Chaos and Elements

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."