Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Shadows of Harmony Redux! So while we don't have reviews this time, I still appreciate your support. Now, let's continue!

Chapter 2: A Familiar Crisis

The hedgehogs were starting to wake up as the sun was already out, showing that they slept in a bit. Yesterday wasn't tiring or anything, likely just their bodies adjusting to how Equestria's time works. Soon after putting on their shoes, they heard noise coming from downstairs and go to investigate.

Upon reaching the lower floor, they find Twilight and Spike rummaging through books on the shelves. The former spoke to herself aloud as she looks between the books:

"I wish I remembered that legend she mentioned..."

"What legend?" Sonic repeats, getting their attention.

"Oh! Hello, you two. Sorry for the mess, but we kinda have a situation."

"And that is?" Shadow wonders.

"Uh, how to say it... do you think it's possible for someone to clone themselves?"

"Yes." They both deadpan their answers, to their surprise.

Spike helped summarize their predicament, "Well as it turns out, this legend can do that. Pinkie found it, cloned herself, and now there's a mob of Pinkie Pies outside!"

"We're currently trying to find a way to reverse this. Can you two help keep the Pinkies from wreaking havoc?" Twilight asked.

"You got it!" Sonic answers, "Let's go!"

As Twilight and Spike continue their search, the hedgehogs exits the library to do their thing. Needless to say, the sight upon leaving the library was exactly what they described:

Pinkie Pies everywhere! The pink ponies were bouncing around, yelling out the word 'Fun!' every so often like they're on a sugar high!

"So, any ideas?" Sonic questions.

"First, we find the real one." Shadow answers, "Then we find something to keep the clones in one place."

Sonic took a moment to think before getting an idea, "Pinkie like sweets, so her clones should like them too. A little feast will keep them around for awhile."

The blue blur soon took off, leaving Shadow to investigate. He walks through the crowd of pink ponies, who were too busy bouncing around to notice him, to try and spot the real one. It wasn't that hard actually, as the real one notices him and quickly drags him away from the crowd into an alleyway.

"Shadow! I'm glad to see you, I made a big oopsie!" The real pink pony admits.

"Twilight said you mentioned a legend that clones yourself." Shadow said, getting to the point.

"Yes! My Nana Pinkie told me stories of this 'Mirror Pool', which I used to try and spend time with all my friends without missing out on anything! But the clones kept cloning themselves, and now I don't even know if I'm the real one!"

She starts to cry near the end as Shadow process her words. Not so much on her well-intentioned mistake, but her little existential crisis. Considering she's the only one having it, it's safe to say she's the real one.

The black wind pats her back as he assures her, "You're the real Pinkie."

Pinkie sniffles a bit before speaking, "H-How would you know?"

"Because I've been in this position. A long while back, I lost my memories and was told many things before I regained them. One of those things was that I was a clone of my original self, some android created by the Doctor. Thankfully, he eventually told me that I am the real one who survived my fall to Earth."

Pinkie was listening intently before asking, "What were your clones like?"

"One-note. All of them acted the same, no differences in their demeanor or actions. None of them even had emotion."

He then helps her back up onto her hooves as he finishes, "So in short, nothing can replace the original."

The pink pony wipes her tears away as she shows a small smile, "You're right. Thanks, Shadow."

Shadow shows a small smile back before the two heard the wind blow by, revealing to be Sonic who had a worried expression on his face:

"OK, so I may have messed up..."

"In what way?" Shadow questions.

"Well as it turns out..." The three soon heard rumbling as Sonic finishes his sentence, "Sugar has the opposite effect on mirror clones."

The three soon hear what sounded like formula one race cars pass by them, the wind kicking up as the Pinkie clones were zooming down the path and heading out of town to who knows where. After seeing that, Twilight and Spike come running down to see them.

"Looks like they're heading towards the rock ridge." The former points out.

"How are we gonna catch them now?" The latter questions.

"Easy." Sonic answers, "You're looking at him. Got that spell ready, Twilight?"

"Yes, but I need to get within range to use it." She clarifies.

"In that case..."

In an instant, Twilight found herself being carried bridal-style by Sonic as he gets ready to run.

"H-Hey! At least warn me!" She calls out, flustered at the sudden move.

"Sorry, no time!" He said, "Brace yourself!"

The others watch as Sonic takes off, seeing the two head off towards the rampaging Pinkies.

"I know I saw them going this way!"

Sonic had reached the rock ridge in no time flat as Twilight looks around, conjuring a barrier in front of them to make it easier to see. His shoes were rapidly running across the dirt when she sees the mob up ahead:

"There! They're heading towards the rocks!"

"Hang on tight! We're gonna cut them off!" Sonic warns her.

Once she braced herself, Sonic shifts gears to use his Peel-Out technique for a massive speed boost. A blue blur with a hint of purple was heading right towards the mob, managing to reach them right before they ran up the rocks. He runs around them in a big circle, kicking up dirt as a tornado surrounds the clones to prevent their escape.

"Start firing!" He calls out.

"What!? I might hit us!" She calls back in concern.

"Don't worry, I got a trick up my sleeve!" Sonic activates his custom shoes to access the red gem, "Take the shots!"

As Twilight starts her beam barrage to whittle down the pink mob, Sonic activates the red gem to slow time in case any of them got too close for comfort. Eventually, the last of the clones were sent back to the mirror pool before he moves away from the dust tornado. He slows down to a halt, putting Twilight back down on her hooves to stretch a bit:

"Woo! That's one way to start the day!" He quips as he readies an orb of wind energy.

"...It's past noon." Twilight points out, curiously watching what he's doing.

"Eh, schematics." Sonic simply said before launching his attack, "Sonic Wind!"

He throws the orb like a baseball, hitting the dust tornado to disperse it into dust in the wind. He brushes his hands off as a flex before turning to her:

"All right. Shall we get going?"

"Yeah, we better head back soon-"

Before she could finish her sentence, they heard rumbling from underground as holes appear around them. Soon after, out pops three familiar faces that Twilight recognizes:

"You guys!?"

"Hey, you're that sparkly unicorn!" The shortest one shouts, "And-... who is blue pointer?"

"Just a hedgehog passing by." Sonic answers, "There was a mess up here that needed to be taken care of."

Before the short one continued, he spotted the custom shoes he wore, more specifically the gems on it. He shows a grin as he got out of the hole:

"Say, you have nice shoes."

Twilight looks at Sonic's shoes and connected the dots, "This again..."

The other dogs got out of their holes as the brute spoke, "Nice gems. Hand them over."

"And the shoes too." The skinny one adds.

Sonic lets out a sigh before asking Twilight for context, "What's with these guys?"

"They're the Diamond Dogs. They tried to kidnap Rarity and force her to find gems for them."

"Jerks, huh? Guess they didn't learn their lesson." He then addresses the dogs, "Sorry boys, but we'll be leaving."

Spot wasn't having that, "You ain't leaving until you give us those shoes!"

Right as he finished that sentence, he tries to snatch the custom shoes...

BAM!

Big mistake. In an instant, Spot was launched into the air by a fast kick from Sonic before landing back into his hole. Rover and Fido were frozen in shock as Twilight was surprised. All three watch as Sonic casually turns around to the other dogs, a serious look on his face:

"I said, we're leaving." His words held an edge, something that Twilight honestly didn't expect.

Despite the dogs' lack of intelligence, they made the smart decision to flee back into their respective holes. Twilight watches as he goes back into his relaxed attitude, showing his signature smirk.

"Guess they're not that tough." He points out, reverting his shoes back to normal.

"U-Uh, yeah. They couldn't even handle Rarity's complaining." Twilight mentions.

"Really? That's disappointing. Anyways, let's head back to town. Need a lift back too?"

"Since you asked this time, yes I would."

Picking Twilight back up, Sonic runs off towards Ponyville to meet back up with the others.

"Okie dokie lokie, I don't see anymore of my mirror clones."

Pinkie informs Shadow as he and the rest of the Mane Six had searched the town in the meantime. The black wind simply nods in response before the group heard footsteps approaching, seeing a familiar blue blur stop nearby before he puts Twilight back on her hooves.

"The clones have been dealt with!" Sonic assures them with a thumbs-up.

"Good. That means things should be quiet for the time being." Rarity comments.

"I hope you learned something from this, Pinkie." Applejack said.

"Yes. I learned that there will be times I have to make a choice of who to spend the day with." Pinkie admits before sighing, "I just want to have fun with all my friends..."

"Just because we don't hang out that day, doesn't mean there won't be other chances." Rainbow assures her.

"Like right now." Spike chimes in, "Whatcha want to do today, Pinkie?"

The pink pony gives them a small smile before admitting, "Honestly, after all that happened today... I just want to take a nap."

"Then you chose right the first time." Rainbow said, not bragging but pointing out the irony. "Back to the water hole!"

As Rainbow and Pinkie headed there, the others went back to their own activities. Since Sonic and Shadow woke up just before the chaos, they gauge the options available to them:

Due to the earlier encounter with the Diamond Dogs, Twilight wanted to ask Sonic about the custom shoes and the gems that went with them. The blue blur agreed to share the info, in exchange for getting some food.

Shadow heard that Applejack was raising their farm today at Sweet Apple Acres, so he goes out of curiosity. Plus he can help them out when needed.

With Sonic

"So, what places here would you recommend?"

Sonic casually walks with his hands behind his head as Twilight and Spike leads the way. The sparkling unicorn soon sees a familiar restaurant in the distance:

"How about here? From what I've read in the reviews, 'The Hay Burger' is very good."

"Hay Burgers? Sounds interesting." Sonic comments.

Once the three got a table and place their orders, Twilight decided to get the discussion started as she pulls out a quill and paper:

"So if you don't mind, let's start with the most basic question. Who made your shoes?"

"I visited this island called Soleanna during my travels, where I met this guy named Alberto Robert. He was quite the shoemaker. As soon as he saw my kicks, he got inspired and made me these. It took some time to get it right, but Tails' blueprints did the trick. Oh, Tails is my best buddy by the way."

"Good to know."

"I take it that your friend is the smart one of the group?" Spike guesses.

"Correct, little dude." Sonic confirms.

Twilight finishes her notes before asking the next question, "Now for the question I must know. What are these gems you use in tandem with these shoes?"

The three then got their orders, which they dig in first as they were hungry. Turns out the reviews were true, the hay burgers were really good. It didn't take that long until they finished their meals, deciding to get a dessert as a bonus. As they wait for said dessert, Sonic answers the question properly:

"The gems are pretty special. Each one has a unique ability, ranging from speeding me up more to even slowing down time around me like you saw. I'd rather not reveal all of their abilities yet, since I'm not sure if some could work properly."

"How so?" Twilight wonders.

"It just depends on how similar our worlds are. All I know about the gems themselves is that Robert found them at an antique shop. Though he mentioned a myth of an eighth gem, one with great power to rival the emeralds in my world."

"Ooh, mystery gems." Spike comments, "Tasty..."

"Spike, you're not eating those gems." Twilight sternly said.

Sonic raises an eyebrow at that, "Wait, dragons... eat gems?"

"Gems, jewels, crystals, stuff like that."

The blue blur made sure to keep a mental note of keeping them away from Spike. When they got their dessert, they dig into it as the trio continue their conversation.

Elsewhere, with Shadow

The black wind got the rundown of what raising a barn means, which is just building one, not literally lifting it off the ground. Thanks to his assistance, they manage to get the project done before the sun went down. As Shadow was about to head out, Applejack gives him an invite to dinner to end their day.

He didn't see a reason why not, so he accepts. Unlike before though, he gets to meet the rest of her family in the process:

Granny Smith is quite the character. Despite her silly moments, she does have wisdom to share and is their caretaker. He was able to connect the dots as to why.

Big Mac is the older brother who speaks little. He understands that, he's met some who let their actions speak for themselves. They'll get along just fine.

Apple Bloom is the younger sister, who doesn't have her cutie mark yet. She's part of a group named the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders', or CMC for short. Speaking of her, she's rather excited about one thing in particular:

"My cousin Babs Seed is coming over next week! It's gonna be so fun!"

"She's from Manehattan, so Apple Bloom here wants her to be welcomed." Applejack clarifies, "Interesting timing too, since she'll be in town for the Summer Harvest Parade."

"And the CMCs are making a float to join in on the festivities!" Apple Bloom adds.

Shadow couldn't help but ask something that popped into his head, "Do you ponies tend to celebrate everything?"

"No... though that won't stop Pinkie Pie from doing it." AJ answers, "Please don't give her ideas."

"My lips are sealed."

Once the food was ready, the group eats away as they continue their conversations.

Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure was spying on them from outside through one of the windows. It lingers there for a moment, as if to ponder something, before taking its leave further into the orchard.

The next day...

Sonic was taking a nice jog through the town when he decides to head out to Sweet Apple Acres. Upon arriving, he sees Applejack doing her usual chore of bucking trees, but something was off. Seeing her picking up scattered apples, he goes on over to help out:

"Hey, AJ. Having an off day?" He comments as he helps pick some apples up.

"Nope. Spike's been trying to pay me back after I saved him from some Timberwolves earlier." AJ answers, "I told him he can help Apple Bloom wash the pigs so I can do this."

Sonic couldn't help but let out a chuckle, "Come on, friends don't need to return any debts."

"That's what I've been telling him, but he's strangely insistent about it."

The two put the apples back into the baskets before carrying them back to the barn. Once they did, Sonic helped her move a wagon of heavy sacks to put into the cellar. As they were dropping the sacks in, they heard Spike speak up:

"Ta-da! One big clean pig for the barn!" He gestures to the big pig with a blue bow, who was indeed clean, alongside Apple Bloom.

AJ was honestly impressed, "Good job, you two!"

"Yeah, not bad." Sonic adds.

"Is it OK if I get going, Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked, "I don't want to be late for my Crusader meeting."

"Crusader meeting? What's that?" Sonic wonders.

"It's where the CMCs go to try getting our cutie marks! We're planning on water skiing today!"

"Yeah, you don't want to be late for that." AJ comments, "You're good to go."

Apple Bloom wasted no time heading out as AJ turns to Spike, "You too, Spike. You have now repaid me in full, so we're even."

For some reason, Spike was starting to panic a bit. "W-What!? No way, we're not even close! Please, allow me to assist you further!"

Sonic steps in at this point to get to the bottom of this, "OK, I'm confused. She did something for you, you did something for her, you two are now even. What's going on?"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to elaborate." Spike then pulls out a card with a drawing of him, "It's apart of my new 'Dragon Code'. In return for saving my life, I owe you a life debt and must serve you."

Sonic and Applejack glance at each other before the latter reminds him, "...Spike, you help out Twilight as her assistant. Remember?"

Spike puts his card away as he realizes that, "Oh, you're right. I gotta break the news to her. Be right back!"

The young dragon heads off as Sonic was now worried, "Wait, Spike!"

"Better go and explain what's going on to Twilight." AJ said, "Hopefully, she'll snap him out of this."

"Right." With that said, Sonic heads off to straighten things out.

Back at the Golden Oak, Twilight was currently reading one of many books she was assigned from Princess Celestia. Having nothing else to do at the moment, Shadow joins in to expand his knowledge a bit with her pet Owlicious perched on the coat rack nearby. The black wind then hears footsteps coming up and turns to see Spike being held back by Sonic:

"Y-You won't stop me, Sonic!" The former said, pulling himself forward by his claws.

"This isn't a good idea, Spike!" The latter warns him, pulling him back in response.

Shadow gets up to walk over as the two go back and forward, "What's going on?"

Sonic wasted no time as he answers in a rapid pace, "Applejack saved him from Timberwolves, so now he thinks he's in some life debt due to some 'Dragon Code' he has!"

"...Dragons have codes?"

"I do!" Spike answers as he breaks out of Sonic's grip, "I have to prove I'm a noble dragon!"

That got their attention as Sonic responds with a good point, "There's nothing noble about this! What AJ did is what any of us would do for you!"

"Wait, really? Now I'm confused... I can't repay everyone."

Shadow shook his head at this, "You don't need a code to help a friend, kid."

"Exactly! Seriously, what is this really about?" Sonic questions.

It was here that Twilight finished reading the current book she had, now noticing the three conversing in the room:

"What's going on?"

Spike was the first to answer, "Twilight, Applejack saved me from a pack of Timberwolves. As you know, according to my new 'Dragon Code', I must now serve her for the rest of my natural-born days. I'm sure you understand."

Sonic and Shadow watch as Twilight stood there, processing what she just heard before repeating what Shadow said earlier:

"...Do dragons have codes?"

"I do!" Spike retorts.

"Since when?"

"Recently, after the whole thing during the dragon migration. I thought I told you about it."

"If you did, I would say that's silly."

Twilight then levitates a book from the nearby table and turns the pages to one in particular, "Besides, you said before that who you are isn't the same as what you are. You're proud to be a dragon among ponies."

Spike ponders that for a moment, "I still do. But... there's still things I'm not sure about."

She then puts the book back on the table, "Like what?"

"Like, maybe it's possible that not all dragons are bad. We just happened to meet the bad apples of the bunch. Who's to say that there aren't good dragons that don't smash phoenix eggs for fun?"

"Smash what!?" Sonic and Shadow were shocked to hear that.

"That's what I say."

Twilight nods in understanding at what he's getting at, "I suppose that's possible. We still don't know much about dragons, but that's something you shouldn't take responsibility for. That's up to the dragons."

Spike looks at his card before letting out a sigh, "Yeah. Now that I think about it, the 'life debt' part might be a bit much."

"A bit?" Twilight, Sonic and Shadow were strangely in sync to repeat that.

"OK, it was dumb." Spike then shreds the card before putting it in the trash, "Thanks for the talk."

"No problem, Spike." Sonic assures him, "Though you have to clear things up with Applejack."

"Good idea."

The rest of that day went by as another conflict was resolved. But it won't be long before another one comes to town soon enough.

And done! Got a bit to explain here, so I'll get right to it:

When it comes to 'Too Many Pinkie Pies', the only major scene I had was the talk between Shadow and Pinkie. In exchange, I altered the ending for it to show off Sonic's gems and have a little cameo with the Diamond Dogs. The last one was improvised as I remembered that they were in the Rock Ridge.

To make this a sizable chapter, I included 'Spike at Your Service' since it was a meh episode at best. Although, some lines in it helped me get something decent out of it. Other than that, the episode was fundamentally flawed in concept.

To clarify on the gems Sonic has, he has all seven this time around. If you're familiar with the original 06 and Project 06, their functions are almost the same. There are some changes I included to match his experience at this point, which I'll elaborate on when needed. The red gem is more or less the same, just that Sonic is now unaffected by the slow effect.

For obvious reasons, he doesn't have the rainbow gem as it was unobtainable in the original 06 without hacking. Speaking of which, before anyone mentions that 'the events of 06 were erased', Sonic was still in Soleanna at the end of the game. Who's to say that he didn't have a smaller adventure where he obtained the custom shoes and gems?

With all of that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next chapter!