Chaos and Elements

Chapters

Experimental Chaos
The Ponyville Chronicles
The Everfree Equation
Viva Las Pegasus
Highway from Hell
Wind and Crusaders
The Sonic Boom
Tempest in the Orchard
Haunting Pasts
Sun to Moon, Moon to Sun
Chilled Chaos

Experimental Chaos

Sonic awoke to the sound of his alarm clock going off. He smacked it to shut it off, but when that didn't work, he yanked the cord and pulled it from the wall. He sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. As he yawned on the way to the fridge, he was startled by his phone ringing. He looked at the clock on the wall: 11:40. 'Who's that, I wonder?'

"Hello?" He said, picking it up.

"Hey, Sonic, You think you could come over and help me with an experiment?" It was Tails.

"It's not gonna be like last time, right? Because your teleportation machine didn't work so well. It took me weeks to get the mud out of my quills!"

"Ha ha haa." Tails replied dryly, "No, no teleportation. I think you'll really like this one. It's right up your alley."

"Okay, I'll be over this afternoon. And no experimental jets, either."

"No, no no no. That was a disaster. See ya later, Sonic."

"You too, bro."

Three hours later

Sonic sped through the Mystic Ruins at impossible speeds, loving the feeling of the wind in his quills. Running was his passion, to him like he assumed Tails's flying was. He slowed down as he recognized the surroundings, knowing he was getting close to Tails's house. He skidded to a stop right in front of the door, like he had so many times before, and knocked. Tails opened the door remotely from the lab downstairs, and told him "Just a minute!" over the radio. Sonic sighed. 'So like him.' he thought. He walked over to the couch and got comfortable, knowing it'd be a few minutes before his little brother actually got up to the living room, so he flipped on the TV. It was already on the cartoon channel, and Sonic scoffed at the girly show that was on. He knew some people liked shows like that, and he held no resentment towards them for liking them, but the thing he couldn't figure out was why. As he blankly stared at the show while flipping through the guide, he noted that the animation was actually quite nice, better than some shows he knew of, even. Especially North Park. That show was freaking hilarious at times, but the animation was horrible. Like the characters were made out of construction paper. He sighed as he found nothing he wanted to watch on the guide, and groaned as one of the characters on the show started to burst into song. Two of the other characters even seemed to be annoyed at it. He got a small chuckle out of that, but elected to turn the TV off rather than watch it. Soon after, Tail walked into the room, wiping his grease-caked hands on a towel.

"Nothing good on TV?" He asked.

"Nah, just one of those girly shows Knuckles loves to go on about." They both chuckled at the thought of Knuckles, of all people, liking one of those shows. Specifically, My Little Pony. Again, Sonic wondered why he liked it, but pushed the thought to the side for now. "So, Tails, what experiment do you want me to test this time?"

"Come with me and I'll explain it." As they walked through the kitchen and down the stair to the lab, Tail started up again, "Sonic, what would you say if I told you you could go into your favorite video game universe?"

"I'd ask exactly how you could do that." Sonic replied.

Tails gave him a glare and continued, "Well, my new invention does just that! It's a Virtual Reality machine!"

"A Virtu- what now?" Sonic replied, dumbfounded.

"Virtual Reality! You know, VR?"

"Ooooooh! You mean like the thing where you're there, only not really! The thing with the goggles and helmet and the thing where if you die you don't really die you're just... That thing?"

"Yes."

"My head hurts now."

"I'll bet. I even smell a little smoke."

It was Sonic's turn to give the glare as they walked into the actual 'Planning' part of the lab. There, in the middle, sat a large white ring. Next to it was a long L-shaped table with three computers sitting on it. They all had binary on their screens, and as such, Sonic had no clue what they said.

"In the ring, if you will?" Tails asked, taking a seat in the rolling chair and pulling up to one of the computers. Sonic obliged, and took position in the ring. Tails pushed a button and four cuffs locked his hands and feet in place.

"Tails, What the-"

"Oh, too tight?"

"Tails, what in god's name are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing, just a little revenge prank."

"Revenge prank? When was the last time I-" He stopped.

"Ah, you're remembering my birthday party, I assume?" Tails had a comical slasher smile on his face.

"Oh, god."

"Yeah, that's it. The icing? That took me until two days ago to completely get out of my fur?"

"Tails, I am so sorry and-"

"Save the apology, I'm not gonna kill you or anything."

"I- what?"

"I just think you need to learn some kindness. A bit of generosity maybe?

No.

"Just a bit of loyalty, even."

Not this.

"Honesty's always good."

Virtual Reality. Tails was going to put him in his worst nightmare. Worst comical nightmare, at the very least.

"Laughter..."

"You wouldn't."

"I would. You really need to learn how magic our Friendship is!" He said, laughing madly.

"No, Tails, I swear I'll do anything. Anything. Please no."

"No dice, Sonic!" He said, pulling out a very pink DVD case from one of the drawers from the cabinet next to the table.

Tails held it up. The title alone made Sonic want to scream.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Adventures in the Crystal Empire

"Tails!"

"Oh god, Sonic, stop being such a drama queen."

"Where did you even get that!"

"Bought it online. 2 bucks."

"Could be bootlegged."

"Sonic, that would in no way affect the VR." He took the disc out of the case and put it in the closest computer's disc drive.

"Tails! Please!" He tried pleading one last time.

"Not gonna happen!" Tails replied as he clicked the button on another computer to start the program. "Have fun!"

"I hate you." Sonic said, as the helmet went over his head. He couldn't see anything, and expected to soon be greeted by magical, talking, pastel-painted ponies. Instead, a red ERROR warning flashed, before the machine began to overload, shocking the hedgehog. He felt funny, as if something were scanning him and dividing him up.

"What's going on?!" He heard Tails shout.

'Oh, sh-' Was all he got to think before another electric feeling shot through him. He blacked out.

Meanwhile, on Tails's side

"I hate you" Sonic said, as Tails looked at the screen that was playing the DVD. Soon, it would show him Sonic, as if he were the main character, instead of that Twilight... Twinkle? He couldn't remember her name, and frankly, he didn't care. He just wanted Sonic to suffer. In a comical sense, of course. A beeping noise on the other computer jerked his attention away, however, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

Unknown error. Unaccounted anomaly.

"Oh, sh-" was all he got to say before the machine began going haywire, sending sparks everywhere. "What's going on?!" He yelled, before he saw Sonic being digitized. Sonic disappeared.

___________________

Sonic woke up in a great flatland. He sat up and shook his head. He looked around.

'This doesn't look like Mobius.' He thought. Too... bright.

"Sonic?" A panicked Tails rang in his ear like a radio earpiece.

"Tails?" He asked, before everything came back to him: The VR machine, the DVD, the Error.

"Tails, get me out of here, now!"

"I'm sorry, Sonic, but there's something wrong with the program!"

"WHAT?!" He screamed, cursing in six different languages.

"There's something wrong with the VR program!"

"Then fix it!"

"I can't fix it if I don't know what went wrong!"

"It's your fault I'm here in the first place!"

"I know, I know! This was supposed to be a harmless prank, but somehow you got digitized into the program!"

"I..." Sonic was at a loss for words.

"I'm so sorry, Sonic." He sounded on the verge of tears.

"It's okay, Tails. Just- Just get me back."

"Sonic... You had the Emeralds on you, didn't you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because I'm reading several anomalies-

"Explain, fast, please."

` "Oh, right. I programmed the... err... program to track anomalies that exist differently from the thing I put in."

"English, Tails."

"Think of this show as a code. Everything that the characters do exists as a line of code."

"Like a command prompt on a computer."

"Right. Now, everything you or, in this case, the Emeralds do or interact with, et cetera, et cetera, is code as well. But I rigged the program to flag that code as 'anomaly' so I can keep up with everything you do.

"And you're picking up the Emeralds as code."

"Right. But since none of the..." He paused, as if searching for the right words, "Not exactly 'main' characters, but 'focused' characters, including recurring background ones, have interacted with them, I can't track them."

"Well. That's just fine and dandy. DA-"

"Hey, who are you? And who are you talking to?"

Sonic let the rest of his last word come out as a heavy sigh. The person- or rather, pony in question was about as tall as him. She was cyan blue, with a rainbow-colored mane that had to have been dyed that way, and had wings outstretched behind her.

'Boy, this day just keeps getting better, huh?' He thought.

"Helloooooooo!!!!! Equestria to.... Whatever you are!" The cyan mare said. "You look really weird."

'Coming from the talking pony?! Really?' He thought.

"Hey! Can you talk?!"

"Of course I can talk."

"Who and what the hay are you?"

"Name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. Fastest thing alive. And you?"

"My name's Rainbow Dash, and I'm the fastest flier in all of Equestria!" She said, flying around a couple of times to prove her point.

'Oh, great.' Sonic thought, 'Of all the ponies I could meet first, I had to meet the one who acts exactly like me.'

"How'd you get here, anyway?"

"Sonic! Don't tell her she's a cartoon! I don't want the program to meltdown even further!" Tails said urgently.

"I... ah.... Some mystical gems from my world brought me here. I have no idea why." It was partially true. He did have no idea why, and he did suspect that it was the Emeralds being unaccounted for in the machine that made it act up.

"Mystical gems? That sounds kinda like the Elements of Harmony."

Sonic racked his brain, trying to remember exactly what they were. The proverbial light bulb went off as he remembered that they were six necklace things.... well, five and a crown, that were strikingly similar to the Chaos Emeralds, but operated slightly differently. "Yeah, well they're not the... Elements of Harmony. Mine are seven gems called the Chaos Emeralds, each holding unlimited power." As long as you didn't overload them, anyway. They're really dangerous in the wrong hands, so if you'll excuse me, I need to find them as quickly as possible." He prepared to dart off, leaving the blue pony in the dust, but she stopped him.

"Do ya need help? Cause me and my friends in Ponyville could probably-"

"No, I'm really fine. Now, goodbye." He said, and dashed off with his trademark speed.

'I have no idea where to look... And no idea where to go, either! I guess I should head to the capita-' He was ripped from his thoughts by a voice right next to him.

"Wow, you weren't lying when you said you were fast!" Sonic looked over, and was so shocked by the sight of Rainbow Dash flying next to him that he tripped and tumbled before landing face down in the dirt.

"Whoa, you okay? that looked like it hurt!"

It did, but the matter at hand here was more important: "How did you do that???!!!"

"Do what?"

"Fly that fast!!!! You were actually keeping up with me!!!!!!" Sonic was dumbfounded.

"Well, DUH. I told you I was the fastest flier in Equestria, right?"

"But- but- I break the sound barrier on a regular basis! No one has ever been able to keep up with me while I'm running at top speed!"

"Dude, let me break it to ya, I've broken Mach 5 on multiple occasions.... According to Twilight, anyway." She added sheepishly.

'Mach FIVE?!!!!! I can barely break that pushing myself!!!! With the Emeralds I can get Mach 10 easy, but still!' Sonic thought, incredulous.

"Struck speechless at how awesome I am?" She asked with a cocky smile.

'Not to mention conceited....' he thought. "No, I'm trying to figure out how you did that without ripping your wings off." Aaaand the headache was back.

"Easy! Rainbow magic!"

She had to be screwing with his head. He briefly wondered if Tails had programmed her to say that. "Huh?"

"The Sonic Rainboom, to be exact."

'That makes even less sense!!!!' He screamed inwardly. "Give me a little more? Please?"

"Well, you see, I go so so fast, that the air bends around me, and then I break through, and I have an awesome rainbow behind me and I go really fast then and one day I hope to do it in front of Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts and then I'll get invited to be a Wonderbolt and it's gonna be SO AWESOME!!!!"

'Is this thing mentally insane?' Sonic wondered. "Wonderbolts?" He asked.

"You don't know who the Wonderbolts are??!!!!" She looked genuinely mad.

"Hello! Another world! Magic gems!"

"Oh, right. They're this totally super duper awesome flying team that travels around Equestria doing shows and stuff. Aerial shows. And they're part of the military, too!"

'Sounds like the Grey Angels.' He thought, thinking of G.U.N's aerial flight team.

"So, you sure you don't need help finding these Chaos thingies of yours?"

"Well...." He considered it. On one hand, this pony was at the very least slightly crazy, and he'd prefer not to get anyone involved.... On the other hand, He had no idea how Equestria was laid out, or any idea where significant power spots were, as things like that were usually where the Emeralds were drawn to.... Plus it'd be nice to have someone to talk to... "Sure, why not."

"Great!!! Let's go get my friends in Ponyville and then we can start!!!!!! Follow me!!"

'Why do I have a feeling I'm gonna regret this?' He thought as he chased after her.

The Ponyville Chronicles

"So. This is Ponyville?" Sonic asked, looking to his new friend. She nodded enthusiastically. He looked back over the small town. They were on a high hill, overlooking several locations. Off in the distance he could see a forest, and in another direction he saw a tall mountain, with what looked like a castle sticking out of the side. As he surveyed it, he noticed that Ponyville was actually pretty small, more akin to Blue Ridge than the Station Square he was expecting, but still larger than a few of the newer settlements back on Mobius. "It's small. With the way you were going on about it, I was expecting more of a big city type." Rainbow Dash looked at him quizzically. "Less small town, more skyscrapers and stuff like that."

"Oooooh, I get it! If you want a big city, you should check out Manehattan or Fillydelphia."

'Most likely at least one Emerald in either one of them.' Sonic mused silently.

"But a lot of stuff happens here, too! Mainly because it's right next to the Everfree Forest."

"Wild animal trouble?" Sonic could easily take care of that for them.

"No, because it's so magical and so many strange creatures live there, they sometimes wander into Ponyville. Like this one time, this showoff magician showed up, and she..."

Sonic tuned her out easily. 'There's definitely an Emerald in that forest, if it's as magical as she said it is....' He thought. 'Without the small pockets of Chaos energy flowing around, they'll probably be drawn to the most magic locations to keep their power.'

"Helllooooooooo!!!! Are you even listening?"

"Huh? Oh, I was thinking about the Emeralds and where they might be. Sorry, what were you saying?"

"That we should totally go see Twilight!!! She'll know what to do!"

"Are you sure we should walk through the city like that? Won't we cause an uproar?"

"No way, I'm not that famous!" Sonic gave her his best 'Tails-I'm-gonna-kill-you' glare, and she recoiled slightly. "Oh, you mean you. Maybe we will, maybe we won't."

Sonic sighed and replied: "Let's get this over with, then."

As they walked through the main square on the way to Twilight's library, Sonic got more than a few stares from the confused ponies, but most seemed content to go their own ways, and not bother the hedgehog. Only a few stared for more than a second. One in particular, a mint green one with a harp...... was that a tattoo? He noticed all the ponies had different ones, and cursed himself for not being more familiar with the basics of the show. The pony just continued to stare, and Sonic made a mental note to stay as far away from that pony as possible at all times.

"We're here!" Rainbow Dash announced proudly, snapping Sonic out of his trance. He looked up at the library.

'A tree? Seriously?' Sonic thought as Rainbow knocked on the door. A white pony with deep purple hair and a tattoo-thing of three diamonds answered the door. She was a unicorn, and Sonic had no trouble remembering his mythology to notice that.

"Rainbow, darling, how nice of you to drop by!!!! And... err.. who is this?"

"My name's Sonic, and I'm assuming you're Twilight?"

"No, of course not!!"

"I'm sorry, I just assumed.."

"Oh it's no trouble at all dear. I am Rarity, best friend of Twilight Sparkle and the bearer of the Element of Generosity. Glad to meet you!"

'And I believe we have a contender for the 'Miss Conceited of Equestria,' if her tone is any indication....' Sonic thought. "Nice to meet you, as well."

"Oh, darlings, come in, come in! Let's get out of this dreadful heat!" It wasn't even that hot out. As the three walked into the library, Sonic briefly wondered if Tails's contact link with him had been lost. He hadn't heard from him in what he assumed to be about an hour. He briefly entertained the idea of sneaking off and trying to contact him, but dismissed the thought when he remembered that one screw up with Tails working the program had a 50-50 chance of either releasing him or deleting him if it crashed. He decided to not take the risk this time, and just play along with the ponies. "Twilight dear, Rainbow Dash has brought somepony to meet us." With the tone of voice and everything else about her, Sonic couldn't help but compare her to a non-slutty version of Rouge.

"Be out in a second!!" He heard several loud crashes and knew instantly that Twilight was going to be the Tails of the group. 'So we've got me, Tails and Rouge... wonder who else is here...' He wondered while the purple pony- also a unicorn- stumbled into the room.

"SO I'm guessing that you're Twilight?" Sonic asked.

"Yes! And you're...." She looked him over for a moment. He got the uncomfortable feeling of being scanned, like at an airport. "An approximately 3-and-a-half foot tall anthropomorphic hedgehog, weighing in at around 75-80 pounds, and have been exposed to a powerful, yet untraceable energy multiple times....... Fourteen to be exact." Sonic stood there and gaped at her.

"How...... how did you..." It was true. Down to the number of times he had gone Super. He was 3'4 tall, he weighed 77 pounds the last time he checked, and he'd been Super thirteen times, but the Time Eater had bumped that number to fourteen with his past self.

"Simple scanning spell. Only thing it won't tell me is your name!" She replied with a grin.

"Sonic.... the Hedgehog....." he said, after gathering what little dignity he had left after he had stared at her with an open mouth for the past minute and a half. 'At least nothing else can surprise me.' he thought.

"So, Sonic, how'd you come to this world?"

"I honestly have no clue. I was helping a friend out with an experiment, and then the Chaos Emeralds went haywire and sent me here."

"Chaos Emeralds?"

"Seven gems, each filled with immense power. Together, they're nigh unstoppable. Apart, even, they're still dangerous in the wrong hands."

____________________________________________________________________

"Soo.... We need to find them as soon as possible, so nopony uses them wrong?"

"Well, yes, and no.... You see, to unleash the full potential of the Emeralds, you need to be a Chaos Adept, like me, or one of my friends. But, still, they're dangerous because they can power thousands of tons of machinery with only one Emerald."

"Uh huh..."

"So, yes, we need to find them, so no one accidentally misuses them, but it's not that urgent."

"Wow." Rainbow Dash said.

"I concur..." added Rarity

"Do you have even the slightest clue as to where they could be, Sonic?" Twilight asked.

"Well, they're usually drawn to pockets of Chaos energy back on my planet. So, they would most likely try to find a magical source here. Rainbow Dash already mentioned the Everfree Forest, and from her description, I'm pegging it as a prime candidate. For one of them, at least."

"You talk about them like they're sentient."

"Well..... kind of, but not really. They're not sentient, per se, but they definitely have some kind of collective conscious thing going on. They have been known to reject people, but other than that, no. "

"They sound a lot like the-"

"Elements of Harmony, I know. From what Rainbow Dash here told me, I've drawn the parallels already."

"Hmm..."

"Huh? Twilight, I know that thinking face." Rainbow Dash said. "You've figured something out, haven't you?"

"No, but maybe the Elements and your Emeralds are tied.... somehow."

"So. you research that avenue of.... research... and I'll go hit the Everfree Forest and look for my Emerald."

"NO!!!!!" All three ponies yelled in unison.

"You can't go in there alone!!!!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "It's way too dangerous!!!!"

"I don't know about you, Dash, but I love danger. Makes it that much more fun!"

"Still, you need a guide, Sonic." Twilight reasoned. "We should go with you. In fact, all six of us should go!"

"Wait, no-"

"Spike! Go round up the girls, please!"

"Sure thing, Twilight, be back in a minute!" A vaguely lizard- looking being shouted as he ran out the door.

"But-" Sonic sighed and sat down. They'd made up their minds.

Fifteen minutes later, their supplies were packed and Sonic and Twilight were sitting across from one another at her kitchen table. Rarity had gone home to check on her sister, and Rainbow Dash... well, they had no clue.

"So, Twilight, wanna kill some time by telling me exactly how your world works?"

"Sure, Sonic, what do you want to know?"

"Well, considering I know absolutely nothing about your world...."

"Well, maybe we should start with the basics. First off, there are three types of ponies, Unicorns like me, Pegasi like Rainbow Dash, and Earth Ponies, which you haven't met yet."

"Go on."

"Unicorns can use magic freely, but are kind of frail compared to the other two."

"Squishy Wizard."

"Pegasi can fly, obviously, and their bones are light and porous, but vey strong. In addition, they control the weather."

"Sounds like my type." He briefly wondered what kind of pony he would be. Most likely a pegasus.

"And Earth Ponies aren't very magical, but they have a special connection to the ground and everything growing in it. On top of that, they're the most durable of the bunch."

"Still sounds like they got the short end of the stick."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, what's that tattoo thing that all of you seem to have?"

"What?"

"That." He said, pointing towards her flank.

"Oh! You mean my Cutie Mark!"

"Whatever it's called. What is it?"

"A Cutie Mark is something that everypony gets when they discover what their special talent is. Like mine indicates that I'm good at magic, or Rarity's says she's really good with jewels and stuff."

'I wonder what mine would be....' Sonic thought. 'A shoe? Finish line? I'll have to learn more about them before I decide.'

"Hey, y'all! What's this I hear about a trip into the Everfree Forest?" A very southern voice called from the other room. "Twi?"

"In here, Applejack." An orange pony with blonde hair and a what he now knew was a Cutie Mark of three apples came into the room.

"Well, howdy there, newcomer! I'm guessing you're that Sonic fella Spike was talkin' about."

"Pleasure to meet you, Applejack." He said, nodding towards the orange cowpony. He looked at Twilight. "She's an Earth Pony, right?" Twilight nodded. "Good. At least I got that down."

"And what exactly are you s'posed to be? I ain't never seen anythin' like you."

"I'm a hedgehog from another universe. In that universe, I'm the Fastest Thing Alive, a title I held proudly before I met Rainbow Dash."

Applejack snickered, "Yeah, that's our Dash alright." C'mon, Twi, I told Spike we'd meet him at Sugarcube Corner."

"Oh, ok. Come on, Sonic, we should get going."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to keep everyone waiting." He said as they got up. "Lead the way." He motioned at the door. And they were off once again, into an unknown world.

The Everfree Equation

Sonic, Applejack, and Twilight soon reached a building that looked like a gingerbread house with a cupcake on top. The speakers were playing a cheerful tune that wouldn't sound out of place in an old video game.

"Soo..... I'm guessing that this is a bakery?" Sonic asked.

"Oooooh you would be so so sosososososo right, Mr. New Guy!!!!! I just knew that somepony new was gonna come to town today, because I got a twitchy tail, then my hoof burned, and then my tummy was so shaken up and I just said to myself, 'Pinkie Pie, somepony new's gonna show up today', because it happened when Twilight came to town and when that meanie Gilda came to town too and after that I just knew I had to get a party together and Mr. New Guy why are you all the way over there?"

Sonic was against the wall of the nearest house , gasping for breath and staring at the pink Earth Pony like she was a demon from another dimension. 'Nothing can surprise me, hah! I actually thought that! Hah hah hah!!!!' He thought sarcastically.

"Ah, Pinkie Pie? Ah think ya broke him." Applejack remarked.

"Oooh, I'm sososososo sorry Mr. New Guy!!! I can-"

"Please!!! Just stop talking!!!!!" Sonic half-shouted.

"Oh ok, but are you sur-"

"Yes!"

The mare now known as Pinkie Pie made the motions of zipping her mouth shut and locking it.

"So. Are your other friends here yet, Twilight?" Sonic asked. Pinkie began jumping up and down with her hoof in the air like a little kid in school wanting to answer a question. "Yes, Pinkie?"

"Mr New Guy-"

"My name is Sonic. And drop the mister."

"Okay, Sonic, Fluttershy and Dashie and me and Applejack and Twilight are here but Rarity had to take care of something that happened at school with Sweetie Belle! She sounded really mad!"

"Sweetie got in trouble? Ah wonder if mah sister got in on that."

"No, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came by here just a little bit ago and said for me to tell you that they were going to the treehouse. Oh, that reminds me Applejack! Apple Bloom and-"

"Yeah, Ah kinda got that, sugarcube."

Sonic leaned close to Twilight and whispered: "Is she always like this?"

"Yep. That's just Pinkie being Pinkie."

Sonic shuddered. besides the obvious color resemblance, he was definitely drawing some parallels to Amy... Except for the insanity.

"Another thing? Never ever break a Pinkie Promise."

"A huh?"

"You'll see. She gets really mad if you break a Pinkie Promise." Confirmed. Pony version of Amy. He looked over to where Pinkie and Applejack were talking, and wondered who Applejack's inner Mobian was. His first thought was Knuckles, but she wasn't arrogant enough.... Like he could talk. He'd have to give it a bit more thought. As they walked in, he saw a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and a cutie mark of three butterflies. sitting at one of the tables, drinking a milkshake. When she saw him, she ducked under the table. Confused, he turned to Twilight to ask if he did something wrong, but Twilight stopped him.

"That's Fluttershy. She's really shy around new ponies... err..."

"I get what you meant."

"She'll warm up to you.... eventually."

"Okay."

He walked over to the table she was hiding under and sat down.

"h-hello..." He heard from underneath the table.

"Hi, Fluttershy. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, nice to meet you."

"Oh, you're a hedgehog?!! I've never met a hedgehog like you! Oh, I'm sorry Mister Sonic, I mean, I didn't mean you weren't supposed to be different, cause, you know, that' how you are...."

Sonic didn't know whether to laugh or be surprised at the pegasus's sudden change in demeanor. In the end, he shrugged it off, but made a mental note that he had found pony Cream. Right down to the 'Mister Sonic.'

"It's fine, Fluttershy, I knew what you meant. All my friends are like me, except they're not all hedgehogs."

"Oh really? Can we talk about it some time? If you don't mind, that is..."

Sonic laughed. "Of course. But, right now, I think I hear Rarity."

Indeed, the white unicorn walked through the door the next moment, looking very mad.

"I simply can not believe what Sweetie Belle did today!"

"What's up, Rare?" Applejack asked.

"Sweetie Belle actually attacked one of her classmates today!!"

"What, who?" Twilight looked worried.

"It was that little filly, Diamond Tiara! You know, Filthy Rich's daughter!"

"Ah wonder why she'd do that." Applejack mused sarcastically.

"Whatever do you mean by that, Applejack?"

"Ah mean, that little filly is one of the meanest foals around! Her an' that Silver Spoon, they're always bullyin' them! All because they don't have their Cutie Marks! Ah don't blame Sweetie fer puttin' that brat in her place!"

"Be that as it may, Applejack, she shouldn't have done it! Believe me, I have heard about those two, but no matter what her father seems to do, Diamond Tiara just starts it again! And Celestia only knows what Silver Spoon's parents are doing! But no matter what they said, Sweetie shouldn't have attacked her!"

"At least where nopony could see her.." Applejack muttered in response. "What'd she do, anyhow?"

"She levitated her over the bridge and dumped her in the river. I will admit, the aftermath of it was rather hilarious, but the fact remains."

"Wow, Sweetie's advancing quickly! Being able to levitate another pony is an impressive feat at her level!" Twilight said. And that was when everyone burst into laughter.

"Twilight, that was great!!!" Rainbow choked out between laughs.

"Well, I have every right to be proud of her. I'm her teacher, after all. No matter how.... questionable the achievement was."

Sonic wiped the tears from his eyes and asked, "So, what exactly's going on?"

Applejack was the first to recover from the laughing fit to respond: "Mine and Rarity's sisters, and one o' their friends from school, Scootaloo, have this club they call the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders.' An' they go on insane adventure around Ponyville, usually messin' it up tryin' ta get their Cutie Marks, but there's these bullies at school who think they're better'n them cause they got their Cutie Marks already. Ta be honest, the reason they're friends in the first place is cause o' them."

"So, it's half-good, half-bad?"

"Yes, Sweetie is much happier now that she met Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and Applejack's told me Apple Bloom feels the same way." Rarity answered.

"Shoot, they even got one o' mah cousins up in Manehattan to start a 'branch' o' the Crusaders up there!"

"Well, that's nice. Twilight?" Sonic looked over at her. "Don't you think we should get going? I'd rather not trudge around in this "Dangerous" forest of yours after dark."

"Yeah, we should. C'mon girls, let's go help Sonic find this emerald of his."

One hour later

They'd been traveling through this godforsaken forest for what seemed like days, although Twilight had told him it had only been an hour. He didn't believe her. So far, the only "danger" had been him almost ripping Pinkie Pie's throat out. Did she ever shut up?

"And then I was all like-"

"PINKIE!!!! Can we just have some silence, please?"

"Oh, silly Sonic! Don't ya know, I love love LOVE talking!! And-" 'You love talking? Huh, I'd never have guessed' Sonic thought "-he was all like 'Grr I'm gonna eat you, and-"

"Pinkie, please!" Sonic's headache was back with a vengeance.

"Okay, then can we sing? C'mon, everypony!" She drew a large breath, but before she could start, she found her mouth full of Applejack's hoof.

"Pinkie, Ah think we're all a bit tired of yer stories for a little bit." Pinkie nodded, and mercifully stayed silent.

"Sonic, do you have any way to find your emerald?" Twilight asked.

"If I get close enough to it, I can sense it, but I'm nowhere near as powerful as Shadow about it."

"A friend of yours?"

"Yeah, he's really attuned to Chaos energy, to the point that he can draw power from the air around him."

"Oh, really? Sort of like our magic?"

"Yeah, it's closer than you'd think, actually. Wait-" He felt an influx of power in the air: It was undoubtedly an Emerald. He walked off in the direction he felt it coming from, and tripped. He smacked the forest floor.

Hard.

"Oooooooohhhh, my head's never gonna get better, is it?" He groaned. He rolled over to see what he had tripped over, and saw the Green Chaos Emerald laying there, shining as brilliantly as ever.

"Hey, girls, I found it!!" he called.

They were over to him in a matter of seconds, admiring the Emerald.

"It's beautiful!" said Rarity.

"Rare, fer once, Ah agree with ya." Applejack said.

"Sonic, you weren't kidding when you said that thing was powerful!" Twilight remarked. "I'd be afraid to touch it!"

"Yeah, well, before we get into details about what exactly it does, we should get out of here, it's getting dark."

"Yeah, everypony, we'll talk about it at the library." With that, they all turned to exit the forest, back to the safety of Ponyville.

Viva Las Pegasus

"So, what yer sayin' here is that when you get all seven o' them Emeralds, you can go all glowy and get a bunch o' super powers?" Applejack asked, after Sonic had explained the Chaos Emeralds to them.

"And you used that power to take down two gods, an out of control experiment, an insane robot, and a time devourer?" Twilight clarified.

"'Chaos is power, enriched by the heart,' a friend of mine once said. And it's the truth." Sonic replied. "Chaos energy is powerful, but it's insanely dangerous, as well. If a non-adept like one of you tried to use the Emeralds and go super, the sheer force of the energy'd probably rip you apart. After ten years of using them, I still have to get used to the feeling."

"You said you first gathered all seven Emeralds when you were.... 11?" Twilight asked.

"Ten. I was surprised when it happened, but at least that time I can say that old Egghead was too. The second time, he was much more prepared. I wouldn't be here right now if Tails hadn't convinced Knuckles to lend me some of the Master Emerald's power."

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking, that is..." Fluttershy was... odd. But in a good way.

"I had drained myself fighting a robot that I later found out was built for that purpose. And since it was only my second time fighting with them, I hadn't learned to regulate my power yet, so by the time I was chasing Eggman I was already 'flickering,' something Shadow and I came up with to describe almost reverting to normal."

"Why do you call it that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because when I get low on power, I 'flicker' between gold and blue, like a flame in the wind, you know? It's there, then it's not. Anyway, I relayed the information to Tails by radio, and he convinced Knuckles to use the Master Emerald to help me."

"And what did that do, darling?" Rarity inquired.

"It made me a god in hedgehog form. I flashed between the seven colors of the emeralds, my eyes turned pure white, and according to Tails, I was radiating power. I barely recall it, because I passed out soon after returning to normal, but I can remember using abilities I wouldn't even hear of again until I met Shadow. Chaos Spear, Chaos Control, Chaos Snap, Chaos Burst.... I broke the speed of light, even, according to Tails. Made a patchwork rainbow behind me."

"But, that's a Sonic Rainboom!!" Rainbow cried.

"Nuh uh, Dash. You create rainbows by magic. I made mine by bending the entire light spectrum."

"Wait, Sonic." Twilight interjected, "You said Eggman stole the Master Emerald. How did Knuckles-"

"As an Emerald Guardian, Knuckles has integral relationship with the Master Emerald, transcending time and space. He could communicate with it even if he was here, with me."

"Ya know, sugarcube, the way you talk, it sounds like the Emeralds are connected more'n yer lettin' on. Ya think you could use that Emerald to find the others?"

"I'm hoping. Hold on, I'll be right back." He said, getting up and walking to the door. The others followed him ,expecting to see one of the powers of the emerald, but instead, he just stood there with his eyes closed, holding it.

"Umm... Sonic? You okay?"

"Yes, now hold on, I'm trying to concentrate." It wasn't long before they heard him saying some sort of incantation:

The servers are the seven Chaos

Chaos is power, enriched by the heart

the controller is the one who unifies the Chaos

Emerald, guide me to your others!

Show me the way!!!!

Sonic looked at the Emerald expectantly, but nothing happened.

"Well that didn't work." As Sonic turned to the others, he thought he saw Twilight twitch at his phrase, but she remained silent. "I was hoping it'd lead me to at least one, but no dice."

"Twilight! I got a letter from the princess!" Spike called, running out to meet them. "She says to meet her in Las Pegasus as soon as possible!"

"Wait, she's not in Canterlot?"

"No, she's staying at the Alicorn Palace, for now."

"Sounds like your princess is in another castle." Sonic snarked.

Everyone looked at him like he was insane. "What?"

"Anyway, she says she followed some sort of energy burst from Las Pegasus. Says it was so powerful that both she and Luna felt it from Canterlot!"

"Sonic, this could be one of your emeralds!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I was just thinking that." Sonic said.

"So, wait, we're going to Las Pegasus? WHOO HOO!!!!!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Ooooh it's gonna be so so fun!!!!" Pinkie screamed. It was the first time she'd said anything since they got back.

"Wait, what's so special about Las Pegasus?" Sonic asked.

"You don't know, darling? It's only the most popular city this side of Equestria!" Rarity responded "Hotels, magic shows, it's all very glamorous."

"Plus, the Wonderbolts are performing there this weekend!" Dash said.

"And there's an super-cool new thing where you roll in a ball down a slope and get money for doing good!!!!" Pinkie screeched

"An' some o' mah best clients are there!" Applejack said.

"Well, I guess we should get some sleep, huh? Looks like we got a full couple of days ahead of us." Sonic said.

"I- I agree with Sonic, girls. We don't wanna be tired. Unless of course you do wan to be tired and that's okay because-"

"It's fine, Fluttershy. I think we should get some sleep as well." Twilight said. "Meet here an hour after dawn?" Everyone mumbled in agreement. "Okay, sounds great!"

The next day, Friendship Express, Approx. 11:30 Mobius Time

"Oooooooohhhhh...." Sonic groaned. He hadn't slept good the previous night, mainly because Twilight's spare bed was.... Stiff, at best. At worst, it felt like he was sleeping on three planks of plywood. Which wasn't that far off. To top it off, he'd been sitting on a train for the past four and a half hours, to go a distance it would have taken him five minutes to run. Ten, if he paced himself.

"Sonic, you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, just a little stiff." He replied, stretching, "Not used to sitting this long."

"I can relate." She replied, before turning around to answer a question Pinkie had asked her.

An hour later, they had finally reached their destination: A hot air balloon field that would take them to the pegasus city. Twilight had cast a spell on them so they could walk on the clouds, and on top of that Sonic had the small chip Tails had invented for him that could condense clouds so he could bounce off of them. Moments later, he was treated to the sight of a very beautiful- and bright- city. Neon lights were everywhere, advertising shows, hotels, and.... casinos?

'Casinos? In a kid's show? They're teaching kids to gamble???!!!!! Oh, wait...' Sonic thought.

"So, what do you think?" Twilight asked.

"It reminds me of several places back on Mobius, but mostly the Casino Park in Metropolis." Sonic said. As they got out of the balloon and started walking, Pinkie started jumping around.

"Oooooh this place is so awesome!!!!!! I wanna sing!!!! Please, Sonic? Pleasepleaseplease?"

Sonic heard some cheerful tune begin, seemingly out of nowhere, but shrugged and said: "Sure. ONE song."

"Yay!!!! but you gotta sing with me!!!!!" She said, dragging him along.

"Wh-what do I sing about?"

"Whatever you want, silly!!" Sonic thought, and reached into the DJ skills he had picked up between the Black Arms and Dark Gaia, and began:

Run At The Speed Of Sound

Got Both Feet Off The Ground

I'm Gonna Show You How

Sonic Breaks It Down!

Tell Me, Tell Me

How I Can Make It Through !

Tell me how to make it through! Pinkie sang, providing backup.

Show Me What I Have To Do!

Come On, Come On,

Get Up, Get Up,

It's Time To Have Some Fun

Time to have some fun! Pinkie backed.

Wake up, Wake up!

Get up, Get up!

The Game Has Just Begun!!! Sonic let Pinkie have the next verse:

We're Gonna Make Our Way

Through The Troubles That We Face

Gonna Make It Through This Place

If We Give It One More Try

It's Time To Touch The Sky Sonic reprised his role as the lead singer and continued:

It's Time To Touch The Sky

It's Time To Blow Your Mind

With a Techno Hedgehog Spin

Gonna Make This Beat Rewind!

Tell Me, Tell Me

That We Will Make It Through!

Tell me that we'll make it through! Pinkie sang

Gonna Show You All That I Can Do!

Come On, Come On

Get Up, Get Up

It's Time To Have Some Fun!

Time To Have Some Fun!! Pinkie supplied.

Wake Up, Wake Up!

Get, Up Get Up!

The Game Has Just Begun! Sonic let Pinkie finish off the song:

Nothing In Our Way

Is Gonna Pull Us Down Today!!!

We're Gonna Make It To The Top!!!

Super Sonic Speed We Just Can't Stop!!!!

Touch The Clouds As We Pass By!!!!

Summer Sun Is In The Sky!!

We Can Make It If We Try!!!

Spread Our Wings And Watch Us Fly!

It's Time Touch The Sky!!!!!

Woah Oh Oh Oh Oooh!!!!

Sonic panted, out of breath, and looked around. He noticed the music was coming from a nearby casino. 'Now that makes more sense.' Sonic thought.

"Yaay!!!! That was so much funn!!! Another one!!!" Pinkie yelled.

"Sorry, Pinkie, we need to get to Princess Celestia." Twilight said.

"Another time, Pinkie. I promise." Sonic said.

"Okay!!!!!" Pinkie said, and they followed the rest of the group towards the Alicorn Palace.

Highway from Hell

Highway From Hell

After walking for a bit, Sonic noticed a large building in the distance. It was certainly larger than most of the casinos around here, and he asked Twilight about it.

"Oh, that's where we're headed, Sonic! The Alicorn Palace hotel!" She replied cheerfully.

'Hotel?' Sonic thought. He had been expecting a more home-away-from-home thing for the princess, but a hotel? The couple of princesses he knew wouldn't dare do anything like that.

"So we're gonna go in there, and she'll give us the Emerald?" Sonic asked, hopeful.

"Well, she never said she knew where it was. So, maybe...." Twilight replied, uncertain.

"Oh. Swell." Sonic said. 'More wandering around here. Great.' The clouds weren't exactly..... comforting to walk on.

"But there's always the chance that she's found it!" Twilight reassured, noting his concerned look. Sonic repressed the urge to give her a glare and just continued on. The others were all talking about what they were going to do over the couple of days they were staying here.

"Hey, Twilight?"

"Yeah Sonic?"

After we find the Emerald, would you be offended if I headed back to Ponyville? I feel uneasy walking on things that aren't supposed to be walked on-" 'Water excluded' he thought "-And the constant motion isn't helping."

"No, of course not! I totally understand, and it does take some getting used to. The first time I used the spell I fell flat on my face five times. My friends fared better their first time...."

"Okay, thanks. I'm no too fond of heights, either. The Sky Sanctuary was a total nightmare for me."

"That was when Eggman tricked Knuckles into thinking you had stolen the Emeralds, right?"

"Just when I think I've forgiven him, someone brings it up again..." Sonic joked, and they both laughed. Within a few minutes, they had arrived at the hotel, and were on their way up the stairs to see the princess.

"Twiley!!!!!!"

"Shining Armor? What are you doing here?!!" Twilight said, rushing up to meet the male unicorn that had just called her 'Twiley.' Sonic noted he'd have to save that one for later.

"I needed to train a new regiment of guards, and what better practice than active duty guarding a princess?"

"But Cadence-"

"Was the one who came up with the idea. Don't worry, she's fine. My elites are back home."

"Hi there," Sonic cut in, "I'm just gonna take a wild guess and say that you're the brother she talked about on the train ride here?"

"Yes, I am. Shining Armor, Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire." He replied with a salute. "And you're this Sonic character I've heard about."

After responding with his own salute, Sonic said: "Sonic the Hedgehog. Nice to meet the brother of one of the kindest people I know. Err... ponies." He said, fixing his slip up. "Sorry, not used to modifying pronouns yet. Heh heh."

"It's fine. Well, the princess is expecting you seven, better not keep her waiting." he said, motioning towards two guards next to the doors, who opened them. Sonic was actually quite surprised when he saw Celestia. Rather that being slightly shorter than him, she was about the size of a regular horse, and she had both wings and a horn. Looking back to compare their sizes mentally, he noticed that they were all kneeling, and he mentally smacked himself before swooping into a low bow. Celestia turned around to greet them.

"Now now, there's no need for formalities here. And you're Sonic, correct?"

"Yes, princess. Have you found my Emerald yet?" Sonic asked, hopeful.

"Ah, so it was you....." She mused. "No, but yesterday morning, both my sister Luna and I felt a rather large power coming from here. Fearing that it might be the Changelings, I came here as quickly as I could. Captain Armor and his guard only just arrived this morning."

"Changelings?" Sonic asked.

"Magical creatures that have the ability to take on any pony's appearance, at any time. We caught a couple near Trottingham, but they refused to talk. Hopefully they are just remnants of the Canterlot Invasion, but we must be cautious. Now, about this Emerald. Do you have any way to track it?"

"No, unfortunately, but after ten years of dealing with them, I know where we should..... look...." He felt a tug, like the one in the forest. He couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it was coming from what looked like a massive slide in the distance. "Princess, what's that?" He asked, pointing to it.

"Oh... that." She sounded embarrassed. "That is something I'm convinced the architects designed while drunk. They call it a 'Poker Highway.' You roll down it in a ball like an oversized hamster, and get more money based on what cards you hit. It's kind of an eyesore...."

'BINGO Highway, anyone?' He thought. "Reminds me of something back home...... I'll be back shortly. I think the Emerald's there."

"Really?" Celestia asked, dumbfounded.

"Twilight, could I borrow some..... whatever your currency's called? I'll pay you back double." Sonic asked, walking towards the door.

"Sure," She said, handing him twenty bits: the minimum wager, "But are you sure you don't need somepony to go with you?"

"No, you guys go ahead and do whatever it is you were wanting to do this weekend. I'll come back before I head off for Ponyville."

"Okay, if you're sure..." She said, turning back into the room. "Sonic?"

"Shoot!" He said, already descending the stairs.

"Be careful."

"Will do, Twi! Back in fifteen!"

Poker Highway Table #1, Las Pegasus, one hour later.

He had waited for an hour just to get to the tables, and one was finally clear. As he handed the wager to the stallion, he stretched while another stallion explained the rules. When the second stallion asked if he was ready, he asked if he could go without the ball.

"Well.... there's no rule against it.... Okay, fine." Sonic nodded and drew back, ready to blast down this slope like BINGO Highway back home.

"Three"

"Two

"One"

"LAUNCH!!"

Sonic tapped into the white wisp's residual energy that had remained with him and boosted forward, jumping and curling into a ball. He hit the table, and took a second to remember the feeling and get used to spinning as fast as he was. He was gradually gaining momentum, and he hit three cards already. He sensed that the Emerald was still a ways off, so he decided to focus on the cards. After a few minutes, he had ranked up a decent amount of money, more than enough to pay Twilight back. He felt the Emerald approaching, so he uncurled and started running down the slope to make sure he wouldn't miss it. He saw a blue glint above him, and looked up: It was level with him, in between the tables. He jumped and pulled off another midair boost, and hopped between the support pillars, before a very loud crunch filled his ears. He noticed he was falling. And he noticed the tables were falling, as well. As he ran, trying to escape the falling debris, Emerald in hand, he looked at it. 'I wonder.... have I used it all?'

"Only one chance!!!!!!" He concentrated as hard as he could.

"LASER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

He felt the Hyper-Go-On energy engulf him, turning him into a line of cyan light. He bounced off the falling debris multiple times before landing safely in the ground below.

"Dear Celestia, Sonic, are you okay??!!!" Twilight ran up to him, panting.

"Barely..... I'm glad I hadn't wasted all of the residual Hyper-Go-On energy in these things, or I'd be a hedgehog pancake!"

"What is..."

"Remember the wisps? When I used the Final Color Blaster, the emeralds retained some of their energy. It's that simple. He explained quickly.

"Oh. Well, at least you're alright..."

"Yeah, let's go tell the others."

Cloud formation, Approx. 5 miles from Las Pegasus

"Grr... I failed." The hooded unicorn growled, as she looked upon the lavender unicorn and the blue hedgehog. "Don't worry, my little friends..... Your short-lived victory is only a minor setback in the grand scheme. When my master gets his hooves on you, though, you'll wish you had been crushed by that highway." She finished, and teleported off.

Wind and Crusaders

"Sonic, I'm glad to see you're okay, at least." Celestia said. They'd been back for an hour, in which time Sonic had explained what exactly happened.

"Yeah, I'm kinda happy, too." Sonic joked.

"So, you're leaving here now, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, I hate heights... But you'll all be back in two days, right?"

"Yeah, ah can't leave mah farm unattended for too long." Applejack said.

"The same with my boutique, darling. It won't run itself."

"Well, fine. I get some alone time, and you guys get a break from me. I know, I know, I'm unbearable." He said, chuckling.

"No more than Rainbow Dash." A voice piped up from the back of the room. Everyone looked, and saw....

"Fluttershy?"

Everyone except Rainbow burst into laughter at the timid pegasus's surprise comment. The fact that it was Fluttershy, of all ponies, who had said it made it worse.

One hour later

Sonic whooped with joy, finally being able to cut loose and just run for the first time since he had come to Equestria. He couldn't do it around the others, save Rainbow Dash, but now he was just enjoying the breeze. He was so enthralled in his running, that he very nearly hit a small filly, quickstepping out of the way just in time, and skidding to a stop.

"Mister..." The white unicorn filly panted. "Mister, you have to help my friend! She's stuck on a cliff!!!"

Sonic's demeanor changed instantly, "Where?"

"F-follow me!" The filly said, turning around.

"No time for that!" Sonic said, running forward and picking her up.

Within seconds, the aforementioned cliff came into view, an orange pegasus filly nervously pacing back and forth on top of it.

"Oh, thank Celestia you found somepony! Apple Bloom!!!!!!! Hang tight!!!!" The newer filly yelled.

'Apple Bloom? These must be the Cutie Mark Crusaders that the others were talking about.' Sonic thought as he looked over the edge. While it wasn't steep enough to hurt him if he fell, it could still seriously injure a small child. Apple Bloom was hanging onto a small branch that looked as though it could break any moment. He jumped over the edge, with the remaining Crusaders gasping at him, and landed roughly as the branch snapped, Apple Bloom plummeted through the air, screaming as she went. Sonic shook the landing off, diving to catch the filly, only barely grabbing her before she hit the ground. He rolled onto his side, absorbing most of her momentum and breaking her fall.

"Th-thank you, mister." Apple Bloom said. She was tearing up.

"It's okay. Are you alright?" He asked, genuine concern in his voice. His side hurt where she had hit, but he could see no visible damage to her.

"Ah'm fine.... Just a li'l shook up."

"Whoa, that was so cool!" He heard behind him, comforting the crying filly.

"Thank you so much for helping us, mister!!!" The squeaky one said.

"It's fine." He said. "Helping people is kind of what I do. " He put Apple Bloom down, having made sure she'd calmed down some first, and turned around to confront them all at once. "So let me guess, you're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, huh?"

"Yep!" The orange one replied. "I'm Scootaloo, this is Sweetie Belle," She said, pointing to the squeaky voiced one, who waved, "And you've already met Apple Bloom."

"So, how did Apple Bloom get stuck on that cliff?"

"It was kind of weird... We were crusading like normal, and suddenly that cliff appeared out of nowhere! Apple Bloom got stuck in it, and I stayed back while Sweetie ran to get help." Sonic didn't believe one bit of her story.

"Scootaloo, I want to ask you something." He got down on his knee and looked her straight in the eyes. "Are you telling me the truth?"

"Yes. Why would I lie?" She didn't blink, or flinch one bit. Either that was the real story, or she was incredibly good at lying.

"That's what happened, mister Sonic. Ah don't know how, ah don't know why, but that cliff just appeared outta nowhere. It don't make no sense, neither." Apple Bloom would have no reason to lie.

"Well, I can think of one explanation!" A voice said.

"Who's there?" Sonic said, getting up and looking around.

"Behind you." The voice said. Sonic turned around, and saw a blue unicorn with a bright green mane, with a bright red stripe going down its middle. She had aqua-colored eyes, with slitted pupils, and wore a black jumpsuit-like thing with a black cape, as well. "Hello, I am Sonic Wind."

'Wow. Really?' Sonic thought. "What do you want?"

"Well, you see, I want those fillies dead, but you'll make a fine substitute!" She said, firing a blast of deep green energy at him. He jumped out of the way, and rolled into a fighting stance.

"Girls! Get out of here!!!!" He yelled, and they obliged without hesitation. Sonic used his speed to charge at the unicorn, but she put up some sort of force field that only left him wide open for another attack.

"Wondering why I'm called Sonic?" The mare tauntingly asked.

"Wanna know why I'm called Sonic?" The hedgehog shot back before hitting her with an uppercut.

"Gah! It's because I specialize in attacking with sonic waves!!!!!! Hahahahah!!!!! And unless you can manipulate sound, you're out of luck!!!!!" She said, bringing up a shield around her.

"Well. They call me Sonic because I can break the sound barrier!!!!!!!!" He said, running off to gain speed. He briefly saw a look of terror on Sonic Wind's face as he burst through her shield, before his barrier shattering fist connected with her face, sending her flying.

She got up quickly, though struggled to stay standing , and said: "Well, Sonic. Looks like you won this round! But I'll make sure you're dead before this is over with!" She teleported off.

'Well. This trip just got a whole lot more interesting.' He thought.

The Sonic Boom

"Well, that was certainly..... interesting." Sonic said, gripping his side. The encounter with Sonic Wind had been about an hour ago, and the adrenaline from the fight had worn off enough that he could feel that he had at least cracked his rib in the encounter. He was currently sitting on the ground floor of the library while Spike wrote a letter to Celestia and Twilight to explain what happened. Spike had freaked out when Sonic had told him about what had happened.

"Okay.... New scary pony in town, tried to kill the Crusaders, you think she's working for somepony, anything else?" Spike asked, clarifying.

"One more thing, add it as a P.S." Spike readied his quill. "I also think that this pony is the reason that the Highways collapsed. She seemed to be out to get me specifically, because she never once focused on the Crusaders after I stepped up. Please reply as soon as possible."

Spike finished writing the rest of the letter out and rolled it up before breathing a blast of green fire onto it, as a knock sounded at the door. Sonic got up and walked over to the door, and was tackled by three small fillies, all shouting some form of "Thank you!" Sonic groaned and grabbed his side before pushing them off of him, all while laughing, making his side hurt even worse.

"Oh dear, did they hurt you?" A previously unseen purple Earth Pony with a Cutie Mark of three smiling flowers asked, concerned.

"No, no, I did this in my fight. Believe me, this is a small scratch compared to some of the beatings I've taken." He chuckled, getting up. I'm Sonic, and you are..."

"Cheerilee." The mare responded, holding out a hoof. "I'm the teacher at the schoolhouse here in Ponyville. These girls came running to me and told me about what had happened."

"But... How'd you figure out where I was?"

Scootaloo piped up, "The skid marks, duh!" Sonic looked out the door. A rather large indentation was ingrained into the ground.

"That happens, occasionally.... Heh, sorry." He said sheepishly.

"It's fine, I'm sure the rain tomorrow will clear it up." Cheerilee said. "Anyway, I wanted to make sure these three thanked you. They're.... flighty, to say the least."

"That's an understatement. They've been here five minutes and they're already wanting to go." Sonic said, chuckling.

"Ms Cheerilee? Can we go crusadin' some more?" Apple Bloom asked

"Girls... I don't think that's such a good idea, with what happened."

"I'll watch them. I'd like to get out and run, anyway." Sonic said.

"YAY!!!!!! CUTIE MARK CRUSADER..... umm... What are we dong again?" Sweetie asked.

"We're just going out with Mr Sonic." Scootaloo said. "Let's go!!!" they all three ran out the door.

"Wait, girls!!!! Gah... It was nice meeting you, Cheerilee." Sonic said, dashing after the Crusaders.

Ten minutes later, Outskirts of Ponyville

"So what are we gonna do first?" Scootaloo said.

"Ooooh! Cutie Mark Crusader mountain climbers!!!" Sweetie said.

"Nah, we tried that already." Apple Bloom said with a shudder.

Sonic had been sitting under a tree for the last five minutes, watching them scheme on how to get their Cutie Marks. Babysitting was something he was familiar with, he had babysat Cream a couple times when Amy couldn't do it. It was actually how he'd heard of the show in the first place, and how he got his limited knowledge of it. Speaking of which, he hadn't actually thought of Equestria as a show in a while.... Nor had he heard from Tails. Surely, he'd have something to say by now. Even if he couldn't get him out, he could at least tell him.

"Tails? Tails, can you hear me?" Nothing. That wasn't good. Had the connection been damaged somehow? Did it work like a radio, with a limited range? Or.... Or was there something bigger going on here? And did that Sonic Wind pony have something to do with it? He was so enthralled that he didn't hear the Crusaders calling him.

"Mister Sonic!!!!!!!!" Sweetie Belle yelled.

"Hm? What's up?"

"What's your Cutie Mark?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't have one. My species doesn't get Cutie Marks."

"Oh, really?"

"Yup."

"What do you think it'd be?" Scootaloo asked.

"I really don't know, Scoots. I thought about it when Twilight first told me about them, and all I could think up is it'd have something to do with my speed."

"Hah! Please, you're nowhere near as fast as Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said.

Sonic raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Oh, really?"

"Really."

Sonic got up. "Oh kid, you're gonna learn something today."

He jumped up and took off, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom's calls of awe reaching his ears. He rolled into a ball and flipped around, now running backwards, running back to the Crusaders. "So cool!!!!!" He heard Sweetie cry.

'Heh. If they think that's cool, wait til they see this.' He reversed directions again, this time turning when he reached the Crusaders. This technique could possibly hurt Ponyville if he was too close. He pulled out the green Chaos Emerald, and started to draw power from it.

"Sonic............ BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He shouted, as the Emerald took control of his speed. He felt the sound barrier bend effortlessly around him, the Emerald giving him more speed than he would ever need. Even now, he was only drawing a fraction of the Emerald's power out. The first time he had perfected it, he had been Super, and according to Tails, very nearly broke the speed of light. Returning his attention to the matters at hand, he made a wide u-turn and rocketed back towards the Crusaders, stopping and starting to skid when he was a good thousand feet in front of him. As he slowed down, he did a backflip and struck a pose, finishing off his gloat session. When he finally stopped, he said: "So, am I still slower than Dash?"

"I.... That... That WAS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Scootaloo yelled, the three Crusaders jumping around him, asking him questions.

'Huh. My own little fanclub. I could get used to this.' He thought with a chuckle.

"Come on, girls, it's getting late. We need to get back to the library." He said.

"Okay." They all three (Surprisingly) obliged.

Ponyville Library, two hours later.

After he had dropped the Crusaders off at Sweet Apple Acres, he had returned to the library to rest. He had ended up falling asleep on Twilight's couch, until Spike woke him up with the other's reply:

Sonic

I can understand your concerns about this new pony. I will have the entire guard on lookout for her. As for the fact that she may be working for somepony, I do not understand your reasoning, but I will trust your intuition on the matter. I'm not exactly eager to say that one of my subjects is planning to overthrow me, but it does seem that way from Sonic Wind's actions. Also, there were magical traces on the Highways, so your theory about her is correct. However, I do not understand why anypony would attack you. You're no threat to anypony, at least not from an outsider's viewpoint. Could it be that they are after your Chaos Emeralds? Either way, I'd like to talk to you face-to-face about this. Meet me in Canterlot in a week, and we will discuss this there.

Princess Celestia

P.S. Applejack and Rarity say that they are forever grateful to you for saving their sisters, and Rainbow Dash thanks you for saving Scootaloo, as well.

"Well, she certainly connected some dots I didn't notice." Sonic remarked. "The Chaos Emeralds would be a force to be reckoned with, even here...... I'll think about this some more later, right now I'm tired." He finished, yawning. Spike had already fallen asleep. He yawned again and stretched before heading upstairs to Twilight's spare bedroom and falling into dreams himself.

Tempest in the Orchard

Sonic awoke the next day to the sun beaming through the window. Groaning, he got up from the still-uncomfortable bed and reread the letter from last night. However, something struck him as odd: When had he said that someone was trying to overthrow her? I'm not exactly eager to say that one of my subjects is planning to overthrow me.... Was she just paranoid? Or did she know more than she was letting on? He decided to just pass it off as paranoia, but it was still at the back of his mind. As he made his way down the stairs, he noticed Spike was already up, presumably running the library while Twilight was away.

"Hey, you're finally awake!" Spike called.

"Finally? What time is it?"

"Only about nine. But I usually get up right after Celestia raises the sun, at least when Twilight's not here."

'Celestia raises the sun? Huh?' He thought, but he decided to just play along. "Believe me, this is early for me. Usually I sleep until two or three, unless I set an alarm. That, or Tails calls and wakes me up." He said with a chuckle.

"Why do you sleep so late?" Spike asked.

"Because I stay up late."

"Doing what?"

"Playing video games, watching TV, messing around on the internet..." 'Trolling the occasional brony.....' He added mentally. "You haven't got any of that stuff here in Equestria, so I got to sleep at a reasonable hour."

"Ah okay. Hey, could you put these books on that top shelf? I'm a bit too short to reach it."

"Sure." He said, walking over to the indicated shelf.

An hour later, Sonic was on his way to Sweet Apple Acres to check on the Crusaders, when he was smacked into from behind by a grey pegasus with a blonde mane.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sir! I was flying and I lost control!"

" 'S fine....." Sonic said, groaning as he got up. His headache was once again gracing him with its presence. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm.... used to it.... I'm Ditzy Doo. Nice to meet you, Mr..."

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. What did you mean, you were used to it?"

"I'm not a very good flyer.... It's how I got my nickname. But I try!"

"Nickname?" He noticed she was cross-eyed.

"Derpy... I do my best to try to not live up to it...."

'That's... kind of jerkish.'

"But, I get by... Anyway, I need to get this package delivered. It was nice meeting you!" She yelled, flying off.

"Huh. That was.... weird." Sonic said, and sped off towards the house. After hearing that the three fillies were in their clubhouse from a particularly tight-lipped stallion, he approached the small house, when he heard a crash behind him. He turned around and rolled into a fighting pose; ten years of Eggman's antics had trained him well. Looking, he saw a collapsed tree, with an indigo pegasus with a deep purple mane that had a red stripe through it like Sonic Wind's. She (He assumed, at least. It looked female.) also had a suit on that was identical to Sonic Wind's.

'Great. Another one of these ponies.' He thought. He noticed that she had.... something on her wings. Whatever they were, they looked sharp. 'They're probably what knocked that tree down.'

"Found you!" The pony said.

"Well, If I'd known you were looking for me, I'd have made it easier!" The ever-cocky Sonic shot back. "Who are you?"

"I am Tempest. And I'm here to kill you." Tempest said.

"Oh what a lame-ass line! Seriously!!!!!! Is that the best thing you could think up?"

"Well... I didn't have much time.. and... Shut up!"

"Heh, well, Tempest, I've dealt with things that are much more..... threatening, than you. You don't look like you could even hurt me!"

"Why don't you come on and find out how threatening I am!" The pegasus snarled, taking off and flying towards him, wings outstretched. Sonic rolled out of the way, and struck another fighting pose.... only to see that three of the trees that had been level with his head were no longer standing up. They were on their sides, clean cut, with Tempest flying above them.

'What in god's name is on her wings?' He thought. 'I can't let her get close to me.' He saw her dive down towards him again, and he took off running through the orchard. He couldn't run at full speed, though, for fear of smacking into a tree at nearly mach 1, so Tempest was able to keep up, just barely. She chose to fly over the trees, so she was able to fly faster. Sonic summoned one of the Chaos Emeralds he had with him and started drawing power from it. He jumped into one of the trees to get a better aim, and fired a Chaos Spear right at Tempest's wing. It hit, but the weapon she had on it took most of the blow. He began to focus and draw more power form the emerald.

"Chaos.....SNAP!!!!!!!!!!" He felt the Chaos energy coursing through him, and he teleported around her several times before appearing above her and homing attacking her wing. The attack knocked her off course and knocked the blade off her wing, and she spiraled down into the orchard.

'Wait... How am I supposed to get down?' Sonic looked down, and suddenly felt like he was a cartoon character that had just walked off a cliff. He plummeted to the ground, trying but failing to grab a tree branch, and came down hard on his ankle, with a loud crack.

"Gah!!!!!!" He yelped in pain. Blinking the tears of pain out of his eyes, he saw Tempest galloping off through the trees. cradling her hurt wing. He leaned back against one of the trees, examining his ankle. It looked like he'd broken it, alright, but he'd have to ask Twilight about it........ Except Twilight was still in Las Pegasus. However, he heard hoofsteps rushing towards him, with a very familiar voice saying: "Ah saw him land over here!!"

"Applejack?" He called out.

"Ah heard him!"

"I did too!" Twilight.

"Hey! Over here!" Suddenly, he was face-to-face with two unicorns and an earth pony.

"Found you! You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack said.

"Yes, darling, that couldn't have been very pleasant." Rarity added.

Biting back sarcasm at Rarity's comment, he replied, "Yeah, I'm fine, but I think I broke my ankle. But aren't you supposed to be in Las Pegasus?"

"Well, we were going to stay there for another day, but that wasn't very responsible of us when our sisters were most likely in danger, now was it?" Rarity said.

"We woulda been back last night, but the trains were shut down after what happened with the tables."

"And since Princess Celestia left right after getting your letter, we couldn't get her to overrule the conductors." Twilight added. "Now hold still, I'm gonna try to fix your ankle." Sonic's leg was wrapped in a purple glow, and he felt his bones being shifted around. Deciding to wisely change the subject, he asked: "Where are the others?"

"Rainbow Dash chased after the pegasus that was fightin' you, Fluttershy's checkin' on the Crusaders, and Pinkie Pie's.... well, I don't rightly know what happened ta her." Applejack said, looking around.

"What made you come to the farm?"

"Well, we were coming here because we knew the Crusaders would be here." Rarity answered. "But when we saw that pegasus, we got a little suspicious. Sure enough, we saw you jump into the air, and start teleporting around, so we rushed over here." The was a crack as Sonic's bone slipped back into place.

"There, that should do it." Twilight said. "Though I'd stay off it for a couple days. Medical magic is my weakest point."

"Got it." Sonic said, getting up and walking towards where Tempest's weapon had fallen. It was in the ground, sticking straight up. He heard Twilight's voice behind him.

"Sonic, did she have wingblades?" Twilight asked, sounding genuinely spooked.

"Is that what those things are called?" Twilight nodded. "Then yes. They're responsible for the deaths of at least four of AJ's apple trees, and they nearly took my head off. They're sharp."

"They're also illegal." Twilight said. "The only ponies who are allowed to use them are Princess Luna's Shadowbolts."

"Are they like the Wonderbolts?" Sonic asked, remembering Dash's idols.

"Not really, no. They're a group of elite fliers, but the similarities stop there. Every ten years, Princess Luna would take ten fliers from across Equestria and train them from childhood."

"And the parents?"

"They were allowed to say no, but most don't. They know what an honor it is..."

"So they were trained just like the Wonderbolts?"

"No... they were trained in the art of battle... They were trained to kill. That's why the wingblades are so sharp; the fact that she missed you proves a testament to your reflexes. The Shadowbolts don't miss."

"So you think she's a rogue Shadowbolt?"

"Possibly... I need to get in touch with Princess Luna. I'll see you back at the library, Sonic." She said, taking off, with the others following suit. Sonic took one last look at the wingblade and followed.

Haunting Pasts

It had been three days since Tempest's attack, and Celestia had decided to up the meeting, since it was apparent someone wanted Sonic dead. So Sonic was sitting on a slow-moving train, bored to tears while Pinkie Pie talked his ear off. Then she proceeded to get to work on the other one. "That's such a weird saying, isn't it? I mean, it's not like I'm actually talking his ear off!!! See, it's right there!! See?" She pointed at his ear. He wanted to strangle her. There was never five minutes of peace around Pinkie Pie. He wasn't sure that Pinkie could go five seconds without talking, moving, or anything.

"God, I wish I could run." Sonic said. "I'd have been there before the train left."

"Yes, Sonic, but you most likely would have re-broken your ankle, and would have laid where you landed until we got to Canterlot and noticed you weren't there." Twilight said. She was right. Logical.

Logic was stupid.

"Anyway, we're nearly there. The B track goes to Canterlot faster, but it's a bit more expensive. The A track's only used for emergencies."

"What's the difference?"

"Really, the only difference is what path through the mountains we take. This one winds straight up, the A line cuts straight through and arrives on the other side, and the C line, which takes about a day and a half, winds slowly."

"That seems really complicated for the simple solution of 'bridge.'" Sonic said.

"Well, we don't have many materials in Equestria that would be able to stand up without constant maintenance. What little steel we have comes from trade with Zebrica and Griffeece, and most of that goes to track repairs."

"Why don't you have steel here?"

"It just doesn't form."

"It's amazing, really." Rarity cut in, "No end to the amount of jewels and gems in the ground, but iron? Ha! It's as if the ground itself is taunting us!"

"Well... no." Sonic started

"What, Sonic?" Twilight asked.

"I was going to suggest gold, since you have plenty of that, but I forgot how weak it is."

"We actually tried that for our rails. Lasted a week. Several ponies were injured in the crash."

"That's pretty dark."

"Well, you can't have sunshine and smiles all the time." Twilight said with a sigh, turning to answer a question Rainbow had. Sonic looked out the window and resumed his personal thoughts.

'This is nothing like the show's Equestria. The ponies here have hardships, tragedies. They're all too familiar with the concept that death looms around the corner. The show puts them as naive teenagers who've been coddled all their lives. Never experienced the loss of someone close to you. Someone you love......' His thoughts trailed off as unbidden memories of his parents began to surface. He tried to repress them, but painful memories tend to have minds of their own. He remembered the heat of the flames, the screams of terror and pain, the metallic clanking of the robot armies........

Christmas Island

Eleven years ago

Sonic ran. He wasn't quite used to his full speed, but he had to get away. Get away from the robots.... He huddled in a shallow cave, tears streaming down his face. His dad had said they'd meet him here. He had promised. He had promised when he was fighting that big grey robot. His dad was so strong. He could handle it. Like his mom. She was getting his brother and sister out of the house. It was on fire, but that didn't matter. She'd rescue them. And then they'd all meet here, and they'd go off and build a new one.

Sonic waited for two days. He got water from a nearby stream, but he didn't want to go too far. In case they came. He knew they would. They just were a little late. He wasn't worried.

A week had passed. Sonic had gotten some fruit from some of the trees nearby. It wasn't very good, but it had to do. Sonic was worried. They had to be coming. They had to.

He had to go look for them. Two weeks had passed. Something was wrong. He had heard the robots again last night. He saw the man that controlled them. He had called himself Robotnik. Doctor Robotnik. Sonic reached his village. He couldn't recognize it much. Most of it was burned to the ground. He found what used to be his house. His dad was asleep outside. He wouldn't wake up. His mom was asleep under a rafter. She wouldn't wake up either. Neither would his brother and sister. He heard a clanking noise behind him.

"Halt." A robotic voice said. "I am under orders to exterminate all life on this island." The robot charged his laser. Sonic rose. This monster had taken his family away. They weren't asleep. They were dead. Like Uncle Chuck. His dad had told him that Uncle Chuck had died. That's what happened. Sonic sped at the robot, jumping at its head. He punched it. Over and over, until his hands bled. The robot powered down. Sonic wandered over to where the living room used to be, and curled up. He cried. All through the night. And one thought pervaded his mind. One word.

Robotnik.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Sonic awoke with a start. He had fallen asleep, and he'd dreamed about his parents. About home. About the reason he fought Eggman. He had been nine years old. Eggman was still looking for the Chaos Emeralds by that point. Christmas Island had been a possible location for them. He had come through with his army of robots, and destroyed everything that he'd known. Sonic had chased Eggman around the Southern Sea's Islands in an abandoned airplane he'd found for a year, before finally catching him on South Island. He'd destroyed the Scrap Brain Zone and recovered the Chaos Emeralds, but Eggman had escaped. He'd followed him, met Tails, and the rest was history.

"Sonic? You look a bit lost. You okay?" Twilight asked.

"Huh?" He said, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just...... thinking."

"Okay... Well, we're almost there." She said, motioning out the window. Sonic looked and saw a very majestic castle, surrounded by a not-quite-as-but-still-good city.

"Well." He started, getting up. "Let's go meet the princess."

Sun to Moon, Moon to Sun

"So, Twilight. Fancy neighborhood??" Sonic asked as they walked through the streets of Canterlot.

"Gee, Sonic. You had to have been born in Equestria to figure that one out." She replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. Sonic chuckled. "You have any cities like this one in your world?"

'Well, technically, this is in my world, just in a computer... Sonic thought. "A few. Mostly gambling cities, but there's one or two that aren't run on mafia money."

"What are they like, darling? You simply must tell me." Rarity intervened.

"Well, the ones I mentioned running on mafia money like Casino Night and Radical City are bright and flashy on the surface, but they're a bit" 'Crappy.' "run-down on the inside. But the two that don't are futuristic wannabe-utopias. Grand Metropolis and Metal City are two of the best places to live on Mobius. Megalo City's not too bad, either, but it's more small-time compared to the rest."

"So, what did you mean by 'mafia money?'"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"But what's a 'mafia?'"

"Oh. Well, it's kinda hard to explain, but basically they're gangs that are well known for some...... questionable legality. Ever since Shadow joined G.U.N. he's been trying to take them down, but Eggman really makes it difficult. Plus his "Team Dark" unit is the one G.U.N. calls in when they want something done..."

"What do you mean by unit? Is that like an army regiment? You said G.U.N. was your army, right?"

"Wow, Twi, I didn't know you knew all the army terms and stuff." Rainbow interjected.

"My brother is- well, he used to be the Captain of the Royal Guard! Even now, he's basically the same thing, just in the Crystal Empire!"

"Oh.... Heh heh, right."

"As I was saying," Sonic continued, "Sort of. If it was a regular unit, it would be, but Shadow's teamwork skills are.... lacking, to put it lightly. The Team Dark unit is him, Rouge, a close friend of his, and E-123 Omega, a renegade robot of Eggman's. Saying 'They get stuff done' is like saying I can run kind of fast. They're G.U.N's elite for a reason."

"Do ya live in any o' those cities ya mentioned?" Applejack asked, changing the subject.

"Ha!! Hardly. I live in a one-bedroom apartment in Mobius's largest city. Because villains like attacking places with lots of people to chase." Sonic had lost count of the countless number of times Eggman had attacked Station Square. Shadow had once told him that a quarter of G.U.N's budget went to repairing the city.

"Do they really? Because the villains we've fought always went for Ponyville, and it's hardly big." Twilight commented.

"Well, you don't have a megalomaniac with a god complex for a villain."

"True... But we did have an evil alicorn, the spirit of chaos, the Changeling queen, and an ancient emperor, and two out of four on Ponyville is a pretty good track record."

'I remember the chaos guy. Cream loved that episode.' Sonic thought. "Well, I've fought two ancient gods, a failed experiment, an insane robot, on top of all my fights with Eggman."

"You win." Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack said in unison.

"So, spirit of chaos? Sounds like my kind of guy." Twilight looked at him like he was insane. So did the other four ponies around him. Pinkie was off doing god-knows-what. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Why would you say that? You and Discord are nothing alike." Twilight said.

"And would know about Discord because....." 'Passing the TV when it's on is not exactly educational.'

"Oh, right...... Discord's cruel, manipulative, and downright mean. You and he have less in common than Dash and Rarity."

"Ah. I kinda assumed that, you know, chaos."

"Well, chaos is kind of evil in Equestria..." Rarity said.

"And Discord embodies it. He's kind of a plot-hole." While the others gasped at Dash, Sonic simply looked confused.

"What?"

"Oh, right. 'Plot' is a rather.... obscene word that refers to a pony's.... err.... flanks. Saying 'plot-hole....'"

"I get it...." Sonic said. 'Wow. I never would've seen that one coming. They actually have a replacement word for ass!

"Anyway, chaos is not very well looked upon in Equestria. Apparently, on Mobius it's different, but-"

"Well, it's not like we love it or anything. It's not our fault the planet generates it. But apparently chaos is more malicious here."

"Exactly. We're used to controlling everything because of the way Equestria works. When you get in the way of that...."

"Right."

"We'd better get going. Don't want to keep the princess waiting." Twilight said.

______________________________________________________________________

Upon arriving at the castle, they were escorted to the "War Room," a meeting room that most likely hadn't been used for that purpose in centuries. Only Twilight, Sonic, and Applejack had elected to meet with the Princess; the others either had prior engagements, or were just out who-knew-where. As they entered the room, Applejack and Twilight dropped to a quick kneel, while Sonic simply bowed. There was another pony there, as well. She was about half Celestia's height, in between Celestia and the rest of the ponies.

"Ah, welcome. Sonic, this is my sister, Luna." Celestia said.

"You were right, sister. He does look strange." Luna said with a snicker.

"Coming from the pony with stars for hair?" Sonic shot back, smirking.

"Good point.I shouldn't judge." She replied, smiling.

"Don't play games like that with me. I've perfected my pre-battle banter." Sonic said with a chuckle, sitting down.

"Are you suggesting we should battle?" Luna asked, incredulous.

"Not unless you want a prank war. I'm just used to shooting comments back as soon as I get them."

"Ah." Luna said. "A prank war would certainly be fun..." She stopped when her sister gave her a glare.

"Now is not the time, Luna." Celestia said simply. "We have more important matters to attend to."

"So, Twilight has a theory on who 'Tempest' is." Sonic said, gesturing in the purple unicorn's direction.

"Princess Luna, have you..." She stopped. She was apparently nervous. 'Well, she is suggesting that a god had something to do with the attack, even indirectly.... Sonic mused. "First things first, have you reinstated the Shadowbolt program yet?"

"Yes, I started just last year, shortly after Nightmare Night. Why do you ask?"

"Well..."

"Wait a second, Twi." Sonic said. The four ponies looked at him. "Something doesn't add up."

"What is it?" Twilight said.

"You said that the Shadowbolt program basically, for lack of a better term, cradle robs these pegasi."

"While that is certainly not my intention, that is essentially what happens." Luna clarified.

"Okay, that's all good, but that's where the inconsistencies start. You've been back from your.... Let's just say 'temporary lapse of sanity' to avoid pointing fingers for ... almost three years?"

"Yes." Luna was obviously bothered by the memories.

"So even if you took those ponies the very night you came back, and it was the oldest pony you took, which would be..."

"I've never taken a pony over ten years old...."

"Tempest was never a Shadowbolt. There's no way, she looked to be older than you, Twilight."

"Why do you assume she was a Shadowbolt?" Celestia asked.

"Twilight said that she was because she had these 'wingblade' things, that she said only the Shadowbolts used, or even had access to."

"While I never reinstated the Shadowbolt program after Luna's banishment, I never got rid of the weapons and armor. There's a possibility she got them from the old armory.... I haven't had many guards stationed there since it's in the castle's older parts, but it'd be worth checking out."

Just then, a guard entered. "Princess Celestia, news from the Crystal Empire!"

"Yes?"

"Princess Cadence says that a patrol found a... strange magical source, to put it in her words. She believes it's coming from an object that the patrol can't find, and she requests a small regiment of unicorns to help find it."

Celestia looked to Twilight, then to Sonic, before turning back to the guard. "Tell her I'll send someone better." She said with a smile. the guard nodded and ran out of the room.

"Well, I can guess where we're going next. Princess, will you follow up on the armory thing? We'll have to continue this another time."

"Of course, Sonic. Oh, and one more thing."

"Hm?"

"Pack heavy. It's cold in the Empire"

Chilled Chaos

"I hate the cold." Sonic muttered as he stared out the window, the train chugging past mound after mound of pure white snow. He looked to Twilight, the only pony that had accompanied him to the aptly-nicknamed "Frozen North."

"Why is that? I actually like winter and snow and stuff." She remarked.

"Just always preferred the beach to the slopes. Though I have no problem with snowboarding, since you're always on the move, and you can barely feel the cold."

"I've never lived near the mountains, but I've heard snowboarding's fun. But I always played with Shining Armor and made snowponies and stuff like that."

"I just can't stand being cold. It makes me feel sluggish, and I hate it. Plus, going near-mach speeds isn't a very good idea when you're running on ice, as I found out when I was twelve..." He shivered as he remembered the freezing waters of the Ice Cap Mountains on Angel Island.

"Next stop, Crystal City!" the conductor yelled out. Sonic looked to Twilight for confirmation.

"This is our stop. It's the Empire's capital."

"Good, I'm sick of trains. I'm running back."

"Not with that ankle you're not." Twilight warned him.

"It's been three days. I heal fast."

"And I'm an alicorn princess." Sonic hung his head in defeat.

A few minutes later, the train rolled into the station, Sonic jumping out and immediately recoiling due to the cold. Twilight chuckled at his actions as she floated a scarf over to him. "You should have been here a few months ago. It was the height of winter, and saying it was cold was an understatement. Plus, there was that ancient evil thing that probably had something to do with it."

"Yeah, ancient evils tend to do things like that, at least in my experiences. Ever had one destroy an entire city with a flood?"

"No, but the changelings wrecked Canterlot pretty bad. And Discord screwed up Ponyville. And Nightmare Moon... Well, she really just threatened us a lot."

"That's pretty much what Eggman does until he gets what he needs, then he actually starts being a threat."

"Twilight! Celestia said you'd be on this train!" Sonic looked to see a pink alicorn like Celestia and Luna waving at them. "And you must be Sonic." Sonic nodded and made a quick bow.

"Hi Cadence! Sonic, this is-"

"Princess Cadence? I figured."

"I wish we could visit, Cadence, but we have some important business."

"I know. One of these days I'm going to get you up here when there isn't anything happening." Cadence said with a chuckle.

Sonic suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. 'What in the world?' He felt it again, stronger this time, enough to bring him to his knees. 'What the hell? This feels like.... concentrated Chaos energy?' Through the haze of vertigo, he heard Twilight asking him if he was alright. 'I'm not. This isn't right. There's no way there's a source of Chaos energy strong enough to bring me down like this. Not here.' Then, as suddenly as it came, it wore off.

"Sonic! Are you okay? What happened!"

"I really don't know. It felt like Chaos energy, but there's no way it could have been that. I've never felt such a concentration like that. At least, not natural." There was that one time Eggman brought him to his knees with the second Big Arm.

"Well, are you okay now?" Cadence asked.

"Yeah... At least I think I am." Sonic felt a tugging in the back of his mind, similar to the one he felt in the forest. 'Is that the Emerald? Or is it... Whatever that was?' "Where is the Em-er, the 'power source' you found?"

"According to Shining, it got stronger in that direction," she said, pointing across the tracks into pure white plains, "I can't seem to pick it up, and he couldn't find it."

"Wonderful." Sonic deadpanned. "Twi, you can stay here with Cadence if you want. I can find it on my own."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'll be fine. Catch up with your friend."

"If you're cer-" Sonic was already gone, a cloud of snow following the supersonic speedster.

____________________________________________________________________

Sonic felt the Emerald getting closer and closer as he sped through the winter "wonderland." It still bugged him about whatever it was that had affected him on the train platform, but for now he decided to shrug it off and focus on the Emerald. Until he felt something that was surely a unicorn's magic wrap around his ankles. 'Suddenly, I love snow.' was the only thing that his mind was able to process before he went flying headfirst into a mound of it. Aaaand the headache was back. Again.

"I'd give that dive an 8." He heard a frustratingly familiar voice say.

"So, Wind. Resorting to dirty tricks now?" He said as he pulled his head out of the frigid mountain.

"Only because I told her to do it." A new, male voice said.

Sonic turned to face the new voice.... Only to have his jaw drop when he saw a six foot tall jet-black alicorn. And in the alicorn's bright green magical grip was a bright red Chaos Emerald. "So you're Sonic, hm? I've heard a lot about you. You've been causing my minions some trouble." Sonic Wind came up behind him on his left, while Tempest flew and landed on his right. "Therefore, you've been causing me trouble. And I don't care for troublemakers. Now. You're going to hand me that thing you got in Las Pegasus, and I'm going to go my own way. You'll go yours. Should you ever give me any more trouble, I'll kill you without hesitation. Got it?" The alicorn's almost metallic-looking red mane whipped behind him in the chill wind, almost menacingly.

"You actually think I'm going to hand you the Chaos Emeralds? You're joking, right?"

"Oh, is that what they're called? Then yes, I expect you to give me that 'Chaos Emerald' you got in Las Pegasus."

"You must be new at this."

"New at what?"

"Being an evil overlord type. You didn't even tell me your name, let alone rant about your plans."

"Oh. Well, my name is Crimson Night. And you must be stupid if you think I'll actually tell you my plan."

"Hm. Smarter than most villains I know. Still, you must be pretty dumb."

"Why is that?"

"You're holding that Emerald in plain reach. It could easily be...." Sonic charged forward, leaping at Crimson Night, "SWIPED!!!!!!!!!!" He finished, snatching his third Chaos Emerald from the alicorn. He landed, spinning around to face him.

"You're clever." Crimson Night remarked. "I'll admit, that was pretty foolish of me. But you'll not escape with my prize!" As he finished his sentence, his horn glowed green again, and Sonic felt the familiar magic wrap around his ankle. Sonic just laughed. "What's so funny?"

"You not knowing what these Emeralds can do." He said, tossing the red one he just snatched into the air. "Chaos......... CONTROL!!!!!!! And disappeared, escaping through time and space. He could only imagine the look of disbelief and anger on Crimson Night's face.