Chaotic Origins

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!"