by  lemoncore
there have been many beautiful designs for maria as a hedgehog floating around, many were created in 2010 and she was forgotten by the fandom. That is a shame, as I saw story potential. So I've dug through the discard bin. Mogul is a major power player in P.X.E.
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Actual Backstory:
In the PXE timeline Silver and mammoth mogul never met in part due to robotnik's long life and the chaos he caused. Without his chaos emerald and the shift caused by the Genesis Wave replacing him and his casino zone with breezy and her massive media conglomerate. Mogul was forced to take other steps to preserve his existence, now shunted to the Zone of Silence.

This is where his plan took shape, he needed chaos energy to take a physical form outside it. But being able to create a pocket of reality within the zone of silence has it's uses.
He settled on Shadow, the lesser creature was a tesla coil for ambient chaos energy. But his attatude would not do. So Mogul recreated Gerald Robotnik's experiments by the number, and changed only a few variables. Switching Shadow and Maria. She was the experiment, He was the human friend.
As expected "Shadow"Dying at the hands of "EON" enforcement caused a spark within the simulacra. Real emotion, a real spark of a soul, and in the Zone of Silence will is made manifest. Not time, Not space, will.
When maria sobbed over his body and mammoth acting as Gerald put a hand on her shoulder, she became flesh and blood. He couldn't have been happier.
With his new apprentice at his side he returned to find Mobius a much diffrent place, and a much diffrent time line. Not that that would stop him from his goal of taking the master emerald for himself.
Even if it is now the power source for Angel City, he will have it. Even if the city and it's white spires comes crashing down.

Maria... maria is both his power source, his guard, and his greatest weakness. She remains pure of spirit and kind of heart. Even if she's picked up both Ixian Magic and Swordplay, she refuses to kill, and this Irks her "Grandfather" even if he won't push the issue. Her kind heart has one benefit for him.
She will never betray him, or run away. She will assume Shadow, should she ever encounter him, is simply an alternate. Much as Sonic has Scourge, she assumes she is his counterpart, or he is hers.