Hey guys! Tyro here! =)

Finally I get to talk to you guys, you've all been really patient with us so I'll make this quick; me and Valley are really really REALLY sorry this chapter has taken so long to come out, work and personal lives have been kick'n our asses for the last few months

(Valley: yes…personal lives and work…totally not procrastination, paranoia about characterisation and writer's block…)

but we hope that this chapter is worth the wait and I assure you that work on chapter 5 began during the final stage of this chapter.

But enough from me, lets continue our story on the planet Mobius….


Chapter Four: Call Upon Chaos:

"After a day like today, I could enjoy a nap on some fresh green grass."

Sonic the hedgehog had gotten his wish. Or, at least, half of it. He lay stretched out on the aforementioned grass, arms laced behind his head and a lazy half-smile on his mouth. He would have kicked off his shoes but, alas, nasty foot odour was one of the curses of being able to run at impossible speeds, though it was an effective tactic for annoying echidnas and warding off angst-ridden hedgehogs.

For now, nothing else mattered but the fresh air, the cool shade of the tree he was lying under, and that wonderful feeling that always came with saving Mobius. Again.

Of course, the moment of peace would only last so long before boredom set in and his feet developed that insatiable itch to run, but for now, Sonic was content to lie there and listen to Tails' recap of their latest adventure.

It had only been a few hours since he and his best friend had travelled to the Lost Hex and defeated not only his nemesis, Dr Eggman, but also a new group of rivals who called themselves the Deadly Six.

That was why he hadn't been able to nap; the two-tailed fox had been ranting excitedly to Amy and Knuckles for the last forty minutes.

Privately, the hedgehog was grateful that his best friend left out the part about his teeny little moment of recklessness that may or may not have had a part to play in causing the big bad sucky machine thing to overload in the first place, and Sonic's face-first encounters with hexagons of honeycomb because that just wasn't heroic. Not to mention a certain echidna would never let him live any of it down.

One major detail that Sonic kept to himself—and went to great efforts in trying to erase completely from his memory for the sake of his reputation—was when he'd nearly plunged into a pit of lava. Dr Eggman had saved his life, and Sonic was glad that no one else (or at least no one he knew) had witnessed it, but he very much wanted to forget it, thank you.

That kind of thing was not good for a hero's self-image, after all.

Things had progressed to the protagonists' advantage, and of course, they'd won.

Sonic wondered if, by now, his job was too easy.

"I can't believe that rotten Eggman!" Amy said. Sonic snapped out of his thoughts and snickered to himself at the unintended pun. "Trust him to betray you after you agree to help him!"

"I'm not surprised," Knuckles spoke up. "I could see something like that coming a mile away, especially if it's Eggman,"

Sonic chuckled and cracked an eye open slightly, the urge to make fun of his gullible companion proving too great a temptation to resist. "Just like all those times he suckered you?"

For added emphasis, he let out a melodramatic little sigh and pretended to wipe away a tear. "Fond memories, eh, Knucklehead?"

Knuckles growled something under his breath about Sonic's teeth becoming fond memories, but Sonic knew a bluff when he heard it.

His attention turned to Tails. Beside him, the kitsune had gone quiet, and Sonic could tell that he had something on his mind.

Now his eyes opened fully, Big Brother Mode engaged. Tails had his eyes glued to the skies, and Sonic could practically hear the gears turning in his best friend's head.

"What's up, Tails?"

"I was wondering about the Deadly Six. It's just occurred to me that we didn't really find out anything about them or their species in general. I hadn't even heard of the Zeti before today. What do you think happened after you beat them?"

Sonic found himself briefly wondering the same thing. Tails had a point and he understood his best friend's concerns, but in all honesty, Sonic didn't really care.

He had won. The Deadly Six had lost, and it had been so much fun mocking them.

He sat up and stretched. "Doesn't really matter what happened to 'em. They were bad news and needed to be shown why you don't mess with us,"

Tails' face brightened a little. If there was thing Sonic was good at other than running, it was giving motivational speakers a literal run for their money. The hedgehog knew the kit too well, though; Tails would continue to ponder the creatures' existence and origin long after the adventure was far behind them.

"So, what are you guys gonna do now?" Amy asked. She'd been gazing at Sonic longingly since they'd gotten back and the whole 'my hero!' theatrics were over—or rather, once Sonic had finally managed to pry her off him.

He mentally rolled his eyes and shrugged before reclining again, knowing that no matter what he said, Amy would insist on tagging along.

Sonic yawned. "Meh, I dunno. Probably gonna chill here for a while,"

Tails let out a content sigh. "Yeah sounds like a good idea. I mean, it's not like another adventure is just gunna pop out of nowhere so soon right?"

As if in answer, the air suddenly crackled with energy, and Sonic bolted upright, ears twitching with a familiar sound and sensation. A few metres behind them, a swirling portal appeared out of thin air.

Sonic got to his feet and turned, ready to greet Silver, who'd most likely come to warn him of an impending threat that would destroy the future…again.

Except that, last time he checked, Silver was a hedgehog, not two horned horses with wings.

Something they had been holding before disappeared into bags draped across their backs, and they were chattering to each other in a language that he couldn't understand, squinting and blinking in the early afternoon light as if they'd never seen the sun before. From their voices, it was obvious they were both female, and the state they were in was more than a little alarming. They were scarily thin, dirty, and bruised, and Sonic noted that the larger one had a long scratch on her shoulder, blood crusting in her short, dirty white fur.

He suddenly realised the utter irony of Tails' query and felt like tempting fate a second time.

"Chilli dogs with extra onions and cheese don't just pop out of nowhere, right?"

In a well-acted show of anticipation, his eyes darted around to see if his wish would be granted. Knuckles face-palmed, Amy giggled and Tails rolled his eyes behind a secret smile.

The hedgehog started forward, preparing a welcome speech, and that was when they both looked up.

They seemed to recognise him, though the white one looked horrified at the realisation. Her wings flared and her voice somehow managed a breathy shriek and ominous growl at the same time. "Riteti sequate?"

Sonic merely blinked at her, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're saying,"

"Yervae tismut a te bisemaas! Riteti sequate?! Riteti sequate?!"

The indigo one was trying to calm her, but she wrenched away, sights still locked on the hedgehog. Sonic readied himself as she scraped a hoof threateningly against the dirt, her horn glowing and aimed directly at his chest.

"Kielmut sovenet…yervamaas!"

A blast of energy shot toward him and he darted aside effortlessly. It slammed into the tree he had been relaxing under, turning it to charcoal and smoking splinters. The adrenaline flowed again and all four Mobians tensed, preparing for a fight.

It never happened. For a moment, she stared them down, panting and swaying as if the attempted attack had drained her, as her smaller companion switched between shouting something at her and saying something to the Mobians. Without warning, the taller one's eyes rolled up in their sockets and she collapsed. The smaller one cried out and knelt beside her, muttering frantically in that strange language, nudging her in an effort to wake her. Sonic edged toward them, wary and still clueless as to what was happening, but worried nonetheless. Finally she looked up at him, her expression desperate.

"Parvimi!"

She sounded panicked, either pleading with him for something, or blaming him for the other one's collapse.

"Parlesi! A telir, parvimi!"

She repeated that phrase, over and over again, her teal eyes igniting with tears and locked on his.

Sonic didn't know what to do. He looked to his three friends for guidance but they seemed as confused as he was, though Tails had bolted to retrieve his translator from the cockpit of his plane and was tinkering with it, trying to make some sense of the alien language. But from the frustrated frown creasing his features, it wasn't working.

"Tails! You getting any of this?"

"I'm trying, but the translator isn't recognising her language. I might be able to modify it but it'll take me a few hours,"

She lowered her head, the tears falling, and then before he knew what was happening, something unseen passed over them. Sonic would not have been able to explain it, but something in his mind tweaked, like someone jumpstarting a car, though the sensation wasn't painful or unpleasant in the slightest. The indigo horse was still speaking the same words through her sobs, apparently oblivious to what had just happened.

"Parlesi, a telir. Parvimi. Pa rl-lease, have mercy. Please help her,"

Several things happened at once.

Tails looked up, gaping, screwdriver still embedded in his machine. "Wait, wasn't she just…?" He looked from his translator to her, and back again. "Did I do that?"

Sonic whirled, practically dancing on the spot and there was a familiar enthusiastic glint in his eyes that made Tails sigh inwardly. "Save alien horse thingies first; ask questions later!"

She gasped and looked up at Sonic, realising that she could understand him and Tails. She gawked at him and he gawked back, then a wide grin split across his face and he went through the usual show of offering to help the despondent creature up, a ritual that his friends had seen a billion times before.

Tails and Knuckles exchanged glances, wondering why they had bothered to relish the peace in the first place; the hedgehog was practically an adventure magnet. Between the two, a silent message passed:

Here we go again.

"So, what should we do?" Amy asked. Since Sonic was all for this possibility of a new adventure then she was, too.

"She's obviously exhausted," Tails replied, going through a half-hearted show of looking her over without really needing to; it was obvious, to him at least, what was wrong with her. "Not to mention malnourished and dehydrated and that cut on her shoulder looks pretty bad. Let's get her back to my workshop,"

Luna shifted, cleared her throat and attempted to speak up. "Actually—"

"Do you think the Tornado can carry her?" Amy asked.

"It somehow manages to support the weight of Sonic's ego," Knuckles only gave the hedgehog a smug smile when a death glare was shot his way.

"Oh, real poetic, hotshot. And thanks for volunteering to carry her back,"

"If I may speak—"

"Do you know how far that is?! I can't carry her all the way back!"

As soon as the words left the echidna's mouth, he regretted it. Sonic grinned, in that wicked way Knuckles hated, and then the blue maniac pulled an overly-dramatic 'macho' pose, flexing non-existent biceps and doing an absolutely horrible impression of him. "Look at me everybody! I'm Knuckles! I have big flabby muscles with all the strength of a five year old!"

Amy doubled over laughing. Tails, however, couldn't decide whether the small fight that had started between Knuckles and Sonic was giving the newcomer the best impression of their species, but she finally got her chance to speak up.

"It has been a while since we have seen daylight," she said shyly. "My sister would fare better in the sun,"

Knuckles, having been able to pin down a cackling hedgehog for a good three seconds before being kicked into the dirt again, picked himself up and glowered at the Alicorn. "Why didn't you just say that to begin with?!"

"Er…I tried?"

"In that case," Sonic spoke up, the half-hearted fight now forgotten, "you guys stay here; I'll make a run for supplies."

Tails made sure Sonic was listening very carefully as he listed the things he needed.

"Blankets, water, first aid kit, food— Apples," he added quickly, practically reading the word 'chilli dog' in the hedgehog's eyes. That would not have gone well. Then again, it was impossible to tell whether the stuff in chilli dogs even counted as real meat. "Or whatever you can find in my cupboard that doesn't have meat in it."

He spoke the word 'meat' in a hissed whisper, a little paranoid about how the Equines would have treated them should they find out that they were omnivores.

"What about that slab of chocolate cake—?"

The kitsune shot Sonic a look that told him exactly what he'd do to him if he even touched the last piece of his beloved cake and the hedgehog snickered, hands held up in surrender.

"Okay, okay, no cake."

"So, you got all that?"

"Yup; back in—oh you know already." He shot off over the hills and was out of sight within a few seconds. The mare watched him go, her eyes widening.

"Starswirl was right..."

Tails frequently wondered if he would ever eventually kick the habit of timing Sonic whenever the hedgehog bolted off to get something. Then again, being scientifically minded and best friends with someone who laughed in the faces of gravity and physics, little habits like that were nearly impossible to avoid.

So it was, according to Tails, one minute and twenty-one seconds later, give or take a few milliseconds, when Sonic came back wearing a backpack. That was a little slow for him (not that Tails would mention the dreaded 's' word with Knuckles around), but Tails knew for a fact that his workshop was—

"—a complete mess!"

The kitsune came out of his thoughts, going for the first aid kit as Sonic unpacked it and grinning up at his surrogate brother. "I know."

"I almost couldn't find anything."

Tails didn't answer. With that tone of voice, as if it was a crime that his workshop was apparently messy, Sonic was positively begging to be patronised. Besides, the kit preferred to think of it as organised chaos, and compared to Sonic's place, his workshop was a breath of fresh air. Literally and metaphorically.

However, he had things more important to take care of than making fun of his brother's cesspool of an abode, and at that moment, he was grateful to Rouge for teaching him proper first aid. He worked quickly, checking the unconscious mare's vital signs—both breathing and pulse were a little erratic, but regulating quickly, and he could've sworn that her mane and tail were becoming a little brighter. He disinfected the cut on her shoulder and dressed it, thankful that it didn't need stitches, because he wasn't that educated yet and frankly the concept made him a little squeamish. Finally he sat back and admired his work.

"She'll be fine; she just needs to rest for now," Tails said, packing away the first aid kit.

Luna gave him a grateful nod, happily munching away on an apple from the messy pile Sonic had upturned from the backpack. "Thank you,"

An awkward silence passed between her and the Mobians. Each side had never seen each other and Tails knew firsthand that it was not easy to make small talk with interdimensional beings, but eventually Sonic managed to break the ice. Out of impatience, Tails guessed. By the way the hedgehog's foot was starting to twitch; it wasn't hard to figure out.

"So are you waiting for us to ask what's going on?" Sonic said. "Or are we waiting for a fire breathing donkey to show up next?"

The mare frowned briefly, trying to picture the bizarre concept of a dragon/donkey hybrid, but quickly realised it must have been some kind of bizarre figure of speech used in this world.

"My apologies…this is just all so strange—" she cut off, catching herself as she realised she was about to start stuttering like an idiot. Dethroned or not, she was royalty, and had to set an example in absence of her much more charismatic sister, so she cleared her throat and attempted to imitate the older Alicorn, holding her posture tall and sturdy.

"My name is Luna. This is my sister, Celestia. We are—were—the princesses of Equestria,"

Knuckles, Sonic and Tails exchanged glances, but a starry-eyed Amy gasped and clasped her hands together, as if someone had just dropped her smack in the middle of every girl's fantasy. "Omigosh, pony princesses!"

The three males in the group rolled their eyes.

"What do you mean 'were'?" Tails added. Despite the girlishness of it all, he was leaning forward, bright-eyed, with his chin in his hands and both tails wagging in anticipation to know more.

"About three months ago, two tyrants corrupted our strongest line of defence, and have plundered our world in complete chaos. They are capturing and enslaving our citizens. They have turned our allies against us, forcing us to fight our friends. My sister and I are part of the rebellion, but…we are losing. Our strongest rebels are few, captured, wounded, dying or even dead,"

"Then what are you doing here?" Sonic asked. "Doesn't sound very princess-y to run away and leave your kingdom behind,"

Luna fixed him with a steely, teal stare. "We are not running away," she shot back tersely. "Our—my intention—was to seek you,"

"Me? Why me?"

"Starswirl the Bearded—one of the greatest unicorns in our history—left us a journal detailing his last adventure before he retired. In it, he told of the new world he accidently found, and of the blue creature he met briefly—I understand your name is Sonic?"

Sonic frowned a little, but nodded. "How'd you know that?"

Luna giggled. "Your friend Knuckles mentioned it before when he insulted your ego,"

She was finally relaxing, finding it increasingly easier to speak to them despite her social awkwardness.

"Starswirl was eager to learn more about you after seeing your…powers…but in doing so, he was greatly distressed by a recurring dream with a repeating message: 'When Harmony fails, we must call upon Chaos'. As Princess of the Night, it is my duty to understand the meaning of dreams. I can tell you in confidence that the dreams he had foretold our downfall, and our only chance would be to go against our alignment should this vision come to pass. The only ally we have who could assist us in this way is in chains, but an incantation has allowed us to call upon Chaos, and somehow it has led us here,"

Luna retrieved the journal from her saddlebag with her magic and set it down gently in front of her as if offering tribute to a deity. "Everything Starswirl has seen of your world is in here. You are welcome to look through it, if you wish,"

Tails immediately pounced on it, his curiosity brimming, and as the others gathered around him to have a look, he opened it to the first page. Silently, Sonic hoped for one of those cryptic, ancient prophecies that referred to him as The Chosen One or something.

He took one look at the page—and promptly buried his face in his hands.

"AWWWWWW!"

"Gee, Sonic, I never realised how cute you used to be,"

Sonic shot Tails a warning look that threatened the life of that last piece of chocolate cake the kid was oh-so-protective of. "First of all, Tails, you're still adorable—

"Am not!"

especially when you pout like that. And second—stop laughing, Knuckles!"

Of course, what Luna had failed to mention were the rough, but very detailed sketches of baby Sonic on the first page: curled up and peeking out; sitting with his head and one ear cocked to the side; and finally one of him standing. In all three pictures, his eyes were huge and owlish, and the trademark sneakers he had eventually grown into looked like clown shoes.

Like the teenager he was—therefore being only slightly overdramatic regarding anything embarrassing in his childhood—Sonic felt a sudden urge to run to the other side of the planet and stay there for as long as it took them to forget about it. Not that he could with an infatuated Amy leaning on his head, still squealing like she had found a box of kittens.

And now Tails was reading aloud what this Starswirl guy-pony-whatever had written despite the fact that Sonic had almost turned purple from embarrassment.

"—'pudgy little ball of blue fur'—"

"AWWWWWWW!"

"That was baby fat!"

"—'tripped and fell flat on its face with a yelp''"

"Tails…stop…please…gonna die of…laughter…"

"It's not that funny, Knuckles! And jeez, Amy could you squee any louder? I don't think I'm deaf in both ears yet,"

"But you were sooooooo—"

"Yes, I know I used to be fluffy,"

"And uncoordinated," Tails added with a smirk. "I would've loved to see your first try on the shuttle loop,"

The kit was enjoying this way too much. There was no way that Sonic would tell him—or Knuckles and Amy for that matter— that his first time on the shuttle loop had involved mostly him falling on his head, lots of bruises, grazes, and just as many tears.

There was a simple solution, of course. In one fluid motion, a sly hand darted out and flipped over a sizeable chunk of the journal's pages, and when Tails looked back, Sonic was grinning at him innocently.

The fox rolled his eyes and moved on.

If 'moving on' meant beginning a lecture on what Tails now affectionately called 'Starswirl's Chaos Theory'.

Sonic found himself tuning out, trying to remember the days of his early childhood, before he met Tails or Dr Eggman, before he became a self-proclaimed hero, but he couldn't remember much, besides a lot of falling over and tripping over his own feet.

That had been fun, Sonic mused sulkily. But what do you expect when the shoes you have are fifty times too big for your feet?

Still leaning on Sonic's head, her elbows digging into his skull, Amy sighed dreamily.

"Sonic, just think: one day our children will be as adorable as you were,"

A very awkward silence followed, and once again, Luna was treated to a show of Sonic's impossible speed as the hedgehog practically teleported himself to the other side of the gathering.

Celestia stirred with a small groan, and Luna seemed to forget the Mobians existed. She gave her sister encouraging nudges and muttered to her softly, until the older mare finally opened her eyes, squinting again in the harsh sunlight.

Along with the apples, Sonic had brought bottled water. Luna grasped one with her magic, twisted off the cap and offered it to her sister, but Celestia shook her head.

"I don't need it. But that thing followed us and—" She cut off, eyes widening and her posture tensing as she caught sight of Sonic again. "Luna—"

Sensing a repeat of the incident before, the younger Alicorn quickly flared a wing between them. "Calm yourself, sister," she urged. "And look closer,"

Slowly, cautiously, Luna lowered her wing, continuing her excited babble as the older Alicorn tried to focus.

"We made it, Tia. We found Starswirl's world. These are the creatures he saw in his vision. And this is the hero he met,"

Celestia was still hazy, but with the sun warming her back, her mind finally cleared. She looked at the blue…thing standing in front of her. Or rather, looked down at it.

Sonic got to his feet and started forward, smiling warmly, but the older Alicorn flinched away, ears flattening, and turned on Luna.

"This is it?"

The Mobians gaped. The smile dropped off Sonic's face.

Luna stretched out a wing and laid it across Celestia's shoulder. "I know he's not exactly what Starswirl described, but—"

Celestia shrugged off her sister's wing, magenta eyes blazing. "We travelled Goddess knows how far for this…this thing!"

That little demon called Impatience was starting to possess Sonic's foot again. "Hey, I'm right here,"

"I've seen his abilities. He—"

"Your new pet and his little friends would not stand a chance! I took your risk, and in doing so, I have forsaken my subjects and am responsible for the death of an innocent filly! Starswirl was wrong. Whatever deity he saw in his vision is clearly not here. This was reckless and…it was all for nothing…"

The older Alicorn tried to say more but couldn't. Tears filled her eyes as she was brutally reminded of what—and who— they had left behind, and that overwhelming helplessness gripped her again.

"I'm still right here," Sonic said, louder. One foot now hammered an impossible rhythm against the grass, and he was wondering irritably if he had gained the ability to turn invisible.

"We did not abandon anypony," Luna replied, teal eyes narrowing. "And we do not know for certain if the filly is dead. I know you are tired, but at—"

"You're darn right I'm tired!" Celestia shrieked. "I'm tired of watching our kingdom suffer, tired of all the chaos and I'm especially tired of you not trusting me!"

"I have done nothing but trust you this entire time and it has gotten us nowhere!" Luna yelled. Up until now, she had managed to control her temper, but her older sister's lack of manners, stubbornness and paranoia was more than she could take. "I will not hide any longer, sister! We have gotten this far and you are not even willing to give this a chance because you are still drowning in self-pity!"

"And yet you insist on placing the fate of our land in the hands of a blue rat!"

"Oh, it is so typical of you to blame me for your own faults!"

Before Celestia could get another word in, Sonic promptly un-gloved one hand, stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled: one long, shrill note. The Alicorn sisters immediately stopped bickering. Tails yelped, clamping both hands over his ears and glaring cerulean venom at his big brother, both brushes fluffed out and quivering. Sonic made a mental note to apologise later, maybe, or decide if that was payback for the ridicule before. Luna had backed off and turned away, still fuming, but Celestia continued to eye him warily.

Replacing his glove, Sonic addressed the older Alicorn directly. "Let's make two things clear. First, I dunno the whole story of what's going on, but from what Luna told us, I know where you're coming from. Someone has stomped onto your turf and thinks they own the place—your world has to revolve around them and anyone who has a problem with it is 'taken care of', right?"

Celestia sniffled and wiped her nose with a hoof inelegantly. "How would you know of such a feeling?"

"I've been fighting for freedom for as long as I can remember," Sonic said casually, as if Celestia had asked him where he had gotten his gloves rather than how he could possibly know what it was like to live under a tyrant's thumb. "It's a war I still fight today. For all I know it'll never end, but one thing I've learned over all these years: you can't fight alone—and that's why we're gonna help you,"

"You will?" Both Alicorns spoke at the same time, though their tones differed: Celestia still had doubts and many questions left unanswered. The younger Alicorn, however, was positively beaming, and when Celestia looked over and saw her sister's elated expression, she allowed herself a small smile.

The last time she had seen Luna that happy was when they were fillies.

Simultaneously, Sonic's friends raised the same question, expressing surprise and enthusiasm at being dragged into the affairs of another world. "We will?"

Sonic merely nodded.

The older Alicorn raised an eyebrow, realising she had no other choice but to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Suppose you succeed…how would this benefit you?"

He shrugged. "New friends, hopefully,"

"And this…second thing?" Celestia asked.

"I'm not a rat. I'm Sonic—Sonic the hedgehog,"

"Hedgehog?" Luna mused. "I would not have guessed that,"

With a sigh, Celestia gave in. "Well met, Sonic the hedgehog,"

And Goddess help you if you dare betray us, she added silently. Sonic seemed sincere enough to convince her that this wasn't some sort of a façade masking ominous intentions, but another certain creature of Chaos was also very persuasive.

"Oh and these are my friends: Knuckles, Tails, and Amy," Sonic continued, gesturing to each of them in turn.

Knuckles gave a wordless nod, privately annoyed—he could introduce himself, thank you very much.

"It's nice to meet you," Tails said, a lot more relaxed around Celestia now that she wasn't going to murder them. "Welcome to Mobius,"

"Sonic won't say it out loud, but I'm his girlfriend," Amy whispered, starry-eyed, to Luna. The night mother smiled politely, but in all honesty had been wondering just how mentally stable the pink hedgehog actually was.

Celestia had barely heard them. She was eyeing the pile of apples stacked up near Sonic's foot, and the hedgehog let out a light laugh when he noticed her salivating at the sight of them.

"Help yourself. 'S not like they're poisoned or anything,"

Luna was already proving his point, already on her third helping, and Celestia dove in, hunger overcoming the need for manners and etiquette. With the Apple family's orchard barren and withered, and rations limited to whatever they had been able to scavenge from the garbage piles, the first bite was sheer bliss.

"Cool it, Princess," Sonic snickered. "No one is gonna take that apple away from you,"

"I'm sorry; I have not eaten anything this fresh for months. And there is no need for formalities. Please call me Celestia,"

"So while you two have a moment to recharge," Knuckles spoke up, "maybe you could finally fill us in on who we're up against?"

Luna cast a look at her sister, her mouth full, and Celestia took that as a sign that perhaps it was her turn to give some explanations. She swallowed her own mouthful of apple and gave a single nod.

"Of course. Queen Chrysalis is the ruler of the changelings; a race of shape-shifters who feed off strong emotions. She is an ancient enemy of mine, banished long ago for use of dark magic and we usually have no trouble defeating her and her hive…but this time it's different. Our six protectors, our Elements of Harmony, are corrupted—by her doing, I believe—and I am unable, and unwilling to fight them. They, her changelings and her comrade seems to be winning this war for her. This…creature is one I've never seen before, said to exist only in myth. It—he—fights with an army of living steel, and—"

Something in Celestia mind clicked and she stopped herself.

"Oh…I believe I owe you an apology for my actions earlier. You must understand that I was not in my right mind and I mistook you for the Metalsonic. My attempted attack and…" she paused to clear her throat, an embarrassed flush creeping into her cheeks. "…Unsavoury language was uncalled for. Please forgive me,"

Not one to hold a grudge against misunderstandings, the hedgehog shrugged, "Everyone reacts to pressure differently; some meditate and some…apparently fire magic death beams at hedgehogs,"

Celestia couldn't help another smile, even if his sense of humour was, to her, a little odd. "I'm forgiven, then?"

"Hey, it's cool—" Sonic did a double take as her previous words struck a very sustained chord in his mind, "—wait, did you say Metal Sonic?!"

Celestia nodded. "Yes. One of the creature's minions. Perhaps it was the Mechasonic, I honestly can't tell them apart. But…"

She flexed her shoulder, only now noticing the dressing there, and when it clicked in Sonic's mind his mouth dropped open.

"You fought him?!"

"Well, not exactly. My reckless sister, though, would have gotten herself killed—"

The night mother suddenly became very interested in the grass when Celestia shot a scowl her way.

"—had we not escaped through teleportation. I did not know anything could move so fast and—do you know of this creature?"

The four Mobians exchanged glances, and Celestia and Luna braced themselves for a story about as tragic as their own.

All four of them abruptly burst into fits of laughter.

"I do not see which part of that was supposed to be humorous," said Luna, rather agitated.

"I'm...I'm sorry...it's just…you got us all worked up!" Sonic said, still laughing.

"I nearly wet myself I was so worried!" Amy burst out.

Knuckles wiped a tear from his eye. "For a minute there, I thought we almost had something to worry about!"

"Yeah!" Tails laughed. "Why didn't you just tell us we were dealing with Eggman?"

Celestia frowned at him. "You must be mistaken. The tyrant who has brought misery to our world introduced himself as Doctor Robotnik,"

"Yeah, he does that sometimes," Sonic said, smirking. "'S just another name he goes by. And I got plenty more names for him, too…"

"But why would he start going by Robotnik again?" Tails asked. "He hasn't used his family name since the early days of the Freedom Fighters,"

Knuckles snorted. "Who cares?! Against us he's harmless!"

"He has turned two members of my family into mechanical slaves," Celestia said icily, and you could practically see the mood darken. Sonic went silent, frowning, and Celestia saw something flash briefly in the hedgehog's expression…something like sympathy.

Amy gasped, one hand over her mouth and her eyes widening. "I didn't even know he was capable of something like that!"

"He used to be," Sonic said. "Remember, Tails?"

The fox tried to repress a shudder. "Unfortunately. But…it doesn't make sense: he hasn't used the Roboticizer in years and—wait. He has seemed a little…different lately,"

The hedgehog nodded, pondering. 'Lately' had in fact been 'recently'—several hours ago, even. Threatening to strangle a living being with his own two hands and the violent outburst before that was out-of-character, even for Eggman.

"You mean, like before?" Sonic said finally.

Tails thought for a moment, then fluffed up again, trembling, his big blue eyes wider than Amy's. "Uh-huh. What if he's slipping back into his old self? Y'know…back when he was scary?"

"Maybe," Sonic muttered. "He's gone back to the name Robotnik and he's roboticizing? This sounds to me like a little more than just old habits die hard. Although come to think of it," he added, catching sight of the scared state his surrogate brother was in, "he is pretty moody anyway. It's probably nothing to worry about."

"Either way, we gotta stop him!" Knuckles exclaimed. "If he's already on the way to conquering one world it won't be too long before he sets his sights on Mobius…again,"

"It's decided then," Sonic announced. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! You can count on us to help crack that Eggman and squash that Chrysalis!"

The rest of the team murmured in agreement.

Luna reared back, pawing the air happily and unable to contain herself. "I knew coming here would help us!"

Celestia didn't answer; only looked on at the four creatures standing before her. Even though they were shorter than her, they seemed to trump her in confidence.

"Why would you risk your lives for a world you have never been to before?" She asked.

Sonic winked, whatever it was before that was apparently troubling him now completely forgotten. "That's what Freedom Fighters do,"

"And you're certain that you can help us defeat Doctor Robotnik?"

"Your highness," Sonic said with a small chuckle, again ignoring Celestia's suggestion to use the first name basis. "For you, defeating Eggman will be a day your kind will celebrate and remember for as long as your planet spins. For us…" he paused theatrically, grinning and jerking a thumb over his shoulder at his friends "…It's just another weekday,"

"So how did you two get to our world anyway?" Knuckles asked after a moment. "By magic?"

His tone was half-playful, half mocking, but Luna nodded at him, fully serious.

"Of course," she said. "The spell that I mentioned earlier is the very same one that Starswirl spoke of in his journal. I assume you would be familiar with these reagents?"

She and Celestia pulled the two gems magically from their saddlebags and the four Mobians gasped.

"Chaos Emeralds?!"

Tails jumped to grab one of them from Celestia's magical hold. "Where did you get these?"

Celestia smiled at him guiltily. "We…er…borrowed them from Robotnik,"

Sonic chuckled. "I'm impressed,"

He looked up at the other emerald and Luna dropped it into his hands. "There's only three hedgehogs I know that could pull off Chaos Control and you're looking at one of them,"

"You and two others are capable of using magic?" Celestia enquired. "How?"

A strange image of a certain black hedgehog in a wizard's outfit, flailing his arms around and intoning "Chaoticus Blastus!" decided to pop into Sonic's mind and he had to try very hard to stifle a giggle.

"Er…I have no idea, actually,"

A frazzled Tails decided to speak up with a scoffing laugh, and Sonic could practically see the outrage rolling off the scientifically-minded kit in waves.

"Chaos energy isn't magic. It's a type of versatile, thermo-nuclear energy utilized through—mmph!'

His rant was cut short as Sonic clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Not the best time for that, professor,"

Tails muffled something inaudible, pouting and retreating into a sulk once Sonic took his hand away. The hedgehog merely gave a weak grin at the sight of the Alicorns' confused expressions.

"Scientists," he said with a casual shrug. "Can't live with 'em; can't live without 'em,"

He ruffled Tails' headfur to emphasise his last point, and although the fox gave his surrogate brother another scowl, there was also the giveaway twitch of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Sonic finished his tenth apple, added the core to the small pile beside him, then stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm ready to head off whenever you guys are,"

"That," Knuckles muttered to Luna, "is Sonic one step away from starting the 'I'm Waiting' song."

"I heard that!"

Sensing another approaching fight, and having had something turning in his mind for a little while now, Tails cleared his throat loudly.

"I don't think all of us should go at the same time," he said, and every gaze promptly turned on him.

"Think about it: it's Eggman— Robotnik—whatever. We know what we're getting into with him, obviously, but we're going to a different world and there's apparently a few baddies we've never encountered before. I'm just worried that if something happens to us, we won't have a chance of a rescue,"

"Good point," Sonic agreed as he held his hand to his chin "Okay, how about this: me and Tails will go to—what's it called again?"

"Equestria,"

"—Equestria with Celestia and Luna. Amy and Knuckles, round up everyone you can, the Chaotix, Team Dark, maybe even Blaze and Silver if you can get Shadow to help with the time/dimension hopping,"

"Getting Shadow on board will be easier said than done, Sonic," Tails said. Judging from the look of distaste on Knuckles' face, the echidna wasn't exactly enthusiastic about having to talk to the black hedgehog in the first place.

"Knuckles, if you can get Rouge on board then Shadow will be too. Tell everyone you can find to meet back here in three days, and if me and Tails need a hand, we'll send someone back to pick you up. Oh, and don't mention to Shadow that we're helping ponies," he added, a smirk on his mouth and a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I wanna see the look on his face when he sees it for himself,"

Knuckles shrugged. "Your funeral,"

In any other circumstances, the echidna would have also raised the issue of having to leave behind his island and his sacred duty, but the Master Emerald was hidden and hidden well. With Eggman and (hopefully) Rouge going to another world, he had nothing to debate for the time being.

"So you two will really just go to a new world all on your own?" Amy asked.

"If we're lucky it might only need to be the two of us," Sonic said, "but you guys gotta be ready in case we need back up,"

"Right!" Knuckles and Amy said in unison, and with that, they both rushed to collect their comrades.

Sonic said Tails watched them leave, and then faced the two Alicorns. "Okay your highnesses," Sonic said. "Show us how a pony does Chaos Control!"

"Three!"

Midnight eyed the town hall, still waiting for Celestia and Luna to surrender themselves. Part of her wanted them to, since that was what her Queen had asked of her to begin with, but on the other hoof, she had a living, breathing target for her newest spell right in front of her. As she reached the remaining seconds of the countdown, she considered that, whatever the outcome, perhaps she'd just burn the brat anyway.

"Two!"

Nothing.

"One!"

She waited just a little longer, for some kind of last second heroics, but the town stayed silent.

Midnight grinned, and focussed the spell through the levitation aura that surrounded the struggling filly. In a way, this was another experiment: a double casting. It would take a great deal longer for it to have any effect, but with the Alicorns' absence, well, she had plenty of time to observe.

As the spell slowly worked away at Applebloom, Midnight took a moment to twist the knife in further. "I speak now to any remaining citizens in this town! Celestia and Luna have chosen to sacrifice a filly's life today rather than turn themselves in for their crimes. For those who are part of the pointless rebellion against our Queen, I urge you to consider what this act of selfishness says about your precious princesses,"

Still no signs of life, until a few stray ponies peered out of the Town Hall's windows, too scared to intervene, but too curious to look away.

The heat from Midnight's magic got stronger, gradually progressing from uncomfortable to unbearable. Still sobbing in fear, Applebloom sent up a whispered prayer to the sky, now certain that her 'sister' wasn't going to be the one to answer.

"Somepony…anypony…help us…"

Like a divine intervention, the air exploded with energy. Startled, Midnight lost her focus and the fire growing inside Applebloom died as easily as blowing out a candle's flame. A vortex appeared in front of the five ponies and all but Midnight covered their eyes. The corrupted Alicorn simply watched, confused and curious.

Applebloom smiled through her tears, not even knowing what was about to come out of the portal, but not caring since her stomach didn't feel so funny and hot anymore.

Celestia and Luna leapt from the portal's depths, landing lightly with fanned wings. Secretly, Celestia was thankful that what her new friends said about space and time manipulation was true. The portal didn't close behind them.

Midnight frowned. Since she had last seen them, they'd been weak and on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, Celestia especially. How did they regain their strength so soon? The only explanation was that she had spent some time in the sun, but the everlasting night had continued as usual.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Applebloom exclaimed.

From the safety of the Covert, Big Mac and Granny Smith let out a relieved sigh at the sound of the Alicorns' names. Maybe they would negotiate surrender?

Midnight shook away her confusion, remembering who she was and what she was there for. Once more, she gave them that smug and egotistical smirk.

"Nice entrance," she said sarcastically. "Very dramatic. Do you wish to negotiate the release of this filly for your immediate surrender?"

Celestia held her head high. "No,"

Midnight looked slightly taken aback by that, Granny Smith was straight up shocked, and Orangecrush raised an eyebrow as if to say, "This just got interesting,"

"I don't think you realise the situation," Midnight said. "You're outnumbered five to two and you don't have the strength to fight! We know every trick you two could pull!"

"You're right," Celestia said, and then smiled, "but what about our new friends?"

The portal flashed, and the Alicorns stepped aside as Sonic and Tails joined them.

Neither side knew what to make of each other, but Sonic broke the silence as he nudged Luna.

"Am I missing something here?"

"Remember our corrupted protectors my sister spoke of?"

"Oh?"

Luna tilted her head in their direction.

"Oh," Sonic redirected his attention to the five mares. Their apparent trance broke and they looked down on him and Tails and laughed.

"This is your trump card?" Midnight giggled.

Batterfly circled them like a buzzard, sneering. "They look weak!"

"They look pathetic!" Pinkemena added.

"They look atrocious!" Vanity spoke up, and her tone was one of disgust. "Honestly, red and white clash with blue as it is! But gold buckles? Or perhaps gold-painted, because it's highly unlikely that's real gold. What were you thinking when you put those horrendous things on your feet!?"

Both sides threw confused glances in her direction.

Sonic shrugged, glancing down at his feet and scuffing the toe of one sneaker against the ground. "I dunno…they looked cool?"

Vanity looked at the creature's footwear as if they had just insulted her family name. "…You thought they—oh, puh-lease tell me you're not serious,"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sonic said sarcastically. "I didn't think we'd be fighting the fashion police!"

Vanity muttered something inaudible, her left eye twitching.

Orangecrush spoke up with a prideful snort, scraping a hoof against the dirt and grinning wickedly. "Ah know all this thing's tricks. Ah can take 'im,"

Midnight sighed, irritated that her focus had been broken and her new favourite spell had failed. "Well, go get it, then." She said dismissively.

"Don't worry, Sugarcube," Orangecrush sneered. "Ah'll be gentle."

She broke into a gallop, but Sonic didn't even twitch, merely watching with something bordering on amusement as the pony closed the distance quickly.

Then, a flash of movement; a collision of cobalt and dark teal. Fast as a magic trick, the corrupted mare was sent sprawling with the clear imprint of a sneaker on her cheek and Sonic was standing, unscathed, where she had been just a heartbeat ago. Anticipation sparked in his eyes as he smirked at his opponent.

To say the onlookers were shocked and in awe would have been an understatement.

With a growl, Orangecrush picked herself up, rubbing a hoof over her cheek. "That…ow…that didn't hurt."

Pinkemena found her voice first. "What…what just happened?"

"That creature just signed its death warrant," Midnight said with a grin. "Get them!"

She launched Applebloom high into the air and charged along with her comrades. The filly was no longer her priority, but if these creatures were distracted by the fight maybe the fall would break the filly's neck.

Sonic's eyes flicked in Applebloom's direction. "Tails—!"

"On it!"

Celestia and Luna gaped as the fox's tails spun rapidly and he took flight, swooping to catch Applebloom as easily as a Pegasus. "Don't worry, I gotcha!"

"You got me?!" Applebloom asked, trying to figure out what exactly was keeping him airborne. "Who's got you!?"

"Long story, I'll explain later," Tails said. He hoisted her onto his back, maintaining his altitude over the fight as to keep the filly safe.

By now, ponies began to emerge from the Town Hall, their curiosity piqued, but Luna and Celestia kept them back with fanned wings, concerned for their safety should the ponies decide to set their sights on civilians.

Sonic drove headlong towards the charging ponies, dodging and side-stepping stomps and body slams. Not even breaking stride, he curled and shot straight towards Vanity. She just managed to dodge the living projectile.

He closed in on Midnight Ripple quickly, but the Alicorn spread her wings and with a mighty flap launched herself into the air. He shot past and uncurled. He'd missed, but only just.

"Okay, so you saw me coming…but I bet you can't dodge this!"

Sonic curled up again, this time spinning in place, a buzzsaw's whine filling the air and becoming louder the faster he spun.

Celestia couldn't help but flinch; though her trust in him was growing, the sound and even the action reminded her too much of the silver minion that had pursued them in the hall. Then it hit her: the three minions Robotnik cherished so much had been created with Sonic as the inspiration behind them. No wonder they were so powerful.

"What in Equestria is it doing now?" Orangecrush asked as she re-joined the group.

"We won't get a chance to find out," Midnight said. as she began to charge a spell in her horn.

Sonic shot forward and slammed into her so fast that Midnight didn't even have a chance to release her spell. She fell back and Sonic bounced off her, remembering at the last second to keep his sharp quills tight against his back as he rebounded off the remaining ponies.

From the Town Hall, the Alicorns continued to watch, the murmurs of the crowd behind them growing in volume.

Luna was beaming, but Celestia was still in a state of stunned confusion at what she was seeing. The younger Alicorn saw the frown on her face and nudged her sister gently, still grinning.

"Celestia? What is the matter? Rejoice! We're winning!"

She didn't take her eyes off the five ponies. They were still picking themselves up while Sonic alternated between running in place and stretching. The whole situation seemed…surreal, somehow, as if it was all a dream and at any moment she would wake once more into the nightmare that really existed. Too much of a coincidence, she had thought back in the Athenaeum, and it was. This was far too good of thing to actually be happening. Where was the catch?

"For months we've been trying to end this war," she said finally. "For months we've tried to find a way to return the elements of harmony, to return Twilight and her friends to us, and even when it seemed that the only option we had was fight them we couldn't even do that…but now—we have tried to fight the pain six and failed, but this hedgehog from for all we know a completely different plain of existence has overcome them in under a minute...have my eyes deceived me, Luna? Have I truly gone mad?"

"I cannot say I would not be surprised," Luna said. Celestia cast her sister a look, not expecting her brutal honesty. "But I admit that even I did not know exactly what would happen. You had reason to call me reckless, Tia. Perhaps we are both insane,"

"It was apparently insane enough to work, sister," Celestia said with a smile. "And I'm sorry for doubting you,"

She gave her little sister an affectionate nuzzle and Luna returned it. Finally, it seemed, Celestia's faith in herself was returning and the night mother was relieved. All that pessimism before just wasn't like her at all.

Sonic was practically dancing around the fallen Pain Six, grinning like a lunatic and not even slightly worn out. "C'mon my little ponies! Who's ready for round two?"

Slowly, shakily, they staggered to their hooves, battered, disorientated, and fuming.

"I've got no clue what that thing is," Pinkemena grumped, "but I wanna wipe that smug smirk off its face permanently!" Her lip was bleeding, but, unfazed, she let it drip down her face.

Orangecrush scraped her hoof against the ground again, though she was swaying dizzily. "Gimme another shot! Ah can take him!"

Batterfly snickered, hovering uncomfortably close to Orangecrush's face. "Just like when he sucker-kicked you in your ugly snout?"

"That was luck," Orangecrush gritted out. "Nothin' more,"

"What do you think of our friends now?" Luna couldn't help the outburst. Sonic's assertiveness was infectious, and to be fair, the younger Alicorn had been aching to join the fight herself, though Celestia held her back protectively.

Midnight didn't dignify her with an answer. As Sonic continued to tease them, making smart comments and daring to get within kicking range, then side-stepping them easily with a burst of laughter when they tried to come at him again, her lifeless eyes followed him, laser-focussed, as if she was assessing his lithe movements. There appeared to be something on her mind. Finally, the corrupted Alicorn grinned at Celestia, and Celestia didn't like the expression on her face at all.

Then, with a green flash, Midnight vanished.


A/N (By Valley!): Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN! Heh, hope this has been worth the wait, guys and, yeah, sorry again. Probably not the best idea to write each chapter separately and then upload it…

You have no idea how paranoid I really am about characterising the Mobians and if anyone seems OOC, feel free to tell me. I tried, really, and I did a hell of a lot of research. Tyro tells me I got it right (apparently) but I still get paranoid anyway.

Reviews and constructive criticism will be rewarded with muffins and chocolate milk and chili dogs!

XO

Valley-and-Tyro