out of the bedrock itself. There was a small, sturdy desk in the middle. Parchment and half melted candles lay scattered everywhere and several mirrors hung on the wall next to a blackboard still bearing chalk scrawls. If it hadn't been for the thick layer of dust, the cobwebs draped in practically every corner and the vegetation growing out of the walls, it would have felt like Starswirl had never passed on.

Celestia didn't know why she had stumbled into the room set aside for mirror research, but as she regarded the scene, memories came flooding back. Starswirl had been her council, her mentor of sorts and a good friend, but not many ponies had known of their friendship. It hurt a little to be standing in that same room for the first time in centuries.

She scanned the shelves half-heartedly, the only things standing out being research they had done together, tears still running down her face and her frail body heaving with sobs, a million thoughts running through her mind at once.

Maybe we should surrender. Or leave Equestria. Maybe they will cease the earthquakes and storms if they know they have no opposition. What am I thinking? I can't abandon my subjects. Luna would not let us leave anyway. She would fight to her last breath. I'm so scared. I don't know what to do. I've never felt so lost in my life.

Celestia sat heavily on her haunches, looking up at the shelves helplessly and wishing the tears would stop, but they just kept coming.

This isn't fair. I should have given Discord a chance to explain himself. He might be our only ally left. There is nothing here that can help us.

Without warning, she stood, whirled and lashed out at the bookshelf with her hind legs.

"Why can't you have something useful?!" she screamed at it. Again and again she bucked at the shelves, letting out every emotion that she had tried to bottle up for the sake of keeping up her 'strong big sister' charade, even shrieking at it in her Mother Tongue, the ancient language Equestria had used long before Harmony was the accepted norm.

"Sipelsaad! Worthless pile of—!"

Celestia cut off abruptly, panting, realising what she'd done. Starswirl's beloved research had been strewn across the room thanks to her little tantrum. He had valued every scrap of parchment he had written on, and Celestia had just destroyed some of it. Desperately she gathered up the fallen books, fumbling with them in her hooves and replacing them gently in the shelf, hoping that they weren't too damaged.

"I'm sorry," she babbled at each book before she put it in its place. "I'm so sorry, Starswirl, I didn't mean it,"

She made thirty-six consecutive apologies, picked up the next book and stopped. It was a great deal thinner than the others; the only distinguishing feature besides the aged and faded binding that was the same as all the others. It still struck her as odd, because when Starswirl had researched something, he went into every possible detail, hence why more than half of his private libraries consisted solely of notes.

Luna had heard Celestia's outburst, including the word that, roughly translated, was not used in public if one wanted to keep her reputation. She came running, immediately fixing her sister with a chastising glare that a mother would have been proud of.

"You are so lucky no one else was around to hear—"

She stopped herself in mid-scold at the sight of the book Celestia was staring at in her hoof. "Did you find something?"

"I don't know. I have ever seen this book before,"

Luna sidled closer. "It does not seem like anything special…"

But their curiosity was piqued. Luna took the book with her magic and set it down on the desk in the middle. Celestia joined her as it was opened with a levitation spell. Once they started reading, they couldn't look away.

Celestia, Luna,

If you are reading this then it means that dark times have fallen on Equestria, and our Elements of Harmony are no longer our strongest line of defence. If anypony else is reading this then I suppose it will forever puzzle me as to how a plebeian found this place to begin with.

You may not understand what I'm about to tell for years, but as Equestria's rulers, I need you to heed my words.

I have discovered a world outside our own.

Even now, I'm not sure how I did it. I suppose it must have happened by chance when I tried to combine a teleportation spell with a time travel spell. All I knew was it was a prototype of one of my early time travel spells, but as it turned out, it proved extremely difficult and I suppose I lost consciousness from using so much magic in one burst.

When I awoke, I noticed I was no longer in my study; I was outside, but not in the Canterlot gardens, or any location that I recognized. I was amongst strange, rolling green hills, palm trees and sunflowers.

There was some sort of creature staring at me. I shouted, taken completely by surprise, and it squeaked in alarm and curled up into a ball. My curiosity overcoming, I approached and apologised for scaring it, and that was when two huge, green eyes peeked out at me distrustfully. After a moment it finally uncurled and sat there staring at me, cocking its head to one side as I repeated my apology.

It was clearly only young; maybe three or four years old, a pudgy little ball of blue fur that was mostly eyes and what I thought to be spikes, or hair. It was unlike any creature I'd ever seen in my travels. It said something in a strange language that I couldn't understand, and that was when I also realised it didn't understand Equish, either.

Then it tried to dart past me, but tripped and fell flat on its face with a yelp. I thought, given its youth, it would start crying—as most infants often do—but it picked itself up, shook itself off, and finally raced away and out of sight.

It was such an awkward little thing, but I'd never seen anything move so fast in my life.

It was for this very reason I became eager to know more about it. Were there others like it? Could they move that quickly, that young? I wanted to track it down and study it, but of course, I couldn't make any more direct contact; I didn't want to risk both worlds becoming conflicted. So I hid in a nearby cover of trees and waited, and hoped, for it to come back.

Unfortunately, I never had the chance to find out if it did. The spell wore off, and then I was back in my study, with a confused Clover blinking at me. She told me that I had suddenly disappeared and reappeared within the time it takes for a pony to blink. I explained to her about the new world, but also made her promise not to tell a soul. The discovery of a new world was, after all, a touchy subject, not one to bring up around just anypony. But I trusted Clover as I would my own daughter, and told her absolutely everything. Then she pointed out something in my beard and I levitated it out to get a better look. It was a single, blue hair. That's when the idea hit me: there was a method to find out more about the strange little creature without jeopardising our worlds. I placed the hair in a glass vial and put it aside, thanked Clover and asked she leave me in peace.

I would be breaking my own personal rule: never look into the future of another, and for this reason I have chosen not to include a record of the recipe for this potion, as it is a very complicated and risky procedure. I have taught others, in all honesty, under sworn secrecy that they do not take notes. I do not believe you will ever need use of this potion anyway.

Three days later, it was ready, and the last ingredient to add was the blue hair. Adding it turned the potion from yellow to green, and it hissed and bubbled like boiling water.

Celestia, Luna, please take heed, Insight Potions as complicated as this are never to be ingested. I have seen what has happened to ponies who were foolish enough to ignore my warning and drink it, and I will spare you the gory details. The potion is to be poured on a mirror, as mirrors give insight into different worlds, but you must not spill a single drop of it onto the floor, should it distort your vision into nightmarish lies.

It took me fifteen minutes to pour the potion, mostly because I was so excited I could barely concentrate.

I peered into the mirror, at first seeing my own reflection, then without warning, the blue creature's life filled my vision and my mind.

Its future held so many adventures, so many encounters, so many times its entire world was at stake. I saw it face off against creatures I'd never see even in my wildest dreams, giant titans of metal, darker reflections of itself, and creatures that could only be described as deities. Sometimes it stood alone, sometimes with allies.

There was always a constant: seven gems which contained amazing magic. Those gems were a necessary resource, it seemed, and the spell translated their title into one I could understand:

The seven Chaos Emeralds.

These 'emeralds' seem to be the reagents for a spell. I am not entirely certain even now what it does, but what I have theorised is that at least one of these gems are required for solo performance; two are required for a double implementation. There is an essential incantation, too, simple but spoken with power: 'Chaos Control'.

As I have mentioned, I am not certain what this Chaos Control spell does exactly as it seems to do multiple things. In my vision I saw it used as a means of weaponry, but it seems to invoke Time and Teleportation magic as well.

There was one image, however, that would stay in my mind until my dying day. It was the blue creature, no longer a baby but in what I assume was its adult form. It was simply standing there, surrounded by those Chaos Emeralds, a serene expression crossing its face. A bright glare filled my vision and temporarily blinded me and when I could see again, the creature had changed. A dazzlingly brilliant aura surrounded it, so intense it hurt my head, and it was golden, except its eyes. They were red, and as fiery as they appeared, something told me this divine form didn't hold a threat, at least, not to anyone who would oppose him. As I watched, there was another flash, and it flew into the sky, surrounded by what seemed to be every threat that had ever opposed it and with one final flash of gold, and that shouted incantation, they were all defeated.

It was hard to believe this deity was the same awkward creature that had tripped over its own feet.

I will be perfectly honest: the only reason I recorded this was to try and make sense of what I have witnessed in this other world, but they have only confused me even further.

If my previous studies are to be believed, it is that chaotic magic is a force of evil, of disharmony, and yet this creature has used it time and time again to save its world. This has kept me up for many nights. Is there more to this outlawed magic than we know? Is it both a weapon of destruction and a tool of salvation?

Fascinated, they continued to flick through the journal. Starswirl shared his theories, mostly on the mysterious, godlike being, and there were many messy sketches of the creature, his allies, his enemies and the Chaos Emeralds, including a diagram with a hypothesis on how they might utilise magic. And a few more entries, but they all seemed to repeat the previous theories, except one:

I keep having this dream. Normally I don't sleep much anymore, but when I do it's always the same. I know it means something but I can't be sure.

I'm sitting on a hill, watching an eclipse, then the sun and the moon disappear and I'm left in complete darkness. Six stars appear, and I call to them for help, but they fall as meteorites, and I suddenly feel alone. The desolation and sadness I feel seems very real, and it appears to last for a very, very long time. Then something streaks across the sky: a blue comet with a golden tail, and I no longer feel isolated. I call out to it and it responds in a genderless voice, both calm and worried at the same time. It says the same thing, always in our Mother Tongue:

"Kiem Herite apocit, kienus zivoca Saeris" —When Harmony fails, we must call upon Chaos.

I wake up after that.

Is it a warning or an epiphany, or is it simply the result of my obsession with this new world? It is anypony's guess. Overall, my understanding is that something is fated to go wrong, and— I truly hope this is a misinterpretation— the six falling stars represent Element Bearers, so I suppose something may happen to them. I do not want to think the force of good that we rely on to keep the peace may one day be defeated, or even worse, turned against us.

But the vision of the blue and gold comet puzzles me. It seems like an accurate representation of the creature, and yet what it said makes no sense. To see something in a dream that is coloured blue and gold is neither a good nor bad omen, as where gold represents the positive, blue is a varied colour of mixed omen.

Is it telling us to accept the inevitable? Or is it telling us that chaotic magic can help us should the need arise?

I may be wrong about all of this—I hope I am—but should a day come when the Elements of Harmony have betrayed you, I trust I am still with you to share this journal, this other world, and this being who may be Equestria's saviour or captor.

And if I am not…well…I hope the Divine Forces show you the way to this book. You are both wise beyond your years, so I know that one day you may figure out this 'Chaos Control' spell.

You may have your doubts, you may scared, maybe even considering defeat, but please, for Equestria, and for me, never give up. Be strong for each other. And remember: when Harmony fails, we must call upon Chaos.

The rest of the journal was blank.

There was a moment of silence between the two sisters, both out of respect for the wise old unicorn and awe for this strange, but fascinating discovery.

In Luna's mind, it dawned: they had two of these Chaos Emeralds…could it be possible to perform this Chaos Control spell themselves?

"'Tia," she breathed. For the first time in three months, she felt a little spark of hope. It hadn't been a prophecy or a sign from the Divine, but it was something. When Luna spoke again, her voice was trembling from the excitement. "We could do it…couldn't we? Th-this Chaos Control spell…"

"No," Celestia replied flatly. "It's far too risky,"

"And suppose it isn't?" Luna shot back, not so much in anger, but enthusiasm. "Suppose the spell is used for teleportation? This creature may know how to help us. Or we could have two weapons at our disposal!"

"This is a different world, Luna. We have no evidence that this creature isn't hostile, and we don't even know if this spell will work for us,"

"But Discord said it himself: they are Chaos Emeralds. They are genuine. They come from the creature's world. And Starswirl—"

"Starswirl was always very naïve. And where is our proof that they are the real thing?"

Now enthusiasm did rise to anger. She stomped a hoof, rising and drawing herself up to her full height.

"Celestia, get over yourself! I am sick of your pessimism! I am not an optimist, but at least I know when to stop moping! You were willing to take risks before: you helped start the Harmony Hunters, you insisted on going through with this to begin with. You got us this far and now you're just giving up?"

"Too much has gone wrong already!" Celestia yelled back, standing and whirling to face her sister. "Tell me, Luna, what have we achieved? We have been through all this and come out with a book telling us about a creature that might help us, two gems that might perform a spell that might destroy our world for all we know; we have three less allies who might very well be dead by now, and all the while my subjects suffer and my two nephews are machine-slaves! I would ask what else could possibly go wrong, but I'd rather not tempt the Divine Forces to take you from me as well!"

Luna's face darkened and her voice softened, and somehow that was worse than if she had screamed at the top of her lungs. "In that case, you may as well give yourself to the enemy now, because I would rather die than give up on Equestria,"

The younger Alicorn expected more tears, but Celestia's voice was scarily calm.

"That is exactly what I am worried about, and I am not giving up on Equestria. I have my own reasons why I do not think this is a good idea. It is not wise to meddle in the affairs of other worlds, and we cannot be sure that this creature will help us so much as kill us on sight,"

"Twilight Sparkle would have risked it,"

Celestia let out a sigh, but didn't answer. She hated to admit it, but Luna was right. They had no back-up plan, no means of fighting an entire army of enemies. But this journal, this idea of a new world and a new kind of magic could very well have been the closest thing. But there had to be a reason why it seemed so unbelievably convenient.

"We should at least consult the others," Luna prompted.

"I hope you are referring to the Royal 'We', because I want no part in this,"

"Fine," Luna tucked the journal into her saddle-bag anyway, fuming.

They reluctantly made their way out of Starswirl's wing, and Celestia was still trying to wrap her brain around the concept of the journal, still lost in her own world of blurred thoughts.

For all we know, this creature and this spell could be worse than any other magic we have faced before. And chaotic magic as a means of salvation? It's unheard of. I don't even expect that from Discord, let alone somepony we've never met. It seems too good to be true, so it probably is. It's crazy, it's reckless, and for all I know, we could get ourselves killed. After everything we've been through, Luna would leave the fate of Equestria in the hooves of a complete stranger. Does she even trust me anymore?

Her thoughts cut off as Luna suddenly stopped, and Celestia smacked straight into her. They had come to a three-way fork in the caves, and the younger Alicorn seemed completely lost.

"Now where?" she practically snapped.

She tried to remember. The cave system was incredibly difficult to navigate, and the fact that she couldn't think straight wasn't of any help whatsoever.

Was it center, left, left, right, or left, left, right, center?

"I can't—"

Luna let out an aggravated sigh and her horn flared to life impatiently, teleporting them to the mountainside overlooking the castle.

"—remember,"

Luna merely glanced at her. "I imagined you wouldn't,"

She didn't have anything to say to that. The older Alicorn understood that her sister saw her now as a burden, a weight on her back that was slowing her down.

"Back to Ponyville?" Celestia asked after a moment.

A nod.

There was a tense moment between the two as Celestia anticipated another teleportation. Finally Luna caught on, and shook her head.

"We are flying back. They might see the flash otherwise. Do you expect me to carry you as well?"

Celestia looked away wordlessly, and a little sulkily. Reluctantly, she spread her wings as Luna took flight, but the younger Alicorn only hovered a short distance away, waiting for Celestia to join her while at the same time making sure that she didn't keel over.

Finally with a grunt, Celestia managed to get into the air, wings beating clumsily and harder than they should have. Luna let her pass and she followed behind, and slowly and surely they made the journey from cloud to cloud back to Ponyville.

In Celestia's lookout tower, Midnight Ripple watched them through a telescope, smirking.

"Gotcha,"

She teleported back to the throne room, and after a while, the rest of the Pain Six joined her.

"I've found them," she announced. "Judging by the direction, I deduce that they are heading for Ponyville,"

Vanity wrinkled her muzzle in disgust. "Why would they bother with that hole? The town has been abandoned since our birth. It's only good for dumping garbage now,"

"Perhaps that's where their little rebellion resides," Midnight answered.

Orangecrush sniffed.

"Coulda just asked me," she butted in. "Ah've know their location this entire time,"

Midnight scoffed, but Pinkemena stomped up to Orangecrush.

"Why didn't you just tell us that from the beginning?!"

She was taken aback by Pinkemena yelling in her face.

"Didn't feel like it," she muttered.

Shadow Flash was practically dancing in the air. "What are we waiting for?! Let's go blast them out of the sky for good!"

"No," Midnight said. "We're going to follow them; just to be sure that is where the rebellion is based,"

Shadow Flash rolled her eyes, drawing out a long, frustrated groan.

"Boring! Call me if something actually happens,"

Shadow flash took to the sky, most likely to take a nap in one of the clouds.

"Typical," Vanity muttered. "You'd think by now that Shadow Flash would actually be of some use,"

"Says the pony who only cares about shiny things," Batterfly shot back.

"I'll have you know that those shiny things are—"

"Enough!" Midnight shouted. "We will move now while they are weak and demoralised,"

"What about Shadow Flash?" asked Orangecrush

"We didn't need her before; we don't need her now,"

Midnight smirked, her teleportation engulfing the group. "This is going to be a piece of cake,"

The green flash filled the room and the five ponies disappeared, but not before Pinkamena had her say.

"I hate cake,"

The Pain Six reappeared in the middle of the deserted town, just in time to see the two Alicorns flying over them, seemingly headed for Sweet Apple Acres. Midnight smiled to herself, and they followed at a slow and steady pace.

The moment their hooves touched the ground, Celestia and Luna immediately whirled, scanning the area to make sure that they were alone. It had become second nature to them. Being part of the rebellion came with its paranoia and trust issues, especially since Changelings roamed free. Luna kept watch and Celestia backed up, knocking with a hind leg on the trapdoor of the apple cellar. It was a very specific knock: three times softly, three times loudly.

Tap, tap, tap. THUD, THUD, THUD.

Ever so slowly, the trapdoor cracked open, and Celestia caught a glimpse of two green eyes with slitted pupils, the unmistakeable eyes of Spike the dragon.

"Password?" he asked.

"Es vaetis Neriisa," –Friendship is magic.

They couldn't take chances with the Changelings around; they could imitate anypony, but since they were a different species, they didn't know Equish. It had been Luna's idea to use the Mother Tongue as a means of determining real pony from fake, and while the overall pronunciation wasn't the best, ("It is 'v-AIR-ti' not 'vay-et-iss'…Don't forget to roll your tongue around the 'R'") it was still a method that worked.

Spike was convinced. He threw open the trapdoor, motioning desperately for them to come in, and the Alicorns bolted into the Covert. It was closed behind them, and Spike lifted the beam into place that had served as a makeshift lock. A soft green glow lit the way down a long tunnel, from branches set carefully into the dirt and set alight with Spike's fire, a Lasting spell cast upon them to keep them burning. As they walked, Spike bombarded them with questions.

"What happened to the Wonderbolts? Did they make it out, too? Or are they trashing some of those armoured bees? Did you find anything? Has—?"

Luna shot him a glare, and the dragon took the hint and stopped asking questions.

"We'll fill you in soon, Spike," Celestia added. She knew he missed Twilight and wanted any indication that she was coming back. That made her feel even worse; it was she who had been forced to tell him about the corrupted Elements, and had comforted him when he cried for his surrogate mother. She had told him that she would bring them back no matter what.

But you can't, can you?

They found themselves in another underground area after ten minutes of walking. It was the meeting area for the Harmony Hunters, but also sufficed as a sleeping area, nests of hay and fabric arranged in lines. The area was directly beneath the Town Hall, and another barricaded trapdoor served as the secret entrance to the surface.

It took only a single recognition from one of the unicorns—

"They're back, everypony!"

—and they suddenly found themselves surrounded by ponies and being bombarded by questions. Luna held up a hoof, the typical gesture for 'one question at a time' and the crowd went silent. Celestia moved to one of the makeshift beds, slumping down on it and shaking off a pony who tried to tend to the cut on her shoulder. She let her younger sister handle the report herself.

Mayor Mare was first to ask a question. "How did it go?"

Luna opened her mouth, preparing to address the crowd, then abruptly closed it, nerves slightly shot at feeling all eyes on her.

"'Twas a difficult mission," she finally forced out, struggling to regulate the volume of her voice. "We...er— Celestia and I— were able to get into the castle and—"

"We failed, is what my sister is trying to say," Celestia spoke up bitterly, pushing herself to sit up The attention turned to her and Luna was somewhat thankful for it. "The Wonderbolts were captured, we barely escaped, and we now know that Robotnik is…" she trailed off, forced her emotions back. "Robotnik is torturing Discord. He's turning ponies into metallic slaves. We aren't any closer to figuring out how to overthrow the Robotnik-Changeling Empire,"

The Ponyvillians were silent, though some had let out a gasp of horror at the news of the Wonderbolts' capture, and some murmured softly among themselves.

"However," Luna continued, shooting a glare at Celestia. "A search has—"

"We know you're here! Show yourselves!"

Pinkemena's voice suddenly floated down, and Luna was cut off. Every pony in the Covert went silent, all eyes wide and worried.

"What's the matter cowards?! You chicken?! Come out and face us!"

Batterfly's cruel tone joined in duet.

"We ain't gonna hurt y'all!"

It was Orangecrush's voice, but one filly knew it as another. Beneath the oversized Stetson hat she wore over her usual bow, Applebloom's ears perked up at the familiar sound.

"Applejack?!"

She had been told, of course, of the drastic change her big sis and her friends had undertaken, that her sister wasn't her sister anymore, but the naiveté of youth walks hand in hand with stubbornness and denial, and Applebloom refused to believe a word.

She padded for the entrance. Spike managed to grab her around the waist, trying to restrain the squirming filly.

"Hey, lemme go! She's back! Ah wanna see 'er!"

"Applebloom, that's not her!"

"Is so!"

She bucked Spike hard in the stomach and as the dragon lay winded in the dirt, she galloped for makeshift stairs that lead into Town Hall. Before anyone else could stop her she was already outside rushing for the Pain Six, who were completely taken by surprise as the young filly ran straight up to the Element of Dishonesty and hugged her foreleg.

"Hi sis! Gee, you look funny! Did one'a Twilight's"—with her southern twang she pronounced it 'Twah-laht'—"spells backfahr again?"

Orangecrush looked down wordlessly at her.

"Ah found yer hat! Somepony dumped it in the trash but Ah took real good care of it! See?"

"Ah don't have no sister," Orangecrush replied coldly. She kicked out with her foreleg—as if flicking away a fly that had landed there—and Applebloom was thrown into the dirt.

She looked up at her with huge amber eyes. Faintly, she heard Granny Smith and Big Macintosh calling to her desperately to "git yer flank back inside raht now!"

"Applejack, Me an' Granny an' Big Mac miss ya. Y'know, yer family?"

Orangecrush lowered her head to Applebloom's level. "Don't have no friends, don't have no family, don't have no bratty sister. Don't want no dirty hat, neither,"

Applebloom's lower lip trembled, and the tears flowed. She turned to tread back to the Covert, but a sudden pull on her tail made her stop. She was dragged backwards and flipped upside-down, and the only thing she could see when she dared to look was a pair of black and white eyes.

A loud squeal suddenly split the air, and Midnight Ripple's voice rang out, so loud that even underground it sounded as if she was right next to them.

"This will be your first and final warning! Celestia! Luna! You will surrender yourselves to the Robotnik/Changeling Empire, or this child will be the first living subject to witness what it's like to burn alive from the inside!"

A collective gasp filled the room. Big Mac held Granny Smith back as she tried to fight her way to the trapdoor. There was a constant debate on what to do: risk exposing the Covert and try to fight? Remain incognito for the sake of one filly? No one knew how to fight the Elements of Disharmony; maybe it was for the best.

Celestia, through her numb shock, was appalled that somepony had even considered letting Applebloom die. Desperation did strange things to one's mind.

"They are bluffing," Luna said. "They have to be. Even they would not go so far as to harm a child, would they?"

The older Alicorn didn't reply. She couldn't. Even now she knew they were unpredictable.

Midnight's voice boomed down through the soil once more.

"You have ten seconds to decide!"

"Ten!"

Celestia began to panic as Midnight began the countdown. Too little time. Two very tough decisions.

"Nine!"

She knew she would never be able to live with herself if the filly died, and in such an awful way. Either choice demanded a sacrifice, and Celestia had decided—

"Eight!"

"Sister," Luna spoke up suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Do you still have them?"

"Seven!"

She stared at her younger sister incredulously. Surely she couldn't mean…

"Six!"

Celestia opened her left saddlebag, reaching in with a hoof and lifting out the two Chaos Emeralds. Aqua blue and mirror-silver, both glowing with a gentle pulse, they were beautiful, now that she looked at them closely.

When Harmony fails we must call upon Chaos.

"Five!"

With great reluctance, she held out a hoof, offering one of the gems which Luna took gratefully with her magic. This would be Celestia's sacrifice: one of blind faith.

"Four!"

They looked at each other, filled their lungs.

"Three!"

As a very confused group of ponies gathered, the two Alicorns suddenly shouted, in strangely accurate unison, with every fibre of their being, every emotion that had still been repressed, every ounce of desperation they had tried to hide.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

The air crackled with energy. Celestia felt on the verge of a panic attack, and they both jumped back as a portal appeared where the two emeralds where held. The entire room gaped dumbly and, with a deep breath, Celestia grabbed her sister's hoof.

Oh, please, don't make me regret this…

"Two!"

With a final glance, they backed up, gathering a galloping start before leaping straight at the swirling doorway. It swallowed them up and promptly disappeared before anypony could think to follow.

"One!"

The last coherent thought that went through Celestia's mind was how good it had felt just to yell like she really meant it.


Celestia no longer felt her sister's hoof in her own. She searched for Luna but everything whirled past at impossible speeds. It was unclear whether she was moving or the world was. It was unclear if time was passing slowly or quickly. She tried to scream but couldn't. Tried to keep her eyes open but hurricane winds stung and she was forced to close them. She couldn't think. Couldn't see or hear. Couldn't breathe. The feeling terrified her and yet a tiny voice urged her not to fight it. They had called upon Chaos. And Chaos had answered their cry. It was dragging them mercilessly up its ladder and if they wanted to see what lay at the top they would have to let it steer them.

The Mother of Harmony stopped resisting. Chaos led her, and she let it.

She just hoped in the name of the Divine Forces that it knew where it was going.


A/N: For the record, yes, Sonic will be in the next chapter. Sorry this took so long. I get paranoid about what we write for some reason but eh, what can you do?

Yeah, I would've replied individually to the reviews but not enough time for that. So just general thanks for the kind words this time and muffins for all.

Reviews and constructive criticism will be rewarded with muffins, chocolate milk, cotton candy and chilli dogs.

XO

Valley and Tyro