Disclaimer: Uh oh, now Eggman is in on this!? If he figures out how to use the Heart Pieces power, then it's game over for Sonic. Luckily, it seems he doesn't have the means to use its powers yet, key word yet. Looks like it might take him a while to figure out how to use it, so Twilight and friends still have time to find it before things get hairy and let's all hope Sonic get's there before Eggman figures out how to use it. All rights of My Little Pony, Sonic the Hedgehog, Legend of Spyro, Star Wars, and Kingdom Hearts are reserved to the original companies as I do not own any of it and the use of names, items, and worlds are meant for entertainment purposes. Hope you enjoy the next chapter and thank you for your support.
Chapter 116: The Heart of Family Part 1: Consequential Actions
On the planet Mobius, Dr. Eggman was busy creating a device to help him locate and collect the Heart Pieces, hoping they would be powerful enough to defeat his long hated foe Sonic, working tirelessly to build his device, starting with the component to help him locate the pieces, connecting the computer to a powerful satellite array and one of the strongest power generators he could muster, finishing up the device right as Decoe and Bocoe came in with the Heart Piece in a special glass container, emitting a special field that prevented it from escaping.
"Good, you brought it." Eggman said. "Have you analyzed it yet?"
"We're trying sir, but the scanners can't pinpoint what it is." Bocoe replied. "It's not a solid, nor is it a liquid."
"It's nothing but light." Decoe added.
"Light you say?" Eggman said. "Fascinating. Now how about its energy output? Is its power equal to that of the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Not exactly sir." Bocoe replied. "The scans reveal it is only a tiny fragment of the entire thing. Not to mention there are other kinds of energy coming off of it."
"Wait, there's more than just Chaos energy coming from this light?" Eggman asked, walking towards it and smiling. "Now my attention is peeked. Can you determine what other kind of energy is in this ball of light?"
"No sir, the scans can't pinpoint what the other energies are." Decoe replied. "All we can determine is the other energies are powerful, very powerful."
"How interesting." Eggman said. "Put the container onto the pedestal in the center of the room. Let's see if we can find more of these things." Decoe and bocoe did as instructed and took the Heart Piece to the center of the room, putting it on a metallic pedestal before twisting it to make sure it didn't go anywhere. They then backed away as a large glass cylinder rose from the ground and into the ceiling. The doctor then pressed a bunch of buttons before pressing a large green button, the computer analyzing the heart Piece, which made the cylinder glow a golden light for a few moments, the doctor looking down at the computer right as it finished analyzing it, six blinking lights appearing on a galactic map on the screen of the computer. "Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho! Jackpot! There seem to be six others just like it, which means six more sources of power for one of my newer creations."
"Sir, look, one of them is moving!" Bocoe said, pointing to the blinking light that was moving. "It's moving to the one here."
"And there isn't just one either." Decoe said. "According to the scanners, there seems to be at least five moving in the direction of another one."
"So you mean to tell em there are eleven more of these little lights out there waiting for me!?" Eggman asked excitedly. "Well what are we waiting for!? Get to work you useless pile of bolts! Send out the Eggbots and every robot in storage out there to collect as much material as needed to obtain and contain these balls of light! With them, I will finally be the ruler of this world and get ride of that pesky rodent once and for all!"
The doctor then started laughing maniacally, making the two robot henchmen worry as they gave nervous looks at one another, not realizing a dark shadow in the corner of the room, looking over and revealing it to be Psyrox, watching the doctor as looked worried, fearing what the doctor had in store for all the Heart Pieces out there. Back at the Harmony, the fillies managed to make a recovery from their illness, which was just the stomach flu and everyone was relaxing after collecting the fifth Heart piece, everyone talking about the adventure they had when the alarm blared, letting them know the next world was coming up and they all went to the cockpit to take their seats as the ship was coming out of Warp Space.
"We're already at the next world?" Twilight asked. "Why so fast?"
"The coordinates you gave me showed the next world was nearby, so coming to this world wouldn't take long." May replied. A second later, they came out of Warp Space and saw a world with two separate sides, one side was a dark and dreary town, gray and devoid of amusement while the other half looked like it was a city having a party, balloons and lights everywhere as if the whole town was celebrating something. "Here we are, Tierre de losl Muertos. In English, Land of the Dead."
"Land of the Dead?" Pinkie asked.
"From what the scans show, it's two worlds connected as one." May replied. "World of the living, who celebrate the memory of their loved ones who have passed away, and the afterlife where the spirits of those family members come to visit them, even in death."
"Wow, that's... interesting." Twilight said. A moment later, a light appeared in Twilight's saddlebag, taking the book out and turning to the page with the new chapter, the Roman numeral for six appearing and the title. "Chapter six: The Heart of Family." A moment later, an image of the world appeared as the riddle appeared on the next page. "Near forgotten, by a shoemaker family, help the old to remember and for them to see. A deadly secret that took a life, reveal the secret from the man who held the knife. When the strings are strung you must make haste, time is against you so do not waste. Save the life before the sun will rise, or else an innocent life will meet its demise?"
"Wait, innocent life, is a kid going to die in this world?" Fluttershy asked.
"Not if we can help it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Let's get down there and start looking!"
"Hold on Rainbow Dash." May said, causing her to ram into the wall. "The scanners reveal there are a lot of people in this world and blending in is going to be near impossible, so try not to talk this time. We don't need to be causing a panic over a bunch of talking ponies."
"No problem!" Pinkie Pie replied, saluting her. "So who's going down this time?"
"Same deal." May replied. "We'll draw numbers. This time, I'm sending five of you down this time."
"Hey, can we go down too?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yeah, we'd like to explore this world since we didn't get to see the last one." Scootaloo said.
"Sorry, Apple Bloom, but ya'll are still recovering from yer stomach flue, so ya'll ain't going." Applejack replied.
"Aw, come on Applejack." Apple Bloom said.
"I have to agree with your sister." Cadence said. "Even though you recovered, you can still get sick again at a moment's notice."
May then pulled out the box again, presenting it to everyone as the reached into the box with the sticks, pulling out the popsicle sticks to see who got which number.
"Seriously!?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "I got eight!?"
"Well, I guess seven isn't necessarily a lucky number, now is it?" Rarity asked.
"Looks like I'm going down again." Twilight said. "I got four."
"Ooh, I got five!" Pinkie said excitedly.
"Looks like I got six." Applejack said.
"Looks like I got the number nine, but for me, being here is fine." Zecora said.
"Looks like I got three." Cadence said.
"I got two." Shining Armor said.
"Huzzah, I have the number one!" Luna said.
"Wow, three royals, make that four royals and a party animal?" May asked, looking to Pinkie. "Anyone want to redraw or should I get a leash for Pinkie?"
"May, we don't have a lot of time to redraw numbers." Twilight said. "You heard what the riddle said, time is against us."
"Alright, good point." May said. "Alright, keep your eyes peeled and try to keep contact to a minimum. Find the Heart Piece and get it quick. Who knows what's down there."
The ponies going down to the world got in the center of the room, Twilight looking very excited as she got to go to a world with her brother and her old foal sitter, smiling the biggest and goofiest smile, which Pinkie and Rainbow Dash snickered before May called her Keyblade and raised it in the air, a light shining at the tip of the blade, surrounding the group before sending all eight of them out the window and heading towards the world below them. On the worlds surface, there was a young boy who was running in the streets heading to a metal statue of a musician, even though his family doesn't like music, he loved music as it became a part of him, finding enjoyment from it. As he went through the market area of his town, a bright light shined in an alleyway followed by a loud bang and someone groaning as Shining Armor came out rubbing his head.
"Who put that metal pole there?" Shining Armor asked.
"I must say, this is a rather interesting place." Luna said, looking around as she came out of the alley. "Wonder what the occasion is for such decorations?
"Hey, I think I see something!" Pinkie said, appearing on the rooftop. "It looks like an entire crowd is gathered around a statue of some guy with a guitar!"
"Pinkie, we don't have time to check out the tourist attractions!" Twilight said. "We need to find the Heart Piece!"
"Aw, come on Twilight, I wanna see what it's all about!" Pinkie said. "Plus, we might get lucky and find the Heart Piece near the statue!"
Before they could stop her, Pinkie rushed into the market to check everything out, making Twilight groan.
"Pinkie!" Twilight said. "Ugh, maybe we should have gotten a leash for her. Though it might not have done much good with her."
"I don't know, I actually kinda like her." Cadence said, surprising them. "She's actually kind of fun."
"Fun or not, we need to be careful." Twilight said. "This isn't like the last world we visited, there isn't magic here, so if people see a bunch of talking ponies, who knows what they'll do."
They then ran after the over excited party pony hoping to catch up with her before someone saw or heard her. At the statue, everyone was gathered around, Pinkie was trotting towards the crowd, smiling while humming, which the people tried to figure out who it was humming, but ignored it as the tour guide.
"And it is here, at this very plaza that Señor Ernesto de la Cruz took his first step to being one of the greatest and most recognized singer and musician in all of Mexican history!" The tour guide said.
"Wow, one of the most recognized singers ever!?" Pinkie asked.
"Yeah, one of the most recognized singers ever." A boy said, Pinkie turning to look at him. He looked to be about twelve wearing a white tank top and a pair of blue jeans with a bag at his side. "He started out as a nobody from Santa Cecilia, kind of like me. But when he plays music, people fell in love with him." The boy then turned to see who he was talking to, only to look down at Pinkie, scratching his head. "Funny, I thought that horse just talked."
"Oh, I'm a pony silly." Pinkie said, freaking the boy out.
"Madre mía!" The boy exclaimed. "A talking pony!"
"Indeedily do!" Pinkie replied. "I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Miguel." The boy replied. "But, how is it you can talk?"
"Oh, that's easy, I learned when I was a little baby filly." Pinkie replied. "And I see you are having a party! What's the occasion!?"
"Oh this?" Miguel asked. "This is all for Día de Muertos. Day of the Dead. It's a time for us to celebrate and remember our ancestors from the past."
"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted, the four of them running put to them. "Pinkie, there you are. You shouldn't run off like that."
"Wow, there's more of you?" Miguel asked, Twilight covering her mouth.
"Oh, hey Twilight!" Pinkie said. "Miguel, these are my friends, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and Princess Luna."
"Wait, princesses!?" Miguel asked, bowing to them.
"Oh, get up young one." Luna said, looking to the statue. "Who's this statue of?"
"It's of a guy called Ernesto De La Cruz!" Pinkie replied. "One of the greatest musicians and singers around!"
"Not just that, he also starred in movies as well!" Miguel added. "He also had one of the coolest guitars, he could even fly!"
"I highly doubt that." Shining Armor replied, whispering to his sister.
"He even wrote his own songs." Miguel said. "One of my favorites is 'Remember me.' They say he was so good thanks to his guitar, which is rumored to be magical."
"Did you say magic?" Twilight asked.
"Sí." Miguel replied. "They say that from the sky, a star entered his guitar and every time he played, his music even made angels dance."
As soon as they heard that the guitar was possibly magical, the ponies all looked at one another, grouping up and whispering so Miguel couldn't hear them.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, I am." Shining Armor said. "That star Miguel's talking about has to be the Heart Piece."
"And if it is, then we need to find that guitar." Luna said. "Question is, where is it and how are we going to get the Heart Piece?"
"What are you whispering about?" Miguel asked, appearing behind Twilight.
"Well, we think we know about the star you're talking about." Twilight said. "You see, that star is a piece of our friend's heart and we need to get it back to bring him back."
"A piece of his heart?" Miguel asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's... complicated." Cadence replied. "What matters is we find the guitar and we'll work from there. Do you know where this Ernesto lives?"
"Well, that's a sad part." Miguel replied. "You see, there was an accident a long time ago and he was crushed by a giant bell."
"Oh my." Luna said.
"Wow, what a ringer." Pinkie said, everyone giving her a disappointed look. "What? Spyro makes bad jokes all the time."
"Well, do you know where his guitar is at least?" Twilight asked. "It's very important we find it."
"As a matter of fact, I do know where it is!" Miguel replied. "Follow me!"
Miguel ran in the direction of the cemetery, which the ponies followed behind him, running past some of the people who looked at the ponies with confused and wondering looks, jumping over some of the graves that had been decorated until they came to a grave site that was built like a house, windows inside to allow everyone to look through and saw a picture of Ernesto De La Cruz, black hair and wearing white clothing, smiling a devilish smile and underneath his picture was the guitar.
"There it is!" Pinkie exclaimed, which Cadence and Luna both slammed their hooves over the excited ponies mouth.
"That's it alright." Twilight said. "Now how do we get inside?"
"Well, it's locked at all times." Miguel said. "But every time I see the guitar or think about Señor De La Cruz, I get this feeling we're connected somehow. Like, if he could play music, then so can I. That is if it weren't for my family."
"Your family?" Luna asked.
"Yeah, my family makes shoes for a living." Miguel replied, peeking their interest. "My ancestor left to be a musician and because he left and never returned, my family hated music, thinking it tore our family apart."
"Your family doesn't like music!" Pinkie shouted, appearing behind Miguel and spooking him. "That just wrong on so many levels. Why, I couldn't imagine a day without any music! You can sing songs, dance around, play instruments-"
"Ok, we get it Pinkie." Twilight said. "Anyway, we need to get inside that tomb to see if the guitar has the Heart Piece."
"Well, I'd love to stay and help, but I got to go and shine some shoes." Miguel said. "I'll catch up with you guys later."
Miguel then left the ponies behind at the tomb, feeling bad for the poor kid as they watched him leave the cemetery and head to know knew where.
"Man, a kid whose family doesn't like music?" Shining Armor asked. "I can't imagine a life like that."
"Me neither." Cadence said, walking up next to him. "It's sad to see a kid who loves something, but his family absolutely hates it."
"Yes, it's sad." Luna said. "But let us not forget, his family makes shoes. And the riddle said something about a shoe maker family, didn't it?"
"Hey, you're right." Twilight said. "The riddle said to help someone remember something."
"And a dark secret too." Cadence added. "But what kind of secret?"
"Oh, oh, maybe somepony purposefully made that bell drop to take him out and steal the spot light!" Pinkie suggested. "Or maybe somepony this Cruz knew was caught doing something and Cruz was going to tell on them after the show!"
"What every kind of secret it is, must have been something pretty bad for the book to tell us to reveal it." Twilight said. "For now, let's look around, see if we can find a way inside."
Luna and Cadence took to the sky, making sure no one could see them while Pinkie, Shining Armor, and Twilight walked around the tomb to see if they could find a way inside without being spotted. Meanwhile on Mobius, Sonic was running around in the Green Hills, running up and around loops while hitting the bounce pads to jump to higher places, spin dashing and smashing some of Eggman robots before coming to a stop, kicking one of the robots heads before looking at the box it was carrying, looking through it to see nothing but spare parts and knickknacks from old destroyed robots.
"Sonic!" Someone shouted, looking to his right. There he saw two of his friends, Tails, a two tailed yellow fox, and Knuckles, a red echidna.
"Tails, Knucks." Sonic said. "What's going on?"
"I have no idea." Tails replied. "We found a whole bunch of Eggbots down by the beach pulling up some old machines that were destroyed and a few Buzz Bombers carrying more parts back to Eggman's tower."
"Oh boy, what's Egg-head up to this time?" Sonic asked.
"Well, whatever it is, should we go and say hello?" Knuckles asked, raising his fist.
"Why not?" Sonic asked, closing his eyes and rubbing his nose. "Been a while since we smashed up his robots, might be worth paying the old badnik a visit."
"I'll get the Tornado ready then and we'll be there in no time." Tails said.
"Actually, I think we should take the scenic route." Sonic replied. "See if we can smash more of Robuttnicks little toys."
"You got no arguments from me." Knuckles said. "I'm always ready to do some robot mashing."
"Then what are we waiting for!?" Sonic asked, grabbing Tails by the wrist. "Let's go!"
Without a moments hesitation, Sonic grabbed knuckles wrist as well and dashed off across the Green Hills, going around loops and over the fields to get to Eggmans tower, where they plan on smashing his device whatever it was and put an end to his plan before he could even finish it. Back with Twilight and her friends, it was getting darker and darker out as the sun went down, looking for a way into the tomb to get the guitar, but everything was locked down tight. The windows were nailed shut, the door itself was locked down fairly tight with multiple locks, and the structure itself was made with a combination of stone and wood, a tough combination to break without the right tools. After a while, they regrouped outside f the cemetery to discuss what they might have found, hoping at least one of them found a way inside.
"Well, anything?" Twilight asked.
"Windows are nailed shut." Shining Armor said. "No way we can get in through them."
"And we found no weakness in the roof or the walls." Luna added. "That tomb is built like a fortress. Of course, with a strong enough spell I could blast it open, but then we'd be in trouble."
"Not to mention we might loose the Heart Piece." Cadence pointed out. "That only leaves the door."
"But it's triple padlocked." Shining Armor said. "We can easily destroy the locks with our magic, but I don't think we'd exactly be everyone's favorite ponies if we did that, now would we?"
"What about the Keyblades?" Cadence said. "Wouldn't they be able to unlock the locks?"
"They could, but we don't exactly know how to do it." Twilight said. "Spyro never taught us how to do it."
"Got it!" Pinkie said, standing next to a door. "It's easy, just point the blade at the lock, and it will unlock!"
Pinkie demonstrated by calling her Keyblade and pointed the tip of it at the nearest lock, a few stars appearing at the tip of the blade before a white light shot out, hitting the lock and unlocking it, surprising them.
"Pinkie, you're a genius!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Nah, I'm just plain old Pinkie Pie." Pinkie replied. "Saw Spyro do this a few times and figured it out from there."
"Well, it's fascinating and all, but we still have one problem." Shining Armor said. "How are we going to get inside without being spotted? I'm pretty sure a bunch of talking ponies with giant keys are going to draw a lot of attention."
"That's a good question." Twilight replied.
They looked to the cemetery, looking at the large tomb dedicated to Cruz and wondered how they were going to get in without being noticed, Pinkie looking like she thinking hard when a lightbulb appeared over her head, grabbing it and stuffing it in her tail.
"I got it!" Pinkie exclaimed, everyone looking to her. "Why don't you;t we dress up like a raccoon in a blue shirt with a blue cap and cane and pick the guards pockets, stealing the keys?"
They all gave the random party pony a confused look, wondering what the heck she was talking about but just ignored the idea and looked back to the cemetery, everyone thinking about what they could do when Luna spotted something near the plaza that Miguel was talking about, seeing a sign for some kind of music festival and got an idea.
"Hey, what about that?" Luna said, pointing to the plaza.
"That's it!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly. "While everyone is busy with the music festival, we can get in and examine the guitar!"
"I doubt everyone will be busy watching and listening to the music." Shining Armor pointed out. "There might be a few of these... humans, still in the cemetery with the graves of their ancestors."
"We'll worry about that later." Twilight said. "But first, we-"
They heard running footsteps, looking out and saw Miguel running around the street, looking upset as he ran into the plaza and asking around, looking like he was looking for something as he asked.
"Miguel?" Cadence asked, the boy stopping to see them. "Miguel, what's wrong? Why are you running around and why do you look sad?"
"My family..." Miguel replied. "They... they found my secret spot where I have all my music and my guitar. They don't understand me!"
"Wow, calm down sweetie." Cadence said, walking up to him. "Tell us, what happened?"
"My great-grandmother... she... she smashed my guitar." Miguel replied, shocking them. "They always say to stay away from music as it would tear the family apart, but music is a part of me. I can't just give it up! Just like my great-great-grandfather, Ernesto never gave up!"
"Wait, Ernesto is your great-great-grandfather?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, I figured it out when looking at an old family photo." Miguel replied, pulling out the photo. "See the guitar? It's a perfect match to the one in Ernesto's tomb, so he must be my great-great-grandfather!"
"That's amazing news!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Your ancestor is one of the greatest musicians and that music is in your blood is great! Though I can't understand how musical notes would be in anyone's blood at all. How would it move? Is it safe with those sharp corners? Is it like a virus?"
"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed, getting her to be quiet. "Miguel, it's wonderful that your ancestor is De La Cruz, but what about your family? Aren't they worried about you?"
"I don't want to be apart of that family!" Miguel replied, looking hurt. "They don't understand me, they never did! All they do is make shoes and hate music. If they can't accept me for who I am, then I don't want to be apart of that family, I won't be apart of that family at all!"
Miguel looked very upset, looking like he was going to cry, which Cadence walked over and hugged the poor boy, patting him on the head while whooshing him, trying to comfort and calm him down.
"It's ok Miguel, you're ok." Cadence said. "Family quarrel all the time. Give them time, they'll soon realize what they did was wrong."
"They won't." Miguel replied, getting out of Cadence's hug. "They will never change. They will always hate music, which means they'll hate me. I don't care anymore, I'm going to become a great musician like my great-great-grandfather and I'll never go back to them! Never!"
Miguel then ran off back into the plaza, hoping to find an instrument to play in the plaza, leaving the ponies there, worrying about the poor kid as they felt their hearts break for him.
"Oh, poor kid." Cadence said. "Being stuck with a family that doesn't understand what he likes and destroying it."
"Kind of sounds like a toxic atmosphere to me." Twilight said, walking up next to her future sister-in-law. "Kind of like the last world we visited, a toxic atmosphere which everything had to be perfect, except this time it's one where the whole family hates music."
"Well I for one am glad he got away from them." Luna said, surprising everyone. "He should follow his passion and his dreams, not let anyone tell him otherwise."
"Well, I don't disagree with you there Princess Luna." Twilight said. "But he shouldn't just discard his family when they were trying to do what they thought is right."
"You mean what is wrong!" Pinkie said. "No pony should tell somepony else what they can and cannot do, it's just mean!"
"I actually agree with them Twiley." Shining Armor said. "The kid should do what he loves to do, within reason of course. There are something's a kid shouldn't do."
"I wish there was a way we could help him." Cadence said. "I wish we had a guitar for him."
"Oh, oh, I got one!" Pinkie said, pulling out a guitar from her mane. "I always carry musical instruments with me whenever I go!"
"How did she..." Shining Armor began to say before Twilight raised a hoof up, interrupting him.
"Shining, the one thing you should know, never question anything Pinkie does." Twilight answered. "Trust me, you'll do best not to question anything she does."
"What are we waiting for!?" Pinkie asked. "Let's give this guitar to Miguel so he can follow his dreams!"
Pinkie then rushed away from the ponies, Twilight face smacking herself before they all followed after her to find Miguel and hoping he doesn't do anything rash. However, when they found Miguel, he was running past the statue of Ernesto De La Cruz and Twilight already knowing what the young boy was going to do and rushed after the young boy before he could take the guitar from the musicians tomb. At the cemetery, Miguel was walking through the old graveyard and was walking towards the large tomb, planning to borrow the guitar from Señor De La Cruz's resting place, but as he got close, a dog came up barking right behind him, making the boy fear he may get caught.
"Dante, no!" Miguel whispered. "You're going to get me caught!" He then reached for a slab of meat and threw it as far as he could, the dog chasing after the slab of meat, allowing Miguel to get to the window of the resting place, looking in and seeing the guitar there, pushing against the window and finding it was locked, hearing fireworks go off and looking to the sky, watching as one firework flew into the air and got ready to bash through the window. "I'm sorry."
As soon as the firework went off, he rammed into the window and broke the lock, hopping into the tomb and walking up to the guitar, putting his hand on it and gazing at it, touching the guitar.
"Miguel!" Twilight said, spooking him as everyone hopped in. "Don't do it. Stealing the guitar won't help you or ."
"But I need a guitar and show them how good f a musician I am." Miguel said. He then turned to the guitar and took it, looking to the picture of Ernesto, which was looking down at him. "Señor De La Cruz, please don't be mad. I'm your great-great grandson. I need to borrow this for a little while." A second later, the petals flickered for a second, which spooked Twilight, Cadence noticing how spooked she was and looked to the petals to see what scared her. "My family thinks music is a curse and it tore our family apart, but I'm sure you would have understood. You would have told me to follow my heart... and seize my moment."
"Miguel, wait, don't." Twilight said.
"So, if it's ok with you, I'm going to go play in the plaza, like you did." Miguel said.
"Don't!" Twilight exclaimed.
A second later, Miguel disappeared as did the guitar, everyone gasping as they saw the petals fly everywhere.
"He's gone!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Someone's in De La Cruz's shrine!" Someone said.
"Oh shoot!" Twilight exclaimed.
She charged up her horn and instantly teleported away with everyone around her, teleporting to a nearby tombstone and hiding behind it, thought Twilight had a headache from hastily teleporting them away, she shook her head and looked out from behind the stone as did everyone else, seeing a large crowd gathered at the door way into the shrine, wondering what was going on.
"What just happened?" Pinkie asked. "Miguel was like, BERRUNG, and he was gone!"
"Whatever happened, it happened when he played that guitar." Shining Armor said. "Twilight, why did you try to stop Miguel?"
"Because I saw some of the petals flicker as soon as he took the guitar." Twilight answered.
"And as soon as he played it, that was when he disappeared." Luna said. "But... how?"
"The guitar!" Cadence replied. "It must have the Heart Piece, it's the only explanation!"
"But where did it go?" Twilight asked. "And where's Miguel?" A second later, the saddle bag had a red light coming from it, prompting Twilight to take the book out and open it as more words appeared. "Oh no."
"What?" Cadence asked. "What's wrong?"
"Miguel... he's in the other world." Twilight said, showing them the book. "Whatever happened to him, it sent him into the other world where spirits live."
"Wait, so you're saying he's in the world where spirits are at?" Shining Armor asked. "Then... how do we help him?"
"I don't know." Twilight replied, looking at the book. "Maybe... wait, i think I got something." More words appeared in the book, looking over it but with a confused look. "Bridge the world between the living and dead, take us to the realm that all do dread. Open the rift in the life after, a world of happiness, fun and laughter. Take us to this world as we walk the lawn, but return us here at the light of dawn."
A second later, the wind started to pick up as the clouds above swirled around, creating a small twister in the air as petals flew around them, creating a dome around the ponies, everyone covering their faces as a light shines around them until the light died down, everyone uncovering their eyes, but they were all in utter shock. They all had makeup on and were decorated to look a bit like skeletons, but more color fin and with colorful patterns on them, looking at themselves to figure out what was going on as they looked at each other, seeing a golden aura around them.
"What... just happened?" Shining Armor asked. "What's with this look and who do we look like this?"
"I have no idea." Twilight said. "We look like skeletons, but more... colorful."
"I must confess, this new look does look good." Luna said. "Almost reminds me of Nightmare Night."
"Hey, look!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Everyone looked to see what she saw and their jaws dropped because there they saw a whole crowd of skeletons gathered around their tomb stones, seeing their family and smiling.
"They're... skeletons?" Twilight asked. "Wait... is this...?"
"The afterlife." Cadence said. "This is the afterlife."
"This is incredible!" Twilight exclaimed, doing a little prance in place. "Oh, I need to document this! Shoot, I forgot my quill and parchment."
"Wait, I see Miguel!" Luna said, seeing a panicked looking boy running through the crowd and hiding behind a tombstone. "He looked terrified."
"Well wouldn't you be if you were suddenly transported into the afterlife?" Pinkie asked.
"Come on, we got to get to him." Twilight said.
Miguel was panicking, running from place to place, bumping into the spirits of other family's ancestors until he managed to find a hiding place behind a tombstone, looking over it and finding there were spirits everywhere, chills going down his spine until Dante came up and licked him, taking him by surprise.
"Dante?" Miguel asked. "You can see me!?" A second later, Miguel started chasing after the dog, running after the street animal, calling out to him and asking what was going on until he ran into a skeleton, knocking it to pieces as he fell. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
"Miguel!?" The skeleton asked, putting himself back together. "You're here? I mean, here-here!? And you can see us!?"
"How are you my little it-ti!?" A skeletal woman asked, hugging him.
"Uh, remind me how I know you?" Miguel asked.
"Why we're your family mijo." The woman replied, ending the hug.
"Tía Rosita?" Miguel asked, which the woman waved her fingers at him before he looked to the male skeleton. "Papà Julio?"
"Hóla." Julio replied, Miguel looking to the other woman next to him.
"Tía Victoria!?" Miguel asked.
"He doesn't seem entirely dead to me." Victoria said, a little girl passing through him.
"Nor does he seem to be alive either." Rosita said.
"Miguel!" Twilight shouted, making the entire group turn to see the ponies coming to them.
"Twilight!" Miguel shouted back.
"Who?" Julio asked as the ponies came up to them.
"Miguel, thank goodness you're ok." Cadence said, shocking the ancestors.
"She... talked?" Victoria asked.
"We can't get into that now." Luna said. "Miguel, what happened? You disappeared when you-"
"How the heck are there talking horses!?" Julio asked, clearly shocked.
"We're ponies!" They all exclaimed at once.
"Alright, introductions." Twilight said. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, this is Princesses Cadence and Luna, my brother Shining Armor, and my friend Pinkie Pie."
"Hi!"
"Eh... hóla?" Julio said, looking to Miguel. "Oh, this is not good. We need to get you back to Mamá Imelda immediately, she'll know what to do!"
"Julio!" Someone shouted, two identical skeletons running up to them. "It's Mamá Imelda, she couldn't cross over!"
"She's stuck on the other side!" The other one said, finishing the sentence.
"Tío Oscar?" Miguel asked. "Tío Phillip?"
"Oh, hey Miguel." Oscar said, shocking them both as they banged their heads together.
"Wait, one of your ancestors can't cross over?" Twilight asked. "Why?"
"I got a feeling it has something to do with Miguel." Victoria answered, looking down to the boy.
"And if Mamá Imelda can't come to us..." Rosita said.
"Then we go to her!" Julio said, dragging Miguel away.
"Wait, we'll come with you!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Without waiting for a response, they all ran after the family, walking by their side as they made there way deeper into the cemetery, but as they did, their jaws dropped open, seeing a bridge made entirely of flower petals, which Twilight's eyes grew wide as they sparkled, completely speechless as they saw the massive bridge and watching the skeletons walk through and getting the golden aura as they entered the living world. A moment later, they crossed through the barrier and they no longer had the gold aura, but they still had their makeup and decorations on, walking on the bridge of petals as Miguel tossed a handful into the air as Pinkie bounced around, playing with the dog and laughing, having a good time while twilight was looking around, mesmerized by everything.
"This... is... incredible!" Twilight exclaimed, looking over to see other bridge. "How is this possible!?"
"Yeah, like... this really isn't a dream?" Miguel asked, looking to his family. "You're all really out there?"
"You thought we weren't?" Victoria asked.
"I mean, I thought it was one of those made up things adults tell their kids." Miguel replied, walking with everyone to the city on the other side of the bridge.
The city itself was full of color and full of lights, everyone mesmerized by what they were seeing, including Luna who was speechless by what she saw.
"By my sister's name." Luna said. "Spyro... travels to worlds like this?" Luna asked, getting a funny look from the family.
"Yeah, and he keeps it a secret." Twilight whispered, getting Luna's attention. "If the residents learned about the other worlds, then there would be trouble. So let's keep that kind of information on the down low unless we want to end up causing more trouble than we are already causing."
They continued to walk with the family across the petal bridge all the way to what appeared to be a gate where everyone was coming in and out of, the entire group coming to the side that said re-entry and approaching the long line, waiting to enter. As they waited, they watched the other spirits approach a device that scanned if their photos had been put up and saw one guy disguised as a woman trying to get past, but the machine had a big red X, showing he couldn't pass.
"I'm sorry, it seems your photo hasn't been put up 'Frida,'" The departure agent said.
"Ok, when I said I was Friday, I was kidding." The man said, putting his actual clothing on. "So, can I pass please, no hard feelings?"
"Sorry Hector, no photo, no crossing the bridge." The officer replied.
"You know, I'll just zip on over, you won't know I'm even gone." Hector said.
He then tried to run through the gate, leaping over one of the guards as he tried to get across the petal bridge, but he was sinking into the bridge, two of the officers walking over and picking him up, dragging him back behind the gate.
"What's with him?" Twilight asked. "Why couldn't he cross the bridge?"
"Because no one put up his photo." Rosita replied. "If no one puts up your photo, then you can;t cross the bridge. Oh, I don't know what I would do if no one puts up my photo."
"Next!" The Arrival officer said.
"Oh, it's our turn everyone's." Rosita said.
They then walked up to the officer as he stamped something, seeing them approach and smiled.
"Welcome back amigos!" He said. "Anything to declare?"
"Actually, yes as a matter of fact." Julio replied, showing Miguel.
The officer's jaw then dropped, completely shocked by what he was seeing and ushered them in right away, but closed the gate on the ponies.
"Sorry, but, who are you?" The Officer asked. "Never seen spirit animals like you before."
"Oh, we're with them!" Pinkie replied, surprising the officer.
"It talks!?" The officer exclaimed. "Oh, Dios mìo, I need a vacation."
"So, can you let us pass please?" Twilight asked.
"Sorry amiga, I'm afraid i can't." The officer replied. "Unless someone vouches for you that knows you, then-"
"It's alright officer, I'll vouch for them." Someone said, everyone recognizing the voice.
"Señor VanVickle!" The officer said, the ponies looking in to see another skeleton wearing a purple jacket and black pants walk up, smiling. "You know them?"
"I do indeed." Spyro replied. "They're my friends."
"Spyro." Twilight said as the gate opened, everyone shocked to see him.
"Hey there little bookworm." Spyro said, kneeling down. "Can... can I get a hug?"
Without being asked twice, Twilight and Pinkie immediately ran towards him, both jumping into his arms as he hugged the two ponies, which Twilight and Pinkie cried tears of pure joy as he hugged them, but his eyes widened in surprise when Luna ran up wanting to hug him, tackling everyone and knocking them down, laughing as they fell down.
"Spyro my love!" Luna exclaimed happily, hugging him with a bone breaking hug. "It's wonderful to see you again!"
"G-good to see you too Luna." Spyro said, struggling to get any air.
"But how?" Shining Armor asked. "How are you here?"
"Well, my Heart Piece came to this world to hide." Spyro replied. "And here in the Land of the Dead, I can manifest into a skeleton and walk among them."
"So, you can manifest in this world, but not in the living world?" Cadence asked.
"Guess so." Spyro replied. "Every world has a different set of rules and I guess in this world, I can come to life in this one." He then turned to see Miguel, seeing the living boy and looking confused. "How in the world?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Julio said. "We don't know how he is here or how he got here."
"Well, he's cursed." Spyro replied.
"WHAT!?" They all shouted.
"Cursed!?" Victoria asked. "How!?"
"Best top ask the one who knows more about this one then I do." Spyro replied. "I'm not a hundred percent sure what kind of curse, but I know one when I see one. Come, we don't have a lot of time."
Everyone followed Spyro into the city, hoping to find a way to reverse the curse that was put onto Miguel while the ponies all excitedly ran up next to Spyro, Twilight and Pinkie, putting their heads on his sides while Lune flew over him, rubbing her head on Spyro's before continuing to fly, confusing the entire family about what was going on. Back in Mobius, Eggman was working on the design for the new machine to collect the Heart Pieces, finishing up the design right as Decoe and Bocoe walked in nervously as they had some bad news for the doctor.
"Decoe, Bocoe, what are you two doing in here!?" Eggman shouted. "I thought you were busy with the parts I need for my machine!?"
"We were sir, but we got some bad news." Decoe replied.
"Sonic and his friends are destroying our robots, slowing down the process of collecting the parts we need." Bocoe said.
"WHAT!?" Eggman shouted, causing the two robots to hug one another in fright. "That meddlesome rodent has interfered with my plans for the last time! This time I'm going to get rid of him!"
"But how sir?" Bocoe asked. "There's nothing strong enough to stop Sonic or his friends. He's impossible to get rid of."
"Don;t worry, I have something special in mind." Eggman replied, pressing a button as a large robot came out of the room. "While I was doing research on this power source, I finally found a way to harness its power to make my robots even more powerful. However, every time I put the energy into one of my other robots, it destroys them. So I'm trying a more powerful one to see if it will work." He then pulled a lever and above the Heart Piece, a siphoned lowered into the glass container and a second later, it began sucking in some of the Heart pieces power, sifting it through another tube and down into the robot, which caused it to power on and activate, the machine straightening up to reveal it was a larger version of the Eggbot, lifting it's cannon up and putting a smile on the doctors face. "Yes! YES! It worked! It worked!"
However, a second later, the machine malfunctioned and it's green eyes turned red, causing it to explode and fall apart as it's arms fell off and it slouched over, it's eyes still glowing as it flickered on and off.
"Uh, guess it didn't work." Decoe said.
"I can see it didn't work you useless pile of scrap!" Eggman shouted. "Nothing seems powerful enough to contain the energy. None of the smaller bots nor the big ones. Might need to come up with something new." He then turned to face the computer and began designing while the machines eyes still flickered, turning its head to look at the doctor. "If I can find a was to assimilate the energy into a container strong enough to house the energy, then-"
"A-a-a-assimilate." The machine said, making everyone in the room look to it. "Begin assimilation procedure! Scanning for compatible components!" It then straightened up and turned its head, scanning the room for the needed parts before scanning the tower, finding what it needed. "Scan complete. Begin assimilation and restoration!"
A second later, dozens of cords and wires shot out of the sockets in the arms, plunging into the ground and tearing everything apart as it caused then entire tower to shake and flicker, the cords pulling out the parts it needed before attaching them onto the machine, malting the whole body until it was nothing left but the wires and the exoskeleton, reforging everything. A moment later, the arms were reforged to look like hands wearing dark armor, massive nail like tips at the end of the hand, the legs reconstructing themselves to be dragon like, the body melting to be more humanoid with a mixture of dragon, holographic wings popping out as the head changed into a dragon head, glowing red eyes as the metal turned black, more cords pulling out different weapons and assimilating them into it's armor. Weapons ranging from laser cannons, missile launchers, energy blades and more, finishing it's repairs as it stood there, looking down at Decoe and Bocoe as they hugged ne another, pure fear in their eyes before turning to Eggman, walking to him before stopping.
"Well, now this is an interesting turn of events!" Eggman said, looking pleased with himself. "Seems you were more than capable of building yourself. Tell me, what is your designation and your purpose?"
"Designation: Unknown!" The robot replied. "Purpose: Unknown! Please input missing information!"
"Gladly." Eggman replied. "I am Doctor Robotnik and you are my creation! Your designation is... er... Deathbot! And your mission is to eradicate a certain blue hedgehog and his pesky little friends! Eliminate them all!"
"Designation: Confirmed!" The Deathbot replied. "Designation is Deathbot 001! Mission: Destroy hedgehog and allies! Scanning for hostile!" Its eyes then started to glow, scanning for Sonic when he located him, the eyes glowing brighter. "Target identified! Engaging!"
The machine then turned to the wall, it's shoulders rising as releasing two mini-missiles, blasting a hole into the wall before getting a running start, leaping into the air before it's wings extended, taking off in the direction of Sonic and his friends while the doctor laughed.
"Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, finally, a machine that will do the job right!" Eggman shouted. "Once that's meddlesome hedgehog is out of my hair, nothing will be able to stop me from taking over this world and being its ruler!"
The two hench bots watched as the new machine flew father and farther away from the tower, knowing nothing good would come from the new machine, not noticing the Heart Piece was glowing a blood red as red bolts of electricity shot into the tubes, traveling through the towers electrical system all the way to the factory that built the bots, the factory coming to life ad it began to build more of those Deathbots without the doctor knowing, black metal being forged from the mills as it began building an army of them.