Nix: Collision

“Urgh… why can’t any of Eggman’s plans ever not go awry?” Sonic murmured. He got to his feet and looked at his surroundings, noticing that he was in a forest. “Strange… this reminds me of Knothole… and yet…”

He was quick to notice the eerie silence that surrounded him. Most forests that he was familiar with were brimming with the sounds of wildlife. He was used to hearing the birds chirp, the squirrels run around with their chestnuts, maybe even the occasional raccoon.

Of course, he had to take into consideration the number of times that peaceful setting had been interrupted by Robotnik’s forces.

He sighed. He pressed a finger to his communicator. “Hey, anybody read?”

No answer. He sighed again. “Well, that settles it. Maybe I’ll be able to find some help outside of this forest.”

He noticed a beaten path before him. What appeared to be hoof marks trotted outward, and he presumed they would lead to the outside world. He glanced one more time at his surroundings, before jogging down the path.

***

After a few minutes of walking, he eventually saw what appeared to be a small town on the outside of the forest. It was bustling with life, and he could see that its citizens were all hard at work with some activity or another. A small cottage was the closest building to him. He walked over to it and peered inside, but found no signs of life. Sighing, he resolved to instead go into the town and seek answers.

As he crossed a bridge, he noticed that the town’s citizens were… not what he would call “normal.” They were horses, of various colors and sizes. Several seemed to have a horn on their head, while others had a pair of wings attached to them. Most, however, lacked these features, and they seemed to be the more down-to-earth.

Most noticeably, however, was that they all talked.

I’m in a land of talking horses, Sonic thought. Either I’ve finally lost it, or this is all just some crazy dream.

He pinched himself and, seeing that he could still feel pain, removed the latter from the list of possibilities.

I should ask one of the locals where I am. He started walking into the town. The ponies didn’t seem to notice him for a bit, so he walked up to a pair of ponies sitting on a bench.

The first pony was beige colored, with a blue mane with a pink streak in it, and cerulean eyes. She sat on her stomach, and was busy talking to the pony next to her. This pony had a horn on her head, was was a shade of mint green with a brilliant cerulean mane. Sonic noticed that they both had images on their flanks.

They both turned as he approached, their eyes widening in shock.

Unsure of what to do, Sonic simply said, “Um… hi?”

The mint unicorn’s lips curled into a smile, while the beige pony’s mouth became a look of pure terror. The unicorn appeared to try and say something, but was cut off by the beige pony.

“AAAAAGH!” she shrieked, jumping up into the air.

Sonic recoiled in shock. “Whoa, whoa! Calm down! I don’t mean any harm—”

The pony screamed again, this time with more words, “Help! Somepony help!”

Sonic was unsure what this “somepony” was, but he felt panicky. “Listen, I just wanted to ask some questions—”

“It’s him!” she screamed. “The murderer!”

Sonic’s eyes widened. “Wait, what—!”

Now the mint unicorn had caught on, and had begun screaming loudly, attracting the surrounding ponies’ attention. They, too, began screaming about some murderer. Sonic glanced around, looking for the person in question.

He blinked, then pointed to himself. “Wait… me?!”

“There he is! We’ve found him!” a voice suddenly called out.

He looked up, and saw a squad of flying ponies looking down at him. Three of them were wearing sleek flying suits that were blue and had lightning patterns around them. The fourth pony had a rainbow mane and a cyan coat, and was looking at Sonic with absolute menace.

Sonic began backing up. He was certain, from the looks the ponies gave him, that they were not here to chat. It’s no biggie; I can outrun them! Hopefully…

“Spitfire!” cried the flying pony with a navy-blue mane. “He looks about to run!”

The one with a fiery orange mane responded, “Noted, Soarin. Alright, flying formations. Rainbow, keep an eye at him while I try to reason.” Rainbow, the cyan mare, nodded, but still glared at Sonic.

“Alright! You down there!” Spitfire ordered. “Stay where you are and you will not be harmed!”

“As if!” Sonic retorted. “I’ve only been here for minutes, and already I’m being called a murderer!”

“Listen, buddy,” Rainbow growled. “It won’t do you any good to deny the truth.”

“But I haven’t done anything!” he cried. “I only just got out of that forest—”

“Lies!” Rainbow broke formation and suddenly flew towards him!

Sonic sucked in a breath and turned, blasting off with a boom. “Sorry, but I don’t intend to be detained at the moment!” he yelled over his shoulder, grinning as he noticed the cyan mare stare at him in shock.

“Rainbow!” Spitfire commanded. “After him!”

Rainbow shook her head, gritting her teeth. She began accelerating towards him, flapping her wings as hard as she could. The wind blew by her face and flung back her lips, but she was still a distance away from the hedgehog.

She’s fast, Sonic noted as he ran through the town. Gotta move faster! Concentrating, he began accelerating until a blue arc appeared in front of him, seemingly cutting through the air. He knew, however, that he wouldn’t be able to hold his Sonic Boost for long; without a Chaos Emerald, he only had a few seconds of Boosting.

“Impossible!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You mean he can do the boom too?!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” he retorted.

She growled, flapping her wings so fast that they became little more than blurs. “You think that you can come to Equestria and disrupt the peace?!” she yelled after him. “You think you can joke, after what you’ve done?!”

Equestria? Is this what this place is called? “I haven’t done anything!” he tried to remind her, not noticing that she was slowly catching up. “I literally just woke up after falling from the sky!”

“More lies!” Soon a white arc appeared before her, cutting through the air just as Sonic’s Boost was beginning to die out. “You think you can harm ponies just because you can?! Is that what you think?!”

“That’s not—” He cut himself off with a gasp as he turned to look at her. The arc had narrowed to such an angle that Rainbow was becoming like an arrow, easily whizzing through the air. “Huh?”

Suddenly, Rainbow seemed to explode, as every color of her name shot out from her like some sort of pulse. She accelerated so fast that Sonic had barely any time to blink before he was hit from behind, sending him crashing to the ground with a loud thud. His brain didn’t even register the amount of pain he felt as he saw darkness at the edge of his vision.

So… fast! was his last thought, before the darkness consumed him.

***

“Good work, Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire commended the cyan pegasus. “He nearly got away; had it not been for your Sonic Rainboom, he might have escaped into parts unknown.”

Rainbow blushed under the praise. “Aw, it was nothing, Ms. Spitfire, ma’am. Just doing my job as a citizen of Equestria.” She looked down at the blue hedgehog with a smirk on her face. “What should we do with him now?”

“We’ll take him to Canterlot. I’d imagine that the Princesses would like a word with him,” Spitfire answered, gently taking hold of one of the hedgehog’s arms. Rainbow took the other, though not as gently. He groaned slightly, but made no move to fight back. They carried him into the air, before flying towards Canterlot.