"…How did you get used to these things?" Sonic asks as he tried to fold his wing back to resting along his side.
"Time mostly." Rage says in a distant tone.
"You alright?" Sonic asks, tilting his head in concern.
"In all honesty? No." Rage sighs "I can't help but worry about Twilight. While we're sidelined and hiding Chaos knows what she's going through. I want to help her…"
"I know. Best we can do right now is trust her though." Sonic says shrugging. He and Rage walk to the end of the cloud they were on that was overseeing Ponyville.
"I know…but still…my gut has this churning feeling…like there's something more going on…" Rage says softly. He looked down at the Library and sighed.
"You usually listen to your gut." Sonic says "and so far it doesn't seem to have led you astray."
"Yeah I-" Rage began to respond but he trailed off into a shocked gasp as the Library is engulfed in a fiery explosion. "Twilight!" He exclaims. He was about to leap off the cloud when Sonic bolted in front of him.
"Rage stop." Sonic says "I know things look bad but it's just the Library."
"Just the Library?!" Rage exclaims. "That was Twilight's home. MY home!"
"Rage, you have every right to be upset but we can't go down there! We're supposed to stay hidden, remember?" Sonic pleas with him.
Rage looked at Sonic. His glare was full of anger. Rage stood looking at Sonic. Every fiber of his being wanted to push him aside and go down there to help. However he let out a heavy sigh and sat down. "You're right." He says. He looked down to the smoldering ruins of the Library. "Please…Twilight you have to win…"
Down below Twilight was on the ground with Tirek standing over her. "It's over Twilight Sparkle." He chuckles. "I have all of the magic in Equestria. Your little chest was worthless and you're out of options."
Twilight slowly stood up and looked at Tirek. "No…you haven't won yet…" she says weakly.
"Oh come now Princess, you don't really believe that you can still win?" Tirek laughs. "With the help of my own friend, nopony is strong enough to stop me. I don't know how you got your magic back but it doesn't matter. Give it up and no more harm will come to you."
Twilight looked at Tirek and her horn glows once more. 'He's right…I can't but…maybe you can.' She thinks as she casts her communication spell to try and send a message to Rage. However after she does so, to hide it she fired a beam of magic at Tirek who just puts a hand up and the beam does nothing.
"Pathetic." Tirek scoffs as Twilight collapses again.
"You…won't win." Twilight says weakly.
"I already have…" Tirek laughs as he creates an orb of magic between his horns. "Farewell, Twilight Sparkle." He says as he fires a beam of magic at her.
Twilight braced for the impact but. However, as the beam closed in a red blur came between her and the beam. A bright yellow light blinded her and Tirek. Both had to look away.
When Twilight looked back she saw Rage standing there. He was in his Mobian form. He had his right hand outstretched in Tirek's direction. His jacket flailed as wind rushed from where he stood.
"What?!" Tirek exclaims in shock.
"Rage!" Twilight cheers seeing the crimson hedgehog standing between her and Tirek. A blue blur then ran up to her. It was Sonic.
"Pardon me Princess." Sonic says picking her up "I believe we have a date elsewhere." He says running off with her.
"Sonic! What are you doing?!" She exclaims struggling.
"Getting you and your friends out of the way while Rage distracts him." Sonic says as he puts her down.
"Hmmm…" Tirek growls looking at Rage "Who are you?" He asks.
Rage smirked as lowered the small field of energy he had formed. He then pulls his left hand back "My name is Ragis Chaotic the Hedgehog…" he says, as he moved to his combat stance. "But you can call me Rage…"
Tirek smirked. "I don't know what you are but you've got guts Rage." He says. "But you don't really think you stand a chance against me do you? I have all of the magic in Equestria! I am unstoppable!"
"You know how many times I've heard that one?" Rage scoffs. Tirek smiled as he rushed forwards at a high rate of speed and swings for Rage.
The crimson hedgehog dodged to the right and landed a foot to Tirek's side, he then used his left hand to stabilize himself and plant his other foot onto Tirek and vaulted off of him.
Tirek turns around and glares at Rage who throws bursts of fire at the minotaur. These hit him in the chest and he snarls. "Pathetic ant." Tirek scowls.
"That's hedgehog you overgrown oaf!" Rage shouts as he leapt into the air and went to do a flying kick. Tirek reached out and grabbed him by the leg and threw him with all his might into a rock.
Rage crashed into it and it fell. He got up quickly and shook it off. "He quickly glanced at where Twilight's friends were still imprisoned. Sonic was still working on freeing them.
"You shouldn't let yourself be distracted!" Tirek's voice shouts and Rage shot back to see the minotaur mere feet from him.
"Sh-" Rage started to curse but Tirek punched him with an upwards strike. Rage was sent upwards only to have Tirek buck him into the ground.
Tirek laughed as he walked up to Rage. "Pathetic…you're no match for me…" he chuckles as Rage stood up again. He was covered in scrapes and bruises from the few strikes he had taken.
"That…all?" Rage pants "I'm not even warmed up."
"You have a big mouth for an overgrown rat." Tirek scoffs. "I'll shut you up for good!" He screams as he fired a beam of magic which hits Rage and sends him flying into another rock. The beam battered him and made a dent in the large boulder with him in the middle. He then fell to the ground.
Rage coughed some blood up as he looked to see Tirek falling from the air above him. He lands right on Rage and Rage shouts in pain.
Sonic, who was finishing getting Rainbow Dash freed looked back and gasped. "Rage!" He shouts.
Sonic dashed to the two and Rage saw. "Sonic no!" He shouts as Tirek turned to see the incoming blue hedgehog.
"Hm?" He grabs Sonic by the body. "What have we here? Another rat?" He laughs. "One with some power left I see." He then opens his mouth and Sonic shouts as his own strength is drained.
Tirek threw Sonic aside and laughed as he got larger again. "Dammit…" Rage cursed as Tirek stomped on him. He shouts in pain.
"N-no…" Sonic got up and tried to boost at Tirek but he couldn't. "What happened…?" Sonic asks.
Tirek finally got off Rage and smiled as he picked the beaten and battered hedgehog up. "It should be obvious. I took your power." He says as he throws Rage away. Rage lands face first into the ground. He shook but slowly got back up. "You're still able to get up after all of that?" Tirek asks. "I'm impressed."
"Alright Tirek…" Rage spoke in a raspy voice. "No more playing around…" he says. The crimson hedgehog was battered and bruised. Blood trickled down his arms and his face from his wounds.
Tirek laughs "Playing around? That's what you call this?" He laughed. "Give this pathetic resistance up. You can't beat me Rage!" Rage sighed as the Chaos Emeralds appeared around him. He looked at Tirek as they glowed brightly. Tirek gasps in shock as a pillar of light erupted from Rage.
The pillar raged for a minute before it faded. When it did it revealed Rage floating just off the ground. His fur was a bright reddish pink color and his eyes glowed a vivid lavender. A flare of energy surrounded him.
"Hmph so there is more to you than meets the eye." Tirek says "It won't change anything though…" he says however as he spoke Rage vanishes from sight. Tirek looked in surprise as he saw Rage for but a brief moment before he was kicked in the gut with a tremendous amount of force. So much he was sent back a few meters and landed on his side. "What was that? Did he just teleport?" Tirek wondered aloud.
Again Rage seemed to vanish, this time though Triek was able to see him fade and it was clear, it wasn't teleportation. He was that fast! He was hit by a firm kick to his cheek this time. Rage leapt back after this.
Tirek got up and looked at Rage in shock. How could he be so powerful all of a sudden? It didn't make sense. He stood up as Rage rushed for another attack.
Tirek fired a blast of magic to stop Rage but it did nothing as Rage powered through it and strikes him in the face. This one had enough force to knock a few of the teeth out of the large minotaur's mouth.
"Impressive…" Tirek says as Rage returns to a distance. "I don't know where you got all of this power from but I'll tell you one thing…it won't help you."
"Hmph." Rage smirks "then let's put that to the test!" He launches a swarm of energy spears at Tirek who creates a bubble of magic to defend himself.
Rage follows up by forming his sword and rushing to Tirek. Once again, faster than Tirek could react and this time he managed to get a good cut in on the minotaur's side. He howls in pain and puts a hand to the new wound.
"How can this be?! I have all of the magic in Equestria! Earth Pony! Pegasi! Unicorn! Alicorn! Chaos! All of it! How can you challenge me?!" Tirek says, looking at Rage angrily. "You have no magic! What is this power?!"
Rage smirks as he glows "You know, for as big and tough as you are…you're not very bright." He says as in a flash of light he was back to an Alicorn, however he held the same light red coat and his mane was a pastel rainbow of colors.
"It can't be!" Tirek exclaims "You were tricking me this whole time?!"
"Not quite but the explanation would be lost on you." Rage shrugs. "I did my part." He says looking over Tirek to see a rainbow ball coming from the Everfree forest.
"What?!" Tirek exclaims as the glowing orb floats in front of them. It was Twilight and her friends.
"Impossible!" Tirek exclaims. He looks at Rage who flew next to the orb with the six ponies inside. Tirek fired a beam of magic at it only for it to have no effect. "How?! You have no magic!"
"You may have my alicorn magic but I have the strongest magic of all!" Twilight cheered as a beam of rainbow magic struck Tirek and with it all of the power he had absorbed was drained. The six mares used their power to return it all to their rightful owners.
Afterwards the six had returned to the cave with the tree of harmony. Rage having followed Twilight, looked at her with a smile as the chest from the tree floated into the air and out of a rainbow it shot out of the cave and towards Ponyville.
The chest buried itself into the ground and grew into a large crystalline tree like castle. Shortly after all seven were transported to the front of the castle.
Each of the six mares returned to normal as they looked upon the castle. "Sweet Celestia!" Rarity gasps. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"But who's is it?" Twilight asks.
"I believe it is yours." Celestia says as she, Luna, Spike and Cadence approach the seven. Discord and Sonic popped up from behind them too.
The group enters the castle and walks the large halls. Twilight and Celestia in front. Followed by Luna and Cadence, Spike and her friends, Discord and finally Sonic and Rage in the rear. "You've been wondering what you're meant to do as a Princess, do you know now?" Celestia asks.
"As a princess I believe I have the power to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria." Twilight says "That is the role I am meant to have in our world. The role I choose to have!" She cheers.
Twil then teleported between her friends. "But I didn't defeat Tirek on my own." She continued as they shared a group hug. "It took all of us to unlock the chest."
"Then it is unlikely you are meant to take on this task alone." Celestia says opening a large golden double door. It led to a room with six large seats, in each was emblazoned a respective cutie mark of one of the mane six. A seventh smaller chair was next to the one meant for Twilight.
"You are now Princess Twilight, The Princess of Friendship." Celestia proclaims.
"Look at that, you get your own tiny one." Sonic teased Rage quietly while nudging the still powered up alicorn. Rage chuckled at Sonic's comment.
"I think I'll let Spike have it. Seems more of a fit for him." Rage whispered back as they watched the six mares, and Spike briefly took a seat to try out the thrones.
"But what is a Princess of Friendship without her friends?" Celestia asks as Twilight is surrounded once more by her friends. They all hugged while Sonic, Rage and Discord looked from the entrance of the room.
Discord frowned and Twilight used some magic to bring him over with her. He smiled and they shared another hug. "But where's my throne?" Discord pouts.
"I don't think you're quite there yet." Fluttershy says.
"Probably time we leave them to do their thing huh?" Sonic asks Rage as he slipped away. Rage turned to follow.
"Rage?" Twilight calls and he stopped and stood up straight as an arrow. He turns and she cleared her throat "What is a Princess of Friendship without ALL of her friends?" She asks.
Rage smiled and his heart fluttered some as he walked over to the others. "Twi…this one was all you girls. I just stalled Tirek for a bit." He says "You're the ones that figured the chest out while I was off rescuing old souls."
"Wait a minute. When did you look all flashy?" Pinkie Pie asks, looking at Rage with a frown of thought.
Rage jumped a bit and realized he was still in his Hyper Form! He smiled softly. "My bad." He says as with a glow he returned to normal, however it was then something happened. The Chaos Emeralds glowed, they floated just above Rage.
"What's going on?!" Twilight exclaims.
"I dunno! They're doing this on their own!" Rage exclaims as six of the seven fly to the tops of the thrones. The cyan emerald over Rainbow Dash's, the yellow one over Fluttershy's, the blue one over Twilight's, the purple one over Raritty's, the green one over Applejack's and the white one over Pinkie Pie's. The red one floated in the air where no throne was. Then the Master Emerald floated into the center.
The ponies all stepped back as beams of energy shot from the Chaos Emeralds into the Master Emerald. They glowed brightly and the beams then hit the thrones causing the gems representing the Elements of Harmony to glow. The Emeralds then close in on the Master Emerald and each one flies back to Rage and the land on the ground.
"What…just happened…?" Twilight asks as Rage gathered them and he stores them similarly to how he stores Blade.
Rage looked at Twilight and shook his head, "I have no clue…I've never seen them act on their own like that before." Rage says.
"Could it be they're somehow…linked to the Elements?" Rarity asks.
"Don't be ridiculous." Twilight says, rolling her eyes with a smile "Why would some magical gems from another world have any connection to The Elements of Harmony?"
"How else would you explain it?" Rarity asks.
"I don't-" Twilight started to reply when a loud rumbling was heard outside. Shocked they all ran outside. As they reach the entrance a large shadow loomed over the new castle. They turned to see a large floating island above the castle.
"What is that?!" Applejack gasps in shock.
"It's huge." Pinkie Pie exclaims.
"It's beautiful…" Rarity swoons.
"It's…Angel Island." Rage says in pure shock.
Celestia, Cadence and Luna looked as shocked as the others. "Rage did you?" Celestia asks.
"No." Rage denied shaking his head. "I should make sure everything is alright." He says as he flew up to the island.
The others followed closely behind. The lush, thick jungle was alive with trees and small animals. This only furthered the amazement of the ponies as they reached the center to see a large temple and a shrine. The shrine was octogonal and aside from the two large staircases leading to a top platform with a canopy each side had flowing, crystal clear water that emptied into a large lake which connected to a river.
"Wow…" Rarity says in amazement as the group ascends the stairs. When Rage reached the top once more the Chaos Emeralds appeared with The Master Emerald. The Master Emerald took it's place in the center as the Chaos Emeralds all went to each of the seven pillars that stood above the shrine. Once more they glowed and etched into each pillar, the cutie marks of the mane six. With the exception of the red emerald. The pillar it was on had a flame engulfing a shield with a split image. The top left a green emerald and the bottom a stylized unicorn or maybe alicorn head.
"Amazing." Twilight says.
"Does this mean…they are linked?" Rainbow Dash asks flying up to the pillar that now had her cutie mark emblazoned on it.
"Thar has to be it." Twilight says as she looked to the pillar with the red emerald. She looked at the mark on it "But what's with this weird one?" She asks.
"Look!" Spike exclaims pointing at Rage. "Rage! Your cutie mark!" Rage looked back to see the very same mark now plastered his flank instead of the one he had depicting the Chaos Emeralds.
"Well I'll be! Your very own Cutie Mark!" Applejack exclaims.
Rage looked at Celestia waiting to hear what she had to say. The tall white Alicorn smiled. "I think this is proof enough don't you think?" Celestia asks.
"Proof of what?" Sonic asks.
"I'm not meant for just Equestria or just Mobius." Rage says as the realization hits him. "…and Dranzer did link the Emeralds to the Elements ages ago…"
"What about the Island?" Twilight asks "We can't just leave it above Ponyville."
"I'll return it to Mobius." Rage sighed.
"You can just do that?" Rainbow Dash asks. "Move an entire island, with animals between worlds?"
"Does it hurt them?" Fluttershy asks worriedly.
Rage smiled softly "No it doesn't." He says "But I try to avoid moving the island too much outside of it's natural movements on Mobius because it can startle them."
"Well go ahead and take care of that." Celestia says "Then we have much to discuss."
"Very well." Rage nod. The ponies all then took their leave and Rage sighed. He had a lot on his mind and he waited a few minutes.
After returning to the ground, Twilight and her friends watch as Angel Island is engulfed in a bright green light and like that, poof. It was gone.
"Phew. I'm beat." Sonic says walking up to them. "What's say we all grab a bite and call it a day?"
"You know…I think we'd all enjoy that." Twilight says and the whole group agrees in their own way.