Chaotic Origins

Chapters

Chapter 2- Awakenings
Chapter 3- Chaos Arrival
Chapter 5 - A New Face
Chapter 6- Meanwhile on Mobius
Chapter 7- Something's Off
Chapter 8- The Truth
Chapter 9- The Whole Truth
Chapter 10- And Nothing But The Truth
Chapter 11- City Slickers
Chapter 12- Old Acquaintances
Chapter 1- Nexus
Chapter 4- A Fine Fight

Chapter 2- Awakenings

Sonic awoke slowly, fully expecting to find himself back in the room of darkness and shifting patterns. Instead, he was lying on soft green grass, the spreading branches of a tree waving above him. Bright red apples dotted the branches above him. Sonic considered grabbing one to eat, but surprisingly he was full, despite not eating for who knows how long.

Getting up, he stretched, only then noticing the light rain that was falling. He had been sheltered by the tree's leaves, but he wasn't going to stay there. He laced his fingers together and stretched his arms forward, pushing his palms out and making his fingers pop.

That was when he saw the two dark bands encircling his wrists. They pulsed faintly, and tiny patterns moved across their surface. He groaned, wondering what exactly they were there for.

"And just what sort a' creature are ya, anyways?" drawled a southern accent behind him. Sonic spun around to see a... pony. He just stared, his mouth hanging slack as he took in the newcomer. She was an orange color, having a blonde mane and tail. Both were caught in a loose ponytail, and to top it all off was a comically large stetson. Her green eyes glittered with intelligence. She grinned at his consternation.

"Ah'll ask again then. Just what sort of creature ARE you?" Sonic finally shut his mouth and responded.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" he responded with his trademark grin, which faltered when the pony in front of him burst into laughter.

"Well, ya gotta be the strangest hedgehog Ah ever did see! Ha, well, Ah'm Applejack, apple farmer and caretaker of Sweet Apple Acres."

Sonic looked down at her proffered hoof before realizing she was going to shake his hand. He hesitantly did so. Then he laughed uncomfortably.

"So you can probably tell, I'm not from around here. I just want to find my way home. Know anyone who could help me with that?" Sonic asked, not sure how to approach the subject.

"Why, sure Ah do! Just follow this road and it'll take ya to Ponyville. Follow the main road and yah'll see a tree with a door in the front. That there's the library. Inside you'll find Twilight Sparkle. She can solve just about any problem put to her. If she isn't there, just ask around town. Somepony's bound to know where she is." Applejack explained. "Make sure ta tell her Ah sent ya."

"Kay. Thanks, Applejack!" Sonic turned to leave, but turned around as Applejack called him.

"One more thing. If Ah hear ya hurt anyone, Ah will come find you and buck yer head off your shoulders. Understood?" Sonic was taken aback by the intensity of her gaze. He nodded, and smiled goodbye before tearing off down the path.

"What in tarnation?!" Applejack exclaimed, but stopped, coughing in the dust.

Sonic quickly found the library. It was a tree, after all. He stepped inside, his eyes quickly adjusting to the muted light. He stared at the mass of books, on the walls, littering the floor, stacked on tables.

"Welcome to the Ponyville library. How can I help yoooouu..." As the pony who greeted him actually looked at him, she completely lost track of what she was saying and her voice dwindled away. Then she got a predatory look in her eye. Sonic started backing toward the door, ready to make a break for it. He was unfortunately interrupted by the door being shoved open from the outside.

"Twilight! Have you seen a blue hedgehog that walks on two legs anywhere? Applejack told me about him and I wanted to see him. Oh there he is!" A rainbow colored pegasus hovered over Sonic as he stood up, the door having knocked him over. He stood up only to find himself staring at her rose-colored eyes that were inches away from his own.

"Woah! You're pretty weird looking!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Says the flying skittles." Sonic retorted. Normally he would have been more open and easy with comments like that, but it had been a long day.

"Huh? My name's Rainbow Dash, not Skittles. I don't even know what that is." Rainbow said.

"Of course you don't. Anyways, have you ever heard of personal space?" Sonic snapped, for Rainbow was still hovering inches from his face.

"Okay! Yeesh, I'm moving. Sorry!" Rainbow snapped back.

"Now, now, there's no need to argue. Now, as for you..." Twilight interrupted before turning back to Sonic, an eager light in her eyes.

"Ye-es?" Sonic responded uneasily.

"Oh, boy, this is going to be great!" Twilight squealed. "Just think, a whole new, previously undiscovered species! I am going to have to run tests, to discover your physiology, of course. How many are there of you?" Twilight demanded, only to realize that the hedgehog in question was no longer there. The door swung on its hinges, and a trail of dust led out of the town.

"Oh no! Why did he leave?" a now very distraught Twilight asked.

"I don't blame him. You must o' scared him silly with your talk of tests and all!" Rainbow Dash laughed.

"But, but, but..." Twilight stuttered, her disappointment written all over her face.

"Don't worry, Twi, I'll catch him for you. I'll just explain that you mean well, even if you do go crazy sometimes." Rainbow promised.

Twilight pouted, but then grinned thankfully. "Thanks, Rainbow." With that, Rainbow Dash zipped out the door, hot on the dust trail Sonic left behind.

In the meanwhile, a very relieved Sonic was tearing out of there.

"What a bunch of crazy kooks," he muttered. Running over the nearby plains, he turned to see a great city perched atop a mountain. He whistled appreciatively, just before he got tackled by a rainbow blur.

"Aha! Gotcha!" Rainbow crowed before doing a 180° back to Ponyville. Sonic squirmed, his arms trapped against his sides with the pegasus's forelegs wrapped around his chest.

"Lemme go! Let go!" Sonic yelled, his feet flailing.

"Stop squirming! Not until we get back to the library," Rainbow calmly replied.

"Are you serious? Did you not hear what she was saying?" Sonic responded, miffed at being caught.

"Don't worry, I heard. She really isn't that bad, she's just a geek. She loves sciency stuff. And believe me, tests like that only take a moment," Rainbow explained, winging toward the library, which was just ahead.

"I still don't like it," Sonic grumped.

Rainbow touched down just in front of the library, letting go of Sonic in one instant and pushing him inside the next.

"I got him back, Twilight!" Rainbow called.

"Aaah! Thank you!" Twilight exclaimed, looking for all the world like a filly who had gotten what she'd wanted for Hearth's Warming Eve.

"Just don't go overboard, okay? I have had enough with evil scientists for a lifetime." Sonic requested. Twilight looked guilty for a second, looking down at her hooves.

"Sorry about that," she said softly. "I've just never met somepony like you." She grinned excitedly.

Sonic sighed. It was hard not to get caught up in her enthusiasm, and he knew he was being a bit of a jerk.

"Eh, don't worry about it." Twilight squealed adorably, absolutely thrilled. After a moment's thought, her horn glowed, and a lavender line of magic stretched from it to the bands encircling Sonic's wrists. He felt a small jolt, but the feeling only lasted a moment. He looked at her questioningly.

"Don't worry. I just enchanted it so that it records your heart rate and breathing and health. Also, as a side effect, I will know where you are at all times." Twilight explained, not at all phased by the irritation on Sonic's face.

"Oh thanks, cause it's not like I would want you to ask permission or anything," Sonic deadpanned.

"Oh! I should send a letter to the Princess!"Twilight exclaimed, her magic picking up a scroll and a quill, and she furiously began to write. After a moment, she called, "Spike!" In response a small purple dragon came down the stairs, immediately knowing what Twilight wanted by seeing the scroll held in her magic. He grabbed it from her, covered it in fire, then walked back up the stairs.

"Enjoy the rest of your day off, Spike!" Twilight called. He didn't respond, but merely disappeared into one of the rooms.

"There, now we should hopefully get a response by tonight, if the Princess isn't bus-" Twilight was interrupted as both she and Sonic were enveloped in golden light, to disappear in a shower of sparkles.

"Well that was quick. The Princess did it in ten seconds flat this time." Dash smirked before walking out the door.

"What the what?!" Sonic half yelled, shocked by the sudden change in scenery. The transport had felt similar to Chaos Control, but it was different enough that it left a tingling sensation.

"So you are the hedgehog Twilight spoke of," a clear voice said. Sonic turned to see a large white alicorn standing above him. She towered over him, easily standing twice as tall as he did. Then she tilted her head in curiosity, her magic holding up Sonic's wrist, where the dark band of energy pulsed.

"Why, this feels like Nexus energy!" Celestia exclaimed. As soon as she said that, Sonic could feel the raw power of the bands spread through his body, claiming control. His eyes glowed white, before his irises turned black, with shifting patterns dancing through them. Dark blue streaks ran up his arms from the bands, and a dark blue aura rolled off of his body.

"You guessed correctly, Celestia," Sonic said, but his voice was not his own. Rather, the voice he had heard from the Nexus came out of his own mouth.

"Lawbringer! Is that you!" Celestia asked, recognizing the voice instantly.

"Indeed, though this body is not my own," Sonic/Lawbringer replied. "I am using this young one as my messenger. He is also Energyborn, like I am, but he does not exist because of your power. He exists because of hers." Sonic/Lawbringer pointed at Twilight, who had been pressed against the wall this whole time. She could feel the raw energy rolling off of Sonic in waves. She had felt them when she first laid eyes on him, but now they cut through the air like knives. It scared her, to tell the truth.

"M-me?" she stuttered, not believing she could be responsible for a living being's creation.

"Yes, you," Sonic/Lawbringer affirmed. "When you were young, you tried to hatch a dragon egg, yes?"

"Well, yeah, but I was only four at the time." Twilight answered, not sure where he was going with this.

"Then you experienced a magical surge, creating chaos. You could not control your own power."

"Yeah?"

"All that energy had to go somewhere. So it went into the Nexus, creating this being." Sonic/Lawbringer's finger pointed inward, at himself. "That happened 19 years ago, and this young one does not believe me when I tell him his true origins. So I brought him here, where he may meet his creator in person." Sonic/Lawbringer explained.

"I must go now," Sonic/Lawbringer continued. "The true owner of this body is beginning to struggle against my control. Do not worry, he has taken no harm from this, and he knows all that transpired." After he said this, Sonic's body reverted to its natural state, losing the dark aura that surrounded it.

He fell to his knees, gasping heavily. "Well, it sure is weird to be a passenger in your own body," he breathed. He was still getting used to the fact that the Lawbringer could apparently take over his body at will. That's just weird!

"I never want to do that again. And not only that, he's still trying to convince me I'm 'Energyborn' or whatever it is he called it. How stupid is that? You don't actually believe him, do you?" Sonic asked Twilight and Celestia. After seeing the look they gave him, he repeated himself more hesitantly. "Do you?"

His question was ignored, however, as Twilight suddenly squealed. "Oh my GOSH! I created a sentient life form! That is so COOL!" Twilight grinned, and Celestia smiled down at her student.

"Twilight, you're starting to sound like Rainbow Dash!" Celestia giggled at her student's antics.

"Oh, I am, huh?" Twilight realized, laughing at herself.

"You seriously believe that load of bull?" Sonic yelled, taken aback by their acceptance of that fact. Celestia looked at him kindly.

"What Lawbringer says is true. All that he has spoken is real. You were created by the energy of the Nexus. Why is that so hard to believe?" Celestia tried in earnest to make Sonic understand.

"No! I'm not some freak of nature! There is no way I'm a result of a random clash of energy. All my life I've believed it was my destiny to become who I am today, that everything I've done was meant to be. Now you're telling me that I was a random mistake, that I am here now because SHE messed up! I can't, won't believe that!" Sonic yelled. Twilight flinched visibly when he referred to her 'mistake'.

Celestia frowned, her disappointment washing through Sonic. He was sensitive enough to know when he had crossed the line, and sensitive enough to feel the Princess's disapproval. He looked down at his shoes, glaring and crossing his arms. His ears were pointed back, not wanting to hear the scolding he knew was coming.

"I am disappointed. No matter what your opinion is, you have no right to blame Twilight for her so-called mistake. What you would condemn was what made me decide to have Twilight as my student, and what caused your existence. You should be glad that it happened. Perhaps I shall give you some time to think on it." Celestia scolded. When she finished, she teleported him away. She sighed and looked down at her protégé.

Twilight sniffled, taken aback by Sonic's ferocity. He didn't seem like a bad pony, but he was slowly proving Twilight wrong.

"Please forgive him, Twilight. I can tell from his demeanor that he is normally carefree and kind. It is simply that his whole life outlook is being overturned. Hopefully you can grant him some peace." Celestia pleaded, hating the forlorn look in the lavender unicorn's eyes.

"I know, Princess. I know he doesn't mean it. I just wish there was some way for him not to be angry at me." Twilight explained. "By the way, where did you put him?"

Celestia laughed. "He is currently in a room with no windows and a locked steel door. I got the feeling he needed a time out."

Twilight laughed at Celestia's punishment. Then Celestia levitated a platter with tea and small cakes on it over to them.

"Come." The Princess commanded. "I heard the garden is sporting some new moon roses."

Sonic paced in his cell, hating the confines of the walls which were entirely too close. He walked back and forth, muttering under his breath. Then he sighed, and sat down on the cot that was the room's only furnishing. The bands on his wrist glowed softly, and he could feel the soothing pulse that rang up his arms. He ignored it, determined not to calm down, especially when it wasn't his decision and his alone.

He had been in this infernal cell for two hours. He could tell because a clock hung on the wall above his bed, it's constant ticking serving only to irritate him further. He leaned backwards, laying down on the cot, his legs swinging off the edge. The light from the candle on the floor lit up the whole room brightly, more than any normal candle could.

His sigh echoed softly, whispering against the walls. He frowned, still in denial that he was created in the Nexus. It was against everything he believed. He knew he would never be average, but at least he was normal. And then here was these creatures trying to tell him otherwise!

He looked up as the door swung open, and Twilight and Celestia walked in. When he saw who it was, he scoffed and went back to staring at the ceiling.

"That is how you would treat royalty AND your creator?" Celestia's voice rang out so harshly that Sonic rolled off the cot in surprise. He stood up, trying to cover his startled reaction. Even so, he saw Twilight giggling softly.

"Not my creator, and not my ruler," was his cheeky retort. Celestia sighed, shaking her head at his foolishness.

"You are going to have to accept the truth, and you cannot insult people to cover your own denial! Considering the circumstances, I have decided that you will stay with Twilight. She will teach you the rules of magic and energy, and you will help her with whatever she requests," Celestia reported. Sonic stared at her in disbelief. Then he laughed, a short, terse laugh that spoke volumes in and of itself.

"You expect me to be a servant? I still have to get back home." Sonic said, sure of his argument. He wasn't ready for the response.

"Since Lawbringer thought it wise to bring you here, I will trust his judgement. You will remain here until Lawbringer sees it fit to return you to your own world." Celestia gave him a smug look, and even Twilight looked pretty pleased with herself.

Celestia then levitated a gold ring over and slid it onto one of Sonic's fingers. It slid on perfectly, resting at the base of his right ring finger. He stared at it.

"And this is for what, exactly?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"It will keep Twilight apprised of your emotional state," Celestia responded levelly. He stared at it in consternation.

"Oh, and only I can remove it," Twilight piped up.

"Well isn't that just dandy." Sonic complained.

Celestia then surprised him by walking up and wrapping her forelegs around him, her wings pulling him into a feathery embrace. He just stood still and endured it, wondering what exactly was going on.

"I know this is hard for you, but I do want to help. Trust in us, and trust in Lawbringer. He views you as a little brother, you know. He wants to help." Celestia stepped back, smiling down at him. He just gave her a dubious look, and shrugged his shoulders. She then wrapped both Twilight and Sonic in her golden aura, and teleported them back to the library. She sighed softly.

"I hope this works."

The moment they got back, Sonic tore off. He ran fast and hard, breaking the sound barrier, and pushing himself as fast as he could go. Twilight teleported to the top of a hill to watch. He was running in circles, looping and dodging in complex patterns, his after image spreading through the whole area. She could feel the signals coming from the ring he wore. He was frustrated and confused. He was trying to lose himself in the simple act of running, but it wasn't working.

Suddenly he stopped, his after images fading away. His ears were perked, and his posture showed he had heard something. That was when Twilight heard the screams. He ran towards Ponyville, and Twilight teleported in front of her library, just in time to be surrounded by timberwolves.

She shrieked, the creatures slobbering and licking their chops. In that moment, Sonic skidded in front of her, bristling his own spines at the creatures.

"Back off, ugly! That is, if you can walk without tripping on your tongue!" he taunted, his arms spread to protect Twilight.

In response, they leaped at him. Twilight watched as Sonic jumped up to meet them, his legs spinning to crush their jaws, sending splinters everywhere. The wolves howled in pain, and attacked with their deadly sharp claws. He ducked underneath, spinning on his hands to push himself up and driving his feet into the chest of one, and landing hard on the back of another. He reached down and wrenched its head clean off, throwing it at another. Leaping off, he grabbed one by the throat and shoved it into another, both of them exploding into firewood against a nearby wall. He punched right through the chest of one who had reared on its hind legs. He swept its legs out from underneath it by sweeping his leg along the ground. Another ran up to join the fray, only to be smashed by Sonic's Homing Attack. He spun around and roundhouse kicked another.

"Aaaah!!" Twilight screeched. One had snuck behind the library and trapped her against the wall. She was too scared to formulate a coherent spell. Sonic leapt behind it. It spun around to face him, only for Sonic to grab it by the throat. He lifted it up, a savage look of anger on his face. He crushed its throat, and threw it on top of the growing pile of wood. He then ran off, chasing the rest of the pack out of town, killing most of them in the process.

Twilight sank to the ground, shaking. She had nearly died at the paws of a timberwolf. Then she had been saved by Sonic, but his ferocity had scared her almost as much. Her musings were interrupted as Sonic jogged up, offering his hand to pull her up. She took it, surprised by the complete change of his emotions. Now he was relaxed, even happy. She couldn't understand.

"Are you alright? That was a pretty close call." Sonic said, gauging her reaction. She seemed relieved and afraid at the same time.

"You seem so happy. Did you enjoy killing them?" Twilight asked, a note of horror tinging her voice.

Sonic frowned. "No, I didn't enjoy killing them. But I've been doing this for so long that I know when to use deadly force and when it isn't necessary. Sometimes I'm wrong, but it's pretty obvious they were out to do damage." he replied. "I just do what I have to. I did enjoy having something to do, though. It's been a while since I had some action back home." Twilight stared at him.

"You LIKE fighting? That's horrid! Why would you enjoy hurting others?" Twilight said, confused and upset. That was when she realized she had offended Sonic. He was a little upset at her dismissal of his abilities.

"Like I said, I do what I have to. I was practically raised to fight. I've spent most of my life doing so. I've had to. I couldn't just let whatever evil force take over. I've trained my abilities my whole life. You might say I was born to fight," he taunted, reminding her of their disagreement.

"Still, to only know violence, to enjoy it...No one should know what that's like. I think that's our first order of business." Twilight decided.

"Okay, though I don't know what you have in mind." Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"So what are you going to try to cram in my head today?" Sonic asked, reclining in a chair. For the past couple of days, Twilight had been gathering resources, deciding what she would start with to teach Sonic. She wasn't sure of his academic level, so she decided to start with the basic principles of magic, and would work her way up from there.

"Just read this. It'll be a good start to everything else I have in mind." Twilight responded. She levitated it in front of him, and he grabbed it before it hit the desk. He opened it, giving the first page a few moments consideration before flipping to the next one. This process repeated a few times before Twilight spoke up.

"You do know you have to read that, right?" Twilight asked hesitantly. Sonic gave her a look.

"I am reading it." He protested.

"That's impossible," Twilight retorted. "Trust me, I'm a speed reader, but even then, I can't read that fast."

"When you can go as fast as I can, you have to learn to see, understand, and react faster than the other guy can blink. So I can read really really quickly," Sonic explained. Then he grinned, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Just one more thing to give me a leg up on the competition." Twilight scowled at him. She turned around, flicking his ear with her tail as she walked away.

"Just read it!" Twilight snapped. She stomped out of the room. Sonic laughed at her consternation before settling in for some reading.

"Psssst! Psssst!"Sonic looked up to see Rainbow hovering by the window. He hadn't seen much of Twilight's friends since they had been first introduced, after which Twilight had ushered him inside and he hadn't seen daylight since. He had already finished the book Twilight had put him to, but she had ordered him back upstairs to reread it. It was much more boring the second time.

"What is it?" Sonic replied, opening the window. Rainbow grinned at him tauntingly.

"I can't believe Twilight's got you reading books. Makes ponies think you're just another wimpy bookworm." Sonic gave her a look, before flashing a grin of his own.

"If you're trying to lure me outside, it's working." he confessed. "I hate being cooped up. I feel like stretching my legs," he continued. Rainbow smiled.

"That's what I like to hear."

They had raced, ending up having a tie when Sonic kept pace rather than going all out. Rainbow had argued about that but ultimately given up. Afterwards, she had left.

Sonic looked around at the open space around him.

"I suppose there's enough room," he mumbled. He then closed his eyes, assuming a loose pose, before beginning his practice. His body flowed from one strike to another, looking like he was dancing rather than shadowboxing. He kept up a steady motion, his moves nearly looking like ballet as he spun and twisted and struck and dodged. He weaved himself around imaginary blows, bending and contorting himself. As he moved, certain strikes would send blades of air rocketing away. Others would create mini twisters as he spun.

Finally, after a good half hour of practice, he took off. He swerved and jumped, using trees and rocks to perform tricks. He flipped and spun and just kept moving. He ran up the side of a nearby mountain, launching himself into the air, spinning slowly. As he came up to the apex of his jump, Sonic spun himself around, until he was facing the ground. He dove, his arms tucked against his sides, a cone of air forming around him. At the last second he spun around to land on his feet. The force of his landing created a small crater. He stepped out of the swirling dust clouds only to be assaulted by a familiar purple pony.

"Oh my goodness, are you all right? When I saw you falling, I thought you were trying to kill yourself!" Twilight had pulled him into a tight hug, standing on her hind legs to wrap her forelegs around his arms and chest. Sonic gave her a confused look when she didn't let go after the first few moments.

"I'm not trying to kill myself. I was just having some fun," he protested. She hugged him even tighter when he said this.

"By scaring everyone in Ponyville? Breaking the sound barrier isn't exactly quiet. Are you SURE you're okay?" Twilight pressed. Sonic sighed on frustration.

"Yes, I'm fine. You really don't need to worry. I can take care of myself," he responded. Twilight gave him a look, but shrugged after dropping back to all fours.

"Well, in that case, what exactly caused you to stop studying all of a sudden?" Twilight glared at him.

The unphased hedgehog shrugged. "I was bored."

Twilight groaned and facehooved. Using her magic, she grabbed his ear and started dragging him back to the library.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Sonic yelped. He pulled away, rubbing his sore ear. He gave her the stink eye. "Was that really necessary?"

"You're acting so immature! Can't you focus on one thing?"Twilight complained.

"I did focus! Twice! Seriously, I don't see how rereading helps. I got it all the first time."

"But to learn takes repitition, and constant practice. It wouldn't matter how many books I read if I forgot what they say!"

"But I did learn it! It's not like I'm actually going to be able to use magic, so learning how to do it is kind of pointless anyways."

"But you need to know this to be able to apply the basic laws of magic."

"But it's just like using the Chaos Emeralds! When it comes down to it, it's a matter of whether you have the will to make it happen!"

Twilight hesitated. "That's...right. But what do you mean, 'Chaos Emeralds'?"

"They're powerful gems that I can use to basically get a power boost."

"But where did they get their name?" Twilight uncertainly asked. If this hedgehog was a creature of Discord...

Sonic frowned. "They get their name because of what happens if someone with bad intentions gets their hands on them. When they are used, they draw power from the mindset of the user. If you have good intentions, it grants you unimaginable power. If you have bad intentions, or if you're good but you are consumed with anger or fear, they corrupt you, reflecting your emotions with their power attached. Then you turn into a monster, with no control or reservations. That's when they create chaos." Sonic's gaze was intense, but the ring he wore told Twilight that he was consumed with guilt. She looked at him kindly.

"That's happened to you, hasn't it?" Her statement caught him by surprise, and he stared at her, shocked. Then his head hung. His voice was soft.

"Yes. It did. Every day I fight a war with myself, because I can still feel that anger brewing, which is why I can't lose control of myself. The fact that I can be taken over like Lawbringer did is unsettling. I fight so I can let my anger out in a way that helps instead of hurts. But I have friends who help, but I got sent HERE, so they aren't around. So you can understand my frustration." His voice, while soft, carried an intensity and wisdom that shocked Twilight. His gaze was fierce but open. She got the feeling he was opening up to her in a way he rarely did.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Cause you would of found out anyway. On account of this thing, remember?" He pointed to the golden ring that rested on his finger. In that moment Twilight realized that the ring was hurting, not helping. She wanted him to tell her these things because HE wanted to. Not because he felt he was forced to. Using her magic, she ripped it off his finger, crushing it before throwing it as far away as she could. He raised an eyebrow at her actions, but didn't say anything.

"Let's head back to the library. There's something I want to show you." He followed her without speaking. Something told him that this was something she felt she needed to do, and that nothing would stop her in doing it.

Once they got back to the library, pulling out a sketchbook. In it were rough drawings of a crown and five necklaces. On other pages were pictures of a fearsome black alicorn and a creature that looked like a strange hodgepodge of different animals.

"These are the Elements of Harmony..."

Chapter 3- Chaos Arrival

After Twilight had finished explaining the various efforts of the Mane 6, Sonic hadn't said a word. He had simply stood there, his eyes on the ground. Finally he spoke.

"That's good. You've been able to do what I haven't. I've always had to use force to win a fight, but you're able to win without doing any harm." Sonic said finally.

"You haven't told me about any of your stories. What exactly have you done?" Twilight pressed.

"Well, I've fallen out of the sky more times than I can count, destroyed an interstellar amusement park that was being used to enslave aliens, been used as a battery, got mutated into a werewolf thingy, drove in races(they made me ride in a car cause I run faster than any vehicle), destroyed a being determined to destroy time itself, twice, got killed then resurrected, battled a robot double, destroyed a prototype "ultimate life form" , stopped a guy from blowing up the planet, but only after he destroyed half the moon, defeated a hate filled creature born to protect the Master Emerald, trained a robot that fed on the power of the Chaos Emeralds, destroyed an evil scientist's air fleet multiple times, defeated an alien race who wanted to destroy all animal life, been sucked into two different books, met my younger self, and several others I can't think of at the moment." Sonic finished his narrative, only to start chuckling at the look on Twilight's face.

"Y-you, di-id all that?" she gasped. Sonic tried to contain his mirth, but it was hard, as slowly more hairs were springing out of place in her mane and tail. Suddenly she stopped, her mane and tail springing back into place.

"You died? How is that even possible?" she asked, suddenly skeptical.

"Didn't you hear? I did say I was also brought back to life." Sonic reminded her.

"How is that even possible?"

"The Chaos Emeralds."

"But, that doesn't eve-"

"You're gonna bust your brain open if you try to figure out the science behind it. Just chill." Sonic gave her a smug look, ignoring the glare she was shooting his way.

"If only I had one of them to study," Twilight complained. At this, Sonic got a look that said he had an idea.

"What, what is it?" Twilight demanded.

"It probably wouldn't work anyways," Sonic responded.

"Just tell me! If it's for science, we have to try!" Twilight insisted. As soon as she said the word 'science' Sonic had twisted around, as if on the lookout.

Alright, where's Glados?" he demanded. Twilight looked on in confusion, deciding not to ask.

"Anyways,"Sonic continued, "I might be able to summon the Chaos Emeralds. I'm not sure if it'll work, since I've never tried before, but I've certainly used them often enough. But if I did, you would have to promise me to be extremely careful when you handle them. They're so powerful that they even react to each other." Sonic explained. Twilight somberly nodded in agreement.

Sonic closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts on the Chaos Emeralds. He reached into the part of himself that could always feel their power, that even now recognized them as being extremely far away. He intensified his thoughts, willing the Emeralds to appear. He didn't feel anything happening though. Finally he gave up.

"Sorry, I guess it didn't wor-Aaah!" Sonic yelped as he opened his eyes to see a sparkly something hovering an inch from his face.

"Never mind," he amended. The Emeralds hovered in a circle, glowing softly. They illuminated the whole of the room, reflecting blue, green, red, yellow, white, purple, and cyan all around. Twilight gasped softly at their radiant light.

"They're beautiful," she whispered. Her eyes tracked them as they spun lazily in the air. Sonic reached up, and the green one stopped and hovered above his hand as he drew it closer.

He examined it closely, half afraid he was seeing things. But he wasn't. He could even feel the rush of energy from them. As he recognized their power, it nearly overwhelmed him. He had a connection with each of them, and they were pouring energy into that connection. It was intoxicating, the rush of adrenaline it gave him.

Twilight could also feel energy coming from the Emeralds. It didn't affect her the way it did Sonic, though, and she watched enviously as he drank it in. Finally, he shook his head, and the flow of power stopped. They all floated forward and disappeared into his chest. He smiled as Twilight stared in disbelief.

"Since they're basically pure energy, I can absorb them. I've had long association with them, so I don't react to the energy they give off unless I want to. Trust me, it took a lot of practice. When I first started using them, I could only use them for a few minutes at a time. Now I can go for almost an hour or more with no side effects," the blue hedgehog explained. Twilight shook her head, still a little skeptical about the whole thing. Still, she had the evidence in front of her.

"I should probably write a letter to Celestia, but I want to tell the girls first. Come on, we should start with Rarity." Twilight eagerly bounded out the door, her magic wrapping around his wrist and dragging him along with her.

They reached the Carousel Boutique in minutes. Twilight knocked at the door, immediately hearing a female voice calling, "Just a minute!" Rarity opened the door, smiling at Twilight, but mostly smiling at Sonic.

He had already helped around quite a bit, running local orders and such, and Rarity was dying to make him something. He had somehow managed to avoid her assault of tape measures, but it had been a close escape. He grinned nervously back at her, fully expecting her to tie him down.

"Why, what a wonderful surprise! Sit down dear, I'll get some tea ready." Rarity turned to head into the kitchen.

"That's alright Rarity, we'll only be here a moment." Twilight interrupted, gesturing to Rarity to sit down before she did the same. Sonic remained standing.

Twilight went into an explanation of the conversation they had had earlier, stopping at where Sonic had tried to summon the Chaos Emeralds.

"Well? Did it work? If they are as powerful as you say, surely they must be something to behold," Rarity asked.

"They sure are," Sonic assured her, before opening his arms wide. The Chaos Emeralds appeared from his chest, one by one, until all seven of them floated in a circle. Rarity gasped, taken aback by their luster.

"Why, they're gorgeous! They're even powerful enough for me to sense them. How marvelous!" gushed Rarity, sending glances at Sonic every once in a while.

Sonic focused his gaze on the Chaos Emeralds, and they turned and disappeared back into his chest. Rarity sighed in disappointment at their disappearance.

"We should probably tell Pinkie Pie next." Twilight grimaced, hoping they did not have any adverse affects to the already crazy pink pony.

Sonic held up a finger. "I got this." He cleared his throat, then grinned wickedly. "It's party time!" he declared loudly. Just then, a pink blur fell from the ceiling, proving to be none other than the party pony herself. She grinned, unaware of the two unicorns behind her hugging each other for dear life.

"You rang?" she asked cheerfully.

"You heard all that, right? The conversation we just had?"

"Yup! Sure did!" Pinkie giggled.

"Good! You can go back to whatever you were doing, then." Sonic told her.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie bounced out the door, heading back to the Sugar Cube Corner.

"What just happened?" asked Twilight.

"Pinkie Pie," was Sonic's unequivocal answer.

They made their way up to Sweet Apple Acres, hiking up the trail to the famous apple farm. They stopped at the front of the house, and Sonic reached up and knocked at the door. Applejack opened it, smiling as she saw the two of them. Sonic often helped out around here too, punching the trees to knock down the fruit.

Before Applejack could usher them in, Sonic held up a hand. Before she could ask what he wanted, he let the Chaos Emeralds appear. Her eyes bugged out of her head, and Twilight took the opportunity to explain what they were. Finally, Applejack shook away her stupor.

"Those er some pretty fine jewels ya got there. Ya shown Rarity yet?" Applejack asked. Sonic grinned evilly.

"We did. She was practically drooling over them," Sonic answered. Applejack laughed at his description.

"Ah'm just surprised she hasn't gotten you stuck under a mass o' measuring tape," laughed the apple farmer.

"Believe me, she's tried," he responded. "Well, we should go show Fluttershy next. See ya!" Sonic waved farewell and started down the path. Applejack waved before walking back inside.

They made their way off to the cottage by the Everfree. Sonic chafed at the slow pace Twilight set, but didn't say anything. After what seemed like forever to the speedy hedgehog, they made it to the quaint cottage. Twilight reached up and knocked. After a moment, the door opened a fraction, a turquoise eye peeking out at them. As soon as Fluttershy saw who it was, she opened the door.

She walked up to Sonic, reaching up with her forelegs and wrapping him in a hug. He patted her shoulder as she nuzzled his chest. She had been unusually easy around him from the moment she had met him. She had known from the first that he was a hedgehog (which was a pleasant new experience for Sonic, as no one else had known that before he told them) and she was delighted to meet him. She was even happier to learn that he could talk, and her trust was reflected by her animals. Whenever he came to see her, they swarmed him, perching on top of his head and shoulders, clinging to his arms. One butterfly had even landed on his nose, causing him to go cross eyed as he tried to look at it.

It happened again. They came bounding out the door, running up his legs. Two sparrows claimed the coveted spots, perching on his ears. Two squirrels and a chipmunk perched on his head, and Angel insisted on perching on his arm, which he obligingly held level. Other assorted animals hung around by his feet, some perching on his shoes. He scowled, clearly a little irritated, but he didn't complain. Both ponies giggled at the hedgehog, and Fluttershy positively fawned over the sight.

Twilight quickly explained what she had told the other four, Fluttershy listening attentively to the unicorn. Once she finished, the Emeralds came back out of Sonic. All of the animals chittered, and Angel reached out to them, but they were out of his reach. Fluttershy gasped, a small cute sound.

"They're so pretty!" she exclaimed (or what counted as an exclamation for her).

Angel reached out for them again, and when he couldn't touch any of them, he tapped Sonic's chest imperatively. Sonic looked down at the white rabbit, and it pointed to the Emeralds again. In acceptance of the bunny's request, he reached out and grabbed the white emerald. Drawing it closer, he handed it to the rabbit, who held it contentedly. Some of the other animals made jealous noises, but Fluttershy soothed them. Finally, Sonic took the Emeralds back, absorbing them. He then crouched down to let off all the animals. The sparrows winged away and the chipmunk and squirrels scampered back inside.

But Angel stubbornly refused to leave. He turned his head away at every attempt to coax him off. Finally, Sonic just grabbed him and put him down on the ground. For his troubles, he got a betrayed glare. Sonic laughed, and Angel hopped back inside.

They finally left to go to the wheat field where Rainbow's house usually was. They were in luck, the house was right above the field. Sonic cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loud as he could.

"RAINBOW DASH!" Twilight flinched away from the sheer volume. Despite being so lanky, he had quite the set of lungs on him. Rainbow poked her head out a window, waving to show she had seen them.

She landed with a thud in front of them.

"Heya, guys! Watcha hear for?" Rainbow grinned at Sonic. "A race?" Her wings flared open.

"Sorry, not this time," Sonic told her. His eyes sparked mischievously. "Something better." Without further ado, he summoned the Chaos Emeralds. Rainbow's eyes widened and she hovered above them.

"These are so AWESOME! This just made my day 20% cooler."

Sonic laughed, recognizing her trademark phrase. "You haven't even seen what they can do yet."

"Not now, show her another time." Twilight interrupted. She then went on to explain what she had told Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Rainbow was grumpy that she had been told last, but she quickly got out of her funk.

"Alright, so show me what these babies can do!" Rainbow crowed, rubbing her hooves together in anticipation.

"Indeed, do tell, what DO they do?" They all spun around to see a strange creature standing before them. He was a combination of several creatures.

Sonic burst out laughing, causing all three of them to give him a weird look.

"Boy are you UG-LY! I mean, seriously, you look like Frankenstein's pet project! What sick parentage do you HAVE?" Sonic taunted.

Twilight elbowed him. "That's Discord, God of Chaos, who SHOULD have been encased in stone still." Twilight shot a glare at the draconequis, who bowed.

"Why, think you for the introduction, Twilight! And as for the whole stone thing, I can explain."

"Please do," Rainbow snapped.

"As you know, I operate on Chaos Energy. When these babies appeared," Discord gestured to the Emeralds, "I got a feast the likes of which I haven't enjoyed in a while, not even rivaled by Pinkie Pie. As a side bonus, I was powerful enough to break out. So of course I came down for a family reunion!" Discord spread his arms open proudly, as if he deserved congratulations. "Anyways, I have a deal for you. Give me those gems, and I won't try to take over Equestria."

Sonic scoffed. "Dude, seriously? I can SEE you crossing your fingers behind your back."

Discord sighed. "Alright, I'm lying. But still, you should give me those gems."

"No way!" Sonic refused. He didn't need a formal introduction to know this guy was bad news. "You have no idea of the amount of power the Emeralds possess. You couldn't hope to control them!"

Discord waved a finger. "Now, now, no need to get huffy. Why can't we just... all be friends?" Discord floated over to put an arm around Sonic's shoulder. Sonic flinched out of range, a scowl on his face. Discord pouted, and turned away. "Well if you insist on being so touchy, I suppose I should try harder. That is what you would suggest, right Twilight?" Twilight groaned. She had been trying to sneak away to warn the other Element Bearers and the Princess. She turned around, and looked away stubbornly.

"I'm going to take that as a yes. Anyways, what would you suggest to do first? How about gift giving?" Discord snapped his finger, and a gift wrapped box appeared around Sonic. A second later, it opened, revealing that he was now covered in bands of gold.

It encircled his lower and upper arms, and a belt of woven gold wrapped around his waist. Gold also wrapped around his legs, the bottom half coming up in a spike that rose above his knees. He stared at it in disgust. It weighed him down so he could hardly move. Discord chuckled.

"Now then, aren't I a good friend?" Sonic just glared at him.

"Get these things off of me!" Sonic snarled. Discord placed a claw on his chin, thinking.

"Perhaps you're right. It would look better if it were more subtle." Discord snapped his fingers and the gold disappeared. In its place appeared two wide cuffs that surrounded Sonic's arm from his wrist to halfway up his elbow. Attached to them were chains that led to two stakes driven in the ground. Discord smiled. "Much better."

Rainbow Dash stared in horror. Much as she hated running from a fight, she knew she had to warn somepony, and with Sonic occupied (at least for the time being) there was no one else to do it. Common sense warred with pride, but finally she turned tail and flew away as fast as she could.

Discord stretched out his arm, grabbing Rainbow's tail and yanking her back to the ground.

"No, I don't think so! The fun isn't even beginning!"

Chapter 5 - A New Face

Chapter 5- A New Look

Twilight sighed sadly. It had been two days since Discord's resurgence. Sonic still hadn't woken up. It had been shocking for her to realize how much she cared for Sonic, but the thought of him dying was too much for her to bear. She sighed again, staring into the amber liquid in her glass.

"It's like your hearts being ripped out," Twilight murmured to herself. She downed the rest of her glass. She immediately refilled it. She was not ready to deal with the real world right now.

Twilight jerked awake. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep, and she peered about to see what had disturbed her.

Finally, she heard it. A gentle, almost nonexistant knocking. She tottered slowly to the door, and opened it just as the visitor knocked again.

"Yes?" She hung on to the doorframe to support herself. A butter yellow pegasus which Twilight vaguely identified as Fluttershy was standing there.

"Um, Twilight? Sonic's starting to stir. He'll be waking up soon. You should probably come...I mean, if that is you want to...you don't have to." Fluttershy ducked her head under her mane.

"Huh?" Twilight sagged against the doorframe. Fluttershy cleared her throat.

"Sonic's waking up." Well, THAT snapped Twilight into sobriety. Her suddenly clear mind did a skip as she squealed in excitement. She charged her horn and teleported away. Fluttershy smiled at her friend's enthusiasm, before shutting the door and following at a sedate trot.

Sonic slowly awoke. His thoughts were foggy, and his memories of previous events were fuzzy. For a moment he expected to wake up in that old temple. His eyes opened, but rather than seeing red stone, he saw a homey cottage.

He slowly took in his surroundings, desperately trying to wake up. Normally he was up like a light. Today, his mind seemed determined to go back to sleep.

Sonic pushed himself up to a sitting position, shaking his head. It took a squealing purple pony to bring him back to reality. He turned to see her charging toward him from an open door. His eyes widened and he tried to jump off the bed before he was clobbered. Unfortunately for him, he got tangled up in the sheets and slowed down by sore muscles.

"Sonic!" Twilight gleefully cried. She latched onto him, wrapping her forelegs around his arms and chest, and pinning him to the bed. The ecstatic unicorn nuzzled his chest, holding him close. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Sonic could only look on uncomfortably as the life was hugged out of him.

"Um, I'm fine. Really. You can let go now," he said uncertainly. He heard a laugh and turned to see an orange earth pony walk up.

"Don't worry about her. She's just drunk herself silly ever since ya got hurt. Ah'm not surprised she ain't exactly sober," Applejack assured.

"What are you talking about?" asked an enraged Twilight. She looked up at Applejack angrily. " I'm completely -hic- sober!" Applejack laughed.

"Sure ya are, sugarcube. Anyways, Ah gotta get back to the farm. Have fun!" she chuckled before walking out.

Sonic looked down at Twilight, who had resumed nuzzling him. He sighed.

"Seriously. You can let go now," Sonic repeated. "Twilight?" He then groaned, for he was now pinned to the bed with a drunk sleeping unicorn on top of him.

Luckily for Sonic, Fluttershy arrived shortly afterwards and moved Twilight to the couch. As relieved as he was for that awkward ordeal to be over, he knew there was something they weren't telling him.

Various ponies drifted in and out, including the rest of the Mane 6. Spike volunteered to stay with Sonic, and had hung around for a good hour or two. He had gone back to the library with Twilight though, so Sonic was by himself again.

Fluttershy popped in every few minutes to encourage him to rest, but Sonic couldn't sleep. He was too riled up. All day he had gotten the feeling they were hiding something, and he was determined to figure out what it was. Right after Fluttershy checked in on him another time, he slipped out of the bed.

Creeping around the corner, he tiptoed out towards the door. Something made him stop, though. He had caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, and something seemed off. He turned around to look again. What he saw made him take a moment to make sure he wasn't crazy.

Gone was his classic bright blue fur. In its place was a much darker shade. The strangest part, however, was the glowing blue sigils that stretched across his frame. One stretched across the top of his highest quills and his forehead, and other spots covered the tips of his ears. One even reached across his eye, ending at one edge and continuing across the other edge. Some stretched across his stomach and chest, but his legs were bare.

They gave him a foreign, exotic look. In the right light they might even make him look savage. The only thing that seemed to have NOT changed was his eyes. They alone were reflected back at him like he always remembered. But, as he looked closer, he realized that they had changed too. They shone much brighter than ever before, and it seemed like they reflected a distant flame.

But it only took a moment for his shock to turn into wonderment.

"Cool!" he breathed. He then heard gentle hoofsteps coming from the hallway. Sonic ducked away and out the door before he was discovered.

His first stop was Rainbow's house. He was noticed immediately, and Dash winged down and landed next to him.

"Hey, you're up! How you feeling? It looked pretty painful from what I saw when you got blasted." As she said this, Sonic's suspicions were confirmed. They didn't want him to know about his new look. So he decided to have a little fun.

"I'm fine. So what do you think of the new look?" Sonic crossed his arms across his chests, grinning smugly. "Yeah, I just noticed it when I snuck out of Fluttershy's. Pretty neat, right?" Rainbow Dash's mouth hung slack, and her eyes bugged out.

"You...know about it...then," was all she managed to say. Her mouth still hung open, and Sonic swore he saw a bug fly in. He didn't see it fly back out.

"Shut your mouth, RD. And yes, I do know. It's not really that big of a deal. You coulda told me." He took a great deal of joy from Rainbow's confuzzled look. But she did shut her mouth. She smiled nervously.

"Yeah, Twilight thought it might not be good to tell you for a while. She didn't know how you would take it," Rainbow explained. Sonic sighed.

"You realized I could have just looked down and seen it, right?" The ridiculousness of the whole situation wasn't worth it, in Sonic's eyes at least.

"Oh. Yeah, the plan had holes. Doesn't matter now, though."

Sonic realized Dash really wanted to talk about something else. "How about a little race, then?" Sonic proposed.

Rainbow grinned evilly. "Sure, why not? I bet you can't make it to... THAT cloud in, say, ten seconds flat?"

Sonic returned her smirk. "Deal." He wasted no time, and immediately took off. Rainbow started counting. Sonic raced up the side of a tree, swerving and dodging around the branches. He jumped at the last second, launching himself in the direction of the cloud. He fell in a slow arc, landing dead center in the middle of the cloud.

Rainbow silently cursed. He had done it in 6 seconds. She flew up and landed next to him. He ran his hand appreciatively over the fluffy surface. It was that moment when Rainbow realized that HE WAS STANDING ON A CLOUD. Sonic gave her a weird look.

"What?" he asked. Rainbow glared at him.

"You're standing on a cloud. Only pegasi can do that!"

"Last I checked, I wasn't a pegasus."

"But you're standing on a CLOUD!"

"So? I've done it before."

"Bu- wait, seriously? I was expecting more than a 'been there, done that'."

"That's all you're gonna get, though."

Rainbow threw her hooves up in frustration. She grumbled, but suddenly got a conspiratory look in her eye.

"I can't wait to tell everyone else that you know about your new look."

Sonic immediately got her drift.

"Yeah, I wonder how they'll react."

Two heart attacks, one mini party, one fainting spell and one scolding later, Rainbow and Sonic found themselves wandering around Sweet Apple Acres.

"The look on Rarity's face was PRICELESS!" laughed Dash.

"I almost think you enjoyed that too much, RD," Sonic laughed.

"There's no way to enjoy a prank too much, Sonic. Just ask Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash protested.

"Don't worry, I believe you. There's no need for drastic measures," Sonic reassured her. Rainbow chuckled at his discomfiture.

"I still don't think Twilight needed to freak out so bad, though," complained Rainbow Dash. Sonic nodded in agreement, thinking of the disaster they had narrowly avoided.

ABOUT AN HOUR AGO:

"Oh, Twilight! You there?" called Sonic. He stood just inside the library door. Twilight walked up to him, smiling brightly. She was apparently sober now, as she didn't try to hug or nuzzle Sonic.

"Oh! Hi! What are you doing up do soon?" asked Twilight.

"I snuck out of Fluttershy's house," Sonic replied candidly.

"Of course you did," muttered Twilight. Sonic may have only been around for a few weeks(2 or 3, she couldn't remember exactly) she was very well aware of his inability to sit still.

"So what do you think?" Sonic burst her thought bubble.

"Think of what?" she responded suspiciously.

"The new duds, of course! What else would I be talking about?" Sonic asked, putting on an air of puzzlement.

"W-w-well, you could have been talking about a number of things..." Twilight stammered, trying to think of something to say.

"Like what, exactly?" Sonic prompted.

"It could have been the pretty weather, or, or, or the, the...uummm..." Twilight's voice trailed off into silence. Sonic gave her a look.

"What is it?" Sonic asked, trying his best not to burst into laughter and reveal the prank.

"Alright, who told you? Was it Rainbow Dash? I bet it was Rainbow Dash..." Twilight ran a scanning spell to look for the rainbow pegasus. Her suspicions only seemed to be confirmed when her spell told her Rainbow was lurking just outside the door. She unceremoniously grabbed Rainbow in her telekinesis and dumped her on the floor in front of her.

"Why'd you tell him, Rainbow? We Pinkie Promised!"

"But I didn't! I swear!" Rainbow protested.

"Don't lie, Rainbow. How else could he have found out?!"

They both looked over sharply as they heard a loud smack. Sonic had facepalmed.

"You do know there are MIRRORS in Fluttershy's house, right?" Sonic grumbled. Twilight backed away from Rainbow Dash, her ears back in embarrassment.

"Oh. Right." Twilight blushed.

"See Twi? I would never break a Pinkie Promise!" Rainbow piped up.

"What I'm confused about is why you didn't want me to know," Sonic interrupted. Twilight looked over at him, a trace of red still in her face.

"I didn't want you to freak out is all." She scuffed the ground with one hoof. Sonic scoffed in reply.

"Sorry, Twilight, but you're the only one who freaks out and makes a complete mess of things," Sonic joked. He realized, too late, how offensive that was. He looked up at Twilight. Her bottom lip was quivering and her eyes were watering.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "That was uncalled for." Twilight nodded.

"It's okay. I accept your apology. But you're right. I do always make a mess of things." Twilight said even more softly than Sonic. Sonic stared at her in disbelief, righteous anger at his own words boiling up inside. Sometimes his tongue was too quick for his own good.

"That's not true! Everyone messes up sometimes! And look at what you HAVE done! I mean, if you hadn't quote-unquote messed up, I wouldn't be standing here!" Sonic shut his mouth quickly, realizing what he had just said. In trying to right his mistake, he had just said exactly opposite what he believed.

"Well, theoretically," he finished lamely. Twilight had caught his slip of tongue, though, and was now grinning happily.

"You do believe it!" she squealed happily. At this point Sonic was getting confused by all of Twilight's sudden mood swings. While he was happy she was no longer so down in the dumps, this was not where he had expected the conversation to go.

"No!" he denied, "It just, slipped out, is all." Sonic rubbed the back of his head nervously. Twilight grinned mischievously. She loved a good argument just as much as the next girl, though she'd never admit it.

"But it wouldn't have slipped out unless you meant it!"

"Yes it would! Wait, that came out wrong." Sonic scowled in irritation. It was obvious he was losing this argument. Twilight laughed, and Rainbow Dash was grinning from ear to ear.

"Why is it so awful that you were born in the Nexus?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it isn't, but-"

"Well, then why are you being so stubborn?" This made Sonic pause for a second. Why was he being so stubborn? But he shook his head. Now was not the time to debate the philosophical repercussions of his decisions.

"I have my reasons," he finally answered, not sure of what else to say.

Rainbow gasped. "Even he doesn't know!" She laughed, her sides shaking in mirth. Sonic glared at her.

"I thought you were on my side,RD!" Sonic couldn't help but feel betrayed.

"I was, but not anymore!" Rainbow laughed uproariously at Sonic's expression.

"Dirty double crosser," he muttered. This of course, made the girls laugh even harder, and even Sonic cracked a grin.

THE PRESENT

Rainbow Dash giggled. "You can't argue to save your life," she joked. Sonic glared at her.

"Well, it's not like I had much experience in the subject!" Sonic protested. Rainbow just laughed and scooted closer to Sonic, so they brushed against eachother as they walked. Sonic looked down in surprise, but didn't move away. And Rainbow counted that as a success.

Applejack watched as the two walked through the orchards, talking. When she saw how happy they were, especially when Rainbow scooted right up next to him, she gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Is somepony jealous?" asked a slow, male voice behind her. Applejack spun around, only to sigh in relief as she saw it was only the familiar face of Big Macintosh.

"Of course not!" Applejack denied. "Ah'm just... making sure they don't take too many apples! Ya know how Rainbow eats."

"Never bothered ya before," was Mac's no nonsense answer. Applejack blushed but didn't say anything. She looked up when Big Mac didn't say anything either.

"Were ya gonna say something else?"

"Eenope."

"Well, then were ya gonna go?"

"Eenope."

"*sigh* Ya want me to come with ya and leave them alone, don't ya?"

"Eeyup."

Applejack sighed again. "Alright, Ah'm comin'."

Sonic turned his head around. "Did you hear something?" he asked.

Rainbow cocked her head, listening. "Nope, nothing," she replied. Sonic looked unconvinced, but shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't believe that Rarity fainted, though!" Rainbow chuckled, continuing their previous conversation.

"Probably dreaming of new designs," Sonic grumbled ungraciously. He looked around furtively as if expecting her to swarm him with her tape measures, needles, scissors, and bolts of cloth right then and there. Dash was privately amused at the thought. She couldn't help but wonder how Sonic would look in one of Rarity's outfits, though.

It was hard to believe him looking any better than he did right now.

Chapter 6- Meanwhile on Mobius

"You WHAT?!" screeched a very distressed yellow fox. The echidna he was currently yelling at flinched away. He didn't care how strong he was, he did NOT want to face Tails when he was angry.

"I...lost him." he hesitantly replied.

"Oh, come on! That's what I heard the first time, but I had hoped I heard wrong. Now what do we do?"

"Um, we could just wait until he comes back," Knuckles suggested. Tails shot him a glare. "What? He can take care of himself! I don't see what you're so worried about." Tails sighed.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I just don't like it when he disappears. Last time he did he got turned into a werehog!" Tails also didn't like being left behind, but he would never admit it. It was a side effect of his rough upbringing.

"Eh, he'll probably show up as soon as you finish upgrading that plane of yours."

"I sure hope you're right."

It was already a strange day for Tails and Knuckles, who had decided to stick around, but it got even stranger when they got a (very) unexpected visitor.

Tails, of course, was used to people barging into his workshop without knocking (mainly Sonic) but it was almost never this particular hedgehog.

"Sh-Shadow? What are you doing here?" Tails stammered. He knew he could trust the dark hedgehog, but Shadow was still intimidating.

"I must speak with Sonic. Where is he?" As usual, Shadow got right to the point. He was not one for small talk.

"Um, I don't know where he is. He disappeared this morning in an old temple that Knuckles was exploring." Tails hoped that Shadow would find this satisfactory. He didn't like when he thought that people were keeping things from him. Tails turned around and continued fiddling with the controls on his console, hoping that was the end of the matter.

"Hmmmm. I suppose I'll have to find him myself then." Without another word, he left. Tails sighed in relief. Right then, Knuckles walked in, munching on some chips. He had helped himself to the small fridge that Tails kept handy.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Just Shadow," Tails answered, keeping his eyes on the console.

"Seriously? What did HE want?"

"Coincidentally, to talk to Sonic. Talk about timing, huh?" Tails remarked. He wasn't exactly on the best of terms with Knuckles EITHER, but he tried to remain polite. He was only truly relaxed when he was around Sonic.

Knuckles frowned, unusually serious. "I don't know where he could have gone, though. We were in the only room in that temple, and nothing collapsed or opened up when that earthquake happened. What I don't understand is why those symbols on the ground glowed. I dug a bit into the floor, but there was no tech or anything to cause that." Tails frowned as well, but tried to put a light spin on the situation.

"Well, we do know what Sonic is like. He hates the idea of being trapped underground. Maybe he just ran off when the shaking started so he wouldn't get trapped."

"But if that were true, wouldn't he have come back to get me? He would never leave anyone behind."

Tails nodded in agreement. No matter how scared Sonic was (though he'd never admit he was scared) he always put others first. It was one of his best qualities, besides being ridiculously hard to kill. That had kept him alive in many battles with Eggman or whatever enemy he had been fighting. Tails trusted that he was still alive. Eggman may have called him a rat, but he was more like a cockroach. Impossible to get rid of.

And of course, with the day already going the way it was, it was no surprise that they should get another unexpected visitor.

"Oh, Sooooooniic! Where aaaaarre you?" called a familiar, somewhat annoying voice. Like everyone else had that day, she walked in without any preamble.

"Seriously? Do any of you know what a doorbell is? I don't want people just walking in like they own the place!" Tails finally snapped. Technically, Sonic owned the warehouse that was currently Tails' workshop,(it had been a gift from a nearby city he had saved) but that didn't mean Tails wanted people marching in.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tails. I was just looking for Sonic, is he here?"Amy asked pleasantly. Tails sighed.

"No, he isn't," was all he said. He hoped that she wouldn't ask where he was, because she wouldn't stop until she knew everything Tails knew. And he didn't want to be around to see her reaction when she found out Sonic was missing.

"Yeah, he went missing this morning. Haven't seen him since!" announced Knuckles. Tails cringed, and Amy looked like she was about to explode. Fortunately for them, Amy just pulled out her Piko Hammer and stomped out.

Tails turned on Knuckles. "Why did you tell her that Sonic was missing? She might've trashed the place!"

Knuckles glared back. "Who cares? She would have found out anyways. Why is it such a big deal? It's not like he's dead or anything!"

Tails just grunted and turned away. He pulled out his toolbox and slid underneath his plane, trying to make himself useful. "I just hope we don't get any more unexpected visitors. Wouldn't that be strange?" he murmured to himself.

Of course, fate would have it that they would have more unusual and unexpected things happen (things just work that way when Sonic is involved) and Tails couldn't help but wonder what made his workshop so popular today.

By some strange coincidence, these people actually KNOCKED, which surprised Tails to no end. So he got up and opened the large metal doors. He really didn't expect to see the people on the other side (which isn't that surprising now, is it?).

"Hey Tails!" called out an unnecessarily loud voice. Tails winced. Vector had his headphones on again. "We heard Sonic was missing. Want us to investigate?" Tails grimaced.

"His disappearance is most unsettling," remarked a chameleon which stood to Vector's side. Tails nodded at Espio, who returned the gesture. Of course, Team Chaotix wasn't complete without Charmy.

"Yeah, we'd find him double-quick time for ya, Tails! You'll never have noticed he was missing!" Charmy buzzed around excitedly. Vector facepalmed.

"And since we're friends, we'll even give you a discount!" Vector finished. Tails grinned awkwardly.

"That's really nice of you guys, but I'm sure he's fine. It's nice of you to worry, but I'm sure you have more important things to do." As Tails said this, he swore he could see Charmy deflate. He certainly seemed to slow down.

"Even so, we'll keep an eye out for any news concerning him," Espio promised. Vector nodded in agreement, before they all turned to go.

"See you later!" called Tails before breathing a sigh of relief. Team Chaotix was not known for being neat. Or cooperative. Once they got an idea, they pursued it wholeheartedly (mostly at Vector's behest).

But all those unexpected visitors did prove to be of some use. They gave Tails an idea.

"Knuckles, show me where that temple is. I want to check it out for myself."

About half an hour later, they arrived at the rock spire. Knuckles lit two torches again, and handed one to Tails. They walked in silence, Knuckles once again lit the trail of oil, and once again it raced along its paths.

Tails was dumbstruck as soon as he saw the giant statue though. He just stared at it for a moment. It looked EXACTLY like Sonic, but his sensor told him it was hundreds of years old.

His keen eyes quickly took in the markings and carvings that covered almost every surface in the temple. His eyes caught on to the mirrors especially.

"How are they so shiny and new-looking?" he murmured. Knuckles immediately caught on. Everything else bore marks of age, but the mirrors were perfectly preserved. There was not a scratch on them. Tails approached cautiously.

His mouth made a round 'O' as he stared at the mirror. Instead of seeing himself and Knuckles, two Sonics were reflected back.He only learned from his scanner that the mirrors produced strange energy signatures. He also detected an empty space behind them, but no way to get into it.

'What would Sonic do?' he wondered.

He balled his fingers into a fist and punched the glass as hard as he could. It shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, and the area behind it was revealed. It looked nothing like the rest of the temple.

While the temple behind them was dominated by sharp angles, the area ahead was made of curves and spirals. It was all abstract and confusing. It was also made of a much darker stone. Spires and curves rose up from the floor, making stars and flowers and other shapes that had no name.

But for all its complexity, it was only one room. It's strangest feature was the dark green capsule at the back. It was more modern looking, with an average cylindrical shape. It seemed fogged up.

Knuckles noticed it too. He walked up and rubbed the glass-like substance that it was made of.

"Tails? You should see this." Tails approached at Knuckles' call. He too stopped and stared at it.

Cocooned inside, surrounded by swirling dark energy, was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog.

The strangest part? He was almost completely black, with only light blue glowing symbols marking his body.

Chapter 7- Something's Off

Sonic groaned. He was currently in the Carousel Boutique, with the dreaded needles and cloth hovering all around him. He forced himself to stand still, for the temptation to fidget was very real.

"Certainly your new color is very striking, darling. I dare say you've gotten even darker than you first were," Rarity commented. Sonic agreed, but didn't view it in the same way as the fashionista. Now he looked more like his dark form than ever before, and he didn't like the connotations.

"Indeed, with that coloring you'd be the talk of the town without any help. But, of course, we just couldn't pass up a golden opportunity like this, now could we?" She smiled up at the hedgehog.

"Apparently." Sonic replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Rarity scowled at his lack of enthusiasm,but didn't say anything else.

A few minutes later, Rarity had the finished product ready. "There! Try this on." She levitated her newest creation over to Sonic, who obligingly pulled it on.

It was a shirt and jacket combo, but Sonic left it unbuttoned. The suit jacket was a rich black, just a few shades darker than his fur. Two long tails hung from the back down to his knees. The shirt underneath was a light blue exactly the same color as Sonic's new markings. Over the three weeks since their appearance, they had grown brighter, contrasting even more with his fur. On the edges of the sleeves were two cufflinks of crystal, which nicely complimented the dark jacket.

Sonic had to admit, it was much more comfortable than he had first expected. The inside was silky smooth and didn't pinch or pull anywhere. The collar fit smoothly around his shoulders.

"Not bad," he admitted. It was almost worth the hours spent standing still doing nothing.

Rarity knew honest praise when she heard it, and smiled at the hedgehog. "I'm glad you like it, dear. It is a bit simpler than most of my creations, but it suits you." Sonic snickered at her comment.

"Literally," he joked. Rarity rolled her eyes at the bad pun, but smiled all the same.

"Now then, I'll just keep this safe until the festival," and with that Rarity grabbed it in her magic and hung it gently on the rack. Sonic saluted and took off.

Five minutes later saw him at the library with Twilight. He had promised to show up sometime today. He wondered why she couldn't just have told him whatever it was that morning, since he was staying in the guest room there, but he went with it.

From the moment he walked in, he saw a disaster waiting to happen.

"Twilight, what are you DOING?! Don't you know how dangerous they are?" Sonic cried. Twilight didn't look at him, because she had to focus completely on the Emeralds.

"I'm trying to draw out their power like you were, but nothing's happening. Why won't it work?" She finally gave up, and the glow around her horn died down.

"That's because you're trying to take it forcibly. You have to ask them for it." Sonic explained. He had gone through this very process when he had been practicing with the Emeralds.

"Ask?"

"Yeah, watch." Sonic picked up one of the Emeralds and forced his muscles to relax. As soon as he did so, the Emeralds began glowing, and they rose up off the ground. Twilight once again felt them giving their energy to the hedgehog. When she listened closely (magically speaking) she could almost hear them accepting his request. So she tried it herself. Relaxing, she formed the question in her mind, a plea for a small amount of energy.

The answer was immediate. Pure, raw energy flooded her as the Emeralds granted her what she sought. She stiffened almost immediately though, and they just as quickly stopped granting the energy. Twilight panted, grinning at her success.

"Wow, that was really good for the first time. When I tried the first time they created an explosion. But that was when I figured out how to work with them. They may seem like inanimate objects, but they have personality. It's something I've been trying to figure out for years."

Twilight drank in every word. She had a lot of experiments in mind, and she would probably need the hedgehog around to keep the Emeralds stable. This was heaven to the scientifically gifted unicorn.

Two failures, three explosions and one mini black hole later, Twilight had finished creating her machine. It was small, barely the size of a foal, and it had one gem shaped slot in the top. It was a simple box shape, but it had curved edges that gave it a modern look. Twilight looked on in satisfaction.

Her machine had worked perfectly. It was designed to take the power of the Emeralds and transfer it into magical energy, which could then be given to any member of the pony race.

They had tested it on Rainbow Dash, who had gone on to set a track record in her playground in the sky. Afterwards, as she came down off the power high, there had been no I'll side effects.

Sonic wiped his brow in relief. Keeping the Emeralds stable was hard on a good day, and Twilight's machine had taken a lot of trial and error. But the final product was gratifying, and they had managed to finish it the day before the Harvest Festival.

Sonic didn't know what to think about the Festival. It sounded like fun, but Rarity was insistent that he wear the new jacket. And that meant no running above average pony speed. Sonic chafed at the idea of walking for the whole festival, but he supposed it might be best. The turbulent winds he created in his wake were known to throw everything into disarray.

The Night Of The Harvest Festival

"So here's to this year's Harvest Festival! Enjoy it everypony!" cried Pinkie from on the stage. Her speech concluded, she wasted no time in joining the party. She loaded herself into her party cannon (which stretched to accommodate her) and shot herself into the middle of the crowd.

Twilight had asked Sonic to accompany her for the Festival.

"After all," she had said."You need someone to show you around."

As true as that might have been, Sonic would have been much happier blitzing from stall to stall. As it was, he shifted uncomfortably inside his coat. While it might have been comfortable, it was a warm night and Sonic would rather have gone without. Even so, he was drawing stares from ponies who had come from other cities and towns to enjoy the local holiday.

Rarity came up to his side, examining the coat for any blemishes and imperfections.

"Oh, I do wish I'd done something different. It's so dreadfully simple, but I just don't have the experience with your build to really elaborate. It's simply a crime against fashion to a he you looking so drab!" Twilight looked at Rarity questioningly. She was no expert on the matter, but Sonic looked fine to the lavender unicorn. But before she could comment, Sonic spoke.

"Rarity, I'm a bipedal, walking talking hedgehog in a world of ponies. I think I stand out plenty." Besides, Sonic thought ruefully, I wouldn't survive anything fancier than this.

"Oh, I know. There's just so much more I could have done." Rarity sighed.

"There's always next time, Rarity." Twilight said, causing Sonic to wince. There was no way he was going through that again. Before Rarity could get any ideas, he decided to change the subject.

"I'm gonna go talk to Applejack. See ya!" He disappeared into the crowd. Rarity looked miffed, but Twilight was laughing.

"I'm don't think he enjoyed the idea of another fitting. He's like Rainbow in that respect." Twilight giggled. Rarity nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, they are very much alike. In fact, I've noticed that Rainbow Dash goes out of her way to spend time with him. I wonder if we have a blossoming romance in our hands." Seinfeld the look on Twilight's face, she grinned mischievously, her pretty eyes sparkling. "Or perhaps you've taken a fancy to our mysterious friend? Well, you'll certainly have some competition. I do believe our friend Applejack has her eye on him as well."

"Rarity!" gasped Twilight. She blushed, her whole face turning red. "Whether it's true or not, please don't say things like that during the festival! Who knows who could overhear!" Twilight looked around nervously.

"Alright, I won't. But remember, I'll be keeping an eye on you two." Rarity reminded her.

As for Sonic, he breathed a sigh of relief. Rarity was like Amy sometimes. Way too girly. He caught up to Applejack, who smiled up at him but didn't say anything.

"So where you heading?" he asked Applejack.

"Ah'm just going to check up on our stall. We're selling some hard cider and Ah want ta make sure everypony's behaving themselves."

"Oh. ... So how good is your cider? I haven't gotten to try any yet."

"Some of the best east of Apploosa if Ah do say so mahself. Ah don't mind if you try some." Applejack said proudly. By the time she finished speaking, they had made it to the stall, which was being run by Big Mac. He nodded at them.

"Everything going good, Mac?"

"Eeyup." For some reason, Big Mac was staring at Sonic when he spoke. When Sonic tilted his head in confusion, the stallion just shook his head and served up two mugs of the Apple Family famous hard cider.

Sonic took a long swig, savoring the taste.

"It's sweeter than some I've had, but not bad." Sonic judged. He took another sip, enjoying it slowly. Applejack watched his reaction, suddenly thinking of something.

"Say, sugarcube, how old are ya?"

"19." As soon as he said this, Applejack grabbed the mug from his hand and put it back on the counter. He glared at her.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"Ya can't be drinking at 19! Ya'll are too young. It'll addle your brains."

"Well, it would if it were possible for me to get drunk."

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean, that as a side effect of being able to run so fast, I have a hyperactive metabolism. Any alcohol is gone before it can reach the bloodstream. Believe me, I've tried to get drunk, but it just doesn't work."

"That doesn't excuse ya! It's mah hard cider, it's mah rules. No more for you!"

Sonic groaned, but didn't argue. He knew that technically he shouldn't drink anyway, but it never bothered anyone back on Mobius. Then he raised an eyebrow. It was weird that they seemed to have the same drinking laws here as they did back on his world. They had a completely different physiology. Wouldn't it be different here?

But he shook his head, and went to see what else came with the Harvest Festival.

Sonic was puzzled. He kept on seeing things that looked like they came from Mobius. Here and there he would see a sign or advertisement. In the distance he would see skyscrapers. Every time he blinked, though, they disappeared. Finally, he decided to call it an early night. He snuck back to the library, making sure no one saw him leaving the Festival.

Rather than settling into the bed that Twilight had set up for him, he climbed into the round windowsill. It bothered Twilight that he preferred hard surfaces rather than a standard bed, but he didn't budge.

So the guest bed remained pristine, untouched in the last month or so Sonic had been here. He liked being near the sky anyways, so the window was the perfect spot. As he looked up at the stars and down at the lights of the festival, he swore he saw Mobian style things down there. But they still disappeared the moment he looked away. His gaze swept over the room, nearly missing the rather obvious oddity.

He almost fell onto the floor when he recognized a console that looked exactly like one of the ones Tails used. Sonic blinked in surprise. Then it was gone. He frowned. Something was really off here.

It was the same everywhere he went. He had run across almost the whole of Equestria, and everywhere he went, he saw Mobian buildings, Mobian signs, Mobian clothing designs, and even Mobians themselves. It just didn't make sense. He ran all night long, burning the midnight oil as he thought.

'Could our worlds be merging? But there's no reason for that to happen. Could that Lawbringer guy be bringing these things here? But there's no reason for that either.' All night he thought of, pondered, and discarded ideas. There didn't seem to be any pattern to it though. They seemed to appear randomly.

Finally, as the sun's rays broke over the horizon, Sonic decided to go back and ask Twilight about it. If anyone could figure out what was causing him to see things, she could. So he curved, angling himself for a straight shot to Ponyville.

"Hey Twi? Have there been any rumors about people seeing things that looked, well, otherwordly?" Sonic asked. It certainly wasn't what the unicorn was expecting him to ask after being gone the whole night.

"No, I haven't heard of anypony seeing things. Why?"

"I keep seeing things that come from my world. But every time I look away they disappear." Sonic explained. Twilight frowned. Walking up, she placed a hoof on his forehead to check for fever, but he irritable brushed her away.

"I'm not sick! I would have noticed. It takes a pretty strong bug to take me down."

"Well, there's no fever, so I have to agree with you. Maybe it's from stress? You did go without any sleep. And didn't I hear Applejack saying you had some hard cider?" Sonic shot her a look of disbelief.

"No, I've done all-nighters before, and they never bothered me. It has to be something else."

"Like hard cider?"

"No!"

"Okay, okay. You don't have to snap. Then the only other thing I can tell you is that you've gone stark raving mad. We'll have to order a straight jacket, and find the proper asylum-"

"You're kidding me, right? I haven't gone mad! That's the stupidest thing I've heard all day." Sonic protested.

"If you keep acting like this, I'll have to restrain you," Twilight replied, dead serious.

"But why?"

"I've been watching you the whole time you've been here. Not only have you shown extreme flightiness, you're hyperactive, fidgety, and suspicious of everything. You can't sit still, and you have a short attention span. You refuse to believe anything that intrudes on your own little private reality. All of those are symptoms of classic Dimensia. I'm doing this for your own good. We'll find you a good doctor who can help you with your problems."

Sonic stared at her in shock. Then his gaze changed to one of anger. His eyes narrowed.

"The Twilight I've been getting to know over the past few weeks would never say that! You're not her! What did you do with her?" Sonic cried. His anger boiled, and threatened to spill over into violence. 'Twilight' cringed, flinching away from his wrath.

"I am her! You're the one that's changed. You need help! I'm trying to provide it!" As she spoke, items in the library began gaining Mobian attributes before Sonic's eyes. That was when Sonic realized the full truth. Twilight wasn't the one who was fake. This WORLD was. This whole region, the reality he had been living in for the past few months, wasn't real at all.

Sonic snarled and lunged at Twilight, determined to get some answers before she could escape. He didn't know how close she had been to running either. But in the middle of his lunge, it was like time stopped. The library, and the world by extension, crumbled away until Sonic was surrounded in black. Everything slowly took vague shapes, until suddenly everything clicked.

Sonic was launched into the middle of the room, taking two people with him in his sudden departure. He picked himself up, shaking away the strange dizziness he felt. Looking around, he noticed two others picking themselves up from the ground. He immediately recognized them.

"Tails! Knuckles! What are you doing here?"

"Well, we WERE trying to get you out of that, but we kind of got interrupted," replied Tails, rubbing his head.

"Next time you shoot out of something, try NOT to hit us," grumbled Knuckles. He picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. Tails did the same.

"Sorry, but I didn't know I had company," retorted Sonic.

"So how did you get in that thing? And why?" asked Tails, pointing to the strange capsule. Sonic walked up to it, noting it's strange curved edges. It almost looked like a bullet.

"What is it anyway?" Sonic asked, ignoring Tails' question.

"I'm not sure exactly. From what I can tell, it's supposed to create a virtual reality in someone's mind. I think it also doubles as a stasis pod."

"How long was I in it?"

"Since this morning," Knuckles told him.

"This morning?! But I've lived for a month in there! Look, I even still have these weird markings!" Sonic gestured to himself, where the markings glowed on his almost black fur. Tails frowned at them.

"I noticed those, but I never figured out why they are there or what they do. They almost look like-"

"His dark super form!" Knuckles finished. The three of them shared a look. Whatever it meant, they all knew it wasn't good.

"YOU HAVE AWOKEN TOO EARLY! NO MATTER, I HAVE FINISHED MY PURPOSE! I HAVE NO NEED OF YOU ANYMORE!" A loud voice reverberated around the confines of the temple. The voice was unfamiliar to Tails and Knuckles, but Sonic recognized it immediately.

"Lawbringer!" he yelled, his voice echoing off the stone.

Chapter 8- The Truth

Sonic cursed under his breath. He should've known that the whole thing was fake. It was just too strange to be real. He ran into the main room. He noticed that the statue that had depicted himself was now obsidian, and showed an evil looking dragon serpent...thing.

"Lawbringer! What did you do to me!" yelled Sonic, screeching to a halt.

"Why, I made you better! I made you so you could fulfill your true purpose." Lawbringer's ghostly voice echoed around the room.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"To serve me!"

"No way! I don't serve anyone, especially not the likes of you!" Sonic protested. He didn't know the entirety of Lawbringer's scheme, but he knew it wasn't good.

"You always were rebellious, Hanzoku. But you will bend to my will. You cannot resist the call of your master!" As he spoke, the statue of the dragon began moving, the obsidian skin falling away to reveal the more sinister darkness underneath. To Sonic's surprise, the dragon's new skin was also covered in strange markings, exactly like the ones Sonic now sported.

"Hanzoku? What's that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked cautiously. He wasn't about to let Lawbringer make him get sidetracked.

"It is your true name, not the one you now use. It means 'rebel' in the ancient language. I gave you that name because you were always hard to control, even from the time you first came into being. As punishment, I made you take mortal form. You lost all your memories of your time in the Nexus when that happened, but not your spirit. But you will not be so difficult to control now."

"You really think you can control me? That'll be harder than you think. I have free will, and I'm not about to give it up!" Sonic yelled defiantly. The dragon, who had completely shed his outer layer, stepped down onto the shards of obsidian, approaching Sonic.

"BOW TO YOUR MASTER, HANZOKU!" the dragon screeched. As he did so, a blue wave of energy swept the room. As soon as the wave reached Sonic, he fell to his knees.

"Sonic!" cried Tails. He and Knuckles tried to reach him, but were swept away by the dragon's tail. They crashed into the wall, gasping for breath as all the air was knocked out of them.

Sonic yelled in pain as he felt his consciousness, his personality being torn up. Thoughts that weren't his own flooded his mind, thoughts of destroying and wreaking havoc, of obeying Lawbringer's every word. For a moment, he succumbed.

He lifted his head, his now blank eyes rising to meet those of the dragon's. Lawbringer smiled in success. He had finally triumphed the will of the other immortal. But then that moment ended.

Sonic stood, his emerald eyes reappeared, and the dark aura vanished. Lawbringer growled in frustration.

"I told you not to underestimate me," quipped Sonic. " I'm stronger than you think."

"No matter, Hanzoku. Trust me, I planned for this. I would never underestimate my servant. You are created from some of the most chaotic creatures in the universe."

"But that reality was fake," insisted Sonic.

"The people weren't. No, they may not have really met you, but they do exist, in a dimension exactly like the one you saw. And you did meet your creator. You fought him. I also wanted you to meet Dark Lord Sombra, but you discovered the farce too soon."

"Discord? That weirdo?" Sonic realized.

"Partially. Do not worry, you will learn the whole truth soon." Lawbringer sidled closer to Sonic, his claws scraping against the stone. Sonic backed up a few steps, not wanting Lawbringer so close. Lawbringer grinned, showing off his mouthful of teeth.

"You are right to fear me," whispered Lawbringer into the hedgehog's ear. "You have no idea what I'm about to do to you. Trust me, it will hurt." Sonic smirked in response to the dragon's threat.

"They all say that," he answered.

It didn't matter how Sonic might have braced himself for what was about to happen, it still hurt. A LOT. Sonic grit his teeth, determined not to scream like he had before. But this was completely different. It felt like everything he was began doubling. For a moment, he swore he saw himself in front of him, that he saw and heard and thought from two different points. The feeling snapped off, but Sonic still saw himself in front of him.

"What did you just do?" Lawbringer circled the two identical Sonics, making a wall of swirling black and glowing blue. The second Sonic's eyes snapped open, revealing two familiar emerald eyes, and looked at the first Sonic in wonder.

"Woah! Trippy, there's two of me? So what's it like being a clone?" Sonic-2 asked.

"No, YOU'RE the clone, not me." Sonic-1 answered. The other Sonic looked puzzled, but the first Sonic interrupted before he could argue.

"Look, it doesn't matter who's the clone and who isn't! We have to defeat him!" Sonic-1 pointed out. To his surprise, Sonic-2 looked confused.

"But why would we want to defeat him? He is our master. We must obey him!" Sonic-2 confidently said. Sonic-1 stepped back in shock.

"This is what you should have been like," said Lawbringer. "Why can't you be more like your little brother?" Sonic-2 smirked, clearly enjoying the praise.

"No one should have to pledge their loyalty to a monster," Sonic-1 said vehemently. "I would never obey you!"

"Have no fear, you do not need to now. That is why I made provision for a second you. One that is more... suitable, for my purposes. Unfortunately, a personality is not required, so that needs to go." The dragon stared at Sonic-2. He yelled in pain, holding his hands with his head. Suddenly he stopped, standing with no emotion. His eyes disappeared, leaving only blank whiteness. Sonic-1 stepped back, for seeing himself like that was not a pleasant experience.

"Now then. You are probably wondering why I wanted to control you. The reason is simple. This is not a temple. It is a prison. In fact, you put me here, trapping me in the Nexus. So I stayed, gathering power from all the things going on in other universes. There was quite a few. Even so, while I can exit the Nexus, I cannot leave this temple. I cannot enter any other dimensions either, though I can view them. You were quite thorough when you imprisoned me. But, my consciousness can leave. It just needs a different body." Sonic gasped as the full extent of Lawbringer's plan began to hit him. "So you see, I could not just take over anyone. It had to be someone powerful enough for my purposes. So I thought it best to use the one who trapped me in the first place. To tell the truth, I did not make you mortal. You sacrificed your immortality so you would have the power needed to put me in this prison. But that weakened you after the deed was done, so I could now manipulate you to a much greater extent. Now, my plan finally comes to fruition. I have a body, ready and waiting to take me away from this dungeon. I have you, who I will destroy, and I have this world to conquer. Then I will move on to the next, and the next, and the next. I shall rule all that is." Lawbringer explained. Sonic snarled at Lawbringer's bold statements..

"There's no way I'm letting that happen!" he swore.

"You don't have a choice in the matter, Hanzoku. In fact, I won't destroy you. I will weaken you until I can control you, and then you will conquer the universe at my side."

"And why exactly are you telling me all this?" Sonic asked.

"Because I want to see the look on your face when you are defeated, when you realize that your failure has left the universe at my mercy. I want to see you BEG. You will know what it is to see everything you were taken away, sealed up, unable to do anything. You Will SUBMIT, Hanzoku. You will bow to me, just as you were meant to do." Lawbringer smiled. Sonic glared at him, but he had to admit, Lawbringer's words chilled him to the bone. But they also made him more determined than ever before.

"You know I won't let you do that. If I stopped you once, then I'll do it again." Sonic replied confidently.

"Oh, Hanzoku. You are foolish as always. Why do you slave for these people? They are beneath you. You should be ruling them. You should be king! You were immortal once, and you can be again. You need only take my hand, and I will bring you to Godhood again." Lawbringer smiled slightly. While Sonic may be strong enough to fight his control, how would he fight what he didn't know was happening?

Tails watched in horror as he saw Sonic actually considering the dragon's proposal. Sonic would never do that! That was when he realized that Lawbringer must have been using subtle mind control.

"Sonic! Don't!" he yelled. Lawbringer growled, increasing the slight push he was putting on Sonic's mind. That proved to be the wrong desicion, for Sonic finally realized what was happening. The glazed look his eyes had taken on disappeared, and Sonic glared at the serpent.

"No! I don't want to be a king, or a god, or anything else! I especially don't want a no-good, low-down evil rat like you changing my mind for me!" Sonic snarled. Finally, he was truly finding out the extent of Lawbringer's power and control.

"I'm done talking, Lawbringer. Either fight, or go back to the prison where you belong!"

Lawbringer's eyes narrowed. "If that is what you think, then so be it. Feel free to change your mind anytime, as I will not let you escape until you do." He once again focused on the second Sonic. As he did so, his form began melting into a swirling pool of black. Floating high above, the mass suddenly dived down and was absorbed into the second Sonic. Lawbringer opened his new eyes.

"Good. Now I am the perfect height to enjoy it when you beg for mercy. And I will enjoy it immensely." Lawbringer smiled, his grin eerily similar to Sonic's. Then he frowned, and his green eyes narrowed.

"This form does not please me. I shall change it." Lawbringer's eyes completely closed, and the markings began to glow brightly. With a bright flash, he completely changed form. Sonic stared in surprise. While the creature standing in front of him still bore similarities to him, it was impossible to describe. It just looked like a demon, all spikes and claws and slitted eyes. It also had a long tail with barbs on it, capped in silver highlights.

"Today I take a new name! From now on I shall be known as Onigami! The Demon God! Bow before my power, mortals!" This new creature looked at Sonic with achingly familiar emerald eyes. But now they shone with evil intent.

"Could you finish with your little spiel already? This has been going on forever!" yawned Sonic. He just wanted to get this over with. Save the world, beat the bad guy, yada, yada, yada. Deep down, Sonic was afraid, but he'd never let it show. He would not let fear or anger or anyone else control him. This was his fight. He wasn't going to back down easily.

It was a slaughter, and not in a good way. Onigami had the power of galaxies and the knowledge of centuries behind him, and an innate knowledge of Sonic's moves. Sonic had two feet and a snarky attitude. That last one didn't do him much good.

But even with all that, Onigami wasn't finding it easy.

"Why won't you give up?!" he yelled after Sonic picked himself back up from off the ground.

"He's like a cockroach! Impossible to kill!" called out Tails. He and Knuckles had been trapped behind a force field almost immediately, but they still called out encouragement.

"Uh, thanks... I guess." Sonic called back. The creature he was fighting had no strategy or pattern to its attacks. At one moment it would try to stab him with its tail, the next moment it would blast him with a dark beam of energy. It also never used the exact same attack or combo twice, so Sonic was left guessing as to what he had to dodge or counter.

Sonic ducked under Onigami's outstretched arm, only to get knocked over by a sweep of his tail. Onigami leapt on top of him, pushing one clawed foot on his chest.

"You must see how pointless this is. There is no way to defeat me. I am immortal, Hanzoku." Onigami taunted. As he spoke, Sonic's eyes blazed red in fury. He glared holes into the demon above him.

"My name," he ground out from in between clenched teeth,"IS SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" He exploded upward in golden light, floating above the floor. The transformation only lasted a moment, though, and he fell back to the ground. He landed on his feet, standing proudly. Tails stared in shock, and Knuckles did the same.

"He... he went super. Without the Chaos Emeralds! And he didn't go crazy!" Knuckles shouted. Tails cheered, glad to see that Sonic was not so easily vanquished. (He would never doubt him, but there were times...)

"Ugh! This so taking too long! I have arrangements I must make. Our battle will have to wait for another time, " Onigami spat. Sonic started to run after him, but Onigami sent one last wave of energy and blasted him into the wall, making a sizable hole.

The moment he left, the force field holding Tails and Knuckles fell away, drifting into wisps of energy. Sonic pulled himself out of the wall, flinching at the dozen and some wounds that bled freely. All in all, he was a pretty gruesome sight. He wiped blood from his lip, grimacing at the metallic taste.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" asked Tails. The wounds had not escaped his notice, but Sonic had gone through worse just fine.

"Eh. I'm good," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. Even doing that hurt though, as Onigami had bent his arm back at one point, bending bones the wrong way and stretching tendons.

"That wasn't too bad for your first showdown with the guy. But how did you go super? And, well, not go completely nutso?" Knuckles asked. As usual, he hated giving praise, so he went as light as he possibly could with it.

"I just wanted to. It felt right. Don't ask me how it works. I couldn't hold it for long either. Maybe the power of the Chaos Emeralds rubbed off on me?" Sonic guessed. Tails shrugged. He'd have to test it later.

"That doesn't matter. We're going to need those Chaos Emeralds if we want to defeat him." Tails pointed out. Sonic looked worried, though.

"But what if the Chaos Emeralds aren't enough? We've only seen a fraction of what that guy can do." Knuckles asked.

"Then I know just the ponies to help," grinned Sonic. Tails and Knuckles looked at eachother, confused.

"Ponies?"

Chapter 9- The Whole Truth

"C'mon! We've gotta find out how to skip dimensions, and I have a feeling it won't be easy," Sonic said. He immediately took charge as part of instinct, and generally Tails and Knuckles went along with it. This time was no different, although considering the info dump they just went through, it was no surprise that they didn't say much. Before Sonic could take off, though, he was suddenly bowled over as he got blasted in the back. Turning, they all saw the last hedgehog they expected. Shadow, who was coincidentally holding a large, alien, smoking gun.

"Shadow! What was that for?" Sonic complained, trying to look at the blackened patch on his back.

"You were about to run off. I got your attention before that could happen," Shadow replied levelly.

"Oh, and you couldn't just, I don't know, CALL MY NAME, for example?" Sonic snapped. Shadow just gestured to the weapon in his hand.

"The gun was faster."

"Oh, for the love of..." and Sonic threw his hands in the air in frustration. Tails swore he saw Shadow smirk. Knuckles, of course, was laughing his head off, thoroughly enjoying the subtle teasing and rivalry that the two hedgehogs maintained.

"You'd think they were brothers," whispered Tails. Sonic flicked an ear at this, but continued giving Shadow the stink eye.

"So did you come here for an actual reason? Or did you just want to shoot me?" Sonic finally asked.

"I did come for a reason. Come." Shadow sped away, Sonic straight on his heels.

"Well, while they're talking, we might as well explore the temple as much as we can." Tails suggested. Knuckles nodded, and they split up to search the area.

Shadow had run for a mile or two before suddenly applying the brakes, immediately stopping. Sonic applied his heels to the ground and skidded for a few feet before coming to a halt as well.

"So what's so important that you had to tell me in the middle of a desert?" Sonic questioned. The fact Shadow was telling him ANYTHING was unsettling, as he normally kept to himself.

"This." Shadow handed Sonic a file. Emblazoned on the front were the GUN insignia, and several 'top secret' stamps. Sonic opened it, skimming through the documents, but paying close attention to the many pictures and images. As he continued to rifle through it, Shadow began explaining.

"My latest mission for GUN had me exploring some of Proffesor Gerald's research and experiments, and, by extension, Eggman's. What I found was originally nothing new, but then I found out Eggman had been doing research on the same project that created myself, and the Biolizard. He started out about twenty, maybe twenty-one years ago, before abruptly stopping nineteen years ago." As Shadow said this, something clicked in Sonic's brain.

"You're not saying..." Sonic began.

"Yes."

"..."

"Eggman apparently knew that the Professor had gotten genetic material from somewhere else, but he didn't know about the Black Arms until the comet passed by. So he outsourced as well. I don't now where or how-"

"I do. He got all of it from Discord, and possibly Sombra, and got Onigami to help! This suddenly makes a lot more sense, but to think..."

"That you were created by Eggman?"

"Yeah. That's... that's quite the bombshell." Sonic remained quiet for a moment, and Shadow saw no need to fill the silence. Sonic finally came to a decision.

"But it doesn't matter. It doesn't change who I am or what I've done. In fact, it's funny. Eggman's plans always backfire on him." Sonic grinned at the consternation that Eggman must feel, getting his butt handed to him by one of his creations. And by Omega. And Metal Sonic. And Gamma. And by Rouge, who had only worked for him to steal the Chaos Emeralds. This day just kept getting better and

better.

"Oh well. I've gotta go help Tails and Knuckles. See ya!" With that, Sonic blasted away, back to the temple. For a moment, Shadow held up his hand to forestall him, but decided not to go after him. He would find out who Discord and Sombra were soon enough. Shadow tucked away the file and ran off in the opposite direction.

When Sonic made it to the temple, Tails and Knuckles hadn't made any progress on finding the gateways. They had been looking around where the pod was. Sonic, though, immediately looked at the pedestal the statue had rested on. Sonic hopped on to it, noticing the deep grooves the weight of the statue had dug. He bent down, tracing the stone's surface with his fingers.

Acting on instinct, he pressed on one of the indentations. It disappeared into the stone. The pedestal began breaking apart, crumbling under Sonic's feet. He hopped off, just as it collapsed completely. Underneath was a swirling void, black and inky. Sonic grinned in triumph, just as Tails and Knuckles ran into the room.

"See? I told you it would be near the pedestal!" Knuckles was saying.

"No, actually, you didn't," Tails responded.

"It doesn't matter who suggested it or not, we've gotta explore it!" Sonic cut in.

KNuckles looked at it warily.

"I don't know..." he began.

"What, are you scared, Chuckles?"

"What? Of course not! But how do we know this is actually what we're looking for?" Knuckles responded, frowning at Sonic's name.

"Trust me. I know." Sonic replied cheekily, before hopping right in to the darkness. Tails followed right after him, but Knuckles hesitated. After a moment's thought, he hopped in as well.

Sonic landed on his feet, standing on the same kind of inky blackness that there had been when he had met Onigami the first time. Now, though, the walls stretched in a long hallway, riddled with doorways. Each showed a different world. Sonic was surprised to see some he recognized. One of the ones closest to him showed a castle, buzzing with activity and repairs. It was Avalon, still being fixed after Merlina's attack. Farther down were others, showing different dimensions and worlds. No two of them looked the same.

"There's hundreds of them! How are we going to find the one you're looking for, Sonic?" Tails asked. Knuckles stopped in front of one that showed an endless landscape of ocean.

"We could always try this one," Knuckles suggested with a grin.

"Sorry, but that's not the one I'm looking for. It actually has LAND." Sonic responded, not rising to the bait. Knuckles frowned irritably.

"But my point still stands. There could be thousands of them. How do we find one out of that many?" Tails asked. "We could be down here for weeks!"

"Unfortunately, we don't have weeks." Sonic answered. "Be right back." With that he sped down the corridor, leaving nothing but air currents in his wake. A few seconds later he called out from far down the hall. "Found it!"

Tails and Knuckles ran down the hall. It took them a moment to get there, even though they were sprinting. Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. When they reached him, they looked into the portal, which looked fuzzy on the edges, but was clear in the middle. Far below, they saw a small colorful town with thatched roofs and small houses.

"This is Ponyville. I got sent here in that virtual reality pod. I met the Elements of Harmony, and their Princess, whose name is Celestia. They're all about friendship and stuff, so try not to offend them, 'kay Knuckles?" Sonic explained. Knuckles just huffed and turned his head away.

"But what will we tell them? Are we going to just tell the truth?" asked Tails. He didn't like lying, but he also stayed on the better side of caution.

"Oh, we're just gonna tell them the truth. One of them, her name's Applejack, can see through a lie faster than anyone I've ever met. You either tell the truth, or don't say anything at all. Even then, she might see through you." Sonic clarified. Knuckles frowned, and Tails nodded in agreement.

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sonic announced, jumping through the doorway. Knuckles and Tails followed suit, after looking down on the faraway town.

Unfortunately, Sonic didn't realize that the portal was literally in the air, so that the view didn't change when he stepped through. This, however, left him falling through open sky. Knuckles and Tails realized the same thing. Tails grabbed Knuckles, who was closest. This left Sonic with no easy way down except to fall. As usual, he landed with a large thud. On his face.

"Next time we jump through a portal, I'm sending Tails to make sure it ISN'T in the sky," he grumbled to himself. The landing had done nothing to help his wounds either, some of which were now bleeding again. He got up just as Tails touched down, letting go of Knuckles at the same time.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" Tails asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just catch me next time and I might reconsider killing you," growled Sonic. Tails could tell he was joking, though. It was pretty easy to tell, but it helped that Tails had known him for a long time.

"So what now?" asked Knuckles impatiently.

"We have to find Twilight Sparkle. She's the local librarian and brainiac. If she can't do something, nobody can," Sonic instructed. Tails looked a little upset at being outclassed by a pony, but didn't say anything.

"Oh, and one last thing," Sonic remembered. "If she starts looking like she has an idea BEFORE we explain anything, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES." He didn't explain any further though, and set off for Ponyville.

The three attracted a great many stares, but Tails and Knuckles were staring just as much. Sonic didn't make much of it, but he had spent about a month here in the pod, even though it had only been a couple of hours in real time. But then, he stopped dead.

Rather than seeing the library he was used to, there was a blackened, burnt, stump. Ashes still littered the ground around its base. The scorch marks were at least a few weeks old, but were more likely from a month or two back.

Sonic stared at it sadly. Real or not, he had spent a month here, and it was sad to see anything destroyed, in his opinion. 'Twilight must have been heartbroken at how many books must have been lost.' thought Sonic.

"Can I, help you?" asked a very familiar voice (to Sonic, at least). He turned to see the very unicorn he had been looking for. Except she wasn't a unicorn anymore, but Sonic didn't notice at first.

"Twilight! What happened to the library?" Sonic asked, completely forgetting that she had no idea who he was.

"Wha? How do you know my name?" Twilight asked, her ears perking up in interest.

"Um, it's a long story." Sonic answered, suddenly realizing his mistake.

"I've got time. Come on, we can talk in my castle."

'She has a castle now?' Sonic wondered. That was about when he saw the new wings that were folded tight to her sides. They twitched and rustled at every gust of wind or slight change in temperature that occurred during their walk. Knuckles and Tails also noticed her wings, but didn't think anything of it.

After a few minutes, they finally reached the front doors of her castle. Sonic marveled at the flawless sheen of the crystal. For some reason, it looked familiar. Sonic soon realized that it was because the shape reminded him of the sketches of the Tree of Harmony that virtual Twilight had shown him.

"So how did you end up getting a castle?" asked Sonic, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"You know my name but not about the battle with Tirek?" asked Twilight. "I obviously get that you're not from around here, but forgive me if I find that strange," she continued. Her gaze swept across the three of them, but it held no malice, just simple curiosity.

"Um, we actually know nothing about all this. You got any questions, you ask HIM," Knuckles jabbed his finger in Sonic's direction. Tails rolled his eyes, but remained silent.

"Okay, now that no one's around to see..." Twilight began. "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! You are incredible! Are you one different species, or all you all from seperate races?" Twilight asked excitedly. Sonic was, of course, used to her antics, so he had no problem answering.

"I'm a hedgehog, Tails there is a fox, and Chuckles is an echidna." Sonic pointed to each as he introduced their names.

"Chuckles?" asked Twilight.

"Nah, I just call him that for fun. His real name is Knuckles, and he's guardian of the Master Emerald." Sonic amended. Knuckles blinked, but then grinned as Sonic finally got serious about his introduction.

"Oh. And what's your name?" Twilight gestured to Sonic.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. The Fastest Thing Alive!"

"Oh, really?" asked a more rough voice behind them. Sonic responded without turning.

"Yes, really, Rainbow Dash. I'd race ya, but I've got more important things to do right now."

"Two things: One, how do you know my name? And two, what could be more important than a race? You afraid of a little competition?" Rainbow responded.

"It's a long story, and I'm just a little busy trying to save my world." Sonic answered. Twilight's eyes got real big when he said this.

"What is it?" she asked. Saving the world was no small matter, no matter which world it was.

"An interdimensional being who calls himself Onigami is trying to take over my world. Afterwards, he is going to conquer any and all other dimensions until everything is under his control." Sonic responded.

"Cool!" Rainbow yelled, hovering just over Sonic's head. "If you need help, you came to the right place. Don't worry, the Elements of Harmony can fix it for you."

"We don't NEED your help, this is just a failsafe. I can't risk him spreading to other galaxies. If there wasn't so much risk involved, I would take care of him myself." snapped Sonic. He was not about to let anyone (most of all Rainbow Dash) think that he needed help. He was stubborn like that. Not as bad as Shadow, but still stubborn.

"If you say so," Rainbow quipped. Knuckles snickered.

"They're so alike," Tails said under his breath.

"Twilight interrupted. "If this is so important, we should probably round up the rest of the girls. After that," she turned to Sonic,"you're going to explain how you know me and Rainbow."

"And Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy." Sonic teased.

"You get Fluttershy and Applejack, and I'll get Rarity and Pinkie Pie, then." Rainbow decided. Sonic nodded, and they both sped off. Twilight shared a look with the two remaining Mobians.

"Well, this should be interesting," stated Tails.

A few minutes later, three of the six Elements were gathered in a meeting room of the castle. Fluttershy, of course, insisted on sitting right next to Sonic and crew, occasionally sneaking glances over at them. Sonic crossed his arms, waiting for Rainbow to come with her two. Twilight came in with a cup of tea for FLuttershy, who took it in her hooves, only to nearly drop it as the door exploded open.

"Aha! See Twilight? I told you I'd get back...first." Dash finished as she noticed Sonic, Fluttershy, and Applejack.

"You were saying?" Sonic asked cheekily. Rainbow grunted in frustration.

"Wait. You were racing?" exploded Twilight. She glared at them. "This is serious!"

"What do you expect?" Sonic asked. "She challenged me, I accepted. The whole point was to do it quickly anyways."

"Still." Twilight complained. Then she shook her head, "Anyways, first things first. How exactly do you know us if you came from a different dimension?"

"That is a good question," murmured Rainbow.

"I would tell you the long-story-short," Sonic began, "but I don't know how short I can make it."

"Still, darling, you should tell us. You march in, asking for our help and, apparently, already know a great deal about us, even though we have never met? It is a bit suspicious," Rarity interrupted.

"Just do one of your spell things, Twilight," suggested Rainbow.

"Oh, you mean a memory spell. I would have to rework it a bit to be able to view it myself, but it might work. That is, if you're okay with it," Twilight said.

"If you think it will work, Twi, I've got no problems with it," responded Sonic with a shrug.

"Wait, seriously? YOu're just gonna let her go through your head like that?" cried Knuckles.

"She's the best at what she does. I've got nothing to hide, anyways," Sonic placated.

"I agree with Knuckles. It might be dangerous, letting someone in your head," agreed Tails.

"Come on Tails. You too? It'll be fine," replied Sonic.

"Are you're sure you're okay with this," Twilight broke in. Sonic nodded. Twilight closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow. A similar glow enshrouded Sonic's head, and his pupils widened as he felt her in his memories. After a minute or so, Twilight broke the connection, taking a deep breath. Sonic's pupils shrank to their normal size. Twilight looked at him with a new respect.

"Well, that certainly explains things," Twilight said. She smiled at Sonic, no longer alarmed at his knowledge of her and her friends. He smiled back, glad that the intial awkwardness was gone.

"What? What did you see?" asked Rainbow eagerly.

"Ah am curious as ta how this hedgehog knows us," agreed Applejack. Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in her seat, somehow remaining seated in her chair while she did so.

"Yeah! How does Spikey know about us? It's cool, cause it means I have an instant new friend, which is great! But does that mean I don't get to throw a party?" and Pinkie was lost in thought.

"Couldn't you show them with a similar spell?" Sonic suggested. "Just reverse it so you're showing them instead of them showing you."

"Maybe," Twilight considered. "Yeah, I can do that!" She immediately lit her horn again, but this time the glows surrounded the heads of the Mane 6. It took less time this time around, only lasting about thirty seconds.

Afterwards, they were all much more comfortable with Sonic's familiarity. Rainbow blushed when she saw herself flirting though. Twilight and Rarity shared a look as well. Fluttershy immediately gave an adorable(and tiny) squeal and hugged Sonic. Knuckles threatened to burst into laughter at this, but Tails seemed a little disturbed. Sonic didn't mind though, and just waited for her to finish.

"Now that that's out of the way," Sonic began.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Rainbow interrupted. "Where are the Chaos Emeralds now?"

"Back at Tails' workshop. Don't worry, they're safe there. We have safeguards in place."

"Like what, exactly?" Rainbow asked skeptically.

"Like if anyone but Tails or myself tries to take them, the machine we store them in blows up with enough force to level a small city." As Sonic said this, Twilight and the rest stared at him in shock.

"You would hurt innocent people?!" she gasped.

"NO! The workshop is in the middle of a desert. That's the only reason we felt safe putting those kind of measures in!" Sonic explained hurriedly. The Mane 6 breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well. then what are we waiting for?" cried Rainbow Dash.

"Well, I should probably send a letter to Princess Celestia, but otherwise, we can go anytime!" Twilight told her.

"Don't take too long. We need to hurry. Who knows what Onigami is up to," Sonic said darkly.

After all had been said and done, they began talking amongst themselves. Rarity and Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Sonic, Knuckles and Tails, had split up into their respective groups talking. Pinkie Pie had disappeared to tell the Cakes she would be gone for a while. Applejack and Twilight, however, moved into a corner where they wouldn't be overheard.

"Applejack? I'm worried about what Sonic is capable of. Not only can he go super with those Chaos Emeralds, but he's the creation of Discord and Sombra! I'm not sure we can, or should, trust him completely."

"Ah agree. Ah couldn't tell that he was lying, but we should watch him all the same. He might have some hidden agenda even HE doesn't know about."

"We'll just have to keep an eye on him. We need to be ready to deal with anything he might try. If necessary, permanently."

"Ah hope it don't come to that."

"Me too."

Knuckles and Tails shared a look as they heard the peculiar conversation. Apparently the ponies didn't trust them after all. Which meant they had to be on their guard. Tails and Knuckles weren't about to let them hurt Sonic, no matter the reason, or the cost.

Chapter 10- And Nothing But The Truth

It truly surprised Sonic when they told him they didn't have the Elements of Harmony.

"Right now, they are with the Tree of Harmony, where they belong." Twilight finished explaining.

"Fat lot of good they do us there," complained Sonic. Then he got an idea. "Where exactly IS the Tree of Harmony, anyways?" he asked.

"In a cave under the castle in the Everfree. Why?" Twilight told him.

"Be right back," was all he said before he sped off. Twilight looked at the other Element Bearers in confusion. It only took a moment before he returned, though, except he was carrying six jewels.

"SONIC!" Twilight yelled. "I JUST EXPLAINED WHY WE PUT THEM BACK!"

"Chill! We only need them long enough to defeat this guy. Even then, we might not use them. No one will know." Sonic reasoned. Twilight shot him a glare.

"I have to tell Princess Celestia! I'm not going to lie to her!" Twilight protested.

"Fine. Tell her that a crazed bipedal hedgehog that can run faster than the speed of sound took them. You were following said hedgehog to retrieve the Elements when you ran into a guy that spelled major disaster. You coincidentally may or may not have needed the Elements to defeat the guy. So just tell her that."

"But that's still a lie!" Applejack protested.

"Oh really?" Sonic asked, an evil looking grin on his face. He suddenly disappeared in a trail of dust.

"Catch me if you can!" he taunted, his voice echoing back to them.

"Oh, it is ON!" cried Rainbow Dash, who took off after him. Tails and Knuckles shared a look.

"It's almost scary how good of an idea that is," Knuckles said.

"Yeah!" agreed Tails. "Coming up with good ideas is my thing!" When Knuckles just gave him a look, he seemed to shrink a little. "What?" he asked defensively.

"Well, we might as well go after him," sighed Twilight.

"What exactly have we gotten ourselves into?" mused Rarity. The rest of them took off running after the speedy duo which was already far ahead of them.

"Too slow, RD!" called Sonic, as he dodged another one of her attempts to grab him. He couldn't run QUITE as fast as he would like to, since his arms were full of the six jewels. He could still go fast enough to dodge Rainbow, though, so he was content to coast. He soon saw what he was looking for.

"Hey RD!" he taunted. "See that slight disturbance in the air up there?" He pointed to where it hung in the sky, shifting the jewels to one arm in order to do so. Rainbow's sharp eyes quickly picked out what he was referring to.

"Yeah. So what?" she called back.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Sonic told her. He quickly bounded up the sides of two trees, ricocheting between them to build up speed. Rainbow had the advantage that she could fly straight for it, which she did. She strained her wings, picking up as much speed as she could in the short distance she had. She was just about to burst through it when a blue blur suddenly shot up beneath her. In surprise, she flared her wings, killing her speed...just as Sonic rocketed through the portal.

She still had a good deal of speed though, so she burst into the strange hallway only to crash into Sonic. He managed to angle himself so that they rolled down the hallway rather than through another door, but he dropped all the jewels. They clattered to the floor with harmonious sounds, almost like the tolling of a bell. When the two speedsters finally came to a halt, Rainbow was on top of Sonic. She stood over him triumphantly, one fore hoof on his chest and her wings flared.

"HA! Caught you!" she crowed victoriously. Sonic grinned wrily up at her,

"So you did. But the objective was to get here first, not smash the poor guy you were racing." he remarked. Rainbow was suddenly aware of the awkward and somewhat intimate position they were in. She backed off, her cheeks turning red. Sonic got up and dusted himself off, taking note of Rainbow's embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it, RD. It's happened to me before, and we don't have to tell anyone. Besides, it was a dirty trick on my part to surprise you like that." Sonic patted her shoulder. Rainbow grinned back at him. Her cheeks were still red, but not as much as before.

"Thanks."

"Eh, no problem."

"I would have won if you hadn't surprised me though."

"You go ahead and keep thinking that, RD."

"But I would've!"

"SURE you would."

"Ugh!" Rainbow crossed her forelegs over her chest and plopped down on her rump. Sonic just chuckled in amusement.

It took a few minutes for the rest of the gang to reach the portal. Fluttershy flew up on her own wingpower, and Tails lifted Knuckles up. Twilight lifted up the rest with her magic before teleporting herself up. They found Sonic and Rainbow Dash exploring a little ways down the hall. Sonic immediately noticed their arrival, dashing up to them. Rainbow followed close behind.

"So who won?" asked Twilight. Rainbow hesitated, almost dreading saying that she lost.

"It was a tie," Sonic answered. Rainbow shot him a surprised look, which Sonic pretended not to see. When no one else was looking, he winked at her before picking up the Elements.

They walked down the corridor at a sedate pace, but Rainbow would dash up a ways, explore the doors, then dash back down to the group. This repeated several times before Applejack snapped.

"Consarned it! Would ya kindly stop that, Rainbow? It's gettin' on mah nerves. It won't kill ya to walk at a normal speed!"

"But that is my normal speed!" Rainbow complained.

"I think that she meant speeds normal for your average pony, Rainbow," Twilight explained. Rainbow groaned.

"But I don't want to be average! Right, Sonic?" Rainbow asked, turning to the hedgehog. He frowned.

"I am not getting dragged into this," he told her. She glared at him, but he ignored her. She gave up.

"Fine! I'll walk. You happy?" she snapped.

"Yes. Yes I am," Applejack told her with a grin.

That lasted about five minutes before Rainbow started doing it again.

They looked into many worlds. Water worlds, desert worlds, mountain worlds, lava worlds, you name it, they saw it. One in particular caught Sonic's eye. He handed the jewels off to Tails before running up to it.

"Check this out," he breathed.

Through the portal, they saw a vast portion of space. In the middle, though, was a planet. It looked a lot like Equis, or Mobius. Blue ocean, green landmass, swirling clouds. But half of it was destroyed, the other half sucked in a swirling tempest of earth into an invisible vortex. Once it reached a certain point in space, it disappearred. The planet was slowly being ripped apart, piece by piece. The brightly glowing mantle was exposed, but the glow it gave off was dim, almost as if the light itself was being sucked away with the debris. While they watched this destruction, galaxies and stars and solar systems glowed brightly, unaware of their brethren's demise.

"A black hole," Tails said, breaking the silence.

"It's beautiful," Twilight said.

"It's awful," Fluttershy whispered.

Everyone turned to Sonic as he reached forward to lean against the rim of the portal.

"Just goes to show," he said softly, reverently, "that everything comes to an end. No matter what."

"That's a depressing thought," Rainbow said sadly.

"Not really," Sonic objected. "Some people might think of it as depressing, but I see it as encouragement. It makes me want to spend every minute of every day doing something worthwhile. I don't want to waste a moment of the time I've got. I may live in the moment, but I'm always looking to the future."

"That's...very wise of you," Twilight finally said. The depth of wisdom that Sonic carried now rivaled that of Celestia's. He seemed like he was all-knowing, all-seeing. But he was just himself at the same time. It was a confusing effect, but Sonic carried it with dignity.

It confused Rainbow Dash, though. Here she thought he was just another speedster like her. Instead, he turned out to be like some age-old Buddha guy. Tails, of course, noticed her bewilderment. Falling to the back of the group where Rainbow was, he nudged her with his elbow.

"Don't let it bother you. Sonic's a lot smarter than he lets on. He'll do that sometimes: say something profound and make everyone else wonder what they missed. He doesn't do it often, though. It takes the right moment." After explaining, Tails sped up to rejoin the group. Rainbow frowned, lost in thought. It made sense, actually. Sonic always seemed to be one step ahead, always anticipating the next move. He was always thinking. He was reckless, regretless, and sometimes he seemed brainless, but he wasn't thoughtless.

Because of her apparent inability to look where she was going, she ran right into Twilight, having not noticed the group had stopped. The hallway stretched on, but Sonic was peering into one portal that showed the inside of what looked like an old stone temple. He stepped into it, looking all around to make sure he was correct.

"This is it!" he called back. Everyone filed into the wide area. They all noticed the various craters and holes that marked where Sonic had been smashed, thrown, or blasted into the floor and walls.

"This is awful! Do you really think you need our help when you seemed to have beaten up that guy plenty already?" asked Twilight. Sonic flinched, looking away in embarrassment.

"Actually, I, um... He beat me, not the other way around." He stared at the ground, his ears back. Fluttershy looked at Sonic in concern.

"Bwahahahahahahah! You got your flank handed to you? After all that about how you don't NEED our help, but you got pulverized by that guy?" Rainbow Dash laughed. Sonic looked away in embarrassment. Seeing his expression, she immediately felt bad. "Aww, don't be so serious. I don't mean it." Rainbow walked up and smacked him on the back with a hoof. Sonic winced in pain as she did so. Twilight noticed this and jumped in.

"What kind of cheater is this guy to get you in the back?" asked Twilight.

"Actually, that one was from a friend of mine. He shot me."

"Why would he do that?" wondered Applejack. Sonic winced again just thinking about it.

"To get my attention," he answered with a sigh. This left the Mane 6 flabbergasted. What kind of person would shoot you just to get your attention?

"We should go get the Chaos Emeralds," suggested Knuckles. He had stayed mostly silent for the trip. It had been a little strange to travel with six ponies. But he didn't want Sonic to be the subject of teasing. While he didn't usually try to defend the hedgehog, he couldn't in good conscience let it happen. He himself didn't want to go against his Onigami guy. His suggestion went over well, though, and Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. He shot Knuckles a grateful look as they left.

Sonic and Tails went on ahead to make sure the workshop was in order. Knuckles ran after them, but couldn't quite keep up. Rainbow decided to lag behind with her friends, but would fly off in every direction to explore. She would swing by back to the group every few minutes before taking off again. Pinkie was bouncing and rolling with the tumbleweeds, vanishing and appearing at will. Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity trotted at a steady pace, talking all the while. Fluttershy would join the conversation every once in a while, but spent most of her time trying to lure out the small desert lizards and gophers.

Once they got to the workshop, they found Knuckles and Tails waiting for them. Once they all walked in, Sonic came up a set of metal stairs with the seven Chaos Emeralds in his arms. He set them down on the table.

They were about to debate their strategy of attack, when suddenly the Elements began glowing. They rose up out of Twilight's magic, swirling in a circle. The Chaos Emeralds did the same. Both of them began crackling with energy, small strikes of colored lightning lashing out at random. Several of Tails' machines shorted out with the sudden charge of energy.

"Oh NO!" yelled Sonic. "Twilight! Can you get the Elements to calm down?"

"But I don't know what's going on!" cried Twilight. She held one hoof over her eyes.

"One of them is chaos, one is harmony. They don't mix! The Elements are trying to rectify the chaos, and the Emeralds are striking back! Once the Emeralds get like this, I can't stop them!"

Twilight focused her magic on the Elements, but her magic slid around them like water around a rock. When she tried harder, she was blown back by the sheer amount of energy they were giving off. The Elements began creating a rainbow glow as they prepared to attack the source of chaos. The Emeralds were doing the exact same thing, glowing brighter and brighter. Finally, Sonic realized there was no stopping what was about to happen.

So as the light reached its climax, and both sets of gems let loose their full destructive power, Sonic stood right in the middle and blocked both blasts with his body. He was surrounded in a rainbow glow, flashes of gold spiking here and there.

Sonic yelled in pain as the blast intended to destroy objects of immeasurable power hit him instead. His first thought was that it would last an instant before blowing up in a huge explosion. Instead, the gems kept pushing at eachother, the beams growing more and more intense. Sonic was supended in the air. It was even more painful than being shot with the Elements alone, as it was like every molecule in his body was being ripped apart and then mashed together again. He tried in vain to absorb the energy rather than it ripping through him, but it overwhelmed even his resolve. So he was left, screaming in pain, as his soul was ripped apart.

There was so much noise that it sounded deathly quiet to Sonic's ringing ears. It took him a moment to realize he was falling, no longer held up by the beams of light. He hit the ground in slow motion, hardly feeling pain as his tired eyes struggled to remain open. He vaguely saw the Emeralds hovering in a circle above him. In that moment, he hated them, as they floated there so serenely, as if nothing had happened. Slowly, the ringing in his ears died away, leaving the voices of his concerned friends.

When Sonic didn't respond to any of his friends' queries, Rainbow couldn't help but ask.

"Sonic? Are you dead?" Rainbow waited eagerly for an answer.

"Yes," he moaned softly. Rainbow snickered to herself.

"Well, he still has a sense of humor, so he must be fine," Tails announced. He pulled Sonic up to a sitting position. Sonic was still so weak that he leaned heavily on his friend just to do that much.

"Sonic? How did you do that?" Tails asked him.

"Do what?" he responded softly.

"When the beams hit you, you rose up off the ground. You turned white and your eyes were gold. We could all hear you yelling, but, it looked like you were grinning. It was actually really cool." Tails told him.

"I did?" Sonic asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. your spines were even sticking up like when you go Super, but they were way longer than usual. And, your eyes were red for a moment after it happened. But they're green now." Tails explained. Sonic gave him an alarmed look.

"Good kind of red or bad kind of red?" he asked slowly.

"Good kind," Knuckles said. Upon seeing the ponies' confused looks, Tails rushed to explain.

"When Sonic goes Super with the Chaos Emeralds, his eyes turn red. Sometimes, though, he goes Super without the Emeralds. This only happens during times of great stress, when Sonic loses control of his emotions. Sonic seems like a different person. He acts more evil and cruel than the worst villain you've ever met. When that happens, his eyes turn into red spirals which start at his pupils and extend outward to fill most of his eyes." This seemed to alarm the Mane 6, so Sonic tried to reassure them.

"It hasn't happened in a while. I know it sounds bad, but I just need someone to point out what I've become. Once that twisted version of me realizes what I've done, I can regain control." Sonic told them. Then his face fell. "I've done a lot of damage like that though, even going far enough to hurt my friends. If you see that happening, act quick. That form doesn't give you time to react or show mercy."

"Ah guess that's why they're called CHAOS Emeralds." Applejack piped up. "If ya ain't careful, they'll steal yer soul and make ya create chaos. If ya know what you're doin' though, that won't happen."

"Exactly," affirmed Tails. By this time, Sonic picked himself up off the ground. Tails tried to help him, but Sonic pushed him away and did it himself. Standing up straight, he looked at the Chaos Emeralds.

"If we aren't careful, something like that could happen again. I'm gonna hang on to these. I might be able to keep them under control if I pay attention. You'll just have to do the same with the Elements."

"Why'd you do that? Step in between the beams, I mean." Rainbow suddenly asked. Sonic answered without hesitation.

"I didn't know what was going to happen if they hit eachother. They might have both been destroyed, and then we would have been truly and royally screwed. Or the resulting blast might have levelled the area around us for miles. Just the blast from me going Super can flatten buildings for several blocks. That could have destroyed half the continent. And it would probably kill us in the process, too."

"But you could have been killed by doing that. That's a pretty risky move." Rainbow stared at him, her gaze intense.

"Whether I was killed or not isn't important. What is important is that we have what we need to take down Onigami."

Twilight broke in. "But you put your life on the line! What happened to living your life to the fullest?"

"I said I wanted to spend my life doing something worthwhile. I didn't say that it had to be a long life, just that I spend it doing the right thing. Not getting the continent blown up? I think that counts as the right thing." he answered.

"So you aren't afraid of dying," Rainbow said slowly. Sonic turned to her, his intense green eyes unnerving her a little.

"No. I do not fear death. The only thing I fear is dying for the wrong reasons. I'm not saying I WANT to die, but I am not afraid of it." The Mane 6 stared at him in wonder. Here was a hero, one who was willing to give his life to do the right thing. He looked at them all, then grinned nervously.

"I overdid it, didn't I?" he asked. Tails grinned back at him.

"Just a little bit." Knuckles nodded emphatically in agreement. Sonic turned to look at them again, then his gaze zeroed in on Pinkie, who was grinning evilly.

"Pinkie? Are you okay?" he asked. Her grin grew ever wider, eventually making him wonder if even NiGHTS could stretch her mouth that far.

"You know, you seem a little sad. And you know what I do best?" she asked softly. Sonic shook his head slowly, wondering what to expect. Pinkie crouched, before suddenly springing into the air.

"MAKING PONIES SMILE!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She then lunged at Sonic, who barely dodged her. He took off in a dark blue blur, a similar pink blur right on his heels. They all could hear Sonic yelling.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'll be less serious now, okay? Pinkie, what are you doing? Pinkie? Wait, wait, waitwaitwait nonononononono! Stop! LET GO! PINKIE! YES! I PROMISE! What? What's a Pinkie Pie Promise? Fine! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. You happy? Wait, what are you doing NOW?...Pinkie?" The rest of the encounter was lost to the annals of time as everyone was laughing too hard to notice what happened next.

Chapter 11- City Slickers

"You know what? I'm outa here," Knuckles suddenly announced. He walked out the door and left everyone inside wondering where the sudden change of attitude in the echidna had come from. Ultimately, they ended up ignoring his sudden departure.

"So how are we supposed to find this Oni-whatsit guy anyway?" Rainbow asked. Sonic looked as if he was about to answer, but stopped before he could say anything.

"That is a good question. Tails, how are we finding this guy?" Sonic turned to face his friend. Tails pulled out his handheld.

"Because of Onigami's unique characteristics, he has a distinct power signature. It isn't too strong, but I can track him if he's within fifty miles of our position." He pressed a few buttons, causing a map to appear on the screen. It showed the continent, and a dot with sweeping radar symbols coming from it showed their position.

"So I'm assuming that dot is us," said Sonic, pointing to the screen.

"Exactly. Right now, Onigami is farther than 50 miles away, but my handheld will alert me the moment he comes in range." Tails told him.

"But darling, that won't do us much good if he can teleport," Rarity pointed out. Tails was lost in thought for a moment.

"I guess I can't help that. But some warning will be better than none." he decided. He looked around ruefully at his destroyed lab. Sonic winced. He hated destroying things in his friend's lab, but it still happened pretty often.

"Want some help cleaning up?" he offered. Tails immediately refused.

"No, you should show them around the city. Humankind is going to need to get used to them if we're going to work together. Besides, you haven't explored the city in a while." Tails shot him a grin. Sonic groaned.

"I...suppose," he conceded. Rainbow, of course, callously ignored his discomfort.

"Yeah! We need to educate this world! They don't know how awesome I am, and I wouldn't want to leave anyone with that gap in their experience!" Rainbow cheered. Then she noticed the five unique glares being sent her way. She immediately thought of the Mare-Do-Well incident.

"I mean how awesome WE are," she amended. "Yeah, that's what I meant." Her friends all smiled again, suddenly all sweetness and light.

"Good for ya, sugarcube. Anywho, let's get goin', shall we?" Applejack said. Sonic forced a grin onto his face.

"Sure!" he said out of gritted teeth.

They all realized why he was so uncomfortable with going to the city. Everywhere, there were ads and signs and screens with his name and his picture with his trademark grin and thumbs up. Products all over the place had the words 'Approved by the Fastest Thing Alive' written on them in big letters.

"This is so cool! You're a hero and a celebrity all in one, Sonic!" gushed Rainbow. Rarity agreed.

"Indeed, darling. You never told us you were so well known around here." The rest of the girls nodded in agreement. Sonic shuddered.

"I hate it!" he admitted. "I don't want to be famous! I mean, it's better than being shot at, which went on for a while, but I never asked to be on every screen in downtown."

"But why don't you like being well known?" Twilight asked. "Surely it comes with advantages, right?"

"If by advantages you mean the mob of people trying not to be seen following us, then yes, there are advantages. This happens every time I go to the city." Sure enough, when the girls turned around to look, they saw a group of no less than 50 people duck into ally ways and behind garbage cans to avoid being seen.

"Oh, Sonic! Can I get your autograph?" asked a thick voice in front of them. Sonic stopped to look at the asker.

"Franky, I've given you my autograph twice already. Isn't that enough?" Despite Sonic's obvious irritation, he kept his voice polite.

"But you're the greatest hero in all of Mobius. No one could get your autograph too many times." The slightly chubby man in front of them put his hands together in a pleading gesture. Sonic sighed.

"Sorry, not right now, Franky. If it makes you feel better, I'll come down and get a hot dog later." Sonic told the man.

"Oh, okay," the man said sadly. He walked away, but quickly regained the bounce in his step. Sonic smiled ruefully.

"I hate saying no to the guy. I've known him for years, he sells the best hotdogs in town. Still, he means well. He's one of the less crazy kooks in this town." Sonic explained. Then he stopped and looked at the group. "Oh, come on! I was hoping this wouldn't happen!"

"What wouldn't happen?" asked Fluttershy softly.

"Pinkie's gone."

"No I'm not, silly! I'm right here! Why would you think I was gone?"

"Aahh!" Sonic yelped. He spun around to see the party pony herself standing right behind him. He glared at her, then smiled wearily.

"Try not to wander, 'kay Pinkie? You can get lost real quick here," he told her. She giggled.

"Silly Spiky! I wouldn't get lost!" she told him with a grin so big that her eyes closed because there wasn't any more room on her face. "See? The train station's right over there, and that way is the nearest subway entrance, and that way is the university. Ooh! Ooh! And the bakery is over... thataway!" she said excitedly. Sonic stared at her.

"How...?" he started.

"Don't question it. It ends badly, trust me," Twilight said, putting a hoof on his arm. He shook his head, still not believing it.

"Still, it took me a week to start knowing my way around this place." Sonic seemed disturbed, but brightened up.

"Come on. There's something I want to show you." He turned around and walked briskly before turning down a dark looking alley.

"Where ARE we going? I would hate to get my hooves dirty. I just got a hooficure!" Rarity complained.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Sonic walked forward, and suddenly the alley turned into a small courtyard. It was surrounded on all sides by tall buildings. The yard contained an old stone cottage and an old but sturdy swingset. There were about five kids who screeched in joy the moment they saw the hedgehog.

"SONIC!" They cried in unison. Sonic crouched down, and they all flung themselves into his arms. He held them tight, smiling in simple joy at them.

"Hey guys! How ya been doing? You haven't been irritating poor Samantha, have you?" They all giggled at his teasing.

"No, they've been much happier since you fixed up that old swingset." They all turned to see an aging woman with black hair walking toward txhem. Her hair was shot through with gray, but her face told of a long and happy life, even though it may have been a simple one. She smiled at the hedgehog, and looked up to include the ponies in her smile. They smiled back.

"Sonic, how come you're so dark now?" asked one of the kids. He was a small boy with spiky black hair that went everywhere, despite being pretty short.

"Yeah! And what's with these weird marks? They glow!" remarked another. She had long platinum blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. She was probably the youngest, being only five or six. The oldest was the boy who had spoken earlier, being about twelve.

"Well, I would tell you the whole story, but it would take too long." he told them.

"Aaaww. Please?" they begged, putting on the most adorable set of puppy eyes that the world had ever seen. Fluttershy positively melted at the sight.

"Another time. I promise." he told them. Then he grinned at them. "Would you like to make some new friends?" he asked them. Their eyes shined even brighter. They began hopping up and down, their smiles growing ever wider, if that were possible.

"Well, they're right there! Go introduce yourselves!" He turned to the ponies, who were suddenly assaulted by five eager, bouncy little children. Sonic sighed and walked to the back of the cottage.

"Cassondra? You can come out now. No one's going to hurt you. I promise." he said softly. A little girl, only about 4 years old poked her head out.

"Are you sure?" she asked, frightened.

"Of course I'm sure. I would never let anything hurt you, you know that." he told her. All the other ponies were occupied. Pinkie was giving rides. So was Rainbow, but she was flying slowly a few feet off the ground. Fluttershy was telling stories, and Rarity was showing off her mane and tail. Twilight was showing them her magic, lifting them up slowly, and teleporting about. Only Applejack saw the exchange between Sonic and the little girl.

Cassondra hesitated. Then she lifted her arms in the universal gesture for 'pick me up'. Sonic complied, holding her snug against him. She giggled.

"You have marks on you now!" She traced the one that adorned the side of Sonic's face with her finger. He smiled at her.

"Come on, I want you to meet the others. They're really nice, and I know how much you like ponies." She gasped softly.

"Ponies?" she squealed. Sonic nodded and brought her to the rest of the group so she could introduce herself.

Samantha walked up and placed a hand on the hedgehog's head, ruffling his ears.

"You've done wonders for these kids. They are the finest bunch o' younguns I have ever seen." She looked around at the walls of the courtyard. Some time ago Sonic had planted vines, so now they crawled up the sides, filling the air with the sweet scent of jasmine.

"If only I could repay you for all you've done for us. How many batches of kids have you helped? Five, six?" she smiled mournfully, her hand still ruffling Sonic's ears. He didn't look up.

"You know I could never take anything from you, Samantha." He smiled at the sight of the children so happily playing with the Mane 6. Cassondra was now gently inspecting Fluttershy's wings, smiling giddily.

"I know. But they really do love you to death. They see you as their father." She smiled down at the hedgehog.

Sonic walked towards the kids, out of Samantha's reach. She looked at him sadly.

"Alright guys, I think it's time to go." The chorus of moans was not restricted to the kids, for the ponies didn't want to go either. All six children flocked up to his side.

"Aren't you going to stay this time? You always have to leave!" said the boy with spiky hair.

"I know, Leo, I know. But I have to go. Save the world, and all that stuff." Leo pouted. Then Sonic smiled at him.

"I'll come back as soon as it's done, I promise."

"Pinkie promise?" asked the blonde girl. The ponies were at first confused as to how a human knew a pony tradition. Then they saw her stick out her smallest finger. Sonic did the same, wrapping his pinkie around hers.

"Pinkie promise," he agreed. The kids all cheered. Then he turned to go.

"Come on, guys. There's lots more I need to show you." He walked out of the courtyard, and the ponies followed. Cassondra waved the hardest of them all, standing on tiptoe to make sure she was seen.

Once they were out of sight from the courtyard, Sonic found himself in the middle of a group hug.

"Sonic, it is the sweetest thing that you take care of those children," Twilight said. She, being the closest, looked up at him. She noticed he was blushing.

"Indeed, darling, it is such an act of generosity to help with those childrens' wellbeing." Rarity spoke up.

"Ah agree! You may seem like a strong fighter with a can-do attitude, but yer just a big ol' softy!" Applejack told him. Sonic looked a little uncomfortable with all the praise. Well, that and being called a softy.

"Really, it's not that big a deal. I found the place, I help out a bit every once in a while, and that's it." Sonic slowly pulled himself out of the hug.

"But it is a big deal!" Rainbow cried out. "You slow down just to make a bunch of kids happy. You don't care that they're immature or slow, you just take care of them un...uncon..."

"Unconditionally, I think is the word you're looking for," Twilight interrupted.

"Yeah! Even I don't do that!" Rainbow finished. Sonic grinned nervously.

"Either way, there's a lot more stuff in this city. Come on." With that he turned and led the way down the alley. The girls shared a look. Obviously, he didn't like being praised. They still thought it was adorable, though.

He showed them all sorts of places: shops and secrets and places to get good deals on things you didn't know existed. Rarity, of course, insisted on going to the mall as soon as she saw it. Sonic tried to dissuade her, but finally gave in when all six of them agreed on going in.

"Fine. But only for a few minutes." Every moment they spent in there seemed to make him more nervous. Suddenly, he went rigid, causing Fluttershy, who had been hiding behind him from all the people, to bump into him.

"Oh, my! I'm sorry!" she said softly, only to notice that the hedgehog was nowhere to be seen. She tried to locate him, but it was in vain. So she tried to see what had scared him off. She looked to where he had been looking before he disappeared, but only saw a pink hedgehog in a red dress and boots. She shrugged before going to hide behind Rarity.

Sonic, who was hiding on top of a beam that held up the ceiling, sighed in relief. She hadn't seen him. He should be fine as long as he kept track of...wait. Where'd she go?

"So who are you hiding from?" asked a high pitched voice behind him. He spun around, a shocked yelp escaping his lips. To his relief, it was a pink pony and not a pink hedgehog.

"Amy. She's a pink hedgehog. She has a bit of a crush on me, and I try to avoid her most times." he explained. He now realized she had walked behind a display, going out of sight for a moment. Now she was back where she was before, examining the jewelry.

"Oh, I know her. When she saw me she asked if I knew you, I said 'yeah, course I do silly!', then she asked if you were here with me, and I said 'you bet ya!' and then she said to tell me she was looking for you, and I said 'okay!' and then she said thanks, and then I walked away, and then I saw you up here, and then I asked you 'so who are you hiding from?' and then-"

"Okay, Pinkie, I get the gist!" He held up his hands in front of him to stop the torrent of words coming from the pink pony.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Pinkie said.

"What'd you forget?"

"She also asked me to bring you to her if I could."

"Pinkie, don't. That would just end badly. For everyone."

"A promise is a promise!" Pinkie announced before shoving him off the beam.

"Wait!" he yelped, but he was already in the air. He landed with a thud, but managed to land on his feet. He almost fell over when he hit the ground, but managed to keep his balance.

"Sonic! There you are!" squealed Amy. She rushed over and crushed him in a hug.

"Nice to see you too, Amy," he gasped out of his collapsing lungs. Then he pushed her away as gently as he could. Then she frowned at him.

"What is this?" she asked, pointing at Sonic's new color scheme.

"It's a long story, Amy."

"I've got time."

"Well, I don't."

"Then what are you doing in the mall?"

"I'm showing some out-of-towners the city. They insisted on coming here."

"How out-of-town are they?"

"Different dimension out-of-town."

"And you didn't tell me?" Amy asked with an affronted gasp.

"I didn't exactly get the chance, Amy," he huffed.

"Well, you do now. Ooh! We've never gone shopping together before." She reached over and linked her arm with his, and pulled herself right next to him.

"Fine. I'll introduce you to the girls." He disengaged his arm from hers and walked into the shop the ponies were currently monopolizing.

"Oh, it's not fair! Everything here is designed for humans! Not one of these dresses would fit!" Rarity complained.

"Hey Rarity," Sonic called out. "Maybe, if you're so set on buying something, you should look into jewelry or desk trinkets. You know, souvenirs."

Rarity contemplated this for a moment before noticing Amy.

"Oh, now who is this? Your special somepony, perhaps?" she asked coyly. Amy nodded happily while Sonic shook his head emphatically.

"Acquaintances," he corrected. Amy gave him a look.

"You're always so shy about it, Sonic!" she giggled.

"Maybe there's a reason for that," he grumbled to himself.

So they spent the next few minutes wandering. Rarity did indeed find a few trinkets to bring back, and Sonic got them for her with his own small stash of rings. Amy complained that he never got anything for her, so Sonic silenced her with some chocolate.

She didn't complain for the rest of the day.

They finally made their way back to Tails' workshop, where they found a great deal of the mess had been cleaned up. Tails was currently bent over, fixing the wiring on one of his bigger consoles. As soon as he noticed them walk in, he straightened up and dusted some of the grime off his fur.

"Hiya! So, how was the city?" he asked. The responses ranged from 'busy' to 'awesome', but all of them were positive.

"Any sign of big, bad, and ugly?" Sonic questioned. Tails shook his head.

"Well, that's either a good thing or a bad thing," he mused.

"How so?" Twilight wondered.

"On the one hand, we have a breather to gather resources and plan. On the other hand, we have no idea what Onigami's up to. He could be creating a trap or making an army. We just don't know."

"Either way, it ain't no use worryin' about it. Fer now, we should just get some rest. It's gettin' dark, ya know." Applejack suggested.

"But where are we going to sleep? I don't get a very good night's rest on the floor, and I need my beauty sleep!" complained Rarity. Sonic shook his head and laughed.

"Don't worry, we've got a few pullout beds downstairs. You can sleep down there." Tails informed them. "As for me, I'm going to keep cleaning up in here. I want to finish in the next day or so." Sonic gave him a thumbs up before heading down the stairs. The Mane 6 followed him.

He showed them their beds. They were doubling up, as there were only three beds, but it was okay. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Twilight, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all climbed into their beds. After climbing in, they all got comfortable.

"Well it's not the same as a cloud bed, but it still work," announced Rainbow. Fluttershy laughed softly beside her. The beds were fairly large, but Fluttershy and Rainbow had known eachother since they were foals. They had no problems with snuggling up close to eachother. As for the rest of the girls, though, they all kept to their sides of the bed.

"I didn't notice any other beds. Where is Sonic going to sleep?" Twilight suddenly asked.

"I can go check on him if you like, Twi," Rainbow offered.

"I'd like that, thanks Dash." Twilight said. Getting out of the bed, Rainbow gingerly climbed up the stairs. Poking her head out, she saw Tails busy with his head stuck into a hole in one of his machines. Rainbow snuck out past him, half flying so her hooves wouldn't make sounds against the metal floor.

Once she got out the door, she flew straight up about thirty feet. Once there, she scanned the horizon for any telltale blue streaks or dust trails. Not seeing any, she spun in a circle, wondering where to search first. She got her answer when she spotted him stretched out on the roof.

She flew up as quietly as she could, trying not to wake him up. That was all in vain, however, for as soon as she got over the roof Sonic's eyes flew open and he was on his feet.

"Oh. It's just you, RD," he said, before sitting back down. Rainbow settled down next to him, folding her wings tight to her sides.

The metal underneath her was smooth, but not as cold as she expected. It was pleasant, actually, the slightly cool surface on her fur.

"So why are you up, Dash?" he asked her. He was sitting with his legs stretched out straight in front of him, leaning backwards with his palms flat against the roof. She sat with her back legs coiled beneath her, and her front legs straight against the metal.

"Oh, a few reasons. The stars, for one."

"So you like stargazing?"

"Not often, but, yeah. The stars are different here though. They...they...I don't know how to describe it."

"They're wrong." Rainbow turned to him in surprise. "I noticed that, in the virtual reality thing. The stars were different. I watch the stars every night here, and I know them by heart. The stars there, they weren't in the same patterns. The constellations, the galaxies, they were all different. It was like looking into the face of a stranger that you thought was your friend." Rainbow realized that was exactly the way she felt.

"And the stars feel more distant here," Rainbow pointed out. "In my world, the stars are arranged by Luna. Every night I can look up and see the hard work and care of a princess. Here, all I see are points of light."

"It was the other way around for me, but yeah, I get what you're saying." They sat in silence for a few minutes. Rainbow felt her eyes closing before Sonic suddenly burst into laughter. She stared at him, her half awake eyes widening.

Sonic wiped away a tear of mirth before explaining. " Do you realize how serious that conversation was? Here we are, the fastest and most carefree beings ON THE PLANET, and we sound like Twilight and Tails!" Rainbow quickly grasped the absurdity of the situation, and couldn't help but laugh herself.

"Yeesh, but this whole Onigami guy has got me on edge. I only just realized how serious and morbid I must sound. No wonder Pinkie was after me!" he joked. Rainbow smiled. His smile seemed genuine in a way his previous smiles just hadn't carried. This was the real Sonic the Hedgehog, Rainbow realized.

Then she smirked. Even her thoughts were serious now. They were all on edge because of the threat they faced. Well, no longer. Rainbow knew that she could smile all the way through the next battle and back into Equestria.

'Funny', she thought to herself. 'I thought it was Pinkie Pie's job to make ponies smile.' Then she remembered the real reason she had come out here in the first place.

"I came out here for another reason too..."

Once Rainbow got back inside, she told all the girls about her conversation with Sonic. They also thought it was funny that he could so easily bring the smiles back to ponies, no matter how fearful they were.

Chapter 12- Old Acquaintances

The next morning found Tails and Sonic cleaning up some more in the lab. While Sonic couldn't rewire machines or weld metal plates, he could organize and clean. So that's what he did. Tails was grateful for the help, for it was one less thing that he had to do.

"Morning, everypony," yawned Twilight. She looked slightly disheveled, but with a poof of her magic, her mane and tail settled into place. She sighed.

"Boy, do I miss Spike. He makes the best pancakes. That, and I'm used to spending most of my time with him," she mumured. Sonic looked up from the shelf he was currently putting back together.

"Eh, he's a tough little guy. I'm sure he'll be just fine," he reassured her. She smiled and nodded slowly.

"Speaking of breakfast, what are we going to eat?" asked Rarity, walking up the stairs. She was currently brushing her mane, making sure there were absolutely no tangles to mar its sheen.

"Well, Tails or I could put something together, or I could run into the city and pick something up," he told her. Both mares frowned in thought. That was when Pinkie and Applejack walked in.

"I think Spiky should make something!" Pinkie giggled. Applejack just yawned, but nodded in agreement.

"Sure, why not?" Rainbow announced as she hovered up. She looked even more disheveled than usual, and her wings would sputter and stop every minute or so, causing her to suddenly drop before they would start up again at the last second. Then she yawned, the noise of it sounding like a bear's growl. "Boy, am I tired," she said, dropping to the floor again before her wings started back up.

"Ah, know how ya feel, sugarcube. I woke up like Ah usually do at the crack a' dawn, but Ah fell back ta sleep considerin' there weren't nothin' ta do," Applejack explained. It seemed like her accent was even thicker than usual when she was tired.

"I don't really mind whatever we do," mumbled Fluttershy, walking softly up the stairs. Her hooves made delicate clinking noises against the metal.

Sonic finished reassembling the shelf before standing up straight and stretching.

"I suppose I can make breakfast," he said. He blinked a couple of times to rid the sleep from his eyes. He then flipped open a door that no one else had noticed. The girls contented themselves by talking about the differences between their home and here while they waited for their beakfast. It wasn't long before a delicious smell wafted their way, delicate and sweet.

"I wonder what that is," Rainbow said dreamily, and her eyes drifted shut before her head suddenly snapped back up. She grinned sheepishly before rubbing her eyes.

"Alright, I'm finished!" announced Sonic. He walked out of the kitchen with two plates chock full of steaming muffins.

"Mmmmmmm, blueberry!" squealed Pinkie Pie. She grabbed two, one in each hoof, before stuffing one in her mouth. She sighed contentedly. Applejack didn't waste any time eating hers either, although she was neater about it than Pinkie. Rarity took a cautious nibble before sighing in delight, savoring the tart blueberries and the hint of sweetness from the sugar that lightly dusted the top.

"Ese ur de'wicious!" exclaimed Rainbow, her mouth full. Her face was one of utter bliss, and miraculously had very little blueberry on it.

Twilight nodded happily. "You better be careful Pinkie!" she joked. "Sonic might put you out of business with these!" Sonic smiled before popping one in his own mouth.

"One of the few things I can actually cook," he told them. "Otherwise, Tails does most of the cooking." The fox in question sneaked one off the plate before returning to his work, munching contentedly.

"You guys should come here more often," he sighed. "Sonic almost never makes them."

"What?!" Sonic cried in mock anger. "I just made some last week!"

"After not making any for months!" Tails shot back. The two argued back and forth on this topic for a few minutes. The girls smiled knowingly at each other. Such was the way of siblings.

"Well, this has been a nice slow morning, but when are we actually going to find our bad guy? We can't just go on like this, waiting for him to make the next move!" Rainbow suddenly spoke up. She wiped off the crumbs from her face with a fore hoof.

"Well, what would you suggest we do?" Sonic asked her. She realized he wasn't mocking her, but had actually asked for her opinion.

"Well, umm. I don't know exactly, but anything is better than sitting on our rumps!" she burst out. Sonic nodded.

"Personally, I agree, but what would we do? We have no idea where he is, or what he's planning. Much as I'd love to track him down and beat the stuffing out of him right this minute, I also want to be prepared." He sighed in regret. "I hate sitting around and waiting, but I've learned over the years that waiting is better than taking on more risk than you need to." But then he smiled.

"But you know what? Rainbow, let's have a little race. You and me. No surprises, no setbacks, just us and the open sky. You up for it?"

Rainbow Dash stood up and flared her wings out in preparation, all signs of tiredness gone.

"You've got yourself a race, mister. Hope you're ready!" she taunted. She grinned, anticipating an easy victory. Sure, she had seen him run, and he was pretty fast, but he couldn't get anywhere near her top speed.

They put up two posts at the starting line, and had set up a series of posts that led into a set of canyons. They would wind through these before turning with a straight shot back to the lab. Rainbow crouched, ready to go, when she noticed Sonic stretching.

"What are you doing?"

"Limbering up," he told her. "I'd rather be loose and ready for the competition than starting off with stiff muscles." She pondered his words, but ultimately decided to just resume her crouch.

He finally assumed a crouch next to her, bending on one knee with his other leg stretched out behind him.

"On the count of three," Tails began.

"ONE!" called out Pinkie.

"Two..." Rarity announced.

"THREE!" Twilight yelled. She shot a burst of magic, and with that the runners were off. They tore off across the desert straight, leaving twin trails of dark blue and rainbow.

Rainbow smirked, pushing herself to the fastest speed she could hold for a long period of time. She looked back, expecting to see the hedgehog traveling in her wake. Instead, she saw only her own dust trail.

"Looking for someone?" asked a cocky voice beside her. She yelped and looked down to see the very hedgehog she was looking for running beside her with ease. Not only that, but he was running... BACKWARDS.

"How are you doing that?" she asked, pushing herself just a little bit harder now.

"What, this?" he asked, before clasping his hands beind his head. "Just a little trick I learned. What, you jealous?" and he smirked at her.

"What? NO! Just, surprised, is all. Besides, I'll pull ahead of you in the canyons."

"And why is that?"

"I saw them! They get real narrow, You're gonna have nearly no room to manuever, so you'll have to slow way down to make turns. With the lead I'll get in there, I've got this race in the bag!" Indeed, they were almost at the steep cliffs and austere ridges of the plateaus. Sonic grinned evilly.

"We'll see about that!" he challenged, before he disappearred like a shot into the nearest canyon. Rainbow flicked her goggles down onto her head before she blasted after him.

She twisted and turned and dived and wove her way through the canyons. She kept her eye on the occasional post driven into the walls of the canyon so she would know she was on the right path. But, to her surprise, the dark blue hedgehog was nowhere to be seen. She passed another corner, and she swore she saw him disappear down the next one down. But his blue trail led along the wall instead of down on the very narrow path below. She gritted her teeth in frustration.

So far, she was lagging. But she blamed that on the height restrictions. She couldn't fly more than twenty feet in the air until they got out of the canyons. But once they were on that last straight away, all of the sky was open to her. Even in the canyons, she could feel the air she cupped in her feathers with each stroke of her wings, as it whistled past her ears. She was one with the wind and sky, and today, she would prove it.

Sonic smirked to himself as he rocketed along the walls of the canyon. For all her confidence, she was the one being slowed down by the twists and turns of the course. He could practically hear her fuming as she hugged his trail. Really, he had hoped she'd be more of a challenge!

"Having fun, Rainbow Dash?" he taunted, his voice echoing back along the course.

He could see the end of the canyon as it curved back upon itself, making a long, winding, and complicated loop. He readied himself, pushing off with his legs at the last moment, springing toward the ground. He angled himself so he would hit smoothly, hardly feeling a jolt as he turned. The exit of the canyon faced slightly in the wrong direction, so he drifted, trailing the ground with his fingers, before shooting off like a bullet, now heading straight for the finish line.

It was a hundred or so miles between him and the finish line, and he couldn't even see the workshop or his friends. Even so, he knew the area by heart, and could even now tell his aim would be perfect. It helped to have the posts in the ground. He looked over his shoulder to see Rainbow winging high into the sky, pushing herself up into the clouds.

As the finish line came into view, still little more than vague dots on the horizon, Rainbow did an aileron roll, diving with her wings straining; they flashed back and forth like a hummingbird. He saw a white cone forming around her hooves, and suddenly realized what she was doing.

'A lot of work just to break the sound barrier', he mused. But then he took off even faster than before, creating a blast wave of sound as he made a Sonic Boom.

Rainbow stared in shock and envy as Sonic effortlessly performed the very thing that it took so much work for her to do. She gritted her teeth and pushed even harder. She could feel the barrier between her hooves and the air, pushing her back. As usual, she just pushed harder, finally snapping the last thing between her and true speed.

Tails and the gang watched in awe as the double Boom was executed, one creating a blast wave of blue, the other leaving a trail of vibrant rainbows across the sky. Sonic approached, sending gusts and dust devils in his wake as he raced across the ground. Rainbow was almost level with him as her flight path brought her very close to the ground. The disturbances in the wind that her passage caused combined with Sonic's own, creating massive dust devils and swirling tempests. But still, she trailed the hedgehog.

She flapped her wings harder than she had in her whole life, her goggles threatening to tear off her head from the friction. Each stroke pushed her a little closer, a little nearer the finish line. She wasn't gaining on Sonic though. She was a matter of a foot behind him, but she wasn't gaining.

She watched desperately as the gap closed between her wings and the end of the race. Even her rainbow trail seemed to mock her, its bright colors making her desperation seem silly and sugar-coated. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see her own horrible loss.

"Rainbow! Look out! Dash!" her friends cried out, their voices mingling together. She opened her eyes and realized she was two and a half seconds from ramming into the metal walls of the workshop. Just before her hooves made contact with the silvery metal, something rammed into her side. It killed her speed and sent her tumbling to the left, yelping as she ran into several dead thorny bushes.

"Owwww. You know, you'd expect a pegasus to be light and soft. You, on the other hand, are hard as a rock," complained a voice a few feet away. Sonic sat on his rear end, rubbing his sore head. Rainbow grinned.

"Well, maybe you didn't do it right," she suggested, flaring her wings open. Sonic sighed.

"Yeah, once is enough for me. Ramming into the side of a flying horse is not pleasant."

"Pony," Dash corrected him.

"What's the difference, RD?" he asked her. She scratched her head, trying to find an answer. He smiled to show her he wasn't serious.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" Twilight asked as she rushed forward. Sonic laughed.

"Besides my bruised head and her wounded pride, we're fine," he reassured the worried alicorn.

"Thank Celestia," she breathed, her previously tense wings hanging limp at her sides.

Rainbow then proceeded to glare at Sonic.

"You can do a Sonic Boom? Why didn't you tell me? And how can you do that without wings?" Rainbow asked in astonishment. Sonic just laughed.

"Don't ask me. I'm just a guy who likes adventure."

"And apparently dawdling as well," said a voice behind them. Sonic got up and turned to the speaker.

"Shadow! You finally decided to show up," Sonic said with a sardonic grin on his face. Shadow scowled and looked at the ponies.

"And now you spend your time with garish technicolor ponies. Why am I not surprised."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with being brightly colored!" protested Rainbow. Then she flared her wings in anger.

"Who are you anyways?" asked Rainbow. her voice suspicious. Shadow laughed in contempt and crossed his as arms over his chest.

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form," he repied, his eyes never wavering. Dash stared him down.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged. "And what exactly makes you so ultimate, anyways?"

"I was created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, and I will live forever." Shadow said. He glared at each pony in turn, daring them to contest him.

"Really?" Twilight asked, trying to lighten the situation. "So why did this professor create you?" This made Shadow stop. He looked as if he were about to speak, but nothing came. Sonic quickly jumped in.

"The Professor was studying immortality to help with treating disease," he told them. Shadow nodded in agreement. He hated accepting help, but he was relieved that Sonic had jumped in. This time, at least.

Twilight cocked her head in interest. Here was another being that was immortal. While she didn't know the physics of it, she desperately wanted to find out. Rainbow, however, knew an incoming big-word storm when she saw one, and took measures to avoid the incoming hurricane.

"So why are you even here?" Rainbow asked Shadow. Twilight pouted at being interrupted, but held her peace.

Shadow shot an accusatory look at Sonic. "His new friend has been reported in remote areas of Japan by multiple GUN agents. I have orders from the commander to bring you in to fix it, considering it's your problem." Shadow shot another glare at Sonic. Sonic smiled snarkily back at him, completely ignoring the venom in his gaze.

"It'll take too long to get to Japan if we use the Tornado," brought out Tails. Sonic nodded, deep in thought.

"I could make a teleportation spell, but it'll take a while to make one for so many ponies at once," Twilight volunteered. Sonic chuckled, looking over at Shadow.

"Well, then, shall we show them how we do things on Mobius, Shadow?" Sonic laughed.

Shadow shrugged. "It is the fastest way," he admitted. Sonic pulled out a Chaos Emerald, and tossed it to the black hedgehog. Shadow caught it, and fingered it's crimson edge.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Chaos...CONTROL!" he cried out. They all disappeared in a flash of red and white light.

When they came out of the warp, Twilight and the rest fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

"What did you just DO?" asked Rarity, her eyes wide.

"Ah'm curious mahself. And what in tarnation kept ya'll from telling us beforehand?" Applejack asked with narrowed eyes. Sonic laughed at their consternation. He, Shadow, and Tails had landed on their feet, unlike the ponies, who had not expected the sudden change in scenery.

"It's called Chaos Control. With the Chaos Emeralds, we can teleport or even slow down or stop time," Sonic explained. "It's a little trick I learned from Shadow. Saved my life once."

"Indeed," said Shadow,"you are very hard to kill." He frowned as if that were a bad thing. Rainbow exploded.

"Wait. You tried to kill him!?" she shouted. She turned on Shadow, preparing to attack.

"Woah woah woah woah!" Sonic intervened, jumping between them. "That was a long time ago. It's no big deal! I hold nothing against Shadow, and neither should you!" At this, Rainbow slowly willed herself to relax, her wings folding back against her sides. Sonic nodded in approval.

"Anyways," and Sonic looked over at the rest of the Mane 6, "Welcome to Japan! I believe this is Kyushu, right Tails?" In response, Tails held up his handheld, which showed a large string of islands along the coast of a continent.

"Right! One of the main islands," Tails affirmed. The ponies took a moment to look around them. Rarity sniffed in disdain.

"A pretty sight, but it's not at all civilized. How is a lady of refinement to survive here?" she asked, her voice a bit whiny. Sonic gave her a surprised look, as did Tails, who began to explain.

"You wouldn't expect it, but Japan has one of the richest cultures in the world," he told them. "It's been around for hundreds of years, and it is the birthplace of today's version of the novel. In ancient times, it was considered the peak of refinement, just as China is the peak of technology and advancement today as it was back then. You wouldn't believe the innovations that we use today that they came up with! There's-"

"History lectures aside," Sonic interrupted the yellow fox,"Japan is a pretty cool place. I mean, just look at it! Bright blue sky, picturesque mountains, even the rice terraces are nice. I don't know about you, but to me, it feels like home!" And with that, the blue hedgehog tore off down the valley in front of them, skirting a substantial but not huge river. Tails turned to Shadow.

"So where exactly was Onigami last seen?" he asked.

"Right here," the hedgehog answered, "but he seems to have moved on." As soon as Shadow said that, Tails handheld beeped. He pulled it out to see a symbol hovering on the edge of his scanning radius before disappearing. He tracked its movement carefully, thoroughly imprinting the location on his mind.

"He's just over 50 miles from here. He's hovering right off the edge of my scanning limit. Wonder if it's on purpose?" he said to himself. Shadow looked down at the screen, memorizing the location for himself. He looked in the general direction of where he would be, frowning as he mentally calculated distance and time.

"We can't use Chaos Control again. If he's as powerful as you say, then he'll recognize the energy flux it creates and will be gone before we appear. We'll have to go by foot, then." Shadow glared over at the ponies, but most of all Rarity. She was the one who seemed most likely to chicken out.

"Hey you!" giggled a pink blur that bounced in front of his eyes so fast that he couldn't track it. "Let's turn that frowny upside-downy! Why are you such a grumpy-pants, mister?" The pony finally stopped bouncing, revealing her actual shape. Shadow looked at her bright pink fur in disgust.

"Back. Off," he practically growled at her. She looked up at him, smiling even wider.

"You look like you need a hug!" and with that, she turned words into action. Shadow suddenly found himself wrapped in the embrace of possibly the most annoying creature he had ever met.

"If you don't want to die on this mountain, I suggest you get AWAY FROM ME." Shadow looked at her with a glare that could melt solid steel. She looked at him in confusion, slowly backing up and dropping to all fours. But then that insufferable grin was back.

"Okay!" and she bounced off on springy hooves. Fluttershy looked at Shadow in open fear, her lip quivering and her eyes tearing up. He let out a snort and started walking down the mountain.

"He's a jerk," observed Rainbow. Twilight looked at her sternly.

"While he may not be easy to get along with, you shouldn't start calling him names, Dash."

"But he is!" she protested.

"Darling, we must act like ladies if we are to gain his favor. He obviously disdains outward shows of emotion, and is more liberal in how he takes action against things." Rarity flicked her mane out of her eyes. "Besides, he has quite the eye catching color, doesn't he?"

"While Ah agree with the first part a' yer little spiel, his coat don't have nothin' ta do with this. Still, Ah think he takes things a little too far, if ya ask me." Applejack said.

"H-he thre-threatened to k-k-kill Pinkie P-Pie," stuttered Fluttershy. The party pony in question just grinned wider.

"Oh, don't you worry 'bout a thing, Fluttershy! Making ponies smile is what I do best, and I'm gonna make him smile if it takes me three party cannons and a Pinkie Promise gone wrong if I have to!" promised the earth pony. She eyed him as he made his way down the hill. "But, boy, is he a tough nut to crack. Not even a special super-duper-luper Pinkie hug cheered him up! But I'll do it, you'll see!" Her bright blue eyes twinkled as she planned her next attempt to make Shadow crack a grin.

Tails watched in horror as the ponies (or Pinkie Pie, specifically) plotted to make Shadow smile.

"There's no way this ends well," he whispered to himself.

Chapter 1- Nexus

Sonic sighed, already bored to tears. There was absolutely NOTHING to do. He had already explored the entire continent, and Tails was currently modifying his plane, so there was nothing new to explore. Shadow was busy working for GUN and Jet and his gang were wrapped up in another competition, so there were no friendly rivals to challenge. And, with Eggman finally in jail with no way to concoct an evil scheme, there was pretty much no hero - business in the near future. So, Sonic the Hedgehog, hero and fastest thing alive, was officially washed up.

He was currently in Tails' workshop, waiting for him to finish fixing his plane. Tails, despite his rather carefree and relaxed demeanor, had grown irritated at Sonic's constant badgering. Even though they were close friends, even like brothers, they argued all the time. Finally, Tails couldn't take it any more.

"Sonic, I know you're bored, but can't you just re-explore the continent? I am trying to concentrate and you being here ISN'T helping. I swear, you're worse than Amy sometimes!" Tails complained. Sonic grumbled under his breath for a moment, then let out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine. Just hurry, 'kay?" Sonic replied. He took off in a blink of an eye, suddenly leaving Tails alone in his workshop. Tails exhaled, having not realised how draining the hedgehog's constant presence had been. He then grinned, for while he was the younger of the two, (by a large amount) he was often the voice of reason. It was kind of nice, actually, to be respected by someone like him, especially considering most thought of the two-tailed fox as a freak. He went back to his work, humming contentedly as he twisted his wrench.

Meanwhile, Sonic tore down the desert strip, occasionally swerving around a rock or bush. He wasn't running all out, in fact, he was relaxing, running backwards with his hands clasped behind his head. He was even leaning backwards, almost looking like he was about to fall over. His eyes were closed, and used the wind to tell if any obstacles were ahead. He felt it: a strange difference in the way the air flowed. He swerved, narrowly missing a large spear of rock jutting out of the parched desert ground.

What he didn't miss was a certain red echidna, who he realized was there just a second too late. Or so he thought, but as he twisted around to face forward, he saw Knuckles jump in front of him as if he wanted to get run over. Just in time, Sonic applied the breaks, slowing himself down so he only creamed Knuckles rather than pulverized him. As they tumbled to a stop, Sonic marveled at the twist of fate that put him in just the right spot at the wrong time.

Slowly, Sonic stood up, dusting himself off and making sure he hadn't lost anything (namely, an arm) but found only a skinned elbow. He then turned to Knuckles, pointing an accusatory finger.

"Knuckles, what do you think you're doing? I nearly turned you into roadkill!" Sonic demanded irately. Knuckles made calming gestures with his hands, for once not in the mood for a fight.

"Well, it wasn't like you were just going to stop. I had to take drastic measures." Knuckles protested, a little offended at the insult to his common sense. Sonic snorted, but didn't protest the claim.

"So what do you want anyway? What could be in this crummy old desert? It's nice at night when the stars are out, but I doubt that's why you're here," Sonic questioned, quickly falling into old habits of dealing with his friend. Knuckles seemed happy with this tangent, for he quickly launched into an explanation.

"I was looking for a new place to treasure hunt, since with Eggman gone and Rouge promising not to steal the Master Emerald-"

"You seriously believe that? This is Rouge we're talking about, right?" Sonic interrupted. "I would not trust her with something like that. She may not be too bad when it really counts, but her credibility does not go that far." Knuckles grimaced, but continued on.

"Anyways, I decided to go on a vacation of sorts. I heard about a temple in this general area, so I decided to check it out. And trust me, you will not believe what I found!" Knuckles finished, awaiting his friend's reaction.

Sonic yawned. "Sorry Knucks, but I'm just not as easily distracted by shiny things as you are." Sonic said while idly picking up a rock and tossing it repeatedly.

Knuckles groaned. "Not like that, it's something else! (And don't call me that.) It's something way better. You need to see it!" Knuckles spouted animatedly, grabbing the hedgehog's shoulders near the end. Sonic extricated himself from Knuckle's grip, then yawned again.

"Fine, I'll take a look. It's better than running backwards through the desert. So where is this temple?" Sonic queried, looking at Knuckles questioningly. In response, Knuckles turned and pointed to the spear of stone that Sonic had dodged around earlier.

Sonic facepalmed, muttering through his fingers: "Knuckles? That's a rock."

Knuckles glared daggers at him, exasperated. He groaned, not happy that this conversation was leading in the blue hedgehog's favor.

"Just come on!"Knuckles snapped, and stomped towards the outcropping. Sonic grinned at his success, and followed after dropping the rock he had picked up, which broke into pieces when it hit the ground.

As the pair got closer to the large stone, Sonic realized just how unnatural and out of place it looked. It was the only solid stone in the area, and even if it weren't, it was the wrong shape entirely. Rather than being smooth and rounded as it should have been from countless years of wind and course sand, it was a pinnacle, starkly standing against the bright blue sky. It also had strange markings on it, masterfully created so that at first glance, it just seemed like chance and time had carved them. If you looked close, though, you would see they repeated in a pattern of loops and spirals. Set into one of its sides was an oval, which, at Knuckles touch, swung inward, making a course grinding noise as it moved.

Sonic whistled at the great, dark expanse inside. Knuckles bent down, picking up two torches. He lit them and passed one off to Sonic. They walked inside, their footsteps echoing eerily in the darkness. Sonic watched as the flames made dancing shadows on the walls, and made it seem like ghosts of the past guarded this place. He noticed Knuckles shiver, and pressed the opportunity for teasing that had been given him.

"You're not scared, are you Knuckles? Afraid this place is haunted? Frightened by ghosts, are you?" Sonic taunted, making sure he was out of arms reach.

Rather than making his usual rash reply, Knuckles voice was imbued by awe. "We've seen stranger, haven't we? Besides, you haven't seen the weirdest part."

Knuckles reached forward with his torch, lighting a trail of oil that led along a rough hewn railing of stone. The flames dashed down, branching along different paths and racing eachother, illuminating stairs which led down to a great hall. They traversed the length of the stairway, finally reaching the bottom, where there stood a shrine. At the very front of the room was a giant statue, which stood at least twenty feet tall. The trail of fire led up one of its arms and down into the palm, so that it seemed the statue held a comet in its hand. In its other hand was a staff.

The statue looked exactly like Sonic.

The details were exact, all the way down to the length of his quills and the design on his shoes. Even the eyes seemed to sparkle with the intelligence and warmth that accompanied the real hedgehog's gaze. Sonic could only stare in disbelief.

"Wha-...How...Huh?" was all the hedgehog could say. "H-how is this even possible?" Any thought of taunting the echidna was gone. He just wanted answers to the very many questions that were brewing in his mind.

"Don't ask me. These ruins are at least a couple of hundred years old. But as weird as that is, that's not all." Knuckles said, his eyes taking in everything, from the contours of the floor to the detail in the gilded walls. He walked down towards the dais, passing to the side of it and past the statue's side. Sonic numbly followed, then halted as Knuckles stopped in front of a mirror.

"Check this mirror. This is gonna trip you out." Knuckles stated in an excited tone.

"As if the statue didn't already?" dead panned Sonic, before turning to look at the mirror, only to stop in shock. Where there should have been a reflection of Knuckles, there was a reflection of the blue hedehog instead. Knuckles waved his hand, and the figure in the mirror waved in unison. Knuckles stepped back, looking around at the surrounding area.

"I'm going to explore a bit more." he explained before turning and walking back up the aisle, running his hands appreciatively along the designs cut into almost every surface.

Sonic walked up to the mirror, which displayed only his normal reflection. After a moment's hesitation, he placed his hand on the glass, only to stiffen in shock.

As soon as his fingers made contact, he lost all feeling in his body. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't run away from the awful chills running through his fingers. Pain, originating from the tips of his fingers, arched up his arm, tracing along his spine and branching down both his legs, before hitting the ground through the soles of his shoes. The ground tremored, and all over the floor, symbols flared to life with an unearthly light blue glow.

Sonic tried to flinch away, but the mirror held him captive, and whatever substance it was made of seemed to melt out of the wall towards him. Sonic desperately tried to break away, but his thoughts faded to darkness, blocking out all sensation as the mirror's shining surface enveloped him in a tight cocoon. He barely heard Knuckles calling his name, and didn't have the strength to answer him as he lost consciousness.

Pain. His first waking sensation was pain, as it seemed to have taken hold upon his very soul. It hurt just to think, but Sonic forced himself to open his eyes. For a moment, he doubted that he had actually opened his eyes at all, for everything was still dark. After a moment, though, his eyes adjusted so that he could detect patterns in the inky blackness surrounding him. They moved and swirled through the shadows in an elegant dance, ever shifting, never stopping.

Sonic looked down. He was lying suspended on a flat surface made of a black substance that was darker than the surrounding walls. It was the only thing not moving, and the hedgehog's eyes were becoming overwhelmed by the constant motion. He carefully shifted off the platform, and let his feet touch what he hoped was the ground.

As soon as he stopped leaning on the bed, it vanished, disintegrating into strings of darkness that slithered away into the walls, becoming another string of dancing swirls.

Sonic looked down at his shoes, realizing that they(along with everything else of his color scheme) was toned down to much more muted colors. Even so, he was the brightest thing in the dark expanse. He shook his head, trying to get the lingering fog of awakening out of his mind.

"So, you have awoken! I feared you would sleep eternal, considering what happened. But, you would not worry about such things, being young as you are. Listen well, youngster, and heed my words, for their wisdom will change the very core of your existence." A deep booming voice rolled across the confines of what Sonic now thought of as a cage. It seemed to be suspended in every bit of air, coming from everywhere and nowhere, echoing and re-echoing until you could not know where it began or where it would end, forming a song of whispers. Sonic spun around in an endless circle, his ears flicking back and forth, trying to find the speaker.

"Who are you? Where am I, and why have you brought me here?" Sonic demanded, his own voice echoing until it's final whispers sounded similar to the stranger's own.

" I am you. I am all that you are, and all that you were, and all that you can be. Every decision you have made and will make is expressed in my very being. I am life, and I am death, and I am decision. I am known as The Bringer Of Law, though few understand the true meaning of that." the being stated in a factual tone, his answer echoing again, mingling with the end of Sonic's own query.

"Well that's suitably vague for a lawyer." Sonic responded, answering in the only way he knew how:try and make the other guy angry. To his surprise, the ghostly voice chuckled in genuine amusement.

"Some would call you brave. Others would call you stupid. It is not mine to call, but suffice to say you are amusing." Sonic pondered this for a moment. Then he frowned, his eyebrows meeting in the middle of his forehead, and giving him an austere, solemn look.

"You said earlier that you thought I wouldn't wake up, because of what happened. What exactly did happen?" Sonic asked, deciding to get as much info as he could.

"I was foolish. I thought you would be ready, but you were not. So, I brought you here, to rest and to heal, to gain comfort from the place of your birth." At this, Sonic's eyebrows went up, his eyes widening and his mouth hanging open. For the second time that day, he was left stuttering.

"Wha... Okay, two things. One: ready for what, exactly? And two:MY PLACE OF BIRTH?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Sonic yelled, his voice echoing harshly and seeming to grow louder. He had to cover his ears to block out his own shouted words from penetrating his ear drums.

"Think rationally, young one. You saw the statue, erected in honor of your birth. Or perhaps I should say, creation. Birth is not quite the right word. Perhaps it is hard to understand, but it makes perfect sense. You are a creature of great talent, of great power. You, along with your brothers and sisters, have saved the world many times, each time putting your own life on the line for others. It is a remarkable quality, especially considering the circumstances." Again, Sonic took a moment to absorb the information, carefully choosing what he would say next.

"What do you mean. my brothers and sisters?" Sonic kept a neutral mask, careful not to reveal too much. After his initial outburst, he would not give the creature any opportunities.

"Do you not know? The ones you call chaos emeralds, your ultimate source of power. They were born here, just like you were. Have you not wondered why you felt such a connection to them? Why even when you did not wish it, you were drawn to them? Their pain is your pain, and your pain is their pain. You are connected in unimaginable ways. You may not realize it, but they do. Even now, they are with you, if you should just reach out to them." The being finished it's rant and waited patiently for the hedgehog's response.

Sonic blinked, completely broadsided by this new little factoid. Then he shook his head, grimacing as he realized how close he had been to believing the voice.

"Well this has been fun, but your little stories really aren't that believable. You could try with Knuckles, though. He'd probably believe you." Sonic flashed a snarky grin at a wall, hoping there was someone there to actually see it.

"Insolence! You would dare say that I am a liar? That I would trick you for the fun of it? I am offended! I give you the honor of coming here, to the place of creation, and you brush it off like travel dust!"

By this point, Sonic's hands were clamped over his ears. The voice had risen to fever pitch, making his ears ring and his head throb in pain. It was so sudden, he caught his breath, nearly letting a tear escape. He fell to his knees, the headache spreading to his very bones, until his world became nothing but pain.

He took slow, steady breaths, slowly relaxing as the pain died down. The ringing disappeared, and his headache was reduced to a gentle throbbing pulse. He sighed, and shook his head in frustration. This was not good.

"My sincerest apologies, young one. Your injuries have yet to heal." The voice went silent, and Sonic got the feeling it was contemplating something.Sonic got back to his feet, and then shivered. It was really cold here. He waited, allowing the voice time to think.

"Would you like to know how you were created?" The voice finally said.

"I still don't exactly believe you, but sure, why not." Sonic said dryly, not wanting to raise the being's anger again.

"This place is known as the Nexus. It is where the borders of all the different realms come together, in a single point. In this place is where all energy becomes into being, and where it returns. This is a conduit for life. Everything springs from here, everything returns here."

"Wait, so you're calling yourself God? That sounds pretty high-handed if you ask me." Sonic interrupted. He could almost hear the voice grimace, but it continued without complaint.

"No, I would not presume to call myself a God, no more than you would call yourself one. I am simply a being of great power. I was created when a surge of energy clashed, which is how all life is created. Even the chaos emeralds were created this way, and, so were you." Sonic listened, trying to decide how much of this was exactly feasible. He didn't want to believe any of it, and wished Tails were here to back him up.

"But I must explain. All different realms, or dimensions, as you might call them, have different levels of energy. Some are lands of wizards and warlocks, of great creatures capable of great things. Others are barren wastelands, with no life to grace their surface. There is one in particular, however, that holds a ridiculous amount of energy, one that is greater than most other realms COMBINED. It is this place that my creation, and your creation, and the creation of the Chaos Emeralds stem from. It is a planet called Equis. It is a home to a species resembling the horses of earth, and to many other creatures, all of which hold the power to bend reality to their will. They call it magic, but it is truly the sheer amount of energy that they hold in their bodies, which exudes itself upon their surroundings."

"Wait, then how are they responsible for creating the Chaos Emeralds?" questioned Sonic. As much as he didn't want to believe the voice, it had a feeling that told you he wasn't lying. It was majestic in its quality, holding a deep tone and commanding respect, yet it was almost soothing. Sonic found himself unconsciously relaxing as the voice talked.

"My creation was first. It happened when two creatures discovered six gems that held power that rivals that of the Chaos Emeralds. These stones linked to their souls, and that moment created a large flux of energy. As all energy does, it made its way here. When it did, it fought for a place among all the energy that was already here. Doing so, it disrupted the pattern, and some energy had to be expelled. In doing so, I was created. Many years later, a creature of daunting power who could change the laws of physics at will emerged, and none could stop him. In his short reign of terror, he expelled so much energy that it came flooding here in bursts, rather than all at once. Each of these bursts created a Chaos Emerald. Then the creatures who were responsible for my creation used the power of the gems on the chaos god, and sealed him into stone. You were created last of all of us."

"Hold up. Your creation and everything is somewhat believable, but there is no way I came from this place." Sonic argued, not wanting to know how the voice would weave him into his tale.

"Then why do you think my voice is so familiar?" asked the being. "Why are you so at ease in a place you believe you have never been before?" Sonic looked down, and sure enough, he was sitting, his body supported by tendrils of whatever dark substance made up the walls. In shock, he tried to get up, but the tendrils yanked him back down, wrapping around his legs and waist. Sonic shivered as one climbed up his back, tracing the trail of his spine. He tried to arch his back away, but more tendrils shot up, encircling his chest and holding him still, some wrapping around his shoulders and going down the length of his arms. At this point, Sonic could only move his head, for the rest of his body was held by the lines of swirling darkness.

"Why are you holding me here? Why won't you let me move?" Sonic demanded, struggling against his captors. In response to his efforts, they tightened, and more came up from the ground to get a firm hold on his barrel and legs. As he continued to squirm, one came up and wrapped around his neck, tracing up the side of his head and wrapping around one ear. By now, you could see more of the dark energy than you could the hedgehog, who had finally stopped struggling. As soon as he did, he felt a strange sensation flooding his body wherever the tendrils touched him. His muscles relaxed, and the headache left completely. Strangely enough, the dark energy seemed to be trying to soothe him, to calm him down.

"Do not fear young one. I am simply trying to help you heal, but I cannot do that when you struggle." The being finally said. He had waited until after Sonic relaxed, still trying to prove to him that this was his birthplace.

"Now, to continue where I left off. Your creation was of a smaller event of energy flux, so you are not as powerful as I or the Chaos Emeralds. Still, you hold great potential in what you could become. Your creation is different than mine or the Emerald's. There was a young creature, who was trying to use her magic. But rather than being controlled in a steady flow, it expanded to a large burst of energy, more than this place had seen in a long time. When that happened, you were formed. The energy that created you took on the form of a Mobian, as you can see. Their bodies are much more hardy than that of humans." The creature seemed like he was done, and it watched Sonic's reaction closely.

By this time, Sonic's eyes were nearly shut, as he half-unwillingly relaxed, relying mostly on his ears. The healing being done by the tendrils only seemed to increase as he relaxed more, and by now the normally hyperactive hedgehog was falling asleep. He shook himself awake as the booming voice stopped, however, and struggled to keep his wits about him.

"But if this is true, there must have been other times that there was a burst of energy. What happened then?" Sonic asked. As he did, his curiosity seemingly resounded in the energy holding him, as it wrapped tighter around him, to the point that any movement was physically impossible. Even the tendril around his ear tightened, preventing him from moving his head. Sonic ignored this as well as he could, but it gave him a sense of forboding.

"Not all such bursts create something. In fact, more often then not they disperse equally among the realms. It is very rare for a creature to be created. We are the products of something that will more than likely never happen again. The statue of you was built at the time of your creation, but I used a time warp field to age it considerably. That way, it would match the age of the temple, which I built before the Emeralds were created. It was the place where this realm branched into the Nexus, and I needed to protect it. The Nexus is the most fragile point of every universe." Then the creature sighed. "You need to rest in order to heal. When you awake, you must be prepared to use the knowledge I have given you."

"Wait, what? No, I'm fine. You don't need to do tha-" Sonic was cut off as even more strings of energy came up, completely wrapping around him until he was cocooned in them. He couldn't see anything, as the tendrils had reached up and shut his eyes for him before covering his head. He couldn't speak, for when he tried, they rushed into his mouth, filling him with the urge to spit them out. It seemed like they were suggesting things right to his brain, for his thoughts were clouded and foggy.

"SLEEP." The voice commanded him, holding a tone of authority that Sonic dared not rebel against. Against his better judgement, he willed himself to relax. As soon as he did so, he fell asleep.

"He must learn to accept truth," the voice muttered to itself. "He will need to see it for himself in order to believe. He must meet his creators in person." After he said this, the cocoon that was holding Sonic retracted into the floor, taking him with it. All was left to darkness, and the dancing patterns on the walls.

Chapter 4- A Fine Fight

Rainbow yelped as Discord pulled on her tail. She glared at him, opening her mouth to complain. Before she could say anything, though, a cooked chicken appeared in her mouth. Discord laughed as she spat it put and ran her hooves across her tongue to get rid of the awful taste.

"Ewww, that's gross! Why would you even do that?" Rainbow complained.

"I think I'm going to be sick," groaned Twilight, who looked slightly green. Sonic stopped tugging on his chains for a moment.

"While you're at it, could you make a chili dog? I know they're all vegetarians, but the diet is paling." Sonic asked, shrewdly looking up at Discord. Twilight stared at him, aghast.

"You're an omnivore?!" she screeched. Sonic gave her a dry look.

"Yeah. So?" Discord, in the meantime was laughing at the little interaction that was going on.

"Aaww, you make such a cute couple! Too bad I hate cute," he cooed. Sonic flinched, and stared at him.

"Couple? No way. Nuh uh. Never happening," Sonic vehemently denied.

"Oh, really? I have to wonder, has Rarity gotten to you yet? According to her, she could even make me look pretty. It wouldn't be that hard, really." Discord pulled out a hand mirror and examined himself. Sonic sighed and went back to pulling on the chains. After a few moments, Sonic finally gave up.

"Ugh, skip this. Might as well go straight to the big guns." The Emeralds appeared around him, floating in a circle. Sonic floated up, the chains breaking like glass and the cuffs falling away. As he rose, golden flames wreathed his body, and his eyes flashed before turning red. A bright light flashed, and when it died down, the Emeralds were gone. In their place was a flying, golden Super Sonic. Discord whistled.

"You're practically oozing chaos energy. Which means that it only takes a snap of my fingers and I'd be in complete control. I have more power than you can imagine, much less hope to defeat with your paltry Emeralds."

Sonic smirked.

"You can try." He cracked his knuckles, and readied his fists. Discord snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He tried again. He frowned as it continued to fail. Sonic's snarky smirk only grew as Discord kept trying. He quit after the 10th or so try.

"No matter. We can do things your way." Long talons grew from his fingers, and blades appeared along the edges of his wings. Discord floated up, matching Sonic's height. He was about to challenge him when he got socked in the chest with an explosion of golden light. He was sent flying away into the trees. Sonic turned to Twilight and Rainbow.

"Round up the girls and get the Elements. I'll beat him up a little before we corner him and you turn him back to stone. Got it?" He didn't wait for an answer before blasting off towards where Discord had landed. Twilight and Rainbow shared a look.

"Who died and put him in charge?" Rainbow Dash grumbled. Twilight sighed and pulled her away.

"Just come on!"

Sonic caught up to Discord just as he rose from the bracken. Sonic smirked, for the normally overconfident draconequis was scared. He was hiding it pretty well, but Sonic could still tell.

"What you afraid of? Finally meeting someone who can defeat you without breaking a sweat?" Sonic taunted.

"Really, such demeaning comments AREN'T necessary," grumbled the Chaos God. He turned to Sonic, readying his claws. He slashed at him a couple of times. When the powered up hedgehog dodged those easily, Discord tried something different. He acted as if he were going to slash at him again, but shot a beam of energy out of his palm at the last second. Sonic tried to dodge but was too slow, and the beam hit him square in the chest.

Discord grinned, thinking that the hedgehog was done for. No one could recover from a point blank shot like that. To his surprise, Sonic rose up above the treeline within seconds. He laughed.

"What is this, a tickle fight? Where's all that power you were bragging about?" Sonic taunted. He was really getting into the the swing of things, and wasn't about to go down without a fight, both literal and verbal.

"Fine. I WAS going to go easy on you, but you've forced my hand." The Chaos God snapped his fingers, and a sphere of metal mesh appeared around Sonic. Woven into the mesh were countless laser guns, all of which were hopelessly cliché. Discord grinned.

"There is no escape. There's no way to dodge all those lasers." Discord crowed, sure of his victory.

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Who said I was going to dodge them?" The guns all shot their load at the same time, all of them aiming at the glowing hedgehog. At the very last second, he started spinning, curling up into a ball and hovering in place. All the lasers bounced off of him, wrecking the cage with a few of them hitting Discord.

Sonic rolled smoothly out of the spin, charging towards Discord while he was still distracted. Discord dodged around him only to get blasted anyways. Sonic had stopped and performed a devastating axe kick, sending a wave of energy in the shape of a crescent blade rushing towards the draconequis.

Sonic grinned. This fight was pretty easy so far. Normally he wouldn't be so self-assured, but Discord seemed like a one-trick-pony. For all Twilight had told him, Sonic didn't see any cotton candy clouds or chocolate milk rain. He didn't even see any dancing buffalo in tutus. (He had secretly wanted to see that) but it was probably better that there wouldn't be too much cleanup.

Discord flew straight to Sonic, grabbing him with his elongated claws. He snarled, for once truly angry.

"No one attacks me so brazenly and gets away with it!"

"From what I heard, it's already happened. Twice."

"But you were the only one who's done it with his fists." Discord piledrived Sonic into the side of a mountain, launching him out the other side. Sonic fell, scoring a long trench in the ground. He wasn't down for long, though, and shot back up to the fight. He spiraled around Discord, causing the Chaos God to spin around in order to keep track of the hedgehog. Once he was sufficiently dizzy, Sonic spun around and kicked him with both feet. Discord fell away a few feet, but kept himself from going too far.

The battle continued in this fashion for a few minutes, both scoring hits and taking them in equal measure. Discord was obviously worse off than Sonic, though, who was just getting started. For a moment, there was a lull in the fighting. Discord panted while Sonic jabbed and punched at the air in front of him. When he had the Chaos Emeralds, he felt like he could take on the world. Now was no different.

Finally, Discord stood up straight and attacked with his claws and wing blades. So far he hadn't used the latter, and they were a surprise to Sonic. Still, he dodged with ease. Sonic dodged under one such attack and delivered a deadly uppercut to Discord's chin. There was a resounding crack, and a tip of a fang sailed into the air. Discord fell to the ground, landing with a thud. When he didn't move from where he fell, Sonic cautiously flew down.

He landed softly, his super form alight with golden flames. His eyes were narrowed. Slowly he approached. As soon as he was close enough, he poked the draconequis. Nothing happened. He drew closer.

Suddenly, Discord lashed out. Sonic tried to dodge, but the air around him changed to the consistency of water. He couldn't move fast enough. A set of claws closed around his throat, lifting him into the air as Discord picked himself up from off the ground. He squirmed, trying to break free, but was unsuccessful.

"NO!" cried a certain purple unicorn. Discord turned his head to see the Mane 6 in full Elemental regalia. Twilight stepped forward, her eyes blazing.

"Let him go," she ground out.

Discord smiled evilly. "No, I think not. Take it this way. As long as I have him, you wouldn't dare use the Elements on me."

Twilight gasped, her mind making the connection. She glared at him, but he only tightened his grip on Sonic. Sonic squirmed, but gave up as it became too difficult to breathe.

"Do it!" Sonic wheezed, slowly losing consciousness.

"No! What'll happen to you?"Twilight cried.

"It doesn't matter! Do it!" he repeated, his lungs begging for air. Discord scowled, not liking where this was going.

"Don't you dare!" he growled. "I will not be turned to stone again! I will be free to create a new kingdom in my image! The Land of Chaos! Home of Disharmony!" Sonic shot Twilight a desperate look as he scrabbled at the arm holding him.

Twilight gulped. "Alright girls, let's do this!" They all rose up, their Elements glowing. Discord stared in disbelief. He began to stutter, trying to protest, to say something, but he couldn't. He looked down at the hedgehog dangling by his throat. Sonic's eyes were closed as he fought unconsciousness.

A rainbow beam emerged from the Mane 6. It spiraled and glowed with divine light. As it rushed towards Discord, Twilight could only pray that Sonic would escape unscathed. While she wasn't sure exactly how the Elements worked, she only knew they fixed anything unharmonious. Sometimes they healed. Sometimes they destroyed.

Discord felt the familiar burning sensation, but it hurt just as much as it had the first two times. He gritted his teeth as he felt his limbs turn into stone. It only took a moment, but it felt like eternity to everyone who was watching.

Sonic's eyes were forced open as searing pain raced through his body. As Discord was being turned to stone, his grip loosened, and Sonic fell to the ground, still caught in the rainbow beam. He clenched his teeth shut, trying not to yell in pain. It felt like someone was burning every cell in his body at the same time. He held himself up on his hands and knees. He knew that the sensation had to end some time, but it took what seemed like forever. Finally, the pain stopped.

Sonic could vaguely hear Twilight's cry, and he passed out before she could reach him.