FAE 12

The CMC were in their guest apartment in the crystal empires castle.

"Ahh. I could get used to this." Scootaloo said, lying down flat on one of the four beds in the room.

"I agree with you there, Scoots. Having a friend whose boyfriend is one of the King's sons has its advantages." Diamond said.

"HEY!" Sweetie belle said, blushing profusely. The others laughed.

"Relax, we're just messing with you." DT said.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Ah'll get it." Applebloom went to the door.

There, in the doorway, stood none other than Crash.

"Oh! Crash! What do you…?"

"Sombra wants you, the mane six, and the freedom fighters to get the tour. Cadence and I will be the tour guides." Crash said.

The CMC looked at him.

"It starts now, so come on." With that he walked off.

The CMC looked at each other.

"Well, we might as well get the tour." Scootaloo said. They rushed off after him.

Crash lead them to a big doorway. Waiting for them there were Cadence, The mane six, and the freedom fighters.

"Crash, what's this-?"

"This is where the magic happens. This is the headquarters for all operations. This…" Crash smirked."….is where the fun is."

The group walked in through the doors, then down a long hallway. They stopped at a big window that showed a laboratory. Inside the room was Tails. He was hunched down at a table parallel to the group's position, busily working on something that involved electric wires, goggles, and a gasmask. He also wore a long white hooded lab coat. In front of him sat two circuit boards, on a parallel circuit, the other a series circuit.

"This is our main laboratory, the place where our weapons, biological or mechanical, are developed. The person in there is none other than our kingdoms main scientist and weapons manufacturer."

Tails flipped two switches. The series circuit short circuited, while the parallel circuit mode a small boom! Smoke rose from the shattered lightbulb that had been in the parallel circuit. Tails began muttering, but Twilight simply cast a spell that bent soundwaves so she and the rest of the group could hear what he was saying.

"Test #15, voltage was at 30000 V, resistance was at 30 ohms, current was at 100 amps. Series circuit blew a fuse, parallel circuit did as expected. Increase voltage and current, and decrease the resistance by tenfold."

Tails wrote down all that on a graph that was on an electronical screen before making more modifications to his newest explosive invention.

Twilight looked at Crash and Cadence, obviously wanting an explanation. Cadence sighed.

"Miles 'Tails' Prower, AKA, Plague. The youngest of the horsemen, he is an inventor, and his favorite things to invent are weapons. He specializes in chemical weapons, especially those that can spread man-made viruses, hence his codename, Plague. He's crafty, and he's the smartest Horsemen, with an IQ 5 times that of a normal human. On the field, he is also the hacker, demolitions expert, and sniper of the team, as well as the wind alchemist. He is the world's smartest individual."

Tails turned and looked at the group. He then took his attention back to his weapons. Twilight put her had on the glass and looked down. Dash put her hand on Twilights shoulder. Twilight looked at dash, grateful for the comfort.

The group continued walking down the hallway. The soon reached a balcony overlooking a big room filled with many people.

"This is our senate chamber. We are a monarchy, yes, but we also believe in democratic monarchy. The senators debate over issues, and if they're not settled, they're taken to the king himself. The king can make whatever rule he wants, but he usually goes with the majority vote from the senate." Crash said.

"Who's in charge of this?" Sally asked.

Cadence pointed down at four tables, each with a chair. The groups looked where she was pointing. There, sitting at the desks with, sitting in different positions, were silver, Manic, Shadow, and Knuckles.

"Silver Hedgehog, AKA, Famine. He is the praetor. The praetor is in charge of the whole senate, and the duties of the praetor include judge, jury, and executioner. On the field, he's the guy who causes distractions, as well as our water alchemist. He's the most powerful telepath in the kingdom."

Silver looked up at them, clearly bored out of his mind. He waved at the group before looking back at the two arguing senators.

Rarity leaned over the guard rail and looked at Silver with a sad expression on her face. Sweetie belle walked over to her sister and took her hand. Rarity smiled at sweetie belle, and Sweetie belle smiled back.

Cadence moved on. "Sitting next to him, Manic Hedgehog, AKA, Strife. Sitting next to him is Shadow Hedgehog, AKA, Fury. The two rulers of the emotional spectrum, as they call themselves, are the heads of our Special intelligence. In other words, they're spies. Manic is our earth alchemist , while Shadow is our Shadow alchemist, conveniently enough. They are the sneakiest people in the kingdom."

Pinkie pie and Fluttershy both looked down at the two. They then shook their heads sadly. They were starting to get used to seeing changes in their friends, unfortunately.

"Sitting at the end of the row is Knuckles Echidna, AKA, War. He is the head of our secret police. He keeps the citizens in line, not with fear, and also makes sure that there aren't any spies in the area. On the field, he is our human tank. He's very violent. He is also the gravity alchemist. He is the strongest man in the kingdom, possibly the planet. Notice I said possibly. There are other candidates for that title."

AJ looked away. Applebloom walked over to her, but AJ's look said, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine." The group left the room.

The group soon entered a small room with a big window overlooking a large dome.

"What's this room?" Twilight asked.

"This is the control center for the training area. You've been given a special treat. Not very many people are allowed to see Deaths' training sessions."

Sonic stood in the middle of the dome.

"Sonic Hedgehog, AKA, Death, is the leader of the horsemen of apocalypse and commander-in-chief of the crystal empire army. He is the most powerful horsemen, and is the most feared. His forearms are both robotic, as well as one of his eyes. He is the kingdoms Crystal alchemist, Full-metal Alchemist, and Fire alchemist."

The lights turned off, all except for one light that shone down directly on Sonic.

"What's going on?" Sally wondered aloud.

"Wait for it." Crash said.

A figure suddenly appeared in front of Sonic, a gun in each, the two weapons directed at Sonic's face. Sonic suddenly grabbed one of the pistols by its barrel and tore it out of the figures hand before judo-flipping the attacker. Another figure showed up behind him, but Sonic turned and pulled a Bruce Lee roundhouse kick, sending the figure to the floor. Three more figures appeared, but before they had any time to do anything, Sonic punched one in the face, kneed the second in the gut, stepped of the second figures back, and spin-kicked the third figure in the face before slamming the second persons face on the floor.

"Session ended. Nice job, Bro." Crash said through the loud speakers.

The lights came back on. Sonic looked up at the control room. Dash looked down at him. One of the figures whom he'd been sparring with walked up to him and said something. Dash eyes widened. What the hell…?

"Is that who-" Twilight began.

"You're not seeing things, no, so I would assume that's who you think it is." Cadence said. Twilight looked back down.

"Then what the hell is Spike doing here?"