Chaos and Elements

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.